On Saturday, I took my daughter and her friend to Cincinnati to see Porcupine Tree.

They are a band based out of England that is a throwback to 70s concept bands that produce a body of work through albums versus individual songs. This was the first time we got to see them live, so it was a real treat.

The band played the whole of the current album The Incident. It is a story of life and the bad things that happen along the way.

The venue was Bogarts in Cincinnati. It is located right off the campus of the University of Cincinnati. It is a strange part of town. Broad Ripple in Indianapolis is Vanilla compared to this part of town. It seemed a little rougher around the edges. The concert was general admission. For all the older people there, standing up for a whole concert was kind of challenging. I was sore at the end of the show. For the kids, it was an amazing experience to watch their musical heroes perform only a few feet from the stage.

(I went up to the balcony where all my fellow 70s leftovers were hanging out).

The crowd was quite mixed. There were people wearing Rush T-shirts, Pink Floyd T-shirts. The age of the crowd ranged from teenagers like my daughter to guys and gals in their mid-50s.

The sound was excellent. It was not too loud and it sounded very clean. The band is very tight.

Steven Wilson is the lead for the band. He is a musical prodigy having recorded his first album at a very young age in his teens. He writes all their music. He plays guitars and keyboards.

Colin Edwin is the bass player. He actually moves pretty well for an English bloke. So much so, that a women took off her bra and threw it up to him at the end. He has done a lot of projects and has played with some pretty well known people.

Richard Barbieri is the old guy on the keyboards. He is a throwback to Richard Wright of Pink Floyd

. His keyboards and synthesizers provide a subtle but important background to the guitars and drums.

Gavin Harrison is got to be one of the best drummers alive. He is a one of a kind drummer. He does not sound like anyone. He has this melodic approach to drums and use of cymbals are fantastic. He is a drummer that knows how to use a double bass. Just seeing him play was the great pleasure for me. He is an amazing drummer.

Here is the rest of their tour schedule. If you want to experience a great evening of excellent music performed by great musicians, Porcupine Tree can deliver a show.

May 04 2010  BUFFALO, USA: Town Ballroom
May 06 2010  QUEBEC CITY, Canada: Capitole Du Quebec
May 07 2010  MONTREAL, Canada: Place De Arts
May 08 2010  TORONTO, Canada: Sound Academy
May 10 2010  PITTSBURGH: Mr. Smalls
May 11 2010  RICHMOND: The National Theater
June 2010
Jun 09 2010  BERGEN: Ole Bull Scene
Jun 10 2010  OSLO: Norwegian Wood
Jun 12 2010  SWITZERLAND: Greenfield Festival
Jun 13 2010  DONNINGTON PARK: Download Festival
Jun 19 2010  GERMANY: Hurricane Festival
Jun 20 2010  GERMANY: Southside Festival
July 2010
Jul 01 2010  DENMARK: Roskilde Festival
Jul 03 2010  BELGIUM: Rock Werchter Festival
Jul 07 2010  TEL AVIV, Israel: Exhibition Grounds
Jul 10 2010  FINLAND: Ruisrock Festival
Jul 14 2010  ITALY: Pistoia Blues Festival
Jul 16 2010  CZECH REPUBLIC: Colours of Ostrava
September 2010
Sep 24 2010  NEW YORK: Radio City Music Hall

Great show, great band and it does not cost an arm and a leg – $22.00 at the Bogart. (Plus all the ticketing non-sense)

Last night I had the pleasure of escorting my 16 year old daughter to the Emerson and Lake concert here in Indianapolis. Palmer could not make it, so they sent Memorex in his place.

Being a drummer, I was a little disappointed because I have never seen the Palmer of the trio perform. That being said, it was still worth it because Keith Emerson is a freak on the keyboards. When I see talent like his, I can’t help but admire the gift of music and the musicians that can express themselves through their art.

It was a cool concert because the venue was small. The stage setup was a recording studio with the guy behind in the booth. Yet, the stage had the feeling like a couple of guys playing in your living room. They played some of their popular songs that featured Greg Lake on acoustic guitar and of course Keith Emerson’s myriad of keyboards.

They even took questions from the audience. One guy was like the annoying kid at school who sits on the edge of his desk raising his hand, going “Teacher…teacher..me me!” The other notable feature of the night was the annoying blond woman in front of us that would not sit down. She had obviously been drinking for most of the evening and was toasted by the end of the show. As both my daughter and I are musicians, it was annoying because we really wanted to see them perform.

(We have a history of being stuck behind idiots at concerts. Our Rush experience together was also tainted with a drunken blond in front of us. Then she reminded of the drunken woman at the Kansas concert several years ago. While I did not remember it when she mentioned it, the cobwebs cleared and I recall what she was talking about).

The highlight for my daughter was concluding the show with “Pirates”. It is off their Works album and one of the best ELP songs ever. They told us a funny story about how Leonard Bernstein was in Paris when they were recording it. They shared it with him and his response was, “The singer is pretty good.” As for the rest of it, he shook his head in disgust.

They are touring all over the US, so if you are interested, I say it is worth the admission. Tour information can be found at www.greglake.com
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Mr. Matt Pivec – a Professor of Jazz Studies at Butler University is a visionary.

This weekend, I had the privilege of watching some talented High School musicians perform in small combo groups performing great tunes from Miles Davis to John Coltrane. Most High School programs provide students opportunities to play in large ensembles. However, the opportunity to play in combos is generally limited.

Mr. Pivec has implemented an outreach program at Butler University to attract talented musicians from local high schools to explore jazz on a different level than what their high schools can offer. If you watch most high school music programs, players are pretty restricted to the music that is in front of them. Mr. Pivec’s program gives players some freedom to explore the improvisational opportunities in jazz.

Most of these high school kids would not get this type of musical education, until they actually go to college. Jazz Ensemble groups are generally large and a handful of kids get the limelight. Mr Pivec’s program gives every kid in the group a chance to explore improvisational moments. As he said in the program, “It teaches them to feel the music.”

So, if you have a high school kid that plays a jazz instrument and wants to explore jazz at a different level, Mr Pivec is running programs throughout the school year at Butler University. Combo education in the fall and a Jazz Ensemble in the spring. Tryouts for the Butler Youth Jazz Ensemble will be in January of this year.

If you want to learn more or talk to Mr. Pivec directly, check him out here.

He is a visionary and Butler should be proud of the work he is doing. I know the kids are enjoying it. I have 2 of them in the program and am thankful they have the opportunity to experience it.