Rock Over Chicago

Come On a Quick Saturday Night Journey Thru Camden

2010-05-26T14:52:00.039-05:00

I know the woman who has put together a incredibly awesome two day fest in Camden at the many venues that make this part of London the freakin' best! The vibe in Camden is one that is not duplicated almost any where else in the world. Artists, musicians, Amy Winehouse, addicts, dealers, music fans, drunks, hipsters, vendors, restaurants, pubs and whatever else makes this pot of people make it what it is; beautiful in a ugly, urban way. Have to experience it for a few days to soak up the vibe and all that this small part of London contains. So this event is called; The Camden Crawl (http://www.thecamdencrawl.com/), as that is what you will be doing by nights end. Must be 20 or so venues to see hundreds of acts over two days. Some big ones (Gang Of Four, Cornershop) and some new buzzing acts (The Drums; everyone wanted to see them), but it is void of any HUGE promoter (ie Jam, Live Nation, AEG) so it had a nice indie vibe and products were not being shoved down your throat at every turn. Very refreshing for a change! Only sponsor I got out of it was a cider company and MTV was doing some promo blasts on cable. I have to say that Lisa (my friend who put this together) did a top notch job!

I had four tickets to the early show at the legendary Roundhouse venue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roundhouse); so David, Terrie Jean, Lidia and myself loaded into a black cab and headed for Camden from our location in Dulwich!
It wasn't raining, but it was ready to unload and unload it did when we arrived near the Roundhouse. We jump out of the black cab and find our bearings, The Roundhouse is ahead about a block as it starts to rain heavier. This place is way cool and has a ton of history, it was originally used to turn the locomotives around and was the only place The Doors played in London. It is round and very maze like on the outside and on the inner outside halls while the main room is very "thunder dome" like. Some cool iron work and has a very nice flow to it with some killer sight lines; even Lidia could see from the back!! We are inside on the ground floor and I am trying to figure out where the hell the venue is. We do find the bar; it's England and it's a law a bar must be within so many feet of every social event, so we order some beers and cider. I find the stairs and we ascend to the second floor and enter the the space to the beginnings of Calvin Harris with a full band.

Now I discovered Calvin several years ago as he burst onto the UK chart and dance scene with a sledgehammer of singles that are the most infectious and danceable ditties you ever wanted to move to. "Acceptable In The '80's" "Girls" and "Merrymaking At My House" were the three breakout songs for this wee Scottish lad in the UK charts. It was part of my soundtrack for half of 2007 and most of 2008. Just some of the best and most simple dance grooves from this decade! He is a bit nerdy, the lyrics are funny and the music is nothing but aural goodness

He does two types of shows, one a DJ set and the other with a full band and that is what I wanted to see and we did. The band was tight and spot on for each song. Calvin was part DJ, part maestro and part lead singer; all culminating in a very nice front man. This was the early show of two different shows at The Roundhouse this evening and Calvin's show was PACKED! We missed the support act; The Sugarbabes, a all girl act from the UK that has charted quite a bit over the years (more about Lidia's Sugarbabes encounter after the show later on in this story). What we walked into was a full on dance party with Sir Calvin orchestrating the band and crowd into a frenzy. It seemed like hit after hit, just kept drinking and moving to the groove. He has a interesting cross section for an audience; gays, little girls, club kids, the indie crowd and all of us were dancing fools; happy dancing fools. He played all the hits including "Ready For The Weekend" and "You Use To Hold Me" which put a big smile on my face. We walked out to the patio/balcony bar during the encores for a quick drink and some rain.

I was still massively buzzing from Calvin's set and the beers, that is when I had a genius idea! Instead of walking around Camden in the rain, queueing (this is a national pastime in the UK, they love a good line) in the lines outside each club; I am going to buy 4 tickets to the Pendulum and Plan B show in The Roundhouse in ninety minutes. I do like Pendulum and they are doing a 'Live" set tonight and BBC 1 have been all over Plan B, so let's do this! I run down to the box office and am told "Sold Out"; shit! Go outside and look for the touts (ticket scalpers here in the states) and I spot one right away as the rain goes into overdrive. My man has only two tickets and I say I need four and start to leave, "No mon, my partner has more". So I stand there in the rain as I try to suss the situation and eyeball my new acquaintances; these guys are way to small and thin to try any funny business. His guy comes over to us and says he has one ticket; hold on, two tickets emerge from his pocket that look like my homework from the first grade; F*CKEDUP!! I peruse the scraps and determine now they are all legit and I now go into negotiating mode with my two new, tiny London friends. You have to understand that I am one of the tallest people in London when I visit; or so it seems. Everyone is so small and fairly skinny. As I stated before, they are very small, thin and very street. I am predicting in my mind I should be able to close a good deal for the four tickets. Now the two ticket gangsters try their bit on me (their accents are half south London mixed with a Jamaican drawl and half of what they are saying wizzes past me) and say they need one hundred pounds for all four tickets and I let out a big laugh and stand a bit taller over them. "Guys you must be really high, I was thinking fifty and that's generous" is the reply from my dripping head. We settle on sixty five and I leave happy with my four tickets and meet the gang at a lovely kind of do it yourself tapas place across the street from the venue. Nando's I believe is the name and a chain to boot also. We had some lovely small plates and some more lager. When I sat down, I think it was Terrie Jean said one of the Sugarbabes (Amelle Berrabah) was right over there eating with a guy. No entourage and no security, she actually sang on their biggest single which was number 1 for a month. Almost immediately Lidia and I had the same "light bulb" moment; we have to get her a Evil Kitty card and say we would love to send her some designs. But how does Lidia do this without seeming like a stalker or crazy? It took her about twenty minutes to screw up the nerve to approach her and when she finally made her move.....Amele was GONE....ARGHH!!! We blew a opportunity to get Evil Kitty on the paparazzi pages in the UK tabloids. Just as we were sinking back into our seats, she emerges from the loo; brilliant. Lidia makes a beeline to her and she is quite friendly and receptive. She takes her business card and says she will let the other two girls know about it also. Score and nice one Lidia.

The whole time we are watching the line outside The Roundhouse grow to monstrous proportions in the downpour. As I said before, the English LOVE a good queue and this was staring to take on length of three city blocks. Since it seems to rain everyday in London at some point and loving queue's; I guess standing in line in the rain is something that is ingrained into their DNA; just love that stuff and I can not stand waiting, lines or the rain. Bit of a fascist when it comes to those three, but I was soon queueing in the rain and loving it. We went to a pub next door and drank two pints in the rain and I was lectured by the women how I need to get a grip and learn how to wait. OK; Let's go stand in line in the rain, i give....uncle!! It wasn't that bad and it only took us about ten m unites as the idea to get some pints led to the line being drastically reduced. Now all this before has just been the lead up to what I actually want to tell you what I witnessed as the support act started the second show. This is what I want; no, need to tell you. This kicked my ass and blew me away.....Plan B!

To get a small picture of what I saw and heard this night; you need to check out his two most recent singles. "Stay To Long" and the amazing "She Said".

Plan B is basically this white kid from London with a tight backing band and singers. The band is very young also and hot as hell. Ben Drew (Plan B) has been called the British Eminem. That is so far off point it makes me laugh...HA! He is a bit that; but only a tiny part. He sings like Marvin and Al, he has the soul in his voice that comes thru like you hear in "Heard It Thru The Grapevine" and "Tired Of Being Alone". It was one of the single best sets of music I have witnessed in years. We danced and grooved for the better part of an hour. He finished and brought the house down with "Stay To Long" and it rocked us and the four thousand people to the roof of this terror dome. I felt like I had witnessed the next thing that will shake up the stagnant music world. I was tingling and happy as could be. What a discovery and we still had Pendulum. Oh yeah, Pendulum. Don't get me wrong, they rocked and we did stay for six or seven songs, but I was Plan B'd up and wanted to leave before that buzz in my head died. So we jumped in a cab and headed for Dulwich and beers and silly talk 'til dawn. I still listen to both those songs everyday and think this is the shit. Best night, Best wife, Best friends, Best band, Best place to be.....

Peter Steele RIP....My Brush With An Interesting, Mysterious and Sad Man

2010-04-19T23:24:00.029-05:00

I had not seen or talked to Peter Steele of Type O Negative for over a decade. In fact I kind of forgot about him and his band the last ten years I guess. Not that I stopped being a fan of his band or of him personally; I dig both (and will always have a special place for both in my ticker). No; it was just I stopped promoting metal shows, managing metal bands and stopped touring all together. Peter was the essence of opposites. He was very dark and private, yet he would always initiate every conversation when I would see him and he had the best and darkest sense of humor. His music and lyrics were also the same. A goth band who were too metal and a metal band that was to goth and punk. Their first lp was "Slow, Deep and Hard" is a classic album in every sense. It broke so many boundaries in the metal and goth scenes; hell the whole music scene and business. They were their labels first gold record; something they accomplished against all odds. So reading he passed away last week was a real bummer and has been playing in my movie theatre in my head since I heard over the weekend. I had some moments with Peter and the band and all that came rushing back into my video player in my head. I promoted a bunch of his shows, toured with him and had some great (intense now I look back) conversations with him. I have met a lot of people (too many?) in my life and .01% ever really impacted my life with their personality and presence; Peter definitely did and some of it has stayed with me in life and business (we both sucked at love then).

I first met Peter....wait a minute, let's back up almost a year to the day in 1991 when Roadrunner Records sent me the promo cassette and lp of "Slow, Deep and Hard". There were metal bands and there were goth bands; but no one had successfully combined the best of both (god knows both genres have some bloated, cheesy types) to really take it up a notch. Well Peter and his long time buddies from Brooklyn were well up to the challenge. They delivered a record that to this day still sounds fresh and boundary breaking; just a really good album from start to finish. It was tongue in cheek lyrics, pounding rhythms, song titles than were mind boggling and Peter's insanely deep vocals. Nothing generic or phony ever seem to enter their realm. They knew it was just music and loved to poke fun at themselves and the ironic world we exist in. The cheese was meant to be way cheesy and the metal was a hard as anyone, some of the songs were a highway that incorporated almost ever musical style you can think of. A Baroque piano solo then a slow funeral chant that takes a right turn into the fasted 4/4 punk rock beat and ends you in a haze of Pete's deep growl, pounding drums and whirling keys. Thinking man's metal and goth? Hell no, real music from a real world with all the escapism you need to cope. I just remembered I had actually first had contact with Peter by phone in the mid 1980's. His first band was Carnivore, a NYC metal band that I had tried to get to come out to Chicago to play one of my shows. As a punk and metal promoter in the '80's I was way into the whole NYC hardcore and metal scenes. I had brought out Agnostic Front, Murphy's Law, Cro-Mags, Ludichrist, Crumbsuckers, Leeway all for their first shows here in Chicago. So I was trying to track down Carnivore as they had no agent or manager at the time. They pretty much only played the east coast as they all had decent, good paying straight jobs. I had somehow gotten a hold of a 718 (Brooklyn!!) number. Someone at their label said call this number and someone from Carnivore will answer. So I called, Peter answered and we proceeded to talk about them coming out to Chicago to play one of my shows at Metro. He explained that he had a good paying job with the parks department of Brooklyn and they could only play locally weekends. But he was hoping they could do a small tour when they all had vacation dates together. Well they broke up before that and all the planning in my head went south.

