I have great respect for Rubin's early days, but haven't cared much for what he's done this side of the century mark.  It seems like the same old story:  artist claims they've always wanted to work with Rubin, music press gets all over the collaboration, not nearly the level of excitement once the project is released.

Not sure I could put my finger on what's different.  Is it the current climate of music?  The artists he's working with now?  I don't know.

But he does have a good ear - I'll give him that.  You can tell I've been catching up on my Billboard reading.  The latest is talk of a possible pairing of ZZ Top and The Black Keys.  I'd like to hear that. 

An even better idea would be to dump Springsteen from the Superbowl (I'm falling asleep just thinking about that!) and pair these two bands up.  One condition:  EQUAL BILLING.  Both bands could perform with each other & do 2 songs each.  It would rock.  The Baby Boomers would be happy and the X-Y'ers would get a treat at the same time.

My cousin Sue had two extra tickets to the Eagles in 1975 so I snatched them up for myself and a date. We ended up sitting next to my cousin and her date, a young fellow who eventually became a Mayor, State Representative and State Senator here in Ohio. (Dan Fogelberg, who recently passed, was opening act).
 
KISS mania had taken hold at high schools all across Ohio and everyone had KISS Alive and Destroyer. We hardcore KISS fans had everything they had done of course. For the March 9, 1976 KISS/Artful Dodger appearance at the Richfield Coliseum Flash and I went to the Ticketmaster location at the Belden Village Mall and bought three complete rows of seats. One row was around six rows below the other two rows. So we went to Orrville and sold most of them (at cost) to our pals (so we could control who we sat with). I had people in school (my senior year) who never spoke to me coming up asking if I had any tickets left and pleading for one. The power! A few tickets we gave away to some very charming young ladies and we kept two each. (I’d tell you the ‘details’ of that night but I have five grandchildren who may read this someday.)
 
I remember the Foghat/Starz show on February 20, 1978 because my pal Rog caught a flying drumstick from Foghat drummer Roger Earl. The two bands always kicked ass live.
 
I remember the January 8, 1978 KISS concert at the Richfield Coliseum because it took 20-25 minutes to get there and after the show we went to the car to be greeted by a mountain of snow. We had two blizzards that year (the second one, even bigger, in March) and the night of KISS was the first one. It took nearly three hours to get home, dodging sliding cars going backwards down Route 21 past us as I kept the hammer down on the Cutlass trying to get up those big hills with what seemed like five feet of snow and more coming down. We made it back to Orrville and were snowed in for three days.
 
I remember seeing Alice Cooper again later that year in ’78 because that was the first concert my older sister Cheryl had ever been to (we broke her in with that one!). That was May 5 and Jay Ferguson opened. A good time was had by all, as is the case anytime you see Alice Cooper.
 
I remember not expecting much out of Rod Stewart on November 4, 1977 because he didn’t have Faces with him (they were killer in ’75 at the Stadium). Wrong. Stewart kicked ass that night, had everyone out of their seats and had the audience n the palm of his hand.
 
New Year’s Eve 1977 was celebrated at the Richfield Coliseum seeing Todd Rundgren’s Utopia and Derringer. A friendly law enforcement officer stopped us on the way home and inquired about our health and sent us on our way after promises of getting to Orrville ASAP and staying there. Derringer owned the night.
 
I remember taking three or four people for their first Angel concert on March 8, 1978 and them being blown away by Angel’s stage show.
 
New Year’s Eve 1978 at the Richfield Coliseum: Bruce Springsteen. Nuff’ said.
 
Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson on September 22, 1979. One of my favorite concerts at the Coliseum. Too many reasons to list. But what a night!

[caption id="attachment_179" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ian Hunter & the late, great Mick Ronson"][/caption]

Boston and Sammy Hagar on my birthday in 1978. Boston was good but Sammy laid the smackdown.
 
The Who on December 9, 1975. Nuff’ said.
 
In 1978 went to see Black Sabbath and Van Halen. Had heard maybe one or two Van Halen songs on the radio at that point and none of us that went gave them much thought. We were there for Sabbath. Result: Van Halen whipped Black Sabbath performance-wise and musically like a bastard redheaded stepchild.
 
Led Zeppelin on January 24, 1975 that saw a mini-riot erupt and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of broken window glass by a group outside who were unable to get tickets. That made the papers.
 
I think I saw Aerosmith there at least four times at the Coliseum and only once was the sound working right and you could actually hear the band. Guess they were just jinxed there.
 
After a Ted Nugent/J.Geils Band show Bug, Mott & myself shaking hands with Peter Wolfe. As we came out of the Coliseum we walked by a couple limos and in the back of the first one with the window down was Peter Wolfe sitting between two lovely ladies with a drink in hand. We stopped, told him, “You guys kicked ass!” His response? “I know!” He slapped us each a high five and off we went.
 
