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Fleet Foxes at the Chicago Theater and a perplexed Negress

October 3, 2011

The Negress decided to go see the Fleet Foxes at the Chicago Theater Oct. 1 because she still does love music and the band kind of confuses her. She is trying not to be one of those bipolar cynics, swinging wildly between youthful disdain (I’m too cool for all of this so it all sucks) and ancient weariness (I did all this stuff the first time so it all sucks). Besides, she sings tenor in her church choir (when she goes to practice) and she likes harmony singing because it’s gorgeous when done well. As mentioned in a previous post, she had been in New York mixing it up with the other members of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee. The committee is a bit like Fight Club in that we don’t talk about we do and then get vilified and bitched about when the ballot comes out. The Negress has only one public observation about the ballot: Hip-hop is nearly 30 years old and is a grandchild of the blues’ baby, rock ‘n’ roll. Also, rock has influenced and absorbed pop and dance music so don’t assume it’s all guitar bands with white men. Rock’s going on 60, which also means some of these idiots should take a page from REM’s book and break up and stop touring.

The obligatory cell phone camera show of the show marquee

The obligatory cell phone camera shot of the show marquee

Sorry. Back to the Fleet Foxes. First of all, the Chicago Theater is a great venue for good singers because it’s majestic acoustically as well as architecturally. The Foxes can sing, but they sound like sexless angels (we can save the debate on sexuality of heavenly beings for another post, preferably fueled by a good rye). Also, the best harmony singing requires impeccable diction, and these guys are more pre-pebbles Demosthenes than show choir.

With that said, the Negress was lightly mesmerized. Part of the lack of full embrace of the music was due to a small belligerent contingent at the show seated near her. She counted at least three fights that broke out during the set, and considering this wasn’t GWAR, that was just weird and distracting. Also, the band played under a huge film screen backdrop that alternated between a film loop of falling snow and some geometric patterns that could best be described as Not-So-Angry Quilting.

So, since the band has been compared to Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby Stills and Nash and other outfits with memorable vocal blends, what do they sound like? Someone suggested Neutral Milk Hotel but that’s just plain wrong (a trip to Spotify confirmed what had just been a hunch before). The Hotel people (doesn’t the name sound like a safe house for La Leche? Honestly.) have a unique sludgy underpinning to their vocal mix, and they seem to sing less harmony and more off-pitch unison. Also, her Neutral Milk Hotel is not your Neutral Milk Hotel so the Negress tries to avoid comparisons of the it’s-like-(band A)-mixed-up-with-(band B)-in-a-blender-on-acid variety.

What Fleet Foxes does make her think of is church youth group singalongs, a signifier she suspects is not big with the Pitchfork crowd. The best example of this is “White Winter Hymnal.” The Negress could visualize the youth pastor in a turtleneck strumming away while the kids scarfed down the pizza and sang well enough to keep their folks happy. Picture the United Methodist Youth Fellowship and you’ve got it. But she’s a sucker for a round so she succumbed  happily. They do kick this stereotype in the teeth with “The Shrine/An Argument,” which throws in a bit of dissonant sax playing, but that only happened once all night.

The Negress enjoyed the show as much as the nearby fisticuffs would allow, but she thinks she did find the key thing that keeps her from going all in on this band. The most memorable live shows are paced impeccably, building almost unbearable tension before a final amazing burst of, well, something. The Foxes seem to have a handle of this dynamic within individual songs (see “The Plains/Bitter Dancer” or  the show finale “Helplessness Blues”), but the kids are still getting feel of pacing a whole set. If they get handle on that, then the downloading will commence.

Openers The Walkmen grabbed a lot more of the Negress’ heart than she was willing to admit. Besides, you gotta love a band that worships Johnny Cash and the Pogues (blender and acid optional) and a singer, Hamilton Leithauser, with rockstar lung power. She even got over the triangle they pulled out on one song (that instruments conjures up visions of wriggling kindergarteners and a teacher playing “Mr. Whole Note Takes a Walk”) The word “rockstar” has been devalued of late (inept Iraqi spies, energy drinks and outlaw Wall Streeters have devalued the word without permission), but this guy has what it takes. The band favors old-style instruments but their music is timeless. It’s been growing on the Negress with each listen. They’re next up on Spotify after the Series 7 exam.

