PJ PJ PJ!!

went to not one but two Pearl Jam concerts over the span of one weekend.. not the craziest thing we've ever done but definitely one of the most fun ones!

this wasn't the first time i'd watched PJ live.. and that previous time i'd said that was one of the best shows i'd been to. well, the first show on the 28th was the best concert i've ever been at. great seats, great weather, great company, great band, great set, great show.. what else can i say?! we'd gone early, tailgated and barbecued for a few hours.. it's been a while since we'd last done that for a show. it was a hot sweltering night and if the rain that the flashes of lightning portended had actually poured down during the show, then PJ's cover of The Who's classic "Love Reign O'er Me" would have been fulfilled..


June 28th, 2008 - Mansfield, MA
Pre-Opener:
Throw Your Arms Around Me
Set 1:
Hard To Imagine, Why Go, Hail Hail, Comatose, Low Light, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Faithfull, Off He Goes, Given To Fly, Down, I'm Open, I Got Id, Even Flow, Do The Evolution, Once, Rearviewmirror
Encore 1:
Love Reign O'er Me, Come Back, Insignificance, Black, Better Man(Save it for Later)
Encore 2:
No More, State Of Love And Trust, Alive

the second show was on a Monday, so between the pain of getting out of work and making that damned commute all the way down to Mansfield and being at a show where it seemed the entire cast of High School Musical had accidentally landed up at.. the show wasn't as awesome as the previous one. i wasn't too sure of the set list either, but the band still sounded great so it was all good


June 30th, 2008 - Mansfield, MA
Set 1:
Wash, Last Exit, Save You, Severed Hand, Animal, MFC, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, 1/2 Full, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Education, Satan's Bed, Whipping, Glorified G, Do The Evolution
Encore 1:
Bee Girl, Who You Are, Better Man(Save it for Later), Garden, Why Go
Encore 2:
No More, Once, Footsteps, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

links to pictures here

6 6 6.. still the number of the beast

got to watch Iron Maiden again last night.. they haven't changed since the last time a couple of years ago, which is definitely a good thing. Maiden always put on an excellent live act, and prefer to play open arenas.. mostly because of the pyrotechnics and the huge robotic mummy-like Eddie that skulks about on stage while Maiden are shredding.. while we tailgated, it was awesome to see a lot of younger generation fans as well, considering Maiden have been around since the late 70's!


at times the sound got crappy, and the intermittent rain got heavy, but Maiden were not to be dissuaded on the last stop of their 2008 'Somewhere Back In Time' World Tour.. opening with Winston Churchill's momentous speech leading into "Aces High", playing the full thirteen minutes of the epic "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", the extended howling in the classic "Run To The Hills", the frenzied triple-threat guitar attack of "The Trooper" and many many more


now no ode to Maiden is ever complete without a few special mentions - Steve Harris' driving bass, Nicko McBrain going wild on the drums with the Pharaoh leering over his shoulder, Maiden's famed triple-threat guitar attack (which i repeat only cos of the sheer intensity with which it hits you!) and finally lead singer (and accomplished pilot) Bruce Dickinson's amazing vocal abilities.. up with the Irons!!


here's some links if you want to catch more action from the show:
reviews - Boston Globe; Boston Herald.
videos - Asttha; mdilios; HowellKenny; skippah99.

grunge is still around

"Nirvana may have been the band that put an entire generation in flannel, and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden both sold a lot more records, but Mudhoney was truly the band who made the '90s grunge rock movement possible."

yeah, that's who Mudhoney are. The core of Mudhoney came from two legendary bands that defined the grunge sound as we came to know it later - Green River & The Melvins. If you don't listen to grunge then this might as well be a HTTP 404 - Page Not Found for you.

amazingly enough, i have always found wiki to be an excellent reference for music and entertainment in general. i guess the sheer numbers of people who contribute helps regulate bigoted and self-righteous lack of objectivity that sorely afflicts youtube and other popular media forms.

we caught Mudhoney on tour in a small club somewhere in Cambridge, which is exactly how a grunge act should be watched. what really got us was that they have kept exactly the same grunge sound they always had, even into all their newer stuff. it was like a grunge history lesson and made for an awesome show!

the nightwatchman on the justice tour

once upon a time there was a band by the name of Rage Against The Machine. in that band was a guitar god by the name of Tom Morello. when RATM called it quits, the instrumental section of the band got together with one Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and formed a new band called Audioslave. soon after that our man Tom met one Serj Tankian from the band System Of A Down and the two together formed an organization known as the Axis Of Justice. meanwhile Tom started a solo act called The Nightwatchman and went on tour to raise awareness of issues facing us today.

