Cameron McMenemy - 45worlds

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Cameron McMenemy 2nd May 2018		Vinyl Album Jean Michel Jarre - Rendezvous	Back cover, side 1 and side 2 added
Cameron McMenemy 9th Apr 2018		Live Music Roy Orbison And The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra @ Motorpoint Arena	Review Buzz Magazine - Monday, April 9, 2018 Roy Orbison: In Dreams By Stephen Springate Then all at once he was standing there, so sure of himself, his head in the air’’ goes the Orbison classic Running Scared. Depending on your stance, this is either a triumphant or unfortunate choice of lyrics to watch such a venerable and unmatched musical icon as Orbison sing minutes after rising from the floor, like a background extra in Disney’s Haunted Mansion. There is no denying that in terms of sheer entertainment quality, tonight could not have been better. It was a unique chance to hear many of Orbison’s best songs (and there are so many of them) amplified at arena-sized volume, cutting cleanly through the mighty live clout of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as his backing band. The music is played in the style of 2017’s A Love So Beautiful album which combined Orbison vocal takes with the backing of the orchestra, and in a live setting these versions could not sound better. The visual spectacle too is certainly impressive. The literature promises that tonight Cardiff is being treated to the first night of a tour which will be a first of it’s kind; taking a long-deceased superstar on a worldwide headline tour in hologram form. As an orchestral montage of his greatest hits plays to a scrapbook archive, counting down to his appearance on stage, the tension is undeniably palpable and it genuinely sends a shiver down the spine when he pops up out of the floor and stands face to face with the audience. It’s startling how real and solid the hologram feels, with minor details like the tassles on his jacket sleeve swaying in the wind bringing the 4K projection to life. After the novelty wears off though, the projection starts to feel a bit… well, lifeless. Without the thrill of sharing a room with the actual legend there in front of you, it’s hard to muster much more excitement than you would for a particularly good tribute act. At some point after the shock factor is gone, it does start to feel at best a bit gimmicky, at worse a shameless cash grab. Especially considering that instead of breathing life into archive footage from an old performance, the figure onstage has been created from a number of techniques including CGI to deliver a completely ‘new’ performance, making it feel all the more exploitative. Had it been left as a recording project marrying up some excellently refurbished vocal tracks with a tasteful contribution from the Royal Philharmonic, it would have felt like a decent contribution to Orbison’s legacy. Instead, the whole tour makes the album seem in retrospect like it was made to serve what amounts to a project that feels like a ghoulish cash-in, trading on gimmickry and shock value to sell copies. It may have been fully approved by his family, but there is something very ethically unsettling about the whole endeavour. Is it an entertaining event worth seeing? Yes, but prepare for it to be interrupted by a constant, nagging uneasiness. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 6th Apr 2018		Vinyl Album Jean Michel Jarre - The Essential	Front cover added
Cameron McMenemy 6th Apr 2018		Vinyl Album Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers	First label variant added
Cameron McMenemy 10th Mar 2018		Live Music Roy Orbison @ Beacon Theatre	Resechulded to March 12
Cameron McMenemy 1st Mar 2018		Live Music Michael Jackson @ Wembley Stadium	Review The Observer - Sunday July 17, 1988 A principal boy in total control by John Peel The last time I saw Michael Jackson at Wembley, he was a diminutive fifth of the Jackson 5, cute and precocious. On Thursday he returned as superhero, larger and appearing stranger than life, with a show I do not expect to see equalled in my lifetime. The evening paper had a story of spivs selling tickets for the Jackson show at £150 a time. The dispirited scousers I spoke to outside told an altogether different tale. Ruin, I gathered, stared them in the face. Repressing the urge to press coppers into their hands, I continued the yomp in from beyond the extended wheel-clamp/tow-away zone, having left the racer in an area which only a year or so ago was probably all sylvan glades and babbling brooks alive with carp. Once installed in Section 80 with the £5 tour programme and a packet of plain crisps, I settled back in anticipation