Jim Flanigan Looks at the World
Turning the Mundane into Fundane Since 2015
How in the bloody hell did I end up at this show over the weekend?
Some say it’s because I’m Father of the Year. I volunteered to take my 15-year-old daughter and her friend to see the feminist punk band Destroy Boys. You may remember them from their haunting ballad “I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m on Probation.” Anyway, I took these two lovely young ladies into Chicago to Metro to see the show.
Continue reading “A Tale of Two Concerts”
Are you up for a one question concert quiz? Lovely! Please read on. We have an extended holiday weekend in the US with lots of concerts in town. A couple friends and I were choosing between these two free concerts.
I know you’re thinking, “Who the hell is Mark Farner?” He was a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for Grand Funk Railroad, so certainly a front man for GFR like Gramm was for Foreigner.
Frontier Days doesn’t really take place on the frontier, but in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. It’s not that far, but I wasn’t up for a drive on consecutive evenings. We had to pick one. The setlists were compelling. Here’s a link to Gramm’s setlist featuring a veritable hit parade of familiar Foreigner tunes. Here’s the link to Farner’s setlist featuring slightly older Grand Funk hits.
So, quiz time. Which did we choose?
Continue reading “Concert Quiz”I haven’t done a NMFOR post in almost 4 months. Without live music, it sometimes seems to me that new music doesn’t exist. But it does! There’s some excellent new music being released. Here are some links to new music by Tame Imapala, My Morning Jacket, Bruce Springsteen, and Dayglow. Now the last song isn’t new. It was released over 2 years ago by a high school kid with a green screen, some musical talent, and the ability to write an easy, listenable song. Over 42 million YouTube views later and it finally is getting some radio airplay.
I want to make it clear – none of these artists have died. They are just examples of new music being made despite the Age of COVID.
That brings me to this new release of an old song written by someone taken from us by COVID – John Prine. Kurt Vile teamed with John Prine to record Prine’s “How Lucky.” I like the contrast between Vile’s clean vocals and Prine’s rough, cancer-scarred vocals that somehow still sound great. And together at the end of the song, their voices blend together magically.
It got me thinking about all the musicians we lost in 2020. I put together this supergroup …
Continue reading “New Music for Old Rockers – RIP Edition”
I have a decision to make. Not about this Kurt Vile song called Loading Zones. No decision here. It’s great. Enjoy.
I find the guitar work to be sanguine, enchanting, and utterly beguiling. Vile’s vocals are smooth as usual, but I really like the chanted refrain of ‘I park for free’ adding some punch and edge to the song. It reminds me of days gone bye when I would drive around for 30 minutes looking for a parking spot in Chicago because … I park for free! Times have changed. I use Spot Hero now and pay for convenient parking. Call me a sell out. I’ll own it.
Kurt Vile has been around the music biz for a while, and has garnered a following, but not much airplay outside of Pretty Pimpin’ from a few years back. Loading Zones has put Vile back in the spotlight with what I consider to be a far superior song to a very good tune in Pretty Pimpin’. If you like the Vile sound and want to listen to a concert by Kurt Vile & The Violators (just a great band name), check out this 50 minute video concert.
My upcoming decision does concern Kurt Vile. My two oldest kids cast their votes for Kurt Vile. I’m torn. I’ll explain.
Continue reading “New Music for Old Rockers – Kurt Vile Edition”
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 