Led Zeppelin on April 27 and April 28, 1977. Tickets were available via mail order only with a minimum number of tickets per order. So Flash and I got our money orders prepared and each ordered the maximum number allowed for both nights. We went to the Richfield Post Office and at midnight of the date orders could be postmarked we dropped our order in the mail (along with probably 100 others lined up). We got lucky and each got four tickets for both nights. First night was with dates, second night with buddies. The April 27 performance is a huge bootleg bestseller on the black market. Full details on this night can be found here: http://doclehman.wordpress.com/2008/03/09/
 
There’s more, lots more, but you get the idea. I’d like to hear from others about their experiences at the Richfield Coliseum.
 
I know I saw well over 100 bands there during the 70’s and very early 80’s. A couple performances I missed that I always regretted were not seeing George Harrison (’74) and Paul McCartney (’76) on their respective tours because tickets were mail order and my orders didn’t get picked. I also went as far as making plans to buy tickets to see Elvis in 1977. One of my cousins saw him at the Coliseum in ’75 and convinced me I had to see him at least once. But right before the Cleveland tickets went on sale he died.
 
Lots of good memories there and lots of good bands came through many times. I think I saw KISS there four or five times, Aerosmith the same, Alice Cooper four times, Fleetwood Mac four times, the list goes on….
 
With the opening of Gund Arena in Cleveland the Richfield Coliseum was doomed. It shut down in 1994 and in 1999 was demolished and the property returned to woodland and under stewardship of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  You can find more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richfield_Coliseum

It worked for Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond, but will an association with producer Rick Rubin work for the little ol' band from Texas? Check out the ZZ Top story at Billboard.com

Type A - Competitive, driven, stressed, workaholic.
Type B - Relaxed, patient, friendly.
Type C - Reticent, unassertive, nice to a fault.
Type D - Anxious, insecure, gloomy, depressed.
Type E - High-achieving, perfectionist, everything to everybody.
Type F - Prone to forwarding e-mail messages.
Type H - Hostile, hateful.
Type I - Egocentric.
Type J - Orderly, neat.
Type M - Melodramatic.
Type O - Prone to making spelling mistakes.
Type P - Persistent.
Type R - Responsive.
Type S - Doesn't get enough sleep.
Type T - Thrill-seeking.
Type V - Plain, simple (vanilla).
Type W - Wacko.
Type X - Dominnering, tyrannical.
Type Z - Extremely laid back (the "opposite" of a type A).

Then they felt psychiatrists may have missed a few, so they added some:

Type AA - Alcoholic, co-dependant.
Type BB - Gun owner, free-lance shootist.
Type CC - Intravenous drug user, NA member.
Type DD - Large breasted.
Type EE - Easily frightened by things that squeak.
Type FF - Always fast forwarding DVD's, tapes.
Type HH - Hospital hound.
Type II - First mate on every ship.
Type JJ - Likes to be called 'Jay' but you can call him/her "JJ" or you can call him/her JayJ"... .
Type MM - Candy lover, addicted to sugar.
Type OO - Mistake prone, easily shocked and awed.
Type PP - Poor bladder control.
Type RR - Always tired, listless, resting.
Type SS - Needs absolute control over you and everyone else.
Type TT - Loves to rhyme everything.
Type VV - Likes things fast paced, says "Vroom-vroom" alot.
Type WW - Wheely wacko.
Type XX - Totally out of it most of the time.
Type ZZ - Top.

I think I'm a combination of B, DD, I, M, MM, OO

What's your personality type????

Insettini "maledetti" succhiatori di sangue. Dalle mie parti, ogni tanto, si rifanno vivi anche i pipistrelli che, di loro, ne fanno scorpacciate.

Due creature che, accostate non richiamano nulla di buono alla mente.

Una mano che esce da una tomba.

Questa è la prima immagine che vediamo di un vampiro.

Compreso il Dracula di Bram Stoker.

Le scene sono tratte dal film del 1931 Dracula, interpretato da Bela Lugosi.

Lugosi è l'unico vero Dracula. Il suo modo di muoversi fa trasparire un grande magnetismo.

Magnetismo che troviamo nelle pagine di Stoker e che ormai siamo portati ad associare ai vampiri.

Lugosi fu vittima del suo stesso personaggio: finì per sostenere di essere veramente Dracula.

Gli ultimi lavori di Lugosi, sono dei film del regista Ed Wood. Quelli che definiremo film di serie Z.