of a feast of fun. All about me citizens were peering at the empty stage through cardboard opera glasses bearing the "Bad" logo, while others attached "Bad" balloons to their clothing. Below us the huddled masses cheered each time the Michael Jackson Pepsi advertisement appeared on the screens at the side of the stage. At six o'clock, we cheered as technicians took their places. Five minutes later we enjoyed the first of few Mexican waves. An hour later Radio 1's Gary Davies appeared to ask whether we were ready to boogie before urging a big Wembley welcome for Kim Wilde. I felt a bit sorry for Kim. Very much the bread roll with which we toy absent-mindedly while awaiting the meal, she had yet, as the tabloids had emphasised with their usual quiet persistence, to meet Michael Jackson. But there she was, waving a red scarf and bending over a lot so that the cameras could catch the cleavage. 'It's great to be here,' she said. After a song or two a discussion developed in our row about the catering staff, who were dealing out the lager and cold dogs in what seemed to be Motherwell colours. We reached no important conclusions. In the interval we amused ourselves by leaping up from time to time to gawp at celebrities arriving in the glass-fronted banqueting suite. We liked Frank Bruno the best. But suddenly there was thunderous music from the stage, a battery of lights blazed out over the audience and there, scarcely believably, was Michael Jackson. 'How ya doin,' he asked after a couple of hits. Well, I was as fine as anyone with sore feet standing in a cold, damp football stadium could be - but how was Michael? From close-ups on the twin screens, he did not look too good. The famous remodelled face glowed faintly inhuman beneath a surfeit of rouge - and his performance to date had been curiously uninvolving, despite our overfamiliarity with it from a host of videos. But Michael Jackson clearly needs a few minutes to get into gear and as the costume changes came and went and the stage and lighting effects grew more audacious, he took control with a performance of matchless virtuosity. Making much of stagecraft learned, surely, from James Brown - especially a device whereby a song apparently finished, with the star seemingly in emotional crisis, frozen save for lips moving as though in prayer, would be reprised - Jackson led his dancers, singers and musicians, all fearsomely well-drilled and rakishly handsome, through less a sequence of songs, more a series of scenes, the whole resembling some futuristic, technological pantomime, with Michael Jackson himself a distillation of all principal boys, singing some of the world's best known songs and dancing with such authority, timing and energy that the odd action replay would not have come amiss. My only wish is that my children could have been there to see this stupendous performance. It is something they would never have forgotten. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 26th Feb 2018		Live Music The Blues Brothers @ Concord Pavilion	It was written by Peter Finch
Cameron McMenemy 26th Feb 2018		Live Music The Blues Brothers @ Concord Pavilion	TheDA1. No it came from a newspaper article in the Stanford Daily.
Cameron McMenemy 24th Feb 2018		Live Music Simon And Garfunkel @ Forest Hills Tennis Stadium	Review https://www.flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/8574271826 Review for the concert ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 21st Feb 2018		Live Music Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers @ The Forum	Review Petty And Lone Justice Home Again At Forum Saturday August 3, 1985 Robert Hilbrun The Los Angeles Times Tom Petty and Lone Justice both had something to prove in their homecoming performances Thursday night at the sold-out Forum. Only Lone Justice fully succeeded. Petty and his augmented Heartbreakers band played relatively long (nearly two hours) and most definitely hard in their first local appearance in two years. And there were glorious moments as they reprised many of the inspiring anthems--from the opening "American Girl" through "Refugee"--that established Petty a few years ago as one of the most popular and respected figures in American rock. For all its crowd-pleasing vigor, however, the concert failed to resolve a problem that has been nagging Petty ever since his hugely successful "Damn the Torpedoes" album in 1979: the suspicion that this slender, Florida-born rocker has peaked. That view is supported by the sales charts. None of Petty's post-"Torpedoes" LPs, including the current "Southern Accents," have shown the commercial punch of that collection. But the suggestion of decline is refuted by