If I’m being honest I stopped paying attention to them after Mellon Collie, but for a time they were absolutely amazing.

I’m uploading the Gillian shows now. I’ll send you an email when they are ready.

When I collected tapes I had favorite shows because I could only afford to trade a few shows a month. But now that we have access to so many shows I can’t keep up with what I listen to, which bits I love and all that. I’m envious of people who have that kind of memory.

That’s very cool. And I agree, it should have been called Dave’s Faves. Who doesn’t love a good rhyme?

I would LOVE to get the Gillian/Dave SBD from Port Chester and the audience recording from Oakland! Could you WeTransfer them to me (nlwirth@yahoo.com)? Or do you have another preferred method?

I started collecting live music in 1983, and some Dead shows over the years just stood out more than others for me. They are the ones I go back to many times (I never tire, for example, of the jam–> Dark Star–> Morning Dew from Winterland — 10-18-74– it is a comfort listen for me). But I have always appreciated what Latvala and Lemieux have done. I have no complaints. Just curious, like you, what made them decide what and when.

As I am sure you already know, Latvala did not share the reverence many had for the Barton Hall 5-8-77 show and said he had no plans to ever include it in the Picks series. It’s got some great moments– but I had never understood the mania many have for it. That said– I instantly bought that May 1977 boxset when it came out.

I have always been invested in my “favorite shows” mode– never the “best all-time shows” or “ranking the shows” mode. I will try to chime in about films from time to time. I enjoy your enthusiasm for movies.

1. I’m terrible at this sort of thing. I listen to a lot of Grateful Dead, but I have no memory for it. By which I mean I’ll listen to a show and the next day I can’t remember which one I listened to. So I can’t keep track of which show is best.

3. I’ve got the two Nashville shows, plus the SBD from Port Chester and an Audience recording from Oakland. I’m happy to share them with you. Which ones do you need?

4. Thanks. I’d always love to hear your thoughts on a movie, but it is no big deal if you don’t feel like commenting.

]]> https://themidnightcafe.org/2026/06/03/picking-on-the-grateful-dead-the-dicks-picks-series/#comment-84108 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 23:55:21 +0000 http://themidnightcafe.org/?p=92040#comment-84108 I was in the house for Dick’s Picks #6 Hartford CT! Never understood why the 2nd series wasn’t called Dave’s Faves 😉

I’m the same way. I’ve listened to some of the DPs, but not all. And I’ve listened to many of the recordings of shows that became official releases, but not all. So this seems like a fun way to dig into them. I’m pretty excited about it.

It will be a slow process as I’d like to review live albums from other artists and some bootlegs and the like, but I’ll try to hit up the Dicks Picks relatively regular.

Yes. This whole show is great but I chose this song because the use of backup songs was so interesting and kind of fantastic.

This is a great song, played with joy and verve, and fun to hear it when he had a whole group of backing singers behind him.

(He has a backing singer these days who is also amazing, but I believe there’s just one of them now.)

That’s something, it must be bloody irritating though!

I’m used to it. Sucks but it isn’t so bad that I can’t live my life. Makes it hard to write sometimes though.

Oh jeez, that’s not good either. Well i hope you can get some relief mate.

Thanks. I have horrible allergies so I spend most of the spring stuffy, sneezy and headachy.

Yes!

That’s awesome. Such a killer way to start a show.

I was at the Atlanta show on this tour one week before this recording. It was my 6th time seeing Neil. I remember thinking the ONE song I most wanted to hear was Cortez.

The lights went down. Those first rumbling notes started. The curtain fell.

Cortez was on.

I lost it! One of my favorite starts to a concert, ever.

Thanks. I’ve been waiting for that one to pop up as their is video on Youtube. If you look in the comments on that site you’ll find another link to their Oakland show.

The Ryman is one of my favorite venues in the world. Wonderful you got to see Gillian and Dave there.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve corresponded but I recently found your blog again. I hope you are doing well.

I’m very jealous that you got to see Gill and Dave recently. We flew down to Nashville to see them at the Ryman last May. It was a bucket list moment for me seeing them in that venue and they lived up to it, putting on an amazing hometown show. I would suggest that you head over to the Albums That Should Exist website. Paul has posted a Reckoning tour soundboard from the Capitol Theatre, 4/11/26. It sounds amazing and is well worth the download, even if it is MP3 (Ha!).

Anyway, I hope your family has a wonderful Mother’s Day. I miss your great music sharing posts but it is still great to catch up with you new blog. Be well!

Alan R

I was a little disappointed at first that this wasn’t a Reckoning show as that would have been awesome. The wife and I were debating whether or not they’d play any Dead tunes at all. My guess was no since that might cheapen the actual Dead Cover shows, and that they probably wanted to play their tunes.

But once they started playing I was so glad they did what they did. It was such a great show.

Good catch. Funny because I made it a point to pick out a slightly more obscure song from that set and then named it wrong. I must have been listening to Hard Rain when I was writing the title 🙂

I too like to track concerts from the past, especially if I attended them and hopefully have managed to track down the full set from out there on the Net.

Amen! That song has that kind of power.

In high school I bought Van’s Greatest Hits and absolutely love it. But for whatever reason I didn’t dig into his catalog until years later. I randomly downloaded “Tupelo Honey” off of Napster and from there on I was hooked.

