Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away Review (2013)

 Originally written Feb 20th 2013

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have been on quite a roll as of late. Since Lyre of Orpheus, Cave and Company have delivered one great album after another (Grindermans included). But for all the power, punch and force of the last few releases, Push the Sky Away is quite the departure (musically at least). Thematically, it’s Cave delving into his usual morose territory. But here, there is a hopefulness and spirituality that I don’t think I’ve ever heard from him. Yet, that spirituality is laced and shrouded with his usual dose of irony and bitterness. As an album, it is quite cohesive, sonically, thematically, and production-wise. It almost feels like one long song. The jagged electricity of his last few efforts is replaced here by subtle textures and dream like instrumentation. It’s almost like the Boatman’s Call on acid. Of course, the center piece of this album is Jubilee Street, a bonafide masterpiece. This song is so haunting that it stays with you for days. Even for all it’s earnestness, there is still a definite darkness that surrounds the proceedings, especially on Jubilee Street. And if Jubilee Street is a peak, so is Higgs Boson Blues. Lyrically, Cave is never afraid to delve into new territory. And here, Cave most certainly unleashes some ideas I’ve never heard in a song before. Writing Jubilee Street comes to mind with it’s esoteric references to Wikipedia and various arcana and trivia that most song writers wouldn’t have a clue how to incorporate into a song. Unlike Dig Lazarus Dig, Push the Sky doesn’t set you ablaze with its  power but instead it slowly cooks you over the fire.

Most Overrated Movies

Most Overrated Movies

Careful, you may be offended by what you read.

Shawshank Redemption-

No question, the Shawshank redemption is the most overrated movie of all time. It has been heralded as a classic and is ranked number 1 on the IMDB poll. But the big question is Why? This is a decent film with good performances, a mediocre script and contrived directing. What exactly makes people think this is such a classic? What is it? Please, tell me. Explain it to me. I want to know.

 

Terrence Malick Movies-

Badlands is good. Days of Heaven is a very long movie which goes nowhere for me. The thin Red Line is an interesting film but certainly not better than Apocalypse Now or even Platoon. And then there's Tree of Life, which is just a meandering film that believes it's trying to say more than it actually does. Which is my overall critisicm of Malick.

Vertigo-

Here’s another one that people will discredit me for. But I’m sorry, I don’t buy any of the film. First off, Jimmy Stewart is like 60 years old in this film and yet he’s playing like twenty five. And the whole thing with the girl is just silly. Rear Window, Psycho, North by Northwest, Strangers on a train, Lady vanishes, Birds… they’re all better than this film. But best film of all time by sight and sound poll? So where does the adoration come from? Marty, please fill me in.

Fargo-

As far as Coen brothers movies, this isn’t even close to the top. And the TV show was better.

 

There Will Be Blood-

TWBB has a lot going for it.  A great director, a brilliant actor, an interesting plot, nice cinematography. It’s all there. And the film is rather good up till about the two hour mark. And then things go way downhill. First off, the killing of Daniel Plainviews brother makes no sense. I understand, Plainview is a bad man. But he’s a murderer too? It made no sense why the character needed to go that far. But wait… it doessn’t end there. The last part of the film is completely idiotic. It changes the entire tone of the film and not in a good way. You have watched a gritty drama for two and a half hours and suddenly the movie becomes a slapstick comedy? How high was PT when he came up with that? And yeah, you can give me the whole parable of the decay of capitalism, but a  horrible third act literally negates this entire film.

 

Citizen Kane-

Okay, I know it’s hard to bash Citizen Kane. So here I go. No doubt, it changed Hollywood filmmaking and it is a great film. But the best of all time? Really? There just aren’t enough great characters in it to make me feel like it’s the best. Casablanca is better. Better screenplay. Better characters. Better plot. The Godfather is better than Citizen Kane. Most Kubrick films are better than Citizen Kane.

