Joan Osborne All-Request Streaming Concert (via City Winery)

My ability to see actual live concerts will likely be impaired for several years, and it’s unclear whether independent music venues (or even music venues in general) are going to survive past that. So instead, we have streaming concerts.

It was an “all request” concert; and when you bought your ticket you could put in your requests with it. She took one of my requests (“St. Theresa”), called me out by name, and managed to pronounce my last name correctly! (She must have Greek friends.) That was super-cool.

This was very clearly filmed in her bedroom; they were doing work on their house. Also, they were apparently “in residence” at a club in NYC when everything closed, and all of their merch is still in a closet in said club. So they haven’t been having the best year, clearly.

I’ll admit, I haven’t really followed Joan Osborne much since the 90s, when I bought two of her albums but kind lost interest. Her voice is clearly not what it was; even on some of her own songs there are notes she apparently can’t hit any more.

She did a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue”, and it occurred to me that, for any given Bob Dylan song, my favorite version is performed by a different artist. I like the Indigo Girls version of “Tangled Up in Blue”; Simon & Garfunkle’s "The Times They Are a-Changin'"; the Byrds "Mr. Tambourine Man"; the Persuasions’ “Quinn the Eskimo”; the Wildcats acappella cover of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" etc etc.

Overall: This was weaker than many other City Winery concerts I’ve been to, though I think it’s a good proof-of-concept for the setup. I actually streamed it to my tablet while we drove back from Farmingdale and never lost the signal.

Other Media I Recently Consumed

Equilibrium is terrible, but not good-terrible. It’s “let’s make it look like the Matrix but without any real concept behind that” terrible.

Jupiter Ascending (which I had seen before) is the product of teenage Lana Wachowski’s id with all the absurdity that produces, but remains delightfully terrible. Also, I hadn’t realized until this viewing how many cast members from Sense8 were involved.

The Lovebirds, on the other hand, is actually worth your time. The plot is fairly by-the-numbers “normal couple gets involved in a ridiculous conspiracy” comedy, but the leads are very funny people who play off of each other delightfully.

Also this weekend, since we were in Farmingdale with my parents, I pulled a bunch of circa-1996 DC annuals and prestige books to read. Most of them remain fun comics; some are clearly better-written than others. I see, in retrospect, a bunch of political subtext that was lost on me when I was 15. Also, that exercise outfits and swimsuits of the 1980s very heavily influenced comic artists of the 90s. (And JLA: Act of God, while a solid concept, remains an example of the most out-of-character “imaginary story” for practically every DC hero—like, ignoring both core character traits and also established reactions when they were depowered in-continuity.)

(I've started in on the various CW DC shows, but I suspect it'll be awhile before I finish and can review them.)