Gipsy Kings

Last night I went to check out the Gipsy Kings at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee. What a cool show. Those guys really knew how to put on a good show. Six guitarists, three leftie, three rightie, and they looked very symmetrical. The musicians in the back row consisted of a drum kit player, a bassist, a percussionist (leather pants), and a keyboard player. Of the four, only the percussionist looked like he was a regular performer. The rest (keyboards, drums, bass) looked like they may have been session musicians filling in.

The Gipsy Kings put on a great presentation, and they really knew how to work the audience. After every song, the lead singer (a rotating role, using a centralized microphone) would take a bow, and then gesture loftily to the other musicians. All the motions were regal and elegant.

My one gripe about this show had nothing to do with the Gipsy Kings themselves. The Riverside Theatre had hired a completely incompetent sound engineer that night, as the sound really sucked. The bass drum was too loud, and too drenched in sub tones to allow the delicate upper-register instruments to shine. At one point, the bass player took a wicked solo, but I couldn’t hear a note. The sound tech had rolled off all the high frequencies of the bass, and every now and then you’d hear a fat splat of a low note, but nothing else. I could tell the bassist was sailing all over the place by his hand movements, and by the response that he got from the audience close to the stage.

All in all, great show. Bummer that the Riverside Theatre would bring a world class act and not step up accordingly.

RIP Syd Barrett

Pink Floyd co-founder and psychedelic music pioneer Syd Barrett, aged 60, passed away on July 7, 2006 from diabetes-related complications.

Pay homage to the interstellar giant by busting out your dusty copies of:

• The Piper At The Gates of Dawn and playing “Bike“
• Wish You Were Here and playing “Shine On You Crazy Diamond“

Image courtesy of Flickr user Julep67

Sevi Regis’ Eloquence

From the Midwest Christian Bodybuilding site:

“In 1969 at the age of 13, Sevi Regis began bodybuilding and powerlifting as one of the first women training in New York to gain mass and power. Her best lifts were achieved in 1975, when at the age of 18, she deadlifted 385 pounds, squated 300, and benched 185, all natural.

Two years later, Sevi ran a 4:15-minute mile, and the following year, she completed her first NYC 26-mile marathon in 3 hours 29 minutes. Sevi also played local tennis tournaments and practiced for triathlons.

Sevi Regis became one of the first professional personal trainers in New York, and owned a company called, “Physique Finesse” where she’d coach people all over the City. She appeared on several television programs and had a full calendar of clients until 1984, when she changed careers after meeting Jesus Christ in December of 1989.

Currently, Ms. Regis works as an author and independent producer/director. She has written 28 books and screenplays, with 21 books in print as of September 2006. Sevi is also an ordained medical chaplain and served in hospitals and nursing homes for ten years. Now Sevi works to unite faith and fitness in uniquely empowering ways.”

Recently, I’ve had the rare blessing of receiving a heated comment from Sevi herself, in reference to my post about the Birth of Sean Preston statue. Sevi wrote:

The statue is a disgusting and stupid choice of images geared toward a society growing more perverted and dim every day. Do we need to be educated about a bimbo’s ass? Or do we need to cure cancer, redeem the environment, and learn how to communicate properly so we can stop killing each other? Idiots! No original thinking, no worth or social value, just more of a moronic descension into the abyss. Don’t worry, you didn’t shock me; you only made me puke at the thought of you.

All that from a fundamentalist meathead. I’m impressed that the synapses are still firing.