Here are some photos I took at this year’s XPoNential (XPN) Music Festival held July 10-13, 2008, at Wiggins Park on the waterfront in Camden, NJ. Enjoy…
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Below is a Ustream.tv archive of a live “Sunday Jams” performance by Christian Beach on July 13, 2008. The backing band, which comes on for the fourth song, features Gorgo (mandolin, bass, backing vocals), John Pfeiffer (guitars, dobro), Michael Scotto (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and yours truly (organ, accordion, tambourine).
Set List:
1. Shadows (Christian Beach solo)
2. Cemetery Friends (Christian Beach solo)
3. Don’t Want to Be a Lonely Man (Christian Beach w/ Gorgo)
4. The Finest Day (Christian w/ full band)
5. Great Ideas (Christian w/ full band)
6. Poet of the Great Plains (Christian w/ full band)
7. Song for Matthew (Christian w/ full band)
8. Open Spaces (Christian w/ full band)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
So, to all my friends out there, I just want you to know that I am currently without a cell phone…somehow I lost it in a span of 30 seconds of time and 50 feet in distance. All I know is that it vanished so I filed a claim (thank goodness I took the total equipment coverage) and will be getting a replacement phone delivered to my office tomorrow (Wed., 7/9).
But I drove out to visit my parents last night and it was weird not having a phone in the car. The last time I didn’t have a phone with me for a relatively long car trip (an hour or more) was before I bought my first cell phone in 1998, which reminded me of some of my old phones. The one pictured to the right is a Qualcomm QCP2700 from the late 90s. I think my first phone was a Motorola model, but my second was a Qualcomm very similar to the QCP2700, if not the same model.
Above is video of Christian Beach performing “The Finest Day” at The Brickwall Annex in Asbury Park, NJ, on June 21, 2008. Accompanied — in the darkness — by Gorgo on mandolin, John Pfeiffer on dobro and Brian Kelley on accordion.
A couple of notes:
1) It was obviously very dark in the venue so I tried lightening up this video the best I could without turning it into a grainy mess.
2) The pause button was hit about 21 seconds into the song, but recording resumed a few seconds later…to fill the gap, I spliced in some of the studio version of the song.
Video shot by Alison Litecky, who also unplugged the jukebox that was blasting away during the night.
“The Finest Day” © 2008 C.J. Beach
http://www.myspace.com/christianbeach
Here is dark and grainy, but decent sounding, video of Christian Beach performing “Way Back Home” at The Brickwall Annex in Asbury Park, NJ, on June 21, 2008…accompanied by Gorgo on mandolin, John Pfeiffer on “mouth percussion” and yours truly on accordion.
“Way Back Home” © 2007 C.J. Beach
http://www.myspace.com/christianbeach
Here’s another video from Christian Beach’s Feb. 2 performance at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como, N.J. This is “Song for Matthew” and — although unseen — I am playing tambourine and organ on this one.
I am playing accordion in this video of Christian Beach’s performance of “Open Spaces” at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como, N.J., on Feb. 2, 2008.
I went skiing for the first time in my life today…and I made it out alive…and without injury.
Christian Beach – “Poet of the Great Plains” (Live at Paul’s Tavern, 2/2/08)
Found this video of “Poet of the Great Plains” from Christian Beach’s 2/2/08 show at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como (formerly S. Belmar), NJ. I am rockin’ the tambourine and organ in this one (you won’t see me until about 1:03 into the clip).
My friend Christian Beach has once again invited me to play some organ and — believe it or not — accordion for a show he is doing Feb. 2, 2008, at Paul’s Tavern in Belmar, NJ.
Also, just wanted to let you know that Christian’s cover of David Bowie’s “Five Years,” on which I play organ, appears on “Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie.” The 2-CD set, which was released on Christmas Day, features many Jersey artists’ takes on Bowie classics and is available now from the Main Man web site.
Brian Kelley 