Category: Music

Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration

bob dylan 30th anniversary celebration

In 1992 Columbia Records put together a massive collection of artists to celebrate Bob Dylan’s recording career. As I say in my review, at the time it must have seemed like a capstone to a long career. One that seemed like it was dying (I rather like some of Dylan’s output in the 1980s, but from a record company standpoint it certainly wasn’t his strongest decade).

The concert is pretty great, even if I haven’t listened to it since writing this review in 2014. You can read all of my thoughts from back then here.

Happy 90th Birthday, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson is, in part, responsible for The Midnight Cafe. At least the name I chose for this blog. In college, me and some friends used to hang out in my buddy Matt’s dorm room late at night. We’d stay up late listening to music, playing poker, eating terrible and cheap food, and talking.

Matt was always the joker. He was one of those guys who thought it was funny to answer the phone with a dumb gag. One night we were having some sandwiches and chips and the like and the phone rang. “Welcome to the Midnight Cafe” he answered, “what can I get you?” The name stuck and that group of friends from then on became The Midnight Cafe. When I was deciding on a name for this blog it only seemed natural to call it The Midnight Cafe. And here we are.

Willie was in regular rotation at the Cafe, and on some nights, when most of our friends had called it a night, Matt would light some candles and put on “Stardust.” We’d sit up into the wee hours talking about life, God, and girls. Mostly girls. Mostly girls who had recently broken our hearts.

Though we’ve gone our own ways, and somewhat drifted apart, I’m still friends with those guys. And Willie Nelson will always have a special place in my heart.

So happy birthday, Willie. Here’s to 90 more years of life and music and friends.

Watch Wet Leg Perform “Ur Mum” at Coachella, 2023

Generally speaking, I hate algorithms on Youtube and music sites and the like. They tend to rotate in the exact same things over and over sending you into a insipid spiral of conformity. But every now and again they will produce something wonderful.

I’d never heard of Wet Leg before today. I turned on Youtube looking for something fun to post and randomly clicked on this video of them performing at Coachella. I was instantly mesmerized. This band has something special. I’ve since listened to several more songs and am really digging them.

Check it out.