Deborah Grabien gives us her picks for the year just past:
Usually, I do the nice long Best Of year-end piece, but I’ll just keep it to a shortlist this time:
“Giant Bones”, live theatre adaptation of Peter S. Beagle. Wonderful cast, simple yet effective set, and nifty music.
Speaking of Peter S. Beagle, BayCon. A true madhoue of a Con; I’ve done panels there in the past, but this year, I was Peter’s chauffeuse and just got to hang in the pool and at the parties. Only Con I know of where you can fall asleep on a chaise lounge by the pool and be woken up because you’re surrounded by large people in full foo, singing Klingon opera at you.
Richard Thompson’s “Dream Attic”, first the live show months ago, now the CD, which I’m slowly wrapping around myself like a strange unusually-tinted cloak.
My own small press, Plus One’s, debut. We have two titles out on two of our three imprints; the third one, and on piano…Nicky Hopkins, is Julian Dawson’s epic biography of rock’s greatest session man. Kicks of in Austin, at South by Southwest, in March. But the Plus One kickoff party, at Book Passage back in October, was a three-hour brilliant madhouse of food, wine, me reading from our first release (my own Kinkaid #3, London Calling), and a one-hour set by Mark Karan, Robin Sylvester and Billy Lee Lewis.
Julian Dawson’s November visit to the Bay Area, including deep work on the bio and a house concert.
Live music: hands down, no contest, it’s Jemimah Puddleduck. I got something like six live gigs of theirs this past year, and every show was sensational. The band has been playing with two lineups, and both are asskickers. They’ve consistently done the best live music I’ve seen all year.
More music: Ronnie Penque’s lovely, plaintive solo CD. Dave Getz’s Can’t Be The Only One, with Janis Joplin’s last song lyric. The Rolling Stones’ rerelease of Exile on Main Street with ten new tracks, a massive heap of Jefferson Airplane (including the full Woodstock set!). Ray Lamontagne’s new CD (which is effin’ brilliant and is, sadly, up against“Dream Attic” for a Grammy). One EskimO, a phenomenal band from the UK, whose song “Kandi” broke my heart and blew my mind and has moved their CD to the top of my “yay Christmas money BUY NOW!” list.
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