These days Chelsea is the one seeing the most live music. In fact, so far this summer the only show that I have purchased tickets to see is the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performing works by Frank Zappa and Phillip Glass on Friday July 23rd at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. 

And I'm pretty damn excited to see this. Frank Zappa was of course, born in Baltimore – but I never knew that Philip Glass was too.

Here are the details of the concert – lifted directly from the BSO web site.

The BSO celebrates two of Baltimore’s most celebrated native sons,
composers Frank Zappa and Philip Glass. From his early work with the
Mothers of Invention to his classical, rock, jazz and electronic
compositions, Zappa is revered for the complexity and versatility of his
music. Hear his own great orchestral versions of classics such as
“Be-Bop Tango” and “Dupree’s Paradise”. Marin Alsop and the BSO also
perform Philip Glass’
Heroes Symphony based on the David Bowie classic
‘70s album, and introduce Baltimore beatboxer, Shodekeh, in a unique
collaboration of vocal drumming pyrotechnics with orchestra. 

—–

and DAMN how much do you love youTube. Is there a version of Be-Bop Tango available – of course there is! From Sweden in 1973.

Want your own ticket> go HERE

Forever The Sickest Kids in Hershey, Pa on June 25th, 2010.

www.myspace.com/foreverthesickestkids
 

On June 24th, Pete Quaife, the original Bassist for one of my favorite bands ever, The Kinks, passed away after a long illness. Along with Ray Davies and his brother Dave Davies, Pete was a founding member of the band and played on those great early hits, "You've Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" Along with later gems including "Sunny Afternoon" and the beautiful "Waterloo Sunset".

I searched around YouTube to find a great version of "The Village Green Preservation Society" and I found one but it was a live performance  from 1973 after Pete had left the band, so instead I found this fantastic video created for "Sunny Afternoon" This video sums up the charming oddness that is The Kinks. "Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon, in the Summertime" except, in this video… Not exactly.

God Bless the Kinks.

The guitar case for Carter Hulsey's Gibson Hummingbird as he plays with Cady Groves in Hershey, Pa on June 25th, 2010.

www.myspace.com/carterhulsey

www.myspace.com/cadygroves
 

There are a number of Baltimore musicians  getting some serious national attention in all sorts of genres including he joyful psychedelic soundscapes of Animal Collective, the crazed boy and his laptop dance mania of  Dan Deacon, and the driving funk beats meets Thelonious Monk style Jazz Piano of the brilliant Lafayette Gilchrist and New Volcanoes.

But the performers we are discussing today are Wye Oak and Beach House.

This Beach House is a winter time Beach House, it's lonely and chilly at times and beautiful and invigorating at others. I happen to love the Seashore in winter and this music conjures that feeling up with grace. Beach House is the duo of Victoria LeGrand and Alex Scally and the have released two albums on the local Carpark label. Both albums were very well received and with the release of their 3rd album Teen Dream on the SubPop label they are breaking out all over. TV appearances, Cool festivals European tour, all that fun stuff.  The music is often called "Dream Pop" and if Brian Wilson and Nico had a baby, well that would be really weird, but if they did it might make music that sounds like Beach House.

Until it was toppled in a thunderstorm a few years ago the Wye Oak was the largest White Oak tree in the US. When you travel from Baltimore or DC to the Maryland Beaches on Rt 50 you pass the Wye Oak State Park, the smallest state poark ever. Pretty much a lawn with this giant tree and now, a lawn. 

Estimate to be 460 years old, the Wye Oak was an impressive sight and worth the short detour on a trip to the Beach House…. So anyway…

There's a Baltimore band named Wye Oak and they  are a duo as well.  Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack make some beautiful music together and they are keeping busy this summer hitting the road with Deer Tick and the legendary Lou Barlow.

This is a really nice video co-starring the city of Baltimore fo rthe song "Please Concrete"

 All Time Low in Hershey, Pa on June 25th, 2010.

www.myspace.com/alltimelow

 30 years ago when I was in College, this album was a polarizing force.

People either loved it or HATED it. It
was new or shall we say, Nu. London based Gary Webb was exactly my age and had changed
his name to Gary Numan, part man part machine, part of a rapidly rising
new wave that was crashing on the musical shores.

In the small college
town of Bethany, West Virginia there were those who loved their
Southern Rock, cranking up Molly Hatchet and Lynyrd Sknyrd and The
Marshall Tucker Band and then there were the few, the proud, the geeky,
the  new wavers.

The song "Cars" from this album went to #1 in the UK and #9 in the US. It sounded like nothing else on the radio with Synthesizers fed through guitar effect pedals and Numan's nasally robotic voice. It's still a great song. My college friend and co-conspirator in the great new wave takeover of the college radio station RadioHannibal went to see the concert in Spring of 1980 in Pittsburgh and came home raving. Of course he did that a lot, but this time it was clear that he had just experienced something truly Nu and exciting.

Now it's your turn.

He’ll perform The Pleasure Principle at:

Orlando,
FL The Firestone (10.17)

Atlanta,
GA Masquerade (10.18)

Washington,
DC Black Cat (10.20)

Philadelphia,
PA Trocadero (10.21)

Boston, MA
Paradise (10.22)

New York,
NY Nokia Theatre (10.23)

Toronto,
ON Opera House(10.24)

Detroit,
MI Majestic Theater (10.25)

Chicago,
IL Metro (10.26)

Denver, CO
Gothic Theatre (10.28)

Seattle,
WA Neumos (10.31)

Portland,
OR Roseland Theatre (11.1)

San
Francisco, CA Fillmore (11.2)

Los
Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre (11.3 & 11.4

Gary has been busy over the 30 years since this landmark album was released. You can catch up with him here.

I'm sure in  addition to that entire album he will include this song as an encore.

 Vita Chambers in Hershey, Pa on June 25th, 2010.

www.myspace.com/vitachambers

Although I (Chelsea) have been the one writing the daily posts for forever the website is going to be turned over to my father for the next week. I'll be gone for that week on a trip serving the community in West Virginia…thrilling. While there there won't be any wifi and no chance I'll even have time to do any posting. So the daily posts will be from dad this week which will explain the change in writing style and the change in topic. So don't be too hard on him and I will resume posting in about a week.