the show itself was fantastic, with a very wide and eclectic selection of muscial genres represented. Tom Morello was of course the star of the show, and local boys State Radio (ex-Dispatch) brought guys to their feet as well. read a review here. going by this, if RATM get back together this summer then the shows are going to be doubly-awesome. tom's energy is infectious, and for a Harvard graduate he sure plays the guitar like a wildchild! also playing were Wayne Kramer of MC-5 and Boots Riley of The Coup, and special guest Gary Cherone of Extreme, with his new band Hurtsmile

here's Tom on the left jamming with the Freedom Fighter Orchestra

up close and Hurt

you might have heard me raving about the band Hurt in the past.. so when we found out they were coming to Harper's Ferry in Boston, the gf and i jumped at the chance! late Monday night concert notwithstanding, it also happened to be St. Paddy's Day, there we were right up in the front. what i love about small club gigs is that the band hangs about the bar there, waiting for their turn to go on stage, hobnobbing with the fans, vis-à-vis with the gf and me!

it turned out to be a fantastic set, nice and loud, and up close and personal. of course we got to talk to all the band members before and after the show. of course we told them how much we loved them. of course we got pictures. heh!

Batalla De Los Tambores

in case i hadn't mentioned this before, but Godsmack is one of my favorite bands. why? a bunch of reasons - any band that mentions Alice in Chains as their primary influence already has my vote. any band that actually names themselves after an AiC song is flying pretty high on the radar. these guys from Boston make some pretty good music, nice heavy guitar riffs, excellent rasping lyrics and a bass drum that will blow you away.

lead singer Sully is an accomplished musician in his own right, and not just a mic jockey. he plays an absolutely deadly drum set as well, forming the encore piece of their live set - Sully plays with drummer Shannon in a makeshift drum duet-battle which is absolutely amazing.. and here's the clip

i've watched them playing at a college spring festival on an open lawn, a small club scene packed to the rafters, a closed hockey rink opening for Metallica and at an open plan arena on the summer rock festival circuit and they have been fantastic every single time.

'Image Too Large To Display'

i have a Canon PowerShot A520 digital camera. it's not the greatest digicam in the world, but it fulfills most of the basic requirements of digital photography. for the most part it has behaved itself. the only issue i have had with it in the past was its snobbish intolerance of not indubitable SD memory cards, by haughtily proclaiming "Memory Card Not Readable".

during our recent trip to Chicago, this dinky little device threw a new tantrum. after taking a picture, when i tried to review the image on the camera itself, it shrunk the image to a postage stamp size, and announced "Image Too Large To Display". what the #%&@?! since when did cameras start taking pictures bigger than they could display?! it actually got better - i took out the memory card and slid it into its slot on the computer to see if i could download the pics. on trying to open one of the pictures, the computer promptly hung. when eventually it shook the cobwebs out of its head, it gave me a very interesting nugget of info. apparently twelve of the pictures were each 4Gb in size. at four gigs a pop, these would have to be super high resolution snaps where even specks of dirt would show up on the picture! of course, the biggest irony is that the memory card itself was only one gig in size.. no wild guesses that the data on the card was corrupted.

it's feb. 20th today, kurt cobain would have turned 41 today were he still around. would he still have been making grunge music? who knows. one thing for sure is that he would have been pretty shocked at what passes for music these days. also, it's taken a few years, but it appears finally the stigma surrounding his death is wearing off. memorial concerts have been organized, his hometown Aberdeen changed its welcome sign, the album 'Nevermind' has been inducted to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry (reserved for historically significant recordings), a memorial park and youth center are being planned too. RIP Kurt.

The State of Massachusetts aka great idea #69

i refer not to the song by The Dropkick Murphys, the erstwhile unknown but now wildly popular south-boston-irish punk rockers (side note - if you've watched the movie 'The Boondock Saints' then you know what i'm talking about).. and if you haven't heard the song either, then here goes.. of course, if you haven't even heard of the band, then firstly shame on ye lassies and laddies, and secondly here is the song you might know (psst - it was on the soundtrack to the Scorsese movie 'The Departed')

aye, getting back to what i had started saying in the first place.. i think i have the solution to the state debt that the people in the city council have run up with all those fancy-assed projects that they came up with (The Big Dig, etc).. there's a bunch of toll booths here in the city, getting on and off the interstate, in and out of Logan airport and bunches of places. you've all seen the the express lane on the right in any toll booth in the country for people with the passes or stickers or some thingies.. tolls here vary from 50c. to a few bucks at other places.


well, how about a lane on the left then, where there is a fixed $5 toll, and for that princely sum, the occupants of the vehicle get to see titties? simple enough dontcha think.. pull up to the window.. drop your fiver into the bin.. hot chick raises her shirt and gives 'em a good shake rattle and hum.. and the driver drives away having had an eyeful and some boob-induced joie de vivre, with none of the default cussing of the state and road rage that usually happen when passing through a tollbooth..

(image censored because this is not the page for your porn fix, but that one is!)

