Saturday, December 03, 2011

Addendum to Grant Hart, Live at Mono, Glasgow

I seem to be getting a lot of hits on the gig review I wrote about Grant Hart at Mono last week.  As I said, the poor bloke looks like he's a bit unwell and a bit skint.  After the show I bought a couple of his recent albums.  Hot wax was his most recent studio album, recorded with members of Gedspeed You! Black Emperor.  It's a good record that's well worth some of your hard earned cash.  I also picked up the Oeuvrevue compilation album that I'm listening to as I type.  It's fairly solid and it has a nice version of 'no promise have i made' by Husker Du on it.

I also bought a few mp3s from Amazon.  You can't get intolerance  on CD at the moment but you can get individual tracks.  2541  is a great track and you should own it.

It's not easy for American musicians to get health care so think about it and pay for some music to perhaps help someone  who's down on their luck.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Green Lantern - DVD review

I used to read Green Lantern comics when I was younger.  I liked them.  I was less impressed by this film.  It's a bit of a turkey really, nearly as bad as the Fantastic Four films.  Not too good.

Avoid.

Grant Hart - live at Mono, Glasgow

I went to see Grant Hart at Mono last night.  I've been listening to Husker Du since I was about 12 and 'never talking to you again' is one of my favourite songs ever.  I loved seeing him play but it was heartbreaking to watch.  He does not look very well.

I'm not sure who the support act was.  He sounded like a one-man-band playing the Ramones.  It was OK but I don't think I'd rush to hear him again.

Grant came on and he looked terrible.  Even from 20 metres away I could see that he is jaundiced.  He looked worse later on when I bought a single from him after the show.  His teeth are a mess.  As a doctor this was sad to see.  I've worked in a few Glasgow hospitals and I've seen a lot of people in liver failure and you don't want to see a musical hero like this.  I don't know if it's viral hepatitis from when he was injecting drugs or if it's booze or if it's cancer but Grant Hart looks like a very sick man.  As a musician in America I don't think he has a health care plan and I strongly suspect he isn't getting much in the way of Husker Du royalties.  Poor bloke.

The sound in Mono was not great but Hart shone despite the sonic problems.  His voice continues to be great and he ran through his back catalogue playing requests as people shouted them out.  He played his songs from Husker Du including She floated away, Books about UFOs, Pink Turns to Blue and Sorry somehow.  He played my personal favourite never talking to you again as well as stand-out solo tracks like 2541 and Admiral of the sea  by Nova Mob.  He kept going for nearly 2 hours.  It was great to see.

I am worried about him.  He looks very sick and I hope he is getting decent medical attention.  I hope his health improves and he keeps going.