Dee Long - Live March 4th, 2005


On February 13, 2005, Jaimie Vernon sent out the following e-mail.

Bullseye Records is proud to announce the first, ever, solo performance by Dee Long on Friday March 04, 2005 at The Brunswick House as part of the Bullseye 20th Anniversary Bash (also featuring Maureen Leeson, Cheaper Than Therapy, The Kings, The First Time and Cats & Dogs).

Dee's band will consist of Dee Long (guitar, vocals), Frank Watt (drums), Ken Wannamaker (keyboards), Jim Hoeck (bass), Jaimie Vernon (guitar, backing vocals), and Maureen Leeson (harmony vocals).

Rehearsals begin in a week. The gig itself will be preceded by an appearance by Dee at the Oshawa Record Show (at the Simcoe Street Legion) on Sunday, February 27th to promote his new DVD/Audio disc release "Outside Of Time And Space: The DVD".

The DVD features six videos from the 2002 "Outside" album plus a short behind-the-scenes "The Faking Of..." mockumentary. As an added bonus, Dee is included a second audio disc of remixes, outtakes and previously unreleased tracks from the sessions.

You can contact myself or visit the Bullseye website for further details.

Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
"Not Suing Our Customers Since 1985!!"
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/


After that initial e-mail, there were messages from Jim Hoeck detailing the rehearsals each day from when they started up through the live gig itself. Jim also posted his notes about the experience of playing the gig. These day by day notes are quoted below with the permission of Jim.

There are some photos from Jim himself on the Jim Hoeck photo gallery page.

In addition to Jim's notes and photos, there are pictures for each act's set on the Dave Bradley photo gallery page.


Friday February 25, 2005

Drove from Cape Cod to Toronto. Left late after the snow storm on the Cape abated. Crossed into Canada around 10PM. Hit snow going down the 401. Arrived at my hotel at 3AM. Missed the Friday night rehearsal, which began around 6PM and ended at 11PM. Dee, Jaimie, Ken, Frank and Moe rehearsed.

Saturday February 26, 2005

Met up with Dee and Ken at the rehearsal space. Worked on The Meaning of Life, Mad Magazine, Outside, Chromosome Syndrome, Collecting Icons, Older, Anus of Uranus, Little Neutrino, Blue Jay Way, and Across the Universe. Jamie stopped in to deliver a speaker but couldn't stay. We rehearsed for a bit more than three hours. The huge thrill was right after I plugged in my bass and started the Mad Mag riff and Dee joined in and we went straight through the song - start to finish.

Sunday February 27, 2005

Picked Dee up at 10:30 to take him to the record show in Oshawa so he could sign autographs. There were some great pictures of Dee taken with William Shatner.

Rehearsal started at 5:30 with the entire band present. We went through The Meaning of Life, Mad Magazine, Outside, You Are Too Beautiful, Chromosome Syndrome, and Collecting Icons. The rehearsal space is fairly small, but still, we didn't sound too bad. The songs are for the most part heavier driving songs and the band did a good job of rocking them hard. The Meaning of Life was solid. Mad Magazine really took off in the second half. It will be a much harder driving version than the album version, actually sounding much closer to the rest of the album as Mad Mag is really the odd song out on the Outside album. The song Outside was OK. It has some tricky parts. Some odd tempo pushes that Dee was determined to get right. The "Inside-Outside, Inside-Outside" sections were spooky. But as the DVD video says the song's "Smokin'". We took a long time to go through You Are Too Beautiful. Because it is a softer slower song, it took us a while switch gears. But also it was one song that I didn't really practice prior to the trip. We had to call out chords one time through to ensure that we (I) was playing in key, which sometimes I was. Chromosome Syndrome: I think we spent more time on the first 16 bars of Chromosome Syndrome than on the rest of the song. Once we got going, we went. Dee's solos were quite fun on this one. Collecting Icons was a straightforward read through. We did the song once through quite nicely. Then played it again and completely screwed up the verse/chorus structure through the solo section, and then got it right the third time through, complete with extended solo jam at the end.

