When the Cat’s Away the Mice Will Play

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  • bigburner
    Super Senior Member
    • May 2005
    • 2649

    When the Cat’s Away the Mice Will Play

    My wife was out of town last weekend so I took the opportunity on Friday evening to have 13 male friends over to my house to watch music DVD’s. I recently invested in a plasma screen so this was a good chance to show it off. The result was a really successful evening which I can recommend to any bloke who finds himself in a similar situation and wants to put on a big night for his mates.

    It’s still cold here in the South Island of New Zealand so I lit the two log fires in the house and got the brazier going outside for the smokers. Blokes love fires. I put drinks on from 6pm and served a simple meal (pasta / meat sauce / salad) at about 8pm.

    The first DVD went on at about 8.45pm. This part was the biggest challenge of the evening. One of my friends writes music, another four have played in bands at times, and at the other end of the spectrum a couple of my friends don’t know much about music at all. How do you keep a group like that entertained and interested?

    I decided to go for a mix of rock, blues and country, and to limit each DVD to two songs only, or sometimes only one song if it was a really long track. I sorted out all the music selections before anyone arrived. I was concerned about the delay between DVD’s (loading, menus etc) but that worked out really well because it provided a brief opportunity to talk about each act or grab another beer or wine etc. On a couple of DVD’s I had to play more than two tracks because I got so much stick when I went to take it off!

    The concert finished at 1.15am, with a 30 minute break half way through to sing happy birthday to one of the guys and eat the birthday cake that I bought at my local bakery (making pasta sauce is OK, baking cakes is not…).

    I had my laptop hooked up to the hi-fi / plasma so at halftime I played a song sent to me by one of my friends who couldn’t make it that evening. If you want to see / hear my friend (who also happens to be my doctor) playing the old Freddie King classic “Hideaway” then just click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=purhTNPdKrs.

    This week I’ve had plenty of positive feedback about the evening. My social group parties up a lot so it was great putting on an event that really hit the mark.

    Here is the list of DVD’s played on the night, in alphabetic order because I can’t remember the actual sequence. All I can tell you is that we started with “Born on the Bayou” by John Fogerty and ended with “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin.

    Albert Collins - In Concert (2003)
    Asleep at the Wheel - In Concert (2003)
    Blues Masters (1965)
    Crossroads Guitar Festival (2004)
    Dixie Chicks - An Evening with the Dixie Chicks (2002)
    Frank Zappa - Does Humor Belong in Music? Live (1991)
    Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock (2005)
    John Fogerty - Premonition (1989)
    John Hiatt - Live From Austin Tx (2005)
    Led Zeppelin (2003)
    Little Feat - High Wire Act Live in St. Louis 2003
    Peter Green - Splinter Group in Concert (2003)
    Rolling Stones - The Stones in the Park (Hyde Park) (1969)
    Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Live at the El Mocambo (1983)
    Taj Mahal - Live at Ronnie Scott's (1989)
    Ten Years After - Live at the Marquee (1983)
    The Old Grey Whistle Test, Volume 1 (2001)
  • John Holmes
    Moderator Emeritus
    • Aug 2000
    • 2703

    #2
    Sounds like a great time was had by all. Nice idea. And, Drblues56 is very talented. Cool post!
    "I have come here, to chew bubblegum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubblegum!!!"

    Comment

    • Arneson
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2006
      • 240

      #3
      Partey, Partey ...
      Did you guys wear togas?
      Jim

      Comment

      • DelRay
        Senior Member
        • Jun 2004
        • 369

        #4
        Sounds like you guys had a great time. Sometimes it nice to crank the tunes when the wifey is away. I'm sure the Dixie Chicks is your wifes, right. J/K Zeppelin's two disc DVD and The Eagles Farewell Tour "Live from Melbourne" are a couple of my favs. :B

        Comment

        • bigburner
          Super Senior Member
          • May 2005
          • 2649

          #5
          Originally posted by DelRay
          Sounds like you guys had a great time. Sometimes it nice to crank the tunes when the wifey is away. I'm sure the Dixie Chicks is your wifes, right. J/K Zeppelin's two disc DVD and The Eagles Farewell Tour "Live from Melbourne" are a couple of my favs. :B
          Hi DelRay, the Dixie Chicks is definitely my DVD. I have quite a broad taste in music. They have excellent supporting musicians on that DVD.

          The Eagles Farewell Tour "Live from Melbourne" is a favourite of mine too, but that DVD gets played quite a lot so I thought I'd give it a rest.

          I'm not sure what you mean by J/K Zeppelin. The DVD that I played is the one in the picture below.

