So I'm at a party and forgot to bring my camera, so my phone will have to do. My good friends Michael Welling and Cassandra Tennille are having a huge party at their house. One last blow-out party before the wrecking ball hits. They are renovating their house in a few weeks, so they are throwing this party to celebrate their nuptials, as well as the "new" house. They have good ol' cajun food, lots of alcohol, and one hell of a band. Zydafunk is jamming right now, and are closing the party down with War's "World Is A Ghetto." Awesome!!
For those of you that are Foo Fighters fans, this album is a must-have. Having worn out all of their albums to date, I've had this one for less than a week and have already put a major hurting on it. Mr. Grohl and friends play songs from all of thier albums, to include my favorites "Everlong," "My Hero," and "Times Like These." They also throw in horns, strings, keys, and a little harmonica to spice it all up and deliver one hell of a live performance. Pick up a copy today....you won't regret it!
For those of you music freaks out there, here's what's currently on my iPod...
AC/DC - Powerage Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill Acoustic Al Green - Greatest Hits The Autumn Defense - Circles Beanland - Beanland Beanland - Eye To Eye Better Than Ezra - Deluxe Beulah - Yoko Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl The Black Crowes - Greatest Hits Blue Merle - Burning in the Sun Bob Mould - Body of Song Bob Schneider - Lonelyland Bob Schneider - I'm Good Now Brendan Benson - The Alternative To Love Brendan Benson - Metarie (EP) The Brian Jonestown Massacre - And This Is Our Music The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Bravery Repetition and Noise The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Bringing It All Back Home The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Give It Back! The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methodrone The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Strung Out In Heaven The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Take It From The Man The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Thank God for Mental Illness The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request The Brian Jonestown Massacre - We Are the Radio The Clash - London Calling Coldplay - Live 2003 Coldplay - X & Y Copeland - In Motion Cracker - Garage d'Or The Damnwells - Bastards of the Beat The Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols Come Down The Dandy Warhols - Dandys Rule OK? The Dandy Warhols - Odditorium or The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House Deadman - Our Eternal Ghosts Deadman - Paramour Death Cab for Cutie - Plans The Decemberists - Picaresque Del Amitri - Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri The Detroit Cobras - Baby Donavon Frankenreiter - Donavon Frankenreiter Doves - Some Cities Eisley - Room Noises Embrace - Out of Nothing Foo Fighters - In Your Honor Foo Fighters - One By One Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape The Freddy Jones Band - The Freddy Jones Band Fruit Bats - Spelled in Bones The Gamble Brothers Band - Back to the Bottom Gingersol - Eastern Glen Phillips - Winter Pays for Summer God Street Wine - $1.99 Romances The Gourds - Blood of the Ram The Grapes - Private Stock Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction The Hilltops - Big Black River Holopaw - Quit +/or Fight Idlewild - Warnings/Promises Iron & Wine/Calexico - In the Reins Jack Johnson - On and On Jackson Browne - Late for the Sky Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething The Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass Jeff Buckley - Grace Josh Rouse - 1972 Josh Rouse - Nashville Juliana Hatfield - Made in China Jupiter Coyote - Cemetaries and Junkyards Jupiter Coyote - Lucky Day Jupiter Coyote - Wade Kasabian - Kasabian The Kudzu Kings - The Kudzu Kings The Kudzu Kings - Y2Kow The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray The Libertines - The Libertines Limbeck - Let Me Come Home Live - Throwing Copper Lucero - Nobody's Darlings Lucero - That Much Further West Luna - Rendezvous The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philadelphia Matt Mays - Matt Mays & El Torpedo Matt Nathanson - Beneath These Fireworks Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic My Morning Jacket - At Dawn My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves My Morning Jacket - Z Nada Surf - The Weight Is a Gift The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die? Nirvana - Nevermind North Mississippi Allstars - Electric Blue Watermelon Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins Old 97's - Drag It Up Old 97's - Early Tracks Old 97's - Fight Songs Old 97's - Hitchhike to Rhome Old 97's - Satellite Rides Old 97's - Too Far to Care Old 97's - Wreck Your Life The Orange Peels - Circling the Sun Pat Green - Three Days Patrick Park - Loneliness Knows My Name Pearl Jam - Ten Pedro the Lion - Achilles Heel Pernice Brothers - Discover A Lovelier You Pete Yorn - musicforthemorningafter Phish - A Live One Radiohead - OK Computer R.E.M. - Reckoning Rhett Miller - The Instigator Richmond Fontaine - Post to Wire Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Americano! The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks Rosavelt - The Story of Gasoline Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell Pt. 1 Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell Pt. 2 Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights Sam Roberts - We Were Born in a Flame The Scabs - Freebird The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Magnolia Seal - Live in Paris The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow The Shore - The Shore Snow Patrol - Final Straw Son Volt - Trace Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot Soulhat - Experiment on a Flat Plane Stars - Set Yourself on Fire Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There to Come Back The Stone Roses - Second Coming Stone Temple Pilots - Thank You Sugar - File Under Easy Listening The Thrills - So Much for the City Tim Easton - Break Your Mother's Heart Tishamingo - Wear N' Tear Toad the Wet Sprocket - P.S. (A Toad Retrospective) Uncle Tupelo - 89/93: An Anthology The Volebeats - Like Her The Warlocks - Surgery Wheat - Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second Whiskeytown - Pneumonia Widespread Panic - Jackassolantern Widespread Panic - Space Wrangler Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
My good friend Bobby Dunn, from Natchez, and a fellow music fanatic...suggested that I watch the movie DIG! a week or so ago. I had been meaning to rent it, but I couldn't find it in any of the local rental stores. So on Saturday, I stopped by my favorite record store in Atlanta, Criminal Records, and picked up the DIG! 2-DVD Special Edition, and today is Thursday...and I've watched it 4 times thus far.
