The Wailers @ Moe's Alley 2/26/14

[Drunk Monk]

I went on a lark, to begin my 50th Bday celebrations. I'm not really that fond of the Wailers. The only remaining member that actually played with Bob is bass player Aston “Family Man” Barrett. Of course, if anyone is going to anchor a reggae band, it's the bass player and Fam still has his chops. But the Wailers lack a good front man, a Bob impersonator, and they overdue the finale of each song. For this show, they played Legend, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of it's release. It's my least favorite Bob album, a pastiche of love songs and greatest hits that doesn't really flow well, despite it being his pop best seller.

Anyways, I mentioned it to three Cruz friends and two more joined us (including one I hadn't seen in many years) so it was an irie posse of reggae rude bwoys. It was great fun - one of my friends drove four hours to make it - and they all took good care of me, making sure I had plenty of libations. We started at Seabright Brewery, made a quick stop in Capitola for no particular reason at all, and then headed to Moe's. The rain made the patio a little cramped as everyone tucked beneath the canopies, but it got so light later in the evening that it didn't matter.

Two opening acts. Can't remember who they were. One was British something and were kind of annoying as we were stuck in front of their guitar speaker while waiting for shots of Jack.

The Wailers were amusing fun. The house was packed. It became a big sing-along. Legend has a lot of anthems.

[cranefly]

DM said:
and they overdue the finale of each song

I'm not meaning to call attention to the overdue instead of overdo sic. Rather, just wondering if it would be fair to say that the Wailers, like TYG2, suffer from "Jason syndrome"?

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I'm just glad our forum finally has a copy editor on stand-by. Then again my posts will probably send him to the black hole of copy-editor despair.

[Drunk Monk]

On further thought, the band should really be called The Wailer now, as only one is still the original. It's kind of like the Village People, which should really be called the Village Person because the rest died of aids.

On a marginally unrelated yet musical note (pun intended), I caught most of Don't Stop Believin' : Everyman's Journey last night on PBS. It was enjoyable, at least as much of it as I saw, unless of course, you are Greg and don't really like to listen to music in documentaries about music. A central scene takes place at Shoreline, and it made me sad as I saw one of my good friends in the background of two scenes; he passed away last year.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Feh, on you. I love documentaries about music. But I have that caveat where they should be good. Actually, maybe the genres are documentaries about creativity. My favorite show on VH1 is Behind the Music.

FYI: Don't stop Believin is also streaming on Netflix.

[El Dingo]

I watch a lot of music documentaries and this one stood out enough to recommend.

It's artfully crafted around the recruitment of Manila-born cover-band singer Arnel Pineda to fill in for Steve Perry in the iconic rock band 'Journey'.

I'm not a huge 'Journey' fan but their brand of stadium-rock is ideal for working up ATT park baseball fans and they don't seem like self-absorbed douchebags so I sing along in the 8th inning like everyone else.

I have never seen them live (but get me drunk enough and I'll show you my picture with Steve Perry), so this is not a fan-boy review.

This documentary really stood out in showing a 'nobody' being plucked out of obscurity and thrust into superstardom. Arnel seems like the nicest guy in the world who sounds so much like Perry he makes the most ardent Journey fan collapse in adoration. He rejuvenates the jaded band and oozes optimism. Filipino fans flood concerts and suddenly Journey is relevant again.

I really liked this doc as a 'feel-good' story where America + Foreign = Happiness.

I just subscribed to Netflix streaming. I think the documentaries section is going to kill me.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Since DM and I have already seen this doc, I thought it appropriate to move ED's post here.

[Drunk Monk]

Dm approves

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

DM's approval is all I live for.

[Drunk Monk]

you're not the only one...

8)