43 years ago the Beatles were prevented from playing a concert in Israel, supposedly because an Israeli official feared the popular band would corrupt the youth of the new nation.
Now, Paul McCartney is set to play in the country for the first time, and the rumor of what happened back in the 1960s is back in full force--even as a lone journalist struggles to clear it up.
With Paul set to play Tel Aviv on September 25, the son of the Israel official that has been blamed for decades for banning the Beatles is struggling to clear his father’s name, calling the pervasive rumor a “Zionist Urban Legend.”
The story is so pervasive that the current Israeli ambassador has formally apologized to the surviving members of the band, asking them to play during this year’s celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary, according to an article by Matti Friedman, an Associated Press Writer.
"Israel missed a chance to learn from the most influential musicians of the decade, and the Beatles missed an opportunity to reach out to one of the most passionate audiences in the world," Ambassador Ron Prosor wrote.
In a news release, McCartney has acknowledged the 43-year old ban, promising to now give Israelis, "the night they have been waiting decades for."
He better deliver; tickets for the concert went on sale with prices ranging from $140 to $430.
Yaakov Sarid was the director of the Education Ministry, and the man blamed for the canceling of the 1965 concert. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father and prime minister at the time, was also said to be cahoots. Yaakov’s son, Yossi Sarid, is currently a newspaper columnist and a former outspoken member of parliament, working to set the record straight for his father, who passed away in 1976.
Sarid is now 67 and recently wrote a column explaining what "really happened" back in 1965. He says that the real story is that two rival concert promoters, Yaakov Uri and Giora Godik, managed to prevent the Fab Four from arriving because of deception to one another. Uri used his connections to get the Beatles to come, but Godik used his influence to block the government approval needed to get the foreign currency to pay for the concert.
Sarid says that his father and the prime minister had probably never heard of the Beatles, having different musical tastes. He also says the story came out after his father’s death, "after my father was unable to listen to the Beatles," in Sarid's words.
Israel's pre-eminent pop music critic and historian, Yoav Kutner, confirms Sarid’s details of the event. The false story has lived on, he says, because of the irony of Sarid the son. Sarid was an outspoken liberal member of parliament, especially when it came to government censorship in 1960s Israel when Westernization was frowned upon. This was apparently used against him by the powers who wanted to keep Israel's traditional societal structures in place.
Though Sanrid is pleased to finally clear his father’s name, he acknowledges, "It's a nice story, in this case much nicer than the truth."
He better deliver; tickets for the concert went on sale with prices ranging from $140 to $430.
Yaakov Sarid was the director of the Education Ministry and the man blamed for the canceling of the 1965 concert, as well as David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father and prime minister at the time. Yaakov’s son, Yossi Sarid, is currently a newspaper columnist and a former outspoken member of parliament, working to set the record straight for his father, who passed away in 1976.
Sarid is now 67 and wrote a column explaining what really happened back in 1965. he says that the real story is that two rival concert promoters, Yaakov Uri and Giora Godik managed to prevent the Fab Four from arriving. Uri used his connections to get the Beatles to come, but Godik used his influence to block the government approval needed to get the foreign currency to pay for the concert.
Sarid says that his father and the prime minister had probably never heard of the Beatles, having different musical tastes. He also says the story came out after his father’s death, "after my father was unable to listen to the Beatles," in Sarid's words.
Israel's pre-eminent pop music critic and historian, Yoav Kutner, confirms Sarid’s details of the event. The false story has lived on because of the irony of Sarid the son, being an outspoken liberal member of parliament, especially when it came to government censorship as well as being a reflection of the 1960s in Israel, when Westernization was frowned upon and Israel’s socialist ideology reigned.
Though Sanrid is pleased to finally clear his father’s name, he acknowledges, "It's a nice story, in this case much nicer than the truth."
Before Yukon were to launch their musical precision assault on the east L.A. crowd, Brendan and Brad walked with me to the liquor store around the corner to pick up a drink. They waited in the parking lot while I entered the store to pass two, scantily dressed women who looked to be on their way to the Hollywood clubs. I suddenly had a nagging feeling I was about to miss something outside, but I instead took my time finding a soda and waiting in line.
When I came back out the two women were speeding away in a white mercedes, and my two friends were giggling uncontrollably. Brad turned a bit more sheepish when Brendan exclaimed, "One of those chicks just flashed us her vagina!"
"Whaaat?!" I asked.