So we move ahead several years and I am doing shows at a all ages club called Medusa's and I have a Exploited show at the club. Exploited are the consummate knucklehead punk rock act from Scotland. Wattie is the singer and thick as a brick. But he has one of the best mohawks http://www.bandswallpapers.com/img27.htm in music...super dumbass though. I booked the show and then was told they had two NYC support acts; I should say BROOKLYN acts; Biohazard and Peter Steele's new band, Type O Negative. Weird I thought as neither band was punk by any means; but I loved both acts and this will be a packed show. I remember Peter and the boys walking up the stairs at Medusa's; four black and leather clad, black long hair and not a smile in sight as they strode towards me. I said, "Peter?" and with a huge baritone comeback I heard "yes" in a slow Brooklyn drawl. I proceeded to explain to them were to load in their equipment and who was my sound man to check in with. I mean they had long blacker than black hair and they all has black leather trench coats and huge, heavy boots....yeah, yeah BLACK!! They looked awesome and fearless. They looked like they meant business and were all about kicking ass on and off stage. So i figured that this would be a very interesting situation; as they were goth, metal rockers and the vast majority of the 500+ crowd was hardcore punk. I have to say that there was a ton of puzzled looks from the mohawked ones in front of the stage waiting for their Scottish hero, Wattie. Peter stepped to the mic and said something in the vein of where they were from and who they were and that everyone was probably going to hate them. I had to chuckle as they launched into some amazing songs off their first cd. Needless to say the punks hated them, BUT Peter and the boys more than kept their own and his derogatory, self degrading humor disarmed any tough guy ready to step up and challenge old boy.They did a blazing thirty minute set and just said goodnight. I found Peter backstage and said how much I loved the set and thought that he was hilarious and I dug how he handled the adversity of the situation. They hung for Biohazard's set and then left.
Next time I saw and hung with Peter and the band was on their Bloody Kisses tour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVaHG_QMvNk. I was the promoter here in Chicago and did it at a cheesy metal club above a dinner and pinball arcade. This was the record that went platinum and broke new ground for a lot of fellow bands. They ended up touring over two years to make this record go thru the roof. My show was early on this mega gigantic tour that would see them play every part of the world and open for every major rock act. This was a small headline show that the band seemed into. They were not as nearly burnt as when I saw them over a year later supporting Pantera. Bands seem to blow up over night, but it is a slow, arduous grid at best. It can steal your very soul right before your life. It can be the best of time and the very worst of times. Reality and real relationships seemed suspended in this nefarious area as you drift from state to state and country to country. I did see Pete laugh and joke, but that was mostly the early years. He never really loved touring I felt, but understood the necessary evilness of it. This was also the first time I saw how he had become; "wanted" and "needed", something that I think freaked the shit out of him. They played a thunderous sound check and Pete and I were standing outside the club talking about a lot of stuff; this guy was smart and worldly, something most of his metal compatriots severely lacked. I remember this very clearly, this woman who was intensely striking and even more so goth, walked up to us; or I should say Pete and basically handed him a black rose (with thorns of course) and a bottle of the darkest red wine. She whispered into his ear for a good 30 seconds or so and he said "Goodbye Sean, I will see you in a little while" and proceeded to walk off into the sunset with her. But I wasn't finished Pete!! Dude come back.....(Just Kidding!)
I saw him briefly backstage at a few big shows they were supporting the afore mentioned Pantera tour, Queensryche and some other big rock act that escapes me. The band seemed to be in a whirl, as the record seemed to just gain more momentum a year after it had come out. New radio versions were recorded for single play and the cover of Seals and Croft's "Summer Breeze" was getting a lot of a lot airplay. Brilliant cover version that they completely make their own and make it slow and hard! Skip several years ahead to their nest release "October Rust" and I spend several weeks on tour with him as I get my band I was managing on several weeks worth of Type O dates. The last record went platinum and pressure from their label seemed to be high, as they wanted even more sales. So this record became their most accessible, but still had some awesome moments. Now I must digress here for a moment to give a bit of back history about a girl we both had spent some time with differing ends for each. A friend who had become more than a friend to me had been very taken with Pete and she had gotten close to him over several tours on the previous record. From the beginning Pete was in HUGE demand from the girls backstage or anywhere for that matter. A 6' 8" Goth Adonis; even I was impressed and thought the ladies must have good taste. So we end up going out for a while and I finally ask her about the man and the interludes, her feelings and what happened and I should probably shut up; but kept banging on as I quite liked him and was infatuated out of my mind with her. He was everything I thought, someone deep, considerate and not really into the temporal things life on the road offered up every moment. Plus she said the Playgirl photo's were pretty spot on; OMG!! Ironically our feelings mirrored each other, but for the wrong person. I was into her and she was way into Pete. She had been with other rock stars, but Pete seemed to be the one that struck that special mark. So we went our separate ways and I think she saw Pete one more time and they just had a drink and chat and he was gone. So back to the tour, we arrive in Colorado Springs and it's the first night of the tour and the stage is small; really small. Most acts would have kicked us off the bill, Pete laughed and said there was plenty of room and we played a set in front of a sold out house. This was to be one of many nice things Pete did for me and my band thru out the tour. He had his own tour bus at this point and I hung with him several times on it. The most personal time I had with Pete was in Lawrence, Kansas the night the tour was playing the Granada theatre. The dressing rooms were in the basement in catacombs and we had the smallest one as we were the first of three acts on the tour (Life Of Agony were middle act and there because of Pete also) and he found us as usual and asked us what he always asked us. "You guys ok?” you guys need anything; let me know" and "That was a good set the other night in Colorado". He always watched the support bands every night for at least 4 or 5 songs. I know because he would watch my sad band with me each night of the tour. So Life Of agony are playing inside and I feel like a bit of fresh air and walk out into the alley. On one of the loading doors someone had pinned Pete's Playgirl centerfold to that door. I know it's a college town, but it seemed like a sad and desperate attempt at humor. I took it down trying not to look to closely and have this burned into my tiny mind. He was ripped and he was hung is all you need to know! I walked over to the tour bus area and saw Pete standing by his bus. I walked over and said hey and once again thanked him for being so Pete and cool. As usual he said it was absolutely nothing at all. His pleasure and I truly believe that to this day. I asked if I could check out his ride and I got the tour. It was pretty freakin' cool. His own bus with a small gym, a recording studio to do demos on tour and a kind of master bedroom. The place so many wanted to be, but never made it. We talked for a while and talked about more than the tour and music. He was very philosophical and loved the irony in everything. He seemed way older and wiser than his years and he seems very alone. I know he was a bit bummed about the Playgirl thing, as I think he was misled as how big the female readership was: 25%. Not regretful at all, just felt fooled I think. I told him how our mutual acquaintance had big feelings for him and she was pretty worthy of such undertakings. He said she was very nice, but that he had a hard time with relationships lately and also touring so much leads to nothing but trouble in steady relationships. Seemed so sad and final in his mind regarding that other person of matter. We ended the tour a few shows later and we all returned to our previous lives. Pete went home and from reports had a bit of a hard time mentally and emotionally. He had some issues with the law and lost some close people to him. I truly cherish the time and experiences I had with Pete and his band. Only thing I regret is I could have had more face time, but such is life. He seemed a bit adrift in a packed city and industry. Like that video EBN/OZN (the video, not the song content) where the guy is stationary and everyone is flying by (http://www.spike.com/video/aeiou-sometimes-y/2794312); kind of disconnected. Not really positive what he died of: heart attack they are saying, but I am sure it was a long time coming. The music world will miss a true genre pioneer, but more sadly the world will be one down on the "Good Guy" count. Goodnight Pete and THX again for sharing a moment or two with me: it always rocked in my mind. Peter Steele (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010)

Depeche, Johnny Rotten and Freezing London

2010-01-16T20:41:00.028-06:00

It has been way too long since I wrote some things that have been happening and building in my brain. December was insane and Lidia and I did not have a extra minute for anything. We did find out that Kirk and James did get the clothing for their kids. Lidia did her last Evil Kitty event at her new space in the Creative Lounge in Wicker Park and did very well! We had several orders for Xmas on Evil Kitty website from Russia, South Pacific, Ireland and London which turned out to be only several miles from where we spent 12 days sleeping. We are both in the middle of changes and major decisions for and about Evil Kitty and the Abbey; announcements will be made here first!

So with that all said; I am standing outside on a fast boat ripping down the Thames River on a Tuesday night in mid December drinking a beer. Yes it's London and "Hell Yeah" it's on. It's been less than thirty six hours since I was packing at 4am after my last show on my way to O'Hare. No sleep Sunday night and maybe five tough hours Monday night after I arrived. So it's rush hour in the Docklands area along the Thames in southeast London and I feel as if I can almost fly. For the next 2 weeks, I have little if any responsibility back in Chicago (in London I only have to stay alive) and everything looks, tastes and feels magnificent. So standing on a fast boat cutting it's way down the heart of London is the best place in the universe to be right now. I have been past tower Bridge tons of times are have never seen it move an inch; but tonight it is going up for a tall ship and it looks pretty freakin' cool; as do all the modern buildings along the river that have a fierce sparkle to them tonight, or is it me? I am in the company of David and the lovely Terrie Jean. She is basically the group leader as David and I are "three sheets to the wind" (arrhh...nautical talk matey). We find the massive O2 and disembark not having bought the tickets and realize it is not possible to sneak by gratis. So we buy the tickets and leave the pier for Depeche Mode at the Godzilla looking O2. I have to say one of the things I like about London at Christmas is that it's usually anywhere from 50 degrees to mid 30's; comfy and moist. This year it was a hard freeze gripping the UK and most of Europe and tonight was one of many cold ass nights we were to experience. Man it was cold, so of course the will call line was outside and I had to wait for our tickets. Once in hand, we had to decide what to do as the O2 is a massive structure and the arena is only as small part of it. There is a huge multiplex, numerous bars and restaurants. No or little heat in the bar areas had us running into the arena and the main floor. Grab beers and walk out onto the main floor and find a place that was near and not to crowded a third of the way back. I had been trying to find out if there was a support act and who it was; no one seemed to know until I finally asked the sound man and he mentioned "yes" there was support and "blah blah blah" were the act. Crap I thought, we are too early and we have to suffer thru a opening act we need not see; ever! Sometimes being early for a show can lead you to see a great band that will break thru in a year or so. On the other hand, it can be a really boring and upsetting 45 minute to an hour of sh*t music. It was the latter for this evening and it kind of brought the party to a slow down. I have purposely blocked out their name as they were the epitome of cool but translates as Dumb-asses. They acted as if this gig was a huge bother and they couldn't wait to go back to their flats. So the answer was a piss, more beers and bits so that by the time the guys from Depeche started their set; I was levitating a bit and was ready to move to the groove.

Depeche Mode; a band that is very chameleon like, but yet always stays to their core roots. The core is a beat that no matter the speed of the song, defines it in it's essence. This is not throw away pop like Brittany or N'Sync and it is not the guitar driven pop of REM or U2; it's seems to be a hypnotic chorus with a big dance floor rhythm coupled with intensely personal and sing song-ey lyrics. I did see them on this tour in early August at Lollapalooza and they sucked; rather the whole thing sucked and sucked hard. Never saw a bad DM show and that was a stunner. I blame Lolla organizers and DM also. 8pm starting time in a field full of yuppies is the the conducive arena for Depeche; no way! Sound blew, the crowd was annoying and the set was a "phone in" from the boys. I left really upset and was left thinking that all these past shows, tours and records were all a lie....F*CK! So the stars were aligned in that I was in London and got tix to see once and for all if they do suck now; say it ain't so Dave! I was right, it was the venue and the wrong place and time for them in Chicago. Depeche came out and threw down and rocked the 20,000+ at the O2 this evening; even me. They started with three new songs off their newest cd; Songs Of The Universe. Not sure why three right in a row; maybe that was the oft putting thing at Lolla, but they started with "In Chains" then into "Wrong" and "Hole To Feed". The guys seem to do fairly well with all the nuances that differentiate them from most pop and electro acts and they seem to be able to pull off most of these nuances in such a monstrously massive venue! "In Chains" is one of these songs and it did come right across brilliantly this evening; something that was missing this past August. By the third song, I was ready for a few hits and hits out the ass they have! Fourth song was a rocking version of "Walking In My Shoes" and it seemed to take off skyward from there. "It's No Good" followed and was one of the highlights for the night. Just a building beat and intensity made this huge place a small, packed disco for five minutes! The hits just keep flying by at high speed; "Precious", "World In My Eyes", a killer version of "I Feel You", "Policy Of Truth" and they end the set with "Never Let Me Down Again". Just a great and fun set from a band that does have the goods still and can deliver in convincing fashion. We lose David some how, but I find him and then promptly lose both David and Terrie Jean. So I jump in a black cab and go home with the O2 still buzzing in my head and body. Well done for night one of the vacation.

It was cold the whole time there; really cold for the UK. It snowed an inch in London and everything shuts down; truly unbelievable. One of THE major economic hubs of the entire world and they freak out at an inch of snow and ice. WTF! I think Heathrow Airport has one snow plow and it was parked in another part of the country. No salt, just sand or "grit" as they call it. Come on guys, come out from underneath the bed and buy some snow plows and salt and it will all be better; I swear! I drove to a ATM during one of the inch plus blizzards, the whole trip was 2.5 miles and it took us two hours and ten minutes from door to door. it was insane and a bit funny; just never get accumulation in the south of the UK. This down turn in weather was met with more beers and partying which seemed like the logical thing to do. Pubs were visited, groceries were bought, snacks were made, Monte came and went with deliveries and we ended up on Monday afternoon getting ready for Johnny Rotten and Public Image Limited'slivereturn to the stage at the world famous Brixton Academy. Woo F*ckin' Hoo.

