LADY GAGA ARRIVES IN CHICAGO, COMMANDING YOUR ATTENTION

Let us begin before the show, before the doors open to the venue of the Rosemont Theatre, on this cold Friday night. Local news crews are out en masse, filming up and down the crowd seeking fan reaction for there 10:00 news feed. Next to me stands a mother with her daughter, calm, collected, until the white light of the news camera lights up..then the mother “lights up” too: “I think Lady Gaga is pure filth, with a capital F!!!..I’m only here because my daughter likes her!” I chime in: “Ma’am, have you seen her tour before?’ “No!” She says, “I don’t need to!…I just know that she’s vile…just VILE!!’ “Ma’am, you know what your mantra should be for 2010? DON’T – FEAR – ART!! And so it goes.

What happens next before Lady Gaga goes on is also a sight to behold. The mixers and crew at the back of the house decide to interject 6 songs of Michael Jackson to the delight of the crowd…everything from “Beat It” to “Smooth Criminal” to “Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough”, and on and on. There is a reason for this, more than getting this crowd pumped up,, Michael Jackson’s camp were actively pursuing Lady Gaga during his rehearsals in LA before the round of London gigs were set to begin at the O2 Arena. Aparently Micheal was interested in her doing a song together, in which Lady Gaga would get artistic control, including choreography…alas, it would never happen, hence the celebration of Michael’s msic before Lady Gaga’s show begins. Needless to say it works in getting this crowd punped up!

Questions: Is Lady Gaga’s show over the top with multiple costume changes? YES.
Is Lady Gaga’s show colorful and full of performance art vignettes? YES.
Is Lady Gaga’s show raunchy and full of some nasty dialog? YES.

And that is the point. Like Madonna (an obvious influence), Pink, Kylie Minogue, Britney, etc, Lady Gaga is pursuing a brand of pop that is more of a spectacle, where visual, choreography, shock value is just as important as the music itself.

To have the show in a 3-D ish perspective sloped down into a gigantic picture frame adds to the allure of pure showmanship. Each song is meticulously thought out as if to see an exhibit in an art gallery- some pieces attract your attention, others, you simply walk on by. Personally, I would’ve put the kabash on the constant stage banter..some- ok- but not all the time between and during songs. Case in point: What stops a show dead in its tracks? 5 minutes of chatting to the crowd, at the keyboard during a slow rendition of “Poker Face”, which seemed to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R to complete. It needlessly doesn’t provide any musical nourishment to me at all, to the point where that I wished I could’ve stretched out to take a short nap.

Shows like this, spctacles like this deserve so much more. If given the chance, make it a non-stop dance party. I would want my audience drained, exhausted upon leaving the venue, period, end of story.Yes, Lady Gaga’s show is high voltage fun. Yes, I left gratified, feeling that I accomplished visually, capturing visually the essence of her show. The drawbacks that I feel are common to my past experieces with shows of this type, including the Madonna’s, the Pink’s, etc..that is that downtime absolutely throws the show to a halt, with not only the fans, but the artist as well. You stand around dumbfounded until things pick up again.

Maybe between costume changes you can launch into a DJ, positioned either stage left or stage right, doing a mash up of your hits with other artists….something…anything..
The Lady Gaga wannabees, imitators were definitely out en masse, including one guy dressed in a giant panda outfit, with a sign taped to his chest: “PANDAS FOR GAGA”. The poor guy’s panda head was so big, he was asked by security to remove it becuse it was obsrtucting other ticketholders view of the stage.
Definitely, Lady Gaga commands your undivided attention.The only dilemma’s left: Venue size when she tours again (figure arena size from here on out).

What the fans will wear the next time she comes through town?

The Flaming Lips with Phoenix and Pete Yorn
The Lips: A Visual Feast Topped with a Sonic Onslaught

You know that this is going to be a good show when you see mainman Wayne Coyne out on the stage 30 minutes before his band goes on prepping and preparing his grab bag of treats he’s gonna throw out to the crowd during his band’s set. A non-stop showman, providing a conductor’s mind set with a kids appetite for everything visual- Wayne strikes a chord of letting yourself go- and try your best to stay in the moment. A Wayne mantra might be like- ENJOY THIS NIGHT OR ELSE!
A compulsive master of ceremonies from the start:

1. All band members except Wayne emerge from the most private of parts of a woman’s anatomy amidst a giant LED screen to wave “hello”
2. Wayne in his gigantic bubble rolling through the crowd
3. Confetti- lots and lots of confetti in all shapes and sizes
4. Balloons- lots and lots of balloons of all shapes and sizes
5. More confetti, from canons and shooters
6. Wayne standing on the shoulders of a stage hand in an oversized apesuit
7. Wayne with lots of shakers, playing them to the microphone
8. Lots of cymbal crashing
9. Lots and lots of gong thwacking
10. Couch time onstage with the hand-picked ladies plucked from the audience
11. Muted trumpet playing to a funeral march
12. Megaphone blasting with strobelight attached to Wayne’s chest to emphasize the sonic blsat of optimism of the beauty of life
13. And on and on.

All in all,  a celebration of life and love with a healthy dose of sonic psycedelic freak-out.
Had a great time photographing this spectacle!
Phoenix: Sad to hear the news about the drummer’s mother not in good health…the acoustic set was just ok..simply too short of a set.
Pete Yorn: Decent enough set- talented bunch of musicians.
The night definitely belongs to the Lips and nothing but the Lips…

HALLOWEEN ARRIVES A LITTLE LATE TO CHICAGO

The “Scorched Earth and Take No Prisoners Tour”, better known as any Rob Zombie show, arrived into Chicago on a Sunday night. Yep, an F’n Sunday night! Not a Saturday night as Chicago deserves, but a Sunday night!! This had to do with the Pixies being in town at the same venue for a three night stand the day before. I bring this up because as much as there was crowd enthusiasm as in any Rob Zombie show, it could have been SO MUCH MORE…coulda’ woulda’ shoulda…this will not be a bitchy whiney session, believe me..( Rob always brings it over the top no matter what day of the week it is).

