Music and Visual Arts Reviews

Tired of all kind of crappy flics you can’t get past the first 10 minutes or require serious therapy if you do ? Need some proof - try watching Duplicity (starring Julia Roberts & Clive Owen) or a bunch of others that make up for the vast majority of the movie factory output worldwide. Looking for the kind of movies that make you hang on to your seat getting thrilled about what the next scene would bring ? I know it sounds like a cheap infomercial introduction, but you’ll be happy you read this once you watch and discover what this outstanding French director got to showcase.

With all the talk around “Un Prophete”, winner of the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Academy Awards for the best foreign film category, I got really interested about what all the talk could be and researched some web content about Jacques Audiard, the film’s director. Another drop-out (he studied literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne but didn't finish his degree) that makes it big you would say, but I think it’s another brillant example where someone finds his real call and goes for it, glad he did.

Not really attracted by “Un Prophete” ‘s plot (prison drama) I was looking up his previous work and discovered a little gem “De battre mon coeur s'est arête” (The Beat my Heart Skipped) that really makes you happy about watching movies again. Introducing Niels Arestrup, a Dane turned French right from the birth that had raffled up twice Cannes award for best supporting actor for both movies (Prophete and De battre..) And Romain Duris that you might remember from L’Auberge Espagnole series among the most popular movies he starred in, he’s actually on the short list of contemporary top French actors.

Sur mes levres highly recommended as well with an early impression of Vincent Cassel, good plot, great acting and interesting movie to see.

Finally, once I’ve watched the 2 above-mentioned movies, got intrigued enough to want to get to “Un Prophete” and while I had found it to be extremely well done and acted, you really have to get past the movie start (at least the first half hour or so) in order to get hooked up. Even when you do, it is a quite lengthy exercice, you know one of those that makes you happy you took the time, especially with an ending that rewards you for the time spent. Arestrup does his magic again and the young Tahar Rahim drives this movie up there among the best of 2009. His quote while quite inspiring sounds a bit corny, however it only suits his character and the way he delivered it:

“I was watching three or four movies a week, every week. And after a while I was unselfconscious enough and pretentious enough to think that, yes, I could be up there on the screen too. That could be me.”

In case you had any doubt, Audiard has become my new hero since I had discovered his art.

Eric Clapton & Jeff Beck in Montreal - One bright evening this February 22 2010

2010-02-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

Feb. 22 2010 - one quite special treat with the two guitar legends playing together for the last good deal of the show. 3 hours of real treat in total that is. Brilliant Beck guitar solos and stage presence outshining Mr. Clapton quite a few times during the gig. Extremely subtle and plush sound though from Clapton's guitar solos.

45 minutes of opening up for Jeff Beck with his own excellent band including Sting's pianist Jason Rebello and Montreal's own Rhonda Smith formerly part of the band of the artist formerly known as Prince :)

Exploring quite a diverse musical space Mr. Beck, a real treat going from rock to jazz rock to briliantly twisted versions of Beatles (A day in the life) and Puccini (Nessun dorma) including a full fledged classic orchestra on stage. Superb ! Clapton back after a short break straight into unplugged 2 classic guitar versions of Leyla and others. Fully plugged part was though the high note of the gig with a very very good "I shot the sherriff" extended concert version, Cocaine, wrapping up with a triumphant Crossroads version for the encore. Great sound, a concert to remember, looking forward to Jeff Beck's upcoming album to include quite a few of the concert tunes.

Montreal Gazette & La Presse concert reviews:

http://communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/wordsandmusic/archive/2010/02/23/concert-review-eric-clapton-and-jeff-beck-at-the-bell-centre-feb-22-2010.aspx

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/arts/musique/critiques-de-spectacles/201002/23/01-954338-jeff-beck-et-eric-clapton-au-centre-bell-drole-de-soiree.php

Youtubes from last night's gig :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_W0x3ORg_0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY67_rzCInU

others from the same tour - Madison Square Garden & O2 in London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwgugdo-rYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwgugdo-rYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfU9CzyEcSM

http://www.ericclapton.com/tour

Avatar@IMAX 3D

2010-01-24T15:51:00.000-08:00

It took about 2 weeks to be able to get good seats to the only IMAX in town showing the movie. 2:46 hours that go suprisingly fast, the whole visual experience a real feast, idea & story continuing in the line of previously released movies, revolutionary entertaining nevertheless.