#750 and other notes

for the last hundred or so posts, pretty much since i started working, updating this blog has been as tough as pulling teeth, kind of like that piece of leftover pan-fried steak from last night that you shoved into the fridge and were dreaming of eating this morning with eggs, but it was as chewy as Clint Eastwood's leathery hide in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.. and after you're done you spend half an hour picking your teeth and trying to elicit a half-satisfied burp. that's how i feel about this blog now, cos i barely have any fun stuff to say in it

• i could talk about air compressors at work failing and the winter rebuild program we're implementing, but who am i kidding, it's enough hearing about that at work every effin' day without bringing shop-talk home
• i finished part 1 of the project management degree, only eleven to go - heh! it was pretty hectic and quite tough, involved lots of reading and then some more for the exams and projects. the week break between courses is over, alas, so back to the grind we go
  
• there's the Sabres @ Bruins game i went to with my boss, who was good enough to buy me dinner and drinks too, but he spent most of the game heckling the Sabres and we did eventually lose in overtime so that was nothing to write home about (fantastic seats though, 9 rows behind the goal, right up in the slot). but i like that i can always get free tickets from Pepsi to go watch the Sabres everytime they swing by Beantown.
• and then this weekend is the supposed game of the century, the Patriots travel to the Colts.. but there is enough of that in the press to read and pick apart without sullying this blog
• fall is here and winter is close behind. summer daylight savings ended last night so i got to sleep in an extra hour, which is always great. fall is beautiful - the leaves on the trees vary from pale shades of gold to deeper shades of maroon. that's the good thing with being in the Northeast, and in my case living in central Mass., lots of nature trails all around and it's a great time to be up and about.
• i have been listening to loads of music, as there's lots of new stuff out. get up to date with who what when where at the rock blog..

it's a hard life, that i'm going through..

lyrics

one rainy day

someone saved me the trouble of having to embed the song 'One Rainy Day' - Godsmack by making up a very apt video using the film Spawn.. i love this song, it reminds me of everything i like about music and how a good song can always make you feel like you belong..

if you ever doubted Godsmack's musical credentials listen to the whole song.. Sully's haunting vocals and the soaring guitar solos should dispel any qualms you have

Oh man, I'm tired and lonely, Again, why must it be
A man is drowning slowly, And he can't keep above
Gone way to deep, oh yeah

Open skies are falling, Tears are coming down
Like a drop of rain falls to the ocean, And comes back around
One rainy day

Oh so many times I should've crawled, when I went running by
And since then I've been left feeling traumatized
Raped and drained of an innocence, A gift we've lost over time
And still I gaze through this one rainy day
Alone with no one by my side

Open skies are falling, Tears are coming down
Like a drop of rain falls to the ocean, And comes back around, yeah
I swear I've given, I've given you all I can
Never will you ever make me feel this way again, oh
On this one rainy day

Hey, open skies are falling, Tears are coming down
Like a drop of rain falls to the ocean, And comes back around
One rainy day, One rainy day
Oh one rainy day, It's been just, one rainy day..

"One Rainy Day" - Godsmack (from the album 'IV')

where will you be..

.. the day the music dies?

free internet radio is under threat.. the capitalist pigs rooting about in the Senate have now levied a bunch of taxes that threaten the very existence of internet radio. under the guise of royalty payments, and sponsored by the filthy swine who control our lives (unfortunately), the government is trying to impose huge taxes designed to push the smaller webcasters out of business, leaving the free internet in the hands of the big corporations who will eventually sell you the air you breathe.

in a world where nothing is certain but death and taxes, it is not ironic in the least that the imposition of one will lead to the proposition of the other.

there is still time, as the clock ticks down to July 15th 2007. follow the links here: read more about the issue at Save Net Radio, call up your local representative, sign the petition, blog about this issue, forward emails to your friends, and most of all, speak up!

don't let The Man beat you yet again, like he did with gas prices and unnecessary wars. don't let The Man steal your music from your internet. let your voice be heard. free internet radio will be saved.

November Rain

November is here, and the rain is still here.. which is good cos if it's still raining then it means it's not snowing!

still talking about November Rain.. the boys from Guns n' Roses are touring again. lemme correct that - Axl and his new boys that is.. somehow without Slash and Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin and Steve Adler it's not just the same GnR for me. so i don't care how well the new unit plays the old songs, this is one tour i am not gonna go for..

which is sad, cos when i was 8, the only music i knew was Michael Jackson & The Eagles, and a sprinkling of other lounge tunes.. i remember being fascinated by a band i had only heard of, called Guns n' Roses! the name absolutely got me.. and then i got my hands on a ripped cassette which opened with 'Used To Love Her' and 'You're Crazy' and i was hooked! i needed more and more rock after that, turning into the grunge and metal nut that i am now.. Gn'R was a gateway drug for me, as i can imagine they were for many many people.

back to this new avatar of Gn'R.. hey, if i wanna hear the old classics i might as well watch a cover band.. and the new songs off 'Chinese Democracy'? sheer and utter garbage.. don't even waste your money buying the stuff!

NB: did you know Slash is actually called Saul Hudson?! read his bio

simply effing awesome!