Un'altra caratteristica che accomuna tutti i vampiri è la carica sessuale che probabilmente sfruttano per riuscire a "cibarsi". Sia che siano vampiri o vampire.

Un esempio è:

ZZ Top "Breakaway"

(Nota personale: che barboni! Uno dei segni caratteristici dei ZZ Top sono appunto i barboni dei chitarristi. Probabilmente ve li ricordate nel film "Ritorno al Futuro - Parte terza" truccati da orchestrina country ma con i barboni in bella vista)

Tuttavia Dracula non è il solo vampiro. Non lo è nel mondo reale, non lo è in quello dei libri ne in quello cinematografico.

Ad esempio il "Nosferatu" del 1922 di Murnau.

Una delle caratteristiche che distinguono Nosferatu da Dracula, oltre alla minor "bellezza" sono i denti.
Non si sono i canini oblunghi ma gli incisivi sembrano essersi adattati per questo scopo.

Gli stessi denti, e look, che ritroviamo nel vampiro del video di Pet Shop boys "Heart"

(Nota personale: il vampiro è interpretato da Ian Mckellen: il Gandalf dell'ultimo Signore degli Anelli).

Entrambi queste creature della notte, hanno avuto una rivisitazione recente.

Il famoso Dracula del 1992 di Francis Ford Coppola: una ricostruzione piuttosto fedele del romanzo di Bram Stoker.

Annie Lennox "Love song for a Vampire"

(Nota personale: video magnetico come solo un vampiro può essere e una Lenox conturbante e candida. Quasi anemica, come lo sono le vittime dei vampiri)

E l'un poco meno famoso "L'ombra del vampiro" del 2000. Interessante film nel film che tenta, senza molto successo, di raccontare quello che in inglese viene detto il "making of", cioè le fasi produttive del film vero e proprio.

Parlando di Nosferatu, non si devono dimenticare le interpretazioni vampiresce di Klaus Kinski

A cui basta solo un po' di bianco in viso per fondere entrambi i vampiri.

Se vi interessa vedere tutto il film "Nosferatu" di Murnau:

(Nota personale: si tratta di un'ora e venti minuti di grande cinema. Consigliatissimo!)

Nel nostro piccolo noi italiani ci difendiamo con Bruno Martino "Dracula Cha cha cha":

Una lettura comica del mito di Dracula. Un po' come certi film tipo "Dracula morto e contento" e l'horror sexy "Dracula cerca sangue di vergine...e morì di sete!!!" ideato da Andy Warhol!

Prima di salutarvi un consiglio.
Questa sera appendete una treccia d'aglio fuori la finestra, spargete un po' di acqua santa per la casa.

Non si sa mai.

Al prossimo venerdì...se mai ci arriverete!

Uahahahahahah! (tentativo maldestro di risata satanica) :lol:

I'm not a fairweather ZZ Top fan.  I've been listening to them for decades, and have just about all their albums.  As much as I like them I have to admit that they've never had a particular talent for lyrics - they're not really a "message" band anyway - but it never mattered because the lyrics were good enough and went well with the music.  There's nothing wrong with great songs that happen to have lighthearted lyrics.  They're capable of being philosophical as well, but they never try to lay it on too thick.  They know what they're good at. 

Still, I can't help but be disappointed by Got Me Under Pressure.  Great song, and it became a big hit for them, but my God does the title cry out for something at least a little bit more substantial than what they did with it!  "Got me under pressure" could refer to so many different things.  This is something that everyone can relate to.  When I think of all the stuff that can and does have me under pressure it's a veritable smorgasborg of annoying to truly threatening problems, events, states of mind and even philosophical questions.  Those guys easily could have found something better to talk about than some overheated vixen that likes "flipping out with Great Danes".  What a missed opportunity, and an embarrassment to boot. 

The 80's were a time when it became cool for musicians to write songs with all sorts of wink, wink, nudge, nudge lyrics implying that they had a real interesting sex life.  Even if it's true, do you really have to brag about it?  I guess it's a certain relief from the endless songs about heartbreak and all that nastiness but geez did it get old after a while. 

But in this case it's worse than old, it's a genuine letdown.  I can't count the number of times that "got me under pressure" would perfectly express how I was feeling, until I remember that the song has nothing to do with anything real.  This one could have been the most meaningful song of their career if they had just bothered to put a little bit of effort into making it real instead of thinking about how the video was going to look before they were even done writing it.  Sorry guys, you blew it with this one.  Even though it was a big hit, you still blew it.  Got Me Under Pressure is one of the biggest missed opportunities in rock history.

