Live 8

Live8 is on July 2, 2005!

Can you believe it's been 20 years since Live Aid? Man, time flies... Well, this Saturday you can catch Live8 (in conjuntion with the G8 summit) and some of the greatest bands from all over the world are performing. I'm not even going to attempt to name all the bands (neither will I look up all the links), check the offical site for that.

The lowdown on the event... Here are the ones I'd like to see (and some I don't):

Africa Calling: I've never heard of any of these bands honestly...

Berlin: A-ha, Brian Wilson, Die Toten Hosen, Greenday, Herbert Gronemeyer, Roxy Music

Johannesburg: Again, never heard of any of these bands...

London: Finally, here we go, my favorite event location: Annie Lennox, Coldplay (hopefully joined by Richard Ashcroft), Elton John (hopefully joined by Pete Doherty), Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney, Pink Floyed (re-united!), Razorlight, Robbie Williams (!!!), Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol, Stereophonics, Sting, Travis, U2, The Who.

Moscow: Pet Shop Boys! I love this group, and I'm not even gay...

Paris: Muse

Philadelphia: Kaiser Chiefs, Stevie Wonder. Very pathetic line-up I have to say... must have something to do with our President...

Rome: Duran Duran

Scotland: Embrace, Garbage, Snow Patrol, Zutons

Tokyo: None

Toronto: Jet, Motley Crue (just kidding)... Where's the "Arcade Fire"?

A quick note... if the official site doesn't give you line-up details (it didn't when I posted this), go here. Can't believe I just endorsed AOL, very sad...

The thing that strikes me... I've hardly heard anything about it in this country (USA)! What the hell is going on? It took me at least a 1/2 hour to find out who's even showing the event on American TV... Here's the info:

• MTV will be broadcasting the event 11:00-7:00PM CST.
• VH1 will be broadcasting the event 11:00-7:00PM CST. If their "Most important Live8 band list" is accurate, we're (at least people in the USA are) totally fucked! They list "Motley Crue" and "Maria Carey" before "Pink Floyd"... 'nuff said...

Luckily, you'll be able to catch the whole thing webcast on aol... I'm still not sure what kind of format they'll use or what kind of connection speed we're talking about... However, knowing AOL, I'm sure we'll have to indure some major advertising (for themselves)... I guess the "Sun doesn't only shine on TV"...

If any of you reading this are going to any of these locations, I expect a full review!

P.S. Pete Doherty and Elton John, duet possibly? Wow, that could get very interesting... I'm pretty sure they won't do "What a Waster" (unfortunately)...

P.P.S. Richard Ashcroft (The Verve) and Coldplay performing "Bittersweet Symphony"... priceless! Let's hope it happens...

P.P.P.S. Luckily "Oasis" is playing that same day in Madchester! We wouldn't want to see a fight between Robbie and Liam now would we?! It is a charity event after all. We'll miss you at the event Liam and Noel, though!

A very warm welcome to new band member - Queenvick!

I'm very happy to introduce a new band member and blog contributor to everybody! Meet Qeenvick, aka Victoria! Yes, she's my sister, aspiring thespian in NYC. However, Boston Red Sox fan at heart... Good girl...

Queenvick is pretty fucking cool (there I go again on the swearing... then again this is not a kiddie site, plus it's my blog, so fuck it!), so make her feel welcome... Glad to have her in the band!

Vick has her own website, check it out at your convenience. She set it up herself. Remember, she's an actor not a webdesigner, therefore it's still under construction. As one of my side-projects I'll be helping her out with this in the next few days...

P.S. I posted yet another picture without permission from the person in the photograph! I love doing that... Classic picture, I think...

Pathetic!

I'm actually still at work at the moment... however, I wanted to post this before I forget...

The MSN home page featured a story on their frontpage today called "Blog: Minnesota girl in progress". Check it out! I usually don't write any stories criticizing other people, but that blog is utterly pathetic. And to be featured on the MSN homepage...

If this blog ever turns into anything even remotely resembling "Minnesota girl's", please feel free to come slap me in the face!

There, happy to have that out my system! More to come later; if I ever get out of work here today...

