Blondie & Brian to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Thurs, 4/2

[Wirestone]

For a BW TV appearance, this was more than respectable.

[SMiLE Brian]

Exactly, it's BW and Blondie promoting their album and getting ready to rock out on the NPP tour!

[The Cincinnati Kid]

well Falon had an interview and said relevant things about the BB, so I wanted to see how JK handled the whole thing, and I suppose I wanted to give his show a shot, as I had never seen it before---that aside, was Sail Away cut off on east coast as well?

Yeah, it was.  It said you could view the whole performance on is youtube page or something.

[Les P]

While there were some good moments (particularly that final "lo-ove"), I wish the live "TBD/The Last Song" had better reflected the smooth and assured studio performances we've heard on NPP.  I don't know if this was a great advertisement for the album.  I thought what was broadcast of "Sail Away" seemed to come off better, thanks to Blondie and a more energetic feel.  I hope they'll feature an upbeat song on Conan next week (preferably a collab with one of the younger artists, or Al/Blondie), as it seems a slow, sensitive song would be a challenge to pull off well on live taping.   

[Wirestone]

The album bumped up some 30 spaces in the Amazon sales rankings (from 59 to 29), so something seems to have worked.

[Les P]

The album bumped up some 30 spaces in the Amazon sales rankings (from 59 to 29), so something seems to have worked.

Thanks for that info; I am glad to hear that.  I was trying to imagine how it sounded to the non-fanbase.  Maybe it came across better than I thought.

[If Mars had life on it...]

Performing "The Last Song" in this setting was a mistake plain and simple.  I don't understand why they didn't pick one of the more up tempo new songs to feature.  Having said that, I just got 4th row tickets for Philly! 

[RiC]

Performing "The Last Song" in this setting was a mistake plain and simple.  I don't understand why they didn't pick one of the more up tempo new songs to feature. 

Blame that on me, I went and wished it at facebook in that post asking what songs you'd like to hear some hours before the show 

They should get Nate to sing Saturday Night on Conan.

[Amy B.]

I thought Brian did a great job, considering he had to carry everything, lead-vocal-wise, and he hates performing. He really gave it his best. But the sound was bad, and he didn't sound great. Even the band didn't have their usual magic sound. I don't know why they have Brian go on these shows. I can't imagine anyone watching this performance and saying, "Wow, I'm going to buy this album"" except existing fans. They should have Zooey Deschanel or one of the other guest artists performing with Brian on these shows. That would attract more buyers.

[send me a picture and i'll tell you]

It was funny hearing Blondie sing "still that image stayed alive in my soul", and then it cut right to that hee-haw Jackhole thing.

[doc smiley]

I'm wondering how Saturday Night would/will sound with Blondie doing the lead vocal??? or maybe Scott Bennett?

[HeyJude]

I know Brian wrote or co-wrote all the tracks, but I would think it would defeat the purpose of doing most of the "duet" songs without the other person. I thought even doing "Sail Away" without Al was a tiny bit weird, but they probably did it because Blondie was there. Like I said, I get it, they're Brian's songs and it's his album. I think some of the lead vocal bits that others did on the album are out of Brian's range (probably why Brian wrote  them that way and/or had others sing those bits), so that might keep him from doing those as well.

If Al makes it to the Conan appearance, I think we might get "Sail Away" again if both Al and Blondie are there.

[Dave in KC]

What's this Saturday night Conan appearance? There is no Saturday Conan show.

[the captain]

OK I'm really late to this party--stupid work!--but I want to weigh in that I'm in the camp who think the performance wasn't really that bad: the mix was. Someone almost immediately commented how dry it was, and that's what stuck out to me as well. Some of that admitted imperfection in Brian's voice, not to mention lack of richness in the harmonies, would have been taken care of by even just a normal amount of reverb. And the mix of instruments and voices itself, just from a levels standpoint, was a little odd as well. Just so small, claustrophobic.

Anyway, I only watched it last night, live. I haven't reviewed a youtube clip yet. Not sure my light-of-day observations would be the same. But that's what I thought of last night. Decent, especially for Brian on TV, performance. Poor presentation by the show's crew.