          Nigel.
          Attached Files

          Comment

          • bigburner
            Super Senior Member
            • May 2005
            • 2649

            #6
            Originally posted by Arneson
            Did you guys wear togas?
            We did, and I've got a photo to prove it. We all put wigs and makeup on too.

            I'm the one on the far right. That's the Oppo remote control in my hand.
            Attached Files

            Comment

            • DelRay
              Senior Member
              • Jun 2004
              • 369

              #7
              Originally posted by bigburner
              Hi DelRay, the Dixie Chicks is definitely my DVD. I have quite a broad taste in music. They have excellent supporting musicians on that DVD.

              The Eagles Farewell Tour "Live from Melbourne" is a favourite of mine too, but that DVD gets played quite a lot so I thought I'd give it a rest.

              I'm not sure what you mean by J/K Zeppelin. The DVD that I played is the one in the picture below.

              Nigel.
              The J/K was a reference to the Dixie Chicks. I actually like them too. And yes, that is the Zeppelin dvd I meant. BTW, I have Shania Twain's "UP" DVD audio disc. One of my favs.

              Comment

              • Chris D
                Moderator Emeritus
                • Dec 2000
                • 16877

                #8
                Yeah, but what about U2's DVD's? I couldn't do an evening like that without them.
                CHRIS

                Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                - Pleasantville

                Comment

                • bigburner
                  Super Senior Member
                  • May 2005
                  • 2649

                  #9
                  Hi Chris,

                  I am well aware that you love U2 and that "Rattle and Hum" is your favourite music DVD. I have to say that I don't rate U2 quite as highly as you do. There's an old English expression 'all mouth and no trousers' that describes them in an exaggerated way.

                  I have been a bit brutal, so I should qualify my criticism by saying that I do love some of their songs - for example "Mysterious Ways" is one of my all time favourites. There's just too much average material in between the good songs.

                  I own " U2 Go Home - Live From Slane Castle" and I did select a couple of tracks from that DVD, but the DVD was so far down the pile that it never got played.

                  I have also watched "U2 - Vertigo 2005 - Live From Chicago" at a friend's place and I just wasn't impressed. It reminded of recent Rolling Stones concerts. All show but little substance, which is what 'all mouth and no trousers' means, now that I come to think of it.

                  I haven't watched "Rattle and Hum" but I have seen a couple of chapters from the DVD at a friend's video evening. Do you remember the scene where they're talking and singing to a group of black kids in a school hall or church hall perhaps? That made me cringe. I couldn't help thinking that those kids probably had more musical talent than the members of U2 so what were those guys doing there lecturing them? I probably saw that scene out of context so I promise that I will give the whole DVD a fair go and I reserve the right to change my mind!

                  A small U2 anecdote for you. My only claim to fame when it comes to the stars was in 1988 when I was in an airport bathroom in Christchurch, New Zealand. I was standing at the two-man urinal and who should join me but Bono. U2 had played the previous evening in Christchurch and were flying out. I just remember that Bono was a very little chap. Furthermore the bathroom was in the Golden Wing Lounge (a frequent flyers club)!

                  Regards,
                  Nigel.

                  Comment

                  • Chris D
                    Moderator Emeritus
                    • Dec 2000
                    • 16877

                    #10
                    Yeah, Nigel, that scene from "Rattle and Hum" that you refer to is when they sing "With or Without You" with a gospel choir. U2 said that they wrote that originally as a gospel song.

                    Wow, I've always thought that would be AWESOME to meet Bono. I have several questions for him, but I wouldn't want to be another fan that just pesters the guys in their time off.

                    If you do watch "Rattle and Hum" there's some good tracks and some that are okay. The three I would recommend is "Bad", "Where the Streets Have No Name", and "Bullet the Blue Sky". (famous scene... "Okay Edge, play the blues!") Others have good parts, but those are the best tracks I think.

                    That rendition of "Bad" is just pure Nirvana to me.
                    CHRIS

                    Well, we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
                    - Pleasantville

                    Comment

                    • miner
                      Senior Member
                      • Mar 2005
                      • 900

                      #11
                      I was at the John Hiatt taping in Austin in 2005. He toured with Robert Cray then, taking turns as opening act. It also happened to be my wifes 44th bday - I scored some front row seats the night before - a delayed release of tickets. Robert Cray stayed afterwards and signed stuff/met people until no one was left to talk to. A class act. He signed my wife's ticket stub - "Happy Birthday Maria, hope you enjoyed the show I put on for 'you'."

                      Comment

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