A new Member

Hi! Rock n'roll dog is pretty freakin cute. :) Now, that personality of his, I'm not so sure of. This is Queenvick from New York City...I don't have much to add right now, other than I saw a huge cockroach in my apartment yesterday...I was disturbed. Peace out. :)

I need band-members!

I've thought about this one long and hard... Long story made short, I think some of you should get involved in the action on this blog. Yes, I'm opening the doors for other band-members to contribute!

For the selected parties you'll receive an e-mail invitation today or tomorrow (most of my email addresses are at work). I'm aware that some of you may have spam filtering enabled so please check your folders such as "bulk mail" carefully today and tomorrow. You'd receive an email with the "from" field saying "Blogger Invites...". The "subject" line would read "Blogger blog invitation from rocknrollstar".

I always think big, so let's get people from around the globe to contribute! Don't worry, posting an entry is really easy. Even better, these posts don't have to be approved by me! You just log in, post you're entry and that's it. I do have the power to remove your entry or you as a member from the blog... however, come on, pretty much nothing is offensive to me...

What should you contribute to this blog? Anything that you find interesting... And don't worry the FCC is not paying attention to this site (yet), so feel free to use language as you see fit. Just check out what I've been putting out there lately! I think it would just be interesting to have opinions/posts from different parts of the world out there, all in one place. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area (that's where I reside) is really missing out on something like that. I read a lot of great blogs from Canada and the rest of the world all the time...

If I didn't email you, and you think you should be a band-member please email me.

OK, I'm getting to work on e-mailing the few and proud.

P.S. If you're a band-member I'll list you on the front page as "The Band" with your privacy preferences as you specify...

P.P.S. Originally I was going to do a Live8 post today... I guess this will have to wait until tomorrow... Peace out!

P.P.S. I won't be offended if you turn the invitation down, so make your own decision. I know people are busy and this may not be your type of thing...

Rock n roll dog - rebuttal

Let me introduce myself, I'm "Rock 'n' Roll Dog". As you can see in my picture I'm a bit pissed off at the moment... What's up with my owner, "Rock n Roll Star" for doing the following?:

1) Uses my picture in a previous post without permission? Doesn't he know I need to authorize all "publicized" photos first? My agent is very mad...

2) Assuming I'm a basketball fan! How dare you! Since MJ left the league I have really no interest, plus what was up with the Minnesota Timberwolves this season? I care about as much about the NBA as I do for the NHL! Now Australian rules football, that's a sport!

3) Calling me "cute"! That's like saying somebody has a "great personality"...

Well, those are all my coments for now. All in all, Steve, whoops, I mean "Rock 'n' Roll Star" is not all that bad...

I'll be posting stuff here and there as I see fit (when my owner/daddy gets out of control)...

Until then, I'm looking forward to Coldplay @ Live 8!

Rock n roll dog

(Ringo loves his basketball...)

So, I've got nothing today! Too busy at work to check out much of anything. In the meanwhile I figured I'd at least do a photo post today... My dog Ringo, aka "Rock n roll dog", is pretty cute, huh? I tell you... just give him a basketball to play with and you'll have countless hours of entertainment...

More good stuff to come later in the week!

Yet more storms...

(The sky above New Brighton, 6/27/05, approx. 9pm)

As you may know I'm pretty much an all-media-junkie! I love great movies, music, photography, literature, etc... We had some more really severe weather this Monday here in Minnesota. 2nd Monday in a row... Due to these severe storms I couldn't leave work until 7:30pm as tornado sirens were going off. The above picture shows the calm after the storm outside my house. Pretty eery, huh? I thought it's a kind of cool picture...

Weekend Rewind - Longwave

(Steve & Steve, lead-singer of Longwave, First Avenue 7th Street Entry, 6/24/05)

... And it wouldn't be a complete weekend without me getting a picture with a band! Well, there you go. NYC's Longwave was great last Friday... notice how I wore my Boston Red Sox shirt just for the occasion!???? Yes, they are in first place in AL east!

Bloc Party live

(Kele Okereke, lead singer from Bloc Party)

In case you haven't heard... You can download a whole mp3 live performance of Bloc Party, live from Washington DC, June 17, 2005 on NPR (63.2 MB dowload)! Enjoy, it's really f*cking good, taken straight from the soundboard. God (and I'm not religious), I love broadband internet...

