Manchester Orchestra 11/23/11

"I'VE GOT THAT ROCK AND THAT ROLL!" we all chanted during the second tune of the night, "April Fool."  Energy was high, thanks partially to openers The Dear Hunter and Cage the Elephant.  I hadn't really heard much by The Dear Hunter but I got their groove and they had some tasty licks.  I know I poo-pooed on Cage the last time I saw them and I'm still not convinced of their future longevity.  But Matt Shultz is an undeniable front-man.  I could barely peel my eyes away from the skinny little egotistical punk skipping around the stage (see youtube clip below, have to wait until the end to see what I mean).  His incoherent vocals are still questionable for a live show, but he enjoys a good stage dive.  On the third one, he was held by just his feet and stood up straight above the crowd which was pretty cool (check pic below, kinda hard to tell he's not standing on stage).
    

So, back to Man O.  I just saw them at Music Midtown, but I had to check 'em out when they were headlining a gig.  It's been a while since I have found a band that has a way of playing soft, yet eerie, melodies that spiral to the darkest depths of the soul in the blink of an eye.  "I've Got Friends" is a fair example of pop melody that is offset with dark lyrics, strained vocals, and sudden guitar thrash.  Man, its fun to sing along with live, too.  Especially when everyone in the house harmonizes.  "Pensacola" is another good one to unify voices.  Except for one drunk chick that had many miscues and a shrieking, off-key voice that garnered her quite a bit of heckling.  Sadly, we could only really hear her during the toned down portions of songs that never became loud.  There's one in every crowd, I guess.  The only thing she didn't do was holler out "Freebird."  It's alright, I barely remember the first time I got a hold of some brown liquor, either.

The Raconteurs 11/13/11

Who says you have to have a new album to go on tour?  Not Jack White.  He and his boys know they can bring the sold-out body heat to the Tabernacle mid-November, even after a bummer of a Falcons game.  They busted on stage with probably my personal favorite "Consoler of the Lonely" and didn't let up for a second.  The modestly dressed crew, containing a skinnier Brendan Benson with longer, curled locks; a less stoic than usual Jack Lawrence; and a heat wave emitting Patrick Keeler on drums know how to bring it upside your head without a lot of flash and theatrics.  Its all about the RAWK with them, people.  They can do a brass-less "Switch and the Spur" and a banjo-less "Top Yourself" and still kick you in the teeth.  But at the same time, they also know they can't do "Old Enough" without a bad-ass fiddler violently sawing the strings and stabbing the air with his bow.  "Blue Veins" ended the main set with JW attacking his guitar with hurricane veracity and evoked an instinctual mid-solo applause from a crowd so unified with his energy that I believe we all forgot where we were, but it didn't matter.  We didn't need or want to be anywhere else.  There wasn't anywhere else.  The rest of the world disappeared and I, for one, have never been more elated to be lost in the cosmos with a building full of fans.  That's the effect a band should strive for every show.  Leave a pint of blood on that stage or don't even bother.  Being in charming company instead of going it alone, like I had originally planned, probably didn't hurt either.  At the end of the song, he tried to give away his guitar to a lucky fan in the front row but a roadie wrestled it away from the many hands holding on to the axe (check video link below).  Had it been me, wild horses couldn't have dragged it out of my death grip.  The encore consisted of "Salute Your Solution," the hooky first single by the boys "Steady, As She Goes," and the powerfully melancholy "Carolina Drama" respectively.  Bring on the next album and tour, fellas.  I'm already ready.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W89IVbBwmi4&feature=feedu

Chris Robinson Brotherhood 11/12/11

I guess an optimist would say that Center Stage was half-full.  Chris and company just couldn't seem to fill the place, but I guess that happens.  The first set was OK, I'm not familiar with his solo stuff but they did throw in a Crowes cover of "Appaloosa."  If I overheard correctly, the entire set list was scattered, or littered, with Grateful Dead tunes.  Wouldn't know, never could get into those guys.  So that gives you an idea of what sound was like all evening.  The second set, after at least a half hour intermission, was really jammy and I damn near left early.  But then they roped me in with a couple more Crowes numbers, including "I Aint Hiding."  Not that that was the reason I went, I wasn't expecting to hear any.  It was at this time I really began to become aware of and annoyed by this guy next to me who apparently thought it would be a good idea to have a first date at a friggin rock show.  He's telling this chick, very loudly, all about his family and I even heard him say his grandparents were in a concentration camp.  Now, far be it for me to make light of the Jewish plight, but this Gentile would have preferred to hear a little more music and a little less family tragedy at that moment.  That's the beauty of a general admission show; one can move around to a spot that isn't next to someone who thinks they're at a random bar listening to house music and not have to go to jail for smacking the Hell out of them.  I hate to go against one of the founding members of one of my favorite bands, but if I had it to do over again, I would have probably gone and seen The Australian Pink Floyd Show that was right down the street at the Fox.  Tickets went on sale for Chris before they announced they were coming to Atlanta.  Damn those double booked days. 

Foo Fighters 11/7/11

Yep, they're still around after 16 years and don't seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.  Kinda like openers Social Distortion, who put on about the same show as when I saw them the first time, only it was about 30 minutes instead of a couple of hours.  The Foo's have quite a play list to choose from after eight albums and jammed on a wide range of songs, spanning their career.  Gwinnett Arena isn't nearly as intimate a setting as the Tabernacle, but it did afford Dave a cat walk stretched almost to the back with a rising platform about 15 feet off the ground.  He told us up front that this was going to be a long night and that they were going for a 2 1/2 hour plus gig.  But, turns out that meant that he was going to kill a significant amount of time by hamming it up with the crowd and attempting to be a stand-up comedian.  A little goes a long way, especially when you have so many songs that want to be heard.  As far as rock star humor goes, keep it short, dry, and obscene.  They made up for it by bustin out some cool covers like Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh?" and a dueling guitar solo between Dave and Chris Shiflett in the middle of "Stacked Actors" that sounded loosely akin to the solo in Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker."  At one point they had all the lights turned down and I was surprised to see a 50/50 ratio of the archaic yellow glow of hand-held fire to the blue and white illumination of modern communication devices.  Does anyone remember going to shows without those distracting text machines?  Ancient memories, huh?  The encore set brought Dave back to his perch for a couple of acoustic tunes but then brought the whole band back in the middle of "Times Like These."  The next tune, "Dear Rosemary," was off the new album, Wasting Light, and unexpectedly faded into Tom Petty's "Breakdown."  With a dazzling light show throughout the night they closed it down with "Everlong."  Arena Rock lives on.

Rich Robinson 10/28/11

New venue!  I'd never been to Smith's Olde Bar until tonight but hope to visit again soon.  Nice, small joint to observe some tunes.  Rich (guitar playing brother from The Black Crowes) certainly didn't put a sour taste in my mouth for the quaint stage in the attic.  He may not have the soulful range of his lead singing brother, but he's got some chops.  I went into this without hearing a single note of his solo stuff, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.  Although continually stoic-faced in his stage presence, the man can write/sing/jam a song.  I guess a big part of being a front man is attitude, which Chris (whom I'll be seeing Nov 12) obviously exudes.  You would never know Rich was part of an internationally toured band for almost 25 years.  Never underestimate the value of modesty in a rock star.  His mellow, laid-back grooves accompanied by some obscure covers of rock history, including Velvet Underground, Fleetwood Mac, and Pink Floyd's "Fearless," filled the room with smiles from wall to wall.  Visually speaking, I've always enjoyed watching the hands and fingers of a musician on stage as well as the facial expressions.  Perhaps that's inherited from my Mom's therapist fascination with hands and the effortless maneuvering of a musicians' digits up and down the neck of an axe or across the ivories of a piano.  Audibly speaking, my brother's influence can't help but be recognized when a single note can evoke the hair on my neck and arms to uncontrollably stand on end and my skin to goosebump spontaneously after being kicked in the teeth with raw, honest, LOUD, power (even though we currently disagree on the validity of a lot of past and modern bands).  Even the suppressed admiration of a lot of 60's and 70's groups from my Dad can't help but find the light of day in my soul.  I remember him briefly telling me about Led Zeppelin (which he described as "Acid Rock," a term I hadn't heard before) as we drove past what is now Pueblo's in D-town.  A more attentive audience he had never captured, whether he knew it or not.  I stumbled over his vinyl collection after he died and it was like the scene from Almost Famous.  Oh, the questions forever unasked and, in turn, forever unanswered.  

