SOME METAL FESTIVALS CIRCA 1991

Some metal festivals I photographed circa August and September 1991. Music Connection cropped off Rob Halford's nice jacket details so they are hereby restored.

DOG CARTAGE

Yes, once there was an automobile made for dogs... but Honda [I think wrongly] discontinued manufacturing the Element in 2011 claiming that its only market was people with bicycles, large dogs and drum kits. No wonder we still see so many in SoCal.

WOMAN IN GOLD, KLIMT'S MASTERPIECES IN DISPUTE/ PERIL/ ABSENTIA

Gustav Klimt,
"Adele Bloch-Bauer" 1907,
 oil and gold leaf on canvas

 
 

My eyes hurt today from weeping at the final quarter of the film Woman in Gold last night. Maybe because its scale was more intimate, like Polanski's The Pianist which underscored the total life disruption of a single person in the Holocaust, it remained easier to identify with the devastating losses of one woman, Maria Bloch-Bauer Altmann in World War II than with the masses in, say, Schindler's List. There was also that tear-provoking scene in which the young American attorney embraces the magnitude of his Austrian grandfather Arnold Schöenberg's legacy to the world for the first time when listening to a concert performing the latter's work.  It was just a name before.

This true story of the destruction WWII wrought on her family's lives and of their world class art collection looted by the Nazis brought tragedy home very subjectively for me (to watch at least) since the characters considered their lives and their art to be interchangeable, as do I. It is also a Law & Order type procedural, action/escape adventure, road movie and tale of redemption. Bigtime recommend. 

One of the last scenes showcases its star Helen Mirren allowing her character's daydreaming  uncharacteristically to relive her wonderful memories of life in Vienna before World War II, memories launched by seeing her relatives' Klimt paintings again, and a turn of the plot. It's a lengthy, wordless tour-de-force that is reminiscent of its opposite but similar visual conceit in the film Dogs in Space wherein actress Saskia Post's young punkette says goodbye to all her friends in the commune without the audience knowing it is a reverie of final farewells as the character fatally overdoses. Both scenes feature, most unusually, happy ghosts.(**Saskia Post's scene, see the second video I feature in LINK**. Helen Mirren's scene, see LINK***at about 22:00.) And weep...

opening scene of "Woman in Gold," Klimt paints Adele Bloch-Bauer's portrait.

Left and right: the real Adele Bloch-Bauer who died young in 1925;
   
Below, the real Maria Altmann
 

In the interest of balance I offer one of the few accounts in English of the international legal issues addressed in the film: LINK.*  Vienna was and is a city dedicated to the arts and music, and I believe its art-appreciative citizenry were let down badly by their leaders' unending refusals to negotiate with Ms. Altmann in order to have these Austrian masterpieces remain in Vienna. She offered: they snubbed her. As David Gionfriddo wrote me, "Austria outsmarted itself by trying to steamroll her with legalities." 

Another friend Mark Leviton wrote me, "Historically Vienna has some of the greatest artists and worst politicians." And why? From my reading and brief visit to Vienna, I believe Vienna has just as huge a disconnect between its populace and its leadership as we Americans do at present. My only first hand knowledge observation came from my late grandfather who briefly lived in neighboring Heidelberg, Germany before WW1, (joining dueling and drinking clubs with the actual Student Princes.) He said "It broke my heart to see what Germany did to its own people as well as to the Jews and others. I believe the German people, unlike their tyrant leaders, were good people."

It's almost a prosaic cliche that university students take a shine to Klimt as their first art history discovery (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4 first episode wherein vampires have a wagering tally of Klimt's "The Kiss" versus Monet's "Waterlilies" posters kept as trophies from the freshmen they kill) but Klimt has been a personal favorite since a UCLA art teacher of mine in 1970 pointed out to our class that the very realistic understanding of human physiognomy anchored all the wild stuff. And how ineffably wonderful that so idiosyncratic a visual artist as Klimt has remained so universally liked...

 a detail from Klimt's "Beethoven Frieze," 1902, wall mural for Secessionist Exhibit

The Belvedere museum was being remodeled with one time I was in Vienna with its Klimt collection truncated drastically for public viewing. Yes, they exhibited this painting and about 7 others (about 16 feet high up an entry wall precluding any close inspection,) but I also had wanted to see Klimt's landscapes which reproduce as poorly in print as the magnificent gold portraits. Klimt landscapes were the other types of paintings referred to in the lawsuit.