Weekend Rewind - Glastonbury 2005

(Pete Doherty, lead singer of Babyshambles)

Man, I had a great weekend! Glastonbury 2005 was excellent, I really enjoyed the live webcasts. I think it was actually more comfortable to catch these performances on my PC, rather than actually being there... The weather there was really bad on Friday and Saturday.

You can still catch the highlights on the bbc. Fatboy Slim's set simply blew me away... mixing "Slash Dot..." with "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes... priceless!

Glasto Webcast Schedule CST

Here is the Glastonbury webcast schedule adjusted for US Central Standard Time. Please note there is a 6 hour time difference. Yesterday I thought it was 5! I keep thinking I live in NYC... For the webcast and band links see my post from yesterday (I'm too lazy today). Enjoy!

Day/TimeCST - Band

Friday/12:10pm - Babyshambles
Friday/1:30pm - Bloc Party
Friday/2:45pm - Doves
Friday/4:20pm - Fatboy Slim

Saturday/12:40pm - The Futurheads
Saturday/1:50pm - Interpol
Saturday/3:00pm - Roisin Murphy
Saturday/4:20pm - New Order

Sunday/1:20m - Garbage
Sunday/3:10pm - The La's
Sunday/4:30pm - The Wailers
Sunday/5:30pm - Basement Jaxx

The video is best viewed with broadband access (duh!).

Glasto / Longwave / Lohan

A few random things today:

• Glastonbury 2005 kicks off on Friday! Aren't you excited kids?! In case you don't know... Glastonbury is the biggest outdoor music festival held annually in Glastonbury, England. I'm not even going to attempt to name all the artist who are playing... you can check their offical website for that! On my list of "10 things to do before I die", Glastonbury ranks up there. Unfortunately I didn't work out that way this year (once again), however I am going to Austin City Limits instead. Luckily, if you can't make it to Glasto you can still watch some of the performances on "playlouder" or the "bbc". I was lucky enough to catch some of the performances last year online... This year the "online" lineup is really amazing again... Friday: Babyshambles, Bloc Party, Doves, Fatboy Slim; Saturday: The Futureheads, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand; Sunday: The La's, The Wailers, Basement Jaxx; (among others, I left a couple out). Babyshambles alone should be one of the highlights; should we make any bets what "state-of-mind" Pete Doherty" will be in?! Just make sure you allow for the time change! From Minneapolis/St. Paul, England is 6 hours ahead (others living else-where check your time-zone). Set-times haven't been posted yet, however you can bet some serious dough I'll be listening/watching at work on Friday! As for Saturday and Sunday I'll be streaming at home and enjoying on my living room stereo! Ahhh, life is good sometimes...

• For all you local "rock n roll stars", NYC's most under-rated band, Longwave, will be playing the 7th Street Entry, arguably the best local place to see a band (but surely the hottest), this Friday, 6/24/05. Yes, these are the guys who used to have the little know band The Strokes open for them a couple of years ago! I was fortunate enough to see and meet them on their last tour, and let me tell you, they're well worth checking out! They've shuffled their line-up a bit over the last few months, however, the core members remain. It will be interesting to hear what the new album sounds like... Make sure you bring ear-plugs, as these guys like to turn the volume "way up"! Trust me... P.S. Doors 8pm, Tickets $8.00, 21+.
  Last but not least... what's up with the Lindsay Lohan obsession going on around the world? I don't get it, did I miss something? Yes, she's pretty cute... however come on, I keep reading/hearing about here like she is the resurrection of The Virgin Mary or something... I was lucky enough to catch her on Jay Leno last week and then David Letterman last night... This made it even worse,... and I still don't get it.! What's up with the "innocent good girl image"? That can't really be her, right? I guess she's filming a movie in Minnesota next (that's what she said on Letterman last night), so perhaps I'll be lucky enough to meet (whoops, I mean "shag") her soon! If you're a big fan and you're offended by this, please get a life (or let me know what I'm missing)!

Have a great day everybody, that's it for today!

Bunny ranch

This is crazy (picture of my neighbors' house across the street)...

