Saturday, September 09, 2006

Supernova, Superspacey

I heard the other day that the rock band “Supernova” is coming to the local arena in January. Now, I’m an old metal head, music geek, and I dig some reality T.V., so I got hooked into watching Supernova. The show is a competition between vocalists for a slot fronting the band, and that band is comprised of rockers from other high test bands: Tommy Lee, comes to mind. The main host is this guy Dave Navarro. His band will open for Supernova when they tour. I know the others should be knowable to me: one guy looks like Lyle Lovett, and is the old Metallica bassist. The other guy, lead guitar, is named Gilby, and he looks like Bill Paxton in a cheap black fright wig with fake moustache. They're all serious musical geeks, definately in tune with their art, and that's cool to watch.

Some of the vocalists competing to front this band are very talented, though maybe not a good fit for the kind of R&B garage rock style of Supernova. The band’s original tracks remind me of a cross between early Rolling Stones and glamorized Ramones. Since I’m more of a Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Halford type girl for my rock, I’m not that into their sound. HOWEVER, for some reason, I was drawn into the show. I hope they settle either on the Icelandic native Magni, or, feisty Dilana. I think given the choice, Magni is a slightly better front: his voice is more suited to the music. Dilana has a different sound, more suited to punk, or alternative.

Now, Supernova, Dave N. and his band, and, the house band (the most talented musicians in the entire production) are coming to a local venue. And I am actually considering going to this concert. A bunch of my staff were hooked on American Idol and went to see the production when it blew into town, and I thought, yeah, cool, but was left scratching my head. So why, then, am I considering going to Supernova? I have no idea at all why. Except maybe closure? I’d like to see how they are on stage? (Very different from how you appear on a produced TV show). I have by no means purchased tickets, but I found it amazing that I was considering doing so at some point in the future.

Lately, I’ve been listening to some outrageous stuff. Tim played Dragonforce the other day: some tracks are great, others sound like Speed Metal Polka. Certainly talented, and they’re gamers, I believe. I've been exploring, lots of Gothic electronica, alternative, euro/techno and such: Artists like Nightwish, Cruxshadows, Behind the Scenes, and a host of others. Since Rhapsody doesn't have much more than a sampling, I'm compiling a list of the bands so I can track down the CDs for purchase. What I enjoy about the sound is the intermingling of a variety of instruments and influences: operatic arias and electric violins, middle eastern drum beats and religious chants paired with deep base and fierce guitar. They keys tend to be minor, the composition, vital, diverse and unexpected. Very spacey, and I guess that must be my mood as of late: very spacey. And maybe that's the case. After reading Bloodlines, I find I'm too distracted, or preoccupied to read anything else. It may be because I'm into writing book two, but I think it's also because I gorged in August, and had such splendid fare, that I'm sated, and perhaps a bit jaded. And spacey, definately spacey.

2 comments:

Jean C. Gordon said...

Chris,

I was so into the program last summer to find a new lead singer for INXS. I couldn't get into this year's Supernova.

Ursula said...

I can't believe you're an INXS fan! The show really sucks you in, though!