Black Kids @ The Social 7/1/10

No, the picture is not the Social...that would look like an old comedy club shot. Scored this one from MTV2. Anyway, I was excited to see that the Kids had a new record in the can and was headed into Orlando for the first stop of a 7-date warm up FL tour. Not well attended in my mind, but they are much more popular overseas than here. Got there just as the opening band started, and within a song or two, started looking around for the cast of Saturday Night Live, thinking this had to be a rave up of those Justin Timberlake videos they've done. Nope. Just a laughable presentation of prerecorded dance pop. Well, the drummer and bassist played live but 90% of the remainder was tracked or AutoTuned. Damn, I could have jumped up there and sang through a computer! Finally the Kids hit the stage with real instruments and sounded quite good. The gathered crowd of approx. 200 was all over the Partie Traumatic tracks, and they worked really well live. As for the three new tracks played, well, let's hope there isn't a sophomore slump. I'll reserve judgement after hearing the new record a few times, whenever that happens. If you are unfamiliar with their sound, it is unapologetic dance pop music that will put a smile on your face if you are a fan of the B-52's, Human League, Thompson Twins, etc.

Reggie Youngblood's vocals recall Paul Hyde from the Payolas from that same decade, though there is NO WAY this kid from Jacksonville would know who that is, and probably most of you reading this, too! Here is their TV debut on Letterman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzaSM0Ac1BQ&feature=related

Anyway, if I had paid the $12 or $15 ticket price (thanks, WPRK) I would have been upset at the short 50 minute set. But it was an all ages show so most of the crowd had the parentals spring for it and their colas. No wonder the bartender poured me heavy Tanqueray and tonics...

Four Hours @ Bonnaroo 2010

Honestly, I didn't think much of this year's lineup. Truly, there were only five bands I had any desire at all to see. The main reason I was even in Dullahoma in the first place was to visit my parents, not the festival. It just so happened that the timing was right and I had committed to helping Dennis and I keep my promises. The first band I had an interest in seeing was Blitzen Trapper, and I just finished my first spin of their new album. Lo, they were scheduled on the first night while I was busy inhaling carbon monoxide at the gate. One patron asked me who to see once they got inside, and BT was my suggestion. They promised to give them my love. Cool. On Friday, I had considered the midnight performance of the infamous Flaming Lips and their version of "Dark Side of the Moon", but earlier in the day I found out the main stage was running an hour behind, and I'm just not that young anymore. So Saturday was it, as the other three bands I wanted to see were scheduled perfectly for me to do in a few hours.


Coordinating with Dennis, I acquired a resident access pass so I could get to the location of their great setup. Turning off the main highway, I was greeted by a fleet of motorcycle State Troopers, all lined up with somewhere to go, just not yet. Weird. Passing through two check points (a resident pass with Florida plates..."of course, I live here!"), I follow the directions down the country road to literally 100 feet of a gate to the festival. But I have to wait for a limo and some county sheriff vehicles to pass before I can turn in. Was that Norah Jones in that limousine? Turns out it was, as our hookup location actually adjoined the VIP access road and gate! Sweet! Could have literally hopped the fence and been on Bonnaroo property. I was greeted by the sign in the picture above (OK, so there is a misspelled word; it was the spirit I found enlightening). The owners had been looking for some rural property a few years earlier when they found the current location and told the real estate agent they liked it. In a fit of open disclosure, the agent said she needed to inform them that the property backed up to the big music festival that had been in the news. Obviously, it had been a deal-breaker more than once for her. "Sold!" So every year since, these people invite close friends to stay with them and enjoy Bonnaroo in a truly local fashion. Very nice.


So Dennis and I make the fifty yard walk to the gate...gotta love it...and we're off to my first Bonnaroo. Mumford & Sons was the first stop, this picture taken just as we walked up. Decent crowd for a band I did not figure many to be aware of. Those who were there were certainly in the know, singing along loudly through some of the selections from Sigh No More, making the ol' Mad Rocker very happy. Trotting out for the finale was the Old Crow Medicine Show and Gillian Welch, and the crowd absolutely exploded when they finished the set, screaming for more. But the boys had used their allotted time, and at Bonnaroo, if your set is 5 - 6:15 and you want to do an encore, then you'd better stop at 6 so the crowd can call you back and be done at 6:15 as the program states. Mumford & Sons obviously won over many in the crowd as their album has broken the Top 100 here in the States. Again, a happy Mad Rocker.

