Re: radio city/speaking of the Smithereens

no, not the big star album, the music hall, which happens to be next door to my office. the marquee is currently advertising three upcoming events, all of which to me feel wrong for the venue, and collectively define a trilogy of oddness.

HSH The Dalai Lama
Fab Faux
Echo and the Bunnymen

Does anyone else find this weird? or am i the only irreligious beatle-clone-hating echo fan who can't fathom how Mac and Will can fill a major venue at this stage of their career (not that there's anything wrong with that!)?

That sure would be a weird triple-bill.

For some reason "HSH Ian McCulloch" keeps going through my mind.

His Sullen Highness?

I like "HSH Ira Robbins." Maybe you should update your business cards and letterhead, Ira.

jeez, I guess it could be worse though...

the rabbi shankars
the marshall Dylan
the puddin bowl cuts

Echo and the Bunnymen are slated to play "Ocean Rain" in its entirety with a 10-piece orchestra on this tour. Even with all the extra musicians on stage, Radio City is still an enormous hall...(I saw them on the first "Ocean Rain" tour at the much more intimate Beacon Theatre in '84 (?) and they were pretty magnificent--they had a string quartet along to back up songs like "Silver" and "Seven Seas").

Still trying to figure out if I should spring for the cheap seats ($40+) way up in the third tier of Radio City (I'll need me opry glasses). Their last batch of albums have been pretty good (particularly "Flowers"), but this show seems kind of gimmicky, don't it...?

the next to last time i saw the Bunnymen, it was at the Mercury Lounge, which holds 150 tops. having a hard time imagining their subsequent fan base growth now brings them to the 6500 seat RCMH. Good on them, but i'm dubious

Saw the Bunnymen and New Order at Red Rocks (about 9,400 capacity); both bands were probably at the zenith of their fame. The Bunnies couldn't fill an 800-seat hall in Denver, last time around.

Of course, the New York area offers a bigger fan base ... but I'm still not inclined to argue with a guy who lives there.

It's a shame that McCullough never met John Honeyman Scott in the late 70s. If he did, they'd be called Echo and the Honeyman.

He could still team up with Freddie Prinze, Jr. and have Chico and the Bunnyman.

There was a short-lived magazine back in the 80s whose name I've long since forgotten that did a whole list of possible Bunnymen bands, such as Meco and the Bunnymen (they did "Bring on the Dancing Wookiees"), Buddy Greco and the Bunnymen and Pseudo-Echo and the Bunnymen.

I can't remember any of the others, which is a shame as I know the ones I've forgotten were much funnier than the ones I remember.



Post Edited (06-07-08 10:13)

It's a stretch, but perhaps the Bunnymen fan base ARE in the many tens of thousands, right there in the greater and surrounding radio city hall area, but, like a lot of moodsters, draw the blinds and hole up.

God bless the Bunnymen. I loved them then as I love them still.

Perhaps the Dalai Lama's appearance is odd, but I have no idea what type of venue would be appropriate, as I'm not a Buddhist.

The Fab Faux? That is where I draw the line.

I saw Beatlemania (for free!) more than once. I've (spent through the nose to) enoyed Paul McCartney more than once. What's the point? Hell, I've seen The Smithereens with 500 or less souls more times than I care to count, and they'd probably wipe the floor with The Fab Faux, should it come to that.

The Fab Faux?

Did anybody catch this article in the NY Times over the weekend:

[www.nytimes.com]

It's great to see Pat DiNizio continuing to make a living at what he does best, yet somehow equally depressing that it's no longer in clubs, but in McMansions.

And what's up with the shocking weight gain?

"Phil Roy, a Philadelphia singer and songwriter who has written for Aaron Neville, Wyclef Jean and Ray Charles, offers home concerts where, for $100 a person, he also cooks a buffet dinner." - I love it! Sounds like a SCTV skit.


The Smithereens played at my company's Xmas party several years ago - they played through the setlist, took a break, played it again, took a break and played it again!

we had REO Speedwagon!!!!!!!!