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February 27, 2007
Hello loves!
I hope all of you are well and rockin’. We’ve got
some fun news on the GT:OFTR front and some rather fantastic rumblings
in the world of power pop!
So you’ve heard of the land down under? (Where beer
does flow and men chunder…) Well, Glenn is gearing up for a wee
Australian tour and there is going to be a special screening of
GT:OFTR as well! I’ve always wanted an Australian screening and now
it’s happening as part of the
Brunswick Music Festival in Melbourne. Glenn's Australian tour
dates can be checked out here:
www.myspace.com/karenconradpublicity. Many of you on the
glennmovie list are from the UK and the US, but please tell your mates
in the southern hemisphere to go check out Glenn live. Glenn is doing
a limited edition Australian EP for the tour and apparently, the tour
has been christened the One For The Road tour! Glenn's got some fun
stuff cooking for the tour including rocking out with the
RocKwiz
orchestra and reliving the magic of his Aussie duet with Linda Bull.
Check out the DVD
ABC Shop - The RocKwiz Duets – Two for the Show.
Universal are gearing up to re-release a lot of
Squeeze's back catalogue this year and the next Greatest Hits
compilation is set to be released in the UK in April. Universal UK
are asking for feedback for the Squeeze package and you can fill out a
survey here:
questionnaire. Or you can just email your opinions and
suggestions, etc... at "Input@umusic.com"
and put Squeeze in the subject line. Chris Difford talks about the
Greatest Hits package on his website here:
Chris Difford. Chris
mentions that he and Glenn are planning on doing some press and
promotion here and there and all of us Squeeze fans can only hope for
the odd acoustic sesh!
Speaking of the wonderful and talented Mr. Difford,
he is currently touring the US and his tour dates can be found
here:
Pollstar -- Chris Difford Concert Dates. I managed to catch a
Chris show when I was in the UK promoting the release of the GT:OFTR
DVD and it was a fantastic night. In fact, Chris' gig was the night
of the DVD release! So what better way to celebrate than to go see
Chris rock out!! It was thrilling to see Chris relaxed and enjoying
himself and it was unbelievably generous of him to mention the GT:OFTR
DVD onstage.
If you can't catch Chris stateside, I'd like you to
be warned that it is a completely different show to Glenn's solo
shows. But you will be in for such a treat because it's also a
completely different FANTASTIC show. It's really a thrill to see Chris
play solo.
I just read an interview with Chris online from
www.billboard.com
where he talks about a possible Squeeze reunion:
Having recently teamed up with former
Squeeze songwriting partner Glenn Tilbrook to do press for a new U.K.
Squeeze best-of, Difford says fans can expect to see Squeeze reunite
sooner or later.
"I think it would be pretty amazing,
really," he says. "I was with Glenn yesterday, actually, but we didn't
talk about that. We get offers all the time. We got an offer just
today to support Crowded House on their American tour, which I think
would be an amazing tour, but I'm not sure we're both in agreement
about how we would do it.
"Yes, I think it will happen at some stage,
but I don't know if this time is the right time," he continues. "We
need to sit in a room and discuss it, and we've got to have concrete
plans, and we have to get a booking agent... But it has to be
emotionally, spiritually and financially the right thing, and when all
those planets come into line, then we will be there. At the time
being, I can't see it on the horizon, but I've been wrong before."
Which brings us to the big, exciting news for me in
pop world: two of my favorite Top Five bands of all time are
reforming! The Police and Crowded House! (the other three if you
must know: The Beatles, U2 and what was the name of that band who did
"Tempted"....) My friend Tammy Glover, drummer extraordinaire for
Sparks and others, actually auditioned for Crowded House here in LA!
She loves the band as much as I do and it was a big thrill for her to
play with such a great band. They asked her to play four songs and
they jammed a bit and Tammy said that the CH guys seemed loose and
happy and excited to put Crowded House back together again. My mate
rocked with the Crowdies! Surely, the boys must need someone to
document their reunion! ahem.... The first CH gig is going to be at
Coachella in April just mere hours away from me. And how great would
a Crowded House/Squeeze tour be? I'm sick of boring double bills
where you either only want to see the opener or just the headliner and
a Squeeze/Crowded House tour would be a match made in heaven. I doubt
it would ever happen, but it's certainly fun to think about. They
could call it the bestest poplicious tour ever! I know I've said it
before, but I always thought Squeeze never missed an opportunity to
miss an opportunity and I doubt 2007 is going to change that!
Alternatively, how cool would it be if Squeeze toured with....the
Police?!!! (they've played together before, same demographic, former
label mates..... enjoyable!)