One of summer's great concert venues, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte, North Carolina is just a few miles from Cabarrus County's biggest attractions, such as Concord Mills Mall, Lowe's Motor Speedway, the zMax Dragway, and NASCAR Race Shops such as Hendrick's. This month, Verizon is expecting three big headliners: Stone Temple Pilots, Aug. 17; John Mayer, Aug. 19; Kenny Chesney and LeAnn Rimes, Aug. 21; and Brooks & Dunn and ZZ Top, Sept. 5. If you come to one of these concerts, you can easily turn it into a vacation using our Full Throttle Fun package or by requesting a Free Vacation Planner.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="216" caption="CVB Staff poses with LeAnn Rimes Car in Curb Motorsports"][/caption]

And, if you're a LeAnn Rimes fan, or just a music fan, be sure to check out Curb Motorsports Museum while you're here - it is a treasure trove of racing and music history from the collection of legendary producer Mike Curb. A long-time motorsports enthusiast, Curb is the owner and founder of the leading country music record label in the country. Current recording artists under the Curb label include Wynonna Judd, Tim McGraw, LeeAnn Rimes, Hank Williams, Jr. and Lyle Lovett, as well as a host of stars of tomorrow.

Sorry that I didn't get to partake of the Feel Good Friday madness, but I was at the hospital with Momma. After a few long, LONG days, I think Momma is finally on the road to recovery. Now, if the doctor could prescribe some patience pills, everything would be awesome.

So, I'm giving you a surprise in the middle of the week, because everyone needs a little pick me up when nothing is going on. I heard these songs on the radio, and thought they would be perfect for Feel Good Friday.

I love me some ZZ Top. How can you not like these long-haired hippies!?! HOW?

You never know what I'm going to bring you. Variety is the spice of life.

Anyway, over the next three days, I will be posting my Top 15 music videos in reverse order. Here are my picks for Nos. 15 to 10:

15. "Legs", ZZ Top. No video of the 1990s made geeks feel like they could get the hot chicks better than this one. I was a huge ZZ Top fan when I was younger -- in retrospect, I'm not sure why -- and this song was a favorite. But the video, it was a geek's wet dream.

14. "Birdhouse in Your Soul", They Might Be Giants. One of the best "weird" bands ever, and one of my favorite of their videos. Disembodied heads singing? Check. Face-offs in tall-back chairs? Check. Goofy song? Check. It's all here, and it's all fun.

13. "Whip It", Devo. This video blew me away when I was younger. Yes, it's another "weird" band, but Devo were geniuses, and this video is a masterpiece of the bizarre. Favorite part: when he whips the woman's clothes off, leaving her with her cigarette. Wacky, and hilarious.

12. "Human Behavior", Bjork. Yes, another "weird" one. But where else could you see a Bjork fly or a giant teddy bear stalk and attack a hunter? Nowhere but in Bjork's and video director Michael Gondry's (who later directed one of my favorite films, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) wacky minds. And the drums kick ass.

11. "Don't Come Around Here No More", Tom Petty. I was a huge Tom Petty fan when I was younger -- and unlike ZZ Top, I still this Tom Petty is great -- and this video was my favorite of his. I remember seeing it for the first time and being blown away by Tom Petty as The Mad Hatter. Perfect casting. I also loved the part where the tea party guests cut and serve Alice as cake while her fingers flutter. Genius.

10. "Blue Orchid", The White Stripes. One of my favorite bands, and one f'ed up video. Jack White twirls a cane while wearing some period costume. Meg White keeps the beat by banging on (and breaking) dishes. Some weird woman in a white dress and uncomfortable-looking footwear tries not to break her ankles walking around a decrepit house before snakes crawl all over her and a white horse rears up. Wait, what?

Come back tomorrow for the next five. Feel free to try to guess my choices in the comments. Better yet, share some of your favorites below.

i'm also looking to buy a new car before the summer is over because of the great sales. i'm looking into a Mustang or Impala.

ANYWAYS, i just had an urge to write!

PWT rocks ♥

I'm almost caught up on my ZZ Top. A while back I got my hands on all of the post-Afterburner ZZ Top albums, and while some I'd listened to and blown off, I had a desire to now go back and check out what one of my favorite bands in high school has been doing since...well, since I was in High School (although Recycler came out during that time, I've never owned a copy).

The previously mentioned Recycler was up first, and while I still didn't care for it, I didn't find it as derivative as I remembered it being. True, "My Head's in Mississippi" is still a heavier "La Grange", but none of the other songs struck me as carbon copies of other ZZ Top songs. Antenna was a lot more fun to listen to than I remembered. "Fuzzbox Voodoo", "Girl in a T-Shirt", "World of Swirl" and "Pincushion" were big standouts, and the album only seemed a bit lacking near the end. My memories of driving seventy miles to get Antenna probably didn't help, as I'm sure I listened to Eliminator the whole way. I heard it then as another letdown, where as now I hear it for what it is. It's a decent album and a nice pick up from Recycler's post-syth thud.