Extended HD trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdxXPV9GNQ

Film excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z1b2kVD--o&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-1-HM

Main theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_oAwg9nnIE&feature=related

Manouche Jazz makes for great entertaining

2009-12-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

The Lost Fingers

3 guys out of Québec City (OK, maybe I should mention Mikaloff originally from the west coast) playing acoustic guitars and bass are putting on an incredibly fun show at L'Etoile, the new 1000 seat theatre hall at 10-30 complex in Brossard (Qc.)

You should hear their live version of AC/DC's Thunderstruck introduction, it is absolutely hilarious. Not to mention very inventive sidetracking and getting back to the original tune, pretty smart and fun stuff. Byron "Maiden"Mykaloff (last one on the right) proves to be a very good showman and responsible for getting audiences up and running. Sound quality top notch and tickets are a steal too at the rate theiy're going for.

There must be a reason behind their platinum album certification for Lost in the 80s right ?

"Dr." prefix used to spruce up Christian Roberge's introduction in between 2 solos must probably originate in his Quebec Conservatory of Music credentials, that's actually where the two met (Roberge and Mikaloff).

There's really so much talent around here which might get you the wrong idea that snow and freezing temperatures are actually fostering some misterious artistic development quality. One can only speculate about that so much while one thing is sure, obvious and quite sad: global warming definitely fails to reach the Saint-Laurent grounds :)

Recently Discovered Musical Treasures

2009-12-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

Rodrigo y Gabriela

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_y_Gabriela
http://www.myspace.com/rodrigoygabriela

Incredibly gifted guitar duo, their sense of rhytm and inventivity is really leaving you in awe and dreaming of the chance to see them live (Jazz Fest 2010 ?) and be part of the lucky crowd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5VFWA2YKdo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNc5o9TU0t0

"Live in Japan" one hell of a live performance electrifying the audience. One question puzzles me though: Where in the world do they get the energy to do a full show at the same incredible fiery pace as they do ?

No North-American gigs scheduled until April 2010, crap:( To think they're originally from Mexico and not getting back over here, but then again they might fear H1N1 or simply enjoiying the good life in Europe, Australia and Japan, where pretty much all their shows are scheduled up until then. If these guys could only hear what I'm saying: Los gringos le están esperando.

Steffen Shackinger
http://www.steffenschackinger.com/

While guitar is not necessarily my favorite instrument I must admit to have been struck by this guy's music craftmanship screaming classic rock guitar influences and there's genuine Clapton-class in the air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX61Jlvd-Yw

Curat constitutional ! Muzica !!! (RO)

2009-12-07T11:28:00.001-08:00

click aici pt. Muzica

The morning after / Dimineata de dupå...exit poll-uri

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3 months later... / 3 luni mai tîrziu...

(Pupat toti Peata Endependentii)

Globalizare: Cinecittà s-a relocalizat la Vaslui (RO)

2009-12-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Dacå nu stiati, în familie sîntem mari consumatori de filme românesti în special cele de dupå '90, iar searå am våzut "Politist, adj." al lui Porumboiu, premiu la Cannes, Cu filmul lui anterior "A fost sau n-a fost" în memorie (unul din cele preferate personal) te-astepti la ceva foarte interesant, chiar dacå total diferit ca stil.

Filmul în total mi-a pårut insuportabil de static si anticinematografic si se terminå exact cum te astepti, frustrant. Bineînteles cå are cîteva scene simpatice, iar cea finalå cu DEX-ul are destulå filozofie în ea. Cealaltå scenå care te intrigå e analiza pînå la epuizare a versurilor melodiei lui Mirabela Dauer, melodie reluatå de cîteva ori pînå la epuizarea nervoaså generalå, dar asta si e intentia. Dacå nu må însel, e o paralelå între puzzle-ul montat aici si cel cu DEX-ul. In rest pare så monteze tensiune în asteptare peste tensiune în asteptare cu zero outcome. Nu stiu cum se face, dar în versiunea în englezå am gåsit mai multe merite filmului. "432" - celålalt mare premiu la Cannes e un fel de puseu de adrenalinå din punct de vedere al actiunii prin comparatie.