 

The Departed-

The Departed is not a bad film. In fact, it’s a good film. But best picture of 2008? Considered one of the best Scorsese films? You gotta be kidding me. First off, it’s not even as good as the film it remakes (infernal Affairs). Secondly, it  is so light. It has absolutely nothing to say about anything. Okay, it’s got some clever plot twsits. But who cares? You don’t really get that invested in any of the characters. And we’ve seen the same violent cops and robbers shtick a millions times before and done better in other films (Heat comes to mind). And do I really need to mention the other films this guy has directed?

IGGY POP CONCERT REVIEW: R.O.A.R. FEST 1997

IGGY POP CONCERT REVIEW: R.O.A.R. FEST 1997

by John Shane

There have been many great experiences at concerts over the years. One of the greatest shows I ever saw was at Tinley Park Ampitheater. It was the HORDE tour with Neil Young and Neil played in a terrible thunderstorm that almost brought the whole show down. But Neil played on. It was one the highlights of my life. However, one of the most surreal experiences I ever had at a show was also at Tinley Park. This time the scene was quite different. Almost vacant, really. My friend Jake and I decided we would make it out for this obscure festival to see Iggy. We decided to get there early. On our way, we dropped some acid and we jammed Street Crazies all the way there. Once we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that there was nobody there. I mean nobody. We practically strolled into the pavilion with not a soul checking tickets. And there we sat tripping for the next 8 hours. Besides the lack of audience, which did slowly start to filter in as the day progressed, the acts that followed were lacking to say the least. The Bloodhound Gang came out and did something that resembled entertainment. Strangly, they went on to be the biggest success since then. Linda Perry came out and played some of the worst music I have ever heard. Jake and I were quite obnoxious as we were seated right in front of her and laughed and mocked her the entire set. She got so mad that she wrapped her own chords and stuff after the set and stormed off. I feel bad about that. But we were really high. But then Karma hit and Wesley Willis came out on stage to sell some cd's. Jake was kind enough to go up there on stage in front of the entire pavilion (even though it was practically empty) and buy a cd from wesley. Wesley gave him a head bump and Jake sat down. After the next act, we noticed that the cd was gone. We turned around and there was this low-life scumbag white-trash couple. They were giggling at us when Jake asked if they saw the cd. We knew it was them. Obviously Stooges fans. Reverend Horton Heat played a strong set and Jake and I rocked out to those guys. Then Sponge went on. And suddenly the entire place filled up. However since Jake and I were parked right in front of the stage, we formed a black hole of sorts with this other guy that sat in front of us and the three of us refused to stand for the entirety of Sponge's contrived, annoying set of pop rock dreck. At one point our disatisfaction seemed to catch the lead singers attention, and he leaned over and had the place shine the spot light on us, and he sang to the three of us. But the three of us were unphased and we would not relent. The lead singer had failed and we had won. Finally afterward, Iggy went on, and suddenly these two german girls started talking to us. They were both rather unattractive but we were nice and they seemed to want to talk. But then Iggy invited everyone on stage and so Jake and I rushed to the front row. We spent the rest of the show right in front of Iggy as he flinged sweat on us and rocked the house with some deep tracks.

Celebrity List

Yes folks- working in showbiz can be fun. This is a list of all the notable people I have worked with over the years. A lot of them have Chicago connections but a lot were random strokes of luck. There are some funny stories of course, and some shocking ones. And I even got to meet a couple of childhood idols. But I will share what I can remember.

LEGENDS:

Buzz Aldrin

Stan Lee

Jim Lovell

William Shatner

Iggy Pop 

Film and TV Folks:

Elliot Gould

Liam Neeson

Jamie Foxx

Jerry Stiller

Ben Stiller

Drew Barrymore

Kathy Bates

John Cusack

Joan Cusak

Steve Coogan

Viola Davis

Vince Vaughn 

Jennifer Hudson

Zoe Saldana

Gillian Flynn

Michelle Rodriguez

Oliver Platt

Eamon Walker

Entire casts of Chicago PD, Fire and Med

Tiffany Boone(the whole cast of the Chi)

