Timothy Winton

I’m back in saddle with my little old blog after a lengthy absence for no good reason other than slothfulness. I suspect no one has missed me, but I’ll try to put finger to keyboard a little more regularly in the future.

I went to another free concert at Hard Rock Live on Monday. This time it was a set by the Windy City favorites Chicago. Hit makers for over forty years, they ran through a set of their numerous middle of the road hits as well as a few rockers such as 25 or 6 to 4 and I’m a Man. The only Chicago album I ever had was the four disc live vinyl version of Chicago at Carnegie Hall which was damaged by Hurricane Wilma. The box set packaging was ruined, but I still have the vinyl. I saw that this set has been remastered and expanded recently. All in all it was an enjoyable hour and forty five minutes with recognizable songs played by accomplished musicians, even though most original members of the band were long gone.

I’ve actually splurged and paid for three concerts this summer. I’ll be gazing on The Who in two weeks at the Hard Rock as well as The Police at Dolphins Stadium and Roger Waters outdoors at Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. Three shows that would definitely be classified as classic rock. The tickets for my share of all three shows set me back $236, expensive indeed. I read today that The Who canceled a show in Tampa two days ago during their first song when Roger Daltrey left the stage with bronchitis. He has two weeks to recover for my show. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

The next three weeks will be spent fueling my sports passion as I try to win NCAA basketball pools for both the men’s and women’s tournament. I’m ready for March Madness.

I am back home in my humble pad, nicknamed the ‘Wire House’, after moving in with my Mom for six weeks to remodel. I’ve now laid out about $82,000 for repairs, remodeling, furniture and appliances. Much of my belongings are still in boxes as the custom closets will not be installed for two weeks.

My condo is decidedly un-wired right now as my guitar and synth rig is totally disconnected. I’ll plug and play in a spare bedroom in a week or so. I’ve been getting reacquainted with my Martin D-18 for the last two weeks. I do, however, have a new 42 inch Samsung high definition TV in my living room and the NFL playoffs looked mighty fine this weekend.

I saw two concerts in the VIP section of the Hard Rock Live arena this week. The first was a guitar extravaganza with Eric Johnson opening for Jonny Lang. Eric Johnson just may have the finest technique of any guitarist I’ve ever seen and his instrumental compositions are astounding. Jonny Lang can belt the blues with the best of them and is one scorching lead guitarist.

The following night I was treated to Bob Seger who was touring for the first time in ten years. As you can imagine, he played well over two hours of hit after hit after hit of American rockin’ roll. I feel particularly blessed that my friend Rich keeps getting free tickets to these first rate concerts. It makes nine I’ve know seen in the last year for free.

Well, it’s off to connecting my bedroom stereo and putting together a bar stool for the kitchen. I wait for the day when my place is all unpacked and put together, but that is a few weeks away.

The Day has finally come to repair and remodel my condominium from the shock of Hurricane Wilma over a year ago. I’ve pretty much been out of commission as a roving reporter at Krimson-News while I had most of my furniture removed and boxed up my belongings. All in all it should take about a month to complete and the expenditure for everything including appliances, furniture, new bathrooms, kitchen, carpet and painting, as well as association special assessments will set me back about $70,000.

While they rip my place apart, I’ve moved in with my Mom who has a nice house two miles from my home. The good news is that my high speed internet and digital cable boxes work at her house even though she has no account.

I’ve set up my computer and an electronic guitar rig in the bedroom assigned to me. I’m running a Roland capable Brian Moore i2.13 axe into a GR-33 guitar synth with effects loop for an ART SGX Nitro with X-15 foot controller. All this feeds into a Boss RC-50 Loop Station in stereo with a Crate and Roland Micro Cube practice amps. I’ve also MIDI’d up a Kawai K1 keyboard into an Alesis Quadraverb. This is a rather complex set up and first time I’ve tried such a rig, but it all seems to be working. The straight guitar tone is a bit thin and tinny, though. Time to dig out the manuals and learn how to use all this gear before I break it down and move it all back to my place around Christmas. I’ve got plenty of time to master this rig, since I am unemployed once again.

I’ve seen two more free concerts at the Hard Rock in the past two weeks. My friend Rich comped tickets to see INXS  and last night Larry the Cable Guy. The INXS show was only about a third sold, but J.D. Fortune (the new lead singer from the reality show Rock Star) was in fine form. The Southern redneck humor of Larry the Cable Guy was quite funny and he had about 4,000 attending for one of two nights. I’ve been fortunate to see seven free concerts now at the casino this year and feel particularly blessed. In fact the only concert I’ve payed for all year was Adrian Belew in a small bar. I guess it pays to have friends who are high rollers.