Tot din capitolul torturå în caz de tendinte maso se recomandå "Youth without youth" al lui Coppola (dupå un roman de Eliade) våzut la cinema si rezistat pînå la sfîrsitul filmului, cu o micå deosebire, imaginile sînt foarte artistice, deci genul artistic tîmpitor. Erare humanum est - completati continuarea...

Cu toate astea gåsesc comentariul åsta admirabil si sînt de acord cu majoritatea continutului:

http://cinesseur.blogspot.com/2009/07/politist-adjectiv-articolul-nehotarat.html

Un alt comentariu cel putin la fel de interesant aici:

http://www.movieblog.ro/note-de-subsol-%e2%80%93%e2%80%9cpolitist-adjectiv%e2%80%9d-de-corneliu-porumboiu/

2 dintre actori:

http://www.cinemagia.ro/actori/dragos-bucur-529/ - excelent în "Furia", "Marfa si banii"

http://www.cinemagia.ro/actori/vlad-ivanov-30295/ - face un rol scurt, bun si contrastant de fresh comparat cu restul filmului ; printre altele a jucat si în "432" si în "Amintiri din Epoca de Aur (partea I si II)"

Il suspectez pe Porumboiu de a fi fåcut filmul intentionat dupå reteta infailibilå care potential poate aduce premiul la Cannes, dar asta poate fi foarte bine un simptom de paranoia implantatå în subconstient în vremurile de tristå amintire.

Printre altele, în scurtul timp petrecut în Bucuresti în octombrie anul åsta, ne-am nimerit în fatå la un cinematograf pe Magheru si am intrat så vedem "Amintiri din Epoca de Aur (partea II)" unde prin contrast (fatå de de fotografia din sala de cinema din articolul de mai sus) sala era plinå oki, majoritatea pustime si a fost foarte entertaining. Stiu, entertaining, e opusul intelectualismului elitist cinematografic european cu tendinte timide de infiltrare peste ocean, dar asta e situatia, e un nivel acolo sus în sfere înalte pe la juriul de la Cannes care ne scapå nouå marea maså de ignoranti cu preferinte triviale în materie de filme.

Mi-e teamå ca må paste deschiderea unui nou blog pe teme de cinema, dar mi-am amintit cå am deja blogul prezent in englezå pe care as putea trece comentariile cinematografice bilingve la capitolul "other arts". E grav, vå zic.

Bilingv, vorba unui fost coleg originar din Europa de Est confesîndu-se noului patron: "Dupå ora 4 sînt complet bilingv - bulgarå si ruså" - apropo acum e si "stand-up comic" în timpul liber.

Asa cå pt. cine e prin zonå în Bucuresti mergeti så vedeti "Amintiri din Epoca de Aur (partea I sau II)" dacå nu l-ati våzut încå, cu mascå anti-H1N1 pe figurå dacå vå luati dupå mass-media mogulilor:) N-o legati prea strîns înså ca så puteti totusi rîde în voie. Pt. cine nu, multumiti-vå cu vreo copie piratatå desi n-am dat de asa ceva, nu încå pt. filmul åsta.

In Bucuresti de Pasti dupå 19 ani (RO)

2009-12-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

Hartå interactivå Bucuresti - vizitati virtual orice loc din oras - Google Earth-like 360 degrees street view. Foarte bine copiat dupå original si o tonå de locuri acoperite. http://www.norc.ro/

(1) Cismigiu (Monte-Carlo); (2) Siesta; (3) When it's hot it's hot; (4) Heråstråu în drum spre Istanbul

(5) Måriuca ne face un semn cîti ani are :)

(6) Cotroceni; (7) Sf. Elefterie; (8) stil brîncovenesc; (9) deasupra Mårii Negre, în drum spre Istanbul

DJ Butelie

My new hero - l-am våzut în interviu la TV, absolut fascinant. Poezia lui "Usa de fier" este formidabilå spuså de el în interviu. Cînd o citesti parcå nu mai are acelasi punch, omul are carisma lui care nu transpare pe hîrtia virtualå (web).