Gillian Anderson

Rosie O'Donnell

Lou Diamond Phillips

Rainn Wilson

Angelica Houston

Robert Englund

Eric Andre

Keenan Thomson

Jefferey Ross

Nick Offerman

Keke Palmer

Denis Farina (at his sons wedding)

Brian Dennehy (at moscow at night when i was 11)

Susan Lucci

Karen Black

Steve Mcqueen (director)

William Friedkin

Abel Ferrara (rode in limo with abel ferrara) 

Dave McKean

Carla Gugino

Mercedes Rheull

John Pankow

Rockmund Dunbar

Jared Logan

David Shore

Lisa Bonet

Tiffany Haddish

Lily Singh

JB Smoove

Jay Pharoah

Tararji P Henson (3 times!)

Guilianna Rancic

Michael Shannon

Ethan Embry

Robin Thede

Epatha Merkelson

Wanda Sykes

Deon Cole

Andy Richter

Richard Roeper

Tim Kazurinsky

Tom Bosley

CariDee English

Joyce Dewitt

The Soup Nazi

Bob Eubanks

Chuck Woolery

Supernanny

The Oddities People

Kelly Osbourne

Marshal D. Jones

Torrey Devitto

Bill Bellamy

Doug E. Fresh



SPORTS PEOPLE:

Dwayne Wade

Giannis Antenokoumpo (the entire 2019-2020 Bucks)

Scottie Pippen

Gary Payton

Taj Gibson

Joakim Noah

Pau Gasol

Jimmy Butler

Hope Solo

Candice Parker

Danica Patrick

Pannarin

Jonathon Toews

Patrick Sharp 

Ovechkin

(many more hockey stars)

John Mchanroe

Roger Federer

Bjorn Borg

Djokavic

Andy Roddick

Sloane Stephens

Mike Ditka (3 times)

Jason mckie

Mexican bear

Reggie Wayne

Lovie Smith

Jim Harbaugh

Joe Madden

Coach Quenville

Fred Hoiberg

Eddie Jordan

Rulon Gardner

Denis Savard

Aimee Mullins



MUSIC FOLKS:

Sting

Jennifer Hudson

Andrea Bocceili

Renee Fleming 2x

The Wailers

Donald Kinsey

Chubby Checker

Reggie Watts

Ric Ocasek

Tommy Lee

Leanne Rhymes

MC Lyte

Crystal Castles

Mark Sandman and Dana Colley

Billy Corgan

Donny Wahlberg


POLITICIANS:

Rahm Emanaul

Scott Walker

Dick Durban

Bob Dold

Mayor Daley

Betsy Devos


NEWS/SPORTS ANCHORS:
 

Sage Steele

Robin Roberts

Mike Torico

Pat Hughes

Sherry Margolis

dean richards

Janet Davies

Ron magers

Cheryl Burton

David Muir

Bill Kurtis

bill zwecker

Robert Jordan

Ira Glass

Laura Schwartz

James carville

Mary matlin

Rob Stafford

Allison Rosatti

Ji Suk Yi


OTHER NOTABLE PEOPLE:

Bruce Mau

Michio Kaku

All the Shows!

This is a comprehensive list of all the concerts I've seen in my life. I am very lucky that I got a chance to see some of these shows. HORDE 1997 was a particulaly memorable day. I met Mark Sandman after watching Morphine jam with John Popper, Les Claypool and John Medeski. And then later on, Neil Young played, and a rain storm almost decimated the entire event. But Neil kept playing. And we never left.

The Who- This was a gift for my mom which initially was postponed. So it was almost an entire year before we ended up going. Viv, my dad and my mom all went out to Holy Frijoles and The Who were very good at United Center. The sound and projections were very impressive and harkened back to their mythology in a really cool, trippy way. They did the Rock which was unusual but had a particularly cool montage. Roger was in fine voice and Pete didn't miss a note. Zach Starkey was there along with Pete's brother on backing guitar.