his post-"Torpedoes" music itself--at least most of it. While much of the "Hard Promises" and, especially, "Long After Dark" albums did sound similar to Petty's earlier work, there was an increased subtlety and sophistication in Petty's lyrics, which are chiefly uplifting expressions about innocence and desire. The problem is that sophistication isn't what much of Petty's "Torpedoes" audience wanted. They were eager for more of the hard-edged, ringing-guitar rockers. So, here was a man who was getting better as a writer--yet finding a large part of his audience slipping away. That dilemma apparently confused Petty, who spent several agonizing months putting "Southern Accents" together. The result was a schizophrenic package in which Petty dug deep into his Southern background for some thoughtful, endearing songs about the struggle to achieve your dreams. So far so good. But Petty also worried about restoring his commercial momentum and overcoming the criticism that his music was sounding too much alike. Working with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, who guested on guitar on a few numbers Thursday, Petty came up with some psychedelic and horn-accented touches in the album. While the songs did introduce new strains musically, they lacked the imagination and purpose of his best work. The Forum show was as schizophrenic as the album. The best songs from "Southern Accents"--including the title track and "The Best of Everything"--defied you to think this man isn't growing as a writer. He sang them with an intimacy that made them the highlights of the evening. However, the other new songs--including "It Ain't Nothin' to Me" and "Don't Come Around Here No More"--seemed disturbingly insignificant. Because of this conflict, the "Southern Accents" material failed to center the show. This left the old numbers as the dominant element of the evening, which gave the show a definite "oldies" feel at times. The show had the appearance of newness, with the quintet expanded to include three horn players and two female backup singers, but they seemed window dressing. The Heartbreakers tour continues with shows Sunday at the Universal Amphitheatre, Monday at the Pacific Amphitheatre, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Wiltern Theatre and Friday at the San Diego Sports Arena, but Petty must already be looking to the future. Every album is crucial in the fast-changing world of rock, but Petty's next one seems especially important. The best moments of Thursday's concert demonstrated that Petty is still a strong talent but needs to listen more to his heart. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 7th Feb 2018		Live Music The Blues Brothers @ Concord Pavilion	Review The Blues Bros. give it their all in Concord By Peter Finch The Stanford Daily, July 22, 1980 Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were not raised as rhythm and blues musicians. For this reason, they have come under some fire lately. Blues purists claim that the two actors are ripping off the public in their act as Jake and Elwood Blues, two Chicago bluesmen. There are much better, and perhaps more "real" blues musicians who should be getting the recognition, the purists say; not these two rich white boys. And they're probably right. The Blues Brothers are an act. They're not for real. Their band, probably the best one money could buy. is just that — bought. And their fans are mostly cleancut white kids who live in places like Piedmont and Atherton. not Chicago's back streets. But there comes a time in dealing with self-righteous purists and/or experts in any field when one must simply ask them to "shut the hell up." If there were ever a time to do so, this may be it. Aykroyd and Belushi have embraced their Blues Brothers act with such care and energy, it shines like a freshy-polished Cadillac. You have to sec them in person to believe it; TV, records and the movie just don't do the trick. The Blues Brothers were in town last weekend, playing two sold-out shows at the pleasant, open-air Concord Pavilion. And from their now famous opening to their exuberant rendition of "Soul Man." the show oozed entertainment. One might even go so far as to call it "family entertainment," though Belushi's language is not exactly guarded, and many of the songs contain rather lurid lyrics. Part of what makes the Blues Brothers live show so Fun (with a capital "F") is the fact that Aykroyd and Belushi are very talented showmen. The two dance like nothing you ever saw, combining some Charleston, some jitterbug and some whatever. In fact, one of the evening's biggest surprises came when a flickering strobe light was switched on in the middle