Here's an item for discussing Top of the Park and the rest of the 
Ann Arbor Summer Festival, running now through Sunday July 6.

33 responses total.

Festival's almost half over...  Upcoming tonight are a slew of bands.
Carolyn Wonderland is an electric blues guitarist and singer from 
Austin, Texas.  Mickey told me I should pay some attention to her, so I 
checked out her MySpace sample tracks and I was impressed enough to 
bring some extra cash tonight for her two CDs.  Ms. Wonderland goes 
on at 8:15 pm.  I don't know anything about the 7 pm band, The Blue
Rubys.  Between 6 and 7 is something called the "Grassroots Stage,"
three bands playing 20 minute sets.
 
The movie tonight is GOLDFINGER, the most classic and the most iconic
of all the James Bond films, from 1964.  A google search on the most 
famous line from the movie -- "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"
turned up over 400,000 hits.

   ((( linked between Summer 2008 Agora and Music )))

So far, I've caught the end of some lame retro-disco band that pretty
much sucked. They were followed by the Macpodz, which has quite an A2
following. The rhythm section was great, but when the skanky front man
grabbed a flute I started to have a Jethro Tull flashback and left. 

I caught Hullaballo two nights ago. I've known them for years and
they're always a nice mix of ska and horn-based tunes. However, I didn't
like the stripped down horn section.

I was sorry I missed Leith al-Sadi (sp?) last Thursday, as he's one of
the best all around guitarists in A2. I also heard his new rhythm
section kicks more ass than his old one did.

Anyone have a link for the rest of this year's lineup?

Here's the offical Top of the Park schedule in HTML.  There's a link
to a PDF file if you would rather print it.
 
http://www.annarborsummerfestival.org/top_calendar_2008.shtml
 
Laith Al-Saadi was lots of fun; I really need to get out and see him
more than once a year.  I'm afraid I don't pay enough attention to 
notice any changes to the rhythm section.  (For those who don't know, 
he's a blues (& rock) electric guitar player, very hot, and he has a 
weekly residency at Goodnight Gracie.   He's an Ann Arbor native.)

I played some MySpace tracks from The Blue Rubys, the 7 pm band 
tonight (Monday).  Lots of harmonies, three women in the band, jangly
guitars: if I needed a quick comparison it would be with The Continental
Drifters, if any of you remember them.

Thanks for the link, ken. Next week definitely looks better to me than
this week, based on my tastes.

 Is there a link anywhere with a schedule for the remaining Top of the Park
 events?

 I'm not anywhere near Ann Arbor these days but I've got a brother who lives
 in Royal Oak who was looking for fun things to do with a friend of his who
 recently moved to Ann Arbor.  It strikes me that TOP might make a good
 suggestion for them.

see resp:4 for TOP schedule link.

I went to high school with Laith. I despise his music, but I have nothing
against him personally. Well, except his music.

Well, her certainly doesn't play anything that is less than 20 years old
if that's what you mean. While I admire good musicians in almost any
genre, I have to admit that I probably couldn't listen to more than a
set of his without getting bored.  

Er, "her" sb "he"

Who names their kid after a woodshop machine?  Jesus

cyklone in resp:10  ::  I, on the other hand, have been embracing my
inner geezer more and more.   But then, it's been about a decade since I
gave up on new rock music, after about a decade of trying to find
something I could enjoy.  

Really?  I think there have been a bunch of bands recently that are 
really enjoyable:  Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, the Raconteurs....

The Cadillac Cowboys are going to be doing a set on Monday, the 30th.  
I've never heard them perform despite the fact a friend is in the group, 
so I'm going to fix that, come Monday.  

Maybe see others other than other there?

Digression from Top of the Park:

Edina:  You're that younger demographic. :)   I used to have a riff
about how I was going to give up rock music when I turned 40, and then
suddenly it wasn't a joke any more.  I've heard Arcade Fire and the
Decemberists and have not been motivated to follow up further;  there's
a chance I might like the Raconteurs since I do like Jack White's other
band, but then the White Stripes are channelling the year 1973 and Jack
White has strong folk/country leanings.