Ray Davies- I went up to Madison to see this show. I saw it with Josh and it was a strong show. He played some of his better new material but he played a lot of the classics as well. Not a knock out but it was a solid performance from a legend.

Paul McCartney- In all fairness, I did not actually see this entire concert at Wrigley way back in 2011. But, Vivian, Kris Polinski and I sneaked in and caught about a half an hour. We saw him do Strawberry fields, we saw him do something, and we saw him do yesterday. And then the end suite. It was rocking and I regret not seeing the whole thing. But it was a memorable story.

Robert Plant w Allison Krauss, T-Bone Burnette-

An All Star lineup, headed by a legend of rock. Plant was in fine form and he and Krauss worked their folky magic, with T-bone conducting the whole affair at Ravinia. A couple of Zeppelin tunes were played but all and all, Plant proved that he is a mature artist who wasn't afraid to move on, long ago from Zep. And his career has panned out nicely because of it.

Roger Waters- I saw this show way back in 2002 with Andre and Gene. My parents were there too although we never ran into them there. He played Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun at the start of the second set. That was memorable, but honestly, I can't really remember a whole lot from this show.

Bob Dylan(3 times)

Lou Reed

Leonard Cohen

Neil Young (Day after Burroughs died and there was a hurricane)

Paul Simon

Tom Waits(twice, -- Once in Nashville at the Shriner)

David Bowie-97

Roxy Music- (twice 2001&2022)

Bryan ferry 94+14

King Crimson

Adrian Belew

Iggy Pop(5 times)

Stooges

Iggy and the stooges (twice)

Motorhead

Blue Oyster Cult

Cheap Trick

Ramones

Television

Tom Verlaine 2007

Patti Smith

Pere Ubu

Rocket From the tombs

Jah Wobble

Wire

Devo

Bob Mould

Ex

X

Steely Dan

Santana (twice)

Los Lobos

Neville Brothers

Michael Frenti

Phish

U2

Nick Cave (Lollopalooza 94, 2001 solo, last tour w/ harvey+ Bad Seeds twice)

Grinderman (twice)

PJ Harvey (w/ her all-star band)

Siouxsee and the Banshees

The Cure

Echo and the Bunnymen

Psychedelic Furs

Bauhaus

Love and Rockets
Peter Murphy and David J 

Poptone (Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, Diva)

Dead Can Dance

Billy Idol (twice)

The The

The Church

Mark Lanegan (5 times)

NIN

Afghan Whigs

Morphine (3 times—98 new years eve- one of their last American shows)

Janes Addiction 2x(91+16)

Porno For Pyros

Curve

Smashing Pumpkins (3 times)

Sonic Youth

Pixies (twice)

Frank black

Breeders

L7

Boredoms 

Jon Spencer

G love

Posies(owed Josh Twelve bucks)

Guided By Voices

Butthole Surfers

Shellac (twice)

Cake

fugazi

Feelies

The Smile (Thom Yorke+Johnny Greenwood)

Jean Michel Jarre

Air- X2

Tricky (x2:1997/2016)

Massive Attack X2 (once w/Damon Albarn and once with Liz Frazier)

Martina Topley-Bird

Bjork

Aphex Twin (97)

Juana Molina

Moby

Nouvelle vague (twice)

KristaBell with Marc Collin

Ice T

Beastie boys

Tribe Called Quest

Faith No More

Beck

Living Colour(five times)

Fishbone

Bad brains

Lee Scratch Perry

John Zorn

Dakka brakka

Andrew Hill

Benny Carter

John Lee Hooker 1993

Buddy Guy

Donald Kinsey Trio

The Temptations

Parliament (2X)

Bootsy Collins

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Spoon

Peaches (twice)

Crystal Castles

CSS

White Mystery

Arcade Fire (X2)

BRMC

Queens Of The Stone Age (twice-once at metro & acoustic set in Army Surplus on Belmont)

Them crooked vultures

Josh Homme w/iggy

Eagles of Death Metal

Death From Above 1979

Chelsea Wolfe (X2)

