Tag Archives: live show

Music, Pop Culture

Happy Birthday, Pete Townshend!

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pete townshend street art photo by gail wortley
Photo By Gail

Pete Townshend, guitarist for The Who and certainly one of the most awesome living Rock Stars ever in the universe of all time, was born on this day, May 19th, in 1945. I’m lucky enough (meaning that I am old enough now) to have seen The Who live in their prime before the death of Keith Moon. This was way back in March of 1976, at the Anaheim Stadium in Orange County, California where I grew up. I think the ticket was $12. I’d say that show is probably in the top three or four concert experiences of my life, and I do remember it was VERY LOUD, despite being held at an outdoor sports stadium with a capacity of over 55,000 people. My ears still hurt. In fact, according to Who legend, that concert is the one at which Townshend claims to have lost a good percentage of his hearing. “Happy Birthday, Pete!”

Music, Pop Culture

Motley Crue Kick Start My Heart at Madison Square Garden!

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All Photos by Geoffrey Dicker!

I have said it many times before – and I am saying it again right now – that I would rather listen to Motley Crue songs like “Dr. Feelgood” or “Shout at the Devil” one hundred million billion times than be forced to listen to the majority of today’s shitty, modern alternative trash rock for fifteen seconds. Because, here’s the thing, Motley Crue – undeniable walking punch lines that they are – are nevertheless a bonafide gang of dangerous, ex-drug addict rock stars from an old school of Rock with a Capital R that, really, does not exist anymore. For this, I worship them openly. Continue reading Motley Crue Kick Start My Heart at Madison Square Garden! →

Music, Pop Culture

Queen’s A Night At The Opera Tour, March 1976

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“Cheers!”

This is probably a weird thing to remember, or feel the need to validate, but every year on March 9th I celebrate what I call my “Queeniversary,” which is the anniversary of the night I saw the band Queen live for the first time at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles, way back in 1976. I don’t listen to my Queen albums as much these days as I once did, but between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, I swear that band saved my sanity. So thanks Freddie, Brian, Roger and John, for being the band I needed to have in my life at that time, and for making such unforgettable music.

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Music, Pop Culture

Alexa Ray Joel: An Unexpected Blowing of the Mind

Alexa Ray Joel 2007
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A friend of mine, Marc “The Slut” Slutksky, is a pretty darn good drummer. He played drums on Pink’s most recent record and, you know, the kid stays busy. Marc’s current gig involves playing drums in the backing band of singer Alexa Ray Joel. And unless you’ve been living your entire life under a pile of rocks, in a cave, beneath the ocean you know that Alexa is the daughter of Billy Joel and Christy Brinkley.
Continue reading Alexa Ray Joel: An Unexpected Blowing of the Mind →

Music, Pop Culture

Louder Than Love: Chris Cornell at Irving Plaza!

Chris Cornell 2007
I’ve Been Deaf Now I Want Noise

It’s fairly old news at this juncture that singer-slash-rock god, Chris Cornell left Audioslave a few months back to do the solo thing again. I can’t say that I’m terribly heartbroken about the move. Rage Against the Machine was always one of my least favorite angry pinko bands on the planet, and being as Audioslave was 3/4’s of Rage, they didn’t really know what to do with the more subtle textures of Chris’s voice anyway. Good riddance.

Chris has a new CD coming out in June and I’m trying to snag an advance copy of that as I type. But he played a show last night at NYC’s Irving Plaza and thanks to my friend Jason Sutter, who is also Chris’s new drummer, I was there. Thanks, Jason. You rule.

I knew I must be seriously starved for The Rock when I was able to get all wet and crazy over the opening song of the evening, “Spoon Man” — which, for me at least, is not one of Soundgarden’s best songs. From what I heard last night, Chris’s new disc sounds like it will be worth buying, but the jury is still out over whether it will even be able to touch his last solo album, Euphoria Morning, which is just insane.

I would like to now personally thank Chris and his band for doing “Outshined,” “Rusty Cage,” “Jesus Christ Pose,” and the shocker of the night, “Loud Love.” Wow. Chris Cornell is awesome.