Yes, the Police are back and they held a press
conference/rehearsal at the Whisky A Go Go on Sunset Blvd. here in LA
the day after the Grammy Awards. And we here at glennmovie.com, with
their finger on the pulse of all music happenings, sent their crack
reporter Amy Pickard to check it out. Or is that the reporter on
crack because she actually got in to witness the coolest rock event in
the past few years?? Yep, I was there. Not only was I there, but I
was front row center PEOPLE!! Other members of the press were far too
cool to dart immediately to the front, but I certainly didn't care and
once inside the Whisky, I practically sprinted to center stage.
Before I tell you about the press
conference/rehearsal, let me first say that I have worshipped the
Police since an early age. I was introduced to Squeeze through the
Police. (Both bands were on the soundtrack to Sting's movie "Brimstone
&Treacle" and that's when I fell in love with "Up the Junction"!)
I was so into the Police's music that I devoured every article, every
book, every radio interview that they did. I watched MTV practically
24/7 for news of The Police. I joined Amnesty International because
of them. I read Nabokov because of Sting. I started recycling
because Sting was campaigning for the environment. Now before you
mock me, keep in mind that I was an impressionable young teen and The
Police, like Squeeze and a few other bands, were my gurus in life,
love and how to follow your dreams. I dedicated my film to a handful
of musicians and The Police are in that list in the end credits. I
was also too young to go see them play live, so imagine my sheer
delight when I was going to be seeing them reunite from one foot away
in the tiniest, coolest club ever!!!
So back to the Whisky: Celebs spotted: Les
Claypool from Primus, Chris Botti- trumpet player, Taylor Hawkins from
the Foo Fighters and ?uest Love from the Roots, Jerry Moss (the M in
A&M records) and Matt Stone from South Park. The room was electric
with anticipation and I was pinching myself while I stood infront of
Stewart's beautiful, blue sparkly Tama drum kit with THE POLICE logo
on the front, waiting for the band to come out. The Police bounded
onstage and rocked into "Message in a Bottle" and that's when
my head exploded. Seriously. They sounded just like the Police!!!!
Stewart's amazing drumming, Sting's bouncy delivery rocking the bass
and Andy concentrating on the guitar and just creating the sound that
is so unique and so distinctive - the sound that is so embedded in my
DNA... it blew my tiny mind. I was one foot away from them and if you
would have told the teenage Amy in Dayton, Ohio that I'd be in the
front row at the Whisky in LA all these years later.... it just hurt
my head. I actually had to close my eyes, grab my head with my hands
and just make sure that it was all real. And of course, it WAS!
After sending out our SOS, some corporate bigwigs
came onstage to completely kill the electrifying vibe, but I spose
business had to be taken care of. The boys were incredibly elusive
when it came to answering any questions about a new album. Methinks
they are going to see how the tour goes and then maybe they'll dip
their toe in the studio. The tour is just going to be the three of
them. No backing dancers or horns. (awesome!) And it's just the
Police materiall - no Sting solo stuff. They took a few questions
from the press and then played a few more songs. They did "Voices
Inside My Head" which segued into "When the World is Running
Down (You make the best of what's still around)". Andy ripped the
guitar to shreds on this one and I was seen on the live satellite feed
grinning like an idiot in front of him while he rocked the solo. I
recorded the press conference which was carried live on VH1Classic and
saw myself
in the front row a few times. You could mostly just see the
dorky guy
next to me who kept "conducting" the band as they played and then
the fans who won entry to the gig through
sting.com to the
left of me.
They played "Can't Stand Losing You" which
segued into a scorching "Regatta De Blanc" and then back into
CSLY and they closed with Roxanne. During Roxanne, I figured
it was their last song, so I snuck out my digital camera and took a
few blurry, grainy, out of focus shots. You can check them out in the
photo gallery. I
apologize for how horrible they are, but I didn't want to get kicked
out and I had to turn off the flash!
I was fascinated by the vibe of the band. They all
seemed really loose, happy, relaxed and just pleased to be playing
with each other. Sting sort of winced when Stewart opened his mouth
(the loud American!!) just like old times and they playfully corrected
each other over chord changes while navigating a long forgotten song.
Sting had to cheat with the lyrics by using a teleprompter. As he was
trying to remember how "Can't Stand Losing You" went, he looked
confusingly up in the air and as Stewart and Andy started the song, he
said, 'How does this one go? Oh yes, I remember" he laughed, "I'm 24
and angry." It all came back to him in no time!