Now it's Monday the 21st and we are getting psyched to see Johnny and his band at the Academy in Brixton. Nice and famous place, but they seem to over sell it when they have good shows; more on this later. It had been drizzling all day and it seemed to be threatening to freeze again over night, so the whole country was in a state as the trains were frozen and down for most of the weekend. "STAY OFF THE ROADS", was the call to arms on the evening news. Shots of 30 mile long queues in the north of Britain and cars sliding all over the place was the montage that was featured at 6pm on all the news outlets. "SALT I TELL YOU", is what I am saying to the TV, "BLOODY SALT" (so they would understand better)!! With all this intelligence streaming in about the big freeze coming to grip jolly ole England, we decide to drive to Brixton! Cooper has volunteered to make the drive as we don't need a cab then; more beer money! We head off to the venue not really knowing if there is a support act or not. Not on the tickets or any adverts I had seen. Thinking it could be someone really cool or new and buzzing. It wasn't any of the above! Johnny was obviously saving money by NOT having a support act, but just a DJ playing dub. C'mon now, couldn't you find some awesome London based act to play 30 minutes? I am pretty sure the Academy does not have any heat, it was cold as balls in the bar and holding a pint seemed both comforting yet absurd. I would say that there are two distinct PIL's; one that was the band that put out it;s initial release, Metal Box and Flowers Of Romance and the one who was on MTV singing mildly annoying pop songs, I was banking on the good one showing up and doing all the hits of my college years! Well it was what I had been hoping for, PIL played almost everything I had wanted to hear in their marathon set. It was Grateful Dead like in it was over two and a half hours. We bailed after almost two full hours of the band. They opened with their theme and it was rockin' to say the least. Up next was one of my all time favs off of Metal Box; "Careering". Brilliant and Johnny still has that weird presence that only he seems to be able to carry off. "Poptones" and the intensely depressingly awesome "Albatross" were thrown down and accepted nicely with the sold out Academy. "Death Disco" and "Flowers Of Romance" were two others that really stood out and hit home with the London crowd. My feet were freezing at the end as well as the hand that had a pint in it for most of the set. I think "Memories" was the last we heard as I walked on what felt like stumps to the lobby. Found the car pretty quickly and went home for some tasty food by Coop's and some great UK TV. Not too shabby for a cold as hell Monday night in London.

Metallica Magnetic....The Sh*t Really Sticks

2009-11-13T00:57:00.030-06:00

We were able to once again go on the road and see the mighty Metallica in Grand Rapids last Monday (http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/metallica/2009/van-andel-arena-grand-rapids-mi-13d739c9.html). We had seen them in Indy a few weeks before and I thought the show and band were "back in the saddle" so to speak. Before these two shows, I had last seen them new years eve at the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas in 2003 and they seemed a bit tired and distant (never had seen that before) and then saw two shows on the St. Anger tour and definitely thought they were not comfortable onstage and they seemed to be going thru the motions a bit. Sad; very much a bummer, this was something I had never experienced with these guys on any level. They always came thru and never phoned it in; never I say. Music has been a intense influence and fabric of my life since I bought Alice Cooper's "Schools Out" lp when I was 11 years old. Black Sabbath's "Vol. 4" was next and it has been a amazing journey I would not trade for a BILLION dollars! So naturally when I first heard the guys song "Hit The Lights" on Metal Blade's first compilation way back in the summer of 1982; it was all over for me, I was there for their incredible ride. The production was very bad, but you could hear something that had really never been done on record before. Just sheer intensity, fast as shit playing and pissed off singing. They had captured the punk quickness and anger, then loaded it up with Marshall stacks and some crazy low end. Thus you have the initial seeds of what would change the landscape of music, the metal genre and millions of peoples lives.

The show in GR had been sold out for months; I mean three solid months in advance. It had been five years since they had been in GR and the demand had not waned a bit in the intervening time. We missed the opening act of Volbeat who are from Denmark (land o' Lars) and I would think Lars' choice for support as he is a fellow Dane. They are more punk and rockabilly than heavy metal and the singer definitely has a Glenn Danzig vocal sound; nice and big. I wonder how they went down, forgot to ask the Metallica crew I know. Next was Lamb Of God from Richmond, Virginia and super, duper heavy! We watched a few songs and they seemed to be rocking the crowd for the most part. Ten years ago and I would have watched the whole set, but it all seems a bit forced and contrived for me at this point. I tell myself it's not because I am getting older; my tastes have improved (LOL). Metallica always have a huge say in who supports them and I think this will always be. They have had some amazing acts with them;Kyuss, Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion Of Conformity, The Cult, Queensryche, Machine Head, The Sword and many other worthy acts that deserved and got mass exposure. They have no problem giving props to new acts that kick ass and the older acts that influenced them (the; Garage Days, Inc. cd, is a massive tribute and financial support (to most of the acts covered; I doubt Black Sabbath, Queen and Bob Seeger need the royalties) to 18 acts they cover on the cd).

So Lamb Of God finish and we find our seats and they are pretty much right there about 15 rows from stage and I thank Kirk again for killer seats that Lidia can see them (she is a shortie in height; NOT stature, she is a giant there!!). There is always a palpable buzz that permeates the air right before the guys hit the stage and commence their throw down. It is parts excitement, anticipation, the unknown and the scary. A lethal mix for a amazing 2 hour plus pummeling. I have been to thousands of shows in my life and there is nothing quite as organic and amazing as the run up to the start of the intro music and then the start. It is nothing short of the start of a drag race followed by mach 4 speed the rest of the way and it does leave most beat, sore and the happiest they have been in months or years.

The show for this tour is about 18 songs per show that rumble like a freight train but glides as precisely as a world class figure skater. They have cornered the market on heaviness but apply this with a intensely crafted velvet hammer. They have these incredible paradoxes in heaviness and quiet, precision and break neck speed, that no other band has come close to interpreting this and thus they seem to own it outright. The current cd and following tour show them at the top of their game once again, as they reclaim the summit in this barren of genres. So it was this second viewing of the "Death Magnetic Tour" that I was able to focus on the set and the delivery. They started this night's set with "That Was Just Your Life" off the new cd. It is the perfect song to launch the evening's festivities. The song basically jumps jumps off and never looks back. This new cd had the intensity that was so organic in the first decade of their existence. Everything that was wrong with St. Anger has now been turned back into the lifeblood that made and now again makes them the band that crushed, cares, knows what pains you, is your soapbox for the shit all around and in you; just the best and most refreshing slap in your face you could ever want or experience. James has found that space where "Battery", "Master Of Puppets", "Shortest Straw" and so many others have come from. That space had been abandoned or deserted either purposely or unintentionally; but what ever drove that action, ended up nowhere near what the Metallica juggernaut produced or stood for until that cd and movie. James is back on his game lyrically and you can feel it in "That Was Just Your Life", "Broken, Beat & Scarred" and the war inspired "The Day That Never Comes". They capture the daily struggle, the daily grind and the fact that we all have and deserve our dreams. They sing about the evil in the world and the fact that we all must not roll over to them and we must always fight the fight. I don't see the CEO's of aig or citigroup, bush or cheney listening to Metallica for inspiration or a bit of insight. They were and always will be a band "of the people" and some won't ever get or relate to this. Second song was "The End Of The Line" which went into the epic "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and then into the legendary "The Four Horsemen". Six new songs were thrown down and were thoroughly consumed by everyone in sight. This is a testament to the power of "Death Magnetic" as most performers trot out 2 or 3 of the newbies when they tour; usually the single everyone knows and then couple other new ones so the fans can get a beer or go to the bathroom. That doesn't happen at a Metallica show, leave at the risk of missing R'n'R history. Get your beers and pee before they start is what I tell Lidia!!

I saw Big Mick Hughes after the show. It has been quite awhile since I last saw and talked to him. Saw him from afar at Bonnaroo 2008 and Indy in September. He was one of the first people I met from the Metallica entourage back in 1988 and have had many a killer experiences with him. He is and always will be Metallica's front of house sound man. Truly the most talented sound man I have ever heard (you can add Stan Doty of Wilco to that tiny list!!) and have heard him mix over 100 of their shows. In tiny clubs, soccer arenas, velodromes, racetracks, open fields,etc..and he has never had even an average mix. Just dials it in immediately and lets it rip thru the crowd all set long. He is also quite the charming English bloke with a ton of great stories. So needless to say I hit him up for a few in Grand Rapids. I ask him how the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame show was with Jason returning to play with the band. Big Mick and Jason seemed to have a close relationship when he was in the band. Both are great guys and very knowledgeable of their crafts and music. I have sat in many a time and was entertained and educated by both. So Mick said it was great to see Jason again and they were able to talk for a bit. He also said something that I completely had forgot; Jason was in Metallica for fifteen years. That is a huge chunk of time for anyone. I also asked him about the internet rumor that took on a life of it's own right after Jason reunited for the one show. This is the one that had Metallica inviting Jason back for the rest of the "Death Magnetic" world tour to play bass on the old songs he recorded with them and Robert would do the new songs from the past two cd's. He said this was total rumor and that was never, ever mentioned or brought up. He knew nothing about the rumor also. He also stated that the tour will roll on thru November 2010; that's another full year! I asked him about the week's before Rock and Roll hall Of fame show at Madison Square Garden. The guys played with Lou Reed, Ozzy Osbourne and Ray Davies; performing each one's hits and being their backing band! Mick said that they only got one hour to check and rehearse with the three artists. This was the result of U2 coming in and taking over. He said they have a ton of people in their entourage and just naturally fill up and take over the space. Lou was not the nicest guy and I have heard that many times. He is very NYC (ie: dick) and the first thing he told the band was they were way TOO LOUD!! Too much, telling Metallica they are too loud. They performed "White Light/White Heat" and the seminal "Sweet Jane" with old Lou. I guess during the rehearsal, there was a mention of doing a rare Velvet Underground or Metallica song and Lou stated he only knows and plays his songs....again; TOO MUCH!! Ozzy was up next and Mick said he thinks this is the first time Ozzy played a show without either Black Sabbath or the Ozzy Osbourne band. He said it was a bit strange, but ok. Next was Ray Davies of the Kinks and a huge fav of mine. They did "You Really Got Me" into "All Day And All Of The Night" and he was his charming self onstage and at rehearsal. Mick liked him a lot and I think this is definitely one guy who you would love to have a pint with! We went backstage to drop off some clothes Lidia had made for Kirk and James children. James was digging Lid's designs when he met her in Indy. I really think you should get a hold of "Death Magnetic" and then get yourself to a show, it could very well change your life as it has done many, many times before. I am always up for taking people to their first Metallica experience; weak need not apply!

Briefly Re-Connect With The Metallica Guys And Watch Them Kill Indy!!

2009-10-08T19:16:00.036-05:00

It has been awhile since Lidia and I have gone on a road trip to see a band and show. I think the last one was a year and a half ago when we went to see Radiohead on one of the first dates of the "In_Rainbow" tour in St. Louis. I book and produce over 250 shows and events a year, but I can always find a few days to travel and do or see whatever I would like. Now Lidia on the other hand runs our clothing company; Evil Kitty, an average of 10+ hours a day, seven days a week. Our company is entering it's sixth year and Lidia is really turning up the heat and making Evil Kitty thrive in this most barren of economic times. Basically she is the driving and creative force behind our company and it's slowly starting to pay off!! So needless to say that all my attempts to divert her attention from Evil Kitty does not in the least bit work these days, so when I came up with the idea to take our new Mustang GT (I love driving this car....it rules!) on a little 200 mile ride to see the Metallica boys. Before asking; I was weighing the idea of going by myself, but that kinda sux as it should be a good one to share with another person. The chance I could find someone NOT annoying to take the three hour drive each way with is a bit daunting, but most of those people I know who are NOT annoying either do not live in this city, do not care one lick about the mighty 'Tallica, are way too much too handle for that extent of time or they just exist in my head. So on my way to speak to Lidia about this most awesome of roads trips, I was already thinking what I can barter for her presence at this kick ass event! I mention that I have reconnected with Kirk again and we have two tickets and two passes from him and we HAVE to go.......PLEASE!! I am stunned by her quick reply of; "Ok". I am floored as I have nothing to say initially, but quickly recover and say; "This will rock!" Lidia has never met Metallica and I am excited she may finally meet the guys and see the band that has been a nice and important part of my life.

