I’m learning guitar

I’m learning guitar. It is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Plus my left hand fingers feel weird now because of the blisters. It’s sort of awkward because my job entails typing.

Drummers singing

In my book, drumming and singing simultaneously makes you a god of rock.

Don Henley, singing on the greatest song ever made, Hotel California (Don Felder and Joe Walsh having guitar sex at the end of the song is extraordinary as well):

This one’s from The Last Waltz, so it’s highly produced. That’s Levon Helm on the set. Curious that Robbie Robertson has a double neck guitar here, and in the previous video Felder has one.

I guess I’ll do a Ringo video, too (even though he’s out of it nowadays). If I remember correctly, this is from The Beatles’ first trip to America in 1964 (can you imagine it?):

(update: the first video I posted seemed to work only on youtube.com, not embedded here)

The only other really big drummer-singer with whom I am familiar would be Phil Collins, but I’m not really a big Phil Collins fan, so I’ll not put up a video of him.

All is right in the world

I saw Jenny Lewis. All is right in the world. This is one of those beautiful reminders that the “right now” is perfect.

Koko is a really cool sort of building out in Camden Town, only a fifteen minute brisk walk from my dorm. It has several (steep, other than the ground floor) levels, and Abe Lincoln style boxes. It’s a very old and important looking concert hall.

When I arrived, the pre-show music included George Harrison, John Fogerty, and Lou Reed. The first song I heard when I walked in was “Isn’t It a Pity“. Amazing. You know the show is going to be good when the pre-show music is George Harrison.

Now, I arrived at 6:45 for doors at 7:00. I showed up a little later than I had intended because I am a poor planner and chose to eat dinner too late. There was only short line at Koko when I arrived, so I thought I might be able to edge my way in to the front row. However, once I got in (I didn’t check my coat, both because I wanted to get to the front quickly and because I didn’t have any cash with me) the front row was already filled. Mostly. There were these two girls who I stood behind, and one of them had sprawled out at the barrier to save a space for some mysterious friend of hers. I was kind of upset because that was the only space left in the front row when I got there. So I stood behind her, secretly hoping the pressure would force her to move out of the way in guilt. But she didn’t. And worst of all her friend never showed up. And she never really allowed me enough room to squeeze in to the front row. So I spent the entire show standing behind her. Angrily.

Moving on.

The opener was this crazy guy named Benji Hughes, who has the longest beard and deepest voice I have heard in a long time. In fact, he was one of the openers when I went to see Rilo Kiley in New York on 3 June 2008 (the other one being Thao Nguyen and The Get Down Stay Down). His band started out without him, with a piece in 6/8 that sounded remarkably like “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (the guitarist played a mournful David Gilmour solo over a minor progression, so I approved; his guitar had feathers hanging from it, which was also funny), and then he came on to sing the rest of the opening songs.

That was fine, but then the magic happened. Oh, yes. Jenny Lewis came onto the stage, starting off with “Jack Killed Mom“. She was beautiful. There are no other words I can use to describe her. She’s amazing. And beautiful. And adorable.

The concert continued with a whole bunch of songs from both Jenny’s first album, Rabbit Fur Coat, which is a lighter, countrier album, and her newest album, Acid Tongue (there seems to be no last.fm link…), for which she is on tour, which is a darker, country-rockier album. She played a few of my favorite Jenny solo songs, including “You Are What You Love“, “Rise Up With Fists“, and “Happy” (from the first album), and “Acid Tongue“, “Jack Killed Mom”, and “The Next Messiah” (from the second album). During the encore, she and Johnathan Rice (boo) sang a duet on “Love Hurts“, which was very cool. It is also important to note that throughout the concert, “Farmer” Dave Scher, who is apparently going to be Venkman in Ghostbusters 3, was a god on the lap steel guitar.

I don’t have much else to say about the subject. I hope you all love Jenny Lewis as much as I do. She’s so good on stage, because she used to be an actress, and her voice and lyrics are beautiful. I know at least my mother will appreciate the sort of country style she brings to the stage. I will see her again as soon as possible, to satisfy my love.

Omnipotency

Here are two clips that are very important. You have probably heard about Jimi Hendrix playing with his teeth, playing behind his back, or lighting his guitar on fire. If you want to be considered a human of any worth, you must watch these clips, and I recommend using headphones unless you have a speaker system that works well at high volume.

The second clip is a bit more disturbing than the first, but no less powerful.

Did you feel it? On “Hey Joe”, you should feel chills when he starts picking with his teeth. You should feel it in your heart. No words can describe it.

Why are these so important? Again, no words can describe it. Jimi Hendrix is more than a man, more than a man plus a guitar, he is the ineffable soul of music and everything that entails. The fact that he can do anything with a guitar means that he is all that and more. And these clips are the proof.

It’s like when Alanis Morissette speaks the word of God in Dogma and makes Ben Affleck’s head explode (tried to find a good clip of this, the best I could do was this Spanish dubbed one).