Fleet Foxes likely set list from the Chicago Theater Oct. 1 (from the always reliable Interwebs)

The Plains / Bitter Dancer

Mykonos

English House

Your Protector

Battery Kinzie

Bedouin Dress

Sim Sala Bim

White Winter Hymnal

Ragged Wood

Montezuma

He Doesn’t Know Why

Lorelai

The Shrine / An Argument

Blue Spotted Tail

Grown Ocean

Encore

I Let You (new song)

Sun It Rises

Blue Ridge Mountains

Helplessness Blues

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Follies and falling down again

October 2, 2011

So the Negress went to New York, saw some friends, did her Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame duty and then received a bottle of Paumanok Vineyards 2010 Chenin Blanc. The vintage is sold out and she can easily see why. The wines drinks well with or without food and is delightfully only 12% abv. Upon returning to Chicago, the Negress polished it off in about three sittings and wanted more. But she settled for some of her Bonny Doon 2009 Ca del Solo Albarino and was pretty happy.

However, while she was in New York, it was the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the air was thick with potential threats, backed up traffic and vehicle searches. Whether the atmosphere or various other annoying input was the cause, the Negress fell down in Union City, scraped herself up a bit and wondered if other things might be getting to be wrong.

So she sought one of those bad ideas that should be banished from the kingdom. She drank a bunch of Pinot Noir and went to see the new production of “Follies,” with Bernadette Peters and an astonishing Jan Maxwell. The inevitable blood sugar crash made sure she missed quite a bit of the lengthy first act, but she pretty much liked it overall (also there’s a production here in Chicago that might be worth a comparison).

In the background of all of this were her attempts to absorb the material she needs to know for her upcoming Series 7 exam. The Negress can take tests but her usual flypaper memory had been undercut by a few too many sleepless nights and a some other annoyances of middle age. She also knows her family history of troubled brain chemistry. So meds were adjusted, she’s feeling better and has almost gotten a handle on the exam prep. So the next thing to do was face the music.

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NLGJA, Hurricane Irene and trying to sort things out

September 13, 2011

For a Negress who is supposedly leaving full-time journalism behind, let’s just say this farewell tour may be longer than Cher’s. She came to Philadelphia for the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association convention. Does this mean the Negress is coming out in some sense? Yes and no. Her history is bisexual, and she’s beginning to realize the spectrum of gender and sexuality is fairly fluid. She has several transsexual friends and believes in safe bathrooms for all and no stupid questions about shaving.

NLGJA is a very welcoming organization so she is proud to be a member since she knows she will never stop writing or being curious about the world. Plus, she had never spent a lot of time in Philly so it seemed like a good idea.

However, a couple of things happened. One, the Negress had her arthritic, bone-spur filled shoulder cleaned out arthroscopically Friday Aug. 19. She got the dressing removed the following Monday and headed to Philly on Wednesday. Yes she is sore. But she arrived in Philly on something of a mission — meet fun people and get a good cheesesteak. She accomplished those goals and got a couple of extra days in Philly thanks to Irene.

Some things she hopes NLGJA will do in the future: introduce a freelancer rate, add karaoke night (calling all sponsors), have a panel on racism in the LGBT community, have a productive panel on transgender issues (the one this year was dominated by a crackpot army of one) and stop asking Don Lemon about Anderson Cooper. The Negress adores Mr. Lemon and wishes him and his nice Jewish boyfriend well.

By the way, the Negress is still drinking wine but her Series 7 exam studies have seriously curtailed her consumption. Besides there are some other threads of her narrative fabric that deserve attention. So stay tuned. There are some stories to tell.

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Yellow Face, Chinglish and the AAJA convention and a dawning realization

August 23, 2011

The Negress spent a day with a pair of David Henry Hwang plays  in Chicago and several days at the Asian American Journalists Association convention in Detroit.  The Silk Road Theatre produced “Yellow Face,” an older play of Hwang’s about racial identity, stereotypes and artistic freedom while the Goodman has sent his latest, “Chinglish,”a masterpiece of interlocking misunderstandings, to Broadway. Thanks to the convenience of scheduling, the Negress saw them both on the same day and was delighted by each for different reasons.

