Mellotronists

So for some reason I am watching the VH1 Divas 2002 concert from Las Vegas 
when Colombian starlet Shakira comes on to warble a ditty.

Much to my surprise her keyboardist is sitting behind an immaculate Tron, 
finished in White of course.

One strange thing though was that it looked larger than normal, this could be 
just the camera angle or was it a Mk2!!

I await your observations

John

PS Did anybody go to the Musical Box gigs in the UK? any good?

PPS Going to see Brian Wilson Thursday will report anything tronular

-----Original Message-----

From: johnarmes@... [mailto:johnarmes@...]
Sent: 04 June 2002 20:18
To: mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Mellotronists] Tron Spotting amongst other things


John


PS Did anybody go to the Musical Box gigs in the UK? any good?


Hmmm - overpriced and wooden, and I don't mean the 'Mellotron'. The singer
looked like he was waiting for his cue to do his next 'Gabriel bit', and I'm
sure some of the music wasn't actually being played. It looked great, but
that just isn't enough!


PPS Going to see Brian Wilson Thursday will report anything tronular


No chance whatsoever. He only used one once anyway, to my knowledge, on
'Country Air' from 'Wild Honey' back in '68. Or would it've been a
Chamberlin?

Andy T.
M400 #1145

http://freespace.virgin.net/andy.thompson/

Andy...  Some of the crap you post... You must be a bit of an asshole.

> 
> PS Did anybody go to the Musical Box gigs in the UK? any good?
> 
Yep. I we saw them at Sheffield and thought they were brill. I don't 
think you can get any more real without see the real thing - which 
of course we never now will. Gabriel with a french accent though is 
weird! Much better than Regenesis I thought, but like Andy thought 
- there were times when although I couldn't detect any foul play (we 
were sitting 4 rows back) there were times when it was almost too 
good! Having said that there were plenty of bum notes in there too.
The "tron" was a mystery. The cabinet perfectly resembled an 
M400 - but the mains cord just disappeared into the hole in the 
back panel and audio cable was taped in with masking tape. ie I 
couldn't see the appropriate plugs and sockets or the rear of the 
power supply though the hole. On close inspection the metalised 
foil stickers on the back that should say "Mellotronics - London" 
and the voltages etc were acrtually bits of blank foil stuck on with 
no printing. ie put there to look right from a distance.
It could have been a real one - and in places it sounded ok, but 
watcher didn't sound right to me ie rather like a sampler.
Anybody any more thoughts?
John

ps
The jubilee party was very good. I have to say, when they set about 
doing something like this down the smoke, they do it brilliantly well!
Very kind of the Queen to throw a party on my birthday too! I was 
40 on Monday!

Evening all,

> >
> > PS Did anybody go to the Musical Box gigs in the UK? any good?
> >

> Yep. I we saw them at Sheffield and thought they were brill.

Hear hear :o) Excellent stuff!!!

> Having said that there were plenty of bum notes in there too.

Including one bit in the 'Watcher' intro where he seemed to lose it
completely!

> The "tron" was a mystery. The cabinet perfectly resembled an
> M400 - but the mains cord just disappeared into the hole in the
> back panel and audio cable was taped in with masking tape. ie I
> couldn't see the appropriate plugs and sockets or the rear of the
> power supply though the hole. On close inspection the metalised
> foil stickers on the back that should say "Mellotronics - London"
> and the voltages etc were acrtually bits of blank foil stuck on with
> no printing. ie put there to look right from a distance.

You may be as sad as me John - I made exactly the same observation!

> It could have been a real one - and in places it sounded ok, but
> watcher didn't sound right to me ie rather like a sampler.

Agreed - also (as mentioned earlier on the list) there were 4 sounds used
during the gig - 3Violins/ Brass/ Flutes/ 8V Choir - I think my M400 still
only does 3?