Music Midtown 2011 9/24/11

AHH, the return.  OK, so it was only one evening instead of two and a half days and more expensive than ever.  And the line-up was nowhere as diverse as the good ole days, what with it being entirely modern rock.  Hey, if you can't keep your finger on the pulse of new music, I'll see ya in the rear view.  Not that I don't love my dinosaur rock of the 60s and 70s.  Hell, I've got the ink on my arm to prove it.  But, I'll admit, I only went for three bands in particular:

Manchester Orchestra

Local boys starting to hit it big on the alt-rock scene sweatin' it out in front of thousands.  I've just recently gotten in to this band after having seen them on Letterman and ended up drooling on myself watching their performance with my jaw in my lap (see link below).  After that, I was fairly disappointed in myself for not knowing more about these guys.  Luckily, a buddy hooked me up and I went to the show not quite as ignorant of their sound.  A lot of their tunes are light and artsy but with dark lyrics and when you least expect it, they bring the CRUNCH!  Not to mention lead singer Andy Hull (who bears a striking resemblance to Zach Galifianakis) straining his voice to the point of shredding vocal chords.  They played a set limited to an hour spanning all of their albums including "Pensacola," "I've Got Friends," and "Shake it Out."  Next time they're in ATL/home, I'll probably be there.  If nothing else but to see Chris Freeman play both keyboards and percussion.

The Black Keys

This band has been around for a while but, again, I only discovered them about a year ago.  Matter of fact, the near entirety of my last birthday/Christmas list was all of their albums.  The duo brought their garage blues vibe full force in front of a packed field in first-time host Piedmont Park.  Surprisingly, they pulled out a set of mostly older tunes but still gave the occasional listener that has only heard them on the radio what they wanted with hits from their latest album, Brothers, like "Tighten Up" and "Howlin' For You."  During one song, leader Dan Auerbach played guitar while also holding a maraca.  Not to be out done, stiff-shouldered drummer Patrick Carney used it in his left hand instead of a drum stick (Jablonski... your move, bro!).  The good thing about them is that most of their songs are less than 4 minutes each, which makes for a long set list.  Due to festival time constraints, I'll just have to wait until they come back on their own for more tune-age. 

Cage the Elephant

These guys are an example of the perks of a festival.  I would probably never pay a ticket price to see them by themselves, but since we're both there, why not?  I had heard front-man Matt Shultz had a hell of a stage presence, and he does.  He's very energetic and seizure-like, but it does take away from the comprehension of his singing.  If he keeps up that kind of activity, he'll never spiral into being the dreaded "fat, old, rock star."  He may not have to worry about that anyway if they don't find more range, musically.  Granted, I only know about four of their songs, but they all sound somewhat similar.  Popularity can be a fickle trend, fellas. 

Coldplay

"You know how I know you're gay?...  You like Coldplay."    I didn't stick around for them.

As I said before, Music Midtown just isn't the same as it was.  No sneaking in liquor to save on over-priced beer, although security was a joke.  I could have smuggled in a keg.  No piling 10+ people in a suite at the Georgian Terrace across from the Fox.  No ordering 18 pounds of chinese food on saturday morning to last the rest of the weekend and having the concierge shooting authoritative looks from outside the room trying to figure out how many people were going to eat all this food that he had to help carry with the delivery boy.  No hanging out the window and freakin out Heather.  No wandering the halls at 4AM looking for a blanket and having to settle for a robe I found in a closet (still got that puppy).  No more meeting new friends that end up becoming life-long friends (what up Daniel!).  No more using a part of a festival pole to urinate in public.  No more <-Scatter-> (or skater, as it was sometimes pronounced) festival poles.  No more being a drunken buffoon and bothering innocent teens by standing too close during the White Stripes.  No more getting lost trying to get back to the hotel and ending up way past Krispy Kreme.  Maybe the end of some of these things is not such a bad thing.  Perhaps I'm being a little too pessimistic.  For all I know, this year could be the first step towards a return to nostalgic normalcy.  Dare I dream?

Pearl Jam night #2 East Troy, WI 9/4/11

about 1/4 to 1/3 of crowd

A 3 ½ hour set ain’t a bad way to celebrate 20 years of existence.  Luckily we had seats for the second night, row W on Mike McCready’s side.  No rain today but it was fairly chilly.  All of the opening bands slayed again with only a handful of repeats.  I didn’t mention it yesterday, but all PJ members, except for Stone Gossard, came out to play with various side stage bands at various times, individually and in groups.  Very cool of them.  Eddie joined New Zealander Liam Finn, aka Animal from The Muppet Babies, and they did a short version of “Habit” and switched out playing guitar and drums.  Later, during PJ’s performance, Liam came out and they played the full version with him helping Eddie out with the vocals.  With that long of a set, he had several folks come out and sing with him.  Chris Cornell stepped on stage again and repeated two Temple of the Dog tunes and sang two other ones. PJ, however, didn’t duplicate any songs from one night to the other.   The second night did include more radio friendly hits like “Jeremy” and “Alive” but still had some rarities mixed in like the opener “Wash” and “No Way,” which was performed much to Stone’s chagrin.  Jeff and Stone even traded instruments for “Smile.”  Hell, I had to fill my empty beer glass up with piss while singing along to  “Pilate.” The Big Show don’t miss songs just to pee, right D-Dog.  That’s amateur-hour bullshit.  We also got to hear a little ditty Eddie had written that afternoon which he performed acoustically by himself.  The band was also nice enough to have an older white-haired lady doing sign language (and dancing along)  for a deaf couple a few rows in front of us.  How she deciphered Eddie’s lyrics and singing is beyond me.   Eddie gave a shout out to the dying record stores around the country and played “Spin the Black Circle” while Mike ran laps around the entire stage set-up playing rhythm.  No real political agenda for the show which was nice.  If not for guest John Doe mentioning that we should never give up hope even if we don’t like our government, I don’t think there would have been any reference to politics at all.  But that reminded Eddie of the recently freed West Memphis Three, to whom he gave a shout out and that was it.  The feeling of the night was more celebratory for the band having survived this long and for the fans sticking with them through thick and thin, and multiple drummers.  He gave major props to drummer Matt Cameron (originally in Soundgarden) for helping them survive the last ten years and bringing the unity that they needed.  So, after several encores, we thought they were going to end the night with “Alive,” but then they had most everybody from all the other bands come on stage and joined them for “Rockin in the Free World.”  The end…  Nope.  Couldn’t go away without playing “Yellow Ledbetter.”  But that wasn’t quite it, either.  Mike busted out a little “Star Spangled Banner” on his six string to finally bid us farewell.  I forgot to mention that we signed up to ride the bus that was provided for people staying in Milwaukee to get back and forth from the venue that was kind of in the middle of nowhere.  The first night, our driver somehow got lost on the way back and it took about 45 minutes longer than it should have.  Passengers with smartphones had to direct him to get back to the drop-off point.  Luckily, that wasn’t the case Sunday night. 

So, you might be wondering:  “Was it worth it?”  Was it worth driving about 28 hours round trip and eating 5 or 6 PB&J’s (had to save some money somehow)?  You’re damn right.  How anyone would think this trip to be excessive and unnecessary is mind-boggling to me.  When it comes to traveling for live music, there are people that ask “Why?” and then there are the rest of us that ask “Why the Hell not?”  Of course, it’s a lot easier to feel that way without having the responsibility and expense of a wife and children.  Maybe that’s why I write these, for those that can’t, but wish they still could.  If I can provide a link for people that long for a former type of fun that has grown out of reach, then mission:  accomplished.  Who knows?  Maybe this will all come to an end for me some day, as well.  Good Lord, the horror.

