Henry Cow C/D and S/D

I didn't notice that earlier, not that I thought they'd make it to California anyway. Maybe they'll record it for release.

It's not a concert, they're just announcing that their sock is being released as an NFT.

And you don't get the sock, just the right to smugly say you own it.

Especially the red sock.

the fork in the road not taken

What's the cliché about one becoming less radical as one gets older. Being a red at college and more right wing as one faces life.

So these have gone from radical leftist politics to selling NFTs for profit?
Gosh all my dreams shattered, like.

Better go and listen to some of their more idealistic selves.

Do hope if this is a live performance the comment is only temporary. They are getting older but would be nice to see them at sometime.
Oh yeah saw that the one off is in Italy. Remembered that one disc of the 75 live thing with Wyatt was an Italian date. Also that VDGG were particularly popular down there so wondered if The Cow were too. Though not hearing the influence as much on Italian Prog bands as I am with VDGG. Though maybe I'm just listening to bands that would be too early.

Itallian thing from 75 I was referring to is this In The Name of A Freedom
https://i.discogs.com/jLg_LmksdwhMLe6GDuCd33q40Wo380daQRnMY-DRQkI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:297/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM1OTMy/MDEtMTMzNjYwNDQz/NS0xNjgxLmpwZWc.jpeg
https://www.discogs.com/release/3593201-Henry-Cow-Featuring-Robert-Wyatt-In-The-Name-Of-A-Freedom

Other 2 discs are 1 London, 1 Paris
not sure if having an Italian gig here represents any level of popularity or not. Do definitely hear a lot of VDGG in the early 70s Italian Prog so presumably were somewhat open to avant influences from british bands.

I think Halfway was joking about the NFT thing.

Just found this interview with Frith from a couple of months ago in which he talks about the reunion (spoiler alert, he doesn't call it a reunion):

RR: Let's talk about the Henry Now gig coming up later this year in Italy. A reunion?

FF: Not really. We are all in contact in various ways, and have been since the group’s demise. Chris and Tim and I have played together in many different contexts and guises, and I’ve joined forces with John here and there too, Chris and John are in several ventures together. Plus we try to follow each other’s work, which is tough because all of us have been endlessly busy with all kinds of projects in all kinds of contexts.

RR: A one-off?

FF: Well, there was a gig that was cancelled because it’s Italy and they never know until the last minute if the funding will come through, or the venue, or whatever. But our friend Max is not one to take that, so he organized his own concert in Piacenza. Right now it’s a one-off, but who knows?

RR: Old songs? New material?

FF: No old songs, no new material, it will be improvised. But the point of Henry Now, is that it could develop into whatever we feel like and with whomever is available. So anything could happen in the next period as long as we’re all still here!

https://rickrees.substack.com/p/fred-frith-interview

Do I genuinely need to point out that I wasn't taking that overly seriously?

Shame if this is absolutely a one off since teh players must be getting on a bit and in the wake of the pandemic people's temporality or mortality. So opportunities may turn out to unitentionally be the last one. Hope taht is recorded both audio and visually.

Do I genuinely need to point out that I wasn't taking that overly seriously?

― Stevolende

yes please, i'm neurodiverse and have trouble parsing sarcasm

THink I didn't finish a sentence there that people's temporality and mortality must be things that one needs to be conscious of. i.e by the time another opportunity arose may be less participants still around.

Also what goes into preparation for an event like this, is there rehearsal or is people's previous playing together enough for tehm to be familiar with each other's styles and means of instrumental communication . If there is rehearsal one would think that one would benefit from playing another couple of days at any juncture when people could actually get together. Like if there is a space in a diary for one get together one would think one would look into doing a few more when one had the chance or if one had the chance. Though getting older may mean drop in stamina which would mean one could do less concerts in a given time without needing to get energy together. I think David Crosby was talking about that in a documentary I saw on Sky Arts a few weeks ago and he's in the same rough age range.

Crosby's quite a bit older I think?

I had to check. Crosby - born in 1941. Fred Frith - born in 1949.

Huh, I didn’t know Frith was that “young.”

the core of HC were all actual real students when they first played together in like 68 iirc

also lol: "in October 1969 philosopher galen strawson auditioned for the band"

Ooooh

Re: preparation

Frith just shows up and improvises with different folks like 7 days a week he dont need no rehearsal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MndFeU6uf84

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=741797

Full set on yt, for the non-dimeadozen peeps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOVbnHI92Es