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House
Of Blues, Hollywood
September 3, 2002
Admittance
to this elite event was by being on a guest list, or by winning
tickets from radio station KLOS 95.5. At 1:10 pm Jim Ladd strolled
onstage and began his introduction to the show. At the conclusion
of his intro, he went into "Is everybody in?" and out
came Ray, Ian Astbury, Stewart Copeland, Angelo Barbera, and Robby
to thunderous applause. They kicked off with a rousing rendition
of Roadhouse Blues. The second song was Strange Days.
Ray explained that this was a new arrangement of the song to make
it "updated". He said they wanted it to have wider appeal,
even to people in the Middle East. This new arrangement was really
cool, the intro is very different.
Jim Ladd returned to the stage again and spoke with Ray, then went
over and spoke with Robby. Jim asked Robby to talk a little about
the next song, since Robby had written it. Robby explained that
what he had in mind was servicemen leaving for duty, and "Love
Me Two Times" before they left. And with that, they launched
into that song.
Jim Ladd was onstage again, moving from musician to musician interviewing
each of them. Ian spoke of his younger days in England as a Doors
fan, and the opportunity he had to be part of the Stoned Immaculate
tribute CD. Stewart spoke of John Densmore being an idol of his,
and of wanting to be able to play like John. John's absence was
explained, in that he has tinnitus which prevents him from being
able to play rock and roll. Robby said that he spoke to John just
yesterday, that John is totally cool with the rest of the band playing
without him, and that he gives them his blessing. Stewart spoke
of his own band history and compared being in a 3-piece band to
being in a 4-piece or 5-piece band. Angelo was asked how he came
to be involved. He replied that he has been playing with Robby for
about two years, and was also a part of the band for the VH-1 Storytellers.
There was mention made of the new music that Ray and Robby have
been creating, and that they are working with Ian on songs. Ray
also mentioned poetry by Jim Carroll.
The fourth and final song was a terrific When
The Music's Over, and then the show was over at 2:00 pm, after
50 minutes of musical bliss.
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