O uşă din fier, ce n-a auzit de mine
Stă ţintuită-n perete, al naibii de bine
Cu moaca-i aceiaşi, rece dură şi gri
Priveşte la mine de parcă n-aş fi

Dar chiar nu sunt, nicicând pentru ea
Chiar două milenii, în dosu-i de-aş sta
Ignor ignoranţa-i, prezenţa ei o ignor
Şi ies zi de zi, peste ea urc şi cobor

Închisă, deschisă, mereu aceeaşi poveste
Căci uşa din fier, nu e, chiar dacă este
Nu îmi zâmbeşte nici măcar o clipă
Mă-ncearcă probabil, să vadă, mi-e frică?

Ha, Ha, Ha! Râd de cei ce inventat-o-au
Inspiraţi din poveşti, pentru copii, cu Bau-Bau
Poveşti ce înspăimântă micuţii să pape
Şi uşi ce se zice că libertatea desparte

Nu e adevărat, libertatea există oriunde
Aşa că, uşa din fier, din acestă poveste
O fi ea o uşă, dar nu e, chiar dacă este

Sunt unii, chiar mulţi, pentru care e un mister
Ce n-au văzut încă, o uşă din fier
Of, săracii de ei, cuminţii, tăcuţii mormânt
De uşa din ei, închişi sunt demult

Aceştia nu-s liberi, chiar dacă nu-s condamnaţi
În propria lor închisoare, pe viaţă-s întemniţaţi
Iar uşa din fier, din ei, ce nu se vede
Pe fiecare îl macină, până se pierde

La ei altfel stă treaba, e o altă poveste
Iar uşa din fier e, chiar dacă nu este.

Şi-atunci care sunt liberi şi care-s închişi?
Care sunt cele şi cele mai groaznice uşi?
În libertate închis, sau liber în închisoare?
Unde-i, vă-ntreb şi mă-ntreb uneori,
Marea diferenţă dintre libertăţi şi-nchisori?

Hm, vă spun eu, ce-am mai spus, repetând,
Închisoarea fiecăruia e la fiecare în gând
La fel şi cu libertatea, aceiaşi poveste,
Cine-i închis poate fi liber şi cine-i liber...poate nu este!

http://www.observator.info/actualitate-1/penitenciarul-un-loc-unde-persoanele-private-de-libertate-au-si-sansa-de-a-si-descoperi-calitatile

Orgasmizationalul - Sinteza zilei

O emisiune cu "All stars" (toti greii) in materie de jurnalism - Valentin Stan, Ciutacu, Mircea Badea, etc. foarte entertaining, 2 ore de bla-bla cam mult totusi... Nu exista subiect la care amicul Valentin Stan så nu producå o probå de pe laptop, de data asta ultima bîlba a lui Båsescu - "orgasmizational" - prilej de bla-bla si poante pe cel putin o jumåtate de orå. Englezisme frantuzisme bågate "la greu" din 2 în 2 cuvinte. Desfiintat articol Plesu care-l denigreazå pe A.S.R. principele Radu de Romania (Radu Duda pt. prieteni), proaspåt candidat la presedentie, alegeri la toamnå. (Hic, eu cu cine votez ?). Cum de îndråzneste cine se crede Plesu åsta stai så vezi ce rahaturi a fåcut el Plesu pe vremea împuscatului da stai så vezi ce-a zis un bun prieten de-al lui Plesu despre el. Toate cu probe irefutabile (o fi de origine turceascå si åsta ce porci dom'le..) in direct de pe laptopul incins la maximum de cite WAVz, MP3z, MPEGz, YouTubez a rulat si då-i si luptå. Ciutacu replici mai acide decît otetul de caså din vremurile de tristå aminitire, Mircea Badea suprinzåtor de OK si de bun simt în replici. Asta cînd nu monologheazå interminabil si fascinant pt. audientele în crestere mai ceva ca Dow Jones de la 12 noaptea în sus. Comentariile la adresa lui Stan pe blog - priceless for the rest there's mastercard - "laptopistu isteric", "zå papagals" si altele asemenea. Nu stiu de ce dar am impresia cå Stan åsta a angajat ceva consultantå de la echipa de public image management a lui Madonna sau Howard Stern - campania "socheazå si cîstigi".

