[Rick and Roll]

I was also introduced to the man behind the Acuity CD (name escapes me). He was helping out Matthew all weekend. That's great that he sold out of the DVD's (note - the Discipline DVD is out!). I may watch this weekend.

I was kicking myself on Sunday. I said to Matthew in the
morning "Your time slot is odd. Will you get tired after lunch?"
Given his distaste for live performance, I hoped that I didn't drive
him off the edge! Turns out I had nothing to worry about. He was
really f'ing great.

Some banter from the performance:

Someone shouted from the back "Turn it up!". Matthew seriously
thought he meant to turn up the volume. But he wasn't convinced, so he asks, "Do you mean turn it up like turn it up, or rock and roll!" Hilarious. He also explained his face paint, explaining the separate personas. He says "I don't wear this offstage and I don't fart onstage".

Some people tell him mimes don't talk like it's an educational
process!

My favorite line was "I had trouble talking when I was born...my
parents worked with me for months before I finally could"!

And here's Matthew's post, with set list, from today...........


Thanks to everyone who attended. It was great to meet so many of you face-to-face.

Thanks to Rick & Jeff for adopting me Friday evening and at breakfast. Great fun.

I can't tell you all how much I enjoyed my time there. Thanks Bill K.
for everything. Emotional and heartfelt thanks to Rob & Chad for
allowing me to sing at their festival. Thanks to Janice for visiting
with me Saturday evening.

Wow. What a great response.

This set timed out at 29 minutes in my living room. Somehow it
sprawled during the show. Oops. Perhaps between each title I should write blah blah blah.

- Scheherazade
- Snug Bottom Flute and Starveling
- O Cesare
- Feel (by Syd Barrett)
- Lair of the Damned (I get scared when it rains)
- Crutches (The Carrot)
- Rogue (Blush and Rouge)
- Some Fear Growing Old

Thanks,
Matthew

I can't wait to see the DVD.....

And now to Kenso.....what a show!!!!!!

Having heard them on the Moon, I thought they would be simply classy, smooth fusion. They were smokin! The keyboards were just fantastic. Incredible musicianship. The drummer NEVER stopped. And any superlative heaped on guitarist Yoshihisa Shimizu is not enough. An actual dentist, he brings power and presicion to his guitar work. He was crying at the conclusion of the show. He whipped out a few bars of "Heartbreaker" and led a medley of "We're An American Band", "Carry On Wayward Son", and damn..what was that other tune? He played a solo that along with Roine Stolt's "Blade of Cain" solo from this year is still ringing in my ears. My favorite part was a corny tune he wrote just for Nearfest. They'd been recruited for years but finally made it over. The crowd was thrilled.

One of the keyboardists, in his incredible solo portion, played some of "Allentown", funny considering the proximity to the venue. They all NEVER stopped smiling...almost two hours!

This band was incredibly tight. Maybe the best show at Nearfest I've seen. I'll try to get my friend Wayne in Japan to see if he can track them down for an interview.

I was joking that Le Orme would cancel again after hearing Kenso. I really tried to get into them, and eschewed the hangover from Kenso and tried to give them an unbiased ear. On balance, they failed to move me. The reminded me of Metamorphosi last year, except that Metamorphosi had great vocals and a commanding presence. Le Orme was a bit too far back from the stage, and looked like four separate entities. Also, they seemed a bit standoffish. There were some real die-hard fans in the crowd...more power to them. It just seemed cold and without feeling.

At the same bar as the Karaeoke...Gags did his show Saturday night. I was able to finally meet Tom about 8PM that evening. I was happy to catch him before he got REAL busy...

Oh well...now to ice my aching wrist.......