Last night, Jim and I went to see "Queen: It's a Kinda Magic" at the Landmark Theatre. We had excellent seats (6th row!), and I didn't know what to expect.
Well, let me tell you: this show was simultaneously Uber-cool and slightly cheese-tastic. Therefore, it was completely and utterly fabulous.
Let me give you a little background: "Queen: It's a Kinda Magic", which completed a twelve-city tour of America last night here in lowly Syracuse, is one-part tribute band, one-part theater--putting on all the same costumes that Freddie used to wear (and at least one Brian May poufy shirt that made Jim reference the Seinfeld episode), referring to the band members by their "character" names, and reproductions of the instruments and lighting right down to a replica of the Red Special that the kid who portrays Brian May uses. (Although the guitar doesn't look or sound exactly like the Red Special, which is part of the problem--only that guitar really sounds like that guitar.) The idea is to recreate a classic Queen concert, and in this it nearly succeeds.
The moment that "Freddie" (Craig Pesco) walked on-stage, Jim leaned over to me and said, "He looks a lot more like Ron Guidry than Freddie Mercury." Absolutely correct. I'd believe Pesco to be Gator's long-lost brother. And no one--absolutely no one on this planet--could completely reproduce how Freddie Mercury sounded. Pesco did an admirable job, mind, but I am spoiled rotten in the vocals department: I married a Super-Tenor who can still full-voice a D (he did it last night). I had half a mind to stick around and advise good ol' "Freddie" that anything above an A was completely and utterly off-limits to him unless he switched to falsetto.
I mean, he did an excellent job of swaggering about the stage in that ubiquitous Freddie way, wearing the costumes with panache and a great deal of exuberance, and putting in the false teeth to get that special Freddie look.
As for the other band members, "Roger Taylor" (Brett Millican) wore a wig that made both Jim and I think that he might be a girl for a while, "John Deacon" (Mitch Cairns) was probably the best musician on-stage (and a fair bassist, I'll give him that), and "Brian May" (Travis Hair) honestly looked like he was about 21, and except for the hair (which was his own, at least) looked about as much like Brian May as I do. That is not to say that these men did not put their all into the performance--they did. They provided pretty decent background vocals that were accurate and played their instruments well. Again, I am spoiled: no guitarist I see in concert holds a candle to Phil Keaggy (the acoustic master of the Universe) or Vivian Campbell (who is a total genius); what bassist could possibly play better than John Taylor (I'm biased, but I've seen him in concert recently and he is still my money for what a bassist should be); and quite frankly I watched "Roger" play his extended solo and thought: "Okay, he's decent, but I've heard Mike Russ play that, and Mike did it better." (The only drummers that really impress me these days are [yes, still] Carl Palmer and Neil Peart.)
All that aside, what this concert did was make me want to listen to more Queen music, which in and of itself is a complete gift. When I stop to realize how differently Freddie and Brian (and Roger and John, for that matter) heard the musical world, how they made chords come together in ways that no one else did at that time, I shake my head in amazement. Queen has been a direct or indirect influence on much of the music we hear today on the radio and was seminal in creating my beloved New Wave music, even if that isn't what they performed. What they did in the 70s changed music for the better, and I am eternally grateful. I hope I get to tell them that, someday.
For now, all I hear is Radio Ga Ga...
Monday, October 15, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
So I started a blog today...
I mean, I had no idea I could do such a thing! And now, with technology the way it is, it's unbelievably easy.
So, what's on Kate's mind today?
LOTS of things. I mean, LOTS and LOTS of things. It can get pretty cluttered up in the mind of Kate. I've got tons of things going on up there, but today I am just going to share one of them.
My mother and I were discussing the recent Republican Debate that occurred this past week on CNBC, and how well some of the candidates came across in the debate. One apparent "winner", according to the people on CNBC, was Mitt Romney, even though I will not be voting for former Gov. Romney in the upcoming Republican Primary. (Yes, for those of you who don't know, I am a registered Republican. I consider myself closest to being a Libertarian, which is not very Liberal, as most people believe. Libertarianism tends toward small government and personal freedoms, which means it looks socially liberal and fiscally conservative. As an example, most Libertarians would say they are for gay marriage and against the Welfare state. You may draw any conclusions you wish from this.) I have chosen to register Republican because my vote in a primary might actually count for something, and has recently in local government. If I register as a Libertarian...well, you get the idea.
Getting back to the point at hand, we began discussing that Gov. Romney is a Mormon and began reminiscing about the last time Mormons dared to darken the doorstep of the Hiler household in little Mexico, NY. It's really a shame they don't come around anymore, but we are absolutely convinced that there is a big, bold, black "X" over my parent's house on their maps.
Why, you ask? Perhaps you would like me to remove you from their maps as well?
I might not be able to do it personally, but it's not a difficult prospect. All you need are the following items:
*A Bible (more than one translation on hand is fantastic--I used our 4 translation Parallel in these cases)
*Any book by Josh McDowell, but I highly recommend "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" and/or "A Ready Defense"
*"The Kingdom of the Cults", by Walter Martin (with or without updates by Ravi Zacharias)
*Absolute conviction that the people who are there to convert you haven't heard the actual truth.
Back in the 90s, shortly after I graduated college (well, undergraduate, anyway), two young men came to the door wearing nameplates. They identified themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses, and asked if I would be willing to have them come in and let them talk a while. I readily agreed, but told them to get ready, because they weren't going to be the only ones talking. I left them briefly and came back into the Living Room with our Parallel Bible, Josh McDowell's A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults, my German Bible, a German/English Dictionary, and a couple of John Piper books about theology just for kicks. In other words, I had about 60 pounds of books that I placed in front of me as I sat down and said, "Okay, gentlemen, where would you like to begin?"