(1) si (2) Valentin Stan; (3) Mircea Badea; (4) Victor Ciutacu - unul mai independent ca altul

(5) sau poate nu ?

Bonus pt. cine a avut råbdare så citeascå pînå aici:
http://www.ciutacu.ro/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE7BH2JPkwY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I68YuOoILw&feature=related

Så mai mentionez cå l-au eliberat pe Gigel Becali de Pasti ca så facå cruci måtånii si alte nenumårate si sincere acte de credintå în direct pe 25 din cele 24 de posturi TV autohtone ? + în direct la Dan Diaconescu din zori si pînå-n searå continuu no commercials doar peroratii peroratii cu 3 benzi de stiri rulînd ametitor de independent una de alta în partea de jos a ecranului pe OTV si lumea urmåreste nene nu se încurcå. Båi åia de peste ocean habar n-aveti ce-i aia actiune in direct nene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COTtm6Moa8w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66VRd_pOXfo

The Opposite of Entertaining

2009-11-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

(versiunea RO aici)

In case you didn’t know, I’m a big-time consumer of Romanian post-90’s movies and the one I did watch last night is "Police, adj." by Corneliu Porumboiu, winner of an important award at Cannes Film Festival in 2009 (3rd award actually at the same festival). With his previous movie in mind "12:08 East of Bucharest (A fost sau n-a fost), one of my favorites, I was expecting something quite interesting while totally different type of a movie altogether from what I could gather reading about it. Found it unbearably static, but you expect that when you get to some elitist intentionally out-of-the ordinary European movies. Got that no-editing and raw shooting stamp that quite a few of the most recent Romanian "new school" movies promoted as the new norm.

OK, how about the interesting parts then ? What makes this movie so special ? To me, and I’m by no means a pro when it comes to reviews, there were a few parts worth enjoying – in-depth analysis of the apparently stupid lyrics of the song played over and over again, a contrast between what seems to be real stupid turned into surprisingly valid mix of interpretations.

The final climax scene is also quite original and the way the police chief gets to the bottom of meaning of words based on the dictionary definitions comes through surprisingly well. However, as a Romanian language speaker, I got no idea how this would come through when filtered out by subtitles since I didn’t follow those in English at all. So a total of a couple of memorable scenes put in balance with the rest of the movie that seems to build up tension in waiting over building up tension in waiting with zero outcome. Including one of those frustrating no-ends that are becoming more and more the norm in lots of contemporary movies.

Compared to this movie, “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days” (another Cannes-awarded Romanian movie) seems to be a pure adrenaline rush and believe me, it is actually very far from that. And speaking of frustrating movie experiences, another example of a torturing plot, this time signed Francis Ford Coppola - "Youth without youth" based on a novel by Mircea Eliade one of the big shiny names in Romanian literature, I still wonder how I could resist all the way to the conclusion of it stuck to the theater seat, on remote possibility might be the movie photography direction, a quite artistic one.

Here below filmography for two of the actors in "Police, adj." (a candidate to the Oscars' foreign movie section for 2010):

http://www.cinemagia.ro/actori/dragos-bucur-529/ - which I found to be an excellent actor otherwise in at least a couple of other previous movies, unfortunately not much material for him to build upon for this one
http://www.cinemagia.ro/actori/vlad-ivanov-30295/ - a good and short role for him, contrasting with the rest of the movie – he was part of the cast too in “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days” among others

I kind of suspect the director (Porumboiu) to have intentionally concocted “Police, adj.” with the latest in-fashion Cannes award-winning profile in mind, meaning painfully long scenes with no dialogs where we simply watch the main character going on with his daily suspect-tracking routine all assorted with chain smoking, eating, and so on. You get the feeling this is one of the typical movies geared specifically to guarantee box-office failure and therefore maximizing its chances for elitist film festivals jury selection as the one to embrace. Total lack of editing and raw shooting taking out any illusion of art photography contribute to the whole extremely unappealing feel for the vast majority of cinema crowds result. And I’m not talking about "Transformers" or "Fast and the Furious" crowd either.