**EDIT - got my hands on some pics from the show.. so re-posted this blog**

i can die happy now, cos i have seen everything. no wait a minute, still haven't had a romp with naked blonde twins, so i can't die just yet. but yes, "simply effing awesome" - there is no other way of describing the concert.. after the Tool debacle a month ago i was worried about expecting too much and all that, but i should have known that my favorite band would not, could not let me down.. and they didn't either. it was a small club and we had awesome position in the crowd, dead center in the floor section, barely ten feet away from the stage

Hurt started the show off on the right foot, playing a short but tight set. this band only has one album out but shows all the promise of being around for a while.. they play awesome live, and should have a great sophomore album, both prerequisites for rock longevity

then the lights went out, and 'Whale & Wasp' was on the sound system.. four shadows shuffled on stage, and in a burst of light Alice In Chains ground out the first notes of 'Again'.. oh yeah! life-changing moment and tears in my eyes and all that! forget the couple of drinks i had downed, forget the work stress and everything else in my life.. this was just me and my favorite band. and i fell in love with grunge all over again.

they played everything, every song of theirs that i know and love. and i was truly happy. there were times i was counting in my head what songs they hadn't played yet and they would launch into them with such reckless abandon that i was all hoarse after an hour, and my neck hurt from all the headbanging the next hour!

even minus Layne (R.I.P.), the band still puts on one helluva rock show. the new vocalist Will has tried to learn from Layne, and at no time tried to usurp the memory of the legend. Sean and Mike were as good as ever.. but the real star was Jerry Cantrell. Jerry is a fuckin' God. long hair flowing and quirky smile on his lips, he dove headfirst into all the melodies and gave his voice full throttle when he sang.. no wonder the crowd broke into chants of "Jerry Jerry" ever so often!

Layne was sorely missed though, and the video tribute to him at the end of the first set was really touching. they opened the encore playing an acoustic set and with all the lighters flicked on, it was like being at the MTV Unplugged show all over again!

they never missed a beat, never played a note wrong, and seamlessly moved from acoustic to full-on electric guitars.. without which grunge is just not grunge.

later i read that a lot of people had similar experiences to mine.. which only serves to make the show more special, to go with my concert t-shirt! they ended up playing an unbelievable 2 hours and 40 minutes, who does that any more?! they also were recording the show live for use in their concert DVD.. so fully expect to see me on it.. in my black 'Dirt' tshirt, fist saying 'rock on' and roaring along with the band!!

Angry Chair on Halloween!

if the title didn't make much sense, then this picture will:

yes, finally another part of the musical dream comes true.. tonight i go to watch Alice In Chains!! this is such a momentous occasion for me that i do not have many words to describe how elated i feel right now.. and it also does not hurt at all that the opening band is Hurt, who i really like too!

happy Halloween everyone, scare yourselves up some fun!

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg

fans of Iron Maiden - stand up and rejoice, for they are back, and how! the album is on constant rotation on Winamp now.. and the single 'The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg' flavor of the month in my head! listen to it and judge for yourself. a more indepth review is on the rock blog..

just in case you are wondering who Benjamin Breeg is, then this page from Wiki will suck you into the mystery that they have created. it's a masterpiece of viral marketing, and it's gonna leave us all guessing as to who he really is.. a metaphor for the band itself? a reincarnation of WWIII? band mascot Eddie? bassist Steve Harris? the enigmatic artist who created Eddie? read on..

weekend recap

this was a pretty good weekend.. there were some lows, not just in the temperature.. and there were some highs, not just the kind that involves intoxication!

the Tool concert was a bit of a letdown, a whole combination of factors worked against it - some idiots in the crowd, extremely cold weather, too much expectation, an indifferent performance by the band and pure exhaustion all came together to make it a huge letdown. that's life.

went off to Bristol, Rhode Island after that for the weekend. the weather continued to suck, but got some good company, met lots of new people, had some awesome food and generally had a great time despite the rain and cold. i love visiting new places, and the sea has always held a lot of fascination for me.

coming back home to go to work on sunday night in the dreary weather was really difficult, but that again is life. this week better zip by fast.

"considerately killing me.."

little needs to be said about a band called Tool. if you know of them then i need not say any more. if you do not know of them then there is little hope for you, but to shape up and find some Tool.. now!

was pleasantly surprised to be gifted Tool tickets for the concert tonight, and even more pleasantly surprised that the boss was considerate enough to give me friday night off.

this is one concert that i have been waiting for ever since i was eleven. not in the same way i always wanted to go watch Metallica, or still want to catch Alice In Chains, or will never be able to see Nirvana. Tool is an almost spiritual experience, like a pilgrimage.

Think for yourself, Question authority

Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.

