08.24.08
The Name Of This Song By Talking Heads Is “Radio Head” (A Dilemma Solved/2008 Update #35 Addendum ‘A’):
Hm…well, since nobody likes me*, I didn’t get the call for those free Radiohead tickets I so fully deserve (Garden Boxes or Pool Circle, incidentally; ta).
(* Joke.**)
(** Or is it???)
But I made a lovely new friend this summer, and she can go with her friend — and get in! — if they only TRY (as I informed her), and thus — unlike that stupid, forgettable AIR “concert” I splurged for a few years ago (the things we do for being lured) — I really don’t mind not putting out any effort whatsoever to see Radiohead tonight.
Reasons:
1. T[h]om Yorke is my age. Although Yorke’s been visited with a pile-driving arseload of luck thus far (facial deformity, nifty accent, obvious desperation for attention, shameless tweeness, friends who actually want to DO something together [apart from drink, watch TV, grow older, and die] — plus hype-cultivating management, gobs of money, nice home, smart wife, children), his Pop inspirations (”sources”) are pretty much the same ones I was dealt (in high-school-art-department terms, this was “SmithsCureREM” — plus add the obvious Queen, Costello, Neil Young — although I never liked The Pixies or Sonic Youth — and, also unlike Yorke, I don’t pretend to have a clue about jazz or electronica). Thus, basically, I glance at Yorke and go: “Oh, I probably should have done more of…whatever that is.” Oops. But it also means he interests me far, far less than he apparently interests others. Plus he can’t read music, whereas I can.
2. Hype. I was in an overpriced “natural” food market (is wanton slaughter “natural”?) earlier today, and — well, you know how teen girls talk — a teen girl was squealing to her friend her excitement (”Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!!!”) that she got a ticket to Radiohead yesterday for “like, thirty bucks.” (This was followed by the standard, “You have NO IDEA! You can’t GET these tickets!” line.) I was sincerely attempting to figure out how to mix soy-protein, “pizza” flavour, fresh spinach and maybe something not-too-sweet chocolatey afterward, and thus merely glanced over and caught a bit of her LOUD Radiohead rave — but this proved adequate to illustrate the Hype involved in the tour. All Pop involves Hype — but it’s all less fun when you can smell it coming.
(Plus — this show is obviously much more for her marketing demographic than for mine.)
3. That same girl (or several people exactly like her) will record many segments of tonight’s concert via cell-phone or similar appliance — and then I can simply taste-test the results on YouTube in the morning (if I get the Technical Difficulties repaired).
4. Almost every single show at the Hollywood Bowl is exactly the same. You go for the Entertainment (which is often exceptional) — but the Venue trumps everything; thus, all one need do is attend ONE show at the Hollywood Bowl completely sober, and remember all the nuances (the vague sense of history, the traffic jams, the dour security staff, the traffic jams, the pretty night air, the traffic jams, the fookin’ hyooge crowd and the traffic jams) and then project this Evening Out At The Bowl template over whichever artist(s) you wish you were seeing. Complimented by near-instant YouTube reportage, this process is highly effective (and much cheaper than paying for a date you don’t like!)
5. Rosanna Arquette (the person responsible for inspiring Toto’s “Rosanna” — now playing in supermarket near you!) was standing around in a cinema lobby once, having delivered her recent (and kinda cool) documentary, ALL WE ARE SAYING (basically a groupie’s-eye view of several Pop stars we wish we could be) — and she was waiting for her kids or something, so I decided to ask her a question. The question had to do with my feeling completely adrift in the Pop world since all that hideous ’90s diarrhea ruined everything (I sincerely wish I could go back and erase Cobain, Tarantino, “Mudhoney,” Reznerd, whatever [it's all pointless sludge to me] — but I didn’t mention this specifically). Since Arquette not only interviewed but actually boinked the hapless Peter Gabriel (who has put out some of the finest Pop and put on some of the best live shows I’ve ever seen and heard), I thought: Well, she’s the one to ask. So I asked: “Who’s making the most interesting music these days?” (Or something like that.)
“Radiohead,” replied Rosannna Arquette, with a religious glint in her eye. “Definitely Radiohead. They’re the best there is these days.” (Or something like that.)
But…see…Rosanna Arquette is: A. An exhibitionist; B. An actress (we quibble with terms); C. A groupie; and D. Kind of a numskull — thus, what gets her blood pumpin’ may prove bland to me (a refined person of substance with a brilliant mind). Heh.
Ah, that’s enough.
Oh, wait — one more:
6. A friend of mine is playing a small club tonight — and although I really don’t feel like going anywhere, if I do go anywhere, it’ll be there.
-
And besides, nobody wants to go with me.
Chanson du soir: “Radio Head” by Talking Heads
Have a nice nite!
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2008/04/15/radioheadticketmaster/
counter