Next to the main stage and the Dead Weather. I'm not going to get too carried away on this post since I have the new record ready for comment and will do so in the next posting, but do yourself a huge favor and go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127088792 and listen to their set, and Mumford & Sons set as well, for that matter. Or better yet, even though it's only one song, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHMt-2bpxU for a visual sample. Alison Mosshart looks like a skinny Siouxsie Sue and, boys and girls, that's what a "Rock Star performance" is all about. I looked at Dennis about twenty minutes into the set and I told him, "I want to do her right now, sweat and all, right there on the stage." Dirty, nasty Rock 'N Roll is still alive and well and living in the Dead Weather.

 

We then made quite the musical shift from loud to soft, and crowd size from thousands to eighty, as we stepped under the Cafe Where? tent for the Stone siblings.
With Weezer blaring away on the second stage, it was difficult to grasp the subtleties of the Stones from the edge of the tent, so I eased into the middle where I captured this song...

I hope they get some recognition in the States. Probably their first trip to America, but they were used to the Aussie heat so temps in the mid-90's didn't phase them. After they finished, Dennis and I meandered for a while, watching the crowd build in anticipation of Stevie Wonder. Had to be over thirty minutes later before we decided to bail, and as we walked past the Cafe tent, Julia was still there signing CD's and talking to a few fans. I stopped to have a word but opted out as Mr. Wonder cranked up.
Please people, if you like singer/songwriter music, support these kids. They deserve it.

And that was it for my Bonnaroo experience.

Bonnaroo 2010

I was in Tullahoma the weekend before Bonnaroo 2009, and my friend Dennis

tried to get me to stay for it. He had a hookup that was enticing but "maybe next year." Well, it actually came to fruition. Me being in the music biz and never attending the festival in my backyard (actually owned a home outside Manchester just three miles from the farm and hunted on the property when I used to do that sort of thing) was an injustice which had to be rectified. So I agreed to help Dennis and Butch in the name of the Rotary Club get attendees into the grounds by becoming a human traffic cone, wearing the shirt in the picture, in exchange for a staff band to enjoy the remaining three days of the festival. Little did I know that I would spend ten hours as a traffic cop without a break in order to attend just over four hours of Bonnaroo on Saturday. The pics below were snapped as our group arrived to take our shift at 2 PM. Things were smooth and orderly coming through the ticket lanes, merging into two steadily moving lines of vehicles heading into the grounds. At around 4 PM, a parking staffer comes to me and says they are closing half of the gate since lots were either flooded from the previous two days of rain or already full. "Are you sh!*#ng me?" Nope. Stayed closed for all but 90 minutes of the remaining 7 1/2 hours we were there. Those two orderly lines became 12, entering in SINGLE F#&*ING FILE!, most waiting another 30 minutes or so to be released into the flow of traffic. We heard that cars coming from Nashville, normally an hour drive, took 9 hours to get to us at our temporary entrance off westbound I-24, and we had to make them wait more! But you know what, these concert-bound partiers were 98% unfazed. What a great bunch of people! And not just kids...I saw an RV with four generations inside, for example. Of course, I'm all into putting on a little show for the patrons, too, telling jokes, tipping my hat, hand gestures, laughing, yelling, slapping high-fives...many knew what our staff "pay" was and said they would look for us inside during the weekend. How cool was that for a guy old enough to be the father of many of them, or to quote an early Cheap Trick lyric, "I might even BE your daddy!" And the variety of music emanating from these cars was amazing. My favorite moment was three girls absolutely singing their collective arses off to a Sonia Dada record that came out when they were probably five years old! God, I wanted to just hug 'em, but I would've probably gotten into trouble....

Would I volunteer to be a traffic cone again at Bonnaroo? Absolutely.

Joe Bonamassa "Black Rock"

OK, I'm going to get this out of the way so I can get into my
brief Bonnaroo experience in a couple of days. I had high expectations for this record as you can tell from the other two posts about JB. Sadly, it was more like the old JB records than the newer two, just barely making my grade for a keeper. Black Rock has 13 tracks, of which 7 were good, the other filler in my book. So just over 50% was good enough for me to keep the whole album, based on his most recent work. It is certainly his best selling record to date, and I'm happy for him, but my recommendation, JB if you are reading this, is to trust your own songwriting capability and do a complete record of your own compositions, not 50/50 with covers. In fact, I think I'll go back over these last two records and track a set list of the JB originals. That, my friends, will be a great album.

