The woman next to me at the concert said that JD completely blows Michael Hutchence away. She explained that Michael was already in decline so it made sense for him to kill himself and now he’s in hell looking up at JD wishing he were still alive. Somehow I avoided decapitating this woman and said, “We’ll see.” She bought me a beer, so that helped. I hadn’t watched Rockstar INXS because I thought it was obscene and I had only heard the new album once. But I wanted to see INXS in concert and, until Rhythm ‘n Hues can bring back a virtual Michael, this was as good as it was going to get.

And she was wrong. JD is a fantastic performer, but is devoid of passion, sensuality and authenticity. He looked like he was having a great time pretending to be the lead singer of INXS. The band sounded great, but the disparity between JD and Michael cast them in an INXS tribute band light. Where the Beck concert was authentic and fun, this one seemed manufactured and cold. Needless to say, I didn’t get stuck in traffic trying to leave the ampitheater.

Just got back from the Beck concert downtown. Amaaaaaazing! The Kiva is such a great venue; there aren’t any bad seats. Don was there and we talked a bit. I remember when he was up on that stage last year for nationals.

When Beck hit the stage, the first thing I noticed was that the people projected on the screen behind the band weren’t people. They were marionettes. Marionettes dressed exactly like the band that were perfectly synchronized to them. At first I thought this was prerecorded and masterfully choreographed, but then I noticed that the puppeteers were actually at the back of the stage and there was a small puppet stage back there that was lit and set up just like the main stage. They were doing this live. They did it for the *entire* show. Whatever the band did, the marionettes did. It was so cool!

Beck played more songs tonight than several bands combined. It was like a Beck mix tape, the way he segued between songs without stopping, like a live crossfade, sometimes no more than a stanza. And when I thought he was done and he left the stage, he came back on not for an encore, but a whole other set. This happened twice. They had this schtick where the band takes a break to eat dinner, but they eat on stage, off to the side, while Beck does some mellow solo stuff. The puppets ate dinner too.

I would say the high point was when they showed a short film about the Beck puppets in Albuquerque. They must have shot and edited it that day. They had little skits from all around town. When Puppet Beck went into the Frontier the crowd lost it. We went nuts! A lot of bands will throw out little bones to the crowd, but this really made it feel like the concert was just for us.

And of course the encore was perfect: Loser followed by E-Pro. No other way to end it.

I’ve got one day to rest and then I go see INXS. And then Counting Crows on the 3rd!

I heard this song on Insomnia Radio and was crushed under its weight. I immediately sought out Nathan Asher’s site and demanded he provide a way for me to buy his album.

Listen and tremble.

Turn up the Faders
– Nathan Asher

Light strikes the suburbs in the summer,
Water trickles and runs down the faces of children,
Laughter echoes rising
As they slip between the sprinklers.
Faces eager for no reason,
Is it the season, is that it?
This used to be enough for me but now it isn’t,
I need some different entertainment.

So we take the A-Train into the city,
Stick seats shake at the station,
Pretty women’s footsteps drag them disappearing,
From the cave of the tunnel dragon,
Into the open high-rises, skyscrapers,
Street urchins come to siege us,
Corner preachers carry Jesus,
Like he carried the cross, toss leaflets.
All this misdirected lust,
All these, all these, all these people,
As dusk turns into evening,
We just get funneled to the clubs.

So come on turn up the faders,
Sooner or later bring the beat in,
I need it, I wanna feel lit,
Like a fetus feels the heartbeat
Of his mother when he’s sleeping,
Beating constantly,
You are encouraged to dance emphatically,
Manically, even desperately,
Cause who knows where this is heading?
I’m in the backroom, drunk,
The stars cut chunks out of the darkness.
It’s a portrait of the young artist,
As another target market,
Playing dumb in the club,
And using liquor as a tourniquet,
Lets succumb to our desires,
Or we’ll become just like our fathers,
Bang into each other
Until the lights smother us
And we go under.

Outside is a storm, it feels like a set,
It feels so unreal.

Turn up the faders,
Sooner or later bring the beat in,
I need it, I wanna feel it,
I’m in the bathroom, drunk,
The months cut chunks out of the summer,
Days get longer, minutes get faster,
I get older, the weather gets colder,
They might sleep out in the suburbs,
But not here, not here,
Come on turn up the faders,
Sooner or later bring the beat in,
I need it, I wanna feel it, I wanna feel it.

All my friends hold their glasses,
Roses by the stem,
Lean in like trees blown by wind in a garden,
Fall and play jester, at the feet of dark-eyed women,
Whose every hidden glance,
Holds a chance at new beginnings,
Here’s to all the new beginnings,
We never got back from.
Never go home,
Never go home,
Never go home alone.