Something amusing... I think my neighbors might be running a brothel across the street! Seriously, I took this picture a few minutes ago... Six cars (actually 5 and a convesion van), plus an RV in the driveway (often even more on the street)... The house is the same size as mine! I don't know what this people are up to but I'd sure like to find out... They look like regular suburban folk but one never knows, right? I shall investigate and keep you updated...

And they complain about me?!!! Well ok, nobody has complained so far... Whoops, I spoke too soon, one guy "Wally" did...

Maybe I'm just jealous?!!! That could be...

The day after tomorrow part 1

Picture of the large branch (laying horizontally)...

Man, the last two weeks have been crazy! It all came to a climax on Monday, 6/20/05, when we had some major storms here in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Rain, hail, 70mph winds,... you name it... it looked like something out of "The Day After Tomorrow". My poor dog Ringo was home all alone when all this went down too (around 2pm); poor little guy...

As I have some rather large trees in my backyard I was absolutely delighted to find a rather large broken branch laying in my backyard. Really f*cking great... at least I have firewood for a while. Not only had this branch fallen, but also it cut my phone line (see picture below). Luckily I don't use a landline-phone so it really doesn't matter. However, it still looks rather bad (plus I don't know if they'll come fix it). The large branch (and other broken parts) took me a while to move back into my compost area that evening. I guess things could have been worse... it could have snapped my cable or electricy line instead.

So there you have it. It's great to be a home-owner! I absolutely love it!

P.S. Dad, I'll have to borrow the chain-saw soon!

The day after tomorrow part 2

Here you can see of what's left of my phone line. This cord is supposed to run upto my house...

The Mink!

Photo courtesty of me!

Friday night the local (ex)band "Walt Mink" rocked the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis. In case you're not familiar with the band, they were rather popular in the early ninetees in Minneapolis and re-united on this evening only for the filming of a documentary. You can read more about the documentary and filming here, or visit their offical website for more info here.

What can you say about this show?... Unbelievable! What a crowd, the Triple Rock was not even that packed for M83. I have to admit I only got into this band a couple of months ago through a buddy (as I was studying @ UMD in the early 90's). However, from what I've heard, hopefully they'll re-unite for good as their sound could really fit in with what's happening in music at the moment...

P.S. Thanks Ryan!

P.P.S. Funny thing #1 about the show. As I had snuck in my camera (as usual) and they were filming and photographing this event for the documentary... People actually thought I was with the crew when I was running around and taking pictures! This was great! I'd love to do that for a living... of course, in addition to my "freelance reporting" for the Minneapolis Star Tribune!

P.P.P.S. Funny thing #2 about the show. I met a lot of really interesting people at this event. I wore my "God Bless Bloc Party" show that evening... you know how many people thought I had gotten that shirt at the Basilica Block Party? Unbelievable to compare the Biscilica Block Party with a great British band!

Saturday rewind, part 1, The Futureheads

The Futureheads (at least a couple) and I, 6/11/05, Fine Line Music Cafe. Yes, I was tired at that point...

Last event on the agenda Saturday was The Futureheads @ Fine Line Music Cafe. Due to the birthday party earlier I got there a bit late and missed the first 15 minutes. Damn! This doesn't happen too often. Luckily I've seen them live 3 times in the last year, so no big deal. The band played pretty much all their tunes from the album "The Futurheads" in addition to a couple of b-sides. Highlights included "Le Garage" (encore), "Decent days and nights", "Man Ray", "Dorian Gray", "Piece of Crap" (encore), and "Hounds of love"... just to name a few.

If you haven't seen them live before, you should!

Saturday rewind, part 2, The birtday party

You know who you are...

Just wanted to say "Thanks!" to the hosts of the 40th birtday party I attended Saturday afternoon. Your hospitality was second to none! I have some great pictures of this event. It was great to see you Marty, Laura, and Greg. I wish we could hang a bit more often... "Happy Birthday Chris!"...

Saturday rewind, part 3, Independence Day

VW Jetta commercial "Independence Day"...

OK, I'm lazy... I was going to describe the whole story why I'm posting this, but it's too much work. Plus I'd like to watch the season finale of "The Shield" this evening....