Money on my mind

current thoughts so to speak

“Yellow Face” is a delicious mingling of a revenge fantasy, hard truths and the fluidity of racial identity. In some ways, it reminded the Negress of “Passing Strange,” which is happily available since Spike Lee made a film of its last Broadway performance. When you’re not white or not straight, you often fiddle with how you show yourself to the world. Sometimes it’s a matter of survival and there’s an enormous cost. Sometimes you can have some fun, but you can’t always be sure the joke isn’t on you. Expectations, stereotypes and archetypes keep close company and it can be challenging to separate them. The conversation begun with “Yellow Face” continues in “Chinglish” with the tables turned.  Hwang places an earnest white American businessman in China where his understanding of how things work is often lost in linguistic and cultural translation. As the Negress often says to friends near and far, some people just don’t get it. And some never will.

So, with all that bouncing around in her head, the Negress drove to Detroit for the AAJA convention. AAJA doesn’t have a racial requirement for membership, just a belief in the organization’s goals. Unity, the quadrennial gathering of journalists of color, is coming up next summer in Las Vegas. The Negress hopes to go, work and finances permitting and being a member of one of the sponsoring groups gets her a discount. The National Association of Black Journalists, of which the Negress was a member for a while, pulled out of Unity for various murky reasons, some of which are financial.  Unity has coincided with the Presidential campaign for the past two campaigns, and it is likely candidates will be invited to attend. While that’s a selling point for going to Unity, the Negress mainly goes because it’s fun and she gets to see a lot of friends from all over the country. Journalism as she knew it is dying in place, and she figures the upcoming Unity might be one of the last opportunities to see some pals before everybody’s required reinventions take them away.

Hence, Detroit for AAJA. The Negress had a great time and learned some things she didn’t know, which is always good. The most important of those was how much of an issue immigration is in Asian communities. One AAJA member took 22 years to go the legal route to citizenship since his having siblings in the U.S.  was not a strong enough family relationship for his case to be expedited. Also, since he is Filipino, there are country quotas that he also came up against as he sought legal status. Not surprisingly, many opt to enter the country without papers, figuring that there’s a good chance they can stay without getting caught. A highly publicized case in point is Jose Vargas, a former writer for the Washington Post, who came out as an undocumented immigrant and hid the fact from most of his employers and close friends for years.

Another area of interest were transnational and, in some cases, trans-racial adoption. The Negress found out that boys have been adopted from China, contrary to the prevailing perception that only girls are chosen. A panel discussion including adoptees as well as adoptive parents covered ways in which these adoptions have changed over time. More parents now are taking their child’s cultural and linguistic heritage into account, while that wasn’t always the case. It was delicious to hear tales of half Jamaican heritage black, half Chinese parents adopting half black, half Korean kids and living happily ever after.

The Negress made a desultory pilgrimage to the job fair and had an enjoyable conversation with a woman who offers fellowships to journalist in search of career revitalization. Then she got sick to her stomach and went back to the hotel to resume studying for her securities license. Although the events were in close proximity to each other, they weren’t entirely

related. However, all led to a sure conclusion: The Negress is done being a full-time journalist, and she thinks that’s going to be OK.

Now back to calls, puts, straddles, bonds and other such lingo.

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Rosé and summer: perfect together unless it’s Mateus

July 15, 2011

Remember those  frigid interludes in  the nation’s midsection? The Negress does and she’s trying to forget them. Some memories don’t need backing up. Now summer is upon  as a tractor trailer comes upon an armadillo in the middle of the Texas interstate. Grisly image aside, how can you not be thinking of rosé  right now?

If you remember the song lyric “get juiced on Mateus and just hang loose,” (blame Bernie Taupin for that one with Sir Elton John aiding and abetting) you probably flinch at the thought of extended exposure to rosé. Visions of sticky pink, slightly fizzy, sweet wine crowd out thoughts of pleasantly lazing by various bodies of water with the piquant smell of barbecue smoke in the background. The  Negress knows. She’s been there and she’s here to help.

how not to drink rose

Just get juiced and hang loose but drink something else the Negress begs you

Most wineauxs worth their salt and  pricey education will point novice rosé drinkers to the South of France. Places like the Languedoc and Provence do produce some intensely quaffable wines, but, hey, the Negress lives, slightly underemployed,  in the real world and prefers not to contemplate refinancing her modest abode just to buy some summer wines.

