Post by redterror on Mar 22, 2006 13:09:58 GMT -5
Hey, first off, I am so glad to have found this website.
I was looking for the lyrics to Heavy 33, did a search and found this website. Is this a fan website, or official?
I wrote a feature story about Graeme for a fanzine several years ago, a blurb of mine sits at the top of the home page on this site. Nice! The interview/feature is still available online(home.golden.net/~tekapo/type/verlaines.html) and will remain online permanently (or at least as long as I pay my ISP bill).
BTW - the commentary Graeme provides for the records originated with me too (hey, where's the source credit!?! grrrrrrrrr).
I was a fan of the Verlanes since Bird-Dog -- as I say in my article, I bought that record because I fell in love with the record jacket. At that point I didn't really care what it sounded like, I just wanted that 12" painting repro! Glad to see it get some additional life on this website. Later I fell in love with the music, and I've been a commited fan ever since.
The first and only time I saw the Verlaines play live was at Lee's Palace in Toronto (April 2, 1992). I don't want to boast about the shows that I have seen in my lifetime, suffice to say I have seen some of the greatest names in the history of jazz, blues and rock music, and no word of a lie, the Verlaines was one of the best shows I have ever seen, a Top Fiver for sure. Sadly, there was hardly anyone at the show. And the people who were at the show stood about 20 feet back from the stage, introverts all, so there was an acre of empty space in front of Graeme. I felt sheepish walking right up to the stage and snapping photos, but for Graeme's benefit did not blind a flash in his grill. One of these days I will have to print those and add them online. Despite the small attendance, my god, that show was ferocious!!!
I did the interview with Graeme in spring 1999, got it published in July 1999. Graeme contacted me and invited me to a solo show he was doing in either NYC or Boston. From memory, Graeme was doing a short stopover on his way to Europe, perhaps for a vacation, I can't recall the precise facts. I quit my job and chose the Boston gig for the Brattle in Harvard Square dated Sept. 16, 1999, 'cos I didn't want to drive in downtown Manhattan and pay their parking fees.
Alas, despite my intentions, I never did catch the solo show, thanks to Hurricane Floyd that whacked the east coast. It was downgraded to a Tropical Storm Floyd by the time it hit Massachusetts, but that was the scariest white-knuckle drive I ever did in my life. Visibility on the Mass Turnpike was the worst I have ever seen, worse than snow blindness whiteouts, as the windshield wipers couldn't deal with the lashing storm and spray coming up off the road from transport trucks. Road trip to HELL, we called it.
My pal and I were shittin ourselves and didn't know Logan Airport in Boston was closed. We arrived near dark after a stressful and exhausting 17-hour drive. Boston was under water. We pulled into Harvard Square, it was still hosing, so took shelter in a small esoteric indie record store down some stairs. There was only one customer - Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth). Whoa, crazy. We exchanged storm stories -- he drove up from Connecticut that day and said airports were closed and was worried his gig might be cancelled. He was doing a solo gig at a Baptist Church. We told him we were there to see Graeme, but alas, the show never happened, he was grounded in NYC. Thurston, bless him, got me into his show for free and generally hung out, he was impressed that someone would drive a 2000 km roundtrip to see a Verlaine, rock & roll duty he called it, so all was cool. Moore did his gig -- we taped and photographed that -- and even had the surreal experience of watching an Arab protestor walk in front of Moore and start ranting at the audience with some bizarre polemic. Then we turned around and started the return trip.
Graeme was all apologies, but it wasn't his fault, it was An Act Of God. And bless him, he made sure Matador sent me an advance copy of Hammers and Anvils.
And... to be completely honest... I really don't know what Graeme's been doing the past few years, I lost touch. I suspect he's still teaching and doing some local shows in NZ, but I'd still like to see him perform up this way again. Hardly a month goes by that I'm not playing a Verlaines album.
In any event, that's a long-winded way of saying thanks for the website. Verlaines solidarity is a good thing!! Keep up the good work.
Cheers, Dave
I was looking for the lyrics to Heavy 33, did a search and found this website. Is this a fan website, or official?
I wrote a feature story about Graeme for a fanzine several years ago, a blurb of mine sits at the top of the home page on this site. Nice! The interview/feature is still available online(home.golden.net/~tekapo/type/verlaines.html) and will remain online permanently (or at least as long as I pay my ISP bill).
BTW - the commentary Graeme provides for the records originated with me too (hey, where's the source credit!?! grrrrrrrrr).
I was a fan of the Verlanes since Bird-Dog -- as I say in my article, I bought that record because I fell in love with the record jacket. At that point I didn't really care what it sounded like, I just wanted that 12" painting repro! Glad to see it get some additional life on this website. Later I fell in love with the music, and I've been a commited fan ever since.
The first and only time I saw the Verlaines play live was at Lee's Palace in Toronto (April 2, 1992). I don't want to boast about the shows that I have seen in my lifetime, suffice to say I have seen some of the greatest names in the history of jazz, blues and rock music, and no word of a lie, the Verlaines was one of the best shows I have ever seen, a Top Fiver for sure. Sadly, there was hardly anyone at the show. And the people who were at the show stood about 20 feet back from the stage, introverts all, so there was an acre of empty space in front of Graeme. I felt sheepish walking right up to the stage and snapping photos, but for Graeme's benefit did not blind a flash in his grill. One of these days I will have to print those and add them online. Despite the small attendance, my god, that show was ferocious!!!
I did the interview with Graeme in spring 1999, got it published in July 1999. Graeme contacted me and invited me to a solo show he was doing in either NYC or Boston. From memory, Graeme was doing a short stopover on his way to Europe, perhaps for a vacation, I can't recall the precise facts. I quit my job and chose the Boston gig for the Brattle in Harvard Square dated Sept. 16, 1999, 'cos I didn't want to drive in downtown Manhattan and pay their parking fees.
Alas, despite my intentions, I never did catch the solo show, thanks to Hurricane Floyd that whacked the east coast. It was downgraded to a Tropical Storm Floyd by the time it hit Massachusetts, but that was the scariest white-knuckle drive I ever did in my life. Visibility on the Mass Turnpike was the worst I have ever seen, worse than snow blindness whiteouts, as the windshield wipers couldn't deal with the lashing storm and spray coming up off the road from transport trucks. Road trip to HELL, we called it.
My pal and I were shittin ourselves and didn't know Logan Airport in Boston was closed. We arrived near dark after a stressful and exhausting 17-hour drive. Boston was under water. We pulled into Harvard Square, it was still hosing, so took shelter in a small esoteric indie record store down some stairs. There was only one customer - Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth). Whoa, crazy. We exchanged storm stories -- he drove up from Connecticut that day and said airports were closed and was worried his gig might be cancelled. He was doing a solo gig at a Baptist Church. We told him we were there to see Graeme, but alas, the show never happened, he was grounded in NYC. Thurston, bless him, got me into his show for free and generally hung out, he was impressed that someone would drive a 2000 km roundtrip to see a Verlaine, rock & roll duty he called it, so all was cool. Moore did his gig -- we taped and photographed that -- and even had the surreal experience of watching an Arab protestor walk in front of Moore and start ranting at the audience with some bizarre polemic. Then we turned around and started the return trip.
Graeme was all apologies, but it wasn't his fault, it was An Act Of God. And bless him, he made sure Matador sent me an advance copy of Hammers and Anvils.
And... to be completely honest... I really don't know what Graeme's been doing the past few years, I lost touch. I suspect he's still teaching and doing some local shows in NZ, but I'd still like to see him perform up this way again. Hardly a month goes by that I'm not playing a Verlaines album.
In any event, that's a long-winded way of saying thanks for the website. Verlaines solidarity is a good thing!! Keep up the good work.
Cheers, Dave