general fuzz

Its rare these days for a concert to exceed my expectations, so I was pretty stunned when Moby gently guided the outer layer of my soul to a special place where string pads tangoed with the choicest boom-boom-squiggy-squiggy. That is to say, it’s ridiculous how talented that Moby guy is. He can sing, play the fuck out of a guitar, piano, and even rock the congo’s. He also writes and produces some incredible music. His new album, “wait for me”, is truly excellent. It’s my second favorite to “Play”, which is a masterpiece. His onstage persona is genuinely positive. He dedicated all the proceeds from his California shows to California’s Partnership to End Domestic Violence. Basically, he’s an exemplary human being.

The show consisted mostly of tracks from both of my favorite albums, created with an ever changing 6 piece band. The band was stacked enough so that there minimal backing tracks (though there definitely were backing tracks), which really drew me in. The show was at times intensely introspective, and then at other times a big fucking dance party. I enjoyed both parts equally. I was emotionally stirred and chock full of joy. I loved how the two amazing singers really played around with very repetitive vocal parts, keeping them rhythmically and melodically fresh.

At three shows a week, my feet are having a tough time keeping up with my relentless need to rock out. This week, I randomly saw Aerosmith at the Oracle World party on Treasure Island, which was fine. I had many flashbacks of high school.  I did manage to win 4 or 5 stuffed animals at the free carnival though. I can no longer attend large scale events without doing at least a surface analysis of how the organizers set it up. Living with Stina will do that.

Another stellar show worth mentioning was Zack Gill / Kyle Hollingsworth at the Independent. Zack’s set really built well. It started with a few solo songs with a piano, then he gradually brought out Kyle’s backing band, and then gradually brought out the rest of ALO. Then Kyle just tore it up. Lebo peppered the entire show. It was  a great night.