Oh, and the anticipation factor is still up for the next release, which is set to feature Glenn Hughes, the rock and roll legend from Trapeze and Deep Purple who Stevie Wonder once claimed was his favorite white singer, and Jason Bonham, timekeeper of many a legendary name. The group will be called Black Country and I believe will tour late this year. I don't see how this could be a letdown...

Road Trip

On the recent trip to Tennessee, I grabbed a case of CDs which was filled about the year 1991, so everything included was approximately twenty years or older. So essentially I-75 became Memory Lane, so to speak. Besides the obvious Mad Rocker pleasers, ie. Crowded House, the Cult, Pat Travers, the first Widespread Panic, Cold Chisel and a solo record by Chisel's guitarist, Ian Moss, I stumbled across a couple of records that some of you may spit your beer out as you read the name, and others of you may want to investigate. So here goes...



The Bogeymen was on Delicious Vinyl, better known for rap and R&B records than rock. Featured 2 ex Masters of Reality members and also sounded like Cream or Budgie. Believe it or not, you can still buy this record for $9. Great cover, too.


House of Freaks was a band from Virginia who moved to LA for a major label and promptly farted out. A two-member band waayyy ahead of that current trend, they eventually became Gutterball, which some of you may recall.


Starz was formed by the Looking Glass rhythm section (Brandy, You're a Fine Girl) and became one of the 70's most unlikely and under-appreciated arena rock bands of the decade. They opened for Aerosmith"Rocks" tour in 1976 and I was hooked. Also toured with Ted Nugent and Rush to name a couple of others. Far better than Kiss and real close to being as good as Sweet. Later cited by Cinderella and Bon Jovi as influences.



Material Issue out of Chicago area, I believe. Just look at this promo disc and check out the covers, the Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel, the Cowboy Song by the great Thin Lizzy, and Blockbuster by the aforementioned legendary Sweet! And their own music was a cross between Cheap Trick and Split Enz, so I don't understand how they flew by unnoticed. Bugged the principal songwriter, too, as he committed suicide a few years later.

Stone Temple Pilots Deluxe Edition

STOP! Save your money. Don't buy into the hype...
This record is a turd. Well, that's not fair, it's OK if you want the same ol' shatola. I guess I expected too much from this release. I had all the respect in the world for this band until now. STP's first three records in the 90's were outstanding, but this is a prime example of major music label crap. Recycle, repeat, regurgitate, just to make big money for all the top heavy executives. I may have raised an eyebrow on two or three tracks, but it took a live version of "Vasoline" from 1994's "Purple" for me to smile. Might as well go back and listen to the early stuff. I have "Tiny Music" lined up for the road trip to Bonneroo...

Portugal. The Man "American Ghetto"

If you go all the way back to the beginning of this blog, you will find this band on my list of best releases of 2008. Little did I know that it was their third album. The media covering the Alaskan connection to Sarah Palin put them on my map. Without that coverage, I missed an album last year, and I'll have to get it to trace the evolution of the band's sound to this one. "Am. Ghetto" is a much more produced product than '08's "Censored Colors," and if you know the Ol' Mad Rocker, that can be a good thing. This record has a funky, groovy, slinky feel to it, like some of the best
80's danceable new wave. The guy has a higher register vocal and at times I thought it was a female, so much so I had to scan the credits more than once. This is good eclectic, intelligent pop music, along the lines of the Scissor Sisters but without all the glam. And it's too damn short at 36+ minutes...

John Hiatt "The Open Road"

Back in the early 80's a good friend of mine kept praising the
talents of this guy but I just didn't get it. Some ten years passed before I caught on to what he meant. "Perfectly Good Guitar" was the record that broke my barrier, and I even went back and got the three previous albums. Also got to see him live in New Orleans when he was in the "supergroup" Little Village (go ahead, look it up, I'll wait)...
He writes good pop/country/rock songs, swaying from style to style. He's had more success from others doing his work, i.e. Jeff Healy "Angel Eyes" for one example. "Open Road" has a decidedly country bent to it, so if you're a fan of the genre, you owe yourself a listen to one of the great songwriters of the last 35 years.