Rob, being ever the showman that he is, brought his ghoulish theatrics with a snap-crack band to promote his ever evolving brand of over the top theatrical metal spiked with 1960’s visions of monsters and demons.
Rob is meticulous when it comes to presentation and true showmanship. Nothing is ever left to chance, except maybe some of the exchanges and banter in crowd interaction. Chicago is a special place to him, the kind of town that truly appreciates his kind of mayhem- knowing full well that by the end of one of the evening’s first numbers, “Superbeast”- the wall of heat coming off of the main floor from the gigantic swell of the moshing is a scary sign of things to come. Let there be no doubt- no one on this planet punishes his audience with such an onslaught of sight and sound like Rob Zombie.

Hop-scotching between three risers at the lip of the stage, dreadlocks flying in the breeze of constant motion, Rob works the crowd from one end to the other constantly during each and every song, making absolutely sure that no one on the main floor stands in boredom. Nothing punches up this show more than John 5..in my opinion, the most underrated guitarist currently playing live today. Razor-sharp in attack and scope, capable of blasting out blistering riffs at a moment’s notice- he’s a sight to behold live, just as much as Rob.

Overall- a very satisfying evening. Again- to get the best possible shots of Rob and his cohorts- I gamble and proceed to the main floor. Like Tool at Lollapalooza- huge mistake..or so I think. I’m dinged and banged from head to toe. Smacked on my head too many times to count- I simply don’t care. As much as Rob is the cosummate showman- I’m the same way with my camera and vision. It’s absolutely worth the punishment to achieve visual success in my photography. I don’t venture out to the pits as much as I used to- only for viable forward thinking artists do I do this. And as much as I think that I’m nuts for doing this- the rewards of visual proof are more than satisfying in every way.

Calm, cool and collected…like four bookworms convening in some garage outside of Boston to start making some music. That’s the vibe to start this second of three shows at the Aragon Ballroom..they come out nonchalant…all casual..that says a lot for these four talented individuals; Black, Kim, Dave and Joey…to have such a hugely influential back catalog like this..and to start the show with four obscure off-kilter B-sides..well- that says a lot. I mean, “Dancing the Manta Ray”? The crowd gears up in excitement…to this?!? Kind of quiet in response…so even that the show starts off with this, the band is genuinely enjoying uncovering these little nuggets, and twisting them around to play live. Have to say that the vibe from the crowd is odd and off-beat…simply polite applause between songs. And then BAM!! On the giant L.E.D. screen backdrop: The word “DOOLITTLE” appears in all its glory….the venue goes absolutely nuts!! And for good reason…no other album by the Pixies garners such credibility. Hugely, and I mean HUGELY influential, and so varied in scope and style, down to the imagery by Vaughn Oliver and 23 Envelope, “Doolittle” encompasses everything you could hope for in songwriting, storytelling and downright weirdness. From the hysteria of its opening track “Despair”, to its end in “Gouge Away”, the album as a whole still sounds fresh and forward thinking to this very day.

At the completion of this song cycle…SHOCK and AWE!!! All four members bask in the crazy nutty applause, proceed to the lip of the stage, hold hands and then take a couple of bows. Who would’ve thought? After all, these four individuals are not known for their camaraderie…but who can blame them? They just completed a song cycle that was mesmerizing to witness live, and from where I was standing people were getting emotional witnessing this union onstage…It says a lot about this band and its unique place in the alternative indie rock pantheon..that people still care, that they want to see and hear their favorite musicians from another by-gone era and relive a true storytelling time…I for one get it along with the other 5,000 strong participants.

I’ve loved this band from its inception on 4ad back in the day (a label I did a ton of work for by the way)…and feel quite happy and satisfied having witnessed and photographed this spectacle…

I must reflect on the King of Pop.

I think it is hip to honor him, just as much as I would give praise to any of my favorite bands of the moment- Fleet Foxes, Passion Pit, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, etc.. You have to love his solo albums, like “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” in particular, which generated such incredibly catchy tunes, great dance music, forward thinking videos, and on and on. To this day, my favorite album of his is still “Off the Wall”. The album as a whole bursts with enjoyment, a celebration of life and dance. It encompasses incredibly catchy arrangements, with sophisticated production from Quincy Jones. There’s no mistaking of that quirky falsetto of a voice- lyrics sung with such heartfelt emotion…word had it that he was an absolute workaholic on the making of this record- Quincy would often say later that he was very much impressed with his work ethic paying attention to every little detail imaginable, down to correct vocal phrasing and nuances, brass arrangements, bass playing- that he was considered the illegitimate offspring of Brian Wilson.

Upon hearing the album on my way into work today, I feel regenerated and filled with immense gratitude for Michael Jackson, leaving us with such great treasures in his musical catalog.
I should also reflect at this moment that I have not listened to “Off the Wall” in its entirety in quite a few years. Too many to count if I want to be absolutely truthful. Well, not anymore. I can sing the praises of many an indie band and artist and wax poetic with the best of them at any given time…but I will also sing the praises of Michael Jackson and his music, and I don’t feel ashamed to admit one bit admitiing this.

Nothing really tops sophisticated, thoughtful, catchy pop. Nothing.
Thank you Micheal for your huge contributions to this genre.