One of my friends saw the Bonzo Dog Band live shortly before Viv Stanshall passed away, said that Viv still sounded great but looked like hell, so the secret to enjoying their show was to avert your eyes from the stage while they were playing.
I thought of that last night while I was watching Big Star last night at the Fillmore. Alex Chilton isn't much to look at these days -- he's thinning (both on top and in the middle), needs his reading glasses to see the setlist, and looks like a high school science teacher a few years from retirement, but still sings and plays great. As long as I focused on the other guys in the band. Ken and Jon from the Posies have been in Big Star almost as long as they've been in the Posies, and make great stand-ins for Alex Hummel and the late Chris Bell, while Jody Stephens is still one of the best drummers who ever drummed.
This show was in chronological order, so it started with a few songs from #1 Record and Chris Bell's "I Am The Cosmos" (which Jon Auer has made his own over the last 15 years), followed by songs from Radio City and Sister Lovers. The last four songs in the set were from their 2005 reunion album In Space (a disappointing release that should be excised from the band's history), but they all sounded pretty good played live. The songs on In Space aren't bad songs, they just don't sound like "Big Star" songs. Big Star songs are tight and poppy, and the newer songs sound like guys messing around in the studio while the tape is rolling.
On the way home, I was listening to an American Top 40 from this week in 1971 (on KFRC FM) when Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" was at #1 for the third straight week. I didn't recognized most of the other songs in the top ten. I've somehow managed to go through my entire life without hearing "Yo Yo" by the Osmonds (which was #2 this week in 1971). It's fairly clear that the world was waiting for Big Star's #1 Record in the fall of 1971, whether they realized or not!
I thought of that last night while I was watching Big Star last night at the Fillmore. Alex Chilton isn't much to look at these days -- he's thinning (both on top and in the middle), needs his reading glasses to see the setlist, and looks like a high school science teacher a few years from retirement, but still sings and plays great. As long as I focused on the other guys in the band. Ken and Jon from the Posies have been in Big Star almost as long as they've been in the Posies, and make great stand-ins for Alex Hummel and the late Chris Bell, while Jody Stephens is still one of the best drummers who ever drummed.
This show was in chronological order, so it started with a few songs from #1 Record and Chris Bell's "I Am The Cosmos" (which Jon Auer has made his own over the last 15 years), followed by songs from Radio City and Sister Lovers. The last four songs in the set were from their 2005 reunion album In Space (a disappointing release that should be excised from the band's history), but they all sounded pretty good played live. The songs on In Space aren't bad songs, they just don't sound like "Big Star" songs. Big Star songs are tight and poppy, and the newer songs sound like guys messing around in the studio while the tape is rolling.
On the way home, I was listening to an American Top 40 from this week in 1971 (on KFRC FM) when Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" was at #1 for the third straight week. I didn't recognized most of the other songs in the top ten. I've somehow managed to go through my entire life without hearing "Yo Yo" by the Osmonds (which was #2 this week in 1971). It's fairly clear that the world was waiting for Big Star's #1 Record in the fall of 1971, whether they realized or not!
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