The Poltergeist remake just kind of came and went. Hardly anyone saw it and it barely made a blip in the cultural consciousness.

There are a few good remakes in my opinion, but most of them are terrible.

Like I’ve said in the reviews the sequels aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible either. I’ve gotten into the habit of trying to watch every sequel for films I like (especially horror films). Most of them are bad, but there is something fun in watching them all anyway.

I still need to watch that remake of Poltergeist that came out a few years ago. It got terrible reviews, but I think I have to see it anyway.

I love Gillian and Dave and I agree their performance style fits perfectly with these Dead songs. I already have copies of those Nashville shows and have my eyes peeled for recordings of the rest of the tour. Keep me informed if you see them anywhere and I’ll do the same for you.

4-3-2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYR8FUf3bBI&t=1s

4-4-2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiF9eQejvms&t=6711s

Best,

Nathan

PS I found some real nice audience recording of these shows as well. I can WeTransfer them to you if you do not have them and want them. I am on the lookout for the Captitol Theatre shows and the two in North Carolina.

Yeah, i may have to watch it again soon.

It holds up quite nicely.

I’ve heard great thing about that one. I watched the remake with Mel Brooks and while it was funny I didn’t love it. Which has kind of kept me from watching the original which is dumb. I should watch it sometime.

TKS

You can find the Dylan show over at Expecting Rain. the others you might be able to find at Guitars101 or other sites.

I am no longer uploading any shows on my site.

You can find the Dylan show over at Expecting Rain.

Yahoo Mail: Search, organise, conquer

Cool!

Thanks for the comment. I do enjoy doing this. I like listening to a show the same day it happened. And I like writing some thoughts down, though I need a little more practice making that interesting.

Trouble is I listen to music mainly in my car or at home in my office. I’m not yet in the habit of remembering to put”today’s” show on my phone to listen in the car and I don’t always spend a lot of time in my office. And then if I have time to listen I still have to write.

But I’ll try to do better. This is fun.

I have this show – very likely from your site – and did a little checking in my files.

OK.

Insanely enough, I have 228 live versions of “Summertime In England” – and again, MANY, MANY of those came from your site.

And … drumroll …

This is indeed the longest version he’s ever played – or at least the longest one I have amongst those 228 versions collected over 30 years.

The next longest “Summertime” is 18:54 – and that was the very next night! April 1, 1991 in Utrecht – the famous “Pagan Streams” boot you reference.

After that, the longest versions dip all the way down to 15:54 and shorter. (The 15:54 one I have is from Birmingham England 10/22/82).

Shortest version? A spring through it on 10.22.88 in London at the Royal Albert Hall. Just 5:09 !

p.s. 1991 was a wonderful year of Live Van because his bag of songs was still about as sharp as ever. Later – especially after “The Healing Game” in 1997 – his albums got much more spotty. You’d have a good one, a lousy one, a pretty great one, too semi-good ones, etc. Not enough quality control. But in 1991 he’s in great voice with a wonderful band, and willing to let a song like this truly breathe.

Salem’s Lot is very good as long as you recognize what it is (TV movie from the 1970s). The book is one of my favorites from Stephen King.

I hear good things about Marty Supreme just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Thank you my friend. It is weird, I was really dreading the day as I was coming upon it but then the actual day was pretty good and so were the following couple of days. But then today was hard.

Course a lot of days anymore are hard what with all the *shakes hands at everything* going on. But I try to take it one day at a time and hold onto the things I love.

Anyway, hope you have a good next year and many more Happy Birthdays to come!

]]> https://themidnightcafe.org/2026/03/25/it-was-fifty-years-ago-today/#comment-84056 Fri, 27 Mar 2026 18:50:46 +0000 http://themidnightcafe.org/?p=91600#comment-84056 Thanks Mat, we all have our own stuff to deal with. I have been lucky in some ways too, and there are certain things i appreciate now, that i probably didn’t before. It’s a pity you couldn’t both go to the Pacific Northwest, it looks amazing. However i totally understand in regards of budgeting etc. I hope whatever you do get up to in the summer, you both enjoy it.

You’ve shared some of your struggles with pain with me before. Thank you for sharing and I’m sorry you have to deal with that. Life is hard sometimes. I constantly remind myself of that when dealing with people who get on my nerves 🙂 You never know what someone else is dealing with.

I’m glad you enjoy photography. We were planning on a big trip to the Pacific North West of America this summer. I just turned 50 and my wife turns 50 in the fall, so we figured a big vacation in the middle would be nice. Unfortunately with prices rising and everything becoming unstable we have decided against it. But someday. I do love nature photography and that would have been spectacular.

Instead we are planning a summer of concerts so that should be fun too.

Thanks mate. I did have a good day. I really have had a good life, but sometimes its hard not to think about all the things you wanted to do and have not managed to do.

Thank you very much.

Thanks very much. I had a nice day.

Thanks Noel. I’ve had a good life. Better than many. And I am grateful. But yeah, it is hard sometimes not to get down about all the things I’ve wanted to do an have not accomplished.

But I aim to do better. I’m hoping to make some changes this year to point things in a better directions. Huzzah for that.

It’s hard to make it through the world and accomplish all one would like to. Like, REALLY hard. You are making a difference by being a son, husband, dad, and more – and by giving the world this blog!

I hope this year holds some happy surprises for you in the months ahead!

