Tag: music

by jad

May Day

Today was May Day. This was a sign left over from the massive rally and march that took place here during the day—I’m not sure how so many could take the day off work, but I’m glad. I, however, joined the after-hours crew for the 5 o’clock shift at a much smaller rally. I even got to use a bullhorn after all these years. Here’s a little from what I had to say today: Looking around, I want to cry out in the words of Alfred Hayes, who wrote: Into the streets May First!Into the roaring Square!Shake the midtown towers!Shatter … Continue reading “May Day” →

by jad

R.I.P. Velvet Q

I went to a funeral on Friday the 13th. It was the official end of Velvet Q, a local band we’ve loved and seen so many times over the years; this is Mallory writing the final set lists. I have two of those from concerts past. I didn’t take one of these. “While there are people still to miss me—I’m trying to die / I’m trying to say goodbye.” How much grieving is too much grieving? When are you allowed to become angry again? How does that song go again? Ah, yes. “I am a rock-bottom riser. And I owe … Continue reading “R.I.P. Velvet Q” →

by jad

I Brought My Dad With Me

We went to see @lpgiobbi at the @showbox last night and ended up standing right behind her parents for the first half of her set. The whole place seemed full of friends and family, greeting and hugging each other around the stage, purposefully designed to be “in the round” to add to that feeling of intimacy. In fact, Leah’s whole tour was designed to align with Thanksgiving, ending with a show in her hometown of Eugene. It’s the “Way Back Home” tour. There was something absolutely infectious about this sweet familial atmosphere; kisses were blown from across the decks, signs … Continue reading “I Brought My Dad With Me” →

by jad

So Much Love in Me

I heard a live recording of Depeche Mode’s So Much Love for the first time today that amplifies the level of menace to the lyrics that’s in the original version, though much less viscerally and in your face: I can’t runI have triedThere’s a thornIn my sideThere is somethingI can’t hide There is so much love in me. Dave’s voice sounds angry against the mechanical rum-pum-pum beat that’s a lot more spartan and martial than the original mix, giving the whole a charged air of protest. There is something so resonant in this for me. I have said this a … Continue reading “So Much Love in Me” →

by jad

At the Kraken

It’s been so long since I’ve felt motivated to go to a concert, let alone, do “concert photography” i.e. take a camera with me and hope for the best. This was Friday night at the “new” Kraken (which was the “old” Café Racer), and it was just the right level of low-key for me. The band was Bitch Slap, who are a lot of fun (and the drummer is my type of clown). The crowd was thin and mostly seated in a large crescent, so it felt awkward to stand in the middle and block people’s view. Plus, I haven’t … Continue reading “At the Kraken” →

by jad

Stuck on Repeat

I brought a bunch of my old CDs back with me from Lebanon, prioritizing the harder-to-find local releases I listened to in high school and undergrad, like Soap Kills, Scrambled Eggs, Zeid and the Wings, and the one and only major label release by the 90s rap group, Aks’ser. That album in particular is a weird trip back down memory lane, which is appropriate enough, given the transport metaphor in the group’s name (it can be read as both “going the wrong way down a one-way street” and “against the current”). It features several self-referential call-backs to earlier parts of … Continue reading “Stuck on Repeat” →

by jad

Asteroid City

“But you can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep So go live your dreams and live them real deep. There is some countin’ money and there’s some countin’ sheep. Oh, you can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep – If you don’t fall asleep.” (Jarvis Cocker) I watched ‘Asteroid City’ on the ten-hour flight to Frankfurt coming here, and I don’t think I was fully awake to fully grasp it, but I think it’s a movie about grief and purpose and the stories we let ourselves to find purpose in grief, or grief in purpose, etc. “Asteroid City … Continue reading “Asteroid City” →

by jad

Rituals & Liturgies, Fathers & Sons

The last time I was in this venue seeing this band was also the first time I started imagining myself taking photos in spaces like these. That’s the night I met Dom and Ellie and asked about their cameras; I even spoke to veterans like John whom I’ve seen at nearly every gig I’ve been to since, arm raised, Canon blazing. Michael and I reminisced about that last night; it hasn’t even been a whole year, but it feels a lot longer. In that time, I’ve enjoyed figuring out something like a style and bits and pieces of a technique … Continue reading “Rituals & Liturgies, Fathers & Sons” →

by jad

World Photography Day 2023

Today is #WorldPhotographyDay and it trips me right out to look back on how far I’ve come with whatever this is since last year, when I wasn’t sure why people kept giving me cameras or what the hell I was supposed to do with them. I took photos, of course, but I wasn’t sure if it was “photography” — and I knew I wasn’t a photographer, that’s for damn sure. But I’m not as sure anymore. x Someone who gave me the best compliment I could have ever received* about this silly little hobby of mine posted something the other day about … Continue reading “World Photography Day 2023” →