21 de noviembre de 2011

Nada que Perder...


"Recordar que voy a morir pronto es la herramienta más importante que he encontrado para ayudarme a tomar las grandes decisiones de mi vida. El miedo al ridículo o al fracaso se desvanece frente a la muerte. Recordar que vas a morir es la mejor forma de evitar la trampa de pensar que tienes algo que perder. Ya estás desnudo. ” (Steve Jobs)

20 de noviembre de 2011

All Things Must Pass (George Harrison)


Sunrise doesn't last all morning
A cloudburst doesn't last all day
Seems my love is up
And has left you with no warning
But it's not always going
To be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away

Sunset doesn't last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this my love is up
And must be leaving
It has not always
Been this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away

All things must pass
None of life's strings can last
So I must be on my way
And face another day

Now the darkness only stays at nighttime
In the morning it will fade away
Daylight is good
At arriving at the right time
It's not always
Going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
All things must pass away


19 de noviembre de 2011

El Discurso de Stanford (Steve Jobs)



Universidad de Stanford (Palo Alto, California, Estados Unidos)
Junio 2005



El Hugo...


Charla con Hugo Fattoruso
Montevideo (Uruguay)

Me dejó sin palabras...


Martina Colombari
(Milano, Italia)

Duelo de Looks (Ringo versus Nicola Di Bari)


Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) versus Nicola Di Bari (Michele Scommegna)
Looks 2011

Peter Gabriel en Argentina (Noviembre 18, 2011)




Peter Gabriel & The New Blood Orchestra
GEBA Stadium
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)
November 18th, 2011

By Marcelo Olguín

A stunning classical journey conducted by Maestro Peter Gabriel

Friday Spring night in Buenos Aires.
This was to be the fourth Peter Gabriel’s visit to Argentina but this time it was going to be totally different.
Basically the same songs but with a classical treatment, with Peter and his voice totally exposed, without the support of his usual set of beats and drumming (a field in which he was always a kind of specialist and experimenter) and with the backing of a 46-piece orchestra.
I must admit that I was rather skeptical about the result of the translation of such a rhythm-oriented repertoire as Peter’s into a classically arranged body of music.
After the two-hour show I must confess that I was wrong and Gabriel did it right.
Once again he went out from his comfort zone and surprised a respectful Argentine audience showing himself as a rejuvenated live performer who took full advantage of his recognized onstage charisma and full-commanding voice to give new musical colors to familiar songs with the aid of a solid orchestral support and very clever visuals and lighting (a trademark of Peter's concerts over the years).
The inspired cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” and the delicate version of “Wallflower” which started the show were touching enough to show everybody in the crowd that it was going to be a very special occasion.
The stadium may not have been the best venue in the city for this kind of show.
It has a railroad on one side and a train passed every 20 minutes (some train driver even rang his horn showing that we are Latin after all…) but Gabriel joked about it by saying that his own studio in Bath has a railroad very close so he had no problem as he is used to that.
Ironically for a concert with no drums, the highest moment of the night was the darkest and most threatening rendition possible of “Intruder” (the song that allowed Peter and his former colleague Collins to create the style of drumming which took over some of the best songs of the 80s) thanks to a masterful classical arrangement which reminded Bernard Herrmann’s soundtracks for Alfred Hitchcock films.
“San Jacinto” and “Secret World” were also peaks of the night while the extremely moving “Father, Son” was dedicated by our hero to his own father who’s turning 100 years next April (the homemade video of Gabriel and his old man was the ideal visual backing for such a wonderful song).
Maybe “Solsbury Hill” was a bit out of place amidst a carefully designed setlist but at least it was useful to get the attention of the newcomers: in an interview with the Argentine media Peter admitted that some old fans did not like this classical experience but at the same time young people was attracted by the new approach so, in a way, he lost something but gained something as well…. According to Gabriel the song was added as a kind of “bonus track” and the sound and visual treatments were peculiar, including a clever usage of ambient sound and a video camera used by Peter to focus the crowd.  
To sum up, congratulations to the New Blood Orchestra (partially conformed by “porteños” musicians this time) and hats off for Mr. Gabriel and his classical journey in Buenos Aires.
The young boy who shocked fathers and school teachers in the exclusive environment of Charterhouse in the mid-60s offered a truly exciting live experience in Argentina and broke new ground again, something he’s been repeatedly doing for the last 30+ years…

