Month: January 2019

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The Music of Queen and the Spokane Symphony

Saturday night was a very good night indeed. The wife, child, and I attended a sold out show at the Fox theater…a show that featured the music of Queen, soundly backed by the Spokane Symphony.

I have to be honest and state up front that my expectations for this had been fairly low. It’s been my experience that most tribute bands fail to live up to the hype. Imagine my pleasure to be able to say that this was definitely not the case in this instance.

Windborne Music, and in particular, Brody Dolyniuk, put on an extraordinary show. The Symphony did an excellent job both blending with, and adding to, the over all sound on the songs that were performed. Was this a traditional Symphonic performance? No, but neither was the show Metallica did with the San Francisco Symphony. The end result of merging a live band with an orchestra adds something that becomes greater as a cohesive whole.

The best thing about it was the fact that it literally was an all ages show. I saw toddlers attending with their parents, Octogenarians who probably didn’t know what they were getting themselves into, and every age group in between. And, at the end of the night, every one of them seemed to enjoy themselves.

Let’s face it, Queen’s musical legacy has something for everyone. Their genre hopping variety of songs can accommodate everything from Classic Rock lovers to Blues to even Disco (ewww). The highlight of the evening for me was when they played Fat Bottomed Girls, it was the first song after Intermission.

Were there songs I didn’t particularly care for? Yes, but this show had to appeal to a large audience…not just me. Brody, the lead vocalist impressed me with his ability to almost nail Freddy’s vocals on every song they played. You could see that this was no easy feat if you watched his face while belting out the lyrics. It was probably as close as anyone who isn’t Freddy Mercury could get, and I offer up kudo’s to him.

This was no quiet show where the audience just sits and watches. No,  audience participation was not only encouraged, but demanded. Sing-alongs, dancing, foot-stomping, and the like kept everyone involved. People genuinely had FUN.

Windborne Music has many other shows that they do: The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc… And I have to admit that if they ever bring The Who tribute to Spokane I’ll be the first to buy tickets.

 

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Next steps

As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been considering joining one, or more, writing organizations. A few days ago I acted upon it by becoming a member of the PNWA (Pacific North West Writers Association). I have barely scratched the surface, in fact, I’ve really only been browsing the website and scanning what is available to me for resources.

That being said they DO have a writing contest that spans multiple genres and formats, including short stories. I have to be honest that I find the thought of entering a contest at this stage somewhat intimidating, and yet it is also intriguing. At the very least I will receive some valuable feedback via critiques, and at best might catch the eye of an Agent or Editor. Not the worst things that could happen to someone like me.

Still, there remains a lingering doubt that I probably am not ready. And to be honest that is probably correct. However, I have done many things that I probably wasn’t ready for, or shouldn’t have attempted in the first place. So, yeah. I suspect that I will cough up the $35 entry fee and spin the wheel to see what happens.

The short story criteria are pretty tight (maximum of 14 pages) and I really don’t have anything currently written that falls within those constraints. Guess I need to come up with something that will work…if I go that route.

On the other hand I DO have a novel or two sitting around that will meet the criteria for that category. What to do, what to do…? I’m torn because the best candidate is a book that I have almost decided to split into two. Between those two books, and the 2/3’s written third book I would have a trilogy looking to be published (after some editing, of course).

Regardless, I have some time until the deadline so will give it some considerable thought. I will keep this blog updated as I go through the process. Wish me luck.

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Angels and Demons and Religion, oh my!

So…I’ve received a few comments regarding my short stories posted here on the blog. Primarily they pertain to the content, but can be condensed down to ‘WTF dude? All you write about is Angels!‘. On the one hand, this is true, both stories do have Angel main characters. On the other, I didn’t set out to do so in a planned manner…rather, it just worked out that way.

Six-gun Apotheosis was written in a single day after waking up with the whole story already written in my head. It was completely spur of the moment and entirely unplanned.

The Fifth Seal has been hovering around waiting to be written since June of 2018. The Lufthansa flight we were on was somewhere over the Atlantic ocean when the idea to write a short story that took place at the Vatican made itself known to my conscious mind. I cogitated on it until I had the basic premise, wrote a couple of paragraphs, and saved the document onto my laptop where it languished for months before I picked it back up again.

So yeah, coincidental timing. Continue reading “Angels and Demons and Religion, oh my!”

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Phoenix, AZ

I just returned from Phoenix last night. The four night trip was a work function for my wife that also included an award for Employee of the quarter. As a result of the award, the company paid to have me travel with her, and I am never one to pass up a free trip.

Other than the obligatory company gatherings which took place at Tommy Bahama’s, Dave and Busters, and Mastro’s, the top performers and their Directors also were treated to a half-day session driving exotic cars on a local race-track. If I’m being honest this was one of the main reasons I decided to freeload my way to Arizona. Continue reading “Phoenix, AZ”

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Die Krupps- Machinists of Joy

 

My wife got me possibly the best Christmas present she could have this year. That’s not to say that there weren’t other goodies under the tree, there were, but it was the CD by Die Krupps that really made me smile. Most of you will have no idea that this band is one of my favorites, in fact I first became aware of them while I was stationed in Germany from 1992 to the end of 1993.

Industrial music was very popular in Europe at the time and I was exposed to it in the various clubs in both Stuttgart and Ansbach/Nurnberg. High Tech Low Life and Metal Machine Music blew my mind the first time I heard them. The music was infectious and even my Heavy Metal soul responded to what my ears were experiencing.

Over the years I have owned most, if not all, of the albums that Die Krupps has put out…some have worn out from over-use. That being said, until 2013 the band had been strangely silent, nearly fifteen years had passed since Paradise Now was released. Just before Christmas I was browsing Amazon and came across a DK CD I didn’t own…I immediately put it on my Wish List and handed it to the wife, and God bless her soul she got it for me.

The CD starts off with Ein Blick zurueck im Zorn, a song that immediately grabs your attention and shakes it about like a dog with a rope toy. The overall tone of the album is reminiscent of The Final Option and Odyssey of the Mind period, but there are undertones of other albums as well. For any fan of the band this CD is a must have, and for those of you who have managed to avoid knowledge of them it will be an excellent introduction.

Run, don’t walk, to purchase this CD. You won’t be disappointed.

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