*** I had as good a look at the k/b setup as possible before things
started - spotted Yamaha A3000 sampler in the keyboard rack ??? ***

(Off topic) The Hammond however WAS real - with a lovely old woody organic
warm LESLIE 147/122, replete with glowing valves (whoopee!). Guitarist also
had a matching Leslie stage right. (sorry, I have a thing about Leslies).
Also the ARP Pro-Soloist seemed to vary in authenticity?

Best regards to all,

Paul Marshall - M400 #1380

-----Original Message-----

From: ceccles_ca [mailto:clay123@...]
Sent: 05 June 2002 03:34
To: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Mellotronists] Re: Tron Spotting amongst other things


Andy...  Some of the crap you post... You must be a bit of an asshole.


Yes, Clay, I am. Ask anyone. What exactly are you talking about?

Andy T.
M400 #1145

http://freespace.virgin.net/andy.thompson/

--- In Mellotronists@y..., "Andy Thompson" <andy.thompson@v...> wrote:
> Yes, Clay, I am. Ask anyone. What exactly are you talking about?
> 
> Andy T.

You have mentioned about 4 times now that the Musical Box tickets 
were overpriced.  It's 2002 and that show would cost a lot to 
organize.  With a little luck and good management, the five musicians 
and crew are making some money.  In 1971 tickets were $3.50 to see 
the real thing... You will adjust.  Why is it that you have such 
trouble saying anything good about this band?

Clay

Yeah, 
As long as theyre not a bunch of democrats I'd go see em!
Ches


--- In Mellotronists@y..., "ceccles_ca" <clay123@r...> wrote:
> --- In Mellotronists@y..., "Andy Thompson" <andy.thompson@v...> 
wrote:
> > Yes, Clay, I am. Ask anyone. What exactly are you talking about?
> > 
> > Andy T.
> 
> You have mentioned about 4 times now that the Musical Box tickets 
> were overpriced.  It's 2002 and that show would cost a lot to 
> organize.  With a little luck and good management, the five 
musicians 

> and crew are making some money.  In 1971 tickets were $3.50 to see 
> the real thing... You will adjust.  Why is it that you have such 
> trouble saying anything good about this band?
> 
> Clay

-----Original Message-----

From: ceccles_ca [mailto:clay123@...]
Sent: 06 June 2002 01:34
To: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Mellotronists] Re: Tron Spotting amongst other things


Clay


You have mentioned about 4 times now that the Musical Box tickets
were overpriced.  It's 2002 and that show would cost a lot to
organize.  With a little luck and good management, the five musicians
and crew are making some money.


The tickets were wildly overpriced at 27.50 UKP, + booking fee, for what is
effectively a tribute band. I've just paid less than half that to see the
Blue Oyster Cult play a stunning show, and I know there's no fakery going
on! Maybe they should've played smaller venues.  :-)  Their set was rather
lost in the vast Albert Hall, but would've looked fine at, say, the Astoria.


In 1971 tickets were $3.50 to see the real thing... You will adjust.


Funnily enough, I wasn't going to gigs back then. TMB's ticket price was one
of the highest I've paid this year - only Neil Young and Roger Waters cost
more. I wouldn't have gone, only the ticket was bought on my behalf, and I
was then told how much it was.  :-(


Why is it that you have such
trouble saying anything good about this band?


Bacause... they're not doing it fully 'for real'? ReGenesis, Supper's Ready
et al. may not *look* exactly like the real thing, but their sound has the
live excitement that TMB lack. Saying that, 'Watcher' was great, but it went
downhill soon after that, esp.in 'Cinema Show'.

And next time you have a gripe with me, would you mind not calling me an
'asshole' on list? Or off, for that matter? It was completely unnecessary
and does you no favours whatsoever. E-mail's a wonderful thing - I doubt if
you'd be that rude if I lived in your city...

Funnily enough, of the four (?) times people have been gratuitously
offensive to me via e-mail, all but one was related to Genesis. Draw your
own conclusions...

Andy T.
M400 #1145

http://freespace.virgin.net/andy.thompson/