Apparently when the two women left the store, the one in the lower-cut, black slip-on dress started talking about how she was going to "finally kick that guy out of the apartment." She then turned her sights on Brad and Brendan and said, "Hey, you guys look kinda cute. Want to help me kick some jerk out of my house?" Brendan, never the shyest when it comes to returning games with women replied, "I don't think you want us doing that," his words a direct contradiction from the smirk and focused eyes on his face.
Black dress then shrugged indifferently as she stepped into her car with her right leg. "Oh well," she spat back, quickly lifting her dress for the guys to see the goods underneath--"Your loss," she seemed to tell them.
Brendan slapped his knee in laughter. "Thank you!" he yelled back in his 'Balt'mer'-accented draw before the two women sped off.
"Welcome to L.A.," I said.
When it was time for Yukon to hit the stage, whatever boyish hijinks ensued from talking about the mystery flasher were quickly put aside so the guys could load their equipment into the venue. Like true professionals, they made the act of carrying and assembling their massive collection of guitars, drum pieces, effects pedals, and amplifiers seem as thoughtless as putting on a wristwatch. Breaking down and setting up music gear can be a lengthy, precise science to ensure everything is cabled properly to allow proper signal flow, but it becomes second-nature and requires barely five minutes when you do it every single night for about a month.
It was my first time seeing them perform without their original vocalist/guitarist Denny Bowen, but a couple seconds into their first song proved they made a smooth transition into a power trio act. If Denny's scream-sung vocals and dueling guitar melodies were conspicuously absent, the band made up for it in tighter rhythm patterns and a whole new set list of unrecorded songs. I watched from outside the coffee shop's front display windows, feeling something like pride when the audience inside bobbed their heads and applauded wildly.
Once the show was over, I waited for them to ask me the big question of which I already prepared for over a month ago. Brendan packed their gear into the van in a precise order only he could comprehend, asking me, "So uh, would you mind if we crashed at your--"
"I'll pull my car up so you can follow."
In our two-vehicle caravan, we drove westbound on Sunset Blvd, passed the "Elliot Smith Wall," passed the bizarre, enormous hot dog sculpture in Thai Town, and made our way up the foot of the Hollywood Hills to my apartment, stopping and pointing out the windows to the Capital Records building and the smog-smeared downtown skyline. After they parked their first instinct from the streets of Baltimore was to ask, "Is our stuff okay in the van, here?" They would have brought their guitars inside no matter what I said.
My small, cozy apartment with a balcony and view of the hills and Hollywood bowl fireworks was a far cry from the century-or-two old row homes and abundantly open poverty in their city. They were more than content to lounge around inside and attempt some much needed relaxing. I told them to make themselves at home, and that I had a washer/dryer combo so they could do laundry, as well as two shower units to wash up quicker. Sam immediately removed his beige t-shirt and flopped it down on the floor--it remained as stiff as plastic and made the sound of a wobbling vinyl record. "This thing was white at the start of the tour," he said.
In all I managed to squeeze five guys into my living room--Sam's other friend Nick jumped on the tour when they hit Chicago. He adapted to sleeping on floors and a fast-food diet pretty quickly. The smell of "dude" reigned over my apartment for the next two days.
In that period of time I came to admire their ability to be comfortable in seemingly endless discomfort. Nick P. fell asleep in the center of the living room despite the other roaming bodies occasionally stepping over him to get a beer from the fridge. Brad dozed off shortly afterwards while sitting up in a chair. Brendan, Sam, Nick and I ended up staying awake, opening one beer tab after the other until sometime after 4 a.m., adding more sleepless hours to their already rough schedules.
No one can deny that a certain image tends to come with rock musicians. Sometimes fashion and hair even looms larger than the music, but anyone who sees Yukon could say nothing of the sort applies to them. Walking around on Hollywood Blvd with their unfitting, non-matching common thrift store clothes and $10 haircuts, for the most part they were aliens in bohemian Los Angeles. As they looked at a group of 20-something year old guys walking into a bar with seemingly painted-on jeans, feathered hair, studded belts and $400 motorcycle boots, they scoffed to themselves. The guys and make-up caked girls dangling from their arms moved like statues--appearing elegant if mechanical and poised for display like the model photos they emulated, but completely lacking in the breath and unabashed enthusiasm Yukon and crew wore like clothes.
The blatantly dismissive looks and comments they received under the palm-lined streets only seemed to confirm it. If those who gazed upon them felt truly indifferent and un-threatened, no one would have given them the time to make their disapproval known. I attempted to show them what mainstream media tends to glorify as the mecca of pop culture, the place all artists should aspire to be, and where breakthrough success can strike at any moment. These guys were over it in a few minutes, and all they could do was shrug and ask if I could make them some more bacon-wrapped hotdogs at my place.