In case you haven't seen the above VW Jetta commercial, check it out here (click on "Independence Day"). Let's just say it reminds me a whole lot of somebody I know. Or at least that's what people have told me... now, if somebody could hook me up with a girlfriend like that we'd be getting somewhere...

For the full story give me a call or email me!

Decent days and nights

The Futurheads live @ Fine Line Music Cafe, 6/11/05.

Rock 'n roll video

So the videotape on which I record a lot of bands' live performances from various talk shows finally ran out. I guess all good things must come to an end. How fitting it would end with The Kaiser Chiefs "I Predict a Riot". Some very cool performances, here's the full track listing (this was a lot of work to compile):

BAND Name - "Song Name", TV talk show, comments

1) OASIS - "Little by Little", Conan, minus Liam of course...
2) COLDPLAY - "In my Place", Conan, sounds a bit softer live than on record
3) THE STROKES - "Someday", Letterman, Thanksgiving
4) THE HIVES - "Hate to Say I Told You So", Conan, "America loves the Hives!"
5) COLDPLAY - "In my Place", Letterman, Yes once again...
6) THE WHITE STRIPES - "Seven Nation Army", Conan, part 1 of 4 performances in one week
7) THE WHITE STRIPES - "Jolene", Conan, part 2 of 4 performances in one week
8) THE WHITE STRIPES - "The Hardest Button to Button", Conan, part 3 of 4 performances in one week
9) THE WHITE STRIPES - "Let's Build a Home", Conan, part 4 of 4 performances in one week. Can you tell I like Jack and Meg? This performance is legendary as Jack White's guitar becomes unplugged during the end of the song...
10) THE STROKES - "Reptilia", Conan, part 1 of 4 performances in one month
11) STELLASTARR* - "In the Walls", Daly, Yes they have the hottest bassist in rock 'n roll...
12) THE STROKES - "What Ever Happened?", Conan, part 2 of 4 performances in one month
13) THE STROKES - "Under Control", Conan, part 3 of 4 performances in one month
14) THE STROKES - "12:51", Conan, part 4 of 4 performances in one month. Yes, I like The Strokes a lot too!
15) FRANZ FERDINAND - "Take Me Out", Conan, tough to sit down to...
16) SCISSOR SISTERS - "Take your Mumma", Conan, Metalfan's favorite band at the moment...
17) THE LIBERTINES - "Can't Stand Me Now", Conan, "Where's Pete?"
18) THE HIVES - "Two-timing Touch and Broken Bones", Conan, Once again, "America loves the Hives!"
19) THE PIXIES - "Monkey Gone to Heaven", Letterman, sounds quite good actually
20) AVRIL LAVIGNE - "Nobody's Home", Conan, She can actually sing live!
21) INTERPOL - "Evil", Letterman, You can actually see what they look like (unlike when you see them at a live-venue due to all the back-lighting)
22) INTERPOL - "Slow Hands", Conan
23) BRIGHT EYES - "Road to Joy", Ferguson, brilliant performance! I've never seen a trumpet player smash his instrument.
24) THE FUTUREHEADS - "Decent Days and Nights", Conan, I shall see them live again tomorrow (for the 4th time)...
25) DOVES - "Black and White Town", Leno, the new CD is great
26) LOUIS XIV - "Finding Out True Love is Blind", Kimmel, keyboard player sings the woman's part of this song...
27) KINGS OF LEON - "The Bucket", Conan, what's up w/Lead singer's hair? Does he cut it himself at home? Amzing performance though, brilliant tune...
28) KASABIAN - "Clubfoot", Kimmel, Liam's favorite new band. Wow, stunning performance! I'm still pissed these guys cancelled their live gig here last month. Plus I still have to get a refund for the ticket...
29) THE KILLERS - "Mr. Brightside", Leno, quit talking shite lead singer... Especially when you're soooo obviously gay (not that there's anything wrong with that of course)...
30) LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - "Daft Punk is Playing at my House", Letterman
31) THE RAVEONETTES - "Love in a Trashcan", Conan
32) EELS - "Railroad Man", Leno, awesome!
33) ERASURE - "Breathe", Daly, suprisingly good...
34) GARBAGE - "Bleed like me", Letterman, Me like Shirley... great outfit...
35) BLOC PARTY - "Banquet", Kimmel, again... tough to sit down to...
36) SNOW PATROL - "Spitting Games", Leno
37) THE BRAVERY - "Honest Mistake", Leno, lead-singer-dude is trying really hard to look like Morrissey...
38) KAISER CHIEFS - "I Predict a Riot", Conan, tape runs out 7/8 through the song

Pretty cool, huh? Now I just need to transfer it to DVD so I can share it with all of you. Any ideas? Let me know... I don't have a DVD burner...

