Frost/Nixon and UKZ

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in New York City, seeing two very different shows. In the early afternoon, I went to see the film "Frost/Nixon," and in the evening, I went to see the "new" prog band UKZ, featuring Eddie Jobson from the late 1970's prog band UK.

But, to start with, I went into the city around noonish, to catch the 1:50pm showing of "Frost/Nixon." I enjoy reading history, and learning more about the story behind the story of what has happened in the past, so I believed this movie would be a good way of seeing what happened behind the scenes with the Frost/Nixon interviews, which I do vaguely remember from my childhood.

Of course, I know that any recreation of history is simply that, a recreation, but going into it with that light, these types of films can be a great way to get a sense of the atmosphere of the time.

With that all being said, my verdict is that I enjoyed the movie. I didn't realize the struggle that Frost had to get these interviews funded and off the ground. I knew that Frost was a television personality, but I didn't know that at the time, he was considered to be a lightweight, and that an interview with Nixon wouldn't really have fit in with his past career. The movie painted Frost as someone who at first, was really only interested in the interview as a way to get Nixon on television, to be the "first" to really interview him after his resignation in 1974. However, the movie showed Frost truly getting interested in getting the 'truth' from Nixon after a late night phone call from Nixon himself during the course of the interviews.

I'm curious if that call happened, or if it was a creation for the film. More to learn...

Frank Langella played Nixon, and while he doesn't particularly have a resemblance to the old President, he did inhabit the character like an old glove. Langella had played Nixon in the stage play that the movie is based upon, so he did have a familiarity with the character that another actor might not have attained in the time it took to make the film.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. There was enough of the 'process' behind the interviews, to have it be a compelling story, but I would have actually liked *more* about that process. And Nixon himself could have had more development as a character. Perhaps this is just my own hankering for history, that I always want more from these films. I know that the original interviews have been released on DVD recently, it may be worth picking up to see what the interviews were truly like, and if there are any behind the scenes stories in extras on the discs.

Not exactly what you'd think of as a compelling rental or purchase, but for me, it's something that I would really be interested in seeing.

Would I recommend this movie? Yes, most certainly. I think it does a great job of showing the time, and the personalities behind the characters. My main critique, is that I did just want *more* from the film.

Then, after checking out a local arcade on 42nd Street after the movie, where I played trivia games for about an hour, I headed to the Town Hall for the premiere of UKZ, a five piece band featuring Eddie Jobson on keyboards and electric violin, Trey Gunn on Warr Guitar, Marco Minnerman on drums, Aaron Lippert on vocals, and Alex Machacek on guitar. This band is a 'recreation' of the band UK, which Jobson was a part of in the late 1970's, which at the time included (at different times), John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, and Terry Bozzio.

So, with Jobson really the only carryover from the old band, what to expect? My mentality was to go into the show with minimal expectations. I was going for fun, to enjoy myself, and to see a lineup of great musicians going for it. And fortunately, that is what I got.

The evening started off with Tony Levin's "Stick Men" project, featuring Levin and Michael Bernier on Stick, and Pat Mastelotto on drums. They performed for about 40 minutes, a variety of material written and performed with gusto, with lots of interlocking parts and fun playing. Levin and Bernier would alternate holding down rhythm, and playing lead lines on their Sticks. I enjoyed the material, but I think that some of it did begin to sound the same over the performance. One piece stood out for me though, where both Levin and Bernier used bows on their Sticks to make sound, versus the normal tapping that players usually use on the Stick. It was more a more breathy and atmospheric piece, some of which reminded me of the middle section of Pink Floyd's "Echoes." I'd like to see more experimental pieces from the Stick Men in the future, I'd gladly go see them again. Levin is always fun to see perform, and the band can really develop over time.

UKZ performed for slightly under 2 hours. If this band can sound this tight after what I would imagine are fairly minimal rehearsals, then I can only imagine what they could produce after a real series of shows. The band and performance was great! The first song was the UK classic "In the Dead of Night," which sounded both like the older arrangement, but had a great new edge to it. "Radiation," a new UKZ song followed, which while Crimson-like in its sound, was unique enough to keep this listener interested. The UK song "Carrying No Cross" followed, which was a really wonderful version, with emotional singing from Lippert.

The middle section of the concert included a number of solo spots, from Trey (with Marco the drummer), Eddie's piano and violin solo spot, a solo spot from the guitarist, and a drum solo which was both entertaining to see and amazing to listen to. To my taste, I think there was a bit *too* much of the solo spots in the show, but as a new band, UKZ still doesn't have a lot of new material to play live. If the band continues, and I hope it does, I would hope the solo bits would be cut down. I prefer solo bits that are incorporated into full band pieces...

The band played a few more new pieces, and ended the full set with another UK song, which I'm drawing a blank on, what the song actually was. I'm sure the full setlist is published on one of the other prog sites. The encores were King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic II," with Levin and Mastelotto joining in on the fun. It was great to hear the violin lines in that song played by a violin again! The final song was UK's "Caesar's Palace Blues," with (I think), the song "The Sahara of Snow" from Bruford (co-written by Jobson) tagged onto the end of the piece.

All in all, a good day spent in the city. The movie was well worth it, and the band was wonderful to see.