On the other hand, during the short stay in Bucharest this year, got to see another Romanian movie, this time a quite entertaining and enjoyable one - "Amintiri din Epoca de Aur" – a cinema theater packed with a mostly young crowd that seemed to love the movie. What am I saying, entertaining has become a shameful attribute when it comes to award-winning movies how dare I even mention this word ? I’m just one number out of the box-office statistics and these are also something irrelevant. How about starting to rely exclusively on government subsidies for producing jury-satisfying movies from now on ? It must be my recent trip to France that contributed to my thinking evolution way to the far left, someone help !

Rush Snakes and Arrows Tour - Montréal - Bell Center, June 12 2008

2008-06-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Rush concert exceeding expectations by far, full house at the Bell Center, lots of youngsters compared to the Genesis fall 2007 show at the Olimpic stadium where most of the faces you saw around were baby boomers, myself included. Lucky enough to have had great seats, both visually and from an audio standpoint.

All three of them awesome musicians, sound coming out seems to be originating from a lot larger band than just a party of three, whole result being a sound machine that works flawlessly while performing quite difficult songs from a technical point of view just beautifully.

Alex Lifeson's guitar sound occasionnally very close to the one Pink Floyd's own Gilmour produces, but different style, more towards virtuoso style, less meditative since Rush's music is all about dynamics and very smart rhytm combinations and breaks. Long story short, Lifeson is a great guitar player and he's leading the whole band beautifully. What's even more interesting, each of the 3 Rush band members are actually taking turns in leading the band's melodic movement, it goes on seamlessly which adds to the extraordinary impression of a very tight and bright music dynamic. Geddy Lee's vocals still very bang on except for the opening track. Bass on Red Barchetta, Freewill, 2112 just amazing especially while he's singing, not easy at all to sync both. Rush is one of the few bands whose live performance sounds very close to the one recorded (with inherent limitations due to multiple instrument recordings in the studio). Great show lighting, lasers, strobes, explosions, projections on great quality screens making for a highly entertaining overall show. Neal Peart's drum solo not only of a great virtuosity, among the best I've ever seen in concert, but moreover, one of the most inventive and surprising ones ending up with a meltdown into 1920's ragtime rhytms while projections follow quite nicely.

Lost my voice for a whole next half-day after singing and shouting with them and the whole concert hall lots of their incredibly good tunes.

http://www.rush.com/v4.html - go to Multimedia, Rush radio, click on Play for less known but outright great tracks out of Grace under Pressure, 2112, etc.

Some clips from this very gig:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPt1Y3NMqxc - Tom Sawyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_PnGCktFmQ - Freewill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBWf5HpmLn4&feature=related - Neil Peart's drum solo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFId9e7367A - Red Barchetta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-8shWpeVo&feature=related - Limelight

And here is Wikipedia's take on Rush, boy looks like a good start towards getting a PhD in Rush studies isn't it !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_(band))

They're really on towards a great comeback with their music and I hope it's not just wishful thinking coming from my blown-away mind after having the privilege to experience this beautiful evening filled with great music courtesy Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart.

Rush band members biography

2008-06-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Very very interesting bios for all three of the Rush band members, every single one of them has got his own story very much out of the ordinary, but the one that moved me greatly is Neil Peart's, go on and read, life is sometimes so incredibely cruel. Kudos to him for returning to and touring with this great band. All the following courtesy of Wikipedia:

Geddy Lee was born Gary Lee Weinrib on July 29, 1953 in Willowdale, Toronto. Lee's stage name, Geddy, was inspired by his mother's heavily-accented pronunciation of his given first name, Gary, and it later became his highschool nickname before he adopted it as his stage name. Lee's parents were Jewish refugees from Poland who had been survivors of Nazi concentration camps Dachau and Bergen-Belsen during World War II. In 2004, Canadian Jewish News featured Lee's reflections on his mother's experiences as a refugee, and of his own Jewish heritage. Lee married Nancy Young in 1976. They have a son named Julian and a daughter named Kyla Avril.

