MK/SNL

[Ron Moses]

Hey, let's play out a scenario! Fun!

Okay, in this scenario, it turns out Tom Hanks is a huge Keneally fan. Lorne Michaels wants him to host SNL in March, but Tom says he'll only host if Mike Keneally Band can be the musical guest. Lorne agrees.

So now Mike has to choose two songs under five minutes to introduce himself to the world. Pick 'em!

ron

[Antal Adriaanse]

2001 (3:46)
I'm Raining Here, Inside (3:34)

Antal
the mike keneally band tour chronology
e: chronology(at)keneally.com
i: http://www.keneally.com/chronology

[Ron Moses]

Post by Antal Adriaanse
2001 (3:46)
I'm Raining Here, Inside (3:34)

Interesting choices. I have two follow-up questions for you, Tal...

1. Do they air SNL in the Netherlands? Forgive my ignorance, I have no idea how international the show is.

2. Would it make any difference to your choices if Mike had the option of recruiting any members of the house band he felt he needed to fill out an arrangement?

ron

[Antal Adriaanse]

Post by Ron Moses
1. Do they air SNL in the Netherlands? Forgive my ignorance, I have no idea how international the show is.

We used to have it on one of those European networks, and I am pretty sure the 70ies shows were aired on Dutch tv. Not sure if it is on any of the zillion channels [incl.a couple of American networks] we have these days. Good for a couple of laughs. But as is with most US shows, the way they build a show in between commercial breaks just does not work for me.

Post by Ron Moses
2. Would it make any difference to your choices if Mike had the option of recruiting any members of the house band he felt he needed to fill out an arrangement?

Not really, my choices were based on what I think the general SNL public would be able to deal with and what would make (some of) them want to check out the MK catalogue. Live In Japan and Why Am I Your Guy? would work for me too. And I love 2001 (and all of Wooden Smoke).

Antal
the mike keneally band tour chronology
e: chronology(at)keneally.com
i: http://www.keneally.com/chronology

[Ron Moses]

Post by Antal Adriaanse

Post by Ron Moses
1. Do they air SNL in the Netherlands? Forgive my ignorance, I have no idea how international the show is.

We used to have it on one of those European networks, and I am pretty sure the 70ies shows were aired on Dutch tv.

It's gotten way slicker since those days, so you'd probably like it even less. :) They have some very talented people working on it, but you're right about it being a commercial-fest.

Post by Antal Adriaanse
my choices were based on what I think the general SNL public would be able to deal with and what would make (some of) them want to check out the MK catalogue. Live In Japan and Why Am I Your Guy? would work for me too. And I love 2001 (and all of Wooden Smoke).

As do I. I think my only concern about 2001 (apart from the title issue I mentioned in my other post) is that it's kinda sleepy and low-energy. That's part of its beauty, of course. But given that you're playing at 11:50 on a Saturday night, and most viewers just want you to get it over with so they can watch the Weekend Update segment and go to bed, something more invigorating might be called for. Just a thought.

ron

[Ron Moses]

My first thought is, even though you have two songs, most viewers tune out after the news so you really have one song to grab them by the balls. And in my opinion, the best track to open with is Live In Japan. It's got the riff, a great melody, it plays to the strengths of Mike's voice, and the chorus is hooky as fuck. If the ultimate goal is to move a few thousand units the next morning, I think that's your best bet.

I didn't consider 2001 at all until Tal mentioned it, but that wouldn't be a bad selection for the second number. My only concern is that it doesn't feature the title anywhere, so someone looking for it on YouTube/Spotify/etc. is going to have a hard time finding it. But musically a fair choice.

However, I'm still thinking something more readily embraceable by a late-night TV audience. Radiohead can come on and play whatever bizarre thing they're doing this year, Mike can't. Pride Is A Sin, Splane, and Why Am I Your Guy would all be good choices for various reasons. Beautiful might not be as digestible, alas, though I'd love for that to happen. Of course if it was a fuck-it situation, I'd want to hear either Ragged Ass or Kidzapunk.

Final answer:

Live In Japan
Why Am I Your Guy?

ron

[.ben.]

Post by Ron Moses
Hey, let's play out a scenario! Fun!
Okay, in this scenario, it turns out Tom Hanks is a huge Keneally fan. Lorne Michaels wants him to host SNL in March, but Tom says he'll only host if Mike Keneally Band can be the musical guest. Lorne agrees.
So now Mike has to choose two songs under five minutes to introduce himself to the world. Pick 'em!
ron

Probably Live In Japan and Potato...the two "hits", such as they are. But LIJ really needs the FULL band to come off as majestic as it would need to be.

I started watching SNL again in the past year and find it to be a bit less hideous than it used to be (plus I now have this weird "thing" for Vanessa Bayer, which I can't really figure out, but whatever). The thing that killed it for me has always been the cue card reading, but I've gotta say, the past dozen or so episodes have had at least two solid sketches where there is laughter aloud from my couch.

I probably would NOT watch it, though, if I could not zip through the commercials with my DVR.

.ben.

[Ron Moses]

Post by .ben.
Probably Live In Japan and Potato...the two "hits", such as they are. But LIJ really needs the FULL band to come off as majestic as it would need to be.

He can pull from the house band, so that's covered. :)

Post by .ben.
(plus I now have this weird "thing" for Vanessa Bayer, which I can't really figure out, but whatever)

I can completely figure that out. Cutie. What I can't figure out is my weird thing for Cecily Strong.

Post by .ben.
The thing that killed it for me has always been the cue card reading

You know who nailed it in that department? Patrick Stewart. (Season 19, Episode 12.) That dude came in and committed to every sketch like it was Shakespeare.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdzxjg_cakes_fun

Post by .ben.
I probably would NOT watch it, though, if I could not zip through the commercials with my DVR.

I get that, but I have to watch it live. I've been tuning in at 11:30 Saturday night since the Belushi days.

ron

[KevinDouglasPhD]

Post by Ron Moses
Hey, let's play out a scenario! Fun!
Okay, in this scenario, it turns out Tom Hanks is a huge Keneally fan. Lorne Michaels wants him to host SNL in March, but Tom says he'll only host if Mike Keneally Band can be the musical guest. Lorne agrees.
So now Mike has to choose two songs under five minutes to introduce himself to the world. Pick 'em!

1. Tomorrow/Physics medley, played as heavy as possible
2. Father's Day, on solo acoustic. Then Tom Hanks joins the stage, playing the outro chords while Mike switches to electric and plays a killer solo.

[Alan]

Post by Ron Moses
Hey, let's play out a scenario! Fun!
Okay, in this scenario, it turns out Tom Hanks is a huge Keneally fan. Lorne Michaels wants him to host SNL in March, but Tom says he'll only host if Mike Keneally Band can be the musical guest. Lorne agrees.
So now Mike has to choose two songs under five minutes to introduce himself to the world. Pick 'em!
ron

Skipping over the whole convo that went on before I checked back in here...

I agree that you want an uppy attention grabber in the first slot. I
think in the second slot you can get away with a quieter number, or even
something a bit more quirky.

So, first slot, I'd go for something like Ankle Bracelet, Live In Japan,
Pride Is A Sin or Why Am I Your Guy.

For the second slot, I think things are far more wide open, so here I'd
lean towards I'm Raining Inside, The Car Song, Potato or an acoustic
number. I'd lean towards Raining if only because it's the newest of those.

So I'd go...

Live In Japan (my first choice was AB, but you convinced me)
I'm Raining Inside

Alan