Ken, don't get me wrong, I enjoy lots of old music as well, and the most
money I ever made was in a "classic rock" band, similar to what Leith
has now. But when it comes to the evolution of music, I simply can't
draw a line at a particular year. It all keeps building on something
earlier, and for that I am very grateful.

Other doesn't do TOP anymore, at least not professionally.
But, Mary, if you are where I hope you will be on Tues at dinnertime,
you will indeed see other.

Excellent.  

Re #18: I noticed that. Is Scott no longer there either?

Do you mean Scott Helmke?  He moved away from the Ann Arbor area a few
years ago.

Not grexer scott.  I have not seen former-TOP staff Scott at the 
festival this year either.

Looks like we're talking about the same guy, ken. Thanks for the update.

Mary and I dropped by Top of the Park tonight to hear the excellent
Cadillac Cowboys.  Thankfully, the weather cooperated.  The only Grexer
spotted was cyklone.

I had quite a productive spotting night, but I count everyone, not just
grexers. I ran into a some old HS friends who are now connected with
show business. One of them has about five companies, doing stuff like
recording and film production. Another interesting guy was into LED
retrofits for big buildings to save energy. It was a fun night.

miosing it all this uyear... be back in 1009.

Yesterday's TOP was great people watching. I went to see the Czars, a
surf/cocktail jazz band I know and have done shows with. I stuck around
for the African drumming/dancing troupe. They were pretty good, and had
a huge crowd in front of the stage. What surprised me is how few people
knew how (or maybe just didn't feel motivated) to actually MOVE to the
music. I guess most A2 honkies can't dance unless it's over a blues
progression ;) I also was a bit appalled at the one (white) drummer's
story about teaching his African drum-teacher's son how to say "Wassup,
homey" during a visit to Africa. 

I ran into a number of people I hadn't seen in a while, including a
musician who's now doing standup comedy and a guy I've known (but hadn't
seen) for years, who was out with his college-aged daughter. This was
notable because he had struggled with her mother for years, and she had
tried to alienate him from his daughter. It was nice to see that his
daughter hadn't bought into all the demonizing.

I also saw the hottest lesbian/LUG couple I've seen this year, wearing
matching sandals and camisole-type summer dresses! 

BTW, that must a be a helluva a time machine you have ts . . . 

I have vague thoughts of going to TOP tonight for Khalid Hanifi and the
Great Lakes Myth Society (that's two performers) but the weather forecast
does not look favorable, with 80% chance of rain and possible strong
storms.
 
Thursday I might go to see the movie, BLADES OF GLORY.  Dumb movies
seem to improve in the TOP atmosphere.  :)

Need to write a few words about previous performers I saw, FUBAR and
MADAME XD.

Yeah, I might try to catch tonight's show depending on the weather and
my earlier plans. I also saw FUBAR, and have been meaning to do a
"review" of  that show and the others I've seen.

I've always like FUBAR, despite their somewhat "garage-y" sound. This
time around, I thought they sounded tighter than usual. I was especially
impressed by how their Sly Stone cover (can't remember the name) has
progressed. Before, I thought it didn't have the soulful hooks (vocals
and horn parts) that make it such a great song. However, this time
around the singer, who is no "belter" by any stretch of the word, still
managed to give the song a good kick in the ass, and all the vocals were
in tune. The trumpet player also nailed the horn parts. The bassist (who
I've know for years) was also exceptionally funky this time around, and
laid down a huge a groove on the bottom. This was one of the few "soul"
performances by a white A2 band that didn't leave me cringing, which was
especially nice because I grew up with Sly's music, and hold it in high
regard. What a pleasant surprise.

I didn't really have an opinion on Lady X given the rainout. I did like
hearing the guitar player though, as I'd known him since HS but hadn't
seen him perform for some 30 years or more.

 Is Khalid Hanifi the Map of the World guy?

Yup. His sister is also the singer I mentioned with FUBAR, and I think
she was also part of Map of the World. 

I assume the whole evening (Khalid Hanifi, Great Lakes Myth Society, 
and the Simpsons) was rained out.  It was a rather spectacular series
of storms.
 
Yes, Sophia Hanifi was in Map of the World.  That band opened for 
10,000 Maniacs at Rick's in East Lansing a few decades ago, and the 
Ann Arbor band was much better.

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