Josh Homme of QOTSA

   

                                                     

Pearl Jam night #1 East Troy, WI 9/3/11

notice the ski slope in background

  In a word:  RAIN!!!  We arrived at  the venue about 11am and an hour later it started raining and continued steadily/off and on until about 9pm or so.  The inventor of the poncho rests happily in his grave.  Although daunting, there was too much good music going on all day to let that get us down.  Luckily, my buddy Dahli (yeah, that’s how  I spell it) is a member of the Ten Club (PJ fan club) which comes with certain amenities like a huge tent to watch the side stages from. They also had PJ20 cornhole boards set up, private bathrooms, and even a cell phone charging dock for the 20^th anniversary of their debut album release.  20 years since Ten hit the stores, how old does that make my generation feel?   The main bands didn’t start until 6pm on the main stage.  Mudhoney, Queens of the Stone Age, The Strokes, and then Pearl Jam respectively.  All great performances and at least one member of each band came on and jammed with PJ at one time or another.    Pj opened with “Release” and played a lot of rarities with "Better Man" being the most and maybe the only popular hit known by the occasional fan.  The rumored appearance by Chris Cornell became reality about half way through and sang a handful of songs including a Mother Love Bone cover and Temple of the Dog hits “Say Hello to Heaven”, which was written about deceased MLB lead singer Andy Wood,  and “Hunger Strike.”  Tonight we will be in the seated section a lot closer than the lawn of the Alpine Valley Amphitheater that dwarfs Lakewood in Atlanta.  Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative but if not, at least we will be under a roof for night number two.  Who knows what guests might drop by…

Mike McCready

Jeff Ament

Chris Cornell with PJ

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Eddie with Liam Finn

Eddie with Glen Hansard

Soundgarden Fairfax, VA 7/12/11

I hate to say it but this review probably won't be that good.  My cold only got worse throughout the day.  Not at all Soundgarden's fault.  They were very crisp and on their A game.  They opened with "Searching with my Good Eye Closed" and played all the staple tunes that we all know.  They played for over 2 hours spanning all of their albums, the first of which came out in 1987.  I was unaware of that until recently.  It was a packed house at the George Mason University Patriot Center when they appeared on stage, not so much for the openers The Mars Volta.  Kinda wish I had missed that train wreck, also.  But, Soundgarden made up for it with a blistering set and an amazing light show.  No "Big Dumb Sex" or "Pretty Noose" but you can't complain about a 2+ hour show, no matter how miserable you felt.  I just took 4 Tylenol and hope to sleep this cold away before my flight tomorrow.

Soundgarden the flight 7/11/11

So, for a flight that was supposed to land at 8, 11:30 aint bad... right?  Mother Nature wasn't on my side tonight and the plane had to land and chill out at Richmond airport for over an hour.  Of course, before that, we were circling DC for a while and I had to pee like you wouldn't believe.  Finally, after I realized it had been at least half an hour since we were told that we were on our final approach and hadn't gotten any closer to the ground, I warned the older gentleman next to me that I was going to have to piss in the puke bag, right next to him.  He averted his line of sight to oblige my unstoppable force of nature and I knelt down on one knee and let it rip.  A greater feeling has never been experienced by a human being in the history of the world.  After that, there was nothing left to do but strike up a conversation and we became pretty good buddies.  So we landed in Richmond and I exited the plane with my pee bag in hand and went to the bathroom to finish the job.  It was a pretty turbulent flight, so I guess people assuming it was barf was better than the truth.

My Chemical Romance 5/11/11

My ears are still ringing, mostly because of all the high pitched teeny-bopper squeals.  Especially after this latest album, Danger Days:  The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, I may have aged past this band.  Teens do make for shorter beer lines, though.  The new one is very poppy yet poignant, which come to find out after reading a Rolling Stone interview with front-man Gerard Way, is exactly what he set out to accomplish.  And it has to be hard to follow the pinnacle of conceptual, The Black Parade, of which they unpredictably (by me anyway) played a handful of tunes including "Mama" and the appropriate, "Teenagers."  I guess both songs would be appropriate seeing as how there were a lot of Mamas chaperoning.  But don't get me wrong, they still burn up a stage and deliver a force of high-energy rock to be dealt with.  I know for a fact I'm too old for the amoebic motion of a younger, floor level audience.  After the first song, "Na Na Na Na Na Na," Way pleaded with the sardined sold-out crowd, literally and figuratively at his feet, to pick up anyone who dropped out of sight.  Balcony is plenty comfortable for me, not to mention a much better view of the spastic band.  They didn't quite play all of the new tracks but thankfully included "Vampire Money" which, for me, was worth the reasonable ticket price.  Multi-color haired Emo-kids be damned, I'll probably see My Chem again. 

The Black Angels 4/1/11

Not since the 60's has there been such a psychedelic, acid rock sound
concocted from a band.  The Black Angels are trying to right that
wrong with their modern twist on groove-heavy, fuzz-tastic, echo-laden
reverberations that beckon the memory of Jefferson Airplane and
Strawberry Alarm Clock, among others.  I saw them on Letterman a while
back and knew they were a band I had to learn more about.  So, I asked
for their latest album, Phosphene Dream, for Christmas.  I know I'm
dating myself but screw downloading, I still enjoy physical, touchable
ownership of my music.  To hell with iPods, there not that cool.  Wow,
guess I am kind of an old crotchety prick.  Speaking of Hell, that was
the section of the Masquerade in which the band performed.  Saw a show
up in Heaven once and still have yet to see one in Purgatory.  The two
opening bands were just not that great, so I won't mention their
names.  Mainly because I never really caught them...  TBA made up for
it with a trippy, yet subtle light show and crisp rockin', which they
had to fine tune with the sound guys in the back a few times.  Only
having the third CD, I assume they covered the other two with various
songs throughout the night which left me with a desire for purchasing.
 I just can't get over their sound, which probably will sadly never
really be as popular as the mainstream crap out there today, but maybe
that's their charm...

Queens of the Stone Age 3/21/11

As advertised, they played their entire debut self-titled album front to back to start the show.  This CD was apparently narrowly released in 1998 and is being reissued later this week.  Would have just missed it.  Thanks to "...a little help from my friends" I was able to receive a copy via email in order to study up.  Then I went ahead and bought their entire catalog, cause, what the Hell?  Glad I did.  Leader Josh Homme, built more like that of an athlete and could win a Craig Kilborne look-alike contest hands down (in my opinion anyway), nearly died not long ago after suffering complications during leg surgery, having endured a long and arduous tour with his other band, Them Crooked Vultures (you may remember me writing about them a little over a year ago).  Well, you couldn't tell he had ever felt anything but healthy after that performance.  Man, that guy can friggin shred.  I imagine a lot of people would find their music a little abrasive and dark for their taste, and they wouldn't be wrong, but I can hear the melody to their madness.  Crispy guitar licks and sharp drumming made the debut album sound even better live in the intimate setting of Center Stage.  A band called the Dough Rollers opened up with their straight-up rock-a-billy sound, down to the suits and ties and the lead singers greasy Jerry Lee Lewis curls down the center of his forehead.  They could have opened up for Elvis or "The Man in Black" back in the fifties, with the exception of the modern shrillness of the front man's voice.  That would have probably gone over like a lead balloon (Zeppelin reference, who got it!!??).  Back to QOTSA.  They saved songs from after the first album for the multiple encores.  No "3's & 7's" or "No One Knows," the only Atlanta radio hit was "Little Sister" and the rest were deep tracks from some of the other five discs.  Again, glad I got 'em.