I first heard of Metallica in the pages of Kerrang! magazine from the UK. There was a mention of a bay area band that was faster than shit and they had a demo cassette they were giving away thru the mail. I think this was the "No Life 'Til Leather" tape, which fast became a underground legend and a HUGE collectible. The first song I heard by them was "Hit The Lights", finally the perfect hybrid of punk and metal! You knew from that first listening to this song that this band had the right idea and knew how to get it across. I was able to purchase "Kill 'Em All" on their initial Megaforce Records release on cassette. I reviewed this record for my fanzine; Last Rites, and basically said this was the shit and everyone had better get with this San Francisco act quickly or be left in the dust! I loved the fact that this group was giving the world everything they had and no filler. They wore their attitudes and desires on their sleeves and meant everything they said. The fact that their press pics had them all sweaty, pimply and buzzed was a huge statement that no other metal or rock band had ever done. Warts and all is what the 'Tallica guys gave you and you either love it or lump it buddy!! Clash attitude with Sabbath heaviness; I was hooked and have been for their whole run (issues with St. Anger and Some Kind Of Monster; but other than that....PERFECT!!). I can't think of no other band that has been as consistently incredible in product and performance and have maintained their loyalty to their fans; NO ONE!! Their music is more than just a soundtrack for millions, it's a rallying cry, a statement and the reason you get back up and dust yourself off and attack the bastards again. I don't think the Stones, U2, Phish, AC/DC, Kenny Chesney or any other mega act can say this; except maybe for Bruce....maybe (jury is still out). That summer Metallica came to do 2 shows at a dive club on north Broadway called cleverly enough; Broadway Jack's. A all ages show and a 21+ show were scheduled and I headed there to review the early show for my fanzine. Needless to say that was one of many sets of music that was to keep me coming back to Metallica for the next twenty five years. My initial contact with the band was at this all ages show in this dive club. I was able to talk briefly with Kirk and we talked about GBH, a killer punk band from the UK that was bridging the punk and metal gap from the punk side. Little did I know at that point how many times I would intersect with the greatest metal band that ruled the Earth!

The next time I would run into Metallica was the start of the "Monsters Of Rock Tour" in the summer of 1988 at Alpine Valley for three incredibly wild days and nights. These also were the first big gigs for new bass player; Jason Newsted, who had replaced Cliff Burton who tragically died on tour in Europe. This was also the debut of songs from the soon to be released "...And Justice For All" lp. These shows were the start of this mega tour in the summer on '88 and it was to foreshadow how incredible the band were to become for decades and the intense connection between band and fan that carried them on this incredible juggernaut. That weekend I was able to get backstage and stay there for three days. I met and hung with their guitar techs, drum tech, sound man (still and always Big Mick!) and the band. They were second out of five acts on this monstrous mega metal tour and it was fun to see the guys crush Dokken (the act after them every show on this tour) and get encores only had by headliners Van Halen and Scorpions. That weekend I met and had a great drinking bout with James and ended up in some fans hotel room playing poker with him while they filmed the game and ask James questions; a bit surreal especially when the conversation turned to Cliff's death. That weekend was an amazing entry into the Metallica world that would led me to many amazing, legendary and funny experiences. I plan on writing about my many awesome and incredible things that happened to me while in the Metallica world. Riding the crew bus in Florida, sitting with Kirk at his guitar tech's wedding in Boston (that was a trip), seeing the band in Denver at Red rocks for two nights while a rumor of a suicide cult were going to off themselves during "Fade To Black" and the band deciding right there NOT to play that song either night & subsequently shying away from it for years because of this stigma and rumor from Denver, getting one of EVERY piece of Metallica merchandise from Jason (I had to throw out some of my clothes to bring all this stuff back from the road trip), being the only non-member of the band at their sound check at the Donnington race track in the UK and seeing them play "2x4" (off the killer "Load" lp) for sound check for the first time live, My bus ride up to Donnington with just Jason and Tim Duffy (rest of the band helicoptered to the site, Jason hated helicopters....lucky me) standing onstage at the tiny Astoria 2 in London watching them play for 900 people, staying at the hotel in Paris that was Hitler's Paris command center and was in La Femme Nikita, drinking with James and some Paris girls and being waited on hand and foot (most incredible hotel, you need to check it out: http://www.regina-hotel.com/), riding back to the hotel after the Rotterdam gig with James and Jason in the van playing them the bands I managed and letting them have the demo's, signing all our drinks to Lars tab at the hotel in Manchester and many others it makes my head spin. Truly lucky to have been with and witness the best metal or rock band EVER!!!!

The Indy show was just what I needed after finally conceding that "St. Anger" was their first bummer of a record. I love everything they have ever done until this lp and the the following movie with that psychiatrist. I love the first record, I love Justice and I think "Load" might be their best complete lp of them all. My three favorite songs are; "Enter Sandman" (may be best metal/rock single of ALL time), "Whiplash" and "Seek And Destroy", anytime I hear those a instant smile goes thru my body and mind. So this new cd had me a little worried as I hoped they had regained the ground where all this over the top writing and playing came from (it had abandoned them for St. Anger) and I did not want to give up on a band and guys who had made such an impact in my life. So it took me a few months to finally buy the cd and listen to it. It was good, but I had no idea how good until I saw them drill it into me in Indy. They are back and it's all about the song crafting and intensity in all the right places (St. Anger was a pile driver with no rhyme nor reason; it seemed like a ode to Slayer or a 50 plus minute mid life crisis). I actually went out and bought the $150 box set and think this one stands up against the best of their best. The band seem much more comfortable in their skins as they seemed the opposite in the movie and the St. Anger tour I saw. All I can say is they are back and on top of their game; setting 'em up and knocking 'em down all over the world! I just hope they know a little tiny bit how much they have made my life a blast and given me the idea you can do anything, especially if loads of people are saying you can't do it. If you have never seen them live; even if you don't care for their music, you have to see one of their shows as it is the water mark every other band in the universe should hold themselves to. I have been able to get 100's of people into their shows (and most met the band before or afterwards) and they all come away with their jaws on the ground and a mad ass respect for them and the genre we all call and love.....METAL!!!!

My Freakin' Rock and Roll Sunday!!

2009-09-14T00:53:00.039-05:00

The afternoon with Snow Patrol and the evening with Kasim Sulton; as he plays bass for Todd Rundgren!! Plus we drive 110 miles round trip to eat Polish food at my in laws house! I wish every Sunday could be like this! Let me explain how this all came together and worked out perfectly!

I had just arrived Sunday night at Heathrow and was waiting for my car and driver (hell yeah I have a car and driver when in London; Monte, the man can get you anywhere quickly in London and get you anything, anytime!!!) to pick me up in the car park at Terminal 1. It is a little before 9pm and the weather is amazing for the UK and this time of year. I am in the car and Monte is speeding towards my flat in Herne Hill and I am feeling really good. He tells me that Oasis had crapped out of tonight's V Festival at the Chelmsford (just north of London) and rumors were swirling that they were over. What a full service guy Monte is; music rumors thrown in for free....."Yah Mahn"; as Monte would say! Wow this sux; I love the brothers Gallagher, but that's not why we are here. Back to Snow Patrol; the reason for this rambling. So I am dropped off by Monte at my destination in South London and I get up to my flat I am staying at and drop my bags in my room. My friend David whose flat this is, is in Crete until Tuesday, so I settle into the lounge where his flat mate Cooper and his doggie Blue are watching the V Festival Sunday show on their flat screen. The female and male announcing team (are really annoying and trying soooo hard to be fun and cool...yuk!) are just going on about how Oasis played the Leeds leg last night and today Liam has fell quite ill. They are NOT playing tonight to the awaiting 80,000 people at the fest. Bummer I thought; as this act is THE HUGEST act in the UK hands down. They are the face of Brit pop and rock, so there must be a lot of sad punters at Chelmsford. Now the announcers are saying that Keane are now the special guest right before the headliner and that Snow Patrol are now the headliners; wow I again thought, this must be a huge pressure moment for this band. Granted they are really big in the UK and Ireland; not Oasis big, but arena headliners in their own right. So Coop's and I watch the highlights of their set and the crowd is going wild. They stepped up and hit a home run. Nice one I think and we plow thru the rest of the night with wine, music and a lot of chat (Blue did make a good point or two, but it always led back to sausages!!)

Skip forward several days and I am looking at my email and I see I have an email from the owner of the Abbey saying radio station WXRT need to get a hold of me and they need a afternoon date for Snow Patrol! I first think this is a joke and blow it off, but then a hour later I have to email the radio station. It's unbelievably freakin' true! The date is Sunday September 13th at 2pm and they will do a live Studio X session with Gary Lightbody and Nathan Connolly of the band doing their hits and answering questions from Marty Lenartz (my buddy and XRT DJ) in front of a crowd of 300 winners. This will rock!! So after eight days of music and loads of madness, I head back to Chicago and the upcoming Snow Patrol event.

I advance the set with Neil their tour manager and all seems to be on track for a great afternoon. The reason they are here in Chicago is that they are opening the first third of the U2 tour and they are doing the first two shows at Soldiers Field. Now about this same time period i get a text from my buddy Kasim Sulton who plays bass for Todd Rundgren and Meatloaf (no jokes please). He will be in town for two nights with Todd. They are doing the whole "A Wizard, A True Star" lp; which was one of my first lp's I bought in junior high! So I am doing the Snow Patrol set Sunday afternoon, then going to see my in laws for Polish food and then heading to Park West for Todd and Kasim; this should be a ton of fun!!

I am setting up a few things for the boys before they arrive and I notice they are late. I phone Neil and find out they are a bit hungover as they were out very late at the U2 kickoff after party. I should think that the idea of this radio event was a great idea several weeks out when it was conceived. However; after only a few hours of sleep after the U2 party, a rethink about this commitment was probably on their minds as Neil was calling their rooms to leave for the Abbey. As true professionals, they rose to the occasion and headed towards the club. Now they could easily be a bit grumpy as due to the previous night's par takings. BUT; they were two of the nicest guys and Gary is truly a funny man with true British wit. We had tea and bacon sandwiches for them and they were truly appreciative; great hangover cure! They did a quick check and set the levels for the recording truck and engineer. We were ready for the event to commence and the lucky people were let into the venue. I have to say that I was not a huge Snow Patrol fan and thought they were a bit soft for my taste. This is a perfect example of meeting the guys who write the songs and getting to hear them in a really direct and immediate environment. I was able to chat with Gary for a little while and found him to be very charming, approachable and funny. Nathan was very nice; but he was the quiet one, both downstairs and onstage. They are truly two of the nicest guys you would ever meet, not two guys in one of the UK's biggest acts right now!! So there you go, you don't have to become a dick or asshole once you become really famous and rich; that's just a myth most successful music people feel they must emulate.

The set was basically seven or eight songs and then an unscheduled encore. They played a lot of their hits from the UK charts; They performed "Chasing Cars" and "Run" two of their biggest UK hits pretty much right away and had the crowd hanging on every word and chorus. A great way to start this abbreviated set, just crush us with the hits right away. The vibe was set and it was a love fest all around. Gary told jokes and funny tour and school stories and we all laughed and hoped the next song was another hit. They just seem to love the aspect of playing a small club and everyone here was theirs; forever! "Take Back The City" was the encore the crowd demanded and greatly received. Killer set and just real nice lads.