Setlist
Heroes (Cover David Bowie)
Wallflower
Après Moi (Cover Regina Spektor)
Intruder
San Jacinto
Secret World
Father, Son
Signal to Noise
Downside Up
Digging in the Dirt
Mercy Street
The Rhythm of the Heat
Red Rain
Solsbury Hill (Excerpt of Hymn to Joy)
Biko
In Your Eyes
Don't Give Up
The Nest That Sailed the Sky

Ringo Starr en Argentina (Noviembre 7-8, 2011)



Ringo All-Starr Band
Luna Park Stadium
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)
November 7th, 2011
November 8th, 2011

By Marcelo Olguín

“Ole Ole Ole Oleee, Ringoo… Ringoo!!!” was the constant wild screaming from the Argentine fans who sold out twice the Luna Park, an 8,000-seat traditional venue in Buenos Aires.

Argentina is a particularly loyal “Beatle country” and, having received Paul last year playing two packed football stadiums; it wasn’t a surprise that the tickets for these shows sold out quickly several months before the event took place.
     
Sharp at 9.00pm the band came into the stage and introduced an incredibly slim and active Ringo for a triumphant opening of the 2-hour show with “It Don’t Come Easy” (a song that emotionally led me directly to the “Concert for Bangladesh” movie which was an instant hit in Argentina back in the early 70s).

This version of the All-Starr Band may have lacked of the so-called big stars from the past (Greg Lake, Jack Bruce, Peter Frampton, John Entwistle, to name a few) but his members (all of whom repeatedly revered Ringo and thanked him for letting them being there) clearly managed to shape a really compact band of musicians (joined in the South American leg of the tour by the multi-instrumentalist Mark Rivera).

A brilliant rendition of Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don't” was followed by the recent “Choose Love” (“something I do more and more every day” according to Ringo’s introduction).

Then it was the beginning of a (maybe too long) sequence of the All-Stars songs with “Hang On Sloopy” by former McCoys’ frontman Rick Derringer (whose guitar playing is still remarkable), “Free Ride” by the incredible (and energetic) Edgar Winter and “Talking in Your Sleep” by what facial surgery left of Wally Palmar.

One of the peak moments of the night was “I Wanna Be Your Man” dedicated by Ringo to “all the ladies in the audience and maybe some men” and followed by “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright (who got a huge applause from the crowd when, in a rather good Spanish, mentioned the connection with a certain guy named George Harrison) and a wonderful version of the 80s Mr.Mister hit “Kyrie” sung by a low-profile talented artist like Richard Page.

Then Ringo left the drums and took the lead mic for “The Other Side Of Liverpool” and “Yellow Submarine” (“If you don’t like this song you’re in the wrong venue” said the most famous drummer in the world) which got a standing ovation from the crowd.

More versions of older hits from the members of the band were mixed with “Back Off Boogaloo” and “Boys” (“a song by the group I used to play with… Rory & The Hurricanes who liked it… and the other band liked it too” joked Ringo) which generated another heat moment of the night with the whole stadium cheering and singing at the top of its range.

Needless to say, the party was complete with the last three numbers “Photograph”, “Act Naturally” and a stunning performance of “With a Little Help from My Friends” which was linked by the (false) encore “Give Peace a Chance”, a pleasant surprise.

