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Friday, 17 February 2012 13:07

Written by Scott Mervis

People who are familiar with Dave Grohl understood that the Foo Fighters frontman was not dissing any particular genre of music at the Grammys on Sunday.

Still, the Internet went kind of crazy reacting to his speech about recording analog and learning to play your instrument. Today he issued this response:

Oh, what a night we had last Sunday at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The glitz! The Glamour! SEACREST! Where do I begin?? Chillin' with Lil' Wayne...meeting Cyndi Lauper's adorable mother...the complimentary blinking Coldplay bracelet.....much too much to recap. It's really is still a bit of a blur. But, if there's one thing that I remember VERY clearly, it was accepting the Grammy for Best Rock Performance...and then saying this:

"To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what's important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do... It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head]."

Not the Gettysburg Address, but hey......I'm a drummer, remember?

Well, me and my big mouth. Never has a 33 second acceptance rant evoked such caps-lock postboard rage as my lil' ode to analog recording has. OK....maybe Kanye has me on this one, but....Imma let you finish....just wanted to clarify something...

I love music. I love ALL kinds of music. From Kyuss to Kraftwerk, Pinetop Perkins to Prodigy, Dead Kennedys to Deadmau5.....I love music. Electronic or acoustic, it doesn't matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician's personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and.....human.

That's exactly what I was referring to. The "human element". That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became "bad" things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily "fixed". The end result? I my humble opinion.....a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.

And, unfortunately, some of these great advances have taken the focus off of the actual craft of performance. Look, I am not Yngwie Malmsteen. I am not John Bonham. Hell...I'm not even Josh Groban, for that matter. But I try really f---ing hard so that I don't have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song. I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that's what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real.

I don't know how to do what Skrillex does (though I f---ing love it) but I do know that the reason he is so loved is because he sounds like Skrillex, and that's badass. We have a different process and a different set of tools, but the "craft" is equally as important, I'm sure. I mean.....if it were that easy, anyone could do it, right? (See what I did there?)

So, don't give me two Crown Royals and then ask me to make a speech at your wedding, because I might just bust into the advantages of recording to 2 inch tape.

Now, I think I have to go scream at some kids to get off my lawn.

Stay frosty.

Davemau5

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Friday, 17 February 2012 12:33

Written by Scott Mervis

Based on past experiences of seeing orchestras backing rock musicians, I ventured into Heinz Hall Tuesday night with low expectations for Trey Anastasio with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

But it only took a few minutes into the first song, "First Tube," to realize something special was going on. Arranger Don Hart had written pieces that required more of the musicians than sitting back and playing whole notes.

They were full-fledged orchestral pieces that seemed to engage the entire ensemble. It was quite a feat that they were able to play it so seamlessly with limited rehearsal time.

"In comparison with other pops shows, in terms of meter changes and harmonic writing, it was quite complex," says PSO concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley. "It was a challenge to put it together quickly, but I'm glad it turned out well, and the audience certainly seemed to enjoy it."

"For us," he added, "it was a long concert, and it's great to have the hall completely full with people really excited. And yeah, there were definitely parts of it where we were really getting into it, especially in the violin section -- it kept us busy."

Throughout the three-hour concert, you could see the delight in Trey's face, and there were frequent standing ovations, and numerous times where the Phish frontman humbly walked over to shake hands with Balgley and conductor Scott Dunn (from the LA Philharmonic).

"He's a big star," Balgley says, "but he's very nice and personable and very easy to relate to in rehearsal and also backstage."

Unlike Phish shows, there was no photography or recording allowed. But if you look around YouTube, you'll find some good footage of Trey with the PSO.

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Thursday, 16 February 2012 10:00

Written by Scott Mervis

REVISED: Feb. 21

With a new flurry of concert announcements this week, this seems like a good time for an inventory of the shows in major venues.

There should be about 8 to 10 more shows booked at the First Niagara Pavilion, and perhaps 20 or more at Stage AE Outdoors -- especially with the closing of the Trib Total Media Amphitheater at Station Square.

Last summer there were three stadium concerts. It's hard to say what may happen this year. We'll see what the Stones decide to do.

Consol Energy Center

Celtic Woman (March 21)

Van Halen/Kool and the Gang (March 30)

Casting Crowns (March 31)

Nickelback/Bush (April 25)

Red Hot Chili Peppers (May 30)

Roger Waters "The Wall" (July 3)

Madonna (Nov. 6)

First Niagara Pavilion

Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Thompson Square (June 2)

Warped Tour (July 12)

Dave Matthews Band/SOJA (July 13-14)

Toby Keith, Brantley Gilbert (July 27)

Mayhem Festival with Slipknot, Slayer (July 28)

Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan (Aug. 17)

Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Eli Young Band, Eden's Edge (Sept. 1)

Expecting: Phish, Chicago, Jimmy Buffett?

Stage AE Outdoors

Rise Against/A Day to Remember (May 6)

Rob Zombie/Megadeth/Lacuna Coil (May 16)

Avett Brothers (May 20)

Girl Talk (June 9)

Heart (July 26)

Petersen Events Center

James Taylor (June 20)

Heinz Field

Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw/Grace Potter/Jake Owen (June 30)

Benedum Center

John Prine/Leo Kottke (March 2)

Daughtry (April 4)

Yanni (May 9)

Beach Boys (May 11)

Heinz Hall

Ben Folds with the PSO (May 25)

Byham

Puscifer (March 1)

Bill Maher (April 4)

Consol Energy Park (Washington)

Country Throwdown with Gary Allan/Josh Thompson/more (June 16)

Carnegie Lecture Hall

Dervish (March 10)

Henry Rollins (March 17)

Psychedelic Furs (April 6)

Sharon Van Etten (April 28)

Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead

Christina Perri (May 2)

Ingrid Michaelson (May 11)

Squeeze/English Beat (April 26)

TBA

Three Rivers Arts Festival

County Parks Concerts (including Pgh Blues Festival)

WYEP Summer concert

Miss list (big tours not booked here -- at least not yet)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Radiohead

Coldplay

Black Keys/Arctic Monkeys

Neil Diamond

Drake

Jane's Addiction

Blake Shelton

Death Cab for Cutie

Iron Maiden