Onto McHenry for some polish food cooked for Lidia and I by her mother. We have some lovely borscht, pierogies and a little pork. Then we are on our way to drop her off at her nanny job. I receive a text from Kasim saying 8pm is the opener and he will see me soon. It is a little after 8pm and I am in Lincoln Park looking for parking. Yuppie hell and no parking anywhere. I opt for the city lot and run to the Park West. They are their own support act and I catch the last couple of songs of this opening set. They are dressed in while t-shirts and black slacks, I notice another stage set behind them and figure this is the set up for the the second set which will be the "A Wizard, A True Star" lp. During the intermission, I notice that I have a letter and number written on my envelope which had my ticket and pass. I find the hostess and ask her what; if anything, this means. She informs me that Kasim has reserved a booth for me; SWEET!! Now I had been in the way back as the show seemed to be sold out or very close to it, so a comfy booth sounded great. Tickets were $100 for reserved seats and I have to say Todd's crowd is a strange one. She leads me fairly close to the stage and points to a big, black leather, 'U' shaped couch and says that's my seat. I say, "that's all for me?". She laughs hard and says, "no" and that I am most likely sharing with several other people who are guests of the band. The second my ass touches the leather, this woman comes swooping in from out of nowhere and starts to berate me for sitting in "Her" booth and then says the one thing any person with a shred of dignity would not say; "who are you?". Now let us take a quick time out for me to address two important things here; first issue is how completely strange and weird Todd Rundgren's crowd is and the second most glaring question is why I did not rip this woman's head off and how I f*cked with her and her friends all night...:). This is the third time in four years I have seen Kasim with Todd. At each show I notice how territorial Todd's fans are and how they are not such a warm and fuzzy bunch. I have felt more love at a Slayer show, these people seem very possessive of their Todd and their space at which they view their Todd! Everything seems so retro with them, old badges, old t-shirts, old haircuts like he wore and colored, clutching his old lp's and just have this sort of desperate look in their eyes. So back to the crazy lady telling me to get out of her booth. I have two options at this point, stand up and tower over her and let it rip how she does not own the booth and to shut the f*ck up or go the route of trying to explain what is actually happening right now and why. It must have been the Polish food and love my wife sent me off with, because I choose the later. My first retort was "I am friends with one for the band members", I thought that should subside this barking doggie! Does she not see my backstage pass I am wearing proudly? But no, she wants to know who I know. I proudly say "Kasim; B*tch, now leave me alone and go back under your bridge" in my mind, but it comes out "Kasim". Now she says one of the best things I have heard in awhile, "Everyone knows Kasim, I will find the tour manager and have you removed" says the lovely troll in my face as I sit there and play with my IPhone trying to ignore this moment. This gets a small chuckle out of me and I go back to texting someone as she hurries off to find said tour manager. In the mean time several of her friends have now re-entered the booth are are giving me the eye. I explain this is my seat and I am not moving. So I now go to my IPhone and start texting Lidia about my situation and how well I handled it; no one died! The more I text and laugh, I notice how the others seem to shrink in some embarrassment and I really start to laugh a little louder; you messed with the wrong person and now you must pay....well a little.

I am also in the front of the booth and make sure I have great posture thru out the show and stretch to make sure I am not too tight....LOL. Then the woman who created this whole thing (oh yeah...no tour manager ever showed), puts her expensive camera right next to my drink, I wanted so badly to...."OPPS, I accidentally spilled my drink on your camera....so sorry". But that only happened in my mind, I behaved although she deserved it in my book. So while I am blocking their views, I am enjoying the set. Complete with many costume changes for Todd and Kasim even gets to sing his song from the lp; "Does Anybody Love You?". Very cool and well done Kasim. So thus ends a killer Rock n Roll Sunday and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just A Lovely Sunday At The Festival

2009-09-11T14:48:00.039-05:00

I had to sort out a Sunday backstage pass for our very good friend; Jack Doolan. Jack heads up a killer metal band out of London called Cypher 16. Lidia and I met Jack several years ago and seen him grow into a solid man and a well focused band leader and writer. So when Jack said he would see us late Saturday night at the hotel, we had to get him a pass for Sunday. So backing up to early Saturday afternoon; we were getting out of the black cab (these things rule, it's like having a studio apartment to drive around in...I'm just saying it's BIG!) a few blocks from the backstage entrance and as we pop out of the rolling mini pitch and I hear a man say he has tickets for today and tomorrow (everything was sold out months ago); so I whip my head around and say "VIP mate?". Now this guy is the epitome of a working class dude from the UK. Skin head, short, built like a bull dog, tattoo's on his forearms, Fred Perry shirt, boots and has all the right things we need to secure Jack a Sunday with us. This guy rocks and I start to negotiate the price. We establish a nice price and agree to meet here at the same place (right next to the car park which he runs) at 1pm Sunday; freakin' cool and easy! Be a good day with Jack, David and Malcolm (complete with 4 15 year olds) on Sunday. Should be interesting and fun to say the least.

Skip forward to Sunday AM; so we leave the hotel with Jack for the final day of Reading Fest and head out to see "our man". We find him after a few anxious minutes and we are told the price has gone up as Radiohead are playing their only UK show in 2009 tonight. F*ck sakes I say; not cool, but we really don't have much to negotiate with. So the price rises 30 quid and I say we want free parking for our car in his car park! Money changes hands, get the pass, we put the car in the lot and head the few blocks to the entrance. Should be a great day as the sun and white clouds are everywhere you look. I am with some of my favorite people on earth right now; how could it not be!

We arrive early and find Noah And The Whale on the main stage. Not my thing and kinda boring after 4 or 5 songs. Must have been a better choice for 2:30pm on the main stage. Head backstage and find my friend; Malcolm, who has arrived with his son Calum and three of his friends. I was a bit of a terror at 15, but these four where very well behaved; almost too behaved...Hmmm...something is afoot I suspect. After chatting for awhile, we head out to see Australia's Living End. These three guys have been banging it out for fifteen years; truly amazing. It is a cross of punk, rockabilly, rock and country. Very consistent and always agreattime. The four people i dragged out to see them, all really liked their set. I promoted several shows with them in the mid and late 90's; very good guys to work with!

Every fest weekend I have had a great discovery that just blows me away and then several times I have had the opportunity to promote their Chicago shows. This year was no exception; Lethal Bizzle, just totally amazing and a killer guy! He is a East London rapper who is on fire right now in the UK. He was playing an early afternoon set in the NME tent, so I had to see this. I am a big fan of Dizzee Rascal and Lethal is fairly similar in style; very heavy and very fast! The tent was filling up quickly and I had a sense this was going to go off...WAY OFF!! He hits the stage and just as I had thought; this place go f*ckin' nuts. Dancing, jumping, slamming, singing and just going plain mental was all that was around me! "Go Hard" is his new single and that resonated really well with me and the crowd as did "Bizzle Bizzle"; his mini theme song. Just a intensely fun and draining set. I really would love to do his Chicago show I thought as Lidia danced around for the better part of his set. Bizzle kills us all and we run back to our table and I need a snack; as this is the soberest day I have ever had at any Reading. The past week has just final pummeled me into saying; UNCLE! The past seven have been a wonderful blur with London as the backdrop, but no more bit and bobs today or tonight.

Ok, hanging with the teens and they have a bit of an attitude. What's this I think? You need to shut it a bit and listen to your wise elders sonny boy. They seem very fresh faced and seem to know a lot (or so they think) about it all. Good for them and hopefully that slap in the face is still several years off. So as Calum starts to do kissy face with his first girlfriend, I spot Lethal "F*cking" Bizzle coming out to the vip area where we are. Very cool and I start my way towards him. He is signing autographs and taking pics with two little girls and then starts a TV interview for a european station. I talk to one of his managers and let her know I would love to do his Chicago show. He finishes the interview and we talk for about ten minutes. He is a really smart and articulate young man who has his head screwed on right and should have a decent career in music. This whole experience has left me with a nice buzz and I find Lidia and we set off to see Passion Pit at the NME tent. We pass the dance tent and there is a incredible over flow crowd going nuts and then it ends s we try and navigate thru this throng. It's Deadmau5 finishing up a afternoon set that looks liked it killed. He had a big hit here in the charts this summer here and I do like some of his songs/mixes. Onto Passion Pit, I have heard a lot of noise regarding this Boston area act and was anxious to see if it measured up. It did not even come close! Kind of boring and disjointed, can't see what all the chatter is about. We make a hasty get away and see a few songs by Lady Sovereign in the dance tent. I really didn't buy into the hype of her debut cd and this new act seems to feature a full band. We catch a few songs and it seems forced and the band seem to overpower her onstage. I see potential, just not the right vehicle yet. Backstage I think we are in for a big surprise again in the form of Gallows.

Lidia, Jack and I both head off to see the Gallows; a Hertfordshire (just north of London) punk/metal band. After the disappointment of Passion Pit, I am well up for a set that is crushing and over the top. I think this could be the act that delivers such a punch. They did a UK tour last winter with Lethal Bizzle and it got rave reviews from all stops. I can't see how a show with both acts could fail! This band reminds me a lot of the late, great NYC punk/metal crossover act; The Cro-Mags (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2898300)! A mighty band for a minute I must say, then demons and such killed that beast. But in their hey day, none were mightier or heavier when it came to throwing down (Age Of Quarrel is a classic lp and "Hard Times" is a all time track). These guys are the closest to The Cro-Mags I have seen in over a long, long time. They just come out and rip it up from start to finish. Good songs for the most past and a great front man in Frank Carter and a monster guitarist in Laurent Bernard. The kids were on this from the moment the lights dimmed to the final song of the set. I would have to say this is a bright spot on the musical horizon that is pretty dim at the moment. Between Lethal Bizzle and the Gallows, it has been a really pleasant day of musical surprises; nice one!!

We have a few more acts to see, but I am feeling completely satiated with the Bizzle and Gallows, but we go onto see Vampire Weekend and I have to hear that one song..."A-Punk"; love it and one or two more. I really hope they play it early in the set, but of course it comes at the end; lost points here boys!! "A-Punk" was one of the singles of last summer and it still rings true again this summer and the set was ok; some good (Oxford Comma) and some snoozers (sappy ballads). We head backstage to get the group together for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; a fav of many Brits and my wife. Me; not so much, although I did like them much more before they signed their big record deal. It was always a bit forced and contrived in my book. Weird and quirky for the sake of being weird and quirky; not too organic. I have seen them 6 or 7 times and I find their earlier shows much more entertaining and this one was the most excruciating yet. I love avant garde, I love people pushing boundaries in all walks and forms of life, but I don't dig just crazy sh*t for the pretense of being crazy and that what Karen comes off as right now. Outfits were as forced as the new songs, just seemed to lose their grasp on whatever they are trying to accomplish. I was bored after 4 songs and had to wait a few more before I could get back to the comfort of our table in the back.

Bloc Party were next and I do try and love them; but like is as far as I can get. They were ok; not great, but certainly not lame either. I just keep drifting back to Lethal's and Gallow's sets as they just keep resonating in my head (sound is good there today btw). Bloc Party are winding it down and I am pining for South London. I think we may leave during Radiohead and get back to the flat and some curry and such...mmmm!! This has been another incredible Reading Rock weekend and I can't say that I would have had it any other way. Brilliant, spot on, top notch....all that shite and more!! We walk out the back gate and walk along Richfield Avenue to the sounds of Radiohead noodling their way thru another classic and the weather is perfect. Three of my all time fav things this weekend; Lidia, Killer bands and my UK friends. Can't wait for next year, but I'm thinking maybe Glastonbury next June, been three time and it is one of the most magical (and I am NOT a hippy...it really is freakin' magical) places on earth and I have been in love with Glasto from my first hour there. Hell, I met Keira Knightly, Kate Moss, Pete Doherty and the singers for Magic Numbers and Bolc Party all in one weekend! May have to make a crucial choice next summer between Glastonbury and Reading; be a toughie.

The Prodigy Crush All Before Them.....(and one after)

2009-09-07T20:13:00.013-05:00

Woke up not nearly as hungover as I should have been and was thinking a quick bite before the onslaught resumed! Up and out to the town center for a look 'round and something to eat. We got off the bus and quickly found a nice Spanish tapas place and headed in. Some nice reggae and dub on, we eat some killer plates of food (intense sausages from the different regions of Spain) and get a cab to the backstage. Saturday is usually my day to go "large" as they say here. Today is the unofficial "English" day during the fest every year. Seen some amazing sets, some monstrous screw ups by acts and have had some of the best experiences this day.

My friend had run into a publicist he knows from London and she had mentioned that the "surprise" of the day was going to be an unannounced set by Them Crooked Vultures. The super group of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme. They had supposedly played a surprise set in Leeds yesterday at the sister fest of the Reading Festival. Cool I thought, as the Chicago show was a Lollapalooza after show at Metro and it sold out in 5 seconds. It was to be around 4pm in one of the tents this afternoon. More on this later! So I talked David and Lidia into seeing the Eagles Of Death Metal and I hoped they wouldn't make me a loser for picking them to start our day. We enter the site backstage and it's a killer day, especially for the UK at this time; here we go!! Lager in hand, we head out to the main stage for those great guys from L.A......Eagles Of Death Metal.

Right away I notice that Josh Homme (of Queens Of The Stoneage) is not on drums. He is the usual drummer for this project of he is involved in that seems to have morphed into something very cool and kick ass! So this was a great clue regarding the Them Crooked Vultures secret set sometime later today at a to be determined stage. I have to say that Jesse Hughes (lead guitarist and vocalist) is a front man's front man. Young wannabee lead singers take notes, this guy is the real sh*t! This guy takes an audience and sweet talks them into following any of his leads. Great pacing and killer audience interaction make him one of the few bright spots on the US rock scene at the moment. I have to say that one of this summer's better songs is their "Wanna Be In LA" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3kTdx1QBw), this song has a undulating pulse that sends your hips crazy. The set was nothing short of brilliant and the Reading crowd responded nicely to Jesse and the boys. Now to figure out where the hell this secret set is suppose to be!