My neck is starting to bother me due to too much computer work. Plus I'm pretty tired from a tough work-week. I think I shall go relax now. Have a great weekend! Hopefully I'll have some cool news and pictures next week. Both The Futureheads and Spoon are in town this weekend so I better rest up tonight. Prost!

P.S. Don't bother with comments about Avril or Erasure... that's too easy. I know I have issues!

The Futureheads are back in town (once again)...

The Futureheads are great live! If you're local, they're playing at the FineLine this Saturday, 6/11/05! See you there, you "hounds of love"...

The sad state of affairs June 8, 2005...

The sad state of affairs - pictured June 8, 2005

OK - sorry for the delay on updates, it's been a crazy week... Here's some news on my personal and music life:

• The picture above shows my "master suite"... without carpet. It's freshly painted, great change from the green color that was on the wall (took me about 2 weeks to paint). However as you can see it's missing good flooring... Yeah, my dog (Ringo) ruined that as a puppy (love 'thy pet). To save some money I decided to tear out my own old carpet... a lot more hard work than I thought... then again I should be used to it after 2 years. Anyways, I should get started again pulling out the staples and old carpet again here real soon. It gets kind of warm up there, though... I'll keep you updated! I checked "carpet stores" and was more amazed by the women that sell the carpet than the actual carpet... Yeah I know... issues...
• I'd like to say a big "Hello, thanks" to people who've I've just recently heard from on this blog. All my relatives in Austria ("Dave" - come on put in "David" next time), hoffentlich komme ich im Herbst!) "JoeP"... we missed you man! I'm sure Connecticut doesn't have enough police to contain you! Marty, haven't forgotten about you, you the man, "'Sabbath rules!", I appreciate your input. If I've forgotten anybody else... sorry...
• To put an end to the rumors... No, I'm not dying! I went in a couple of weeks ago to have a minor cyst removed from my neck. This was lovely I have to say, getting a shot in your neck @ 9:00am always feels good! However, I'm fine! Even had my cholerstorol and blood pressure checked... all perfectly normal! I was really surprised...
• What's up with these creatures/insects called "June bugs"? I've had a lot of them on my screen door... they're pretty nasty... I wonder what ecological (that's a big word for me) purpose they serve? Let me know (and I know it's "June" by the way)...
• I've been training "rock 'n' roll dog" Ringo to catch a frisbee. It's going pretty well... the "catching" part of it anyways. After he catches it, he thinks it's a chew-toy... Does he think those things are cheap? Anyways... today I worked on "bringing the frisbee back without chewing on it". Exciting, huh?
• Album Review: Coldplay - X & Y - I have to say that this album was really disappointing on first listen. However since then it's grown on me quite a bit, a lot like "A Rush of Blood to the Head". To make things very simple... If you like "Parachutes" or "A Rush..." you will love this album. I think it combines the best of both albums. However, Mr. Chris M, what happened to "re-inventing the wheel"? Check out all the reviews here...
• The White Stripes - Get Behing me Satan - Wow, this is a tough one... So far... me like, me heard! Jack is genius... I don't know what to say about this one, simply amazing! Check out all the reviews here.
• Liam is the man, it's good to have Oasis back! Check out what he said here.
• Pete (the Libertines) is back on the smack. Very sad, but not unexpected, I wish somebody could help this guy.
• If you haven't seen a couple of pictures of Jack White's wedding, click here!
• The line-up for Live-8 is awesome! At leat the British part... I feel a bit sorry for the 'Chiefs for they're the only decent act (in my humble opinion) in the USA... however I'm sure they'll have a good time...

That's all for now. I love comments, so let's see you post some! I hope you're having a great week (I'm saying that in my most Minnesota accent)!

