Tardon as The Resident and Gail as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark at one of Ken’s infamous Halloween parties, way back in the Eighties . . .
Monthly Archives: October 2007
Hang The DJ! Morrissey Live at the Hammerstein Ballroom!
Morrissey Rocks the Hammerstein Ballroom
Back in nineteen eighty blah blah, I can remember being the most obsessed, fanatically nerdy of Smiths fan: scouring the tiny “import” record stores of south Orange County for ridiculously expensive Japanese copies of Hatful of Hollow and shrieking hysterically at Smiths concerts like a pre-teen Beatles fan at the Fab Four’s 1965 Dodger Stadium performance. Good times. Even during an era when really great bands were getting played on the radio at a pretty steady clip, as far as I was concerned – aside from never actually being able to make it all the way through “Meat Is Murder” without hitting the “Skip” button –The Smiths were the shit.
When The Smiths broke up over irreconcilable artistic differences and various assorted heroin addictions, I was devastated and inconsolable. I’ve read The Severed Alliance about fifty times trying to make sense of it all, but sometimes good things just come to an end and all that we have left are the memories and some really excellent bootlegs. Last night I was able to relive the happy, carefree days of my youth to a completely transcendent degree when I attended one of five performances by Morrissey happening this week at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom. Fucking A, what a great show that guy puts on! Honestly, I was blown away! To my surprise I really loved all of the Mozz’s solo material, old and new (some songs yet to be recorded) but I’d be a big fat liar if I didn’t admit that my very favorite parts of the show were his amazing renditions of Smith songs, as follows:
“Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” (Opening song)
“The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”
“Stretch Out And Wait” (“Stretch Out And Motherfucking Wait” – are you kidding me? Squeal!)
“Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want”
“Death of a Disco Dancer” (Which was absolutely mind blowing)
and
“How Soon Is Now?”
Looks Like Your Dad: Rocks Like Elvis
Jesus God, it was the best concert I’ve seen all year. Massive thanks go out to Matt Walker, Morrissey’s drummer extraordinaire, for getting me, Tracy and Geoffrey VIP seating upstairs.
Ministry Bassist Paul Raven Dies of Heart Attack in Geneva
October 20, 2007 FRANCE – Ministry’s bassist Paul Raven was found dead today in a private home in a small French village on the Swiss border. Initial reports indicate Raven’s passing was due to a heart attack. Raven (known also for his work with Killing Joke, Prong) was in Geneva working with French recording artists Treponem Pal on their new release, with Marco Neves, Ted Parsons (Prong) and members of The Young Gods.
Continue reading Ministry Bassist Paul Raven Dies of Heart Attack in Geneva
Metamorphosis of The Century: Silverchair!
In The Running for Album Of The Year: Silverchair’s Young Modern
Jesus god, who would have imagined that Australian’s most successful rock band ever could have progressed from sounding like a juvenile, more depressed version of Nirvana to becoming Roxy Music for the aughts? Silverchair’s latest CD, Young Modern, comes off like a heady, glossy amalgam of ’70s glam and The Beatles. And it doesn’t get much better than that for this girl.
Neal Smith Mirrored Premier Vintage Drum Set For Sale
These Drum Could Be Yours
Neal Smith, drummer for the original band called Alice Cooper is selling his historic Mirrored Premier Drum Set. This is the very first set ever of completely mirrored drums. The kit includes 19 drums total with four bass drums: The two originals from the financial-record setting 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour, and the two bass drums from Alice Cooper’s 1974 Brazilian tour, for which the band held the Guinness Book of World Records for over twenty years for the indoor concert attendance record of 125,000 people. No cymbals will be included, but all Premier stands and hardware, plus extra parts, will be included. Drums are being sold “as is.” The buyer will pay for all shipping, or can pick them up in Connecticut.