I had figured that the set was probably at the biggest of the tent stages; the NME tent. Metric had just finished and Patrick Wolf was playing there now, so we headed that way. Did not know much about Patrick Wolf and after seeing some of his set; I am probably not going to know much more than what I witnessed this afternoon. Not my cup of tea, too forced and a bit too artsy. He seems to have some nice haircuts on his promo pages and seems to have his make up done nicely, but no soul and a bit too processed for me. The kids who were there seemed to like it and relate to him or something. It was now after 4pm and no sign of the secret band. Another quick look at the set times for each stage and I noticed a large time gap between ole' Patrick and the next act scheduled; You Me At Six. This must be our stage and we are closing in on the set of Them Crooked Vultures...alright! Patrick mercifully puts an end to his thing and we venture into the massive tent. It is emptying out as we enter and we go up the left hand side and find a nice spot 25 or 30 yards away. Set change seems to take forever and we discuss what this will sound like. No one has heard any songs yet, other than the several shows they have played. One has to think that it will be "balls out" rock & roll....right? A power trio like Motorhead or ZZ Top? Slow and heavy? Fast and right between the eyes? Have to wait a bit longer for this to be uncovered. The band finally walks onstage and they look ready to rock. Pretty cool to see Led Zep's John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl be a rhythm section! They were spot on all set and it was pretty much straight ahead rock. You definitely heard the Foo's and Queen's influences thru out. Josh handled most, if not all the lead vocals. Don't remember Dave singing, but he had to be doing backing vocals. Songs were good and well rehearsed; nothing really jumped out, I would love another listening to the set again. This is something to really watch and see where it goes. Could be cool or just minor dust up on the rock and roll highway. Only time will tell. We stayed for most of it and then decided it was time to see the monkey man himself....Ian Brown.

Let me just go on the record and say that....The Stone Roses were one of music's most over rated bands of all time. I have listened to that record many, many times and still to this day only hear a average at best pop record. Whatever everyone who hails this record must be on, please pass me over whatever you are smoking or in taking to make this sound so magnificent! I feel like the one person at the party who still doesn't get that joke from twenty minutes ago everyone is still pissing in their pants about...what? What are you hearing, because I am missing it totally. So there...I think Stone Roses blow...not as people, just as a mediocre Brit pop act. Give me Oasis, Suede or Super Furries any day! However; I do really like Ian Brown and most of his solo ventures. Saw him briefly at Glastonbury and liked the few songs I witnessed. So this was my big chance to see him in front of 40,000+ in his own backyard! Should be good and I talk several people from backstage into venturing out into the main pitch for Mr Brown. What a bummer, he started slow and seemed to grind to several halts during the set. You ever play a record on a turntable at the wrong speed; too slow? That's what it seemed like all set long. He was doing a poor man's Liam Gallagher swagger onstage and mumbled between songs. Played a lot of slow, ballad like songs and never really kicked it into gear. Very frustrating and time to exit stage left. This only confirms my Stone Roses dislike!

Someone finally puts a bullet in Ian's set and we are backstage drinking and laughing under a beautiful English afternoon. In the high 60's, a bit breezy and tons of white clouds high in the sky. This place freakin' rocks every time! I really should be the PR spokesman for this fest and city in the states; I could do it!! First we must focus on the task at hand, preparing for The Prodigy! One of today's most over the top sensory experiences you get find. I also have to explain that I owe my amazing wife a Prodigy (live set; not dj set...big diff!) set as I denied her 5 or 6 years ago at this same festival. It has been a huge, heavy burden I have lugged around for these many years and has put a bit of a hump in my back...LOL! It is a long and complicated story why we did not see them at that point in time; details that are not much relevant to this day, but Lidia was denied her chance to see one of her fav acts. This was the year I would set history straight and have her see them live and they better deliver!! Actually it is a funny story and sometime I will tell you, but that's for a rainy day. Onto to The Prodg.....and what a set it was. They came out and pummeled 60,000+ into happy oblivion. F*ck me, they were all that and more. The lights, the sounds, the heaviness and the groove...they win by a long shot. "Breathe" was one of the first songs and it just ripped my head off. They had us all dancing for the entire set. "Omen" was next and just set it all off. It has been awhile since I was totally drained by one set of music and it felt great! Keith Flint is the consummate maniacal leader and Liam Howlett just puts together some of the best beats and grooves. It's Slayer goes to a rave and flogs you senseless with it's beats! Nice!! I'll take one of these every time thank you. We flowed backstage after being lovingly crushed for a final lager. Arctic's are next and we sat there thinking how great they are, but just never got to see them. We were totally satiated by Keith and Liam, we had no further need for musical nourishment. We jumped in a taxi and watched The Arctic's from the hotel bar; really nice and Lidia is happy!!

P.S. I did go large all day and evening and ended up pontificating, standing on my bed at 2am to the nice Jack Doolan. Luv ya Jack!! Check out his London based band: http://www.myspace.com/cypher16

Reading Day One and It Was A Brilliant Start To The Weekend!

2009-09-02T12:37:00.021-05:00

Here we go, my 15th Reading Festival weekend in Reading, UK. about 40+ miles straight west of London on the M4. So Lidia (my most excellent wife!), David Roberts (one of my best friends & from south London) and me are picking up our passes Friday afternoon in Covent Gardens and we are off....WAY OFF!! 40 miles out of London and suburbs does not mean a 40 minute commute; not in the least, try almost 2 hours!! London is an amazing place, but it has it's "WTF" things going on everyday, they just put it in their bag's and deal with. Such as some of the wickedest traffic I have ever seen and experienced! I have driven in this madness numerous times and have left it a humble man with a head ready to explode. So we get to the hotel which is connected to the Reading Football Club (Division One League) and that rules. Love UK football (soccer) and did buy a jersey...sweet!! So we set off in a taxi (no driving this weekend as it will be ON!!) to the site to get our backstage wristbands. We arrived late afternoon to the sounds of Fall Out Boy; suburban Chicago fake punks. I think this band is one of those throw away bands we will never think or talk about in the future. A waste of space on the musical horizon and the Backstreet Boys of punk....yuck!! I was a little bummed we had missed; Funeral For A Friend, a northern UK rock act that has always peaked my curiosity. They are doing things outside the box in their genre and seem to take great care of their fans in the UK, Europe and Japan. I definitely recommend checking them out. So we grab a beer backstage and it's a perfect day....in the low 70's and a few lovely, white clouds high above. Placebo are taking the main stage, so we take a few steps out onto the pitch and find a fairly close place to the stage and get ready for this London act to kick off our Reading Weekend!! Friday afternoon the site is just starting to fill up for the impending musical tsunami! I have seen Placebo several times in the states and thought they were OK, had several nice singles. The crowds never seem to much care one way or the other, so it was a bit hard to get into it. NOT SO TODAY.....must have been a good 20,000+ watching their late afternoon set and it made a HUGE difference. The crowd was well on their side and took part in most every song. I did not realize they have a good 10+ singles that have charted in the UK. Weather was rocking and so were these London lads. Totally loved the set and stayed for most of it. Headed back for a beer and set the rest of the course for the day and night.

Next decision was an easy one....Kaiser Chiefs were on in twenty and we needed to get ready and stake our spot as near the stage as possible. I love the Kaisers and have been onboard since the 1st single from this Sheffield band (ie reads northern UK act); Oh My God. I was hooked and then they dropped a huge bomb on me in; I Predict A Riot. Still one of my top ten singles of this decade...OH YEAH!! So the new cd is as good; if not better, than their other good cd's. So it was with great pleasure and anticipation i took my place in the pitch next to the other 40,000+ punters waiting to sing along with the boys. Now I do have a soft spot for a band that starts things off with the song I would start their set with and they did...spot on guys!! Never Miss A Beat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQK7RYDQlSs&feature=fvst) is the song of the summer for me at this moment and there it is, raging onstage right before me and it sounds, smells and feels so wonderful. I f*ckin' love this place! They bang thru what seems like a greatest hits sets and only falter for a moment. They have the crowd right where they need to be and drive this one home big time. By the time they play; I Predict A Riot, it's all over!! We scurry backstage and I am feeling fine....too fine.

Here is where crucial discussions are taking place. You have a South London lad (David), Polish born US citizen (my wife) and me the Yank all putting out two cents worth in re: the impending choice that had to be made and soon. You see Kings Of Leon closed the main stage tonight and started at 10pm; David's choice. However; Faith No More had been a late addition the the massive NME tent as the first night's headliner at 10:15pm, my wife's choice. So the crucial decision was thrust at my feet and I nobly accepted this duty. In a Soloman like blurred mind set (beers and "bits and bobs"...i love the english slang) I decided that we see the first 30 minutes or so of KOL and then head to the NME tent (5 minute walk) for the start of FNM and then conclude our evening back at the end of KOL's set. HA! Well best laid plans of mice and men usually go into the ditch. We didn't drive it into the ditch, it was the sound, the swirling winds and the fact that KOL seemed to wilt under the mess. What a huge disappointment they were. Sound was crap and the vocals were buried. They seem a bit dazed by the constant touring for the better part of a year. Saw a few songs and literally ran to the NME stage to see the start of Faith No More! F*ckers were 20 minutes late and you could tell they were none too happy to be in a tent after 11 years apart and I thought they had a point. Couldn't they have been squeezed on the main stage at some point over the weekend? They did rock the world when they were on their game and that was quite often. So we are in the tent; must hold 10,000 people, biggest i ever saw, and they are late. I then realize more and more people are leaving KOL and heading for the tent. It was half full at best when we arrived and by the start of the set, it was over flowing. I either saw the last or second to last show; still trying to verify, in Milwaukee in 1998 and the last song they played was the Theme To Midnight Cowboy...too cool. They walk on and launch into the same song and my hairs are standing right up! Awesome to say the least. Well done men! Then it just doesn't stop, song after song, hit after hit; everyone losing their minds again and for the first times. This is why I love music and why this sh*t matters. I hold Lidia for most of the set as she jumps up and down with a smile that wants to get bigger, but can't. Midlife Crisis, Easy, Epic, From Out Of Nowhere (go listen to this now...i will wait...still as fresh as it was decades ago) and Falling To Pieces; i was misting up...naw...just really buzzed and smiling my ass off. Best line was Mike Patton's...."We're in the tent and Fuck everyone else....let's go!" We straggle back to try and catch a few of KOL's last sounds as they are scheduled to play longer than FNM. WE get there and they have just finished; early. Weird, heard they had sound issues the whole set and the singer kinda freaked a bit and went all insecure. We did make the right decision...hell yeah! Back to the hotel and recoup for day 2.

On My Way To Reading Festival....Hell Yeah!!!

2009-08-23T02:30:00.006-05:00

I just finished doing two shows tonight at The Abbey. Early show was a reunion of early to mid 1980 Chicagoland punk acts. Blatant Dissent and The Subverts were the two main headliners and brought back a lot of memories from that time period. Nice turnout and killer show. Late show was DJ's from Does It Offend You, Yeah? from Reading, England....what a coincidence; that's where I am headed this morning! I love these guys and hope you check them out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_Rv0hCF6I&feature=channel) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6_ubiAzoSk&feature=channel); very cool shit and great guys! This will be my 15th Reading Festival and I just can't freakin' wait. This is the best fest in the world in my opinion. I have made life long friends from this fest and have had some great times. I will be posting my reviews, stories and experiences from this year and the past. Thanx again for reading!

The Answer To The Question Is The Answer....HA!!