The Cult 11/12/10

So, I went to buy a beer right when I arrived at the Social Distortion show and saw a sign that said "The Cult -- $10."  I thought "what the Hell" and bought one for Friday night with no fees!  Ten bucks is about the max I would pay to see them anyway and I didn't have anything else to do last night.  The opening act, The Black Ryder, was forgettable and their audio was crappy, unless they were going for that kind of sound...  Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of The Cult and pretty much only know the two songs that are still in rotation on FM rock radio, "Fire Woman" and "She Sells Sanctuary."  Well, they performed both of them, although an unrecognizable Ian Astbury seemed reluctant to sing them and was late on his queues during the songs.  Last time I saw pics of Ian was when he was performing with The Doors a few years ago and he looked old, wrinkled, and overweight.  Last night he appeared thinner and has grown a full beard with long hair, I guess maybe to cover up the wrinkles.  I was almost sure it wasn't him at all and figured that was why the tickets were so cheap until I got home and did some searching on the web to find some current photos, and apparently, it was him (I'm still not 100% convinced).  Guitarist Billy Duffy is still a total shredder, but I couldn't tell you who else was on stage, what with their list of current and former band members being longer than my...  well, its pretty long.  I swear the rhythm guitarists' movements were the closest thing I've ever seen to a human puppet.  I kept looking in the rafters to see if there were two guys controlling his bizarre and comical stage presence with strings.  After hearing my two songs, I didn't even bother with the encore which, I found out after my internet searching, only consisted of "Love Removal Machine" in other cities.  So, at least I beat the traffic.

Social Distortion 11/10/10

I'll admit it, I had to go buy their greatest hits album before the show, several weeks ago.  I knew a handful of their songs and after listening to that album I realized I knew a few more and didn't know it.  Frank Turner started out the night with his loud, boisterous rock that sounded like Irish pub fighting anthems, or British pub fighting songs since he is from Winchester, England.  But, he did know how to involve the crowd which is kinda what you have to do when 98% don't know who you are.  Frank asked for a volunteer from the audience and quickly had one on stage, Roy I think his name was, to play a harmonica solo during one of his tunes.  So, Roy belted out a two, maybe three note whine and left the stage followed by Turner after a couple more songs.  Then came Lucero from Memphis.  Most of the band members looked as if they had just crawled out of the Mississippi's mud and picked up instruments.  Not that they weren't without talent, but good Lord what a rough lookin ensemble that made no bones about being experienced drinkers and frequent strip joint attendees.  Finally, Social D. took the stage.  I haven't seen moshing and crowd surfing like that since Music Midtown bid us all farewell.  Glad I opted for the balcony.  Several girls took nose-dives and one guy ended up basically doing a handstand, at which point a girl next to him took off one of his shoes and threw it on stage.  Almost immediately, a roadie darted over to grab it and threw it away in a trash can.  That's the price you pay Shoeless Joe, atsa bummer!  They were even moshing during the slower songs, of which there weren't many.  Front-man Mike Ness came on stage wearing dress slacks, shirt, and suspenders, with mirror shine black shoes.  Not what I was expecting but cool in a Punk sort of way.  After slamming through a few songs he had to roll up his sleeves to reveal his permanent long sleeves, of ink that is.  There's your Punk!  They of course included a lot of tunes from the a fore mentioned hits album including "Prison Bound," "I Was Wrong," "Mommy's Little Monster," and "Ball and Chain."  Hey Ryan, remember hearing that last one in Hawaii over and over again, kinda became our theme song for the trip.  Mike was also very interactive with us, conversing between most songs, telling us how glad he was we came and about people he didn't like, i.e. "...people that go to Creed concerts." (looking right strait at you, Trey...  We all have shows we regret, I can't believe I actually went to a Limp Bizkit concert many years ago...  YYYIIIIKES!!!)  After a slow one that drug on and on during the encore, Social D. ended the night with their famous cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" that surely re-energized the packed crowd just before midnight.

Weezer 10/30/10

Well, it's finally happened.  A band that gained popularity when I was in high school hosted Chastain, the old folks home of Atlanta venues.  Sure, I've already seen the Crowes there several times but they have been around for 20 years now, I was in 5th or 6th grade then.  They did have a raucous band, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, open up for them.  Kind of an odd choice, what with their hippie image, rock-a-bluesy sound and fairly unintelligible singing, but they could bring the rock.  I haven't witnessed somebody rockin the ivories with such aggressive passion since the first time I saw Wolfmother, and this guy was in a sitting position.  At one point, he bent all the way over backwards on his stool until his head near hit the ground with his hands over his head and came springing back up to hit the next notes with his long curly brown hair, that I thought for sure would get tangled in his microphone, in tow.  Again, just an odd pairing of bands, but after only a 15 minute break, Weezer took the stage with frontman Rivers Cuomo wandering behind the stage set-up until they burst in with "Hash Pipe."  The first noticeable thing was that drummer Patrick Wilson was playing guitar for most of the show, though he got behind the skins for a couple of older tunes.  Rivers wasn't shy about getting to know the Atlanta crowd by jumping down several times and touring through the only half-filled amphitheater which enabled Mel to run over and slap hands and she was thrilled.  During one of his treks back to the stage, the band started the drum and guitar intro to Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" which faded into their own "Pork and Beans."  Then, much to our surprise, they jammed on the 90's one-hit-wonder band Wheatus with "Teenage Dirtbag" (thought about ya Heather D.).  The group eventually ended the night with their first hit "Buddy Holly" and all squeezed on the six foot high drum-set stand in the middle of the stage to have a tribal moment, each pounding on a separate drum and/or cymbal.  Rivers had to have been pretty tired after running through the crowd 3 or 4 times, climbing on top of stacks while singing, and jumping on a mini-tramp while playing his acoustic guitar because they only played for a disappointingly short hour and 15 minutes.  Not that that time wasn't fun, but I guess it just matched the AARP sponsored park.

Slash 9/20/10

Starting his career in the mid eighties, becoming famous basically over night, doing every drug under the sun, losing bands and starting new ones, almost dying from heart complications and having a pace maker installed...  and he still seems like a 22 year old on stage.  Saul Hudson (aka Slash, guitarist from Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit) just recently put out a solo album with a compilation of singers and is now on tour.  He blasted on stage with "Ghost," the first single from his self-titled disc and that was almost the only one from his latest project.  The night was filled GNR hits like "Nightrain," "Civil War," (which was pretty surprising) and "Rocket Queen."  Not to mention he threw some little known SS tunes and a few VR hits in the mix from the first album and none from that sophomore disappointment, Libertad.  They played more songs from his other bands than they did from his new album which must have been taxing on Myles Kennedy, the vocalist on tour that recorded with Slash on two songs from the disc; "Back From Cali" and the semi-ballad "Starlight," both of which they performed.  Slash, as usual, was adorned in dark pants, black muscle shirt, black and white Converse canvas sneakers, and of course, his trade-mark top hat which he some how stole from a leather shop in the early GNR days.  It really seemed like he hadn't aged a day, especially watching him strut rapidly around on stage while jamming flawlessly on his Gibson Les Paul.  Much to my chagrin, he did include "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City" in the set list.  I've seen him 5 other times with SS and VR and he never lowered himself to perform those overplayed, now redneck anthems.  He, himself, has said that he could go the rest of his life without playing them, but I guess you gotta give the drunken, mindless masses what they want.  Luckily, "My Michelle" and "By the Sword" made the encore and VR's "Slither" sent us all home smiling.