Photo above: Geddy Lee playing his Fender jazz bass at a 2008 live performance at the Xcel Energy Center

Lifeson was born Alexandar Zivojinovich in Fernie, British Columbia to Serbian immigrants, Nenad and Milka Zivojinovich (from Serbian: Живојиновић, Živojinović), and raised in Toronto, Ontario. His assumed stage name of "Lifeson" is a semi-literal translation of the name "Zivojinovich", meaning "son of life". His first exposure to formal music training came in the form of the viola which he renounced for the guitar at the age of 12. His first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father, a six-string Kent classical acoustic which was later upgraded to an electric Japanese model. During adolescence, Lifeson was primarily influenced by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Pete Townshend. Lifeson was primarily a self-taught guitarist with the only formal instruction coming from a high school friend in 1971 who taught classical guitar lessons. This training lasted for roughly a year and a half. In 1963, Lifeson met future Rush drummer John Rutsey in school. Both interested in music, they decided to form a band.
Lifeson eventually married his girlfriend Charlene and currently has two sons, Justin and Adrian.

For the 2007 Snakes & Arrows Tour, Lifeson replaced his PRS Guitars with Gibson Les Pauls. In a 2007 interview for Guitarist magazine, Lifeson states "I hear PRS on everything these days and I wanted a little bit of a change ... I love them [PRS] but they have a smaller sound than the bigger heavier Gibsons ...

Photo below: Neil Peart and his 360 degree drumkit
Neil Peart was born on his family's farm in Hagersville,[3][4] on the outskirts of Hamilton. The first child of four, his brother Danny and sisters Judy and Nancy were born after the family moved to St. Catharines when Peart was two. At this time his father became parts manager for Dalziel Equipment, a farm machinery supplier. In 1956 the family moved to the Port Dalhousie area of the town. Peart attended Gracefield School, and describes his childhood as happy and says he experienced a warm family life. By early adolescence he became interested in music and acquired a transistor radio, which he would use to tune into pop music stations broadcasting from Toronto, Hamilton, Welland and Buffalo.[4]
His first exposure to musical training came in the form of piano lessons, which he later said in his instructional video A Work in Progress did not have much impact on him. He had a penchant for drumming on various objects around the house with a pair of chopsticks, so for his 13th birthday, his parents bought him a pair of drum sticks, a practice pad and some lessons, with the promise that if he stuck with it for a year, they would buy him a kit.[4]
His parents bought him a drum kit for his fourteenth birthday and he began taking lessons from Don George at the Peninsula Conservatory of Music.[4] His stage debut took place that year at the school's Christmas pageant in St. Johns Anglican Church Hall in Port Dalhousie. His next appearance was at Lakeport High School with his first group, The Eternal Triangle. This performance contained an original number entitled "LSD forever." At this show he performed his first solo which garnered praise from fellow students.[4]
Peart got a job in Lakeside Park, a fairground on the shores of Lake Ontario, which later inspired a song of the same name on the Rush album Caress of Steel.[5] He worked on the Bubble Game and Ball Toss, but his tendency to take it easy when business was slack resulted in his termination. By his late teens, Peart had played in local bands such as Mumblin’ Sumpthin’, the Majority, and JR Flood. These bands practiced in basement recreation rooms and garages and played church halls, high schools and roller rinks in towns across Southern Ontario such as Mitchell, Seaforth, Elmira and Timmins. Tuesday nights were filled with jam sessions at the Niagara Theatre Centre.

