New Jersey singer-songwriter Christian Beach will be performing a solo, acoustic set at Triumph Brewing Company (aka Triumph Brew Pub) at 117 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. He will be taking the stage shortly after 9 p.m. The performance is part of the weekly Triumph Live Unplugged series.
Spread the word with the web graphic below, or download it as a PDF for printing out as a flyer to post where you can.
New Jersey singer-songwriter Christian Beach will be doing a solo, acoustic show as part of this year’s Wave Gathering Festival in Asbury Park, NJ. He will be taking the stage at The Brickwall Tavern Annex (522 Cookman Ave.) at 10:15 p.m. (and I may be joining him on accordion for a couple of songs).
Spread the word with the web graphic below, or download it as a PDF for printing out as a flyer to post where you can.
So I just realized the fun that is YouTube playlists…yeah, I know…a little late for a geek like me to figure that out. Anyway, here is a playlist of every performance by my friend, singer-songwriter Christian Beach, that can be found on YouTube. Enjoy!
Just a quick announcement…I will be playing organ and tambourine as part of Christian Beach’s backing band when he plays a four-song set at The Brighton Bar (121 Brighton Ave.) in Long Branch, N.J., this Friday night, March 28. The performance is part of Main Man Records’ CD release party for “Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie.” Christian recorded a cover of Bowie’s “Five Years” for the 2-CD set.
Actually, if you check out Main Man’s MySpace site, Christian’s “Five Years” (listed as “5 Years”) can be found on their music player so give it a listen.
Again, here is the info:
Main Man Records “Hero” CD Release Party
The Brighton Bar
121 Brighton Ave.
Long Branch, NJ
Friday, March 28, 2008
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Hope to see you there.
I went to see one of the musical influences of my youth, Howard Jones, perform last Friday night at the Dennis Flyer Memorial Theatre on the Blackwood, N.J., campus of Camden County College. The venue seats about 600, but — disappointingly — it was only about half-filled. However, that did make for a very intimate performance.
HoJo, better known for his synthesizer-driven pop hits of the 1980s, played digital piano and was accompanied by long-time collaborator Robin “The Itch” Boult on acoustic guitar. I wound up buying a live CD from a show the pair recorded last year in the UK and had HoJo sign it after the show. I would have taken a picture of this brief meeting…except my camera batteries died and I forgot to bring extras with me. D’oh!
Anyway, I found this YouTube video of HoJo and Robin performing “Life in One Day” in Brisbane from a March 2007 show.
UPDATE…After I originally posted this, I found a couple of YouTube videos from the show I attended, plus one of HoJo and Robin performing “Life in One Day” at a March 2007 show in Brisbane.
Enjoy!
Howard Jones “Life in One Day” Live @ Brisbane, March 2007
This video starts out with HoJo telling a story about how the record company forced him to write it because the “suits” didn’t hear any hits on what would become his biggest-selling album (“Dream Into Action”)…and then there is a bit of a false start at the start of the song. But it’s all super fun!
Howard Jones “Like To Get To Know You Well” – Blackwood, NJ (1/18/08)
This video cuts off before the end of the song, but includes a funny story about how a translation of “Like to Get to Know You Well” into Japanese nearly destroyed Howard Jones’ career.
Howard Jones “No One is to Blame” – Blackwood, NJ (1/18/08)
No funny stories here…just HoJo performing his classic hit, “No One is to Blame,” the way it was meant to be heard (i.e., without Phil Collins messing around with it).
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.
As I said in the previous post, Genesis had announced it would hold a press conference today to make an announcement (yep…one of those “let’s announce we’re going to announce something” press conferences…love those).
Well, today, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks announced they are indeed reuniting for a tour of Europe and select U.S. cities next year.
The promising thing is that Tony Banks mentioned that one of the reasons for the reunion is that Genesis is usually only mentioned in the mainstream press for its more commercial material of the 1980s and ’90s, and that the band wants to remind people that there is another side to the band…
“Genesis has a rather more complex side of music to it,” said Banks. “One side gets slightly more attention than the other. We are trying to reacquaint people. Genesis is not particularly a group that is mentioned very much these days in the papers I read anyhow and I just like to remind people we did do a lot of things.”
This article from E! Online also includes this paragraph…
The three musicians have already spent two weeks rehearsing in New York for the tour, which will see Collins also get behind the drum kit at various points during a show that will draw on all eras of the band, particularly songs and instrumentals dating back to 1973, delighting hardcore fans of their early sound.
Hey…as long as I don’t hear “I Can’t Dance” or “Jesus He Knows Me,” I’ll be OK with that.
Also, as I said in my earlier post on the Genesis reunion, I’m still holding out hope that Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett get on the bandwagon and join Phil, Mike and Tony on the road in 2008. This whole reunion talk started with the five members getting together in a series of meetings to discuss going out and restaging the “Lamb” tour. But Peter backed out because he wants to finish his solo CD and tour on his own next year (which, in itself, is awesome news) while reserving the right to change his mind after 2007.
Once Peter passed on the reunion, Steve would have been the odd man out because he had only been with Genesis for two albums after PG left the group. So it was just decided that Phil, Mike and Tony would get back together.