Them Crooked Vultures 2/11/10

Well, its official, I'm a big fan of "super-groups."  This band, consisting of John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), and an unknown fellow by the name of Alain Johannes certainly blew my hair back.  I've always thought Queens of the Stone Age was a pretty cool sounding band when I heard them on the radio, but I had no idea Josh (who could be Craig Kilborn's brother they look so much alike, to me anyway) could shred a guitar like that, especially while singing at the same time.  They started the night with the David Bowie-like first song on the album "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" which is a slower groovy tune at the beginning and then jams out to evoke the head-banger inside all of us towards the end.  For me, the night was one nostalgic occurrence getting to see the only living member of Led Zeppelin that I hadn't previously seen perform live and seeing Dave, playing like Animal from the Muppets, behind a drum set which I never had the chance to experience from the days of Nirvana.  They pretty much covered every song on the album including my fav, the Cream-esqe "Scumbag Blues" and the heavily psychedelic "Interlude With Ludes," with which John Paul Jones broke out a key-tar that brought about an enthusiastic chant from the packed crowd.  Each member, except for Dave, had a chance to show off some skills with solos including the unknown Alain who was one hell of a blues guitarist and piano player.  They had a background of many diamond shaped light fixtures which illuminated with the tone of the music and made a simplistic yet memorable scene.  Josh was very interactive with us and repeatedly said we were one of the best crowds they had played in front of, which is what he probably tells every city, but, was still gratifying to hear.  You may have missed your chance to see them live, but the album will be here forever.  Hopefully this isn't just a one-time collaboration and they will put out another album in the future.  Here is a video of them at what I believe is Reading Festival playing "Mind Eraser, No Chaser."

Wolfmother 11/2/09

The night started with what I thought might be a bad omen, I found a nail in my tire about 15 minutes before I was going to leave for Atlanta.  So, I had to change it quickly and then take a shower which put me almost 45 minutes behind when I wanted to leave.  But never fear, I still arrived with plenty of time to spare.  Thankfully they didn't open the doors until almost 8.  Then the second surprise of the night was that we were shuffled downstairs at the Tabernacle to what used to be referred to as the Cotton Club.  Don't know what its called now and didn't even know they still had shows down there, just know its a great place to go to the bathroom because hardly anyone knows its down there.  The only other show I've seen below in the basement was the Toadies back on July 18, 2001(remember that Heather?!).  But I digress.  The first band, thenewno2, was fronted by George Harrison's son, Dhani.  A dude with his 10 year old son I was talking to informed me of that, but once he walked out on stage, there was no doubt who his father was.  It was like I had stepped into a time machine and was seeing George perform in his mid twenties with the hair of the latter part of his career.  They were kinda cool; different.  The second band on the bill was Heartless Bastards which I saw on Letterman several months ago and thought they were pretty decent for having a chick lead singer.  I still say "Out At Sea" is a groovy tune, even if it is a little repetitious.  She's no Alison Mosshart, but she's close.  She does play guitar on every song and attempts to channel Grace Slick's vocals occasionally but is sadly just not the most attractive girl in the room.  Although she is tiny and petite, which I dig, and she gives it everything she's got on stage.  Finally, on to Wolfmother.  The new album, Cosmic Egg, just dropped in stores last Tuesday so I had to cram it in and memorize it as best I could in 6 days.  That's the kind of studying the Big Show can sink his teeth into (I love third person).  Hell, I'm listening to it right now while writing.  I wasn't sure what to expect since lead singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale fired the other original two members before this album was created.  After what happened with Days Of The New when front-man Travis Meeks fired everyone except the drummer and the band never really regained popularity, I was a little concerned.  Popularity still remains to be seen, but quality is still jaw dropping, in my opinion anyway.  I find it hard to believe you won't be at least intrigued after listening to the first 3 songs off the latest album.  The heavy 70s guitar riffs have more crunch than a Gator chomp on a Dawg's ass.  AAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!!  (Come on, I hardly talked trash during or after the game...)  Andrew's voice is what will probably turn a lot of people off because he is absolutely channeling Grace Slick and Robert Plant's vocal lovechild, but I can't get enough.  They opened with "Dimension" off their self-titled debut album to remind us what they always have in their back pocket since September 2006 was the last time they were in Atlanta.  Progressively through the night, though, Stockdale seemed to be getting more and more agitated with the sound.  He also had to tune his ax between almost every song which... dragged... the show... along.  The crowd became distracted within itself and I could tell it bothered him, but he never gave up on us.  Since the venue was so small, there were no barriers between him and the crowd which allowed him to interact with the fans up close and that helped the band regain full attention.  That and high energy tunes like "White Feather" (my personal fav off the new disc) and the fuzz-guitar drowned "10,000 Feet."  New drummer Dave Atkins, a portly fella, provided a percussion rich performance while tall and lanky rhythm guitarist(a position not employed by the original trio line up) Aidan Nemeth was almost forgettable standing off to the side, kind of in the dark, but still gave off musical body language while shredding.  Bassist/keyboardist Ian Peres never stopped jammin the entire time he was on stage and seems to be in a contest with Andrew to see who can have the thicker and more Medusa-like curly hair, which looks so rock n' roll I'll end up losing sleep thinking about it.  The Aussie's ended the night with "Joker & The Thief" while Ian raised his finger-clinched claws above his head, not to tickle, but to impale the ivories with every slamming strike.  I don't know what else to say:  SEE THIS BAND LIVE ON STAGE!

The Black Crowes & Metallica 10/3 & 10/4/09

No, they weren't on the same bill.  I saw the Crowes on Saturday night and haven't written anything because there wasn't that much to tell.  Once you have seen a band 14 times, it gets harder for them to surprise you.  They did their consistently good sounding show but with few frills, partially because Chastain has a curfew.  There were no cover songs that I can remember but they introduced songs from their new album Before The Frost and one tune off the downloadable-only second half Until The Freeze.  They are slowly falling away from good ole hard rock to Appalachian hillbilly rock that damn near sounds like country, although I like to think of it as funk-try.  One notable occurrence was that Rich got to show off his singing ability with "What Is Home?" and nailed it much like on the latest album, which was recorded in its entirety live in front of a very lucky crowd in Levon Helm's barn/venue in Woodstock, New York.

 On to the Sunday night service with Metallica.  I wasn't planning on going to the show, what with their last two albums not impressing me at all, the debacle the last time I went to see them years ago at the Dome without lead singer James Hetfield, but my buddy Adam talked me in to it, and I'm glad he did.  I've never been the biggest fan but those boys know how to put on a show, even in their forties.  If Philips wasn't sold out, it was damn close with metal energy surging through the massive crowd of all ages.  I was told by Adam that they played a handful of songs off the new album Death Magnetic as well as a lot of familiar older tunes.  The stage was set up in the very middle of the arena and had mikes set up all around for them to conveniently move around to be able to face everyone in the house.  Lars had his drum set on a rotating pedestal so we could see from every angle his flurry of arms and sticks.  Kurt happened to be in front of us for his seemingly effortless yet stunningly technical solo during "One" so we could see his left hand race up and down the neck of his axe.  Most bands are content with fire and pyrotechnics in their show, but we're not talking about most bands.  We are talking about arguably the biggest band of my generation, like 'em or not.  Metallica insists on having multi-colored flames choreographed with their music.  We had pretty decent seats that weren't right up front but the heat from those explosions was enough to make you break a sweat.  I can't imagine what it was like for them on stage.  During the encore, various sized black orbs with Metallica written on them in their signature font (that's when you know you have made it big when you have your own font) started cascading from the ceiling.  They ended the 2+ hour set with "Seek And Destroy" and very graciously thanked all of us for all the loyalty through the good times and the bad.