Love,
rock 'n' roll star
a.ka. Steve

Random picture of the day...

rock 'n' roll star and queenvick, Boston MA, August 2004.

Believe the Truth! I'm proud of my boys from "Madchester"...

Ok, so as promised here's my review of the new Oasis album "Don't Believe the Truth":

Let me start out by saying that I'm a pretty big Oasis fan (I've seen them live 7 (or is it 8???) times from the beginning)! However, I'll try to give a "some-what" un-biased review...

Upon first listen of this new album it immediately struck me that Oasis really took a chance (which I like). For once they were not obsessed with duplicating themeselves! They were more obsessed with duplicating the Beatles (once again), Revolver album...

Some of the tunes on this album sound like nothing I've ever heard of this band... Here's my tune/tune breakdown (based on a 3 star system):

** 1) "Turn Up the Sun" - The intro and outro of this song is amazing! Except for that, typical Oasis...

*** 2) "Mucky Fingers" - Perhaps the best Oasis tune I've heard... Yes, it sounds like "Velvet Underground", and I don't care... Nothing like Oasis has ever done before.

** 3) "Lyla" - ... First single from the album! Your typical Oasis "swagger" tune... Sounds a bit like the Kinks or the Who...

** 4) "Love Like a Bomb"... Great tune by Liam! Sets the mood for the rest of this "Revolver-influenced" album.

*** 5) "The Importance of being Idle" - What can you say about this tune... absolutely amazing! Best singing job I've ever heard from Noel... the organ is brilliant!

*** 6) "The Meaning of Soul" - This one rocks! Brilliant, 2 chords... I can play this one perhaps...

**7) "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" - It's amazing how much "our kid" (Liam) has evolved as a songwriter... This song is about his relationip with Noel (I think)...

**8) "Part of the Queue" - So Noel is "fed up with the city". Great tune about shoplifting (watch the DVD version of the album and you will understand).

**9) "Keep the Dream Alive" - Sounds like early Oasis... vintage...

**10) "A Bell Will Ring" - Ringo Starr's favorite tune from the album, written by GEM. Great tune, absolutely Oasis! Reminds me a bit of "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles...

***11) "Let There be Love" - What can you say... One of the great Oasis tunes... "Coldplay"-like-anthem, quite amazing... The slow "Aquiesce"... As good (if not better) than their classics... Unbelievable... just listen to it!

That's it! I think it's a pretty decent album! It's good to see Oasis move on and take a chance on some new grounds. What's your opinion, let the "rock 'n' roll star" know...

Cheers!

P.S. If you buy the album... get the "dual-sided" version! I got it @ Best Buy and it contains an enhanced version of the whole album (Dolby5.1) plus a documentary plus the video for "Lyla", plus a 5-single "live" CD which is really cool (taped @ the Metro in Chicago 1994). Believe me, the documentary on the DVD side is reason alone to own this album... An interview with Liam and Noel in the same room is quite entertaining...

P.P.S. Have a great weekend everybody!

Danke Gott (?), es ist Freitag! (TGIF)

24 hour party people!

Some random tid-bits for the week-end (as I'm pretty worn out; me neck is pain):