Another day, another free concert at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood last night. This time it was a first rate sold out double bill of Journey and Def Leppard. Though not a big fan of either band and possessing none of their albums, they are indeed staples of classic rock radio which I listen to all the time driving around town.

Journey opened the show and despite not having front man Steve Perry with the band, managed to rock the house with hit song after hit song. Neal Schon opened the show with ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and proceeded to play guitar solo after guitar solo on every song. I’d recently been listening to Santana III and some live Santana with Schon as a 15 year old guitar wiz trading licks with Carlos and think Journey are pretty much a pop sell out, but a multi platinum one at that. This was the first show at the Casino I viewed from the floor and the experience was further enhanced by video screens behind the stage, a nice touch.

Def Leppard came out with guitars blazing, playing on an elevated stage including pyro blasts. Their brand of heavy metal pop had the crowd on its feet all night. In fact it was the loudest crowd of any of the five shows I’ve seen at The Hard Rock. Def Leppard’s music seemed to really appeal to the ladies in the crowd who danced the night away. The power of their show provided ample proof of why they sold so many records and were one of the biggest bands of the ’80s.

My friend Rich keeps getting comp tickets from the casino and when his girlfriend doesn’t want to go to certain shows I seem to be his second choice as benefactor. I am more than willing to oblige and next up is INXS. 

I went to another free show at the Hard Rock Casino last night. This time there were five bands in all and the concert took over four hours. The show was billed as Little Steven’s Underground Garage A Go-Go presents Cheap Trick or Treat. The headliner was Cheap Trick and as you might guess it was just two days before Halloween so things got off to a good start.

The most fascinating part of the show were eight or so Go-Go dancers dressed in orange and black Halloween outfits. These fine ladies danced before every set to recorded garage band classics and even came out and danced with each band for a song near the end of their sets. I really enjoyed the dancers and found it quite humorous.

 Little Steven, Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist and host of the syndicated radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage, was the master of ceremonies and came out in some costumes to liven the atmosphere as he introduced each band.

The first band were the Boston based The Charms who opened with a loud set of powerful rock. Fronted by a sexy blonde in leather, The Charms delivered. I just checked out their website and see they have three albums out. I won’t be partaking of any, but they may well go somewhere with a younger fan base.

Up second was Roky Erickson and The Explosives. I was not familiar with Roky, nor had I previously heard any of his songs. I got the impression he is a garage band legend from the ’50s or ’60s who had never appeared in Florida before.

The third act were The Romantics. I did indeed know two of The Romantics tunes ‘Walking in Your Sleep’ and ‘What I Like About You’ which were huge MTV hits in the mid ’80s. The Romantics delivered a hard rocking set, but I did notice that the drummer who originally sang ‘What I like About You’ wasn’t with the band, so this their biggest hit didn’t sound quite right.

The penultimate act was The Shadows of Night. Another band I had no awareness of, but everyone has probably heard their classic and original ‘Gloria’, later covered for hits by Van Morrison and Patti Smith.

And finally, it was time for Cheap Trick. Loud was the word and unfortunately their sound was awful with the highs crackling making it nearly impossible to understand the vocals. They gave a healthy dose of their classics including ‘I Want You to Want Me’, ‘Surrender’ and the ballad ‘The Flame’. Rick Neilson played the part of front man, introducing all the songs. He switched guitars for every song and had some fascinating custom axes including the notorious five necked guitar. The bassist apparently plays a twelve string bass, something I have never heard of.

For their encore the Go-Go dancers came out with Cheap Trick for ‘The Dream Police’ and then it was time for an all star jam with all the bands and dancers for two songs. Little Steven strapped on the afore mentioned five necked guitar as everyone had a good time with a second rendition of ‘Gloria’.

The great thing about the show, which I very much enjoyed, is that it was taped to appear on VH1 Classic, which I do indeed get. I am sure the show will be edited, but I will have my VCR rolling to secure these memories.

Finally, as I was driving home, Little Stevens Underground Garage’s Halloween show came on the radio at midnight (not the show I just saw) and I got a taste of Roky Erickson’s ‘I Walked With a Zombie’ for the second time in the evening.

Next up, my friend Rich has some free tickets to see Journey and Def Leppard next week. I’ll let any readers out there know how that one goes.