Family tragedy & continuing on

Soon after the culmination of Rush's Test For Echo Tour on July 4, 1997, Peart's daughter and only child, 19-year-old Selena Taylor, was killed in a single-car accident on the 401 highway near the town of Brighton, Ontario on August 10. His common-law wife of 22 years, Jacqueline Taylor, succumbed to cancer only 10 months later on June 20, 1998. Peart, however, maintains that her death was the result of a "broken heart" and called it "a slow suicide by apathy. She just didn't care."[17]
In his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road, Peart writes of how he had told his bandmates at Selena's funeral, "consider me retired."[17] Peart took a hiatus to mourn and reflect, during which time he traveled extensively throughout North America on his BMW motorcycle, covering 88,000 km (55,000 miles). After his journey ended, Peart decided to return to the band. Peart wrote Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road as a chronicle of his geographical and emotional journey.
While Peart was visiting long-time Rush photographer Andrew MacNaughtan in Los Angeles, MacNaughtan introduced Peart to his future wife, photographer Carrie Nuttall. They married on September 9, 2000.
In early 2001, Peart announced to his bandmates that he was ready to return to recording and performing. The product of the band's return was the 2002 album Vapor Trails. At the start of the ensuing tour in support of the album, it was decided amongst the band members that Peart would not take part in the daily grind of press interviews and "Meet and Greet" sessions upon their arrival in a new city that typically monopolise a touring band's daily schedule. While Peart has always shied away from these types of in-person encounters, it was decided that having to needlessly expose him to an endless stream of questions about the tragic events of his life was quite unnecessary.[18][19][20]
Since the release of Vapor Trails and reuniting with his fellow band mates, Peart has returned to work as a full-time musician. Rush has since released a cover EP, Feedback in June 2004 and their 18th studio album Snakes & Arrows in May 2007, which were supported by three additional tours in 2004, 2007, and 2008 respectively.

Equipment

With Rush, Peart has played Slingerland, Tama, Ludwig, and Drum Workshop (DW) drums, in that order.[29] Historically he has played Zildjian cymbals exclusively (from the "A" series, save for various effect cymbals, like Wuhan China cymbals), switching only very recently to Paragon, a line created for him by Sabian.[29][30] In concert, Peart uses an elaborate 360-degree drum kit, with a large acoustic set in front and electronic drums to the rear.

Concert Afterglow

2008-06-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

Every single concert being a once in a lifetime experience you cannot carry on for ever great memories without any additional resources. In my case I'm going to go back to my CD/MP3 collection and look for everything related to that particular concert (to add up to the post-concert madness I've put on this blog and keep adding on the most interesting multimedia links, facts, etc. I can find). Includes also buying new related stuff on CD/DVD that I might list hereunder.

Here is a list of re-discovered or simply newly discovered great songs after going to these concerts:

Rush - Montréal Bell Center Summer 2008

Subdivisions - (from Signals album - recorded April - July 1982 at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec)
Freewill

2112 overture

Spirit of Radio time to confess father for I have sinned, this was quite an inspiration for my only ever fully 100% composed song and it was played in front of quite large audiences back in Romania

Genesis - Montréal Olympic Stadium Fall 2007

Counting out time
Carpet Crawlers
A trick of a tail
Firth of Fifth
Turn it on again

Rick Wakeman w. Jon Anderson– Journey to the Center of the Earth II – Québec City Summer 2006

Sting & Annie Lennox - Montréal Bell Center Summer 2004

Ball and chain – Annie Lennox
Englishman in New-York

My All-Time Favorites Playlist

2008-06-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

In case you've hit a wall and gave up looking for good music, here below some ideas out of the growing list of my absolute all-time favorites:

My love is – Diana Krall (Love Scenes)
Straight to My Heart –Sting (Nothing like the sun)
Devil May Care - Diana Krall (Live In Paris DVD)
Calling Elvis – Dire Straits (On The Night DVD)
Roxanne – Sting and Jason Rebello acoustic version (All this time DVD)
Mad About You - Sting - acoustic version in Tuscany (All this time DVD)
Drive - Bobby McFerrin
Waiting In Vain – Annie Lennox
Cavatina - John Williams (Deer Hunter movie theme)
Private Investigations - Dire Straits
Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp