Archive for April, 2015

Thoughts on the 4/24 Dudley Manlove Quartet 20th Anniversary Show

April 30, 2015 by John No Comments »

johnTDOn Friday April 24, the Dudley Manlove Quartet performed at the Triple Door for our 20th Anniversary show. It was a great night of music with a sold-out audience sharing the fun event with us. For this show we invited founding drummer Jeff Mosier back to perform one last with us, and it made the evening all the more special to have him behind the kit. In addition to being an evening of “lasts”, it was also a night of firsts : at the age of 51 I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can’t read without my glasses! So rather than squinting down at the set lists, I just wore my glasses onstage. Seeing myself in the pictures from this show is pretty amusing… I look like a more dignified, bookish version of myself, with short hair. You’d almost think I was a respectable grown-up. Fortunately, all my friends and family know better.

During the week before this show I updated my AxeFX to the latest firmware, which really opened up some new sounds for me. Each firmware update unlocks more magic inside this device, and the amp / effect models always wind up sounding more alive and responsive. For most of the DMQ 20th Anniversary show I used the same ten patches, but there are some specialized settings for a few specific songs (e.g., “More Than This”) to recreate specific recorded tones.

For this show I brought along the Les Paul Gold Top, but I never got around to using it. The black strat continues to be my main guitar, and was really the perfect choice for every song in this show. I wanted to use the Les Paul for the second set, but didn’t get a chance to switch my wireless transmitter over to it during the short break. When we hit the stage to begin the second set, I realized I hadn’t done that, and decided to just finish the show with the strat, rather than interrupt the proceedings to make the switch onstage. So that beautiful guitar sat onstage on a stand and watched the action without being part of it. After the show, a friend (dressed as a penguin) helpfully carried that guitar to the car. So at least it had a ceremonially important night.

 

 

 

 

jenguin

The set list was composed of songs that have been staples in the DMQ catalog for a long time:

Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You
It’s Not Unusual
Copacabana
Silly Love Songs
Dancing Queen
Night Fever
Brandy
You’ll Never Find (You’re Gonna Miss My Lovin’)
Seattle
Sweet Caroline
Let’s Stay Together
September
I Wish
Suspicious Minds

(set 2)
Power of Love
Let’s Dance
Rio
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Centerfold
More Than This
Melt With You
Little Red Corvette
Take On Me
Video Killed the Radio Star
American Girl

(encore)
Don’t Stop Believin’
Don’t You Forget About Me

A few days after the show we discovered that a reviewer from the Huffington Post had been in the audience, and they posted a nice review online:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/l-steven-sieden/dudley-manlove-quartet-ro_b_7171362.html

Nothing like being called “middle aged” by the national press :). It was a blast to see that the night was enjoyed by so many people.

At the end of the night, there was a nice backstage toast to our good friend Jeff, and we celebrated all the great fun that we’ve had together over the years. DMQ will move forward with a new drummer, and of course, I’ll still be working with Jeff in BowieVision, our David Bowie tribute band. BowieVision is performing on Saturday May 30 at The Triple Door, and you should definitely come see us. It’s the perfect room for the spectacle of our video and light show.

On to the next!

 

Area 152

April 10, 2015 by John No Comments »

area 152During the past few months, I’ve been working on a film project called Area 152. I happen to live in Burien, Washington, which is about ten miles south of Seattle. Among Burien’s many enjoyable weird characteristics is an annual event called the “Burien UFO Festival”, which always takes place on April 1st (yes, that’s April Fool’s day, but the event is real). The origin of the event is a movie called The Maury Island Incident, based on a UFO encounter that occurred in 1947. For the past few years on April 1st, Burien has closed a few blocks of 152nd and hosted a street party with a beer garden, music, and of course, aliens and “men in black”.

For this year’s festival, the organizers suggested that local amateur filmmakers should produce 7 minute movies featuring local businesses, and having a plot involving “men in black” or aliens. My wife and I, along with another couple who are friends of ours, decided this sounded like fun, so we started brainstorming plot ideas and potential filming locations.

We wound up with about four hours of filmed footage (!) that I eventually edited down to six minutes and fifty six seconds. This was the first time I’ve done chroma-keying for video special effects, and I was pretty pleased with the silly UFO + fiery crash + smoke plume that I composited atop a video of a local restaurant.

Once I had the film edited to its required length / sequence, I spent another few days completing the score. Because our title being Area 152, I decided to use 152 as part of the music:

  • The chord sequence in the main theme is I-V-ii
  • The main theme is stated using a rhythm of 1-5-2 pulses, matching the chord functions
  • I used groups of instruments reflecting the 1-5-2 theme as well

Elsewhere in the score, I created individual musical motives for

  • The “men / women in black”, played by the four of us
  • The “MIB headquarters building”, for which we used the Burien fire station on 146th
  • Our official MIB vehicle
  • The “interview” theme music, played under the four business interviews we conduct in the movie
  • The “UFO” theme, associated with the craft as it attempts to land

When I put together the final movie, I wound up removing most of the original camera audio and replacing necessary sound effects with Foley and post-production voice-over. All in all, pretty satisfying to have worked on this, and definitely an enjoyable project. We’re already scheming to make our next movie for the 2016 festival.