To me, Yukon and many of their friends and fans embody a great deal of what makes music exciting. Music breathes and challenges you even if all the notes don't hit perfectly. It was never intended to remain in the confines of a compact disc or iPod, and if it only sounds good in those formats something is terribly wrong. Performance and the culture it attracts and affects are equally important, and my time with the band and their crew reminded that the depths of music can be limitless, and fill the air even when the amps are turned off and the guitar lays on the ground in splinters. When I waved them goodbye from the parking lot of an In-N-Out Burger, I had to wonder how many more people across the U.S. they would make feel as inspired.
Check out Yukon's MySpace page to hear their music, and be sure to catch them if they hit your town on their still ongoing tour:
Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 10:29 PM[Tunes, Flix]Post Body:
America lost two of its favorite entertainers over the past weekend, Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac. The two had acting roles in Malcolm Lee's upcoming film Soul Men, which is currently in the final stages of post-production.
Lee described the news as devastatingly sad and surreal to USA Today. "It had to be some sort of bad dream that these two giants would die on the same weekend, and both would be in my movie," he said.
Mac, 50, died on Saturday from complications related to pneumonia. The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, a chronic disorder that can cause inflammation in the lungs. Despite the condition, he would often work 12-hour days on set with no signs of trouble, and according to Lee and other film crew members, his personality would always confirm he was in the best of moods. "He was always ready to perform... in between takes Bernie would be cracking them up, giving them an impromptu routine."
Hayes, 65, died the following day after collapsing at his home near Memphis--the cause has not yet been released. Most popularly known for his award-winning theme song to the classic film Shaft, Hayes held a prolific career as an American R&B musician. He remained well-established through the 70's and through some acting roles in the 80's (first coming to my mind the excellent Escape From New York), but gained a whole new legion of fans through his role as Chef on the TV series South Park. Quitting the show in 2006 after a nine-year run, he told the press he could no longer stomach show creators' Trey Parker and Matt Stone's take on religion. He was a Scientologist, and the inciting incident came after the creators dedicated an entire episode on making jokes of the religion.
"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," Hayes said.
He may have lost some of his newer generation of fans, but nothing ceased his status as an entertainment icon.
Thursday, August 7, 2008, 4:22 AM[Tunes]Post Body:
I was walking towards a venue on Sunset Blvd in Echo Park, Los Angeles when my friend Brendan suddenly popped out of a shadow to give me a hug. It was immediately clear the dude hadn't showered in some time, but it's impossible to refuse the warm, smiling greeting of an enthusiastic friend no matter how much your discomfort.
Brendan was touring across the country with Baltimore, Maryland's progressive punk trio Yukon. It had been somewhere around three weeks since the band left home, and the stop in Los Angeles marked the half-way point before performing their way back. Tonight's show was at a coffee shop in a somewhat vacant area of town. It held an art gallery and enough space to fit at least 30 or so people between the front glass window and the stage, and at my moment of arrival much of it was already taken over by kids who either weren't old enough to get into a neighboring Silver Lake bar, or were actually eager to come out of their way to check out the more experimental sounds of unknown, unsigned bands.
Acoustics weren't on the minds of whoever built the coffee shop, so even from the outside sidewalk it was loud enough to warrant earplugs. The wall of noise emanating from an opening band within didn't seem to phase Yukon's bassist, Brad Smith, though. The antithesis of his energetic stage presence, Brad sat motionless at a cafe table, silently absorbing the atmosphere that felt every bit of 3,000 miles from home. Even in the more gritty, brick-built part of Echo Park, the artificially-planted palm trees and stucco houses in the nearby hills made it something more strange and exotic than the towns the band had played in previously: Brooklyn, Cleveland, South Dakota, Missoula, Toronoto, and Oakland just to name a few. If he wasn't so tired and concentrated on tonight's show he might have wondered what kind of people were coming to see him perform.
As I stuffed whatever lint and crumbled up receipts sitting in my pockets into my ears so I could run in and grab a cup of coffee, I was approached by Yukon's drummer Nick Podgurski--the closest member of the group to be considered a manager. Always upbeat and naturally caffeinated, he was watching the show from inside with proper earplugs and wide-eyed enthusiasm for his like-minded peers.
