Gen X Excellence
I've Seen the Future and I've Left It Behind
Mark Rushton’s Abundant Spare Time is a weekly email on Substack where I talk about my ongoing work as a recording artist and visual artist.
This email is brought to you by the Mark Rushton Gallery, for printed and original artworks. License my music, sound fx, and illustrations at Pond 5 for your creative project. I’m on Bandcamp and all the usual streaming services.
This week’s topics:
Free Gig Free Swag
Gen X Excellence
Mastodon - “Supernaut” (live)
Free Gig Free Swag
I’ll be playing live in public for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, July 19th, starting around 7pm at the xBk Annex, 1163 24th St, Unit B, near 24th & University by Drake University. It’s an ambient instrumental gig. Here’s the details on FB.
Stop by and pick up one of physical media giveaways. I’ll have some CD-Rs you can play in your car. And some CD-Rs that were mistakes that can only be ripped to a computer.
It’s a week away, so I could bring other things to hand out. I was going to bring a cassette, but the quality wasn’t so good. I am still deciding what to wear. I was thinking of dressing like the French band AIR.
The Annex has a small capacity - about 40 if we all hold our breath. I might have visuals. I might have a guest. I don’t know how long it’ll go. I told xBk I’d be happy to do 3+ hours, no problem, but we’ll see.
I’ve been doing rehearsals for the show and recorded one of them. I released a 58 minute version recently on Bandcamp as a freebee or “pay what you want” - it’s called Rehearsals for the Annex - I made this live and without edits except on the ends. This is generally what the show will sound like.
Gen X Excellence
My wife nailed it with describing the return of Oasis at Cardiff. Liam sounded great and the band was tops. Happy to see Bonehead playing. I love every interview with Noel Gallagher.
Of course, looking around the internet I found a few people who weren’t happy about it. They were the type of people who aren’t ever happy about anything.
I heard all their songs in the 90s. They’re still good. But like the reunion of the Stone Roses maybe next year we’ll care less. For now, get out your bucket hat and remember the pre-internet days. Nice to see Noel and Our Kid patch things up before they have to wheel somebody out in a chair.
Mastodon - “Supernaut” (live)
The other huge musical event last week was Back to the Beginning, the end of Black Sabbath. Kind of amazing they have lived this long.
I remember when Ronnie James Dio got back and they toured as Heaven And Hell in the late 00s. Ann and I were up late one night and saw a concert on TV of this and I was instantly a fan. That version of Black Sabbath just wasn’t on my cultural radar in the 80s. I mean, Des Moines is where Ozzy bit the head off a bat during a concert in the early 80s and then had to get “horrible, painful” rabies shots.
Of the Ozzy era of Black Sabbath, I have to say that “Supernaut” is probably my favorite song of theirs.
Mastodon kills it here. Crowd recording, but it’s good enough!
Joining the band during the drum solo is Mario Duplantier from Gojira, Dan Carey from Tool, and Eloy Casagrande, formerly of Sepultura, but now drumming for Slipknot - a band originally from Des Moines.