Classic & Current Contemporary Non-Schlock-Rock Metropolitan Music

Todd Rundgren, Joe Jackson, & ETHEL - 2005 (Pt. 2)

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ETHEL's Strings, Joe Jackson's Piano

ETHEL

Shortly after 7:30 p.m., the string quartet ETHEL walked onto the stage and perched atop a small raised platform - a mini-stage within the main stage. Two violins. Viola. Cello. From the get-go I was into them. The sound started out with this Phillip Glassy impact and got as syncopated and multi-chorded as Leonard Bernstein. The only thing that kept my jaw off the floor was the fact that the audience was nowhere near to settling down. People were walking all over the place. I was sitting near the back and the lobby was loud. Fortunately, this quartet of string players was captivating enough to overcome these distractions.

If you think - "oh, a string quartet is going to be boring" - disabuse yourself of any pre-conceived notions. I confess I like chamber music when I'm in the right mood. But this is no chamber music. This is closer to Anton Chekov's play called "Chamber Music" set in an insane asylum than it is to Bach's "Brandenburg Concertos." Violinist Todd Reynolds stated that ETHEL are "a few classical musicians gone horribly wrong." I say these four are classically-TRAINED musicians who are carving new ground. Not unlike the realm of Walter Carlos (as he was known at the time I bought "Switched on Bach") when he combined Bach with the Moog synthesizer way back when. (Walter eventually became Wendy, but that's another story for another day.)

ETHEL played about 45 minutes give or take a few, but there was no intermission. The lights stayed down and this music played that sounded like Steve Reich. I'm just guessing here, remembering back to the old WFDD days of "This Musical Century," a program that featured artists like Reich, John Cage, and (the first time I heard) Laurie Anderson. If anyone who was there knows for sure what that music was, please correct me. I'm not as up on my "New Age" music as I used to be.

Joe Jackson

So while the Reich or Reich-esque music was playing, the stage was dark and the little mini-stage was swapped out for a big black grand piano with a closed top oriented on the left part of the stage (audience perspective). It wasn't five minutes before Joe Jackson came out from the left of the stage wearing a long, dark green jacket and looking quite sharp! He sat at the piano but there was some sort of technical glitch. A roadie came out and started messing with the mic stand or something. Finally Joe got up and walked back to the left and started making funny gestures at the piano, waiting for Mr. Roadie to get whatever was wrong working.

At last, Joe was back at the piano, lightly playing the high notes, emanating the most beautiful sounds. Unfortunately, the crowd was so mobile you'd think it was the Titanic passengers trying to disembark, only backwards. The doors to the auditorium kept opening and closing. Flashlights kept shining to show people where to sit. Everyone was trying to get another beer. It was crazy.

I just hope Joe wasn't distracted by all this. But there was a lesson to be learned for my music-student daughters. Avalon and Annecy play in piano recitals a few times a year. Often the audience is a bit distracting - rattling papers and such. At the most recent recital, a mom brought a kid around age two or so who kept making a lot of noise while the students were playing, including both of my daughters. I told them (and so did their instructor) that's the way it is in real life and you have to learn to deal with it.

Joe's beautiful opening song was "Home Town" from Big World. (Yeah, I can relate. I grew up in Winston-Salem and every time I go back, it feels stranger and stranger. It's just one big road now.) That segued nicely into "Stepping Out" from Night and Day, a brilliant record. Every song on that record stands up to this "hit," but I will save that until I write the essay for Night and Day. I did see the tour for Night and Day. (That's when I interviewed the English Beat.)

Speaking of that Night and Day show, you wouldn't believe how awesome Joe's band was then. Graham Maby is one of the best bass players I've ever seen. I loved Joe from the first time I heard "Sunday Papers" on the No Wave record that came out in, what... 1978? I was going to rave about how much I love Look Sharp, I'm the Man, and Beat Crazy but I will never finish this long essay if I digress there.

Joe stopped to talk to the audience. He mentioned it was his first time in Greensboro and pointed out his green coat. Then Joe announced that he and his original band (including that awesome bassist I hope) are going to have a new album out soon. He played two new songs: "Act Your Age" and "Take It Like a Man."

I cannot promise that I have all the songs in order here, but I do believe it was the next song when he played a bone-fide "DD Hit." Those of you who listened to Deaconlight, New Generation, and perhaps even Try This long ago must know the song "It's Different for Girls" from I'm the Man. Even though I played it often when I went into commercial radio, the last time I played it on Deaconlight was my final Christmas Show.

Moving on. We had "Obvious Song" from Laughter and Lust followed by a new song "Love at First Light," a waltzy tune with a story behind it. Although I wonder how Joe got hold of my journals and knew that was the situation when I met my now-husband in 1989. (We were engaged after two weeks, married two months later on Valentine's Day).

Next was an excellent cover of "Girl" from the Beatles' record Rubber Soul, which Joe just credited to John Lennon, followed by "Be My Number Two" and new song "Citizen Sane."

All the while I kept thinking: Joe surely must be feeling pressure to play the big hit "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" at every show. Is he going to schlog his way through it just to make the fans happy? In a way, I was hoping he would not waste the valuable time on an old hit because he has such a treasure-trove of great songs. But, you know, he finished up with it, and it was fun! It was fun because - unless he's a good actor - he truly seemed to enjoy playing it. That made it fun for everybody there. Of course, one of the fun parts of this song is when he says "Where" and the audience says "Where" (yeah, we did that back then too). But I must say, I am very glad he played it because I felt his fun.

I have always known this man has incredible talent. I appreciated the way he could integrate the beauty of the piano sound with rock and roll, although I first fell in love with his music at the opening guitar of "One More Time" the day Look Sharp! arrived at WFDD with those cool pointy shoes on the cover. His performance tonight illustrated his witty and thoughtful songwriting along with his dexterous piano chops. That sound! That tingly reverberation from the ivories that Joe treated us to in those songs where he let the piano be the star. Most of all, this felt like a personal performance. Almost as if he was playing in my living room just for me. He connected well with the audience, showed us he has a sense of humour, and made us as an audience feel appreciated.

After Joe left the stage, there was a 15-minute intermission.

Next »

• DD's Concert Preview in goTriad (April 14, 2005)
• Part 1: Intro to The Ethereal Six
• Part 2: ETHEL's Strings, Joe Jackson's Piano
• Part 3: Todd Solo, Then Mix & Match
• Part 4: Todd Rundgren Autographs for the Kids