Then there's Rhythmeen. I still remember seeing ZZ Top had a new album coming out, and I was pretty excited because all the buzz I was hearing was good. Too bad all the buzz was from magazines I was reading while working at Q98 in Fargo. Radio trades that push songs never go out of their way to say bad things. In fact, they go above and beyond the call of duty to accentuate any positive they can find (or they make one up) to get a station to jump on a track. One of them tracked airplay and gave PD opinions, and most PDs were liking the new single. We were playing it, and it wasn't horrible (the song "What's Up With That"). Then, one fateful day before I hit the road for Veblen, I bought Rhythmeen on cassette (I took longer in switching to CD, okay) and the title track almost made me tear up, no joke. It was that good. I was convinced ZZ Top was back and just like I remembered. The rest of the CD took that great start and dialed in the rest, with the exception of "She's Just Killing Me". Listening to it today, the feeling of them phoning it in wasn't dashed, but there were a few tracks I liked more now than then.

XXX was something I picked up used the year after it came out, as I was still a bit turned off by Rhythmeen. I listened to it once, and not since. I remember it being just bad, but now I realize some of those feelings are leftover from Rhythmeen. XXX is a work that a lot of bands that have been around a long time make. I can't think of anything bad to say about it, but I also am at a loss to say what was good about it. It is what it is, and it is just there.

Right now I'm listening to the one ZZ Top album I've never heard before, Mescalero. The song on as I type is "Piece" which was the first single, and a song that instantly turned me off from even looking for the album used. The other songs on the album (so far) are not only better, but give me some hope for the Rick Rubin-produced album we might hear this year. Mescalero sounds like ZZ Top went into the studio to do an album like they used to in spirit, but sounding like they have for the last few decades because it's how their sound has evolved to at this point. Can Rick strip away all that ZZ Top has added and get them back to the sound that made them favorites back in that shack outside "La Grange"?

Ask me again this fall (hopefully). In the meantime, I think I'll keep these later-career ZZ Top albums around. My iPod isn't taxed for space...yet.

ZZ Top broke out Jailhouse Rock during this 1997 performance on a French TV show. The song can be found on their 1975 album "Fandango!".

Han pasado unas semana desde el evento, pero creo que ya queda claro que en este blog la puntualidad no es lo que más nos caracteriza, así que ahí va. Además así os puedo mostrar vídeos interesantes. Paso a relatar mi experiencia concierto a concierto, con algún comentario "jebi" por parte de nuestra redactora, y flamante DJ del Kobetasonik, Maiden...

PRIMER DÍA

El viernes decidimos comenzar con The Gift. El rock local de Gari no nos atraía mucho y queríamos aguantar bien todo el concierto de The Police. Yo hasta tenía curiosidad por escuchar a Fancy, cuyo cantante ha sido miembro de los prestigiosos Rionocerose franceses.

The Gift es una banda portuguesa muy solvente, con una mezcla de estilos original (pop+rock+cabaret) y una frontwoman muy carismática capaz de pasar de la voz grave a la aguda, y vuelta atrás, sin pestañear. El teclista principal, que además cantaba y parecía ser un miembro con especial importancia en la banda, no paraba por el escenario y nos regaló un solo con un instrumento muy original que sonaba según le acercaba o alejaba las manos.

A The Raveonettes preferíamos no hacerles mucho caso y nos limitamos a pasar por las txosnas (bares) a ver que se cocía. Nos cocíamos nosotros, claro.

Morcheeba había que verlos. A mí me es un grupo que me encanta a pesar de que han cambiado ya dos veces de vocalista. Y de hecho me sorprendió muy gratamente la actual, que aparte de ser muy atractiva y bailar de una manera muy original, tiene una preciosa voz. Los vimos en primera fila y disfruté mucho de su directo.

The Dandy Warhols nos parecía un grupo interesante, pero vimos complicado coger un buen sitio y nos limitamos a verles sentados desde la campa. No sonaron mal pero había que descansar un poco, que quedaba mucho fin de semana.

El comienzo de The Charlatans lo pudimos contempladr de nuevo desde muy cerca, pero no dio tiempo a coger el ritmo cuando ya nos dimos cuenta de que si queríamos ver a The Police desde un buen lugar había que ir cogiendo sitio. Casi 35.000 personas iba a asistir a este concierto.