However, the other part of all this Genesis reunion news is that EMI is reissuing 14 Genesis studio albums…but note the release schedule…
To coincide with the Genesis tour, EMI Records will be re-issuing 14 Genesis studio albums in three stages during 2007. All the releases will be SACD/DVD double disc sets featuring newly re-mastered 5.1 surround sound and stereo mixes. The release schedule is as follows:
March 2007: A Trick Of The Tail (1976), Wind & Wuthering (1977), …And Then There Were Three…(1978), Duke (1980) Abacab (1981)
June/July 2007: Genesis(1983), Invisible Touch(1986), We Can’t Dance (1991), Calling All Stations(1997)
Late 2007/Early 2008: Trespass (1970), Nursery Cryme (1971), Foxtrot (1972 ), Selling England By The Pound (1973), The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway(1974)
Hmm? I wonder why the early 1970s stuff including Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett would be released in late 2007 and early 2008. I really think there is a good chance of the classic, five-man version of Genesis reuniting and touring in 2008.
Fingers crossed.
(Photo and “Turn It On Again Tour” graphic courtesy of Genesis-Music.com.)
Well, the long-awaited Genesis reunion will be taking place in 2007. An official announcement is expected Nov. 7 on the band’s official Web site regarding what will be reportedly (and, if correct, appropriately) called the “Turn It On Again” Tour.
Right now, though, it looks like the lineup will consist of the modern version of Genesis with Phil Collins on lead vocals and drums, Mike Rutherford on bass/guitar and Tony Banks on keyboards.
According to this BBC report, Peter Gabriel has sadly said no to joining the reunion…for now. In true PG doublespeak, he throws this out there…
“It’s not that I’ve ruled it out, but I’ve got some new material that I’ll be working on.”
So he hasn’t ruled it out. Ugh…why must PG be so frustrating. He will always be my favorite artist, but he really needs to do this. There are a bunch of people out there like me who were born too late to witness the greatness of Genesis with PG at the helm…and I really want to see that once in my life.
I haven’t checked out PG’s site in a few weeks, but he supposedly posted something there saying that Phil (who is getting over his latest marital breakup), organized a jam session earlier this month with Mike and Tony.
Anyway, another site tracking Genesis reunion news and rumors going around cyberspace says guitarist Steve Hackett also will not be participating.
So instead of getting a tour of “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” “Back in NYC,” or “Supper’s Ready,” we’re going to get two hours of “Invisible Touch” and “Jesus He Knows Me.” Yeah!
😦
UPDATE: This is just my speculation, but maybe–just maybe–there is hope for a “classic” Genesis reunion. I was looking further down that reunion news and rumor page I mentioned above and there are a couple of interesting tidbits…
22nd May 2006: Yet another new information from the Collins Tarzan-Interview-Marathon: Phil told the Chicago Broadway World that the first plan would still be to reunite the classic line-up in a couple of years, which might be hard to realise due to all commitments of the five guys. But Phil also said that he could imagine doing something with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford instead, in case Peter is unavailable. Also, Phil revealed that the “Genesis Trio” has scheduled studio time in October for jam sessions. No further plans are made, though. >> Discuss this in our FORUM
13th May 2006: Once more a statement from Phil Collins. In a recent statement at 6Music in New York City (USA), Phil explained that a reunion is still likely. Nevertheless, due to other commitments Peter has until the end of 2007, a Reunion won’t happen before 2008. Collins told the Toronto Star, that the five original members of Genesis are “moving toward the possibility”.
20th April 2006: Alan Hewitt has recently interviewed Steve Hackett and this is what Steve replied being asked about the SACDs and a possible reunion: Unfortunately I’m not in a position to…I comment on things and I think that masses of the stuff has had a fantastically good job done on it and one or two things are still in a state of conjecture but I have no idea when that stuff is to be released……and of course the ideal time would be if there was a band reformation but I don’t think anyone is any the wiser. The band isn’t any the wiser than the fans are and so with regards to that we have all given our pitch and let’s just say that most of us are hoping it is going to come off. I would love to be able to say ‘Yes, I’ll be there on Thursday!’ It is the question on everyone’s lips, including mine. If it doesn’t happen, I won’t be to blame.
18th April 2006: Good news again: Phil Collins revealed in a recent radio broadcast on KGO NewsTalk that the band met in November 2005 and that they have discussed a reproduction of the live show of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. This would be “for a limited run of shows” and these shows would be “recorded and filmed”. Collins also said that the band is “very enthusiastic about the idea” and that they will try to find the time to realise it. Go to the Downloads-Section to download the snippet.
OK…piecing this together, it is quite possible that because of PG’s commitments through 2007, Phil, Mike and Tony will do their “Turn It On Again Tour” in 2007…with PG and Steve Hackett joining them in 2008 for a “classic” Genesis tour reproducing the “Lamb” live show.
I would like for the official announcement on Nov. 7 to include some hope of that happening…but I guess it won’t.
Still…there is hope…and Phil, Mike and Tony in 2007 are better than nothing.
(Image from Genesis-Music.com)
Brian Kelley 