I had a bit of a set back this week. I now find myself among the ranks of the unemployed. I had been working part time at a local Office Depot store and decided to part ways with the company on Monday. The store recently changed management and the new manager has only been scheduling me for five hours a week. Not enough to pay the bills. In the past they had always given me too many hours. It’s time to move on. I will rely on my Social Security disability income for a while and find some way to supplement it in the future.

A week ago I went with a friend courtesy of free tickets to see the “We are the 80s” concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Sponsored by VH1 Classic, the show consisted of four acts with Scandal, Loverboy, Eddie Money and the headliner Rick Springfield. While not exactly my cup of tea, the over four hour show was interesting and showcased classic rock at its finest, or not so fine depending on how you look at it. These aging rockers were enjoyable and I’m glad I went.

Scandal opened the show and we missed the first song or two, but Patty Smythe (the former Mrs. Richard Hell and current Mrs. John McEnroe) belted out classics “The Warrior” and “Goodbye to You.” Ms. Smythe even went into the crowd, perhaps channeling her punk rock roots. Of the four artists at the show, Scandal is the only one I have any music of, with one lone cassette still in my collection.

Loverboy was fronted by Mike Reno who has not aged so gracefully, but can still sing with a mighty roar. I had never heard any of the songs they played except the final two tunes which are radio standards, “Turn Me Loose” and ”Working for the Weekend”. It was loud and in your face, as a rock and roll show should be.

Eddie Money then took the stage opening with “Two Tickets to Paradise”, a big hit from my high school days. Eddie Money surprised me by playing saxophone on a number of songs and quite well I may add. His set clocked in at almost an hour and contained many radio staples.

Then it was time for the headliner, Rick Springfield. His show was very hard rock with both he and his second guitarist cranking Marshall amps to their fullest. Most would know Rick Springfield as a bubble gum sort of pop star in the early 1980s who was beloved by teenage girls, especially for his soap opera role on General Hospital.

The most surprising thing was his extraordinary guitar chops. He actually smashed his axe to bits during one number and pulled out all the stops on the blues classic “Red House” made famous by Jimi Hendrix. This was the highlight of the night for me as he channeled Jimi and even added quite a bit of pyrotechnics to the tune. He also covered The Who’s “My Generation”.

For the last half hour of the show, Rick Springfield went into the crowd and played while moving all over the 5,000 seat arena’s floor. He even took a fan’s cell phone and made a bit of a crank call for all to hear and then proceeded to play slide guitar with the cell phone! He finally made his way back on stage and broke into “Jessie’s Girl” to end the night. It was definitley entertaining, however, his songs were super charged hard rock with lyrics that for the most part were silly love songs.

All four acts were indeed first class rock acts, although their music seems dated, thus “We Are the 80s”. It was, however, a free chance to see seasoned professional musicians. Each act was led by a powerful front man (or woman) who really knew how to work a crowd and I found myself getting into it more than I thought I would.

One of Robert Fripp’s aphorisms is, “Tomorrow is the first lie of the devil.” Well, I am ready to stop living in the ‘Humdrum’. I no longer wish to work for peanuts in my part-time retail job at The Depot. However, I do need to supplement my disability income. The plan is to somehow add to my income with a modest goal of $200 a week playing guitar. That’s all I need to leave the day job, but it’s easier said than done.

I’ve been noodling on guitar almost every day for just over 25 years. But, concerted practice has not been my cup of tea. I basically take the advice of Slash who once said, “I don’t practice. I just play.” I realize that if it’s to be it’s up to me. This will involve some wood-shedding before cutting ties to The Depot. To realize my $200 a week goal will take what I call ED (Energy and Discipline). Starting tomorrow it’s time to begin learning and writing some songs, mastering my rig and practicing consistently. Then it’s a matter of networking to find like minded musicians and find a paying gig.

I am also looking for an added benefit from a committment to music that I haven’t had in years. I have to find the spiritual side of music. Andy Summers has said that the two to four hours a day he practices is sacred and almost like meditation. Fripp has said that his Soundscapes are like wordless prayers. I’ve ordered The Inner Game of Music from the library and am determined to touch the Almighty with my music. King David did it and at some point in the future I will too.

Lastly, I have finally closed on my disaster assistance loan for Hurricane Wilma from the Small Business Administration. It looked like it was going to fall through a couple times but the final dispersement should come next week. The $43,600 will go towards an extensive remodeling of my condo and I plan to turn one of my spare bedrooms into a recording and live music studio.