I’m glad you like it. Lots of people do.

Sent from Outlook for Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg ________________________________

Thanks Cate!

Did you ever try to access that chat group I told you about?

Sadly the links on this music blog are gone, as the site is no longer maintained. There is however, a recent upload of this show on Guitars101:

https://www.guitars101.com/threads/jackson-browne-1974-02-01-michigan-palace-detroit-the-road-to-detroit-midnight-dreamer-aud.842253/?post_id=4083564#post-4083564

the above link is missing the last song, but you’ll get the majority of the show from a period in Jackson’s career that David Lindley once told me was his favorite Jb tour!

-Lapsteelcate

Sadly the links on this music blog are gone, as the site is no longer maintained. There is however, a recent upload of this show on Guitars101:

https://www.guitars101.com/threads/jackson-browne-1974-02-01-michigan-palace-detroit-the-road-to-detroit-midnight-dreamer-aud.842253/?post_id=4083564#post-4083564

the above link is missing the last song, but you’ll get the majority of the show from a period in Jackson’s career that David Lindley once told me was his favorite Jb tour!

-Lapsteelcate

I’m afraid you can no longer download the shows on my blog. Sorry.

Sorry for the late reply Noel. I thought I had replied but I guess I forgot. Yes, I was so excited when I had filled my little five disc player up! Then I quickly had more CDs than I knew what to do with. And of course now I have more digital files than I can handle.

There used to be a cool little head shop in my little town. They had used CDs and tapes and the owner was super cool. I got to know him well enough that sometimes I’d come in, pick up too many discs and not have enough money for it. He’d just tell me to pay him next time I was in! Sadly it went out of business several years ago. One of the coolest records shops in Tulsa just closed their doors as well.

I know vinyl has made a comeback of sorts which is cool. My teenage daughter has started collecting them.

I have seen the first Highlander (and reviewed it) but none of the sequels. I keep thinking I should watch the sequels but folks like you remind me that maybe I shouldn’t 🙂

Review can be read here:

The Awesome ’80s in April: Highlander (1986)

I know the OG doesn’t get much respect from film critics but it is much loved by many including myself for Sean Connery’s swashbuckling performance with special mention of the co-star, the glowering eyebrows of Christopher Lambert. If only, like the Princess Bride, there “Was Only One” with none of the other Highlanders that followed…

I’m with you about overly technical guitarists like Eddie – not my thing. BUT, I do love that he was always smiling in every clip. He wasn’t too cool to be happy.

As for record stores and hardcopy music, that’s all still quite available! I buy vinyl and CDs all the time. I think there are more than 14 record stores open here in the Atlanta area alone, every day – maybe more than 14. Plenty of options.

I miss looking through the record store bins. I love how we have access to so much music now but I think there was something special about having to drive to a store and pick out an album.

Music is weird. I wrote how I don’t connect to EVH because he lacks soul, but then I used to love some early Aerosmith and lord knows their music was vapid.

Sorry for the trouble with the comments. WordPress can be finicky. It also puts certain comments in to a review queue whenever something looks fishy or you haven’t commented in a long time. But you should be good to do now.

And thanks for commenting. I appreciate it. CDs were amazing. Not having to rewind was awesome. And yes, those first CDs bring back all the memories.

Thanks so much for your comment. It means a lot. I hope you do start watching Twin Peaks. It is a very weird show, but also wonderful and funny. I love it. I hope you do too. And I’m thrilled that maybe I’ll have a small part in getting you to watch it.

I’ve been reading your posts on this site ever since the music site shut down. I’ve been enjoying them, but I haven’t commented because I’m just not that big of a movie guy. I meant to comment on this post when I first saw it, but I forgot for a while.

Like you, I never watched Twin Peaks when it aired on television. A couple of years ago I picked it up on DVD, but it’s been sitting on my shelf unwatched since then. My wife isn’t interested, so it’s one of those things I have to find time to watch on my own. Reading your post brought it back into my brain, and now I’m thinking that I really should dive into it soon.

Thanks for the reminder. The Midnight Cafe is having an impact on people, I’m your proof!

]]> https://themidnightcafe.org/2026/02/17/my-life-in-music-europe-the-final-countdown/#comment-83737 Sun, 01 Mar 2026 16:00:58 +0000 http://themidnightcafe.org/?p=91306#comment-83737 In reply to Mat Brewster.

Excellent!

Thanks Noel. I enjoy your Instagram stories when I see them. Which isn’t that often because I don’t check into Instagram often and their algorithm is so terrible I rarely see the people I follow. But I’ll try to remember to check in more often.

I thought you might like this type of post. I always mean to write more about music, but I got out of the habit and it is difficult to get back to it. Which is part of what this post is about. I have another one of these coming (this time I’m writing about Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge) so look forward to that in a few days.

It was fun to read this, because I can relate to the idea of music we encounter early on being the most powerful. I mean, hearing that Neil Sedaka passed yesterday … like many of us, I hadn’t thought of him in years, but when I was 12 or so I loved “Laughing In The Rain” … I remember thinking “I hope that’s what it’s like when I actually get to date somebody!”

So those early songs loom large. I can also relate to “having too much music” – of course I do. But, I always want more! And I’ve landed on a way recently to focus on music I have that’s been life-changing … I started a new series on my Instagram ( @record_stores_fan_atlanta ) where each week I’m focusing on a song that, every time I hear it, I think “That may be the best song ever.”