After 3 shows in 3 nights, I'm tired and going to bed.  Peace

The Dead Weather 10/2/09

A lot of you are probably saying "what the hell band is that?"  Well, its yet another band from my rock God, Jack White (no, not Lacey's dad).  I would say you may have heard their song "Hang You From the Heavens" except that Atlanta radio is unbelievably horrible.  This time however, Mr. White was on drums instead of guitar and lead singing.  He employed Alison Mosshart from The Kills to take over vocals, and that, my friends, she accomplished.  Weighing about 80 pounds soaking wet with a voice and presence like Goliath, she's by far the sexiest front"man" I've ever seen.  The fact that she can thrash with the most aggressive rock stars around is hopefully going to give me some of the sweetest dreams I can imagine.  Hearing her panther growl all the way to her high pitched squeal while moving to the music in a strobe light-heavy performance was hypnotic.  They played all of the songs from their debut album Horehound with scattered covers throughout except for the instrumental "3 Birds."  Jack came out from behind the skins to jam for a couple of songs just to remind us how obliterating and erratic his guitar can be when in his hands.  They saved two of the most powerful, in-your-face tunes, "Treat Me Like Your Mother" and "New Pony" for the encore which left us all with adrenaline pumping and longing for more.  Thanks to my buddy Steve Alexander, I got a little more.  Steve knew the singer from the opening act, Imaad Wasif, who got us back stage passes.  I still can't believe it.  But, to quell your wondering, we didn't get to meet the ever reclusive JW.  It was pretty chill back there and we were two of the very few fans allowed.  The fact that we were anything but young, attractive, women probably didn't make easier our plight.  However, bassist Jack Lawrence and guitarist Dean Fertita did walk by us straining to not make eye contact with everything they had.  So, maybe its better that I didn't meet Jack White, because if he had acted like that, it would have surely broken my heart.  Ahhh, the life of a Rock Star...

first ever back stage pass

Eddie Vedder 6/23-24/09

I wasn't sure what to expect from the front-man of Pearl Jam on his own.  What I got was 2 nights of him almost completely by himself playin a Hell of a guitar.  I knew he could play but I didn't know he could play that well.  He ranged from solo work to PJ tunes to an array of covers from various artists from Pink Floyd to Springsteen to Dylan and more.  He even pulled off "Lukin" by himself - not kidding, he really did.  There was a minimal stage set-up with different back drops throughout the night and a small, thin, wooden box that was amped up to use for percussion with his heavy boot.  Probably the strangest thing was a chair that looked like the bottoms of two feet with the heels arched forward making up the surface on which to sit.  No one sat in it until on the second night as he was walking off stage for the first encore break, he tried to jump on and over it.  His surfer balance failed him and he went reeling.  He made up for it when he came back out on stage and did the reverse and ended up violently sitting upright in a very sinister pose, all while smokin a cig.  The witty banter with the crowd was entertaining, seeing as how a handful of people were very annoying hollering out ridiculous requests and over all just being rude.  Even "Freebird."  I guess there's one in every crowd, huh?  But Eddie answered back "Hey, I don't walk into Kinko's and tell you how to do your fuckin job!"  Nailed 'em!  After his roadies, adorned all night in lab coats, brought out opener Liam Finn's drum set with his female counter part Eliza Jane, the three ended both nights with "Hard Sun."  Now he just needs to end the excruciating drought and bring Pearl Jam back to Atlanta.

Weezer 10/25/08

You can call them "geek rock" if you want to... so long as you don't forget the ROCK.  Weezer came out on stage wearing all white cover-alls and frontman Rivers Cuomo adorned a white terrorist-like shroud and opened with "My Name is Jonas."  They weren't pulling any punches with this being the last show of the 08 tour.  After a handful of songs the band stripped off the the white clothes and were all wearing red jump suits.  Playing rarities like "Susanne," which you can only find on the Mallrats soundtrack, was just really cool.  Sharing the vocal duties with the rest of the band, Rivers seemed relaxed and free, sporting a 70s porn stache and breaking out some knee slides whenever he felt the urge.   They dropped all of our jaws and did a cover of Pink Floyd's "Time" with Rivers on drums.  Truly amazing, of all the bands I know, Weezer covering Floyd was a totally surprising surprise.  But that was just the beginning.  Previously, while we were tailgating, my buddy Justin Shelton was chosen to play his harmonica on stage with the band along with about 25 to 30 other random musicians that had instruments ranging from guitars to brass to windpipes to a pretty hot tap dancer.  They all played "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills" with the band.  Unbelievably cool.  Hopefully Justin will tell us first hand about the experience.  After the gracious temporary band members were ushered off stage (Justin was NOT leaving the stage without shaking Rivers' hand), there was a record player brought on stage that played "Heart Songs" while the band took a short break.  That is until Rivers came out, kicked it over and did Nirvana's "Sliver."  Following that cover was "Undone (The Sweater Song)" and then ending the night with "Buddy Holly" which was completed with the same drum ending from Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."   UUUUUUUWEEEEEUUUUUUU, I'd like to see Weezer again soon.  Oh, oh, and your Mary Tyler Moore.

The Raconteurs 10/1/08

I've been patiently waiting since September 20th, 2006 for their return.  They must have known because they blew my eyelids back by opening with my two favorite songs off of the new album, Consolers of the Lonely:  the song "Consoler of the Lonely" and "Hold Up."  Brendan Benson took over most of the singing as the awe inspiring Jack White was having throat problems, what with this being the last show of the tour.  No problem, he was well up to the task.  JW got off to a rocky start when he had to switch out his guitar for an acoustic during the first tune, and I will say that there seemed to be a lot more communication on stage than I can remember seeing from other performances which led me to believe that the throat problem was unexpected.  I was happy to see bassist Jack Lawrence acting less like a statue and more like a rock star, thrashing his head with his jet black hair that couldn't be straighter, even if it were defining the shortest distance between two points.  They had a nice intermingling of songs from their first album with the new.  Some of which I had almost forgotten about since I've been OD-ing on COTL.  They ended the first set with the murky "Blue Veins" and started the encore (as Brendan Benson rode out on his BMX bike) with their first hit "Steady as She Goes."  They asked the female half of the the opening band, The Kills, to come up and help the ailing Jack White to sing which proved to be a mistake.  She couldn't have missed more queues and lyrics if she had been bribed.  She and White were kind of play pushing each other around during the song but maybe towards the end he was pushing her out of frustration.  Who the Hell could blame him???  The Kills (who are in desperate need of a drummer instead of pre-recorded beats) did slightly impress me with their stage presence.  I'll admit, I kinda dug their swagger.  They both played guitar, they both used their body to emphasize key points in their songs, and the male half of the duo had a specter way of gliding across the stage that had to be all ankles.  Anyway, after shooing her off stage, The Racs played  "Broken Boy Soldiers" and ended with the lyrically genius murder ballad "Carolina Drama."  Describing the boyfriend in this song as "a triple loser with some blue tattoos that were given to him when he was young, and a drunk temper that was easy to lose, thank God he didn't own a gun" is, to me, incredibly creative.  The "blue tattoos..." line is a sympathetically poetic way of saying he was physically abused as a child; the blue tattoos being a metaphor for bruises that he will never forget and have the permanence of being inked even after they healed, in my opinion.  JW makes me feel almost sorry for the antagonist of this darkly written folk song.  If that is the intended translation, Mr. White must not sleep well with all the creativity gushing from his soul like Niagara Falls.  Have I mentioned I'm a huge fan???

Stone Temple Pilots 8/23/08

Concert number 100, in the books.  STP delivered a solid show at a brand new venue that had great sound and so close to Dahlonega that it seems to good to be true.  It also happened to be lead guitarist Dean DeLeo's birthday.  They took a minute out of the show after a few songs to present him with a cake delivered by his child (gender indeterminate) and we all sang "Happy Birthday."  Scott Weiland was unusually mellow and talked to the crowd very... slowly... in between songs.  He may be on that shit again.  Hope not, but, wouldn't be surprising.  They played all the hits like "Creep," which crept, and a few b sides throughout the night with a graphically impressive screen that stretched the width of the stage behind them.  The real story of the night came towards the end when in the middle of a song, Weiland, while standing on speakers in the middle of the stage, turned around and the flipped off the drummer, Eric Kretz.  Then, about 15 seconds later, decided it was time to do it again.  Naturally, a happy drummer this does not make.  I thought they were going to break up right in front of us, one thing I have not experienced at a show.  When they finished the song, Weiland walked back to the skin set and Kretz angrily pointed around the stage and told him what he thought while Dean acted as mediator and must have reminded them that there were a lot of people there that payed a lot of money to see the show.  Even the t-shirts were $40 at the cheapest (add $5 for XXL, WTF).  This reunion tour seems to be all about the money as I guess most of them are.  So, they played one more song, abruptly left the stage and had the encore break.  They came back and it was Weiland who screwed the pooch and left out a verse during "Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart."  After the 3 song encore it was a race between Weiland and Kretz to get off stage that made the Olympians look turtle-ish.  No group bow, no waving, no drumstick throwing, no "thank you's," no nothing.  Dean and his brother/bassist Robert stuck around briefly to say fare the well and left, then Dean brought his kid out on stage to wave goodbye and that was that.  Based on what I've read, Scott must have a real problem with drummers.  I'd like to hear comments from Matt Sorum of Velvet Revolver.  Good luck to the cities ahead on this tour, could be a bumpy ride.