Efectivamente debimos esperar más de una hora para guardar nuestro puesto bastante cercano al escenario. Pero mereció la pena. Sting está en plena forma, Stewart Copeland aún más, saltando de la batería a un conjunto de percusión que tenía detrás, y Andy Summers se mantuvo a buen nivel. Sin necesidad de ningún tipo de parafernalia y, limitándose a ellos mismos con sus tres instrumentos y sus voces, en el centro del gran escenario, encadenaron sus 20 mayores éxitos uno tras otro, interpretándolos con maestría y dándoles un nuevo toque de aire fresco que yo siempre agradezco en la música en vivo. Algunas canciones hacían echar de menos al original, pero otras le daban un nuevo aire muy interesante. Quedando, en conclusión un concierto que daba gusto no haberse perdido.

Fancy resultó ser muy apropiado para escuchar desde lejos mientras tomábamos algo. Se trata de un estrambótico y divertido personaje de identidad sexual confusa salido, como más arriba he comentado, de haber colaborado con el grupo electrónico francés Rinocerose, según me indicó un amigo. El estilo era un rock-fucky bastante ineteresante, con una interesante versión del "I'm So Excited" de las Pointer Sisters.

A falta del vídeo de Fancy pongo la versión original, siempre interesante de recuperar:

Hasta aquí dió la noche, y decidimos ir a casa a descansar, muy inteligentemente, que el fin de semana iba a ser muy largo.

SEGUNDO DÍA

El sábado lo llegamos hasta pasados los dos primeros conciertos de Dynamo y Krakovia, que no nos parecían suficientemente atractivos como para ir temprano.

Comenzó la cosa -para nosotros- con Pingeon Detectives. Un grupo de brit-pop bastante animado con una pose rebelde que podría asemejarse a la de los míticos Oasis, y con canciones animadas y marchosas, aunque quizá muy parecidas unas a otras. Me llamó especialmente la atención el tema "I'm Not Sorry":

Pero lo más divertido de este grupo era lo inquieto y bestia que era el cantante, que lanzaba el micrófono muchos metros hacia el cielo y lo recogía nuevamente tirando del cable una y otra vez. También daba patadas a los bafles y elevaba focos apagados del suelo para apuntar al respetable, haciendo que los que se ocupan de mantener todo en orden en el escenario acabasen totalmente desquiciados. Muy gracioso.

Con The Sunday Divers decidimos que teníamos más sed en ese momento que ganas de música, e hicimos lo propio. Ahí comenzó a llover y la mayoría de nosotros decidimos mantenernos al resguardo del bar de Jack Daniel's sentados en sus maravillosos "pufs" y comiendo unos deliciosos bocatas, mientras escuchabamos el concierto de The Fratellis, que sonaron muy bien.

Añado unas líneas de mi compañera redactora Maiden, apropiadas para el momento:

Como ya he dicho más de una vez -MONSTERWAY- la vida del metal no es para cualquiera. No hay más que ver festivales paralelos como Kobetasonik/Bilbao BBK live, en el mismo recinto y con la misma promotora.

He asistido a los dos y tengo que decir que me pareció indignante ver, nada más llegar al BBK live, una gran carpa acogiendo una barra específica para privar whisky americano que todos conocemos -A.K.A. Juan Daniel- , con un montón de puffs y mesitas bajas en plan jaima. Ese maravilloso lugar habría estado lleno de heavies poniéndose tibios a whisky si hubieran tenido a bien ponerlo en el otro festival. Pero, ¿qué es lo que pasa?, que nuestro brillante culo metálico no se merece tantas exquisiteces. Claro, ni siquiera pudimos tener para nosotros a los chicos de telecubata que deambulaban por allí.

Con Lenny Kravitz la lluvia seguía y su concierto se nos hizo un poco monótono, por lo que la decisión fue meternos en un maravilloso iglú que Eristoff parecía haber montado especialmente para nuestro deleite. Copas deliciosas y resguardo de la lluvia. No queríamos más en ese momento, para esperar a que comenzase el concierto de R.E.M., que sí que no queríamos perdernos.

Maiden también tuvo aquí algo que decir:

Además, junto a la carpa-jaima se encontraba un gran iglú hinchable de cierta marca de vodka, dentro del cual se podían degustar ricos combinados con vodka de colores servidos por hermosos y hermosas camareros y camareras. Por si fuera poco, podías desestresarte de tanto sufrimiento aullando cual lobo en un micrófono puesto para la ocasión. Cómo nos habría gustado en nuestro oscuro festival poder emular al gran Michael Kiske refrescándonos, de mientras, con un poco de alcohol aliñado con refrescos de frutas exóticas.

El concierto de R.E.M. fué muy bueno, a pesar de que la lluvia lo deslavó inevitablemente. Fue muy divertido ver lo ingenioso de muchos de los asistentes para resguardarse de la lluvia con plásticos, tapas de contenedores de basura y otros enseres. Pero había por supuesto también lugares más lógicos, como las tiendas de ropa y merchandising, la carpa o la tienda de Vodafone. Maiden opina...