In sum, the show was great. In fact it was a real celebration for an audience which was full of entire families. Thinking about it, thanks to Paul and Ringo now at least we can join together in some other occasions rather than Christmas, birthday parties and funerals…


Setlist
It Don't Come Easy (Ringo)
Honey Don't (Ringo)
Choose Love (Ringo)
Hang On Sloopy (Rick Derringer)
Free Ride (Edgar Winter)
Talking in Your Sleep (Wally Palmar)
I Wanna Be Your Man (Ringo)
Dream Weaver (Gary Wright)
Kyrie (Richard Page)
The Other Side Of Liverpool (Ringo)
Yellow Submarine (Ringo)
Frankenstein (Edgar Winter)
Back Off Boogaloo (Ringo)
What I Like About You (Wally Palmar)
Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo (Rick Derringer)
Boys (Ringo)
Love Is Alive (Gary Wright)
Broken Wings (Richard Page)
Photograph (Ringo)
Act Naturally (Ringo)
With a Little Help from My Friends/Give Peace a Chance (Ringo)

Eric Clapton en Argentina (Octubre 14, 2011)



Eric Clapton
River Plate Stadium
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
October 14th, 2011

By Marcelo Olguín

The world is in the middle of a severe economic turmoil but my country, Argentina, does not seem to have realized the situation, at least in terms of major rock concerts. This Friday Eric Clapton played the biggest football stadium in the country (following two dates of the “sacrilegious” Justin Bieber at the same venue on Wednesday and Thursday), tomorrow the singer Sade will make her debut in Buenos Aires, on Sunday hard rock veterans Deep Purple will hit a local stage again and on March 2012 Roger Waters is to play “The Wall” in River Plate over the course of… 9 nights (leaving far behind the 5-night record achieved by The Rolling Stones in 1995).

It was the third visit of Clapton to South America after his first arrival in 1990 (including a show that is remembered as one of the best rock concerts ever witnessed in Argentina) and a second coming in 2001 within the Reptile World Tour.

Without Gary Clark as a support act (he headed back home after the Brazilian leg of the tour) our hero showed up at 9.15pm with three numbers that effectively served to warm up the 45,000-seat sold out stadium: “Key to The Highway”, “Tell The Truth” and “Hoochie Coochie Man”.

“Ten years, too long…” said Eric before an inspired version of “Old Love” (great solo included) that was followed by “I Shot The Sheriff”, a pleasant surprise as I was waiting for “Tearing Us Apart” which had been played in the two previous dates in Brazil.

The acoustic set was one of the peak moments of the night with Clapton converting the stadium into a kind of intimate setting with wonderful renditions of “Driftin’” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”.

For some reason the version of “Lay Down Sally” made me think about how much Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits would be indebted to Eric and thanks to Mr.Stainton (Hats off for good old Chris…) the performance of “When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful” made me forget that I was in a football stadium and feel that I was happily enjoying live music while drinking a beer in a small pub (putting aside the fact that no alcohol is allowed to be sold in most of the musical venues in Argentina).

Surprisingly “Layla” received a rather “cold” reception from the audience possibly due to (in my opinion, unfortunate) new arrangement (with all due respect to the great Steve Gadd, after the marvelous acoustic version offered by EC and Steve Winwood in London some months ago, this kind of “military march” looked a bit hard to approve).       

The “older” part of the audience was pleased by an extraordinary rendition of Cream’s “Badge” while the couples had their moment with a touching version of “Wonderful Tonight” (an unexpected smash hit in Argentina in the late 70’s, when the military Government ironically was trying to impose John Travolta and disco music among young people in order to prevent them to develop their own political ideas).

Another high moment of the show was reached with “Before You Accuse Me” that was linked to a stunning performance of “Little Queen of Spades”. After that, “Cocaine” was greeted by a standing ovation from the audience and “Crossroads” was played as a triumphant encore.

An hour and forty minutes after the first chord was played Clapton left the stage waving his hand to the crowd and we all said goodbye to him as to a good friend that we love dearly but who rarely visits us. Bye Eric! It was very well worth the wait. See you soon… maybe in about… 10 years?


Setlist
1. Key To The Highway
2. Tell The Truth
3. Hoochie Coochie Man
4. Old Love
5. I Shot The Sheriff
6. Driftin’
7. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
8. Lay Down Sally
9. When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful
10. Layla
11. Badge
12. Wonderful Tonight
13. Before You Accuse Me
14. Little Queen Of Spades
15. Cocaine
16. Crossroads (Encore)