Think for yourself, Question authority.

as used in "Third Eye", by Tool from the album 'Salival'

cosmic flash / third eye

even flow..

fulfilled another one of my lifelong dreams this last weekend, watched Pearl Jam live.. and they were everything that i though them to be, and then some. eddie and the boys rocked, jammed and played their hearts out for three whole hours, uninterrupted.. which band does that in these days and time?

i experienced a whole rollercoaster of emotions throughout the concert, this coming at the time it has.. "Even Flow" had me moshing big time, while "Black" had me down on my knees and sobbing.. raising my fists to "Hail Hail" and lighter aglow for "Life Wasted".. every song they played a different mood, and a different experience to be savored.. definitely one of the best concerts i have ever been to!

they played most of my fave songs, but omitted a few, something that i thought was nearly unforgiveable.. "Jeremy", "Better Man", "Last Kiss" and "Soldier Of Love".. alas. they played a few songs from the new album, and a healthy mix of stuff from all their previous albums, 'Vitalogy' getting the most attention.

so yet another band that can be checked off from the master list of bands to see.. the list of bands left finally looks smaller than the one of bands watched!

if music be the food of love..

**EDIT**
seems like people wanna get back on this one, so i'll leave it here for one more day!


.. then what dishes do you like best?! had an interesting discussion with some friends.. what songs would you choose to make love to? what if you had to narrow them down to three?! think carefully, if you had to choose three songs to make love to, what would they be?

after much contemplation, i got these three, all embodying different moods..

- Pink Floyd - "Echoes" (watch video)
- Michael Jackson - "Give In To Me" (watch video)
- Chris Isaak - "Wicked Game" (watch video)

honorable mentions, which just missed the cut
- Jean Michel Jarre - "Waiting For Cousteau" (watch video)
- Pink Floyd - "High Hopes" (watch video)

how about you?

grungy sunday

love you so much it makes me sick, come on over and shoot the shit
beat me outta me.. beat it! beat it!

('Aneurysm' - Nirvana, from Incesticide)

the sun never rose, the clouds stayed put and lashed rain down on the dull New England landscape. i could have been in Seattle. i reached out a lazy hand and slipped in the Nirvana CD.. Incesticide. now i was almost in Seattle. skulked around the apartment in a faded tshirt and trackies with an unlit cigarette dangling from my lips and a bottle of beer hanging from my hand. now i was in Seattle, home of grunge. in mind and in body too.

gloomy rainy days bring out the best and worst in me. sometimes i am inspired enough to cook lots and clean the place up and be generally productive. other times i roll around in bed and be lazy. today was both.. i cooked up a storm in the kitchen - baked chicken with a salsa sauce, stirfried veggies in a mushroom sauce, spicy sausage and spinach with basil and onions, fried rice and a large vanilla cake too.. enough to tide me over the week i hope. and then i was lazy, after i cleaned up the apartment, i lay in bed and had a few beers, and watched a couple of tv shows until it was dark.

there is no moral to this story, i'm just babbling. hope y'all had a great weekend, and a good Mother's Day too. see you during the week.

sold out!

From William Shakespeare's 'Richard III..

KING RICHARD III: A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

----------------

how i sympathise with thee o King Richard.. three of my favorite bands of all time are all on tour in this month, playing near me in a period of four days, and i shall be able to see none of them! such cruel mistresses time and Ticketmaster can be!

Pearl Jam play in Boston on the 24th.. being a weekday i can't make it for that show, even if i manage to scalp tickets cos it's sold out! Alice in Chains play two days earlier on 22nd, again in Boston, for a measly price of $25.. but it's a monday, and again i will not be able to go. i would have taken time off from work, but it will be poor form considering i have just joined. and then finally Tool are in town the day before that, on 21st, which is a sunday, so i can make it too.. but the tickets sold out in the first minute they were online. i didn't even get a sniff. alas.

those of you who know me, and know how much i love my music and these bands, will understand the depths of my misery.

April 5th

a black day for the world of rock.. one that shall be commemorated every year, as long as music lives

the day grunge died

yes, 5th April is gonna go down as the day grunge died.. kurt cobain (Nirvana) supposedly pointed a shotgun to his forehead on this day in 1994.. and some eight years later in 2002, on the same day, layne staley (Alice In Chains) asphyxiated on a speedball and his body was only found days later. was it something in the season.. when the seattle winter refused to be sprung by Daylight Saving Time.. and two people who defined grunge as we know it offed themselves?? R.I.P.

kurt was the quintessential trailer trash kid.. strumming away his guitar to abstract rhymes.. and living under a bridge when the shit hit the fan.. he played a hundred and one bars before finally laying down some tracks on tape. this was the birth of Nevermind, the album that went on to blow all the pop-wannabes off MTV.. with the one single 'smells like teen spirit'. later on he stumbled from one gig to the next, then on to the recording studio.. with a deathwish drug-habit, and a desperate desire to prove (to himself??) that he had finally made it.

layne was the ying to jerry cantrell's yang. together, they created the melodic riffs and driving metal sounds that define most rock bands spawning after that uber-generation, grunge! layne and gang once actually got evicted cos they didn't have enough cash to pay rent! then the album Dirt happened.. and the energetic layne never looked back.. even touring with a broken leg in plaster! layne died still looking for himself, his lyrics showing the desperate scrawls of a man torn inside.

