(TV) Boston Only: Some Impressions / 'Ineffable' / Some Details & Craz y Ideas / Rocket from Grant's Tomb / Dec. 4, 1992

["Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV>]

I guess the first thing I should do is admit that I was wrong 
on all 3 predictions that I had made about the Boston show:

1) The crowd would be small to tiny because none of the Boston media 
had said more than a few words about the show.  WRONG: The Paradise 
was, as previously reported, about 90%+ full.

2) The Paradise sound would suck big-time. WRONG again:
Unless, you were poor Ty ensconced in the "balcony", the sound 
was very good---even on the side perpendicular to the stage (from 
where my friends watched).

3)  The  band would perform the same songs they've done since 
2001.  Strike Three! Casey you're out! 

I had decided during the warm-up act (I thought she was quite good) to 
totally abandon my friends to move as close to the stage as humanly 
possible.  A relatively large number of people had already camped-out, in 
front of the stage.  But I finally succeeded in squirming myself into a spot 
where there was nothing, between me and Verlaine's mike, except for a 
small fan in a small wheelchair. The stage, itself, was only about a foot 
and a half high.  In fact, if I had steadied myself by putting my left arm 
on the wheelchair guy's head, I could have easily, by reaching out with 
my other arm holding a 7-iron, poked Verlaine in the ribs.

There was no long "Swells", (i.e., the mostly faking tuning-up). I was 
astonished when the show began with the "Dream's Dream". It didn't have 
it's long slow intro (i.e., no intro keyboard part  :>)  ).  Instead, Verlaine 
(and band) jump-started it by hitting the album's first guitar part/chord extra 
hard.  Then, if you know the beginning guitar part, shortly song shifts to 
"Dee, Dee (tiny pause) Dee, Dee, Dee", (longer pause) "Dee, Dee (tiny pause)  
Dee, Dee, Dee",    ........ please, someone one help me out here!  Well, all 
that matters is that it was gorgeous. Unlike Ty, I immediately felt as if I had 
died and gone to heaven. 

Music is ineffable----especially Television's. IMHO, attempting to successfully 
describe a musical performance in a way that illuminates the reader and 
captures the experience is extremely difficult.  Only a few reviewers that 
I've read ever achieved this.  (A few are in Keith's The Wonder Press Section, 
and a few are in the Quiz Section---For Madmen Only---Pareles, Piccarella, 
M. Miles, Jim Sullivan, and  Christgau---I'd throw in Maurice's writings on his 
web page  but I don't want to embarrass him.  :>) ; plus T. Burr writes about 
film the way these guys write about music. )

So, I really wish I knew something about musical theory and the technical 
aspects of playing an electric guitar so that I could communicate what I hear 
and feel.  I gave you a good example of my expertise above with my "Dee, Dee .." 
description.  Slight Digression:  I just heard last night a very enlightening interview 
that Verlaine gave in early 1980s. He talked about how a time when he was 'trying-out' 
several guitarists for his touring band; he was explaining the guitar part(s), all 
but two of the musicians couldn't understand or play it back, gave up, their hands, 
and told him he was crazy.  TV said that, to him, his music is pretty simple, 
with almost all the songs having only about 4 chords---maybe 6 at 
most, ....  TV, "... but it's, where you put them, and how they fit together that's 
the key .. .."

In Boston, Tom was definitely on, totally engaged--------more so than other time I've 
ever seen him perform. He seemed positively buoyant--- happy even, as if he had just 
won the NY State lottery.  He was putting a great deal of effort into the vocals---and not 
just his enunciation.  Also, instead of his usual half-singing-half speaking the lyrics ala 
Rex Harrison, he was actually singing them!  Frequently, for particular words or phrases 
he'd change his inflection, and add or subtract emotion (not talking about "Psychotic 
Reaction") It was as if he was acting out the words.  

Just about now I can hear the "Boston" MM Lister concert-goers (and many 
NY ones) say, "What ffffin' drug were you on?  Did you go to the same freakin' concert 
we did??!!"  That's what I heard and saw (and picked-up via my extra-sensory 
perception)----the same reactions in NYC, even though I was 60 feet from the stage.

My brother told me that lots of folks left the balcony after the first 2 or 3 songs 
because they said the sound there was lousy.  Ty said Richard's guitar was hard to 
hear. From where I was standing his part of the mix was good. What really surpised 
me was how much in the background he stayed musically and physically, and how he 
took considerably fewer solos.  For the first two songs, Fred's bass was so loud I 
thought I felt the bottom of my pant-legs flapping.   

I guess I'm in the minority, I did not care for any of the new songs at all except for 
"Persia", which I believe they've actually been doing since 2002.  As someone said 
in an e-mail earlier, the slide playing at beginning and the playing throughout were 
incredible (I'd only change that to incredibly beautiful).  People on the List have told 
my claim is nuts, but I still say TV is not singing English on this song---I know he 
doesn't speak Arabic, but it certainly sounds like some form of Middle-Eastern 
dialect that he might have invented, or have heard, liked the sound of, and then one 
day decided to put in a song named "Persia"---remember this is a guy who is or was 
a big fan of Sufi poetry. [Secret Reward for anyone who read this far:  I bought 5 
copies of Television's Official Dec. 4, 1992 show cd-r.  The first 5 people who can 
tell me who's buried in Grant's Tomb get one for $10 + $2 postage.]

IMHO, the other 4 new songs: a) Don't sound like Television---they sound like 
any other band could have written or performed them; b) The melodies (OOPs! almost 
forgot, Verlaine doesn't write melodies) and hooks are a little unimaginative/trite; 
c) There's a simplicity to the songs, that in their case, is not appealing; 
d) They're too spare, even skeletal; they need to be fleshed out more; they need 
more little details, e.g., short guitar flourishes; and e) I can't stomache any song in 
which Verlaine sings the lyrics "Yea! Yea! Yea!" .  (Yeah, I know about the 'Yeah' at 
the very beginning of  "At 4 am", but he speaks that first line, not sings it; plus, isn't 
there just 1 or 2 Yeah's and not 3?  and 'Yea!'  is a much more grievous sin than a 
simple "Yeah").

But in the above, maybe (d) has a silver lining:  the songs are only works in progress. 
I'm sure they'll evolve for the better---esp. when their studio versions are released in 
2009.

Something none of the other reviews of the 3 shows mentioned: After about 4 - 5 songs 
Verlaine says, "Well that's the end of the show" to audience guffaws. "Now we have to 
rehearse".  A theory:  Verlaine, the quintessential musical perfectionist, is saying, ' Don't 
judge us by these songs '.  Simultaneously, he's prepping  the audience to lower their 
expectations, and his words decrease the likelihood of restlessness (esp. fans screaming  
for the old songs). 
 
As far as I was concerned there was no encore.  Refresh my memory: Didn't they play for 
about 37 seconds, then stop for 4 seconds when Verlaine and/or Richard had equipment 
miseries; then they try to continue and play for another 19 and one-quarter seconds before 
the equipment fails again, and then the band gives-up and slepps off the stage with Tom 
looking disgusted and quietly saying "Sorry"        ??

	Leo
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