[Debbie Keil-Leavitt]

OK I'm really late to this party--stupid work!--but I want to weigh in that I'm in the camp who think the performance wasn't really that bad: the mix was. Someone almost immediately commented how dry it was, and that's what stuck out to me as well. Some of that admitted imperfection in Brian's voice, not to mention lack of richness in the harmonies, would have been taken care of by even just a normal amount of reverb. And the mix of instruments and voices itself, just from a levels standpoint, was a little odd as well. Just so small, claustrophobic.

Anyway, I only watched it last night, live. I haven't reviewed a youtube clip yet. Not sure my light-of-day observations would be the same. But that's what I thought of last night. Decent, especially for Brian on TV, performance. Poor presentation by the show's crew.

Interesting.  I wasn't disappointed at all.  I have very low expectations regarding the sound mix from tv studios, and this one was in the usual "bad" category.  But Brian!  I think his energy was wonderful and he hit some notes I'm sure a lot of you didn't expect - and the song selections were so ambitious.  Then again, it was tv - happily, it's pretty clear the PBS event won't be like that.

For those who think this is my Brian bias (well, there IS that, but...), I've actually only heard Mike's band on the Today Show or one of those morning things, and I refuse to judge them from that experience.  It's just plain unfair, whomever the artist.

[the captain]

the song selections were so ambitious.

Absolutely. I was thrilled to hear only new songs instead of, say, one new one and "California Girls" or something.

Then again, it was tv - happily, it's pretty clear the PBS event won't be like that.

No doubt. I'm really excited for that (especially if they include "Hold On, Dear Brother," which was spectacular).

[ontor pertawst]

"Hold On, Dear Brother" is indeed included! Man, that blew the roof off the place.

[the captain]

"Hold On, Dear Brother" is indeed included! Man, that blew the roof off the place.

In the special? I know it was at the concert--and amazingly done--but we know it is on the special? Was a tracklist announced and I missed it? (Entirely possible.)

[ontor pertawst]

It's in the promo video for the special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GGmDPtrpWE

[the captain]

Ah, that's right. Duh. I knew that. Thanks.

[HeyJude]

Ah, that's right. Duh. I knew that. Thanks.

One would hope that  "trailer" for the special, which clocks in just under five minutes, would be culled from the finished edit of the special that will be airing. I think PBS stations are showing that it will be exactly 59 minutes long. As I recall, the songs showed in the trailer (and in full clips) are:

Our Prayer
Sloop John B.
Good Vibrations
Wild Honey
Hold on Dear Brother
Saturday Night
Runaway Dancer
Sail Away
The Right Time
Half Moon Bay
On the Island (via the in-studio footage)

Actually, I'm noticing that the description of the YouTube trailer states that the DVD will include the full special as well as "bonus" clips including "Sail Away." That leads me to believe at least "Sail Away" (and possibly others in the trailer) will NOT be in TV edit. So I think it's possible the "TV edit" might be heavy on recognizable BB tunes and stuff from the new album. I wonder if "Hold on Dear Brother" might also be held back for the DVD.

[the captain]

So I think it's possible the "TV edit" might be heavy on recognizable BB tunes and stuff from the new album. I wonder if "Hold on Dear Brother" might also be held back for the DVD.

I guess that former part--that the show will be mostly BBs hits plus new songs--was kind of what I was thinking when I first asked. An early 70s rarity not written by BW and sung by a guest singer is on its face not a great situation to make the cut. But that said, DAMN, it was great.

As long as it's released somewhere, I'm good. Show, DVD, whatever. (It would be nice to show the bigger audience, though, so actual show would be great.)

[Ron]

I'm fascinated by how they almost always get Brian's band mixed so horribly on these live appearances.  Maybe it's just because i'm so used to what the band's capable of, or what the record sounds like that I notice it...

It almost seems like whoever does the set up is only used to doing your traditional rock band or whatever, I don't know but when the mix is so bad you can't hardly even hear the fucking DRUMS it really makes you wonder what's going on.

Brian was a little shaky but the way the band was mic'd sounded like sh*t so I don't really blame it on him or them.

[Micha]

Brian's hair turned whiter than I realized.

I think actually his face skin is darker!

Also, I think Nelson Bragg's hairdresser is dead.

[RubberSoul13]

Phew...this was rough. Picked all the wrong songs...rough voice to put it nicely. Not really sure why he had all those musicians there, they sure didn't make it any better. He really didn't look to swell either...poor Blondie getting demoted to Tambourine, what a waste...

Don't think I'll mind missing out this summer!