So, after a trip to the local wine store with very little coin in her purse, she came up with these picks:

2008 Casa Silva Colcahgua Valley Rosé – The deep color of this Chilean wine is enticing, but things get even better when it’s in the glass. An off-tart blend of red currant and strawberry on the palate, the wine blends Syrah and Carmenere for a rosé that’s got a little more heft than its pinker counterparts. We could see this wine cozying up to heartier summer foods like grilled pork loin or salmon steaks. It’s also delicious as a porch pounder of sorts for those afternoons where firing up the grill or turning on the oven seems like too much effort to expend. Also, say you have a friend who is adamant that wine should always be red and uses dismissive epithets to narrow his or her drinking. Pour that narrow-minded soul a glass of this that’s been properly chilled. Watch the joy that suffuses their being with each sip. Save your smug look until they’ve drained the glass.  The price on this gem is usually not more than about 12 bucks a bottle. Lay in a supply for the warmer months  and you will not go wrong.

2010 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare – The folks at Palate Press called the 2008 edition of this wine one of the finest wines they had ever tasted.  The latest edition is a pale pink and, according to the Dooniverse website, can benefit from 6-12 months of additional time in bottle. Winemaker Randall Grahm has been playing with the skin contact for this wine with recent vintages, and the playing around has paid off nicely with a palate dominated by pale red fruits and some hint of mint.  If you’re itching to drink this now, there’s a bit of the 2008 left for sale and shipping from the winery, but if you’re one of those type A personalities who is planning next summer while enjoying this one, you can lay in a supply of the 2010 for next year this time. The Negress would  join you but she’s too busy roasting tomatillos.

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“ATV” Wines: Albariño, Torrontes and Viura Offer the Perfect Breezy, Summer Ride

July 14, 2011
Martin Codax albarino

Albarino should mean "summer" in Spanish

If you think “ATV,” you no doubt conjure some squat vehicle with knobby tires hurtling over dunes or climbing hillocks, spraying dirt in its wake.  It’s a vivid picture, but the Negress would like for you to change your focus.

As we have officially drilled down into summer, it’s nice to have some white wines on hand that aren’t as predictable as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio have become. Welcome to ATV Negress style – Albariño, Torrontes and Viura.

You can find Torrontes from Argentina pretty much at any wine emporium. It’s an ethereal wine with a floral note or two on the nose and bright, crisp acidity. It’s more green apple than citrus on the palate. We love this wine with relaxed, cool summer fare such as salads and flaky, white fish (don’t bring out the bluefish with this wine. The oily flesh will just beat it about the head and face.) You’ve probably seen Crios de Susana Alba Torrontes around. It’s the bottle with the hand on a green label. It is to be hoped the label will not give rise to a “body part” label theory as did the “critter label” canard of recent memory. The Crios is a nice value wine with little variation from year to year.

But the Negress found a slightly more upscale Torrontes she liked. The 2009 Vida Organica Torrontes from Mendoza clocks in at around $20, smells a bit of honeysuckle and went nicely with a spicy chicken dish she threw together. You can find the Vida Organica, which sports a synthetic cork, at Whole Foods. Guess everything can’t be organic.

All right, let’s move onto Spain and Albariño. There’s been a little bit of an Albariño boomlet of late. It doesn’t compare the Gruner Veltliner explosion of a few years back, but it’s picking up steam. This is not a bad thing by any stretch. Albariño is food-friendly, not hideously expensive and widely available. The best examples have a cutting acidity with some citrus, peach or almond notes. It’s mostly found in the Rias Baixas region of Spain. The grape is also a big player in the Portuguese Vinho Verde realm. Like its Iberian neighbor, Albariño is not a wine you cellar. Drink it early and often.

You’ve probably seen the Paco and Lola Albariño since it has a distinctive polka dot label. You won’t go wrong with it, but the Negress also recommends the 2009 Martin Codax Albariño. The price circles $20 with intent. We adored the lime on the nose and the mouth-watering acidity.

Lastly, Viura is kind of a sleeper. It can be found in the Rioja and Navarra regions. The Negress tried the 2009 Vega Sindoa from Navarra, but found it a little disappointing. First, it’s 25 percent Chardonnay and it’s picked up enough oak to make us think of a barn-raising. If you like noticeable oak, you’ll love it. If you don’t, the 2008 El Coto from Rioja is all Viura and quite fresh and intensely aromatic.

