adam, todd, and tilly

i finally have a spare minute to talk a little about the adam green concert on sunday. i know there are a lot of people who think the guy is a) completely nuts and b) totally unnecessary. just today i read a discussion thread on my favourite austrian newspaper der standard's website where supposedly sophisticated people discussed adam green and the standard review of green's latest album. i couldn't help wondering what's wrong with fun, with a little un-PC lyrics, with a little craziness? and that is what you get from adam green. most of those who had contributed to that thread claimed that adam's fans are older teenage girls who only like him because he looks rather cute or cute-ish and/or because he is a bit of a clown. not exactly who i saw at the concert. yes, of course there were those girlies in front of the stage, but there were people from, i'd say, 16 to 56, and i don't think the majority was that young, younger than, say, 23.

anyway. i'd seen adam green before - that was almost exactly one year ago, but at a much smaller venue. which was perfect for him. i prefer smaller venues anyway, they're a lot more intimate. but adam green has outgrown them, he has too many fans.

when he appeared on stage to the music of vangelis (made me chuckle), the first thing i asked myself (and i am sure i was not the only one) whether there was anything illegal left to smoke in all of vienna that evening. but when you think about it, he cannot have been completely stoned or high or whatever, because he did not miss a tone, he did not miss a cue, his timing was spot-on. and i have seen other artists forget a line of their songs before. (the sweetest was tori amos once, at a vienna concert. and can you blame adam green for forgetting a line when he has written so many songs within only a few years? come on.)

of course not everything he said was incredibly rich in content, not everything was deeply philosophical, some of it was funny, some of it very tongue-in-cheek, some of it was not incredibly funny, and he could have spared us a couple of comments. but he talks to the audience, and i like that in artists. i like people who click with their audiences. i don't like people who walk on stage, play some songs, and then bugger off again without having said a word. makes you feel like they haven't even really noticed there is anybody out there.

so what did he play? a lot. he's got rather short songs, so he can fit a whole lot of them into a couple of hours. he played songs off all his albums, some of them really big hits, some of them quieter, not so well-known songs. and you've got to hand it to him: he is not a bad singer at all. i said the same thing last time. i like his voice, i like what he does with it. and i do like many of his quirky lyrics. but of course i do - i am, after all, a poet who writes conversations with kitchen utensils.

i was happy to hear we're not supposed to be lovers, one of my favourite adam green songs; i have actually borrowed a few lines from the song for the epigraph of today's poem. we got to hear jessica -

Jessica Simpson, where has your love gone, it's not in your music, no. [...]
Jessica, Jessica Simpson, you've got it all wrong. Your fraudulent smile ...

and this quite nice line

My body's in shambles encrusted with brambles that sharpen the air I breathe.

he played emily, of course, carolina, hollywood bowl (off the new album), gemstones, and his first big hit here: friends of mine.

he once interrupted himself, singing "i don't want to play this song anymore ..." - which was not so new for those who had been to other adam green concerts. he does that sometimes. he improvised a little, though not as much as last time i saw him. he sang half of the oldie my girl, high notes and all. quite funny.

when he came back for encores, he finally started asking the audience what they wanted to hear. someone suggested baby's gonna die tonight, and he said the band did not know that one, but then he decided to sing it on his own, a cappella. how many artists would do that? i think a lot of fans were waiting for kokomo, but he did not sing it this time. *sobsob* but, as they say, you can't have it all.

i enjoyed myself. so did my husband. and a friend we met after the concert. there is nothing wrong with having a little - and occasionally un-PC - fun on a sunday night.
kurier.at has some pictures if you are interested, including pics of support acts only son and jeffrey lewis band.


other news: i finished my fifth round of 30 poems today. finally. i thought it'd never end! *G* i have been mostly braindead for the last days, and i do need a break, though i am not sure how long it will be. last time my time-out lasted nearly two months. today's poem is called Plucking Daisy Petals. here's an excerpt

Still, you pick a dandelion every day,
blow its gauzy carcass southward, and I
build castles with unwritten letters, walls
crawling with your name. In spartan
bedrooms, we're in league with the devil.

had to edit in, because i just received word from don levin that not only one, but three of my poems will be used in the anthology From the Garden of the Gods! it was the fastest acceptance note i ever had, everything happened in the space of a few hours. i am thrilled! and i already know i will be in very good company!


we have set up the computer again after that virus intermezzo - a lot of hours of work went into that. sigh.


had a look at todd goldman's artwork again today. i just adore the characters. if you are not familiar with him, check out this site.


song of the day ... the ice storm, big gust and you by tilly & the wall. i am addicted to them and their tap-dancing. they put a smile on my face every time i listen to them.