It’s just a way of sifting thru all the quantity, and the noise, of a big music collection and just zooming in. Much like you did here!

Totally yes, 80’s for sure with the big hair etc.

It was a big hit over here back then. I loved it as a kid. But then I completely forgot about it for years. But the TV show Arrested Development used it as a running gag and it all came back to me.

It is a big cheeseball of a song.

Oops. I wrote this little preview of my review a little too quickly I guess and got my georgraphy messed up. Thanks for the heads up.

Yes, he’s one of my favorites. I don’t think I’ve ever disliked him in a movie.

I really need to do a rewatch. I haven’t seen them in years.

Ah Joyful January would be cool.

Modern Romance is definitely on the list.

I should probably rewatch the sequels sometime. I think I’ve only seen then once and I don’t remember anything about them.

I hate that everything now has to be tied to some IP as well. But for something like this where the original were just a bunch of silliness and there isn’t any real mythology tied to the originals I don’t mind so much. I mean I’d still prefer an original comedy, but I’ll take my laughs where I can get them.

Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say. It truly is a fantastic time to be a movie lover.

🎄 🎁   🕛 🍾 🎉 🎊

I enjoy the Movie reviews…your so knowledgeable…and lead me to films that I would never have known about. We live in a great time…were almost everything is easily accessible.

Peace To You And Your Family

Apologies for being really late to reply to your comment. Casablanca is my all time favorite movie, but it isn’t a noir so it isn’t on this list. Sabrina is very good as well. I love all the Bogart/Bacall ones except the one where he changes his face half way through. Until then it is told through his POV and those camera movement get me sea sick.

Good choices. I’ve not seen Caught by the Tides or the Mastermind yet. Weapons and The Phoenician Scheme almost made my list.

Thank you my friend. I miss the music, but I’m enjoying writing silly stories like this.

That’s awesome. It is a lovely tradition and a great album.

Sorry, I saw your comment but forgot to reply. Yes, I am feeling much better. The bug lasted about 12 hours. The hip is doing better as well. Therapy seems to be working.

No big deal. Sometimes there are movies that I watch and when they are over I think “what a waste of time” and then there are movies like the Death Wish films where, while I don’t think they are very good at all, I’m glad that I got to watch them. There are some movies that have a certain cultural cache that I’m glad I get to watch even if I don’t like them. And some movies that I’m glad for the experience of watching them even if in the end I don’t particularly care for them.

I don’t know if that makes sense.

I appreciate your kind words.

Yes the Scientology stuff definitely puts me off Cruise, especially since he is apparently high up in that cult.

The Death Wish movies are definitely dumb, and not nearly as fun as I was hoping they’d be. I’m not mad I watched them, but I’m dumb like that.

That would be amazing.

Good to see Bob still on the road…heading for another joint. Rumours around him and Joan Baez on a joint tour in 2026!

https://themidnightcafe.org/2023/11/18/noirvember-black-angel-1946/

Excellent. Always happy to give Krueger more love. I haven’t seen that film, sounds interesting. I’ll add it to the list.

As I say it is well worth watching, if nothing else it is fun to compare the two.

It’s brilliant isn’t it, it has a bit of everything in it. Some dark humour, suspense, great effects, good cast too.

Part 2 is not very good. Apparently they rushed the production and nobody really knew what they were doing. Freddy Vs Jason is pretty awful as well, but also kind of fun watching the new icons battle it out.

Werewolf in London is great. I watched it again a few months ago and those effects still hold up really well.

Yes, I absolutely love The Thing now. I’m kid of embarassed I didn’t like it the first time around, but what can you do?

Halloween and Alien are of course fantastic, but they were made in the 1970s not 1980s and thus didn’t fit this list. I almost picked Aliens, but I feel like it is more of a sci-fi/action flick than a true horror.

I agree 100 % that Dream Warriors is one of the best. I’d put it right behind the original. The only one I ever watched in theater was Freddy vs Jason.

Yes i would say the same i think.

It is one of my favorite 1980s horror films.

That’s a pity. With myself it’s a little different as i cannot work, and have not been able to for years. I did do some voluntary work many years ago, then i got some physical issues that stopped me. I have a lot of free time, and when i am doing relatively ok, i like to get out and do some. Sunrises or sunsets can be really amazing.

Wow, i never knew that either! i must have seen it about 3-4 times.

I get it. Like I said I love taking photos but I just never remember to stop and take the time. We’ve had some beautiful sunrises here lately. My drive to work takes me over this bridge over a lake and there has been a couple of beautful sunrises there. I wish I could take a photo but there is no good place to stop.

]]> https://themidnightcafe.org/2025/10/04/31-days-of-horror-the-descent-2005/#comment-81835 Sun, 05 Oct 2025 20:27:47 +0000 http://themidnightcafe.org/?p=90249#comment-81835 In reply to Simon F 74.

I didn’t realize it either until I watched this version and it was different than the one in my memory.

I guess that’s relatively common. I showed my daughter Terminator 2 last night and the ending was different than what I remembered (and I’ve seen that film several times). Looked it up and yep, what we saw was an alternative ending that was originally filmed and then test audiences thought it was too upbeat.

Hi Mat, no worries. It’s been wonderful for me really, it gets me out and about. Also it’s really good for my mental and physical health, There is so much you can capture too, i appreciate your kind comments.