At this time Jaimie and Moe had to leave. After they left, Dee, Ken, Frank and I went through It's good to be back home. The first time through we did a credible job, complete with a killer jam in the middle jam section. We then went through the chord structure, again to ensure that we were all playing the same thing. We tried again, lost our concentration in the middle, muddled through it and called it a day.

So far we have worked mainly on Outside songs. Tomorrow the focus will be on the Klaatu songs. Now that will be fun!

I am living the dream of a lifetime. Playing Klaatu songs with Dee Long. The only thing that could be better would be to play them with all of Klaatu. Alas, perhaps some other time and place. Though they are getting together this week to rehearse for the Klaatunion Festival in May!!! They are going to meet and practice up at Terry's house later this week.

Anyway, it's going to be a good gig on Friday. Dee is in fine voice. His guitar playing is as good as ever, or better (if you ask him). The band sounds good. It's going to be fun. Anyone that can make it - should. As we all know, Dee doesn't play live very often.

Monday February 28, 2005

Monday evening was a beautiful evening with a light snow starting to fall as we descended into the cellar that we are using as a rehearsal space. Moe was unable to be there. She’s got the flu. She should be fine later in the week. Everyone else was there – Dee, Ken, Jaimie, Frank, and me. The cellar is a fairly small room – perhaps 20x20 feet. With all the gear, there is about a square foot of empty space in the middle of the room. On Sunday, when Moe was present, I was backed up against the bass speaker cabinet. I could feel every note that I played – I had no need to hear. Most of us wear earplugs – at least when Frank is playing, as we have to crank up the other instruments to not be drowned out by the drums. Anyway, on Sunday I was next to Dee, facing Jaimie. On Monday I was next to Jaimie, facing Dee. What an incredible difference! Not that it isn’t fun to watch Jaimie – he’s quite a credible musician. But to sit and watch Dee – what an incredible musician. The notes and riffs just flow out like water. You hear this on the recordings, but it is yet another thing to see it happening. zowie.

We started by going back over the songs that we had already worked on. Some we did one take. Others two or three. For the most part we didn’t regress much from the previous night. Moe is our conductor and cues us to some of the more obscure transitions like when we are coming to the end of the 19 bar solo, so we missed our cues a few times without her there. But for the most part we did all right. We then started working on the songs that we hadn’t really gotten through. We went back through It’s Good To Be Back Home, as we had covered that after Moe and Jaimie left. It’s a great song. I think it’ll be one of the highlights of the show. It’s got a strong verse and chorus, some good progressions, and a killer jam section. Dee went through his rhythm guitar progression fingering which is based on an open C7 chord. "It’s easy, you just switch it around here, and slide it up here, and push like this…". Uh huh.

We then went into some Klaatu songs. Of course we are doing Older. When the opening call-response starts up – wow! That’s it! Older! It is a nice hard driving song, which should work really well live. Having dissected it, it is a strange little song. The sections go: Intro, Verse, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Verse, Intro, Verse, Verse, Chorus. Very strange. Having not dissected it prior to Monday’s rehearsal, I was into the Intro a few too many times. Skipping the Chorus except when it was a Verse, etc. etc. etc.

We followed on with Everybody Took A Holiday. As this was our first read through it was quite erratic. There were a bunch of times in the middle of the song where I took a Holiday and joined up at the next verse. This was a tough song, as the record isn’t in any known key. The opening note of the verse is somewhere between a B and a C. We are playing it starting on an A. We then trudged through Blue Jay Way, which Dee covered on the Bullseye Beatles Tribute. There were of course lots of Beatle jokes. "What would the other Beatles think of this? When are John, Paul, Terry and Ringo going to show up?" That type of thing.

We finished with the mystery song. I’ve been sworn to secrecy on this song and can’t mention it by name. If I do, I’ve been told that my B string will be cut! As I am rather fond of my B string, I’ll simply say that it was again a thrill to read through another extremely spacey Klaatu song.