"Hey, what'sup dude!" he exclaimed with a hug. Nick was always somehow the cleanest despite ending each show drenched in buckets of his own sweat. As I later found out nobody in the band or traveling with them had been under a faucet of water in at least a week or longer.
"This is a great turnout," he said. "This is far more than I was expecting."
It was true, but perhaps only to the eyes of himself or a loyal fan. In the few short years since the band started creating sporadically timed percussion rhythms and complex, guitar-noodling melodies they had launched something of a fan base, but it was still considerably smaller than those of the signed indie bands you could read all the latest, if completely unnecessary and trivial updates on on Pitchforkmedia.com. The crowd might have doubled since the last time they toured through L.A. the summer before, but a Guns 'N' Roses-style stadium tour is out of the question for a while.
As I sat with Brendan, Nick, and Brad catching up, I spotted the youngest member of the group, guitarist Sam Garrett roaming back and forth from their van and the venue chatting it up with a small crowd of followers. At the age of 19, Sam can play astonishingly precise scales and leads that musicians double his age and experience are still learning. No stranger to touring, clubs, and bohemian culture despite being under the legal drinking age, Sam seemed to just enjoy seeing and interacting with whatever he could gain access to.
For bands like Yukon to survive it takes nothing less than the purest zest for art and life--money and comfort are certainly never the salvations. The guys are lucky if the income from a show provides gas and a hamburger to get them to the next town. Beds, convenient bathrooms, privacy? Ha! These things have no place in the world these more obscure bands set up for themselves on a tour. To an outsider it might seem hellish, if not downright foolish and irrational for a couple of broke young men to drive cross-country just to play some experimental punk tunes to small crowds of other broke young people. With gas prices as expensive as they currently are, and the band's only chance of sleep under a roof provided by the generosity of strangers, even I had to wonder if my friends had lost their minds a bit. Sure, these sort of adventures were fun in high school, but now most of us were in post-college land, dealing with the pressures of student loans, relationships, and more advanced careers.
Similarly to Brendan, who I was astonished to learn was only volunteering as their roadie for the fun of it, I was quickly convinced over a weekend; however, that they were in fact living life in one of the most courageous ways possible. I don't want to sound hyperbolic here; it isn't like they're spreading a message through a war-ravished country or anything, but one will admire their ability to live spontaneously, unafraid of challenges, free of illusions, and with a ferocious, if half-unconscious-in-the-middle-of-the-night-type appetite that devours every lovable and loathsome moment equally. I realized these guys treat rock & roll as a lifestyle, and they couldn't imagine it any other way.
Stay tuned for Part II.
In the meanwhile, check out this video of one of their performances:
Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 10:37 AM[Tunes, Flix]Post Body:
Remember the days when a film's theme song would help sell the movie, not to mention help sell the soundtrack? Never since 1997, when the epic, record breaking Titanic arrived in theatres, has there been such campaigning for movie theme songs. There simply aren't songs for blockbuster films like "My Heart Will Go On," sung by Celine Dion and written by songwriting pro Diane Warren. Why is this? Why don't films like the newly released Dark Knight have a song people can subconsciously link to the film? It mainly has to do with money.
Back in the day, the success of a film's theme song used to be able to gauge the success of the film before release. Bryan Adams delivered the melodramatic tune "Everything I Do (I Do it For You) for the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood in the 90's, Whitney Houston sang her heart out in The Bodyguard theme song "I Will Always Love You," and Aerosmith practically carried the film Armageddon's success by their mega hit "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing." But where are the hit songs for franchises like X-Men or Pirates of the Caribbean?
They're simply too expensive. "Artists want a ton of money now," Kathy Nelson, president of film music for Universal Pictures, told Billboard Magazine. "I remember the days when I would spend 300,000 dollars for a soundtrack like Pulp Fiction and I thought the cost would put the label under. Now artists want 300,00 just to show up." Which is particularly why the Spiderman 3 soundtrack was so expensive, as soundtrack producers paid for an original theme song from band Snow Patrol. Another reason why hit theme songs aren't helping to sell films is because record sales are also at an all time low.
This is why the trend made by writer/actor/director Zach Braff is starting to become successful. His quirky 2004 film Garden State basically compiled a lot of hip, Indie songs on the soundtrack by bands like Remy Zero and Coldplay, selling 1.2 million copies in the states alone. More recent films like Juno and Little Miss Sunshine have been benefiting from the same idea.