Sorry my friend. You sent me a link to your photos and I looked at them and then I got distracted and forgot to comment. I liked them very much. I love taking photos myself but I’m terrible at remembering to actually do it. So I like that you seem to be enjoying yourself just taking lots of wonderful and random photos.

That’s crazy that happened to you too.

I definitely want to see the movie again sometime. I would say the murdering white supremists were the bad guys but I do appreciate that the revolutionaries weren’t just squeaky clean heroes.

Anyway, I agree with your conclusion of the movie. I’d highly recommend it to anybody to see it, while at the same time feeling there’s more to it then I grasped on first watching. I did like the way it had such a political edge to it without strongly taking a side. Were the revolutionaries or the government the good guys or the bad guys???

Also, I was at a theater that served drinks and enjoyed my first French 75!

Thank you Mat, very kind words. My health issues have been very long term, i have not been able to work since 2001. So it’s kind of the norm in a way, however some days can be very good. If you look on Flickr, you don’t need to have an account. You can just type in Simon Folkard, i live over here in the UK, and you can have a peruse if you want. Some of the people i follow are incredible photographers, and it does benefit us mentally and physically. Great to see you posting again mate, Simon.

Thanks very much.

Thank you my friend. I’m sorry to hear about your health issues. I hope you are getting all the help you need.

I’m glad you’ve found something to occupy your time. And photography sounds awesome. I’d love to see some of your work if you ever want to share.

Thank you for that correction. I always thought Earle had been part of those early recordings, but I guess I was wrong.

Oh good choices. Ran and Ivan’s Childhood are both excellent. I still haven’t seen The Pianist. It has been on my list for a long time but it seems like such a heavy movie I keep putting it off.

Yes! Even if you “purchase” a digital copy the companies can still delete the music/movies/TV shows on a whim and you completely lose them.

Also my Internet services isn’t great so it often slows way down during peak hours. On those occassions I can just grab a DVD and watch what I want without dealing with buffering or any other problems.

“Ivan’s Childhood”

“Ran”

“The Pianist”

Thanks. I haven’t dug into the reviews yet. I think I’d put Wages of Fear slightly above Sorcerer, but I’ve only seen Sorcerer once so I need to revisit it.

Oh yes, Sean Young is great.

Ha ha cool – and understood!!

I hope to keep doing full reviews. This will just be something a little extra. We’ll see how it goes.

I think it is called Muppet Treasure Island and I’m pretty sure it has Tim Curry in it, but it has been a long time since I watched it.

My wife has an Instagram account (she posts amazing doll photos on it) and she often complains about how hardly anyone sees her stuff anymore because the dang algorithm changes.

It does seem like the algorithm wants you to post as often as possible. I think it just wants as much junked turned out as possible so it can show more stuff to people and keep them scrolling.

My plan is to maybe post 2-3 times a day, and hopefully just interesting things and see how that helps. If that winds up being too much please feel free to complain. I’ll probably muck around with my social media accounts as well and see what they can do.

I have no idea what I’m doing. But I want it to be fun for everyone.

Mat, that sounds awesome! I’ll email you about the Van.

And as for trying to achieve a big following, I hear you. Not interested! In fact, I block every ‘bot that follows me on IG (beautiful Russian girl, guy selling crypto, etc) because I only want to relate to people who seem to be alive and actually listening to music, lol.

One note: I don’t think you have to post multiple times a day to grow a site’s following on, say, IG. My goal is to post once every 3 days. And scroll/comment on others posts, which tends to make people check out who I am.

For a long time that worked great. Then IG’s algrorithm changed and IG was always wanting me to follow people I don’t know – music stars and such. No interest! And my likes/follows really slowed.

All of which is OK. But anyways, I just wanted to say I don’t want to read 3x a day by ANYONE, so that sort of volume isn’t needed. Just reaching other movie fans with 3 posts a week or something is cool … and I have found hashtags do help.

Thanks again for the Van offer!

I appreciate that. I am on several social media platforms (including Instagram, I just followed you – though I haven’t posted anything on their in years). But I’m not very good at it. I don’t think I have the energy to gain a lot of followers on social media. It seems like to become popular you have to be perpetually online, have to make multiple posts per day. You have to be tuned into the zeitgeist and making interesting comments on whatever is trending at that moment. Etc. That just seems exhausting to me.

I know that I’ll never be famous (or even internet famous) and I’ll never make this site into something huge. I just don’t have whatever it is it takes to do that sort of thing.

I mean I’m still running a blog which was outmoded more than a decade ago! And movie reviews aren’t a driving force to bring people to a site. But I’d like to think I can bring in a few readers. Right now I get less than 100 unique readers per day. My music site wasn’t huge. At my peak I had maybe 1200 subscribers and another 1-2,000 unique readers each day. If I could get this site up to those numbers I’d be happy.

I think there is a balance to be found. I don’t want to be the sort of person who chases new followers. I don’t want to spend every waking moment creating new content to get more people coming here. That would drive me crazy. But I might have to work at it a little harder to bring in a few more folks. I don’t even know if I can keep up the little extra work I’m planning. In a week I may find just making 2-3 posts per day is more than I have the energy for. Even if I do none of it may drive any more traffic my way.

And that’s okay. If it goes nowhere then I’ll just move on. I’ll find something else to do.

