BIG Something – DREAM TOUR

In this Dream Tour segment, the alternative rock band, BIG Something, shares the acts that they would include on their ultimate tour lineup. You can check out their picks, after the break.

This was not an easy list to compile, and some people will disagree with my decisions, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway… These are my personal picks for a “dream tour” (which includes artists both living and deceased), but I kept my other Big Something brothers in mind when thinking about this. I know that they like some of these groups as well. There are unfortunately many artists I had to leave off of this list, so… Sorry everyone!

Okay so this would be like a Warped Tour situation but with much better music (in my humble opinion). It’s more like a “Legends of the History of Recorded Music Tour.” The bands would travel the world from city to city, and the tour would be on such a grand scale that it would have to take place at large outdoor venues with two stages. It would be a two day event at each venue. There would be no overlapping sets. Here we freakin go-

Day 1
The first band would be a super group comprised of my amazing musician friends- funk master drummer Papa Guyo and his band Days of Wild, featuring Mamadou Mbengue on the African Tama, or “Talking Drum.” Members of Big Something would take part in this funk extravaganza, as well as many of my musician friends from my hometown of Greensboro and beyond (all you Pizza Jammers know who you are, so I don’t have to list everyone’s name).

Big Something would have to play next because the rest of the acts playing are legendary musicians and deserve headlining spots.

Next up would be the original Wailers… meaning Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Enough said there.

Then guess what! Talking Heads perform “Stop Making Sense.” Musical performance art at its finest.

Finally… wait for it… The Beatles. Yes, The Beatles would cap off the night performing many of their sonically brilliant songs that no one ever got to hear live.

Day 2
French composer Claude Debussy starts the next morning off, playing his solo piano work, which I consider some of the most beautiful music ever written.

Staying in the instrumental “Classical” style, Igor Stravinsky would then conduct an orchestra performing “The Firebird Suite.” Next they would perform “The Rite of Spring,” which is one of the most intense pieces of music known in this world. Whoa. That will wake everyone up.

Next, Icelandic visionary Bjork would perform. Her constant innovation and desire to push musical boundaries into the future make up a large part of why I find her music so captivating. For proof of this, watch her new movie, “Biophilia Live.” She is definitely my favorite electronic musician and one of my favorite contemporary artists… if you have never sat and listened Bjork on headphones or good speakers, I would highly recommend it.

Getting into it now- next up is Tool. I have to choose this band as my “Rock” act because they were the band that opened my ears to the vastness of the world of music. Tool was also my first rock show. I was in the tenth grade. Their music and overall concept of open-consciousness truly changed my life.

Sly and The Family Stone would then perform their legendary powerhouse funk set, ala Woodstock- Jimi Hendrix would sit in on some of their songs. They go down in history as one of the funkiest bands of all time, and were the first interracial group, including male and female musicians, to make it into the mainstream. Sly, if you’re out there, we love you. Thank you for changing music in the most positive way imaginable.

And Then Pink Floyd would play. I don’t know, maybe they’d do “The Wall” or “Dark Side” or just whatever the hell they wanted to do. But Pink Floyd (including Roger Waters) caps off the event.

But wait! Surprise encore! Each band member of Big Something gets to play a song with a band of their choice. For Instance, Doug might play with Iron Maiden or Rush, Ben would maybe play with The Foo Fighters, Nick would do a song with Talking Heads or perhaps Parliament-Funkadelic, Josh would probably play with Zappa, and Jesse would possibly play with The Allman Brothers. I’m just guessing; I can’t speak for them!

I know the logistics of this production would be impossible, but that’s what makes this is a “dream” tour, right? Thanks for reading (if you made it this far) and I hope you check out some of the musicians that I listed here, if you haven’t heard them… and send some music my way!

Peace,
Casey Cranford- Sax and EWI player with Big Something

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