Another trend of avoiding the bank-breaking theme song as well as not dating the film is to create an original tune with an original artist that fits "the fabric of the movie." (Mark Savage, BBC News) For example, Annie Lennox teamed up with Howard Shore to create the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King theme song, "conceived as an Elvish lament for those who have sailed across the Sundering Sea." Now obviously these types of songs may not make it to the top 40 list, but nonetheless, they compliment the film directly. The new Chronicles of Narnia installment Prince Caspian composer Harry Gregson-Williams had a similar idea, collaborating with quirky Indie singer Regina Spektor to create its theme song.
Hans Zimmer, who co-wrote the score for The Dark Knight, says "there was never any doubt that we were going to be songless, and trust me, we were flooded with requests from every band in the world. I actually had to say no to some really interesting people." But his reasoning, along with writer/director Chris Nolan's, wasn't much about the money. The film's budget would have been able to yield a pretty hefty soundtrack with big hitters in the music industry. But Zimmer points out that in the first Batman film, Prince songs were added onto the soundtrack, which "really dates the movie." Directors like Nolan and composers like Zimmer, who are hardly rookies in the entertainment industry, have been following the trends of pairing music with film, and wish for their collaborations to remain timeless.
Monday, July 28, 2008, 9:23 PM[Our Earth, Tunes]Post Body:
If you wear black eyeliner, straightened long hair that covers at least one eye ball, and have lots of broken heart tattoos and black clothes--you are a menace to society in Russia. While so-called "emo kids" made headlines in Mexico recently for the amount of violence inflicted on them by others, the former Soviet Union is now making the subculture illegal for the amount of violence they apparently inflict on themselves.
Emo--it's short for "emotional" and typifies a genre of music that mixes melodic pop, punk, and goth. The lyrics often deal with issues of sadness, heartbreak, and suicide--the last one has officials in Russia especially riled up. According to NME, "...legislation was presented last month at a hearing held by the State Durma, where critics claimed that the 'negative' emo culture encourages anti-social behavior and glorifies suicide."
The government wants to outlaw the ability for people to appear like they listen to emo or goth music, meaning retail stores will sell a lot less skinny jeans and black nail polish in the coming months.
So far massive protests have taken place. In Krasnoyarsk, Siberia laws have already been implemented limiting emo culture, with demonstrators marching with signs reading "A Totalitarian State Encourages Stupidity."
Criticism of the music genre also started in England in recent months when two 13-year-old fans of the group My Chemical Romance committed suicide within weeks of each other.
The call for a legislative ban seems especially bizarre in this modern era as nothing of the sort happened with the hippies of the 1960s--and their large numbers of focused activists actually posed a threat to state power. In the 1980s a handful of teenagers made headlines for committing suicide after reportedly listening to heavy metal bands like Judas Priest, but most critics turned a blind eye when it only encouraged more bands in Norway to attain global fandom by creating darker, heavier, and more genuinely Satanic music. Heavy metal kids were also, arguably, greater misfits than the emo kids of today. Metal culture embraced excessive partying, beer drinking, and fist-fighting for the 'fun' of it, whereas the emo kids that I'm at least familiar with tend to keep to themselves and trick their minds into thinking they are depressed.
While Russia's actions certainly limit freedom of expression, if one considers the trials and tribulations of past subculture trends, they might actually be able to make the case that the country cares more about the individual versus the greater, non-emo society--these are kids (usually), and only a small minority of which tend to hurt themselves far more than other people.
All I know is that it seems incredibly odd that such a non-macho, considerably weaker and quieter form of music could create such an uproar in numerous parts of the world.
Oh so many concerts so little time. Once the summer rolls around there are a plethora of out door activities one could participate in. But in the past several years the music festival has risen to be a popular destination for young and old. With so many to choose from how does one decide on which to attend. Some of them have all the artists you want to see, some have many you have never seen, others provide great locations, some are more geared to one genre of music, while others are more art oriented, and yet others are all about a cause. Well, you could make the sacrifice and just pick one or two to go to, unless you are well off financially and can just attend all of them. Or, you could attend the mother of all festivals, an exceptionally well executed mash up of all of the above. ROTHBURY!
The Rothbury Music Festival was set on the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan. Surrounded by tall luscious green trees, lakes, and clean crisp blues skies. It was a resort for all kinds of music lovers. From the gorgeous trails, to the woods, beach fronts on lakes you could swim in or canoe across, a tavern, a water park, random hammocks placed through out the festival, and onsite cabins it was by far one of the most fun and relaxing 4th of July events going on this year. And that's just the location.
