Hard News: Lucinda Williams made me cry
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Ben,
The first surely. Apart from anything else, as I think I/S pointed out, taking it off his site doesn't make it disappear from the internet, so if he really wants to disown it, he actually needs to make a positive move to say "the writing that used to be here I have removed for this reason".
By removing it but nothing else it was still out there, with no disclaimer or notice attached.
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Ben, it is easy to see how your "curious" can resemble what's "argumentative" to others. Not that I'm wanting one.
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By removing it but nothing else it was still out there, with no disclaimer or notice attached.
In general, I think an annotation about what you've removed is a good idea.
I had to take out a couple of things from the Veitch thread over the weekend (one nasty, the other a baseless claim about someone else) and rather than simply making each disappear, I noted what I'd done.
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I don't quite get the outrage about this from various quarters. Trotter wrote a piece that made sense to him at the time, that he later thought better of, and he decided to take it off the page where resides the writing that does reflect his views.
So, Ben, do you get to retrospectively 'cleanse' the NBR's website and archives of material under your byline that doesn't now 'make sense' (i.e. make you look like a bit of a cock and/or is plain wrong)?
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This was not, it must be said, a young crowd. I'm 46, and there were plenty of people older than me (including, it should be noted, the singer herself, who is looking fine at 55). And we (mostly) all sat there, our bums anchored, twitching urgently in position.
Wellington was much the same. Maybe it was the Nat Radio crowd who were going cos Kim Hill went! I'm not sure some of them were expecting the twin guitar attack and the big sound. Some calls to turn the band down. Not from me though.
But there were puzzling moments: Buick 6 coming on unannounced and playing forever (although I did like their version of Marque Moon); the little huddles Lucinda got into with her minder; the music stand she kept consulting.
I was expecting the Buick 6 set and totally enjoyed it. The only dissapointment was that they didn't do Cinnamon Girl like they have been on their states tour. In Wellington she had sound issues which made her a little distracted. Got to say though from row 3 Lucinda looks every bit of her 56 years now and her years of hard living are catching up with her, capos on the wrong fret, reading the lyrics from a book, but then she starts singing and that voice just slays you. Worth the drive down from Napier.
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But big ups to the big bloke in the blue shirt, who rocked out up in the Circle all night
A contrary view, (to a point)...
When I have paid $100, $200 or $300 for a seat at a concert, I expect to be able to watch it and listen un-harassed without some selfish dickhead standing up in front of me! They can either be shown the door, or I can be given a refund.
I have stuffed knees and I had trouble standing for a concert at 20 and so by 30 I had largely given up going to concerts that I always loved (that and smokey pubs). The advent of seated areas has allowed me to go back, and I can now enjoy music again.
I agree to the extent that I think that ‘all-seated’ pop concerts are just dumb, and are just asking for conflicts of this type… but if you want to dance - go to the mosh pit and don’t ruin an event for people behind you who have paid good money for the ability to sit down.
However my sympathy does wane for those with more money than sense who want seats on the flat at the front of the stage… that is just silly.
But the circle is not for dancing EVER.
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Yes, I'm afraid I'm a sitter downer at concerts. My beautiful friend bought us tickets to see Kylie Minogue, and paid a great deal of money for them, too, she did. They were seats on the flat at the front of the stage. Yes, that's right. And at Kylie Minogue. My darling Sal was all into the dancing thing. I however was not, so I saw alot of the man in front of me's not very nice bum.
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So, Ben, do you get to retrospectively 'cleanse' the NBR's website and archives of material under your byline that doesn't now 'make sense'
Just to get in before more blog conspiracies swirl - soon after I left NBR, the management did "cleanse" all my previous op-ed pieces from the site and its archives, without consulting me or asking if I wanted copies. Their site, their rules, I guess.
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But the circle is not for dancing EVER.
James Brown refused to continue playing until everyone on the upper floor of the St James was up and dancing.
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But the circle is not for dancing EVER.
I should note that the big guy was standing at the top of the aisle and didn't seem to be blocking anyone's view. That was kinda the irony. It was much easier for people in the circle to get up and dance than the people on the floor.
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James Brown refused to continue playing until everyone on the upper floor of the St James was up and dancing.
Thus loosening the ceiling plaster that fell in large chunks at later gigs? I miss that place.
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'Right in Time' from 2007 -- more like a country song than her current band plays it, but still beautiful ...
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Just to get in before more blog conspiracies swirl - soon after I left NBR, the management did "cleanse" all my previous op-ed pieces from the site and its archives, without consulting me or asking if I wanted copies.
So, you know, if anyone printed out these now valuable collectors' items at the time, you could probably sell them for huge profit on Trade Me. But only to my mum.
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James Brown refused to continue playing until everyone on the upper floor of the St James was up and dancing.
Yes, so that would have been a full refund for me then? As they say, yeah right... just a ruined night
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I think calling an entire audience up and dancing to a 70 YEAR OLD MAN for at least one song a "ruined night" is a tad misplaced.
Point taken however. Perhaps you should simply buy the DVD of concerts though?
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Point taken however. Perhaps you should simply buy the DVD of concerts though?
Ah... so people who are not fully able-bodied should be excluded then? Perhaps they should just stay at home so that they do not disturb the proper people. Nice.
If someone charges me for a 'seat' I would have thought that I would have a reasonable expectation of enjoying it. At the sametime, whenever possible public events should go to best efforts of providing for everyone's needs.
(Though I am also jealous... I would like to be able to dance iin the mosh pit!)
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I think the point is that gigs should provide for the entirely predictable needs of their diverse audiences - some of whom will want to sit with an uninterrupted view while others wish a bit o getting down. Not that hard to keep both sets of people happy, surely?
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Thus loosening the ceiling plaster that fell in large chunks at later gigs? I miss that place.
It's an absolutely lovely theatre with gorgeous detailing. I wish Those In Charge would pull their heads out of their asses and refurbish it. What's the latest plan, anyway? Closed forever, soon to be demolished?
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Roger, I accept my post was a little "harder" than I intended but I don't believe I was actively begrudging the disabled a concert experience.
Yes, some concerts are better served by a well designed floorplan that lets each to their own, as I believe you've agreed. But James Brown! Come on man! =)
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In the hands of private property owners whose desires are sacrosanct. There is no such thing as society, you know.
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Gareth, don't under-rate the dancin on the inside .
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Gareth, don't under-rate the dancin on the inside.
Indeed. And I did actually think about my frustrated groove in terms of someone who has no choice but to dance sitting down.
One of the happier things I've seen all year was a young bloke in a wheelchair havin' it large with his mates in the Boiler Room at this year's Big Day Out.
It hopefully won't do any harm to note that they were all abso-fucking-lutely trollied on E. Clearly, when you need to dance, there are some awesome things you can do with a wheelchair.
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But James Brown! Come on man!
OK... can I have a copy of the list of performers that the disabled can't attend? Just so I know.
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I'm pretty down with funky chair-dancing, actually. Particularly on the top floor of the St James, which always made me a bit woozy. So high! So steep!
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My Lucinda Williams experience was not quite as positive as many of yours - I was seated close to the back of the stalls just under the balcony. It seems that this area has difficult acoustics - by the time the sound reached my ears all subtlety was lost and things were a bit fog-horn-like. A pity - i wanted to enjoy it and I am familiar with and do much like her recorded music.
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