 

 

 

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In which the Negress envisions how the Devils should have won the Stanley Cup

June 20, 2011

The Negress saw a different Stanley Cup final than you did. You see, on April 2, 2007, her beloved New Jersey Devils fired Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien so general manager Lou Lamoriello could coach the team for the rest of the season. The Negress would like to think that if Claude had stuck around, it would be the Devils pushing the Cup around in a baby stroller to some suburban Jersey bars. She might even imagine a parade in Newark, a city that could use a parade now and then.

Johnny Oduya and me. I'm now in Chicago. He's in Winnipeg

The good old days: Johnny Oduya and a writer

But things didn’t work out that way. Julien had exactly what he needed to win the cup. Goalie Tim Thomas made his net all but impregnable and Zdeno Chara really screwed with the Sedin brothers rhythm. It reminded me of how Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko didn’t have to hit people to make them wary of crossing the blue line. Martin Brodeur, perhaps the best goalie of his generation, could play like Thomas and leave opponents shaking their heads in wonder and dismay.

As much as the Negress likes to cling to this dream, she knows Julien wouldn’t have had a prayer if he had stayed in New Jersey. Brodeur paid for his Iron Man youth with long stretches lost to injury. Patrik Elias isn’t getting any younger and as much as the Negress likes him, she wishes the Devils had traded him three seasons ago. Adding Ilya Kovalchuk to the mix just destroyed the team’s ability to defend. People may have thought watching the Devils spring that neutral zone trap on folks was dull, but it was effective.

Since Julien’s departure, the Devils have blown through several coaches including one of the Sutters, the return of Jacques Lemaire and a little time with John MacLean. None of them were around long enough to shoulder blame. The Negress throws the whole spewing mess at Lamoriello’s feet. Lamoriello’s preference for American players and his salary cap illiteracy have turned the team into one part nostalgia act (Jason Arnott came back. Why?) and one part nursery school recess (trading Johnny Oduya after losing Paul Martin and leaving Colin White as the brains of your defensive unit was at best laughable). She loves her Devils still and yet, but is skeptical about the future.

Meanwhile the Canucks don’t rest Luongo enough, and it certainly showed at the end of the finals. The Cup needs to go back to Canada soon. While the Negress knows it’s well appreciated in Boston, it’s just not the same.

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In which the Negress drinks some Viura and wonders about her reader

June 6, 2011

The Negress often tries to imagine her reader. She is of the mind that every blog has one reader and that reader is not necessarily the blog’s author. She slogged through endless hours at the National Restaurant Show and almost rethought her entire relationship to food (vegan “chicken”: threat or menace?). She dithered and dawdled and saw one fine assignment

El Coto Viura from Rioja

Some juice for idle thoughts

evaporate but it was replaced by another that is pleasing but possibly not as lucrative. She also addressed her insurance career, spent some money and became secure but not exactly busy. She found a couple of new blogs – Babette Bakes and  Jewette. She fell in love with other people’s writing at the Chicago Lit Fest and felt the tug of the books inside her (they may explain her colon woes). Should she write them? So, while enjoying a nice Viura from Rioja (opened for cooking until she smelled the deadly perfume of expired chicken), she decided to think while wasting bandwidth. She figures her reader won’t mind so much if she tells said reader the name of the Viura (El Coto 2008. The Negress likes to be helpful.) She helped teach some people to knit and was reminded that she is not entirely impatient with teaching, but she likes teaching motivated, smart people. These are in short supply, especially as candidates for public office.

So, the Negress may do something about all of the above but the trick will be figuring out which wins out over the other — a return to life in the daily journalism world, the somewhat quixotic desire to try to be more political than she is now (there’s an extraordinary civil rights battle going on in this country right now and if you know anyone who is LGBT, you probably have some idea. If you think you don’t know anyone who is LGBT, you are delusional) or write books. Perhaps there’s room for all of the above. But, for right now, she’s getting some more Viura.