Pearl Jam Columbia, SC 6/16/08

Its been a long time coming, about 4 years anyway, and Pearl Jam knows how to deliver.  Avoiding the southeast on the past couple of tours with the exception of maybe Florida, I can't help but feel a little snubbed but it just felt good to see them again, especially sitting 12th row center (thank you D-Dog).  Eddie was visibly frustrated with his guitars at the beginning of the show and in the middle of a song, took it off and looked over at his tech and shook at him and laid it on the ground.  Later, at the end of  "Present Tense," Vedder started just ripping out the strings and I was half expecting him to smash it on stage.  He then took a breath and explained to us that Saturday night they played Bonnaroo and Sunday hung out with the nights opening act, Kings of Leon, at there place in Nashville and decided to have a contest to see who could be the most hung over.  Well, Eddie proclaimed, "I fucking won!"  So he took the blame for his thoughts of his guitars being out of tune.  After that he seemed to relax and get into a groove and finished out the first set with "Glorified G" and "Do the Evolution" back to back, a couple of my favorite songs to hear live.  But, of course, it wouldn't be a Pearl Jam without a little political preaching from the front-man, which, hey, its a free country and I believe he is more educated about current events and politics than myself and probably an alarming amount of people out there, so he can say what he feels.  Even if his opinion is extremely bias.  There were some people in front of us a couple of rows that had signs requesting obscure songs "W.M.A." and "Footsteps" which they played in the first and second encores respectively which I thought was pretty cool of them.  They played "Alive" to end the second encore and brought the house lights on about half way through the song and left them on for the single song 3rd encore of "Indifference."  They kind of fooled us and the Colonial Center (where the South Carolina Gamecocks play basketball, surprisingly large venue) employees in between those tunes because the house music came on we heard a few notes of a song before it was abruptly turned off and the band returned.  In the end, it was a trek to and from the show but well worth it, especially if they keep overlooking Atlanta.  Sorry this e-mail is later than usual, but I didn't get home until about 4 in the morning and I'm still pretty tired.

The Hives 5/15/08

All the way from Sweden to give us a rock show came the quintuplet.  Thanks for making the trip guys.  If you don't know this band, they have a kind of retro-punk sound and very short songs that they readily drive straight into your face.  For a band that formed in the early 90s and gained mediocre fame in the early 2000s, I don't think it would have mattered if they were playing in front of 5 or 5 million people, they are going to perform all the same.  They couldn't quite sell out Center Stage but those empty seats didn't seem to bother them.  The Hives came on stage in their signature black with white trim suits and band emblem crests with black and white striped ties wearing solid white shoes.  Sound pretty geeky?  You should see them move.  Front man Howlin' Pelle Almqvist never stopped Jagger-ishly gyrating the entire show and in between songs comically talked and hyped up the crowd with his confident but not over-bearing attitude.  He didn't play an instrument on stage unless you count his microphone and stand as such -- which I do.  Dipping the mike-stand and tugging the cord just before it hit the ground and bringing it back to sing the next verse just in time, twirling the microphone, leaving it teetering back and forth behind him while singing all seemed second nature to the man.  Very gracious leader indeed.  He never missed an opportunity to touch hands with the people crammed at the front of the stage and at one point got in the crowd on the side and climbed up on a guard rail to belt it out for a few seconds.  I think he knew what he was supposed to do in life a long time ago, lucky bastard.  He wasn't alone, though.  Lead guitarist Nicholaus Arson was just as energetic and erratic as his counter-part.  Their techs had a hell of a time keeping the two of them untangled from the mike and guitar cables which were being whipped around behind them.  At one point, he dropped the stand with the mike attached into the crowd and it was caught by some fans that screeched into it after Howlin' Pelle gave them a "go ahead, its OK" wink and whipped it back into his hand which he caught as if he knew what was going to happen ahead of time...  Really cool.  Luckily, the rhythm guitarist and bass players didn't move around much at all or it would have been too chaotic to keep up with.  I only know their radio hits like "Hate to Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender" but I still say one of their best is the newest single "Tick, Tick, Boom" which is also very fun to watch them perform.  One thing about the performance, I wish they had a better light show.  What they had (and it could be the venue's fault) didn't have the same energy as the band.  I would be willing to bet they never headline a venue bigger than the Tabernacle, if that, and that's OK.  But not for lack of trying.  If you're ever in the mood for an inexpensive rock spectacle, look these guys up.

Radiohead 5/8/08

Where to start???  It's hard to describe a band that I've always considered the Pink Floyd of my generation, so bear with me.  Having not heard In Rainbows except for "Bodysnatchers", it was pretty cool experiencing most of an album for the first time live.  The stage set up included several dozen cylinders that reminded me of organ pipes from stage to ceiling except for the cube cut out where the band performed.  The cylinders had lights inside them that pulsed along with the music and lights shining on them that reflected bright solid colors simultaneously.  Very trippy, brah.  In the back ground there were large video screens that were projecting images of the band from cameras set up at various points on stage.  The screens were either in hi-def or the cameras had some kind of filter on them that made everything seem as if it were pre-recorded or we were actually watching a DVD of the band perform live, but I assure you, they were capturing the band in real time.  Thom Yorke appears to be a rhythmically psychotic yet harmless gnome dancing around and playing guitar and occasionally tickling his mobile baby grand.  One thing is for certain, Radiohead can pack a house.  I haven't seen Lakewood that packed since probably the last time I saw Radiohead there almost five years ago.  Fans in the lawn were throwing glow sticks up in the air which was so cool that it almost could have been planned.  Not to mention our seats were not covered and  we were sporadically rained on throughout the night which was actually kind of soothing.  Never what I would call a hard rain, though.  The guys performed two encore sets that did include "Paranoid Android", a great live song.  If you haven't witnessed this band in concert, they are a hell of a sight to see.  Are you experienced?

The Black Crowes 3/9/08

It's a few weeks since I've been to a show and what better band to see for the 11th time than the band I dig the most, the band I've seen the most, the band I love the most that is still together.  If you don't know who I'm talking about, then we probably need to sit down together and re-evaluate our friendship because you clearly don't know me as well as you should.  With only 5 days to memorize their new album, the first in over 7 years, I did my best to sing along through the first set, in which they played Warpaint front to back, in order.  "Evergreen" is one of my favorites off the new album that Chris described as "a botanical love song."  The new additions to the band were very impressive, especially Luther Dickinson, formerly of the North Mississippi Allstars, on slide and lead guitar.  He certainly looks the part of a Black Crow, beard and all.  The new guy tickling the ivories, Adam Macdougall, was the only one without a beard, but hey, Eddie Harsch never grew one either.  After the first break, they came back with a cover song and then played "Sister Luck" (check your voice-mail Dahli) and went on to play other covers including Joe Cocker's "Space Captain."  With the exception of the dipshit in front of me moving the chairs around to dance with a couple of cougars that couldn't have been less interested and subsequently spilling his beer all over them, D-dog, and myself, it was a stellar time at the ole Tabernacle.  I was also pleased to see the entire band drinking the one and only Newcastle Brown Ale, men after my own heart.