You are welcome for the Van. It was actually this site that made me a huge Van fan as well. Before running this blog I had his greatest hits and enjoyed them but never moved beyond that. But then I posted a couple of compilations on here and that attracted a guy named FreeMorrison and he sent me a bunch of shows. I posted them and that brought in a bunch of Van fans. So I posted more shows and then I actually started listening to them and wow. Now I’m all in.

If you are interested I can send you a list of all the van that I have (and never got around to posting) and maybe we can set something up so I can send you some more.

But here’s a thought to grow readership. Are you on Reddit? I recently joined it and I get an email a day from someone posting something within my interests.

I think if you post your new reviews on Reddit – with a link back to your blog so they can read more – that could help.

It’s the best way to reach more people, other than relying on search algorhthms and such.

Same with other social media, of course … are you on Instragram? That seems to be the best platform to expand your base beyond your “in real life” friends. I’ve seen people grow their audience in a big way just by posting good content often. You’ve got that, in spades … for those who love movies, your posts are gold.

I am on IG with an account dedicated just to Record Stores:
https://www.instagram.com/record_stores_fan_atlanta/

Mat, let me also say, Midnight Cafe was truly my Van Morrison source for YEARS … it’s wild how much less my daily listening revolves around Van since you closed the music portion of your blog. But I don’t lament that – instead, I’m just glad for all the Van shows you posted here that I’d never have seen otherwise. Thank you again !! – Noel

You are welcome. Thanks for the comment. I really appreciate that.

We have just started Season 3. We watched the really weird episode last week (I imagine you know what I’m talking about, the one with no plot but a lot of craziness) and we have yet to pick it back up.

I mostly do like it but there is only so much weirdness I can handle.

I would be curious about your thoughts on Twin Peaks season 3. I loved Season 1. Season 2 a little less so, but I remember hearing that Lynch was pissed because they wanted him to wrap up the mystery so he lost interest. Who knows? But S3 (aka Twin Peaks: The Return) was way out of my lane. I seem to be in the minority, though if you look at Rotten Tomatoes.

That’s very cool. The wife and I have been wanting to visit the Pacific North West for a while now and those falls are absolutely on my list of places to go if we ever make it.

Unfortunately I am no longer posting music. Send me an email and I’ll explain why

Yes i kind of felt the same, decent actors i like, but not really cohesive in a meaningful way.

Oh man I haven’t seen The Jerk in forever…and I think you are right, probably best to let the happy memories stay with that one and not revisit it.

It is a movie I want to like, but it just falls flat.

Hi Mat, yes it was. I was only 13 years old back then, i remember enjoying it.

Have you seen Only Murders in the Building? Short is wonderful in that series.

I’ve not actually seen Fantastic Voyage. I”ve heard of it, I think I even own a copy of it on DVD but I’ve never sat down with it. I should remedy that soon.

That must have been a ton of fun to see on the big screen.

Innerspace is a fun movie. I can’t say I’ve seen it since it was in the theater back in 87, but I’ll watch it again soon. I was a big Martin short fan from his SNL “Ed Grimly” days 😂.
Regarding the movie itself, let’s not forget that in many ways, Innerspace was a modern day remake of the 60’s sci-fi cult classic, Fantastic Voyage! (I was surprised you didn’t mention that in your article.)Fantastic Voyage was a crazy 1966 sci fi movie I watched with my dad on tv in the 70’s, and it won some awards at the time of its release for the special effects.

That’s awesome. I’m not a huge fantasy fan but I definitely get that appeal.

🙂

For sure! 🙂

I’ve been to Ollies a couple of times and it is always fun to dig through their stuff. I love places like that where you never know what you’ll find.

Love the record store stories, those are some cool finds.

I have not yet dug into the book yet but it looks awesome. And you would absolutely love the Dylan Center. It is so cool seeing all that stuff first hand.

And if you do come you have to let me know so we can grab some drinks and swap stories.

I still ate the burger 🙂

Hope you & family are well.

Try it again please. It is working on my end.

Nice!

Ha! I started slowly declining when I hit 40, who knows what the next decade has in store 🙂

Don’t worry, I passed the Big 5-0 a few years back and not much really changes. At least, not right away. The body just continues to slowly fall apart, haha.

]]> https://themidnightcafe.org/2025/03/26/bob-dylan-tulsa-ok-03-25-25/#comment-80762 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 02:58:04 +0000 http://themidnightcafe.org/?p=79515#comment-80762 In reply to NoelM.

I’ve missed far too many shows in my life. I keep telling myself to do better and find a way to go…

I’m glad you liked this post. Since I’m not posting music anymore I like the idea of writing about music in some way. I used to do bootleg reviews so I may try to do that again, or maybe some things like this where I’m following a tour.

Oh wow. Some of those VIP tickets are crazy. I can’t imagine buying one and then not being able to go.

Thank you.

I hear you, Mat. Dylan is not only my favorite musician but my favorite artist in any field, ever. (Yes, even over Van!) I’ve been fortunate to see him 22 times so far. But I had a ticket for his Atlanta show in 2013, then sold it when my brothers brewed up a surprise birthday party for my Dad. It’s the only surprise party we’ve ever done for him and I felt bad missing it, so I didn’t go. Sometimes it happens.