These poor men had no idea what they were getting themselves into.
They began quoting Scripture. I looked up each and every passage in the Parallel Bible and said, "Who translated your bible? They did a terrible job! Genesis 12:5 doesn't say that at all! Not in any one of the four translations in front of me says that." When they began saying that their scholars were superior, I got out one of the Josh McDowell books, looked up "Translations", and began giving the evidence regarding the translation of the King James and New International Versions, respectively. I think I even went as far as using my German Bible and looking that up word for word--hey, they might be right in that language, but no, it said what every other translation in English said as well.
After about 30 minutes, I had decimated their version of Scripture, their inability to interpret the Bible on their own without going through Charles Taze Russell's version of things, and affirmed that Jesus is the second part of the Trinity. I encouraged them to actually use their own noggins for a change.
They haven't been back to the house since.
About a year later, it was two twenty-year-old women who ended up openly weeping as I began to explain to them why there can't be any more Scripture than what is in the Bible, and if you take the writings of Joseph Smith as Scripture, then your soul is in serious trouble.
I think I converted them to Christianity. And I'm pretty sure that's why they haven't been back since. My mother has reported that she's seen plenty of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses on our street--but they never, *ever*, come to the house.
See, here's how I see it: if these organizations are silly enough to try to send people to win me over, I am well within my rights to explain why Christ alone is the better way.
Whew! Good to get that one out of my head. I'm sure I'll be back for more ramblings (dang, this is actually FUN!)
So, what's on Kate's mind today?
LOTS of things. I mean, LOTS and LOTS of things. It can get pretty cluttered up in the mind of Kate. I've got tons of things going on up there, but today I am just going to share one of them.
My mother and I were discussing the recent Republican Debate that occurred this past week on CNBC, and how well some of the candidates came across in the debate. One apparent "winner", according to the people on CNBC, was Mitt Romney, even though I will not be voting for former Gov. Romney in the upcoming Republican Primary. (Yes, for those of you who don't know, I am a registered Republican. I consider myself closest to being a Libertarian, which is not very Liberal, as most people believe. Libertarianism tends toward small government and personal freedoms, which means it looks socially liberal and fiscally conservative. As an example, most Libertarians would say they are for gay marriage and against the Welfare state. You may draw any conclusions you wish from this.) I have chosen to register Republican because my vote in a primary might actually count for something, and has recently in local government. If I register as a Libertarian...well, you get the idea.
Getting back to the point at hand, we began discussing that Gov. Romney is a Mormon and began reminiscing about the last time Mormons dared to darken the doorstep of the Hiler household in little Mexico, NY. It's really a shame they don't come around anymore, but we are absolutely convinced that there is a big, bold, black "X" over my parent's house on their maps.
Why, you ask? Perhaps you would like me to remove you from their maps as well?
I might not be able to do it personally, but it's not a difficult prospect. All you need are the following items:
*A Bible (more than one translation on hand is fantastic--I used our 4 translation Parallel in these cases)
*Any book by Josh McDowell, but I highly recommend "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" and/or "A Ready Defense"
*"The Kingdom of the Cults", by Walter Martin (with or without updates by Ravi Zacharias)
*Absolute conviction that the people who are there to convert you haven't heard the actual truth.
Back in the 90s, shortly after I graduated college (well, undergraduate, anyway), two young men came to the door wearing nameplates. They identified themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses, and asked if I would be willing to have them come in and let them talk a while. I readily agreed, but told them to get ready, because they weren't going to be the only ones talking. I left them briefly and came back into the Living Room with our Parallel Bible, Josh McDowell's A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults, my German Bible, a German/English Dictionary, and a couple of John Piper books about theology just for kicks. In other words, I had about 60 pounds of books that I placed in front of me as I sat down and said, "Okay, gentlemen, where would you like to begin?"
These poor men had no idea what they were getting themselves into.
They began quoting Scripture. I looked up each and every passage in the Parallel Bible and said, "Who translated your bible? They did a terrible job! Genesis 12:5 doesn't say that at all! Not in any one of the four translations in front of me says that." When they began saying that their scholars were superior, I got out one of the Josh McDowell books, looked up "Translations", and began giving the evidence regarding the translation of the King James and New International Versions, respectively. I think I even went as far as using my German Bible and looking that up word for word--hey, they might be right in that language, but no, it said what every other translation in English said as well.
After about 30 minutes, I had decimated their version of Scripture, their inability to interpret the Bible on their own without going through Charles Taze Russell's version of things, and affirmed that Jesus is the second part of the Trinity. I encouraged them to actually use their own noggins for a change.
They haven't been back to the house since.
About a year later, it was two twenty-year-old women who ended up openly weeping as I began to explain to them why there can't be any more Scripture than what is in the Bible, and if you take the writings of Joseph Smith as Scripture, then your soul is in serious trouble.
I think I converted them to Christianity. And I'm pretty sure that's why they haven't been back since. My mother has reported that she's seen plenty of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses on our street--but they never, *ever*, come to the house.
See, here's how I see it: if these organizations are silly enough to try to send people to win me over, I am well within my rights to explain why Christ alone is the better way.
Whew! Good to get that one out of my head. I'm sure I'll be back for more ramblings (dang, this is actually FUN!)
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