Klimt, Birnbaum (pear tree) 1903, oil on canvas

 

So much of Klimt's legacy was incinerated into oblivion by the Nazis during WWII (the "Nero Decree," if we can't have it no one else can either.) The following works,"Schubert at the piano," 1899, oil on canvas, and "Two Girlfriends," 1916, oil on canvas exist only in photographs. (Thank goodness for Kodachrome's early invention.) But... if only the other 18 or so destroyed Klimt paintings had been photographed in high-res Kodachrome as well, the greatest loss being Klimt's three 14-ft. murals with crazed but beautiful symbolism. Only black and white photos exist of these, much digitally enhanced and restored for recent publications.

↑vestigial black and white photos of the three incinerated Klimt university murals...

Addenda vis a vis the film's lawsuit premise: although the paintings' eventual sales proceeds were divided among several heirs, Ms. Altmann's portions mainly went to her own foundation and to charities such as The Holocaust Museum, as did those of her attorney E. Randol Schöenberg's. The latter has done much good work in other legal arenas of art restitution as well.

 For further reading, another bigtime recommend-- the most substance you'll find on the Altmann Klimt paintings story emanates from the actual source book of Woman in Gold, Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor. Carefully researched, it details every single person in the cast of characters, from the Bloch and Bauer families to which Nazis were assigned to what survivors, plus everything that happened to persons and paintings alike. For anyone interested in any major art masterpiece and its context in history, this book skillfully brings every protagonist back to life within the dazzling sweep of life and culture in Fin du Siecle Vienna and beyond.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Austria_v._Altmann
**Saskia Post scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M2VTIvTEhY
***Helen Mirren scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9CSeAFa4kM

A DOG CAN HELP THIS BLIND MAN SEE...

One of the most effective, poignant ads ever, with such strong visual and emotional pull. 

Smart dogs love doing suitable jobs, so don't think this isn't a 2-way-street partnership.  As it's such good p.r. for dogs and so invaluable to the visually impaired, here are the two organizations to which I contribute: 

Guide Dogs for the Blind http://welcome.guidedogs.com/ 

and Guiding Eyes for the Blind https://www.guidingeyes.org/

THE ONE GREAT SCENE IN AN OTHERWISE DIFFICULT FILM TO LIKE

Just for you, I've excerpted the one great scene* (less than 2 min.) in an otherwise difficult film to like, the biopic Stoned from ten years ago. In it, Brian Jones has just experienced the very worst moment of his life, being fired from the Rolling Stones whom he had co-founded. Unexpectedly, with that devilish smirk, he daydream-drifts into his own parallel Stones' universe this time as its the main star. The scene works, and how. Great editing, as well as emphasizing the actor as an actual groovin' musician: note the dancing on the precipice as both a literal and figurative observation on the character's plight.

The director was a respected producer (Interview with the Vampire for one) with this film as his first directing task, and probably wasn't ready to go more experimental. I would have loved to have seen the entire film shot the way this one sequence was, since it imparts so much interior meaning, moves like a freight train afire and is just so incontestably well done.

Those interested in more facts/less projection would do well to purchase Paul Trynka's book on the subject, Sympathy for the Devil: the Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian Jones LINK.

*video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5d1trphdBE

R.I.P. DICK VAN PATTEN, DOGS' BEST FRIEND

R.I.P. actor Dick Van Patten because...
he helped start a dog food company that makes fabulously healthful dog food 
with no suspect ingredients whatsoever, "Natural Balance." And yes, I buy it.
For further info, go to LINK.

(photographer unknown)
 

THE DOGS DEBUT NEWEST RELEASE with INSTORE GIG 6.6.15!

THE DOGS debuted new songs from their forthcoming Smelvis Records' release Ain't Going Nowhere while shooting a video for same at Blue Bag Records in Echo Park CA. A select crowd of friends and other invitees were then treated to a full set from this always unbelievably dynamic hardest rock trio. For more information on this legendary Detroit/L.A. band who have rocked from the battle lines of 1960s to right now, peruse my musings at LINK or skip to band history codification at LINK.

 

THE DOGS are: 

Loren Molinare, guitar,

lead vocals;

Mary Kay, bass, vocals;

Tony Matteucci, drums, vocals 

With a fabulous cineaste pun for his own production company-- True/Faux Films-- director Drew Echo had spent the week filming with the band at various locations, including the domicile of Mr. Twister and yours truly where my real life mother had a cameo role as a harridan tormenting a hapless Mary Kay.

PHOTO OPS: 

  

Above 2x, model/fashion icon Brenda Starr Light, Mary Kay and Leslie Knauer of the band Naked Hand Dance she fronts with her husband Al Teman. Mary and Tony Matteucci performed with Leslie (still beloved from her Precious Metal days) for a decade in the popular band Kanary which released a half dozen cds and EPs.

