2004-02-26 - 10:41 a.m.
my new scottish boyfriends are named franz ferdinand. i saw them last night at tt's and was floored. they are my new favorite band. a cross between the clash and trainspotting and the libertines with a splash of disco thrown in. the lead singer looks like the love child of ian curtis and brett anderson. the guitar/keyboard player looks like the boy who loved me in grammar, junior high, and high school (who later got married and when he called to tell me "the big news", i was sure he was coming out to me, color my face red!). they have these stylized moves onstage that were utterly fabulous, but not all of what they do is planned out i think. i haven't gone to a show band unheard - based solely on the buzz - in a long time. i was not at all disappointed. i predict franz ferdinand will be around for a long time and i saw them in tiny little tt's. the last (ended up) big band i saw there was a band of unknowns called the strokes. hmmm.
r.i.p. carl anderson. you may know him as judas from "jesus christ superstar". while ben vereen was the original judas, carl stole my heart with his voice in the somewhat odd movie adaptation by norman jewison. i am by no means religious, but i love "jesus christ superstar" like it is my job. maybe it's cuz i'm a rocknroll girl and it's a rocknroll opera.
my parents made sure to take us to lots of plays and musicals as children. they wanted us to experience culture in a way that they couldn't growing up because they were poor. one of the earliest plays they took me to was "annie", i was very small (3 or 4) and fell asleep before ratty annie was given a makeover replete with red wig. apparently i woke up at the play's end and threw a small fit because i missed the whole damn thing. my parents took my older sister as a small child to see "godspell" (the soundtrack to which i was totally scared of growing up) and apparently during the crucifixion scene, "jesus" cut his head on the microphone dangling above him. he began bleeding profusely and when the play ended nervous cast members shouted from the stage, "is there a doctor in the house?" my sister too young to understand that the man onstage was an actor, turned to my parents and tearfully cried, "is jesus going to die?"
but back to carl. i had the pleasure of meeting him in person after a charity performance of jcs in providence, rhode island. he was lovely and gracious and offered me some of his cookie. his voice is one that will haunt me forever. you can really hear the anguish as he wrestles with his demons throughout the play. if you've never heard/seen jcs, you should. even if you're one of those types who claim they don't like theater, this play is different. it's like a seventies rock concert that tells a story. after seeing such a great display of music last night and feeling lucky to have been there, i wanted to acknowledge this man who has passed that i was lucky to have met and experienced firsthand.