Van Halen 2/25/08

They still got it.  They haven't gotten fat and pathetic.  As a matter of fact Diamond Dave has abs of steel.  Alex looked like he could be a Rolling Stone but his brother still busts out solos like it was 1978 and even used a power drill on his guitar strings for "Runnin with the Devil."  Wolfgang Van Halen (the new 15 year old bassist son of Eddie) is a bit of a portly fella, he must get that from the Bertinelli side.  Hey, Michael Anthony (original bassist), what did Eddie's five fingers say to your face... SLAP!!!!!!  The stage set up was pretty cool in that it had an S shaped catwalk that started above and behind the main stage floor and snaked around into the crowd about 25 rows deep along with a gigantically wide TV screen behind it all.  Alex's drum set nearly wrapped all the way around him with a huge gong directly behind him that I don't recall him actually using.  They started out the greatest hits filled night with "You Really Got Me Now" and Dave showing off the toe-touch spinning kicks that he has down to science by now.  One surprising thing was seeing DLR break out his acoustic guitar and play the first half of "Ice Cream Man."  I didn't know he could do that.  They played some of there hokier songs like the previously mentioned tune and their cover of "Pretty Woman" and their original "Dance the Night Away," but not their cover of "Dancin in the Streets" thank God.  For the most part they played their harder hitting songs like "Panama," "Unchained," and "And the Cradle will Rock..."  They saved "Jump" for the single song encore.  As campy as that song is (and the even worse music video), it has a lot to do with the person I am today.  When I was 5 years old, my older brother, Brian, used to play it on his keyboards for me and I would watch him and think I was seeing God himself.  There was no turning back after that.  Strangely, there wasn't anyone playing keyboards on stage for "Jump" or "I'll Wait" or any other song for that matter.  Over all I feel like I got my money's worth, even though it was rescheduled twice, and it was a MILF paradise.  Eddie and David Lee Roth seemed as if they were getting along well.  We'll all just have to wait and see what the future holds for the boys.

John Fogerty 12/4/07

62 years old and can still rock the house and sell it out... or at least it was close.  Not to mention he doesn't look like death warmed over (sorry Keith, Mick).  The Cobb Energy and Performing Arts Centre is quite an impressive and new venue for a good show.  It has the old school loge seating along the side and is extremely clean and unseasoned.  The employees seem to be rookies at pouring beer and over-all concession management and urgency, but the food wasn't half bad, for a cheeseburger.  Mom and I (that's right, I brought dear ole Ma along for the blast from the past show) had a great time watching the tunes from her youth being surged through the pseudo opera house.  Thank God I was raised listening to Fox 97 growing up and not country music.  Can you imagine... the horror.  It was entertaining but kind of annoying to experience the "sweatin to the oldies" calisthenics of the crowd (average age about 55) as they stood up every time a Creedence song was performed; "Green River," "Lookin' Out My Back Door," "Proud Mary," "Fortunate Son" and many others, and sat down again when he played a solo-career tune.  His latest album, Revival, sounded musically as if was written in the late sixties and early seventies with the rest of his original band.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess.  The only difference being that instead of anti-Vietnam, it's now of course wildly anti-Bush.  After a very short encore break (don't know if the facility had a curfew or if he thought his audience might doze off at the slightest lull) he charged back on stage with a few more CCR grooves including "Travelin' Band," one of my favs, and bid us all farewell.  Solid show over all and it's always cool to experience a new venue, although I doubt I'll ever get to see a modern band jam out there, unless I have major life change and wish to see Kelly Clarkson or Babyface (not bloody likely).  In closing, I just want the older folks to know I kid.  Your tenacity for still going to shows is admirable.  Hell, in just a few more years, it'll probably be me hoping a show is over by 10pm.  Just to be safe, better not hold your breath on this night owl, though.

Foo Fighters 10/4/07

The long, shaggy haired Dave Grohl certainly has the "Grohl"den touch.  His intentions are clear:  He wants nothing more than to rock your face off.  Mission accomplished, sir.  After viewing the high-energy opening band, HiFi Handgrenades, he and his band wasted no time as there was no time to waste when you have that many hit songs to rock through.  They got the constantly played on terrestrial radio "The Pretender" out of the way by the second song along with some other unfamiliar tunes from the new album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.  Pat Smear, former Nirvana band-mate and ex Foo Fighter, was along for the ride with the band playing rhythm guitar on various songs like their first hit "I'll Stick Around" throughout the night.  During the song "Stacked Actors," (that's right D-dog, you missed it) Dave went down into the crowd and I believe he got up on the bar on the left while still playing and did a shot of Jagr.  I couldn't say for sure because we were second row on the balcony, with the rest of the older crowd (we were talking to a kid while waiting in line wearing a Nirvana T-shirt who said he was 2 years old when Cobain died... talk about a reality check), and he was underneath us, but he mentioned later that he enjoyed his shot.  After that, the Foos toned it down a little with an acoustic set that included 5 songs that started with "Skin and Bones" and ended with "Everlong" which they burst back to rockin out at the close of the classic.  Sadly, they accidentally skipped over "D.O.A." in the encore set, but he did apologize to the violinist that was with the group.  It would have been nice to hear "This is a Call" and the awesome cover of Prince's "Darling Nicky" but, as usual, there is never enough time.  With an epileptic light show, tremendous energy, and Taylor Hawkins looking like a long haired Animal from The Muppets on drums, it was obvious these guys were put on earth to be on stage.  If you've never seen this band, I've seen them three times and, like a fine wine, they only get better with age.

Alice in Chains & Velvet Revolver 10/3/07

What a bill!!!  Two great bands in one night.  Although, I guess it wasn't all that great for ticket sales because they had the lawn section closed off, first time I've ever seen that.  After seeing A in C open the show, the headliner really could have been interchangeable.  They busted out all the great hits starting off with "Again" and "Grind," from their self-titled album.  William Duvall is as good as a replacement as you will ever find for the late great Layne Staley.  His similar vocals could not have been more on key throughout the night, although his difference of appearance couldn't fool a blind man, him being a tall, lanky, black guy, as opposed to Layne's small, frail, pale, blond haired presence.  They couldn't play all the hits, but they sure tried.  "No Excuses," "Angry Chair," "Them Bones," and "Would?," among others, all made the set list.  It would have been nice to see and hear "Shame in You" but, hey, I don't want to be greedy, after all, they only had an hour time slot.  They also included "Man in the Box" which Jerry Cantrell nailed the solo flawlessly.  Before retiring for the night, they ended with "Rooster" and had the music video playing on the screens behind and to either side of them.  After they left the stage and house lights came back on, I felt like I should be on my way home.  But luckily, the experience had just begun.  
The VR boys were not looking to be outdone, even though the sound didn't seem as sharp and Weiland does like to shriek a lot, with or without his signature bullhorn.  Thankfully, Slash digs on whippin ass and takin names later.  They burst on the seen behind a huge black curtain with lights illuminating their silhouettes with the first song from their sophomore album, Libertad, entitled "Let it Roll."  After playing a handful from the debut album, Contraband, it was time to rock out with an old Guns N' Roses favorite, "Nightrain."  Then, it was time to slow it down a little.  So, they brought out some stools and a smaller drum set to groove on tunes such as their second radio hit from Libertad, "The Last Fight," and a few covers from the super-groups' former bands (the a fore mentioned GN'R and of course Stone Temple Pilots) with "Patience" and "Interstate Love Song," which was written by STP while riding along on Georgia's own highway 85.  After that, Scott sped things back up with his stage presence (which has been described as homo-erotic by some; erratically, elastically, reptilian by myself) and singing another GN'R hard-charged great, "Mr. Brownstone."  Slash began the next song with an impressive and familiar solo which evolved into "Set Me Free."  During this tune, they decided to show a montage of serial killers, including Charley Manson and Ted Bundy, along with a few pics of their victims scattered in the mix on the mighty screens around the band.  Gutsy move fellas, ... ballsy.  When they came back from the encore break, "Sex Type Thing" and then some more from the current album were smashed through with intangible aggressiveness.  They saved "Slither," the groups' first hit, for the fare thee well end.  Going in bit of a different direction from the mass murderer theme from the earlier background, it was thought to be more appropriate to have beautiful half nude models adorn the gigantic screens.  How does the old saying go?  Always leave 'em wanting more?  
Well done, boys.