2009-08-17T18:04:00.014-05:00

I was banging on about crap bands and that there is no sense of urgency or bubbling under scene/band ready to explode. There well may be one in Northern Ireland that are part classic, part contemporary roar and a bit all right! The Answer (www.theanswer.ie) are a true light in this dark ages of music and especially in the rock and metal genre. Just deadly dull and boring bands seem to have inherited the landscape of both these musical niches. The solution seems so obvious; The Answer from Belfast. I had been tipped about a year ago about a new rock act that was very different and making a bunch of noise in the UK and Japan. Gave their myspace several listenings and was slightly impressed; a Free, Black Crowes, Zep, Back Street Crawler (Paul Kossoff...how obscure is that) type of thing happening here but with some nice modern flow and some shit hot guitar playing. So with much anticipation, we headed to see The Answer open for AC/DC this past winter at the local arena. They had 30 to 35 minutes I believe and a fairly uninterested crowd to deal with. No biggie; they band came out and introduced themselves and proceeded to kill the next 35 minutes. Like most acts who are very new and relatively unknown to the audience they are playing for, they had little room and a small amount of equipment. Looked a bit overwhelmed, but when you closed your eyes, it seemed like they could be the headliner. Great sound, solid songs, a nice swagger (not arrogance), spot on playing and a vocal from Cormac that can be ranked right up there with the best of the rockers. He is a screamer, a real good one and a powerful one. He is definitely in the style of Plant, Paul Rodgers, Steve Marriott and Chris Robinson. I think they did the whole "Never To Late" ep which was out here in the states at the time; great video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYsxWGSugIg). Having more than held their own in this tough environment of indifference and weed smoke. I was very much looking forward to seeing them in a more cosy atmosphere!

That night finally came the other night at a small club in Chicago on Saturday August 15th . This was on a day off on the second leg of the US AC/DC tour. I would think opening for a huge international metal act such as AC/DC can cut both positively and negatively. You only get 30 to 40 minutes each night and half the crowd is not there yet or out in the hall drinking. On the other hand, you get to rock at least 10,000 people a night or try to at least. I guess it is a lot of indifference with a small percentage of new converts each night! I know several converts from the two AC/Dc shows here. I have to say that these guys played a solid, no bullsh*t set at their headline gig here August 15th. They played for well over an hour to a crowd of 200+; not too shabby for their first time thru on their own. New, full length cd is out here in the states and is every bit as good as the ep. "Everyday Demons" has many high spots and very few low points. Check out the video for the new single "On And On" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYHbGEZjBk8),

this song is a great one that stays with you as it has some flow and a killer bite. The whole set was hot, steamy and rockin'. They know how to run a set and they know how to cater to and push their audience. No cliches and no filler; just the way I love it!! For a great idea of them live, check out this clip from the David Letterman show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aT6iuYaNtg&feature=related). I should have a short interview with the lads soon in the blog, so stay tuned for some answers from THE ANSWER....HA!

In The Near Future, i Will Be Posting My "Rock" Stories

2009-08-14T14:26:00.006-05:00

I have been lucky enough and mad enough to have many "RnR" moments that still shine on in my head from the past several decades. I will be posting them in the next few months as they come back to me. I have several Metallica experiences that are quite hilarious and stupefying. There was this one weekend at Red Rocks where this girl attacked Jamez in my hotel room and called the police. That was just one incident! I have this other time in Manchester that my English friend thought i was the devil and then we drank all night in the hotel bar and signing Lars name all night to his tab. I have a good Lollapalooza story with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This includes L7 destroying not one; but two dressing rooms in Dallas!! Henry Rollins literally sleeping on my hardwood floor and doing my dishes; several times!! Dinner with Lush (I love you Chris Ackland.....RIP!! More on him in a later blog...best mate ever)!) and Flaming Lips before sneaking into the Garage in London to see Mudhoney. So i am in the process of vetting my memory and trying to see if they make any sense and are the least bit interesting or funny. I think they will be for all sense and purpose. I have to say I have had a huge laugh in my life and work, praise JAH!! More to come and thanx for reading, i am having a blast writing again. I am working on some good interviews with some interesting music folks also!

Lou....What The Hell Was That?

2009-08-10T23:51:00.013-05:00

Ok, Sunday was really a suckie day at Lollapalooza. It was hotter than hell and humid as a mutha! I have to say the weekend was really disappointing in that most of the talent never hit the mark. It all seemed so blase, so milk toasty, so "when is this thing going to go off"? Never, i was soon to realize Sunday as i walked away from the sounds of Jane's Addiction playing their hits one more time as if no one had ever heard them before. God it really sucks musically right now; doesn't it? I feel like this is as bad as when the punk movement was born out of a fat, lazy music business whose acts sh*t on their fans. Ok; maybe not that bad, but where is the stuff that makes your hair stand up? where is the next Clash, the next Jesus and Mary Chain, the next Strokes? Stuff that makes you get up and blast the songs as loud as you can. Nowhere i tell you....NOWHERE!! Well maybe somewhere, but we haven't found it yet. Until that day, we seem to retread everything and smile like happy idiots sucking it up. Two of the things i am most excited about is the Faith No More reunion and the Radiohead set; both at Reading this year as i will be. Great bands, but they are already on every one's radar. I remember the year The Strokes played Reading and their was such a mania in the UK and especially in London that summer for them. We were there in the early summer and everything was Strokes and Strokes related. They were the toast of the country. People were truly excited by them and their music. They were added to the Reading fest that summer late and on a side stage. There was so much furor over them playing a small, side stage that the promoters a few days before the fest; added them to the Friday main stage...how cool! We were sitting backstage and everyone looked like they were in The Strokes (when Londoners love something, they go 110% all out...sometimes cool and sometimes silly, but always entertaining), loads of suit jackets, skinny ties and cropped hairdo's. So none of this exists right now in the music scene and it is a bit perturbing, something has got to break out and amaze us soon!!

So uncle Lou....what can i say about a set so disjointed that even the hardest core fan had to be scratching there head. I have been lucky enough to see him in the past three decades and even once in New York City at the Beacon Theatre. All his shows are different and always new and challenging. He has such a huge catalog to pick from, he seems not to duplicate sets. So I take my wife who has never seen him and has been a fan since she first heard his music. I was very excited as the rest of the weekend had been a bit of a let down except for Arctics, Kings Of Leon and Glasvegas; so let's show these frat boys and wannabe fashionista girls how the lower east side on NYC does it. Snoop was on at the other main stage at the same time and i heard it was the biggest crowd of the weekend; WTF!! Reality show = NO credibility in my book, no matter how hard you were, what you produced entertainment wise or how many gold records your ass has. YOU F*CKIN' BLEW IT WHEN YOU DID THAT TV SHOW!! You ruled, but no more. Snoop is no more a "G" than my Mom is. I know i am going off on a tangent, but what does this say about the lemming mentality that pervaded this fest? You have guys leaving it all onstage and everyone wants to see Snoop shizzle the fizzle. Back to Lou, he was 15 minutes late and i don't think he quite understands that to do 144 bands in 3 days; you need a tight schedule or all goes to hell. I think he was the only late act all weekend; not 100% sure, but everything else seemed to run like clockwork. So Lou straps it on 15 minutes late and immediately launches into "Sweet Jane"....SWEET!! Next was "Dirty Boulevard"; nice one again Lou!! Now is when it all goes so terribly wrong; Lou seems mad or uninterested in the remaining set. He plays several very slow numbers and brings the great start to a screeching halt. A few more obscure songs and then we get to the noise part. I thought "Metal Machine Music" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Machine_Music) was way ahead of its time and i know Lou has done these intense "noise" sets in past decades; but this was just annoying noodling. This went on for the next 30 or 40 minutes, such a huge bummer. I don't want a greatest hits set, but come on throw us a few bones in this oppressive heat and humidity. He went over on his set and Band Of Horses had to start across the field, that was a weird situation. He ended with "Walk On The Wild Side"; could you be anymore predictable? I was a bit pissed, upset and mostly bored as I sweated backstage trying to figure out Lou's psyche for that set. Right now backstage is being over run by Hollywood wannabe creepoids, trying to get a touch or piece of Perry Or Dave....yuck....time to go swimming.

Arctics Rule The Day at Lolla....For Me Anyways

2009-08-10T12:39:00.011-05:00

Just flat out one of the UK's best new bands; period. If you know nothing or little about Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys; download, buy, you tube or myspace their songs as quickly as possible. You will not here a better example of the future of music anywhere else. I was lucky enough to see two sets over the weekend. Friday night was the Lolla after show at metro and Saturday was their 4:30 set on one of the two main stages. This is a band as far from pretentiousness and posing as is humanly possible. I do love a good stage set and exploding worlds on stage every now and then, but I love even more a band that came come out in jeans and tennies to rip the audiences head off!! This is the Arctics live; you get exactly what you see and hear. I remember in the summer of 2005 i was in London several times for different festivals and a lot of the "industry" types i know were charged up about this act from Sheffield; Arctic Monkeys. First thought this was a really strange name, hopefully the band and music is not as quirky as the name I thought. The single that started monkey mania in the UK was "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor"; still one of the best singles from the past 5 years. Song and cd went to #1 in the UK and set a UK chart record the fastest selling debut record! The follow up lp was just as strong in it's own right; Favorite Worst Nightmare. New cd drops later this month; Humbug (with some tracks supposedly produced by Josh Homme of Kyuss, Queens Of Stone Age and Eagles Of Death Metal). 2006 saw them play the special guest slot at the Reading Festival right before Muse. They were brilliant, when they played "I Bet..." the crowd of 60,000+ literally exploded; cool r'n'r moment for me! So it has been a few years since I have seen them live and I was excited that I would see them at the relatively small metro and the massive field that is Lollapalooza. The metro set was everything and more. Great energy and a good crowd. They played for over an hour and a half...wow!! Did some songs from the forthcoming release; "Humbug", especially the new single in the UK "Crying Lightning". One of my fav songs of theirs is "Fluorescent Adolescent" and both sets they killed it; had that song in my head for two days. This band will be around making good music for a good while i would think. The band seem devoid of drama and massive ego's; big and quick reasons for the downfall of even the mightiest acts. Good one boys...see you at Reading in a few weeks as they are the headliners on Saturday night with The Prodigy supporting!! How freakin' cool.

For the most part, the rest of my day at lolla was mostly downhill save for Glasvegas!! A brilliant little pop band straight out of Glasgow, Scotland. More than a buzz band in the UK right now, they have made a big impact on that music scene in the past several years and are finally getting a bit of notice here. I caught a song or two several summers ago at a fest and thought they were quite interesting and had something to offer. 2008 seems to be the year that they really took off overseas. Signed to Columbia records and charted in the Uk singles and album charts, they also supported Oasis and U2 at their huge outdoor shows last summer. I have always thought they were a harder Coldplay with a bit of Jesus and Mary Chain throw in; very intriguing! Now when i saw them for a sec several years ago, I did not see the drummer as i was quite far and mellow. Now Saturday I was on the stage waiting for them to arrive and start their set. Saw the three front guys; esp. James Allen (singer) who is a double for Mick Jones in my book....a young Mick Jones), but then a tiny woman with a black, angular haircut stood behind the drums....STANDING UP, BAREFOOTED....how cool. I did not know this and was very impressed/amazed/amused....cool! Set was great and I think they should make some inroads into the states. Thought the crowd was a little thin, but it was 100° and brutal. Check out the video for "Daddy's Gone", melodically haunting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uSdQxKaBfU). Good set but we had to get backstage for some shade and drinks. Will see them at Reading also, they are co-headlining the NME Stage I believe on Saturday also.

Now for a quick rundown on the rest of the bands and people I saw. Rise Against were on next and the played my favorite song first which made me smile. Good punk band that jumps and screams all over the place. Nice energy, good vocals and nice,fast guitar pace. Next up was some food and I loved the jalapeno, cheddar andouille sausage with a lobster corn dog on the side. Sausage kicked ass and corn dog was good. Onto see Lyyke Li from Sweden. She had a nice, couture dress that looked really good and matched her style of music. I thought her band songs were better than her solo, acoustic ones. She seemed very hit or miss with each number. Onto Animal Collective which I had heard a ton about over the years, but had never managed to see. Maybe it's me, but I just did not get it. Boring and over hyped is what I came away thinking. Maybe just not my cup of tea, but i didn't see much tea to begin with! So we marched over the the Chicago 2016 main stage for Tool. Been a long, long time since I saw these guys. It was the side stage at the touring Lollapalooza back in the early '90's. I saw their set in Des Moines at the fairground where Lolla was taking place that year in Iowa. There must have been no more than 50 people watching. Loads of puzzled looks when they hit the stage, Maynard wearing a mohawk, cowboy hate and megaphone. Cool is what I thought and liked the set. BUT my main concern with them is that they seem to be in the same general place musically each and every release. Something i don't dig and follow. The set was solid; the wind was really whipping, so it definitely had an effect on the mix. It was good, but after 45 minutes i was ready to head back. I do admit they have super hardcore fans and they do spark intense loyalty; which i can tip my hat to as most bands don't get the fact that fans equal everything to a successful band or act! Walked by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Karen still screaming...have they come and gone? Just not digging the past 2 records, maybe i moved on....LOL. I can't wait to go swimming tonight...AHHHH!!!