DIG! is basically a 7-year documentary that chronicles two West Coast bands: The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols.
BJM, from the San Francisco area, is led by Anton Newcombe, a psychedelic and mentally unbalanced musical genius.
The Dandy Warhols are from the Portland area, and they are led by Courtney Taylor-Taylor.
The irony is that Anton was a huge fan of the Dandy's...and when Courtney and his band caught a BJM show in San Francisco one night, they were completely intimidated by Anton and his band. Anyway, the movie basically follows both bands over a 7 year period of time, as they both go for record deals and become serious rivals. Both bands inspire one another, and it's a love/hate relationship to the bitter end. The Dandy's end up with a pretty successful record deal with Capital, and BJM pretty much ends up in the gutter, a result of internal nightmares usually fueled by Anton's drug abuse, fights onstage, etc.
I know this sounds like a terrible plot for a movie, but I'm telling you...if you're a music fan, this is a must-see movie. I've been a fan of The Dandy Warhols for several years, and I have all of their records. But I'd never really heard of BJM until DIG! hit the big screen...and after watching it, I now have every single BJM record and can't stop listening to them.
If you're familiar with the boxing world, then the life of a club fighter is quite familiar. A very talented fighter, but one who will never get a shot at the title...and usually gets pounded in the ring. He fights on a nightly basis, usually for a small sum of prize money, but there's one thing that all prize fighters have in common....heart. To go up against the odds night after night for the paycheck and the love of the sport...now that's dedication.
In my opinion, that's the perfect analogy for Anton Newcombe. The guy is brilliant, and makes some of the best records I've ever listened to. How he can create music that literally sounds like it's straight out of the 60's psychedelic era...just amazes me. The guy is incredibly talented, and still to this day has never had a huge record deal....pretty much because he's more about the music than the money. That's not to say that he hasn't blown his chances....the movie clearly proves that. But Anton is a great song writer, and he can play every instrument known to man. There's no doubt about it....he's amazing.
Anyway, for those of you out there that love music and are open to new things....I highly recommend renting or buying DIG! as soon as possible. There's also a recently released 2-disc collection, if you will, of Anton and BJM's work:
I promise you...buy this album...and you will clearly understand why I took the time to write this. Then call me and thank me for introducing you to a band you'll now become obsessed with.
Tracks you gotta hear:
When Jokers Attack from the album, "And This Is Our Music"
The Beatles are required to exit the stage for fifteen minutes by local authorities at Public Auditorium in Cleveland so that screaming fans can calm down.
All I can say is W-O-W....this was one amazing show. Although I've been a huge fan of theirs from the start, I've never seen them live. They are here in Atlanta for 4 nights at The Tabernacle, and every single one of them is SOLD OUT. I now wish I'd taken all those offers to go see them over the years....
Anyway, what a great night this was. I went with my good friend, Leslie Langford, and we had an absolute blast. If you get the chance, go see these guys if they're playing in your town. Absolutely incredible. Despite having been apart for a good while, they were solid and didn't skip a beat....
Oh, and both Kate Hudson and her mom, Goldie Hawn, were there. You can see Kate to the side of the stage on the left, sitting next to the speakers. Goldie was up in the balcony to the left of the stage...I got a shot of her with her arms raised and clapping for the Crowes...
To see more pictures from the concert, please click here.