grunge represented all the angst, the desire, the rebelling, the ambition, the whatever-you-want-it-to-be, and the pitfalls too, of teenage.. and which is very surprising to find you don't ever outgrow. maybe it's just me, but i still listen to grunge, and get a totally different lesson each time. music rocks! :-)

kurt had disagreements with axl rose (Guns N' Roses) regarding their genres of music, and when asked all he had to say was this: "They fuck things up and then they sit back and look at what they fucked up and then try to figure out how they can fix it, whereas we fuck things up and just dwell on it and make it even worse." i couldn't have described grunge any better.

saturday night fever blues

went downtown to the Tudor Lounge last night, a nice enough little dive bar in the heart of the Chippewa party district. renowned as a blues location, a pretty good band was on last night, the Blues Hounds. they had all the hallmarks of good blues music.. good drummer, capable guitarists, good vocals and an excellent harmonica. the native american kid who was playing the harmonica looked a bit incongruous, and hardly twenty, but he sure rocked the joint with his rhythm.

blues music has always been one genre where both white and black folk have agreed on. historically from the south, and developed by the poorer black slaves of the time, it rapidly spread to the guitar-based music of the white parts of the south too. places like Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Mississippi being the hotbeds of blues culture. blues went on to influence several other genres too, including jazz, rhythm n' blues (Rn'B) and southern classic rock. read more here.

so what did you get up to on saturday night?

AiC is back?!

yes you heard right.. grunge gods Alice In Chains are back! the remaining members of the band are going to be getting together once again to see if they still have the magic. though lead singer Layne Staley is dead and gone, let's hope they can recapture the sound again.. Nirvana died, Sound Garden broke up (frontman Chris Cornell heads Audioslave now), Pearl Jam evolved, now let's see what AiC, the fourth of the Seattle grunge quadrant, put out. AiC's thick-as-a-brick sound & Staley's vocal style can be heard in the work of Godsmack (named from an AiC single), Creed, Staind, Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, Adema and a host of others..

meanwhile Tool are putting the finishing touches on their new album, due out on April 4th.. the Tool Army worldwide are counting down the days (37 to be precise!).

hit or miss?

music is always a very contentious issue to write about.. because just like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder (or beerholder), musical judgement resides in the mind of the listener. i remember having read a few weeks ago about some bloke who took the 'genetic code' of hundreds of hit songs in various genres, and actually could decipher what constituted a popular song from the ordinary fare.

i feel a good song has two essential components: a rhythm that attracts you, and words that speak to you. it's almost a subliminal feeling, at a more primeval level. true musical skill involves blending the two into a seamless amalgam that seems to flow through your veins and beat with your pulse. i listen to lots of rock, in its many avtars: grunge, alternative, heavy metal, classic, industrial, progressive, etc etc.. for most bands i either like the music/instrumentals, or the lyrics/songwriting.. but very very few can actually transport me to a universe far far away.

apart from a few of the the renowned bands that everyone knows and talks about, there are some more which i have come across.. this blog has always been a forum for me to introduce them to you.. older readers might have heard some of these names before.. newer readers, get ready to broaden your musical perspectives..

Tool are the greatest gift to the world since sliced bread and lingerie. they redefine the boundaries of musical conception, and are definitely worth a try. if you are scared to take the plunge into the deep end, try A Perfect Circle, an offshoot of Tool's. remember, think for yourself, question authority.

Alice In Chains are to grunge what Tom Hanks is to acting: multitalented, does the job awesomely yet passes under the radar when fame and fortune come knocking. when angst and soul-searching are preying on your mind, this is the music you soul seeks.

System Of A Down can be described by just one word: eclectic. combining various musical flavors such as folk, opera, and classical music with catchy tunes, staccato vocals and an underlying message that meld together to form a series of cocktails, like having a dry martini, a shot of tequila and a strawberry margarita in quick succession.

Shinedown represents a younger generation, with a newish feel to their music while paying ample tribute to the older generations by staying true to what really matters.. the music. what new band right now dares to play 7 minute songs with long melodic guitar solos and are best enjoyed with a whiskey and coke in hand?

10 Years are the newest kids on the block, counting among their influences both contemporary and classic bands. the jury is still out on this group, as they only have one album out, and its the second album that decides whether a band shall rise to epic proportions, or fade away to playing in dimly-lit smoky nightclubs half-filled with yuppies and frat-boys.

the wait

After awakening, The silence grows
The screams subside, Distortion shows

a sudden realisation, an afterthought almost, sends me reeling

Mutant thoughts, Of bad mouthed news
Just another birth, Of distorted views

worst-case scenarios can't help but manifest in my head

The wait, The wait
The wait, The wait

time stands still, the night doesn't pass and the day doesn't dawn

'The Wait' - Metallica

riders on the storm

it's only tuesday and what a tumultuous week it's been.. there's a job fair on campus on wednesday, so gotta dust off the resume and the formal threads.. look spiffy and all that!

ok, wednesday is time for some fun.. YankeeBob came up with a great idea, let's all write a schmoopy post (click the link for more details).. make it as schmoopy / mushy / schmubby as you want, enough to make you gag if you can! don't forget then, wednesday is Schmoopy Post Day, so lay it on thick and let's all have a laugh! and after you post make sure you leave a comment on YB's blog saying you're playing!

