Playing for Change
A month or so ago (I honestly don’t remember how long ago it was already) I was linked to a music video that was a collaboration of random, small scale artists, from around the globe. Most of these artists are street performers. They listen to the already existing recordings, and add their own flair, and own style to the music, always greatly enhancing it. It just gave me absolute shivers listening to it.
It’s a concept called “Playing for Change“, and I can’t remotely describe it anywhere near as well as they have on their website:
Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.
The first video (and still by far my favorite) that I watched, was “Stand by Me,” originally performed by Ben King… Goosebumps are intense when I listen to this song. You really do feel the power and emotion of the song, probably a LOT more than the original version. It’s intense. Check it out below.
I honestly try to watch that video on a frequent basis, to remind myself how powerful music can be, and also to remind me that the world can’t be as bad as the news stations and other things we see in our daily lives make it out to be.
Check out the website, and the two other songs below… and take in the power and meaning of the songs. And support this project!
Peace Through Music!
War (No More Trouble) – Originally performed by Bob Marley:
“One Love” – Originally performed by Bob Marley
Progressive Nation Tour!
My reviews of concerts are never that impressive (in my opinion) as I don’t know song names for most of the bands I check out in concert. I just know I love the music.
It was a last minute concert this time. I was supposed to go see Aerosmith last week (postponed), and I’m leaving for a week-long vacation this week, so I originally said no to Dream Theater in an bid to not spend too much money prior to the trip. However, I was on my way home from visiting family as my friend messaged me telling me he got the “green light” (from his wife) to go see Dream Theater, and he already bought a ticket. I was anxious to go to a concert since I didn’t get to go to Aerosmith, so I decided to run along.
I didn’t get there until after both the openers played, so I don’t know how they sound, and I can’t make any comment on them. BigElf and Scale the Summit were the openers. Only slightly disappointed I missed them, as I like checking out new bands.
We had amazing seats, about halfway up the theater – Ruth Eckerd Hall – and literally dead center (there was even a line on the floor right in front of me that represented the center of the theater). My only disappointment is that it was a theater, as I prefer general admission shows. Assigned seating just doesn’t have the same vibe as being in a packed group of people on the floor.
We did talk amusingly to some of the ushers in the theater. The place really seemed to be more “upscale” than it should for a band like Dream Theater to play in. Most of the ushers were old (I’d put them at 60+), and they really looked like they were a little out of place among all of the prog rock fans.
Zappa Plays Zappa came up next. I honestly can’t think of a single Zappa song as it is, and I don’t know if I EVER listened to his music, so I didn’t know what to expect. It started poorly and I just really didn’t have a high opinion of the group. It was just very slow, and the first song they played all I could think of was “is the song going to pick up?? come on… more beat! MORE SPEED!”
Thankfully they read my mind, and they certainly kept improving with each song, and I did enjoy them by the end of their set (atleast, the first half). We ended up going downstairs for a couple more beers, picked up the Dream Theater tour shirt, and talked to some random fellow concertgoers. I picked up the black tour shirt with brown “Dream Theater” written going up the left side, with of course all of their Tour information on the back. Apparently Florida is the first stage of the US tour (they just came from touring in Europe).
After Zappa Plays Zappa ended, we went back to our seats to get ready for Dream Theater.
Dream Theater played an awesome set, and the crowd was going almost the entire time. During a couple slower songs the majority of the audience actually sat down… I was a little surprised at that. I honestly only have their Train of Thought album, so I didn’t know a lot of songs, and I wasn’t expecting to figure out any of the songs. My friend said earlier today, after listening to one of the songs on Pandora, that he DID recognize, possibly “Endless Sacrifice”. Beyond that, we don’t know what songs they played. It was all very good, though, of course. I’ll definitely try to see them again next time they come around. Also, I definitely need to pick up more of their CDs.
They had a very short break (not even 5 minutes…) between their main set and their encore.
One of the coolest parts was that I noticed that the keyboardist had an iPhone/iPod Touch on his keyboard, and during one of the songs, he started doing a “solo” using the iPhone. I was completely blown away and thought that was so cool that he used it in that way. The guy in front of me actually heard me say “what app is that??” and he showed me on his phone. So if you want to spend 1.99, check out “Bebot” app for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It’s basically just robot (synth) sounds depending on where your fingers are on the screen. Very fun to play with. The default sounds that I used didn’t sound like what he played, so I’m sure he fidgeted with the settings quite a bit! Jordan Rudess actually has a video demo of him using it.
A great show overall, that I’m glad was “early” (ended at midnight)… as it WAS on a Sunday and I had work in the morning. I’m certainly glad I sucked it up and went!
I certainly hope a friend will update this blog entry in the comments section with a setlist when he sees the band this coming weekend, to fill that missing bit of my review! Though I’m jealous of him because Queensryche is on the bill for that show, as special guests. I saw them once a couple years ago and I’d love to see them again.
UPDATE 2:15 pm -
Here’s the setlist!
[source] – Thanks to John Z for the link