 Above, rock couturier Evita Corby is seen with Loren's wife, landscape designer Julie Scher Molinare, then with longtime Dogs' fan Stan Gullo and Loren Molinare. Product placement is a prior Dogs' LP Fed Up on Bacchus/Dionysus which features welcome re-releases of powerful Dogs recordings from the 1970s.





Left, BFFs Mary and Leslie; right, writer Paula Tiberius and Brenda Starr Light

   

Below (photographer unknown) your humble photojournalist, Mary Kay and Leslie Knauer

Below, Mike Hudson, Tony Mattuecci, Leslie Knauer, Mary Kay, Loren Molinare

RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA LIVE 6.1.15 at The Mint

 

Our rare local concerts by The Ruby Friendman Orchestra inspire great cause for celebration. Images thereof always lean to the dramatic because the onstage emotions penetrate deeply, genuinely, and real. And yes, the high quality of the music/delivery indeed justifies a certain theatricality. 

RFO's gig at The Mint for Hunnypot's (LINK) evening of musical thrills proved amazing as usual, a wonderous set of bone-chilling ballads whose lyrics probably were written in runes (see "Hunt You Down," below*,) plus assorted torch stompers showcasing Ms. Friedman's astonishing songwriting and vocal prowess. RFO also performed a memorable cover of Darrell Scott's "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive."

Right, Adam Zimmon from The Hit House; not seen in the night's pix, fellow RFO songwriter, arranger and drummer Alex Elena. The Orchestra featured a fulltime cellist as well as the traditional rock staples.

 

 

 Whereas to me Ruby's fetching stage attire harkened to (left) Whistler's Symphony in White #1, 1862 (an affectionate portrait of his girlfriend, Jo Hiffernan,) Ms. Friedman herself clarified, "I was thinking Saloon Girl meets Maxfield Parrish."

 Close enough...

 Sharing the bill:

Felice Lazae, Anahita Skye and the sweet singing sounds of The Silver Lake Chorus

  
PHOTO OPS:

Donna Balancia, Editor of California Rocker (LINK), author/singer Orit Arfa, and the inimitable Ms. Ruby Friedman her own bemused self.

*"Hunt You Down" video clip** performed by Ruby Friedman Orchestra at The Mint 6.1.15.  This is an original song by The Hit House for the Playstation game Bloodborne, just released in spring, 2015.

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhzwBO7haqk

DR. BOOGIE LIVE AT EL CID 5.30.15, INCIPIENT GREATNESS...

Do I weary of photographing the same bands? Never when they're this great and also the best new band I've witnessed in years. The more one sees Dr. Boogie, the better they seem, hallmark of incipent greatness in all A list bands of The Bigs. To wit: for a band together less than a year, they retain every possible factor going for them-- highly listenable, memorable songs that are referential to the most interesting rock from the past but identifiable only as their own spin on same, amazingly performed with tight prowess by attractive young guys with their own look, singly and collectively.
 

  Twisted lyrics extoll the admirable qualities of slutty girls somehow without dipping into the misogyny of the early Rolling "Stupid Girl" Stones. Their arrangements remain uniformly excellent, and onstage this lively band sounds just like its demos and EP releases despite the lack of the recordings' keyboards, horn sections, extra percussion and backup singers. Patrick "Frenchy" French did join in on harp for a song at this El Cid gig.

 

Their international potential remains huge. They get the hard rock right with the roll and swagger hammering any groove, unlike most of their young British or European counterparts who just think they do because they sport guitars. This El Cid gig spotlighted excellent new material just to keep things fresh, Chris P testifying in his voice of liquid gravel, with all members firing on all cylinders, despite the over-heated atmosphere within that (invisibly) almost felled a bandmember. Indeed, they are unstoppable: another bandmember arrived on genuine crutches! The show must go on, because audiences always love Dr. Boogie. Improbably for someone who's documented the best of the hard rock genres for the last five decades, so do I.

Check out California Rocker's interview with Dr. Boogie r.e. their future plans:
 LINK*







The occasion also showcased Shipwrecked, a new release by their chums The Blessings who preceded their set. Singer Jeremy White and friends' rootsy rock always prove a great complement. Pictured below right, Lavone Seetal, Jeremy White and Mike Gavigan. By the by, Facebook friends of the lead singer can check out his own excellent photography therein...

 

*http://www.californiarocker.com/2015/06/19/dr-boogie-gives-fans-a-big-dose-of-rock-n-roll/