Jim Morrison came to me in a dream yesterday.. and no he didn't show me the way to the next whiskey bar either, i don't remember what he wanted, but i hope he was singing "This is the end, My only friend, the end; Of our elaborate plans, the end.."

last night while watching Monday Night Football.. we saw the most hilarious ad ever! it was a full tv spot for a.. (wait for this..)

TXT CHAT ON SMS WITH HOT WOMEN.. SEND SMS NOW TO 1-900-XXX-XXXX

i mean, can you believe that?! how incredibly frustrated would someone have to be to resort to that, and how much more frustrated would he/she get when in the throes of passion, jabbing away at the little buttons on the cellphone trying to get yet another sordid message across, comes a beep, and 'Message Not Sent'.. heheh!!

have a great day everyone..

**EDIT**
update on my 'other' gf.. she will need a major transplant, so am gonna have to put together the cash and organs for that.. all her data is safe, and she will be like the gal of old again very very soon! :-) thank you once again everyone for your care and concern!

song of the day

i like to listen to some music in the frenzied few minutes between waking up and leaving home in the mornings.. frenetic cos i'd rather sleep some more than wake up an hour before and be all chilled out as i go about the morning ablutions!

i try to get up thus with some kickass rock to jumpstart the day.. some System Of A Down, Linkin Park or Ill Nino usually does the trick, though i will listen to Live sometimes too.. but the one song i love starting off with is Metallica's 'The Outlaw Torn'.. it anoints me with equal doses of vim & vigor, humor & humility to face the day..

Hear me, And if close my mind in fear.. Please pry it open
See me, And if my face becomes sincere.. Beware
Hold me, And when I start to come undone.. Stitch me together
Save me, And when you see me strut.. Remind me of what left this outlaw torn

what song do you start the day with?!

a little Disturbed for your ears.. get up!!

ash and i went for a concert yesterday.. a band that we'd been planning to add to the substantial list we've accumulated over the two years.. Disturbed!! They're touring in support of their third album 'Ten Thousand Fists' coming out on tuesday, along with Ill Nino and 10 Years..

Get up, come on get down with the sickness
You mother get up come on get down with the sickness
You fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
Madness is the gift, that has been given to me..

"Down With The Sickness" - Disturbed

make no mistake, this is one angry band!! Disturbed make no pretenses to play to keep purists happy. they release a lot of fury with their music.. staccato machinegun drums, heavy heavy basslines, tearing screaming guitars and David's unique roar.. RRRRAAWWKK! he certainly knew how to play to the packed crowd, and took quite a few breaks to speak to the crowd about the ineptitude of the government, the struggles of life and keeping the spirits up.. it was a really stuffed place, a closed pub actually, with 2,000 people jammed in.. moshpits, bodysurfing and all.. bouncing in unison and fists pumping in the air.. Disturbed!!

earlier on Ill Nino had taken the stage.. i really love this band! their music can only be described as Latino nu-metal.. really rhythmic with latin-toned harmonies, but with the most kickass shredding guitars and thundering bass, they even had two drum kits!! their set looked more Slipknot.. with long braids flying everywhere, and the stage chock-full. they actually have spanish lyrics in most of their songs too.. makes for very interesting music!

Y mi futuro es Negro, que yo soy un peligro.. The vision that is sold
Just never seems to grow.. The life that you cannot mold
Tu dices que es tu dolo.. The fact is played and I'm fucking cold

"Revolution.. Revolución!" - Ill Nino

finally a quick word about 10 Years.. definitely one of the better opening acts we've seen.. they certainly have the potential to go further.

this alcohol ..

off the lyrics of Pankaj Udhas, famous Indian classical vocalist and poet.. thinking about you Dad, and all those pegs of Johhny Walker Red Label, and Tusker on sunday afternoons.. take care and see you soon

this alcohol is such a thing,
that it can't be quit
my friend, that is what it's like,
that is what it's like..

i've seen every step changing in itself
but the alcohol stays the way it is,
this alcohol is such a thing..

it might soften with someone's breath
and the weight lightens marginally,
but this water is such, that it can't be quit..

this is the cure for broken hearts,
how else can i tell you, how it is,
this is like my friend is, that's how it is..

this alcohol is such a thing,
that it can't be quit
my friend, that is what it's like,
that is what it's like..

i've seen every city change over time,
but it all stays the same,
cannot be left as it was..

it melts with someone's breath,
and it lightens with someone's burden of love,
but it's like water it can't be left..

this is the cure for broken hearts,
how do i tell you what it's like,
that it just cannot be quit..