Punto y aparte merece la caseta de Vodafone, cosa que tampoco tuvimos los heavies. Se conoce que como nuestra poderosa voz llega a todos los sitios no nos hace falta teléfono. "The power of steel", oigan. Para más bemoles la caseta en cuestión era como una casa de cuento, salían pompas de jabón, podías tocar dentro con algo que parecía el Guitar Hero apoyado en todo momento por maravillosas y maravillosos azafatos y azafatas. Externamente era una pantalla donde se movían dibujitos de colores. Hasta podías comprarte un "peruco" guay en la carpa anexa -Si, si, como suena, una marca de relojes estuvo ahí por si habías cometido el grave error de llegar al superfashion BBK live sin uno- y escuchar música alternativamente a los conciertos en la gran carpa-hangar (perdón, ahora era la carpa Vodafone, oh) donde yo estuve poniendo música solo durante unas horas el fin de semana anterior. En fin, todo maravilloso. Y para los heavies, Mordor.

Pero volviendo al tema, apoteósico asistir al "Losing My Religion" en directo.

A Prodigy no podíamos quedarnos. Llovía demasiado y queríamos secarnos. Además en el Azzurro nos esperaban unos cuantos amigos para transformas la noche de conciertos en una noche de copas, al cierre del mismo...

TERCER DÍA (y último)

El domingo iba despacio. Habíamos trasnochado mucho más de lo debido. Había quien se había dejado inundar el bolso con el teléfono móvil dentro, y algunos problemillas más. Tras subsanarlos conseguimos llegar al concierto de los Blues Brothers, gracias a que comenzó con un importante retraso.

Un concierto muy divertido. Da gusto ver a monstruos de la música como estos en el escenario a unos pocos metros de ti. Lo hicieron fenomenal, y sin necesidad de recurrir a todos los clásicos de la banda, que hubiese sido lo fácil. Uno de ellos al que sí recurrieron fue "Sweet Home Chicago"...

Riders on the Storm, o lo que queda de The Doors, estuvieron simpaticos. El guitarrista y el teclista, que son los miembros originales demostraron su maestría. Y el cantante, que brillaba más por su atractivo físico y elegancia que por su voz, estuvo muy en su papel y demostró que se puede sustituir a Jim Morrison sin imitarle y hacer un concierto interesante. Aquí os pondré un vídeo del concierto en concreto y se lo dedico a nuestra redactora Maiden, que disfrutó especialmente de él:

Lo siguiente fue ZZ Top, que estuvieron sensacionales, a persar de que su estilo me resulta monótono para aguantar un concierto entero depié despues de un fin de semana tan agitado. De todas maneras cualquier sacrificio es pequeño para ver en directo interpretar "La Grange" a estos dos monstruos de las cuerdas del bajo y la guitarra...

Ya no teníamos fuerzas para mantenernos de pié y teníamos hambre, por lo que fuimos a la cervecera a cenar como reyes mientras los reunidos Tequila interpretaron un previsible concierto, que no me hubiese importado disfrutar en otras circunstancias.

Sólo tres de nosotros aguantábamos ya en pié cuando empezaba, con dos horas de retraso, el concierto de Madness. Pero mereció la pena, y mucho mantenerse allí. Fue uno de los mejores conciertos del festival. Divertidos, perfectos en la interpretación y contagiando una marcha que nos mantuvo saltando hasta casi las cuatro de la mañana, a pesar de que pocas horas más tarde muchos teníamos que ir al trabajo.

Conclusiones de Maiden:

A los "jevis" :

- Nos gustan los pufs.

- Usamos teléfono.

- Nos gusta el whiskey americano servido en vasos guays con regalo incluido.

- Nos gusta el telecubata, así no tenemos que movernos del sitio si queremos algo que no sea cerveza.

- Nos gustan los azafatos y azafatas, y las camareras vestidas de caperucitas azules que hacen aullar.

- No nos gusta que mochilaman tenga que suplicar para que le pidan un katxi. Eso no se hace, hombre. Hay que darle trabajo como hacemos nosotros.

]]> http://progshinevideos.wordpress.com/?p=190 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:01:10 +0000 Diego http://progshinevideos.wordpress.com/?p=190

Did you dance in the 80's? Do you still dance the 80's? We do.

We were hit by Buffetlibre guys about the Rewind project and I almost forgot to tell here.
Now we have more reasons to wear strange clothes, you know... just kidding. We're normal.