A Soggy Start To Lollapalooza

2009-08-07T21:50:00.015-05:00

We made it down to the site by 4pm and it was still pissing rain on the fest and downtown. I really wanted to see Hockey at 11:30am, but that went to the wayside as i saw rain when i awoke and looked out the window. I really like their record and think this is one of the few bright spots in music right now (there is such a severe drought of talented acts and artists in the past several years; what is going on? where is the talent, the urgency, the new sh*t everyone wants!!); so i suggest checking them out as i think you will not be disappointed. Another act I was trying to see was; Hey Champ, from Chicago/Rockford and on Lupe Fiasco's label. They have played several shows for me and i think they are one of the city's best new acts (competition is not so tough as we have a ton of mediocre bands and very few gems). Did not see them...but will book them at the club soon. We made it to the site and walked into the fest to the sounds of the Bloody Beetroots doing a DJ set. I love this act from Italy, they are crazy and heavy! The DJ set is good, but the live set is supposedly over the top. I did a DJ show with them in the winter and it killed, 2010 is the year i am told for the live set to debut around the world; can't wait for this one!! Good, loud, undulating set from the Italian lads. On to the next act which happened to be Thievery Corporation on one of the two main stages. We were early for their set, so we grabbed a drink (free sweet tea backstage, very nice) and heard the sounds of Montreal's Crystal Castles. They ripped onto the scene 2 years ago and were quite the buzz child last year. Crazy female singer, manic lights, driving beats are what this is all about. I thought the initial cd was good and had some interesting turns on it and i do like a good, strong front person. The show i did with them at the abbey was insane and the crowd was as intense that night. However i just have this nagging feeling i have seen this and heard this all before. Then there is the artwork plagiarism charge, the accusations of music borrowing, been thru several live line up changes, etc. Just leaves you wondering a little bit if this is all organic or a well rehearsed attack at fame at all costs? Anyways, thought the set today was a bit on the weak side. After several live viewings, i feel they may be a one trick pony; hope not, but leaning that way. Onto Thievery Corporation, a lot of people coming and going during their set, many female singers and the main two guys on turntables, mixers and computers. The sound was amazing for their set! I mean it was the best sound by far, beating any other act we saw all day and night! Better than Kings Of Leon and Depeche Mode! I guess having the company doing Lolla is your management company helps on days like this. Very bass orientated and some middle eastern influences thru out their set made for a nice vibe on the pitch floor. Loads of dancing and vibing for most of TC's set. Various singers came and went doing vocals with a nice lighting and video effects to co mingle with the musicians and music. We left for Peter, Bjorn and John on the Citi stage. I know little about these Swedish guys except for that incredibly infectious song; "Young Folks", which is a killer pop song by any standard! Peter is the main singer and guitarist, he looked like he had been mugged by Tommy Hilfiger in a dark alley and made to wear his preppy stuff along with a super "little boy" haircut (see pic above). Cute is what i was thinking they were after....interesting. Stayed for most of the set and was totally entertained by this Scandinavian trio; well done. Raced over to Perry Farrell's stage which is basically a dj set up and club like atmosphere in between some trees....kinda cool and better than last year's Perry;s set up; but still lacks something. Caught the last 20 minutes of A-Trak (Kanye's old dj) and he had the crown moving and a grooving. Good songs and nice flow, but nothing to write home about. Next up was Simian Mobile Disco from the UK. Have always been a big fan of these guys and love most what they release. Their debut album in 2007; "Attack Decay Sustain Release" , was a big fav of mine that year and still is. Nice songs and intense bass were what i heard and then it was time to head to the Chicago 2016 main stage (remember last year it was the AT&T stage, but they pulled out leaving a big hole in Lolla's budget, i would think...OUCH!!). Let me preference this next review first, i love DM and have followed them from the start thru their many re-inventions and re-incarnations! I have seen them 8 or 9 times and even saw Dave Gahan (singer/see my pic...not too shabby) on his solo tour several years ago and have enjoyed each and every show. So WTF happened last night? I am still trying to figure it out myself. They opened with several new songs off their recently released; "Sounds Of The Universe", which got things off to a slowish start. The sound was no where near the excellence that Thievery Corp. had enjoyed, it was a bit mushy and didn't have the bass presence they need live. Band looked good, but they seemed to be in slow motion for the first 6 or 7 songs. It just never got started, very frustrating and kinda boring to tell the truth. Big bummer in my book. Kings Of Leon started 15 minutes after DM started, they are having co-headliners this year again (good idea..i think Radiohead last year were the solo headliner on friday though). So with much sadness re: the DM set and turn of events from them, we quickly headed the mile or so to the other end of the site to the Budwiser stage and the mighty KOL!!! I have a great KOL/Caleb (singer) story i will relate to you in a later posting, it it quite funny and my wife has told me several times about this meeting in a London bar when i was three sheets to the wind...:)!! Anyways, I think they have one of the best lp's released this decade. This last album is just chalked full of hits and gems. There is easily 7 or 8 singles on this thing, something that is almost unheard of these days. Most bands get a single or two and rush release a whole lp of filler and 2 or 3 good songs. NOT KOL!! If you have not sat down with; "Only By The Night", get it and get ready for some killer music and soul searching lyrics. We were in London in December and KOL mania was in full bloom, they had had the no. 1 lp and 3 follow up smash singles with "Use Somebody" just playing on the radio and tv there every hour. "Notion" seems to be taking on a life of it's own right now here and this could be the one song that makes them as popular here as they are in the rest of the world. Remember that it was the UK where they first charted..."Molly's Chamber". KOL definitely won the attendance contest tonight, far outdrawing the DM crowd down the street. We walked in on "notion" and it was all great after that. Nice stage set of 12 video screens and some lovely mood lighting. Only complaint was that the sound was not nearly loud enough...Hmmmm!!! Best comment so far from ant stage came from Caleb...."you guys make us fell way bigger than we are"....how freakin' cool is that?? i love humility, esp. after 8 years of the past administration...HA! Good day, a bit soggy, KOL ruled the night and we wore out wellies (english for galoshes/rubber boots) so we wrre unfazed by mud and water!! Now comes the heat for Saturday and Sunday....ARGHH!!!

My John Hughes Story

2009-08-07T00:50:00.003-05:00

I met John Hughes several times back in the early 80's when i was managing a north suburban record store. We had a great selection of import, punk, metal, noise, 12" singles and a lot more. We were the only store with such records in the northern suburbs outside Wax Trax Records on Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. First time i met him, he was in the store by himself for a while and finally checked out with some lame, domestic lp's. It was a nice pile and i had to ask if he was a collector or a wedding dj (he had the most intensely feathered haircut and i was a bit of a punk smart ass with my blonde hair, spiked with glue days). He said he was a screen writer and that he was writing a new movie and he was finally going to get to produce something he wrote and he was looking for music because that was a key element of the movie. I was a bit freaked and thought this guy might be wacked or be the real deal. he went on to say he had written or co-wrote 3 of the top 10 grossing movies that year (1983); National Lampoon's Vacation, Nate and Hayes and Mr. Mom. I told him i was way into vacation and had seen it several times this past summer. He then told me a little known fact re: the movie. In the movie; Chevy Chase has the encounters with Christie Brinkley, the original script which he wrote had the son messing around with Christie. However, when Chevy read the script, he had it re-written and it killed John. I told him that the lp's he had just bought were ok, but did he ever hear of....English Beat, Dead Kennedys, Simple Minds, Black Flag? I said next time in here, i will show him the import section and give him my input. He said that sounded good and he left. Skip ahead several months now, John comes back in. he got the movie ok'd, he is the director of it and they are filming here in the 'burbs: Sixteen Candles. He also mentioned he had another movie written and ready to go after this: Breakfast Club. This was the movie he needed some cutting edge stuff in it. The music kids actually listen to at that moment! He told me to pick out $300 or $400 worth of music ( that's equivelant to 1K+ today of cd's). I went ot town and got him all four of the acts above and so much more. We hung for an hour and a half, listening to all the stuff i was pulling for him and explaining what it was and who was into it. I was really into Simple Minds and English Beat that month.... so he got their import catalogs from my store. They were a cult act here in the states and after he added "Don't You" to Breakfast Club, it was all over!! Same with the Beat, he added their songs to several of his movies. DK's and the Flag also made it into a movie soundtrack of his. The last time i saw him was when BC was wrapping and he brought in Molly & Anthony Michael. I remember how young and small they looked. They were a bit brattish and were in no mood to hang in a record store and talk music with John and me. He thanked me and asked me to write down some more bands and i did. I handed him the paper and said i would see him later as Molly and Anthony Michael dragged him out of the store to go clothes shopping and to buy a bass or guitar. I never saw him again. The movie came out the next year and that song was everywhere. The old manager of that store was there everytime he came in and witnessed my time with him. She was actually the person who ordered the imposts and loved it that he had deep pockets. She turned to me one day and said that Simple Minds should have paid me royalties on that song....i had to laugh,

I want to hug the shit out of Chris Martin

2009-08-06T12:27:00.001-05:00

Coldplay - Alpine Valley 7/25/09

If you listen to my play list in my life, there are very few; if any, bands like Coldplay that make my life play list. Just not into soft rock, i like passion, noise and a conviction about whatever the band or singer are banging on about. So it is as much a surprise to me as it is to the people who know me that i am a HUGE Coldplay fan and simply love Chris Martin. I have dissected this many times and ways; yet nothing seems to make sense. So i just enjoy it and bathe in the Coldplay/Martin warmth.....mmmmm!! I have had the good luck to see them numerous times on every tour of theirs. I have seen them in tiny clubs, live at the Vic Theatre for a LIVE MTV2 broadcast (amazing), the O2 in london this past Xmas and at Glastonbury with 120,000 other people. I fell a litmus test of any great band is to be able to play and kill your audience at any size level venue and they do that repeatedly! The Vic show (only 500 people in a 1400 cap room) and Glastonbury were as immediate, touching and powerful at both sets. Not a man crush (god i hate marketing and branding sometimes) for Mr. Martin, i truly have big respect for this guy and his band mates. I truly believe we need more people doing their jobs as well and as intensly as he/they do. They own the stage and the cd's they record, something most people don't do in real life. Not a big fan of just "punching the clock". If you have a job, a career, a store, a band.....onw it...make it yours...do it the best you can!! If you don't like it...get a better job, get a better education, do something that means something to many; don't just take up room and suck up all the oxygen. It seems to me that whatever Coldplay take on at any level, it is always a solid jod and a total commitment. Plus he loves Macs and i do too....:).

The show.....it was great! The same basic premise from the December O2 show, but a few different wrinkles. Into the audience twice to do several songs as arms length from the crowd. They did a semi acoustic version of "Bille Jean"....i could have done without that (so tired of this mj hype and tragedy) and that is the only moment in the whole show that i can say that. Whols set was awesome. Started with "Life In Technicolor", then "violet Hill" and ""Clocks" back to back. Nice one!! The energy and conviction of the band is overriding the whole set. No pandering and no filler....nice one again guys!! So in conclusion, they are a world class act and keep the bar high for themselves and it pays off big time.

Welcome To My Side....of things

2009-08-06T11:56:00.001-05:00

I use to write a lot. I did 11 issues of fanzine (Last Rites), wrote the scene report for Max R'n'R and wrote an article for Rip Magazine. I truly miss writing, venting, raving about whatever is important at that moment. So the first thing i will review is The Jesus Lizard's awesome performance at Pitchfork Fest.

7/17/09 Union Park, Chicago

we walked into the backstage area to hear a large roar coming from one of the stages in the baseball field at Union Park. Then there was the unmistakable incoherent mumble of the great David Yow.....yes it was the Lizard and they were back in the town were it all started! I wouild have to say that 90% of "re-unions" are very disappointing and hurt the band's original legacy (somebody say Sex Pistols...thank god The Clash reunited for $$...they remain one of the true punk bands that walked the walk). 5% are fun an d alright and then there is the last 5%; The Lizards. The bands that left too early and still have a bit of relevance to offer in this retread world. They did all their hits and cult favs. They looked good and they looked pissed off and scary still. This was not a feel good comeback gig, this was a "wtf" here we are again and will will pound you into submission. It also had the fell of one of their legendary Lounga Ax gigs with Sue Miller, Juia Adams, Bernie T Fan and Elliot Dicks all stage side. Good times once again, The Lizard rida again. at least for the moment. They are doing some european fest and i hear there are 2 nights at metro in November. Then that's it???? Say it ain't so Yow. I know you guys have one more killer LP in you brains and stomachs......really!!!!