Over a hundred artists performed over the course of 4 days, such as the Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, 311, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival, Of Montreal, a Crystal Method DJ Set, Steel Pulse, Beth Orton, The Wailers, Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels, Sage Francis, and Bassnectar to name a few. An eclectic array of artists got together to do more than just make incredible music but participate and stand up for the changes they would like to see happen to ensure a better future for us all.
Art played a major part in the festival as well. Installations could be found all over the festival grounds. Fascinating creations were laced through the high branches of the trees of Sherwood Forest (a section of the venue located in the woods). They were hiding and flashing between beams of lasers, illuminated by colorful lights, and mysteriously looming through fog from the smoke machines. The art even spilled out on to the stage through elaborate stage ornamentations brought to us by the California originated Do Lab.
Michael Kang, formally of the String Cheese Incident, brought in last year's Burning Man's favorite. A large art installation in the form of a tree that had monkeys hanging from it. As people around the tree created energy by pounding on drums, a strobe light pulsated. The strobe light gave illusions of the monkeys swinging from vine to vine as a snake slithered up the tree after the monkeys. Much like the concept of a zoetrope, "a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures."
There was also the introduction to many festival goers to a more circus and theatrical element that is has been popularized on the west coast. This included flying trapeze artists, outrageous characters on stilts and bikes, and full on theatrical and burlesque performances.
All of this laid the perfect foundation for the event to allow fans, artists, and activists to come together and enjoy each other, our planet, and great music. A place where we could share and exchange our ideas on how to create a better place for all of us to live. Rothbury's main cause this year was Climate Change and Clean Energy Alternatives. Attendees of the festival were given the opportunity to participate in Think Tanks and an Energy Fair. The Think Tank offered attendees the chance to participate in seminars and roundtable discussions with writers, progressive politicians, activists, scientists, youth leaders, and entertainers who were performing at the festival. Discussing topics like global warming, solar and biodiesel resources, motivating the masses, implementing change in communities, demanding change from our political leaders and the media, and how to get involved with moving our society in a positive forward motion.
While strolling through the grounds of Rothbury one might stumble upon a farmer's market, whose vendors all came from the local community. So instead of your every day festival hot dog you had the choice of fresh grown organic strawberries and other good clean energy items. And for those festival goers who can't leave home without their cell phones, was a solar powered battery charging station brought to us by Bauer Power. Where they charged approximately 4-500 phones a day. All one need to do is simple drop it off, much like a coat check. While continuing on through out the journey of your day you may notice site ops going through the festival clipping roots so patrons don't fall and injure themselves or strictly just picking up cigarette butts. All this goodness began to spill over into positive intention by majority of the festival goers. Many could be witnessed discussing how their trash was separated with Green Team members placed throughout the festival to help direct people on how to properly dispose of their waste at recycling, composting, and trash stations. And the young lady you see carrying 50 or so cups to one of the stations, doesn't just drink a lot, she gathered other peoples trash. A shining example of how many began to effortlessly do their part in helping keep the grounds pristine for us all to continue enjoying.
So much attention to detail was put into creating Rothbury. From it's purpose, to the lay out of the land, to the great paramedics and peacekeepers hired to help make sure things ran smooth and that no one seriously injured, to the infusion of art, and the line up of music it is by far one of the greatest festivals this summer one could attend. Through out the weekend you could hear everyone saying it was the "One of the Greatest Festivals Ever!" From the artists who performed, the staff who worked for weeks to produce it, the volunteers who graciously volunteered their time, the attendees who traveled far and wide to be there, the media capturing the festival to share with the world, and the promoters, all sang Rothbury's praises. But have no fear for this is only the inaugural run of Rothbury. It is quite possible a new tradition in rock and roll has been started and you will have the chance to be a part it next year. Until then, take a moment to see what you can do through the music you love to help you community grow and thrive.
Monday, July 14, 2008, 2:58 PM[Art, Tunes, Green]Post Body:
The day has finally come when fun and relaxation can go hand in hand with working for a cause. A moment in history where the rock and roll lovers of the world are not just looked upon as society's delinquents but once again society's positive change. People are not just motivated to make a difference they are manning together and harnessing the power that they are already generating for a purpose. What purpose can we find music lovers banning together for? None other than the environment for which they call their retreat form the real world, mother nature at her finest.
One such example of this is a recent 4 day rock and roll festival called Rothbury, hosted in the beautiful green woods of Rothbury, Michigan. It is here during America's 4th of July celebration that "Rothbury's goal to harness the unique energy of the live music community", is brought to life; through a, "environmentally sustainable music and camping festival". By producing as close to a zero waste event as they can Rothbury is a "huge party with a purpose". It is the first to attempt to set into place an around the clock green initiative at a camping concert with over 30,000 attendees in the USA. This effort could possibly make Rothbury this Summer's Greenest Festival.
