I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
September 18, 2011 - 10:25 a.m.
I need to get started writing, I'm going to an afternoon house concert. The Chronoklepts are attacking with full force but I'm going to beat them off because I love My Gentle Readers.
The Chronoklepts stole pretty much all of yesterday during the day but I escaped their clutches and went out for my evening of great music and nostalgia. I went to see Renaissance with Bad Carey, it was like walking through a time machine. I met Carey back in 1977 and not long after he says, "I have an extra ticket for a concert want to go?" The band was Renaissance and the concert was at Queens College, where I was attending and Carey was teaching. I had never heard of them but that was convenient and I'm open to new things so I went. At the time many of my favorite bands were progressive rock, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, and Renaissance fit in with them. They blew me away immediately. Seeing them became a regular thing with Carey. There was no internet in those days and I'm not sure if there were a mailing list. I pretty much scoured the Village Voice and NY Press for concert announcements and when I saw them I got tickets. The largest venue we saw them at was Radio City Music Hall. They were pretty big. I'd hear them quite a bit on commercial radio, WNEW-FM. The overnight DJ, Alison Steele AKA The Nightbird was particularly fond of them. Many was the time I'd call her at 2 AM and make a request. As the years progressed we got some of our friends to join us, Lauren and Steve. Steve ever develop the photos from the Adelphi-Calderone show?
In the eighties their popularity waned and The Bottom Line became their regular venue; not as grand, not as much a production, but far more intimate. Importantly the Bottom line had general admission, unlike the larger venues. That meant we had to get their early and as always happens the same people show up early for every show and we became friends with them. There was Linda, Jay, the other Jay, and Norman. Linda and I were pretty much always the first two people on the line and would be the only ones there for half a hour. That was fine, we did it as much to socialize with each other as anything else.
Members of the band started leaving and finally by the early 90s Annie Haslam the singer was touring solo. We still had the same group at each show though no longer with Lauren and Steve. Then shows got further and further apart and it came to an end.
Last year they came back for a 40th anniversary tour and Carey and I were there. Last night was our third time seeing them since December. That's pretty much back to how frequently we'd see them back in the day. They were based in England and come through the area two or three times a year.
The show was at the most ridiculously named venue, "The Concert Hall." It's actually the Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan, a few blocks from my school. We met for dinner at a place on Ninth avenue and were in full nostalgia mode. I have always teased Carey about being late for appointments. He not usually very late and it rarely makes a difference but it's a tradition. When he arrives I call him Lauren, who is always very late and is famous for it. Yesterday he and his friend Barbara walked in the door a few minutes early so I said, "I hope the devil is wearing warm clothing ... Hell must have froze over, you're here on time." Don't you wish you had a friend as supportive as I am?
After dinner we walked by my school and got to the venue and saw a line out front. They weren't letting people in. That seemed odd as it was 7:10 and the website said the show was at 7:30. I looked at the ticket and saw it said the show was at 8:00. The website gave the time for doors. We decided to talk a little walk, just a block over to Lincoln Center. By the time we got back they were letting people in but there was still a line. They were letting us in slowly.
Barbara and Carey went to the bathroom and after finding our seat went in search of our other Renaissance fan friends. I found Norman talking to Jay. The place was packed with hundreds of fans but we were still the core of the fandom and sought each other out. The other Jay was there at the other shows and but we couldn't find him last night. We haven't seen Linda at any of the shows. I'm kicking myself because once again I forgot to ask Steve to join us. Next time I will, I promise. Lauren is in Atlanta so that's not exactly convenient.
I made my way back to my seat when Carey and Barbara got there. As I walked back my eyes were focused on my seats and I wasn't looking at the crowd. Then I got a hello from somebody walking in the opposite direction. I got a tiny flash of her face and a look at her red hair. I think it was Annie Golden another musician I saw a lot in the 90s with Carey. She replaced Annie Haslam as simply "Annie" in my conversations with Carey. She didn't actually replace her; she shared the honor of simply needing one name. I looked for her later to really say hello but couldn't find her. Maybe it was somebody else. Unless whoever it was reads this I'll never know.
The seats were pretty good, the second row of the mezzanine which is really simply the back orchestra. They were significantly cheaper than the orchestra seats and had a great view as they have stadium seating. My eyes were at Annie Haslam's eye level. I got them a day after they went on sale.
The concert was a performance of two of their albums, Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories. Renaissance songs are like art songs, with significant instrumental sections. As soon as the music started my heart started pumping and the adrenaline rushing. I still love their music. It's like nothing else I listen to now. Annie was off stage during the instrumental opening of Running Hard and walked on the stage to an ovation. If you asked me who are the greatest vocalists I'd say without hesitation "Annie Haslam and Sandy Denny" with no hesitation. The only other member of the original band left is guitarist Michael Dunford who wrote or cowrote most of the songs. The sound was originally dominated by Annie's vocals and John Tout's keyboards. In the current incarnation there are two keyboardists.
There was one annoying fan nearby who felt the need to shout "Wooo" at the top of his lungs at random times. Enough people in the area told him to shut up that he did after the first song, Running Hard.
As it was an album show they performed songs they rarely did live. There was a reason they didn't do those songs. But no matter, it was a great set. During the break Carey and Barbara disappeared to the bathroom again and I went looking for other people I knew. It was beastly hot inside so I walked outside. The problem there was people smoking. I ended up spending most of my time in the wings where it was cooler and went to talk to Jay and Norman again and look for Annie.
They performed Turn of the Cards in order. I correctly predicted that they'd play side 2 of Scheherazade first. Side one is the Scheherazade suite, 9 songs played together telling the Arabian Nights story. It makes a great finale. Renaissance songs are long, if you count the suite as one song the entire album has 5 songs on it. They played side two, gave a short introduction of the suite and played it. It was magnificent. I was in heaven.
I wasn't sure if they'd do an encore since there was nothing else on those albums but the did. Their usual encore was Ashes are Burning but that wasn't what they played. They did a new song, The Mystic and the Muse. It's quite different with a lot more dissonance and less melodic, it's spooky. It reminds me of Maura Kennedy's Thing with Feathers.
I didn't take any photos or videos but you can hear what their music sounds like here; Renaissance music player. Check out A Song for All Seasons, Northern Lights, and Midas Man.
I had such a crush on Annie back in the day. She was the first woman whose voice formed the basis for my attraction. She was hot but it was her voice that made her irresistible.
Carey and Barbara didn't stay for the encore so I made a pretty quick exit. I ran into Jay and said goodbye and headed home.
Today is music at the other end of the spectrum, two friends playing at the house of two other friends; Anthony da Costa and Carolann Solebello at Gene & Isabel's house. You know what that means; chocolate chip French toast bread pudding. You can still go if you like. The show is in Merrick. Follow the contact information on the website or give me a call.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile September 18, 2011
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