Completely Conspicuous 513: Blues for Allah

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album Blues for Allah. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded at CompCon world HQ
- The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in September 1975
- The band's highest-charting album until 1987
- Very non-commercial record
- Jay: The best thing about the album is the cover
- Moved in a much different direction from previous album
- Band had stopped touring after From the Mars Hotel
- Mickey Hart was back
- Also in 1975, Zeppelin had released Physical Graffiti, Talking Heads and Sex Pistols played their first shows, disco started hitting the charts
- Phil: Very sparse, subdued jazz-rock album
- Studio songs are blueprint, but they change after repeated live playings
- Dead fans were used to changing sounds
- The live show was the thing
- Commercial success was less important to the band and its fans
- Some songs on this album went on to become concert staples
- Not a lot of bands that have fans following them around the country: Phish, Afghan Whigs, Pearl Jam, Tragically Hip
- Album has a Middle Eastern feel; a few years later, they played in Egypt
- Jay: Liked the first few songs, then it started to meander
- Next album was live album Steal Your Face, which many fans didn't like
- Next we'll listen to Terrapin Station and Cornell '77
- Springsteen's live shows are long, but full of songs (as opposed to long jams)
- Phil just saw Apocalypse Now for the first time

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 512: From the Mars Hotel

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album From the Mars Hotel. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded at CompCon world HQ on the 13th birthday of the podcast
- The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in June 1974
- Watergate hearings were the big news story
- Beer was a lot cheaper back then
- In '74, there was a good variety of rock acts releasing important albums, plus funk
- Mars Hotel had some classic Dead songs
- Phil Lesh sang two songs, which was rare, and Bob Weir had one
- Garcia is in prime form on this record
- The Dead was touring with the "Wall of Sound," a massive "distortion-free" speaker setup
- Playing larger venues
- The cost was so high that they eventually quit touring for a few years
- Maybe the last great Dead studio album
- The Grateful Dead Movie was taken from the final shows of this tour
- Working out new songs in the live setting
- Rivalry between lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow
- The Dead would play with guest musicians from time to time including Pete Townshend, Branford Marsalis, Santana, Huey Lewis
- The Dead probably got some airplay on FM rock radio in the '70s
- Rock radio has changed a tremendous amount over the years; it's mostly corporate, formatted now
- College and online stations have the most freedom
- Second-tier album in the discography
- Pretty representative of the Dead's sound
- Next: Blues for Allah

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 511: On With the Show

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Gary Barth as we discuss the concertgoing experience. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded in Gary's car on the way to the show
- Driving before and briefly after an Iron Maiden concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA
- Jay: Big fan of club shows
- Like to get up close to the stage
- The downside of theater shows
- Some shows are made for big venues
- Getting your face melted by Ty Segall
- Demographics: We're the target market for Maiden, but often among the oldest when seeing newer acts
- If you were 30 when you saw Maiden during their early days, you're pushing 70 now
- Still weird to be "the old guy"
- No institutional knowledge of what came before
- Gary: Raised our kids on the Beatles
- Jay: My kids love Taylor Swift; at least she writes her own songs
- I listen to a lot of pop these days when I drive the girls around
- Making the kids listen to your music
- Gary: We played Beatles Rock Band a lot as a family
- Will we still go to rock shows as senior citizens?
- No such thing as guilty pleasures
- We both love the Bee Gees
- Jay: Traded the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack for a Zeppelin album
- Reconciled with my disco-loving childhood
- People who watch a show through their smart phones
- Making Gary self-conscious about phone use at concerts
- Artists who ban cellphone use at shows
- After the concert
- We paid extra to park in a lot to get out earlier
- High energy, over-the-top stage show
- Saw some people with toddlers
- Fun to go to a big show with friends
- Gary's next show: Raconteurs in September
- Jay's next show: Sleater-Kinney in October
- Gary plays about 20 shows a year

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 510: Maiden Voyage

Celebrating 13 years of podcasting with part 1 of my conversation with guest Gary Barth as we discuss the concertgoing experience...while we drive to a concert. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded in Gary's car on the way to the show
- Driving to an Iron Maiden concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA
- Gary's first concert: Huey Lewis and the News in 1985
- Huey's got rock cred
- All the big shows back in the '80s were at hockey rinks
- Many bands now play smaller theaters and clubs
- Jay: Used to go see only arena shows back then
- Arenas in Worcester, Portland, Providence
- Shows were cheaper back then, but we had less money
- People would get really wasted before concerts
- The guy who sat behind us and still missed the entire Maiden show
- Getting rides to concerts from parents
- Gary plays in a Grateful Dead cover band, Deadbeat
- Listening to some "nice hahd rawk"
- Jay's (very) short-lived high school band
- Jay: Liked a lot of metal and hard rock in high school, turned away from it in the '90s
- We both started listening to Maiden again in 2006
- Bands don't make money from selling albums anymore
- Saw Drive-By Truckers at the local theater in Beverly
- Go see Deadbeat at the Bull Run in Shirley, MA on 8/9
- Cover bands are doing pretty well these days
- Heavy Metal Cul de Sac
- Bands keep touring into their old age
- The Iron Maiden guys are all in their 60s but put on a high-energy show
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.