And that was it. We covered a lot of ground. We were all exhausted. It was almost midnight. We came up out of our lair and found that it was a winter wonderland outside. The cars were all covered in inches of snow, or as they say up here centimeters of snow. The totals all sound much more impressive in centimeters. We got 15 centimeters of snow in five hours!

Tuesday March 1, 2005

We once again convened in Ken’s lair for rehearsal. It was still snowing, but not seeming to accumulate that much. Moe again was sick. Frank was exhausted. It took him almost three hours to drive home Monday night. Normally it takes him an hour and a half. Thus he didn’t make it to rehearsal. So we employed mini-Frank the electronic drum machine. The only positive thing to say about mini-Frank is that he is a whole lot quieter than the real Frank.

We played through the entire set, front to back, for the first time. Aside from some rather unimaginative drumming by mini-Frank, things went pretty smoothly. The Outside songs are tightening up. The Klaatu songs are starting to sound like Klaatu songs. Or perhaps Klaatu songs played by a heavy metal band. The arrangements are definitely heavier than on the records. I think they will lighten up once we practice them a bit more and once we get out of the liar.

Robert H. was able to sit in on the practice, as he was in town on business. It was nice to see him again. I last saw him at the 2003 Klaatunion. He’s not sure if he can make the gig on Friday as his business concludes earlier in the day and he has obligations that are drawing him back home. It would be nice to see him and all you other Klaatu fans out there on Friday night. We go on at Midnight. A Splendid Time is Guaranteed for ALL!

Wednesday March 2, 2005

A long rehearsal. We met at 8PM and played until almost 1:30. Everyone was present, and as the date of the gig is getting closer and closer, the intensity of the rehearsal was markedly greater. Not to mention the volume! It is Thursday noon and my ears are still ringing. I’d be deaf if I hadn’t worn ear plugs last night. Frank is a LOUD drummer. Loud in a good way. Very strong booming sound. Perfect for the material. And perfectly in the groove. It’s easy as a bass player to slide in right along with him.

We went through the set list front to back twice. The first time we did multiple takes on songs. Worked on parts. Moe’s voice was weak from her illness, but she was able to sing. And her voice did get better, not weaker throughout the evening. A lot of attention was paid to the vocal arrangements – tightening up harmonies. The second time through the set list we played it straight through. We didn’t sound bad. As Dee said, if we can start and stop at the same time, and keep the good notes and get rid of the bad notes, we’ll be all right. A good goal for tonight, the last rehearsal. Tomorrow night is the gig!

We go on at Midnight, which was about the time that we started our second run through of the set last night. We finished a bit after 1AM which means that we are right where we want to be with our set. Things are coming together. One more good rehearsal tonight and we’ll be ready to go.

See you all at the gig.

Thursday March 3, 2005

The last rehearsal!

It was a loose rehearsal. We went through the set list twice. First time through we planned to do each song twice. Second time through we'd go through it as if it were the gig.

In the first run through we did go through a few of the songs twice, but the majority of them we hit once and it was good and we went on. When we did repeat songs it was to tweak the ending or do a better job of counting out quiet passages. Nothing earth shattering.

We then did the set as if the audience was there. Dee planned some of his little speeches between songs. "And here I'll talk about the dangers of Genetically Engineered Food.", "Goodnight Cleveland", .

It was actually a relaxed almost low energy rehearsal. It didn't have the intensity of the day before. It confirmed that we are as ready as we are ever going to be. Not bad for a short week of rehearsing.

It's showtime.

March 4, 2005

The gig.

We loaded in at 4PM at the Brunswick House. It's an old building with a fairly large space. The main floor has tables off to one side and a nice sized dance floor right in front of a two foot raised stage. The stage is roughly 30 feet long and is somewhat triangular in shape, giving the band a nice facing view of the entire room. Since we were the  "headliners", we set up first. The rest of the bands used variations off of our set up. Though no one other than Dee used the DeeSampler.

After getting all of our equipment on and around the stage, it was a typical band setup endeavor. Amps. Mics. Drum kit. Keyboards. DeeSampler. Auxiliary PA for the DeeSampler. Dee's effects box and pedals. The multi-track recorder. Camcorders. Music stands with itty bitty book lights.