Anyway, Buffetlibre is a Spanish website dedicated to the promotion of pop and electronic music in legal mp3 format. Cool! They have an awesome website, with lots of DJ's and information. And this REWIND is amazing. All 60 tracks are available for download. It's a non-commercial tribute to this golden age.

You can download everything at once or look for some specific track listed in their home page. You'll find information about the band and why each band has chosen the song covered. Really cool!

These are a few of them:

Rewind - DRAGONETTE  - Sharp Dressed Man (ZZ Top Cover)

Rewind - ANORAAK - Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics Cover)

Rewind - SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN - Another Satellite (XTC Cover)

Rewind - Madonna - Into The Groove (SIDECHAINS Remix)

Rewind - RAC FEAT. KARL KLING - Take On Me (A-Ha Cover)

Rewind - ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE - Jealousy (Pet Shop Boys Cover)

The ability to play a musical instrument is not a skill I possess.  My brief excursions into this general area, which include stints playing (or trying to) the clarinet and french horn in seventh grade were futile and thankfully brief, thankfully so since I couldn't have picked two lamer instruments.  I have also tried on a few occassions to learn how to play the guitar, with zero success each time, although I can play the shit out of the first twenty seconds of "Redemption Song."  However, my dreams of one day rocking out on the guitar have been realized, somewhat, thanks to a little game called Guitar Hero.

If you have yet to play Guitar Hero, say you are living in a cave in Tibet, I highly reccomend checking it out.  I also hear Rock Band is pretty sweet, but I haven't played it, and I know you need a  bunch of people to really enjoy the experience which goes against everything that is great about video games, namely you can play them by yourself and still have a great time.  Anyway, Guitar Hero essentially gives no-talent hacks like me the opportunity to fulfill our adolescent fantasies of being a guitar god and rocking people's faces off, ala' Jack Black and KG.

The game itself is fairly simple to play and immensely enjoyable, though not without its faults.  For one, the whole deal with using all 5 buttons is a giant pain in the ass.  Seriously, playing actual guitar is hard enough, so why give me five different buttons to use on the harder levels.  I'm totally solid with the simple green, red, yellow buttons, I can even work in the wah wah bar on occasion.  But then you add that stupid ass blue button and things get way, way too complicated.  I'm not even going to talk about the dreaded orange button, I mean, that thing is just fucking horrible.  This isn't rocket science game developers, it's a video game, don't make me feel more inadequate musically than I already am. 

The other issue I have with the game is that for the most part the songs suck ass.  The game is called Guitar Hero right?  Then give me songs that I would want to rock out on in real life.  "Hit Me With Your Best Shot?"  Are you kidding me?  "Paint it Black?"  If you are going go with the Stones than how about the greatest guitar riff in modern rock history, a little ditty called "Satisfaction"? 

Still, there are some songs on there that do totally kick ass, and none more so than the one given tribute in the title of this post, "La Grange" by ZZ Top.  You know the riff, probably among the most recognizable in all of music, steady and strong, mixed with a few spots for hard charging solos that make you feel like you are on stage at some Honkey Tonk in West Texas with a cold Bud sitting on top of your amp and some sexy southern lady waiting in the wings for you to finish your set.  Now that's what I'm talking about.  I could play "La Grange" all day and all night and never get tired of it, although the people watching you probably would.

To me, that song is what the essence of the game is all about.  A straight-forward, no nonsense rock and goddamn roll song that if you were to try and play it on a real guitar would be impossible but on the Guitar Hero version you suddenly become a cross between Hendrix and Stevie Ray with a little bit of Clapton thrown in. 

The other killer song is the game, one of the few, is "3 & 7's" by Queens of the Stone Age, an awesome band that I feel like I should be way more into than I totally am, even so much that I prefer the side group Eagles of Death Metal to QOTSA, but that is another post for another time.

For now, go find a way to play "La Grange" on Guitar Hero (on the easy level) and enjoy your four minutes of rock star fantasydom.  Cold beer and loose women sold separately.

10. Wolfmother - Woman

9. La Grange - ZZ Top

8. Man's Needs - CSS

7. I Go Hard, I Go Home - Presets

6. Comforting Sounds - Mew

5. Immigrant Song - Led Zepplin

4. Ma Don't + Every Woman - VNDLSM

3. Dashboard - Modest Mouse

2. Icky Thump - White Stripes

1. I Wanna Be A Style Crusader - Big Face

[audio="http://www.goear.com/files/sst2/6af60a31bbb766681330238512b31eab.mp3"]

Letra: Lyricsfreak
Duración: 3'34''

Rancho Texicano Publicado: 08/06/2004 © 2004 Warner bros Records. Rancho Texicano en iTunes Store

Más información: Wikipedia