Now if I can just find the ED needed to start practicing guitar and keyboards, and writing some lyrics too.

From the first salvos of “Beck’s Bolero” until the last notes of “Over the Rainbow”, Jeff Beck delivered an effortless fusion of blues, rock and jazz last night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. Before there was shred, there was Jeff Beck. I was privileged to witness his guitar pyrotechnics with free tickets provided by a friend at The Depot.

We had dinner berfore the show at the Hard Rock and took in some of the memorabilia in the restaurant. After bypassing the slots and card room we made our way to the arena which was cut in half for the concert. I’d say about 2,000 were in attendance and Jeff Beck took the stage shortly after 8:00. We were a little too far away for me to get a good look for some hand shots to get an idea of Beck’s guitar technique (they were free tickets after all).

Being a guitarist, it was almost like a wet dream. Jeff Beck is a master of the Marshall stack and he pulled out all the stops with his white Stratocaster, I assume his signature model from Fender. Playing exclusively with his right had thumb and primarily index finger, his tone was loud and crystalline. Beck is a master at playing at the brink of distortion (he once described it as wrestling an elephant). He managed to effortlessly palm the whammy bar and produce volume swells through the tone pots while producing a tone that declares “I am Jeff Beck”. He also laid down some raunchy slide licks along with at times slow and melodic lines and rocking in your face lead guitar at other times. Two hand tapping was also in abundance.

The night before the show I looked through my music collection and counted nine CDs, one boxed set, three vinyl LPs and two cassettes by Jeff Beck. This may seem like a lot, but I haven’t listened to his music much in the past ten years. I did dust off Wired and take it all in the evening before the show. Beck did play a very bluesy rendition of the Charlie Mingus classic “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and a rocking “Blue Wind” from that album. I’d always wondered what lead part Jan Hammer played and Jeff Beck played on “Blue Wind”. Well last night Beck played almost all the leads on “Blue Wind’, but most were doubled in unison by the synthesizer. The fascinating thing about Beck’s playing was that he improvised with his solos stretching out well beyond their recorded versions.

It was terrific getting reaquainted with Jeff’s older material. He did not announce any of the song titles, but I could clearly recognize about half the songs which I hadn’t heard in decades for some. These memories in some cases went all the way back to my high school days.

The set was complemented by a female lead singer on five songs (sorry but I can’t find her name on Jeff Beck’s website). It was pretty much young white lady belts out blues standards such as “Going Down” and “You Shook Me.” In an interview last week Beck said that in some west coast reviews had been critical of her for taking attention away from him. The show was all about Jeff Beck, however.

For the most part the show was highlighted by instrumental jams with super tight drums, bass and keyboards. Before the first encore, Beck humbly thanked the crowd for “my career”.

I feel privileged to have seen both Jeff Beck and Adrian Belew in the last month. Both are some of the finest guitar legends anyone will ever see. While Adrian’s virtuosity made me feel like putting my guitar down, Jeff Beck left me inspired and ready to pick up my guitar and play.

After the show my friend and I made it over to a sports bar next door and took in the second half of the Dolphins and Steelers NFL season premier. His Steelers won as my Dolphins collapsed in the fourth quarter. Still, it was a memorable night for the muse which is music.

Getting ready to put in some time at The Depot this afternoon. Such is life in the part time retail food chain on a holiday. At least I had the weekend off and was able to soak up a heavy dose of college football. I’ve purchased a season long ESPN pay per view package that gives me up to 15 extra college games on Saturdays. I about overdosed on all the games this weekend, with Miami vs. FSU to come tonight. I was thrilled to see my Tennessee Volunteers thump California in a rowdy Neyland Stadium with 106,000 strong. ESPN GamePlan will pay dividends next weekend as I will be able to see the Vols against Air Force.

I picked up an SACD of the Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! yesterday. Live from Madison Square Garden in 1969, it is a rollicking two guitar tour-de-force. Mick Taylor, one underrated guitarist, adds some fantastic slide on the Robert Johnson classic ‘Love in Vain’. I am not sure who plays the solo on ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, but I suspect it may again be Mick Taylor, although Keith Richard’s solo on the studio version is cetainly one of the greatest in rock history. All in all this ’60s era Stones is an enjoyable look at the band at the peak of their powers.

I may be going to see Jeff Beck on Thursday. My former assistant manager at The Depot has free tickets and if I go I’ll be sure to blog a report here.