Some of us wish Dylan would open up the song box and play all our personal favorite songs thru the years, but this show, centered on ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways,’ is so good. I saw mostly the same setlist twice last year in Athens, GA, and the tapes show that it just gets better and better.

There is joy in this world when my favorite artist still feels compelled to hit the road at almost age 84.

Better late than never

Letting a VIP ticket go to waste is a deadly sin…

https://themidnightcafemusic.wordpress.com/the-oldneumanntapr-page/And there are lots here I hadn’t seen before, so I am going to dig deep!!This first one sounds amazing and I can’t wait to hear others.I know the music portion is on the way out, but I’m thankful for any of these shows I can access before it does – thank you both!

I love The Unforgiven. Night Moves is kind of a shambling, shaggy detective story and Hackman is great in it.

And Elton John!

😉

Excellent review. A must see. Thanks!

Well this I won’t know until I’ve read it! But thanks…

So you are an Englishman living in Mexico City now? Is that correct? How did you wind up there?

I lived in Shanghai for a time and there would be blokes out on street corners with carts full of bootleg DVDs selling for about a dollar a pop. I stopped by all the time and grabbed a handful. You never really knew what you were getting though. Sometimes they would be nice rips from the real DVDs, other times they would be terrible recordings filmed by a camcorder in the actual movie theater. Sometimes you’d wind up with weird directors cuts. The worst were non english language films because the subtitles would often be translated from the original language into Chinese and then the Chinese would be translated into English and it would often come out a garbled mess.

Well yes, but only if you are actually interested in reading my review 🙂

Link has been fixed.

I have yet to explore the Markets in Mexico City – or a zone like Tepito which is apparently awash with cheap bootlegs but it is potentially a danger spot for a Guero like me!

Looking forward to your future movie posts

David aka allthecolours

I have yet to explore the Markets in Mexico City – or a zone like Tepito which is apparently awash with cheap bootlegs but it is potentially a danger spot for a Guero like me!

Looking forward to your future movie posts

David aka allthecolours

Oh good catch. My mistake.

Let me be the first (or maybe the 20th since I may have missed a post!) to say THANK YOU for all the music. I have benefited immeasurably from what you’ve posted … so much of the music boots I have are from your site and I’ve really enjoyed the whole ride. Especially the Van posts – most of what I have has come from Midnight Cafe. Thank you, thank you.

With that said, as I am in my late 50s now I realize more and more: one should definitely do what makes you happy! (And doesn’t hurt others) Posting reviews and notes about movies seems like a solid move for you because you see so many and are so knowledgeable – and it gets around the “file storage issues” entirely.

My wife starts a new job Monday, and we are both reminding ourselves “Change is good.” Just like when my former job (of 27 years) ended precisely 5 years ago today. Since then, I’ve started my own business and it’s stressful but going well.

Change is good. Thanks again for all you have shared here Mat! 🙂 – Noel

thank you.

It isn’t perfect in regard to its treatment of Native Americans, but it is certainly much more progressive than a lot of films from the time period

I used to be a subscriber to your site, and I’d like to rejoin. Thanks. Geoffrey Himes geoff.himes@gmail.com

I have not seen Housekeeping but I liked Local Hero a lot so I’ll add it to my list.

It was a happy accident too. I had those DVD shelves custom made (thanks to my brother) and those two boxed sets wouldn’t fit inside so I just plopped them on top. I didn’t notice how it looked until a friend of mine pointed it out. Makes me smile everytime I see it now.

I don’t know if my “theory” can be verified by real life survivors of hand to hand combat in war – my Dad served in the merchant navy in World War II – and like many veterans this was an experience that he just did not talk about (until very late in his life).

I do not know if you have ever experienced the slo-mo effect in your own experience of life. But I was once involved in a very serious road accident when I was driving. I was nineteen and I recall the events of a few seconds in very vivid detail. Time slowed down. These were life or death moments. And when you die, of course, time stops. There is no time in eternity!

So as hand to hand combat involves mortals in acute crisis and trauma – I figure that in their experience of combat time must slow down…. this is my aesthetic justification for Kurosawa’s treatment of the battle scenes in “Ran”….

I do not know Tokyo Vice but I’ll add it to my list of things to check out.

I have seen Ran and loved it, but it has been far too long since I watched it for me to talk intelligently about it. I’d love to hear your theory anyway, maybe it will make me do a rewatch.

Do you know about the Yakuza TV Crime drama “Tokyo Vice.” There were two seasons and I got hooked.

As for the convincing chaos of the action scenes in the movie you review – that reminded me of the slow motion battle scenes in Kurosawa’s “Ran” that were all soundtracked with poignant classical music. I always loved the aesthetic audacity of those scenes but only recently has it dawned on me why Kurosawa took this approach. I am curious what your take on this might be (assuming you are familiar with “Ran”)

I was not aware of the censorship. I have no idea if I saw the original or the censored versions. I’m gonna guess the censored versions as I watched it on TV in the 1980s.

I’m turning 49 next months so younger than you, but I sure don’t feel young 🙂

I read your review of Tom And Jerry and remain intrigued by the fact that you make no mention of the censorship issue that saw these classic cartoons gutted because of their explicit violence! As a result of this censorship I refrained from purchasing them in DVD format. It is quite possible that you have never seen the originals and from reading your review I suspect this might be the case. I turn seventy this year and suspect that you are considerable younger!

