Saw Joel Rosenblatt w/Oz Noy at the Bitter End Last Night

[kinkymook]

Took a much needed vaca to NYC over the weekend and made sure to catch Oz Noy at the Bitter End. I knew beforehand that Joel was doin' the gig, but didn't know 'til I talked to Joel afterward that it was his first. I'm in the airport now, waiting to board and typing this on El iPhone, so I'll take some time when I get back to Denver to do a proper review and post a couple of pics. Or, just hit my Facebook link. There are a couple on there. I'll just say very quickly that its gotta be such a challenging gig as Oz's compositions are just so..jagged. AND, i was very impressed with the sound of the Starclassic Maples Joel was playin'. Beautiful finish too. More to come!

[Juan Expósito]

Thanks !!
Playing the first gig with Oz Noy must be a little...well....better you have taken "some notes" and practiced the tunes before...
Some reading skills must me appreciated !!
(Post some pic of Joel´s drum set if you can...)

[Kurtis]

would have loved to seen joel with oz. amazing player. wonder if any vids are going to pop up on youtube in the days to come.

[kinkymook]

Ok, so on a proper computer now..
Let me start by saying that if you're in the NYC area on a Monday night, you definitely should check out OZ at the Bitter End. I first saw OZ back in Jan 2002 after the band I was in at the time had traveled from Florida to NYC to play CBGB on a COLD Monday night. After we had done our "showcase" set, we packed up our gear and made our way up to the Bitter End to hear a friend of our lead singer do his thing. After they were done, Oz and the bass player started bringing their stuff in followed by the drummer with his yellow Hip Gig. I looked at the lead singer in my band and said, "Hey, that's Anton Fig from the Letterman band." To which he replied, "No it isn't. That guy looks too old! Go talk to him." So, I went over to Anton as he was putting his stuff up on stage and said, "You've got a Hip Gig, how do you like it?" Anton glanced at me and said (rawther gruffly), "Sounds like shit but it fits in a cab." I backed off and ordered a Jack Daniels and sat back in my chair in front of the stage and waited for them to start. Keep in mind that back then, OZ didn't have a record out and I'd certainly never heard of him so I was curious as to what we were going to hear. Well, as soon as they set up their charts and started freaking out, I was DIGGIN' IT man. I was the resident "fusoid" in the band so I kept getting shit from the band as I couldn't keep the smile off my face and from hooting my enthusiasm between songs! We were the ONLY people in there as seriously, it was FREEZING out. After they were done, I had a chance to talk to Anton and we had a good laugh about the "Sounds like shit" comment.
So, that was my intro to Oz's music.

This last Monday, I got down to the Bitter End about 9ish for the 10:30 set that didn't end up starting 'til a little after eleven. Oz had 10 million pedals for his sounds and Joel had brought in his 10, 14, 16, kick, snare, and slew of cymbals set up and they moved as quick as they could. As soon as they had it together (along with a keyboard player handling the bass duties) they kicked it off. I don't own all of OZ's records but they played Schizophrenic, Steroids, Fuzzy, and the always tricky, Evidence, FUZZY, among others....
Joel handled the gig with his particular style, not too hard, not too soft. He had a great touch and played very musically. His drums were very punchy and throaty. I've only played Starclassic Birch drums (Never quite figured out those drums. Sound cheap to me). Joel's were maple, tuned low and loose and just had a presence that killed. The floor toms just had so much ooomph, it wasn't even funny. He used a bunch of cymbals, mainly Zildjians with one Sabian HH crash. Looked and sounded like 13" New Beats, a 15 Azuka Latin crash with the flanged edge and rivets, primary crash was the Sabian HHX, 17" maybe(?), a dynamite 10 in splash (really bright with just enough spread), a 20 in K Custom Dry Light Ride, what looked to be and sounded like a 15" A custom crash, and a A Custom EFX over the 16 floor. Man, I'm tellin' ya', all of his cymbals sounded utterly beautiful and he knew how to use them. I was particularly smitten with the splash and the EFX cymbal. Never thought about looking into that last one but now..Hmmm....
Anyway, there were a few screw-ups here and there between Joel and Oz, but after talking to Joel after the show, I learned that it was his first ever gig with Oz. When I asked him what it was like playing all those jagged forms and kicks, he told me that he had been practicing like crazy but it hadn't been enough! He said he was going straight back to the shed to bone up some more before the next gig. Don't get me wrong, the screw-ups weren't that obvious and Joel did a fine job, but after hearing what I heard, getting that gig and NAILING it is no small feat. The charts were ridiculous and if you've heard Oz's music, then you know.
Highly recommended to anyone in NYC or any members looking for a great night of music while in the Village.
I didn't take a bunch of pics (just a few as I didn't want to be "that guy"). I've never posted any. How do I go about it from my Mac? I'll give it a shot.s

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