The drum kit that was going to be used by all the bands turned out to need some serious TLC. Frank and I ran down to the Long & Maquades (SP?) and bought some new skins and a bunch of insert cables. Frank then did his magic and created a nice sounding drum kit from junk.

The DeeSampler runs on a PC. It is triggered by an el-cheapo midi keyboard. At one point Dee had the PC open with the processor out, reseating it to get the PC to work reliably. Not normally something one wants to see at sound check.

The sound man was Glen. Glen the house sound man. Sound Glen. Good Glen. Wonderful to work with Glen. Glen works the sound at the Brunswick House. He knows the board. He knows the room. He did a great job for us setting up a good sound which is tough in a bar venue. He also assisted us in patching into the board to capture an eighteen track recording of the entire event.

Anyway, we got set up. Did a quick sound check sans Jaimie and Moe. (We did a killer Older, which I believe only Dave Bradley got to hear.) We moved our instruments off stage and got out of the way as the first time set up. (And as the doors were already a half an hour late in opening.)

Moe played solo first. She did a wonderful set. Great voice!

The First Time played next. I'm not a great fan of their type of music. Too pounding for me. But they are a nice tight band that really plays well together. I cowered up in the front section of the bar - as far away from the stage as possible to reduce the wear and tear on my ears. The First Time is LOUD!

The Kings played next. I love seeing them. Great band. They were in good form.

Then came Cats and Dogs. This nine piece band fronted by Bob Sagerini crowded on stage. They ran through their adult contemporary 70's retro set.

It was then a bit after 12PM. Our turn. We got up on stage and. stalled. Jaimie stalled. He told the crowd about Bullseye. About Dee's DVD. About his childhood. Anything he could think of because, . the DeeSamper wouldn't work. Dee kept rebooting that nicely repaired PC and nothing. It wouldn't play. Finally  "What ME Worry?" came singing out. Dee and Ken finally figured out that the el-cheapo midi keyboard wasn't turned on. The PC was fine.

So off we went.

  1. The Meaning of Life
  2. Mad Magazine
  3. Outside
  4. You Are Too Beautiful
  5. Chromosome Syndrome
  6. Collecting Icons
  7. Older
  8. Everybody Took A Holiday
  9. Blue Jay Way
  10. It's Good To Be Back Home
  11. Little Neutrino
All in all it took us about two minutes to play the entire set. Or so it seemed. The response to the set was extremely favorable. We kicked butt on some of the songs. Made our little mistakes here and there. Lost the groove. Found it. Took it home. It was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

Dee was glowing afterwards. He said that he had had more fun in the last week than he's had in the last ten to fifteen years.

My brother was at the gig. He isn't a big Klaatu fan, but he generally knows their stuff. He was blown away by Dee's guitar playing. Other people made similar comments.

We got a recording of the event. I haven't listened to it yet to see if the recording worked. Hopefully there'll be a nice record of the event that I can listen to and hear all. I was concentrating so hard on my parts that I didn't get to listen to Dee, or the vocals, or Jaimie or Ken. It was just me and Frank up there. Driving the songs along.

After we finished, Cheaper Than Therapy played. Jaimie again got up on stage with his band and went wild. It's too bad that it was so late. The club cleared out pretty quickly after Dee's set. Too bad. Cheaper Than Therapy was quite good. They did a killer version of Neal Young's Rockin' In The Free World!

And that was that. We broke down the stage. We loaded the cars. We headed home/to the hotel.

And I dreamed Little Neutrino all night.

A wonderful time. A wonderful time. A Wonderful Time.

jth


Klaatu Live!

May 7th, 2005

at Klaatu Kon 2005!


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Sun Set!

Klaatu Rarities Boxed Set!

To be released May 7th, 2005

at Klaatu Kon 2005!

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© 2005 by David Bradley.
Images courtesy of Fans First, Inc. and Bullseye Records of Canada.
All Rights Reserved.