I know I'll be mocked for saying so, but there was a
lot of love in that room. The usually jaded press were super excited
to see them play, the fans were losing their fan riddled minds and
everyone just seemed really grateful and wanted to thank the guys for
reuniting. In the current world of pop crap, it's just a relief and
sheer pleasure to see these 'old guys' rock out. They were a REAL
rock and roll band. It seems that the older and more experienced you
get in music, the less relevant you become. You are suddenly
perceived as 'past it' or desperately trying to cling to your 'former
glory'. And yes, the press conference happened because they were
announcing a 300 million dollar tour. Yes, all three will make a
frigging mint off of it. But I honestly, truly believe, after seeing
their interaction with each other and their ease in playing again,
that they are not doing it for the money.
Sting said that the Police reunion was something
he's been running from for 23 years and he was feeling nostalgic and
decided to get the band back together for a tour. He said it was very
healing for them to play together again and you could really feel
that. Stewart said that when they all started out, they were young,
driven and had something to prove. He said the fighting that occurred
was only because of the music, it was never personal. (which may be
why they aren't keen to rush into the studio!) Stewart said that they
are older now and 'fathers of many' and they are more mature and they
have nothing to prove anymore. He said that he is now just happy to
follow Sting's lead and to play the songs with Andy again. I was so
moved by what he said, that I uttered "That's so awesome." and he
actually heard me and smiled at me. tee hee
I think that the guys in the Police are at an age
where they have more years behind them than in front of them. I know
that Stewart's brother Ian died recently as did a few other members of
the Police inner circle and I think they are keenly aware of how short
life is and that you only go around once. All three of them have kids
who have never seen their dads play with the Police and now they are
going to get to see their dads rock out one last time. (Sting's
daughter was there in a vintage Ghost in the Machine shirt and
I couldn't help but think that she dug it out from a 'box in the
garage'! How cute is that?) Sting said that they are all better
musicians now than they were 23 years ago and they were pretty good 23
years ago! How great to see musicians doing what they do best and
with such grace, humor and fun! Andy is something like 64 years old
now so I can't really see him being able to rock out on tour many more
years from now. (I'm not saying that he can't play, I'm saying that
touring itself is grueling, no matter how luxurious the traveling may
be.) Yes, they have a huge corporate sponsor. Yes, they are also
publicizing a charity along the way (www.wateraid.org).
But if you strip all of it down, I really believe the reason that they
are reuniting is because they just wanted to play together again
because they were nostalgic for the camaraderie. You can argue all
you want with me by telling me that they are doing it for the money,
but you will not change my mind. And this is from someone who most
likely will not be able to afford to see them play on their world
tour.
The rehearsal was all too short. It was unpolished and rickety at
times, but how glorious to see one of the best bands of my time so
loose and in such an intimate setting. And when it gelled, it was
insane in the membrane PEOPLE! I was literally in shock after it was
over. I walked out of the Whisky a bit dazed from the ROCK and saw
Sting and Trudie get into an SUV surrounded by paparazzi and fans. I
was told to stay back, which I did and the SUV literally sort of drove
over right next to me and stopped at the light. I was a foot away
from the car and saw Trudy sitting next to Sting with the window down,
so I reached into my bag to get my GT:OFTR DVD with business card
inside, which I just happened to have handy, and I reached out to her
and said, 'Hi Trudie! I'm an indie filmmaker and I brought this for
you!' She reached out, took the DVD and looked at it and showed it to
Sting and they drove off. So I can say that Sting actually looked at
my DVD! haha Sadly, neither have called me, but surely they must need
an enthusiastic documentary filmmaker to rock a Police doc right?
I'll try to fit it in with the CH reunion doc! So many reunions, so
little Amy to go around. Hmmm.... I can see it now.... www.policemovie.com
or www.chmovie.com?? I didn't get a chance to tell Trudie to look for
the Police dedication at the end of my flick, but I won't really have
to since they probably popped it into the SUV as soon as they drove
down Sunset! haha
After the press conference/rehearsal, I rushed to have lunch with my
mate Tammy to tell her all about it and she was most interested in the
picture I took of
Stewart's drums. She felt the love as I relayed
breathlessly every second of the press conference. I then raced home
to see the press conference on TV and sadly, the magic of the room did
not translate to the televised version, but it was still amazing and
fun to relive it again. I also took a few stills of the screen where
you could sort of see me. (you can see the two photos in the
photo
gallery!) I took a screen grab of me looking over at Taylor Hawkins
of the Foo Fighters when he asked when the Police would bring back
their mullets and the other photo is me sneaking a picture of them
during "Roxanne." When I went to bed that night, I was still reeling
from all the excitement. I felt like a kid who went to Disneyland
that rode every ride twice, ate every sugary, delicious, indulgent
treat, drank gallons of soda, played in the sun all day and then
collapsed happy, emotional, fulfilled and dazed. It was one of the
best days of my life...and I'm still grinning over it. I know it's
only rock and roll, but I like it!!!
Now, how do I get into Coachella?
rock on,
amyx
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