of one of the Brothers' dances. Already dressed in '40s clothing, the two took on the look of Laurel and Hardy in a jerky old motion picture. But beyond the Brothers' mugging and the stage's Chicago gas station set (complete with regular gas listed at 27.9 cents). Belushi is not a bad singer and Aykroyd plays the harmonica with far better than average skill. Belushi got his chance to really show off his singing skill on a couple songs, most notably "Shot Gun Blues," the bluesiest of the evening's tunes. Belushi's weakest moment was when he sang Randy Newman's 'Guilty." Instead of sounding genuinely blue, Belushi sounded more like his hilarious Joe Cocker imitation. But one weak song out of an entire evening's worth? Not bad for a comedian. Despite repeated attempts to divert some of the attention from themselves to their band, Aykroyd and Belushi stole the show. It's certainly understandable, though somewhat unfortunate. Buoyed by big names (well, they're all pretty big names) like Tom Scott on saxophone, Tom Malone on trombone and Matt Murphy on guitar, the Blues Brothers Band really rocks. The band's precision on songs like "Green Onion," a classic instrumental by Booker T. and the MG's, entranced the audience. The show, which included 25 songs, including encores, was comprised mostly of material from the band's two albums. Briefcase Full of Blues and their movie soundtrack. Songs which they haven't recorded, like "Going to Miami," "Who's Making Love to Your Old Lady," and a modernized version of "There's a Riot Going On" (the warden has a laser gun, now), added extra class to an already strong show. So the purists may not like it, hut the Blues Brothers are extremely entertaining. And what the purists may not realize is that in their own way, Aykroyd and Belushi are introducing a great style of music to a group of people who might otherwise have spent their whole life listening to Sammy Hagar and Pat Travers. I guess Aykroyd put it best as he and the rest of the band took a final bow, "We're on a mission from God," he said, "and the mission is the music!" 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 7th Feb 2018		Live Music The Blues Brothers @ Concord Pavilion	Review The Blues Bros. give it their all in Concord By Peter Finch The Stanford Daily, Tuesday, July 22, 1980 Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were not raised as rhythm and blues musicians. For this reason, they have come under some fire lately. Blues purists claim that the two actors are ripping off the public in their act as Jake and Elwood Blues, two Chicago bluesmen. There are much better, and perhaps more "real" blues musicians who should be getting the recognition, the purists say; not these two rich white boys. And they're probably right. The Blues Brothers are an act. They're not for real. Their band, probably the best one money could buy. is just that — bought. And their fans are mostly cleancut white kids who live in places like Piedmont and Atherton. not Chicago's back streets. But there comes a time in dealing with self-righteous purists and/or experts in any field when one must simply ask them to "shut the hell up." If there were ever a time to do so, this may be it. Aykroyd and Belushi have embraced their Blues Brothers act with such care and energy, it shines like a freshy-polished Cadillac. You have to sec them in person to believe it; TV, records and the movie just don't do the trick. The Blues Brothers were in town last weekend, playing two sold-out shows at the pleasant, open-air Concord Pavilion. And from their now famous opening to their exuberant rendition of "Soul Man." the show oozed entertainment. One might even go so far as to call it "family entertainment," though Belushi's language is not exactly guarded, and many of the songs contain rather lurid lyrics. Part of what makes the Blues Brothers live show so Fun (with a capital "F") is the fact that Aykroyd and Belushi are very talented showmen. The two dance like nothing you ever saw, combining some Charleston, some jitterbug and some whatever. In fact, one of the evening's biggest surprises came when a flickering strobe light was switched on in the middle of one of the Brothers' dances. Already dressed in '40s clothing, the two took on the look of Laurel and Hardy in a jerky old motion picture. But beyond the Brothers' mugging and the stage's Chicago gas station set (complete with regular gas listed at 27.9 cents). Belushi is not a bad singer and Aykroyd plays the harmonica with far better than average skill. Belushi got his chance to really show off his singing skill on a couple songs, most notably "Shot Gun Blues," the bluesiest of the evening's