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2008 Bonneau Petit Sirah, 2006 Silverado Merlot, 2006 Fantesca Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Krutz Family Cellars Stagecoah Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

May 20, 2011

The Negress lined up these four wines because she wanted to share a few thoughts about them before she completely forgot she had drunk them. This is how you can tell she writes drinking notes, not tasting notes.  Most these wines met their end when she cooked a Rick Bayless tomatillo salsa verde braised pork loin so note the pairing for those of you who note such things. Anyway, She was charmed by all of the wines for different reasons. First the 2008 Bonneau Petit Sirah is a big but graceful wine that doesn’t pitch off the cliff into jamminess. As is usually the case, you won’t easily find this outside of California but a quick click over to Cellars of Sonoma (full disclosure: I belong to their club) can remedy that.  The Silverado 2006 Merlot is also a club-only wine with a little being sold direct at the winery. The Negress is ferociously partial to the North Fork Merlots and usually finds their Cali counterparts to be blanketed with fleecy tannins and very little structure. Well, not this Merlot. It’s got structure, some blackberry and is, well, a bright and happy wine.

The Negress is nursing shoulder injury (not sure what it is but it seems to be improving thanks). She might have gotten it lifting the Fantesca bottle. The bottle feels full even when it’s empty. Perhaps this weightiness is a good match for a Spring Mountain Napa Cabernet, but methinks it just adds to the price. The Negress brought this wine back from a Wine Writers Symposium a coupe of years ago. A little more bottle age seems to have been OK, but the Negress felt this wine was just OK. She loves some of the wines from the Spring Mountain AVA and expected to love this one. Place it under the usual suspects category.

Lastly, the 2007 Krutz Family Cellars Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a bottle from the winery’s limited edition artist’s series. The Negress got hers from Cellars of Sonoma, and it made sense why they would feature this Napa cab in their club. The wine was supple, nimble and exciting with nice but not engorged fruit. Not sure how much of this is left, but it ‘s worth seeking out.

All of these wines weigh in at between 14.5 and 14.8 percent alcohol bu volume. As has often been said, 14 is the new 12.

Not long after you read this, the Negress is heading off to the National Restaurant Association show here in Chicago. You can follow her doings there over at FoodserviceDailyNews on their Twitter feed @FoodTalkToday.

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Elvis Costello at the Chicago Theatre: I just don’t know where to begin

May 19, 2011

Well, the Negress will start the way Costello did with a speedy melange of “Doll Revolution,” “Mystery Dance,” “Hope You’re Happy Now and “Uncomplicated.” Oh, and a touch of “Shotgun” thrown. This outing was part of the 25th anniversary of the Spinning Songbook tour. The spinner was here as well as a go-go dancer in a cage plus audience participants with varying degrees of enthusiasm. “Radio Radio” was there as well as “45,”  “The River in Reverse” blended with “This Wheel’s on Fire.” It was lovely to see the Steve, drummer Thomas and keyboard man Nieve (also playing the occasional theremin lick) and young, slightly swarthy bass player. Even better to have Napoleon Dynamite reclaim his true purpose in the world. “The Other Side of Summer”s is not one of the Negress’ favorites, but now she could blame the wheel instead of the band.

The wheel did bring up some categories instead of mere songs. When “Time” showed up in purple in the slot, that led to “Accidents Will Happen,” followed by “Straight Time,” “next Time Around” and “Man Out of Time” plus the added bonus of the Stones “Out of Time.” The “Girl” songs brought together “Element Within Her,” “This Year’s Girl,” Girl Talk,” and the Beatles’ “Girl.” This is the sort of  Shemp-y rock-critic free-association that makes the world go around for some people. The Negress still is one of those people but less so than she used to be. “I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea” loomed, then “Beyond Belief.” Costello himself took to the keyboard for a gospel-tinged version of  “Pump It Up” with a bit of Ray Charles’ “Busted” tossed in for good measure.

There’s little question that the encore blend of “Peace, Love and Understanding” wandering over into “Purple Rain” was just fabulous. But getting to those was a pretty sweet trip with another mezcla of “Alison,” Tracks of My Tears” and Tears of a Clown,” “God’s Comic” and a nicely skragged out version of “Watching the Detectives.” The Negress is headed to see Airborne Toxic Event tonight. She may write something. Or not. This used to be her job (or her playground, if you want a Madonna-baseball reference). She doesn’t want it to feel like that ever again.

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