St Vincent

Angel Olson

kurt vile

Black Angels

A Place to Bury Strangers 

Tegan and Sara

Lemon Twigs

soft moon

Glove

Pussy Riot

Starcrawler

Rival Sons

Sons of The Silent Age

Reverend Horton Heat

Blasters

Merle Haggard

Patti Labelle

Joanna neusom (twice)

Lollapalooza 91&94

Riot fest 14-15,

HORDE FEST

SKOAL FEST

Why the Oscars Suck (2011)

I’m not one to write meaningless blogs about trivial things like TV shows and especially award shows, but after last night’s Oscars I felt inspired. Not by the creativity of the show or the dazzle and glitz of it all. This inspiration comes from something a little more negative. First off, I understand the concept: Your producer pulled out late in the game and with his exit followed the exit of your then-host Eddie Murphy. That’s a hard place to be stuck in between. I commend the producers for scrambling to make the show happen. That I can’t deny. But it’s not like it would have been canceled. However, I still can’t excuse the total lack of originality, quality and vision that has been lacking in this show for quite sometime. Now, don’t worry. I don’t have any preconceived notions that these types of shows are supposed to be great because they almost never are. They are bloated, Gaudi, self-important, self-congratulatory bullshit that shines no actual light on what were actually the best films of the year.

Why the Oscars Suck. Case in point, the best film of last year, in my opinion was Drive. Yes, Drive may not be the most original selection since it has received rave reviews from everyone, but one thing is for certain: Drive is cinema at its best; visually arresting, great lead character, methodical pacing, stylized cinematography, abstract imagery and a story that is always challenging our expectations. To keep from turning this into a review of Drive, I will simply Drive straight to my point. Why was Drive NOT nominated as the Tenth best picture? You have a slot open- why did this film not fill this slot? Was it too violent? Maybe people were disappointed in the kind of film they were expecting to see versus the film that was in front of them? Perhaps the director, Nicolas Winding Refn is too much of an Auteur for the Academy? His films aren’t safe and don’t stick to a formula. They challenge their audience, so maybe this turned people off? Last I checked, filmmakers striving for these latter goals, used to be praised and awarded for pushing the limits. Now, films of this nature are simply labeled ‘Cult’. Not to say there weren’t good films up for awards this year. Many of the nominated films are actually quite good. The Artist certainly challenges the norms of the art form but in a gimmicky, nostaligic way. Woody Allen’s film is excellent but it’s a bit of a shame to give awards to a person who doesn’t care about them and who doesn’t even show up. I commend Scorsese for breaking out of his own mold and doing something completely different for himself, but is Hugo anything really that original? Isn’t Marty revisiting the past yet again? Yet, Jonah Hill gets a nomination for a role that he essentially plays himself, but Michael Fassbender gets nothing for his work in Shame. Something seems very wrong about that.

Then there is the Award Show itself. Crystal’s opening monologue and song and dance routine was so catastrophic I actually had to look away in horror. I’m glad they peppered the show with a lot of pre-taped segments because that cut down on the Crystal(something I generally don’t do). Cirque Du Soleil was bewildering and didn’t translate to the small screen. And Meryl Streep won. In general, nothing really happened. I guess my point is, the state of cinema is in bad shape. And therefore the show that’s supposed to celebrate the art form will not be very good because what are you celebrating? Mediocre films? Can we even call them films anymore? None of them are shot on actual film anymore. Sadly, I'm not alone in my disillusion. Look at the faces in the audience-They don’t even care. Not just because of the tremendous jealousy that exists in Hollywood, but these celebs do so many awards shows around this time, by the time Oscars come, all spontaneity and excitement was left behind at the Golden Globes. Industry people know what bad shape the state of the art form is in and they don’t even mask their jaded attitudes. Moneyball? Is that the best Hollywood has to offer? Listen to ESPN. The Help? Really? Isn’t that a Lifetime channel movie? Even Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life is rather terrible. A filmmaker trying so hard to do something artistic that you can just hear the pitch: “It’s a visual poem to my father and god”. Sold! Sold? I’m glad executives took a chance on something like Tree of Life but the actual film is a total failure. (Trying to be Ozu but closer to film class failure).