tunes. Belushi's weakest moment was when he sang Randy Newman's 'Guilty." Instead of sounding genuinely blue, Belushi sounded more like his hilarious Joe Cocker imitation. But one weak song out of an entire evening's worth? Not bad for a comedian. Despite repeated attempts to divert some of the attention from themselves to their band, Aykroyd and Belushi stole the show. It's certainly understandable, though somewhat unfortunate. Buoyed by big names (well, they're all pretty big names) like Tom Scott on saxophone, Tom Malone on trombone and Matt Murphy on guitar, the Blues Brothers Band really rocks. The band's precision on songs like "Green Onion," a classic instrumental by Booker T. and the MG's, entranced the audience. The show, which included 25 songs, including encores, was comprised mostly of material from the band's two albums. Briefcase Full of Blues and their movie soundtrack. Songs which they haven't recorded, like "Going to Miami," "Who's Making Love to Your Old Lady," and a modernized version of "There's a Riot Going On" (the warden has a laser gun, now), added extra class to an already strong show. So the purists may not like it, hut the Blues Brothers are extremely entertaining. And what the purists may not realize is that in their own way, Aykroyd and Belushi are introducing a great style of music to a group of people who might otherwise have spent their whole life listening to Sammy Hagar and Pat Travers. I guess Aykroyd put it best as he and the rest of the band took a final bow, "We're on a mission from God," he said, "and the mission is the music!" 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 7th Feb 2018		Live Music The Blues Brothers @ Merriweather Post Pavilion	Review In Concert By Mike Joyce July 4, 1980 Call them what you will, The Blues Brothers put on a wild and exhilarating show at Merriweather Post Pavilion last night. From the moment John Belushi first spiraled across the stage, heels over head, until the final encore when the young crowd greeted "Soul Man" with tumultuous applause, The Blues Brothers sustained a level of energy and excitement they never came close to achieving in their recent movie. Wearing their faded suits and performing before a mock-up of a gas station, complete with pumps and a pay phone, The Blues Brothers staged an R&B party for a solid two hours. Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are hardly the musical equivalents of the master musicians they emulate, but they certainly are no embarrassment to the blue-eyed soul. Singing in a husky, almost hoarse voice, Belushi's feeling and affection for the music was undeniable, and Aykroyd contrubuted far more on harmonica than the simple tremolos some have suggested. What's more, their band, which features the veteran guitars of Matt Murphy, Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn and a blasting Stax-inspired horn section led by Tom Scott, is the finest working in rhythm and blues today. Last night they made The Blues Brothers worthy of the classic tunes they performed. From The Washington Post 1980 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Cameron McMenemy 7th Feb 2018		Live Music The Everly Brothers @ Hammersmith Odeon	Two shows on this day.
Cameron McMenemy 7th Feb 2018		Live Music The Everly Brothers @ Hammersmith Odeon	Two shows on this day.
Cameron McMenemy 3rd Feb 2018		Live Music Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers @ Hollywood Bowl	Tom Petty's last concert
Cameron McMenemy 1st Feb 2018		Live Music Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers @ Golden 1 Center	Originally scheduled for 25 August, but due to laryngitis, The gig was rescheduled
Cameron McMenemy 20th Jan 2018		Live Music The Who @ The SSE Hydro	Rescheduled to April 7, 2017
Cameron McMenemy 8th Jan 2018		Live Music The Beatles @ Mid-South Coliseum	During the show a firecracker was set off. The Beatles each looked at one another, thinking a shot had been fired and wondering who had been hit.
Cameron McMenemy 8th Jan 2018		Live Music The Beatles @ Dodger Stadium	The Beatles' Penultimate concert.
Cameron McMenemy 6th Jan 2018		Vinyl Album Elton John - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player	I own the Black label varient.
Cameron McMenemy 5th Jan 2018		Vinyl Album George Harrison - All Things Must Pass	I own a french copy of this album.
Cameron McMenemy 2nd Jan 2018		Vinyl Album Roy Orbison - In Dreams	I own a UK mono copy.
Cameron McMenemy 26th Dec 2017		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Please Please Me	I own the pressing on the Black & Yellow label with Recording First Published 1963 on label.

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