Since Hadley's in France for 10 days, I took advantage of my "free time" and decided to go out and see a show. Glen Phillips, former lead singer for Toad the Wet Sprocket, played at the Variety Playhouse last night. A new band out of Nashville, Blue Merle, opened for him, and to be honest, they were the real reason I went to see the show. If you like Coldplay, you'll absolutely LOVE Blue Merle. Their lead singer is a dead ringer for Chris Martin. The only difference is that Blue Merle adds a stand-up base, mandolin player, and a violinist. I know...sounds like a strange combo....but I promise you...give these guys one listen, and you'll be sold...COMPLETELY.
Blue Merle - April 12th, 2005 - Variety Playhouse
Glen Phillips was awesome. To be honest, although I have a few of his solo records, I've never listened to them. I know, I know...weird, but what the heck! Anyway, I was really surprised...he had a full backing band and his solo act really sounds like Toad the Wet Sprocket. It's weird...for years, I listened to Toad and never really knew any of the names of the guys in the band. Then they break up, Glen goes solo, and now you realize that HE was Toad the Wet Sprocket. He played a lot of his solo stuff, but he also played lots of old Toad favorities. Definitely a great night of live music!!
Glen Phillips - April 12th, 2005 - Variety Playhouse
Went and saw The Gourds play at Smith's last night. Great show. Known primarily for their country/bluegrass cover of "Gin & Juice," I was glad they didn't play it. That cover, for the most part, created a buzz about The Gourds, but it's really not what they're about. They are a few guys from Austin, all multi-talented, who love to play music. That's it. No glitter. No glam. Just good, fun country-rock music. It was definitely worth the $12 cover charge.
"You're a bottle cap away from pushing me too far..."
I went to see the Old 97's at Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points here in Atlanta. Allen Richardson, Jennifer Schiveree, Thomas Farmer, Charles and Caroline Echols, Michael Brown and I met up to catch the show, and it was one hell of a show!
They played tons of old stuff, as well as a few songs off their new album, Drag It Up. Despite being on the road for over three months, they looked great and Rhett's voice held up pretty well. It was their second-to-last show, as they headed back to Dallas to go out with a bang at the Granada Theater.
If you've never given these guys a listen, do so NOW! A little country, a little punk, and a little rock...a great blend that grows on you to the point you'll know every word to every song. They have so much energy...it's obvious they love to perform and do so for the right reasons. They definitely don't get to Atlanta enough...hopefully that will change.
See my "Buy These Now" section for more details on the Old 97's!
Thanks to Chris Posey, I had an awesome opportunity to see Ryan Adams in concert last night. After Hadley fixed me a delicious taco salad, I was almost asleep in my chair with a full belly when Chris called. You see, Chris has a twin sister by the name of Parker Posey, who happens to be Ryan's girlfriend. It just so happened that Chris had an extra ticket AND backstage pass to see Ryan at The Tabernacle, one of my favorite venues in Atlanta. Hadley granted me the infamous hall pass to join Chris and a few other guys (Jay "The Worm" Hale and Michael Brown) as long as I agreed to practice our wedding dance first. We're going to dance to "My Girl" by The Temptations, and that's a fairly easy song to dance to, so I was on my way to the concert in no time.
I got there just as the opening band, Ollabelle was wrapping up. I actually have their album and like their music, but I didn't realize they were opening for Ryan. Anyway, I got there and Jay came out to give me my pass. I followed him backstage, and there was Chris, sitting on a sofa eating sushi with Ryan Adams. The rest of the band was there, standing around shootin' the bull, just relaxing before the show. I was amazed at how quiet and calm everything was backstage. Anyway, I got to shake Ryan's hand, but I really left it at that, as I didn't want to bug him right before his show. He and Chris continued to chat, and then he began writing out his set list....a pretty neat thing to watch!
We were eventually asked to leave so that the band could get ready to hit the stage. We grabbed a few beers and headed out to the crowd. The concert was completely sold out, so when we went out to the floor, there was barely anywhere to stand. The view from backstage wasn't much better, as all of the equipment pretty much obstructed site of the stage. Regardless, it was a thrill to be able to walk anywhere we wanted (thanks to the All-Access Stage Passes) so I didn't complain.
The show was great. Ryan was in a great mood, and he definitely interacted with the crowd. Critics and concert reviews have often pointed out that Ryan isn't always one to befriend the audience or interact. But that wasn't the case last night. He was "in the zone," in a great mood, and gave an amazing performance.
Anyway, it was a great night. Much thanks goes out to Chris, Jay, and Michael for letting me join them at the concert. And even more thanks goes to Ryan Adams....thanks for a great show and for being one of the best singer/songwriters in the world today!!!