Yet, there Drive sits, with the engine running- Waiting to go for the award but never will because it wasn’t even nominated. You would think at this point in time, people would get the idea of nominating movies that people will actually consider to be good twenty years from now. Yes, that’s a hard call because who’s a psychic? But I think you can gather if a movie seems like it will have staying power. Or better yet, not choosing films that you think will NOT have staying power- Like the Help, or Moneyball. Look at the travesties of Ordinary People beating out Raging Bull. Or Crash winning best picture. If it looks brilliant and innovative that’s because it probably is. So please, Academy people, next year, pick some films that you know are game changers and that people will watch in the future and NOT pick the boring, contrived drivel that people can tell were made solely for the purpose of winning an award. I’ll still watch either way, but only because it’s fun to comment on it with my facebook friends.

Greatest Hendrix Guitar Moments

1. The Star Spangled Banner (Woodstock- 1969)
2. Machine Gun (Band Of Gypsies- 1969)
3. I Don't Live Today (San Diego- 1968)
4. Sunshine Of Your Love (Winterland- 1967)

5. Hear My Train A Coming (Atlanta- 1970)
6. Voodoo Chile (Electric Ladyland)
7. Manic Depression (Winterland-1967)
8. Gypsy Eyes (Electric Ladyland)
9. Driving South (Radio One)
10. All Along The Watchtower (Electric Ladyland)
11. Midnight (studio track-unreleased)

I know I know... this is silly but I had to do it for those who aren't aware of some of these versions.
Let's break it down.

1. Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock:
This gets the top spot because never has a musician created such a political statement as Hendrix did with just some distortion. Truly breathtaking, and even though the Woodstock performance doesn't rate highly as an over-all concert for him, this certainly was a game changer for guitarists and music in general.

2. Machine Gun at the Fillmore January 1st 1969:
The Star Spangled Banner was Jimi's take on another composers work, but Machine Gun is Jimi's own statement. No one will ever come close to this performance at least in terms of the electric guitar. Every note is superb and if you aren't moved by the end of this, you have no soul.

3. I Don't Live Today- San Diego 1969:
Before Machine Gun and Star Spangled Banner, there was I Don't Live Today,  Jimi's first political statement and again he makes it with his guitar. This is one of the absolute most vicious guitar solos ever performed and sets the stage for his later master strokes. He even plays a line from the Star Spangled Banner in this, alluding to things to come. Oh, and the drum intro is one of the best drum intros of all time.

4. Sunshine of Your Love- Winterland, 1969:
Jimi loved covering other peoples stuff and whenever he did, it was with masterful results, most of the time exceeding the quality of the original songs. In this case, he made a statement early on, that he can cover Clapton and take it to levels Clapton would've never thought possible much less executable. I'm sure people in the audience were in shock after hearing something like this. No one had ever heard anything like this before and the Cream version seems tame in comparison. And I love the Cream version!

5. Hear My Train A Coming- Atlanta, 1970 (available on the Stages boxed set):
Jimi's blues masterpiece. Not only is Jimi the greatest ROCK guitarist of all time, he is also the best blues guitarist ever. Problem is, his grand blues opus was never recorded officially and there are so many live versions going around, it' s hard to choose, but this one may be the best one I've heard. He seems to just rip into this one and some of the softer moments are just beautiful. He also has his full effects package in tow. Stevie Ray Vaughn built an entire career on copying some of the licks from this tune.

6. Voodoo Chile- Electric Ladyland:
Jimi's other blues opus, which he recorded for Electric Ladyland. Jimi, soaring to new, sexy heights on this one- You can hear the ground breaking. Of course, Slight Return should get honorable mention, as that too, is Jimi's defining solo.