Rave?

This is really skirting the perview of Analog Industries, but it’s vaguely music-related. Last weekend, my wife and I got a 42” HD plasma TV. Obviously, there’s no point in having an HD TV if you don’t have HD content, so we upgraded our Dish Network system to the HD package, and that happened today.

“Please, oh, please let him have a point,” you’re saying. Well, yeah. There’s this channel as part of the Voom HD lineup that’s called “Rave.” It’s all concerts, all the time, in HD and Dubbly. I’ve only had it for like 10 hours now, so it’s hard to get a handle on what they’re all about, exactly. I’ll say the following, though:

1. HD is not very kind to people that aren’t, say, Halle Berry. The camera may add ten pounds, but in HD it also adds about 20 years and a nasty case of smallpox. I caught a bit of Cheap Trick, and Rick Neilsen, whom I’ve met several times, and looks fine in person, looks in HD like he’s just walked off a George Romero set, in full zombie makeup. It’s harsh.

2. The Pretenders still kind of rock. I liked them better back when they were too fucking Precious (fuck off!), rather than just Special, but that’s just me. Unlike a lot of bands that still make a living off old songs, they are incredibly non-pompous. Something to be said for that.

3. Paul Rogers can sing. No one will deny that. But Paul Rogers singing for Queen in place of Freddie Mercury is just strange. I sat through that whole thing, because I kept thinking the next song would be pretty fly. I thought that all the way to the end. Those guys should probably stop.

Never mind all that bullshit classic rock, though. There’s a two-hour Ryuichi Sakamoto concert on at 2am. I’m gonna PVR that shit, so if you’re wondering what I’m doing tomorrow, well, you know how at least 2 hours of it will be spent.