EDIT: (10.13 am) whew, how drunk was i last night?! heheh!!

odds n' ends

rapcore is a very interesting genre of music.. it incorporates nu-age rock and hip-hop/rap.. blame Nine Inch Nails for introducing rock bands to the turntables and mixers! Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine were the pioneers of this.. and later picked up by Limp Bizkit and Slipknot, and highly popularised by Linkin Park.


other bands like Disturbed, Snot and Papa Roach stayed true to their rock roots, and incorprorated rap-like lyrics and sound effects with jarring distortion riffs and thumping bass beats. for the uninitiated.. try any of the above bands, and also Ill Nino, P.O.D, HED p.e for a feel of it.

i dunno much about christian-rock bands, but have heard Jars Of Clay.. otherwise not too many of them get into the mainstream. and now there's a rapcore christian-rock band called Thousand Foot Krutch, whose new album actually merits a listen, cos they aint bad at all! their genre is a tonguetwister (christian-rock rapcore!!) but the song 'Move' is a headjarrer!

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i came upon Doc's blog a few days back.. he has some magnificent pictures, and a great idea too, and i ask for all of you to chip in with this one. could all of you, wherever in the world you are, take a picture of an innercity alley where you live, and send them to him.. just for kicks, let's see a different side to all the cities, and let's see how many pictures we can rustle up?!

666, The Number Of.. Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath

Ozzfest is the arena where nu-age metal meets classic heavy metal.. and gets bitchslapped. of the multitude of young bands who played all day in the scorching sun.. and tried their best to show the legions of dysfunctional youth the way forward.. their efforts went largely unnoticed. Mudvayne were the best of the lot, and that wasn't saying much either.. they still have a long way to go before they gain the appropriate skill and talent to really play some heavy metal.

as the sun slowly dipped over the distant horizon, and the day faded into an orange dusk.. a black banner fell and hung from the rafters above the stage.. upon it the sneering skeletal figure of Ed Hunter.. and a wall of sound exploded over the wildly cheering masses.. Iron Maiden was here! as all the banners fell away, there were four guitars crashing away wildly and a bass drum pounding away the sounds of 'Wrathchild'.. but where was Bruce Dickinson.. the vocalist?! and then from the back a figure in the classic English army redcoat, waving a Union Jack came marching onto the stage..

"cos i'm a wrathchild, well i'm a wrathchild..
yeah I'm a wrathchild, i'm coming to get you, oh yeah."

that melded into 'Trooper' before he announced that they would only be playing stuff from their first four albums today due to the one hour set.. which was kinda disappointing, but hey.. it's fuckin' Maiden baby! they had an amazing stage, with the 60ft by 30ft backdrop changing for every song.. and as they belted their way through 'Phantom Of The Opera', 'Number Of The Beast', 'Sanctuary', 'Run To The Hills', & 'Iron Maiden'.. then with darkness creeping in around 9, all four guitars lined up alongside each other, and they proceeded to shred the riffs of 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'..

"mark my words please believe my soul lives on, please don't worry now that i have gone
i've gone beyond to see the truth
when you know that your time is close at hand, maybe then you'll begin to understand
life down there is just a strange illusion."

a long prolonged period of cheers, and then a hushed silence.. as people slowly absorbed the beat down the Maiden had just laid on the 20k crowd.. oh yeah Iron fuckin' Maiden!! it did get a bit irritating cos this wasted middle-aged man kept on insisting i hi-5 him every song Maiden played.. dude, it's a Maiden concert, of course they're gonna play Iron Maiden!! we were wondering how good Black Sabbath would have to be if Maiden kicked so much ass..

and in the darkness, from the hustle and bustle behind the curtain as crew set up the stage.. a banner dropped, Black Sabbath in black letters on a blood-red background, and came a piercing scream! Ozzy was in the house!! before the curtain came up they played a recorded medley of pretty much all their stuff.. and then lights, camera, action..

"now I have you with me, under my power, our love grows stronger now with every hour
look into my eyes, you will see who I am, my name is Lucifer, please take my hand
oh yeah!"

i have to say, i was a bit skeptical about Black Sab, and i gladly repented at leisure as Ozzy ranted and screamed, impassive Tony Iommi's magic fingers played enchanting solo after solo, bassist Geezer Butler plucked his bass hooks and drummer Bill Ward tossed of his shirt then crashed and banged like a man possessed.. for a band that has been around for over 35 years, they have enough energy to put a pack of wolverines to shame!

as twenty thousand people put up their lighters and sang 'War Pigs', one felt that somewhere George Bush and others of his ilk would be cringing..

"politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war
why should they go out to fight? they leave that role to the poor

time will tell on their power minds, making war just for fun
treating people just like pawns in chess, wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah!"

they also played 'Black Sabbath', 'Dirty Women', 'Iron Man', 'Fairies Wear Boots', 'Gipsy', and some stuff i haven't heard either.. and finally ended off with 'Children Of The Grave'..

"so you children of the world, listen to what i say
if you want a better place to live in, spread the words today

show the world that love is still alive, you must be brave
or you children of today are, Children of the Grave, yeah!"

classic rock just showed once again why there is nothing quite like it.

back from ozzfest!