I wouldn’t want to discourage you from watching it. Pretty much all the professional critics I follow love it. And like I say in the review I think if I rewatch it sometime I’ll like it more than I did in this go. But it is definitely an arthouse film and I spent most of it going “what is happening?”

That’s a fun story, thanks for sharing. What a find!

Indeed. I want to stay informed but I’ve learned I can’t spend my day in the news or I won’t sleep at night! Sometimes you need distractions of comfort.

I told her no, it was not from the cartoon, but was in fact the very FIRST Simon & Garfunkel single, recorded in 1957! It was, at that time, worth around $50 and might be worth more today. That was probably 20 years ago that she brought it home.

Very cool. Thanks for the story and the link!

it was a beautiful August night. not too hot. a cool breeze blowing thru the trees.

it was a wonderful show.

GDTS mail order had been sent for fall tour.

when we got to Penn Station to head home, I picked up the latest issue of Relix.

Jerry Speaks: Pranksters, Philosophers, Portals

http://www.relix.com/articles/detail/jerry-speaks-pranksters-philosophers-portals

Love the podcast “Listen Bitch” with lifelong friends Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver

We’ve just started watching the David Michell Shakespeare show. It is very funny but it isn’t something I’d want to binge. I loved his Detective show, Ludwig it is called. I even wrote something about it on my Facebook. Meant to say something here and forgot. It will likely show up in a Five Cool Things soon.

Thanks for the recommenation on the radio shows. I’ll have to check those out.

We have become big fans of a lot of the panel shows. Not only Would I Lie To You, but Eight Out of Ten Cats, Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown, and of course QI. We just recently discovered Taskmaster and it is lots of fun.

Thanks for your recomendations.

I love Fawlty Towers. My wife enjoys Absolutely Fabulous but I’ve never watched it. I’ve never heard of Porridge but I’ll give it a look. I’ve seen bits of that Lee Mack show but it didn’t appeal to me. I’m very werid when it comes to comedy and it seems way too broad for my tastes.

I’ve seen bits of the Bob Mortimer fishing show on Youtube and enjoyed it.

I didn’t do the artwork displayed here. It’s different than mine.

Bob Mortimer rose to fame with Vic Reeves on a comedy sketch show called “Reeves And Mortimer”. Google David Mitchell’s TV series – that range from a comedy about Shakespeare to an unlikely police drama series – the titles elude me!

And how about classic British radio? The Sounds App is wonderful and I recommend you download it. Radio Six is a favourite. Iggy Pop does a two hour show every Sunday afternoon. “New Music Fix” is another fave. I like the sound of surprise.

As for radio comedy – try long established classics like “Just A Minute” and “I’m Sorry I Don’t Have A Clue…” If you don’t know the Goons Show check it out – it was the launching pad forhe career of Peter Sellers as well as modern style “alternative comedy” – its cultural impact cannot be over-estimated as it influenced everyone from Monty Python to the Beatles…

Thanks for the info and that’s very cool you got to meet him.

I should have known you would know :). The Bonnie performances I’ve heard from this period are excellent. I’ll have to check out this Browne performance. I haven’t had time to give it a listen yet.

Both Bonnie and Jackson’s sets from this performance are awesome and very unique, especially Jackson’s as I don’t have any other recording where he does this exact Setlist. He plays songs from his early demos that he doesn’t play again as far as I can tell from my fairly large live Jackson collection.

thanks for posting this show! I’ve had this in my collection for many years and it is a wonderful concert. Soundboards of Jackson Browne shows are few and far between, especially from the 70s. I wanted to comment because this concert has been mislabeled for years. What they call “palm meadows” was actually an organization that Jackson supported in the 70s called the Palmetto Alliance. I believe it was an anti-nuclear organization. It’s funny, I still have a cassette tape I got in the 80s of the show and it’s labeled as “palm meadows, Columbia, Maryland”. That is also incorrect. Lol. The above artwork IS correct in saying that the concert took place at the township auditorium in Columbia South Carolina. But it was a benefit for the Palmetto Alliance. Just wanted to share this in case anyone is interested! And if you haven’t heard the show, download it, it’s super!

I love all his films too – including the art-school film he made – “steamroller” is in the title (?) – I saw a retrospective of all his works at the Mayfair Theatre in Ottawa – a favourite haunt of my wife and I – but we walked out of the screening of “Solaris” because it featured an awful awful U.S. dub! I eventually saw a print with sub-titles (phew!) – beautiful work by a true poet of the screen.

Went to see “A Complete Unknown” last weekend – the behind the scenes promo I saw on youtube got me really hyped! The acting impressed me.

Thank you very much. I appreciate your kind words. I have an ebook cop of Sculpting in Time somewhere and keep meaning to read it.

I love all of his films. Stalker is probably my favorite but they are all brilliant. Strangely Solaris is probably my least favorite and that seems to be a lot of folks favorite.

Good luck. I have shot Nikon since 1998 when I was working in the print-news industry. Back then it was all manual focus, manual exposure. Automatic TTL flash was the only automation that I used. I bought a Pentax MX new in 1979 and used it for years until I wore it out. I shot sports for the newspaper and I liked the Nikons because they had fast motor drives. The Nikons had titanium shutters whereas the Pentax that I had used a cloth shutter and it was a weak link, and wouldn’t hold up to a motor drive. So much has changed now in photography. Cameras today are basically a computer with a lens port.