This festival has gone beyond the typical recycling initiatives that most events are beginning to participate in. Rothbury has used several methods to help reach their goal. Disposables were replaced with 100% compostables, clean energy was used, and a 24 hour Green Team was in place through out the course of the festival. There were recycling, composting, and carbon-offsetting programs also executed. As well as a huge effort to cut down on cigarette butt litter which produces about 50% of the western world‘s litter, by handing out free pocket sized ashtrays. In addition to these initiatives Rothbury also partnered with a few organizations such as Black Rock Solar, RE:VOLVE, Bauer Power, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and Global ReLeaf. Then last but not least was there ability to involve the local community and attendees in all of their efforts.
A more in depth look at all of Rothbury's efforts is truly a beautiful testament to what the power of the masses and a few driven leaders can do not just for our selves but our communities and environment. Led by greening chief and green team director Sarah Haynes founder of the Spitfire Agency, Rothbury was committed to their goals from its inception. The Rothbury offices were all greened and each company Rothbury chose to work with either through purchasing or renting products were companies whose practices support green solutions. Disposable items were replaced with compostable items that were made up of sugarcane (called Bagasse) and corn (called bioplastic). Thus eliminating majority of the trash produced at such a massive event. And if it couldn't be compostable, organizers chose to not use it. Even the vendors, sponsors, and other participants chose to use products that could only be broken down. Manned trash, recyclable, and compostable stations were located throughout the festival. This not only encouraged attendees to be more aware of what happens to their waste but also educated them as well. The educators were known as the Green Team. These volunteers were rewarded for their hard and enthusiastic work with a free weekend pass to the festival. Who wouldn't volunteer for such an opportunity, helping the environment and getting to rock out for free to many of your favorite artists.
Organizers also chose to use clean energy to help run stages, light towers, sponsor power sources, golf carts, and much more. Located behind the scenes of the festival was a large bio diesel gas station. Patrons were also encouraged to use transportation options given by the festival which helped off set the festival carbon footprint.
And not to forget that a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales went to non profit organizations. The Bonneville Environmental Foundation ( BEF), located in Portland, generates enough "pollution-free electricity to serve 35,000 households in the Midwest through their Horizon's Wind Prairie Star Project. And Global ReLeaf is planting trees in the local area.
With all these initiatives put into place and great partnerships formed, one still wonders just how they can make a festival produce little to no trash. Well this is where the beauty truly lies in Rothbury's efforts. Even further behind the festival grounds lays Rothbury's Waste Recollection Compound. This is where all that trash, compostables, and recyclables disappeared to every day. At the compound, everything was meticulously gone through and separated by dedicated volunteers. There were about 50 large bins filled with recyclable materials and a mountain of trash that would soon be turned to compost. Trash never looked so beautiful. It will also please attendees to know that all the soil produced from the Rothbury compostables is being donated back to the local community so when those new trees start sprouting, we can all feel good about the fact that our Rothbury trash really is being put back into Mother Earth.
To put things into perspective the Green Team, whose work must be applauded, consisted of 530 volunteers each working at least 20 hours over the weekend manning 1,000 of these stations (300 of which were actually in the venue). But one also has to remember that long after the adventurous weekend comes to an end there is much cleaning up to do. So for the next week after Rothbury 50 more volunteers worked collecting and composting what was left from festival. And what wasn't compostable is being donated back to the community. When Ian, one of the volunteers, was asked what he thought about all of this he said, "There is no reason why we can't do this all the time". It's a good thought to ponder, why can't we?
The efforts are immense, the involvement incredible, but wait there is more. On top of all these wondrous initiatives there is the chance for attendees to really get involved in the greening process of the festival, as well as giving back to the local community. Attendees were offered the opportunity to add a $3 or $7 donation to the price of their ticket, calling it a green ticket, and those dollars were used to help offset their travel though the different organizations or contribute to Rothbury's Solar Schools fund. Paired with Black Rock Solar, RE:Volve, and Bauer Power, Rothbury donated a minimum of $50,000 dollars worth of solar panels to help bring local Shelby Hugh School "closer to complete energy independence". And if you are curious as just to how many of us wild rock and roll kids care, out of 30-40,000 people who attended the Independence day weekend, two thirds all chose the green ticket option. Kudos America you do care.