• What's up with my boy Jack getting married? I can't believe it! How stereotypical, to a model (is she super yet?)... What a rock-n-roll cliche! Best of luck to them... first marriage for both parties?! I guess she's featured in the new video for "Blue Orchid", you can check/download the video here... I'm totally confused now... What's the deal with Jack and Meg? Are they sister/brother/married/ex-married... Let me know... (even though the music is all that matters...)
• Libertines live! If you're lucky enough (or cursed enough) to have Comcast digital "on demand" you're in for a treat! You can check out the Libertines Live! Go to Music>Concerts>Libertines Live. Absolutely brilliant! I believe this is the DVD performance that currently ships with the album "The Libertines - The Libtertines". Some of my random observations: 1) I've seen the Libertines 2 times, both times minus Pete... they're great live without Pete, however the "true band leader" was definitely Pete (Ryan, "where's Pete!!!) ; 2) Comcast digital cable bleeps out all swearwords... funny... they bleep out "f*ck" during "What a Waster" but not "c*nt"... I guess the rednecks @ Comcast don't understand "british" english well enough!?; 3) What? The Libertines claim to be influenced by Isaac Hayes!; 4) Both Pete and Carl perform a stage-dive during one of their tunes; 5) Pete Doherty seems absolutely wasted, surprise, surprise! 6) They claim to have played nursing homes when they were starting out... was the show over by 6pm??? If anybody has this show/documentary on DVD would you please be so kind to burn me a copy? I appreciate it...
• Some cool live reviews of bands I saw recently: 1) VHS or Beta; 2) The Bravery (Yes DJMikeT, the Bravery!)
• I'm getting excited for next Tuesday! New album releases by The White Stripes and Coldplay. We'll see if both bands can live up to the hype... I still can't believe Coldplay has gotten as huge as they are now... I remember Chris Martin asking me a couple of years back "So... are you in the music biz?" Crazy... times change...
• Last but no least some early reviews of "The White Stripes - Get Behind me Satan", "Coldplay - X & Y", and "Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth" (I guess this one is not early)... Enjoy...

P.S. Not sure if I'll make it to the my personal "Oasis - Don't believe the truth" review today! Be patient... I want to make sure it's an opinion I can live with for a few years to come! I'll give you one hint though, think "Revolver" by the Beatles...

P.P.S. Don't be affraid to post comments on this website, be it good or bad. Don't worry, I can handle criticism! I want to hear from you...

2 rock 'n' roll stars!

Hanging out w/Ricky, lead singer of the Kaiser Chiefs after their show @ First Avenue, 6/1/05.

Me head hurts!

Wow, what a show last night! I'm paying the price for being out late on a "school night"...

Last evening a great group of friends and I checked out The Kaiser Chiefs @ First Avenue, with Amusement Parks on Fire and OKGO opening. I caught about 10 minutes of Amusement Parks on Fire as I was waiting outside the venue for my friend Mike. From what I heard, it didn't sound too bad... very loud, very "British". Reminded me a bit of Hope of the States, another band from the UK. We then headed off and spent an hour at an Irish pub across the street to meet up with some more people. After a bit of chatting we headed into the show and caught the last couple of songs of OKGO. Very interesting to say the least. They closed their set by doing a choreographed dance routine to this disco-sounding tune called "A Million Ways"... One of the funniest things I've ever seen performed live at a rock 'n roll show... Around 11:15pm Kaiser Chiefs hit the stage (their "intro" tune was the Beatles "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and my Monkey" which was brilliant)... They wasted no time and plowed through all their hits from their current album, Employment. Simply amazing of how much energy the lead singer Ricky has... It was tough to get decent photos at the show as he was constantly running and jumping around. I think he even thought about stage-diving a couple of times (however changed his mind). The band sounded great, their tunes even better live than on record. The highlights for me were "Na Na na Na Naaa", "Everyday I love you less and less", "I predict a riot", and "Oh my God".

The full setlist:
Na Na Na Naaaa
Saturday Night
Everyday I love you less and less
Born to be a dancer
I predict a riot
You can have it all
Hard Time Send me
Modern Way
Oh my God
Time Honoured Tradition

I was lucky enough to meet Ricky after the show... Very cool bloke! He told some really funny stories about hanging out with Damon Albarn and Liam Gallagher...

All in all, brilliant night! Great show and great friends... It makes a good combination.

P.S. So I just re-read this post... it almost sounds like I'm a groupie of the band and obsessed with the lead singer... don't worrry I'm not! The band and lead singer are no Clay Aiken yet!

The Chiefs are in town!

Wow, how exciting, my first post!...

So I'm heading out to see the Kaiser Chiefs @ First Avenue tonight. Opening bands are OKGO and Amusement Parks on Fire, music starts @ 9:30pm. Hopefully I can sneak in the camera again tonight (as I did for Stereophonics last Saturday) and get some nice pictures... Last week Damon Albarn (lead singer of Blur and Gorillaz) joined the KCs on stage in Toronto... It makes sense as Kaiser Chiefs remind me a lot of early Blur. Well, hopefully Damon made the trip to Minneapolis. I highly doubt it, however, I predict a riot!