This is just a closer glimpse of what Rothbury did in order to reach their goal of creating a nearly zero waste event. So much went into it, every detail was carefully considered. And when everyone walks away from this great experience, be it the artists, the promoters, the staff, the volunteers, the attendees, we can all say that it was one of the best rock and roll festivals that we have ever experienced. Not only were great musical moments achieved, we learned a lot about what we can do for our environment, we feel we put back into the beautiful outdoors of Michigan where we got spend a fun filled 4 day 4th of July celebration, and we walk away inspired to do just a little bit more to help our own communities. That there is the greatest achievement of Rothbury, being the large stone tossed into the lake causing a long lasting ripple effect.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 10:52 PM[Tunes]Post Body:
British film historian Richard Jeffs has discovered a long lost 9-minute interview of John Lennon and Paul McCartney while celebrating the peak of their career. The tape, which aired on BBC Radio Tuesday, includes vital information on how the singer/songwriter duo met, along with details of their creative process.
The recovered audio was found “in a film can in a damp garage in south London,” Gregory Katz of the Associated Press reports. The tape was recorded at Scottish Television studios on April 30, 1964 just after the group toured America and won the hearts of the entire Atlantic with help from the Ed Sullivan show. At the time the interview only aired in Scotland. It isn’t clear who owned the tapes or why they were left there, but the discovery was purely by chance.
Both Paul and John speak of how they came to meet as teenagers in their home city of Liverpool. “I was playing at a garden fete in the…village where I lived just outside Liverpool, playing with a group, and he came along and we met,” says Lennon. McCartney adds that they were formally introduced by a mutual friend named Ivan, who surely must be proud of his feat to this day. McCartney admitted to starting out writing exclusively comic material, referencing his first effort, “I Lost My Little Girl.”
The 2 musically inclined teens shared a love for American rock n’ roll influences Little Richard and Fats Domino. They became fast friends as they realized their common tastes and talents in music. The younger guitarist George Harrison would soon join the duo to almost complete the marketing dream known as The Beatles. Drummer Ringo Starr would come much later.
The tape also holds vital details of their creative process together where it was revealed that the 2 often wrote together but occasionally Lennon would go off and write on his own. McCartney said, “There’s no formula, because he (Lennon) can come up with one one day completely finished. We still say we both wrote it, though.” They also discussed their love of attention from female fans during live performances. “The atmosphere in theatres. It’s marvelous,” McCartney declares with ease.
The interview was relaxed, goofy and friendly, unlike the band’s wicked break up just 5 years later. Who knew these 2 would become a couple of the finest British songwriters of the entire 20th century? Well, they did. “We always knew we were good,” Paul has been quoted as saying later in life.
The BBC has announced that the tapes are now being held in a temperature-controlled warehouse to ensure its preservation. The interview will be broadcasted again later in the week on BBC Radio 4. Try catching it if you have access to Podcast downloading or satellite radio.
Frank Zappa left
this world with a legacy of boundary-shattering music before his untimely death
at 52 in 1993.His story doesn’t
end there; however, as his son Dweezil Zappa is currently reviving a body of
his father’s work all summer-long for the Zappa Plays Zappa Tour.
Dweezil’s
project actually began in 2004, and has featured other performers like Steve
Vai, Terry Bozzio, Napolean Murphy Brock, and several others to bring Frank’s
material to life.The sets tend to
focus on Frank’s mid-‘70s heyday with some famous, and just plain infamous
songs like “I Am The Slime,” “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow,” “St. Alfronzo’s
Pancake Breakfast,” among others.
Dweezil informed
the Houston Press that his father’s music speaks for itself, and he hopes to
put on shows that entertain the original fans, as well provide new ears with something they don't ordinarily hear.“Frank came in an era before
all of the corporate madness became a part of the entertainment business,” he
explains.“In my father’s era, it
was possible for an artist to do new and different things, [and] that stopped
happening when things were corporatized.”
It’s hard to
argue with Dweezil’s points as it seems incredibly bizarre today that
mainstream society-jabbing songs like “Valley Girl,” “Dancing Fool,” and the
delightfully crass “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” actually made it to regular popular radio rotation.As Dweezil’s
true-to-the-original performances suggest, though, the music works because of
its equal parts of impossibly complex woven melodies and catchy pop hooks.Quite simply, nobody has made music
like Frank Zappa since.
“I don’t have to
say anything about Frank’s music ‘cause it speaks for itself,” contends his
son.
Check out the tour dates on the official website, and hear it for
yourself
