The X-Files: I Want to Believe Trailer and Poster Unveiled

I've always wanted to believe and will continue to...the first film made me become a fan of the series and hopefully this second film will do the same for an entire generation of people who will find the dichotomy between the believer and the non-believer religious.

AC/DC Frontman On Producer BRENDAN O'BRIEN: 'He Knows Exactly What We Want'

Brendan O'Brien has automatic credibility in my book based on his work with Pearl Jam, the Black Crowes and most recently Bruce Springsteen. He's turned into a producer who brings out the best in artists and finds a way to help them forge forward while embracing their past. A feat all too often almost impossible to capture, but one he does well. Now comes the news that he has completed the new AC/DC album. This is a band whom I believe could potentially explode once again with this album. It's been 8 long years since their last studio album and in that time, Back In Black, has managed to sell another 5 or 6 million copies which have largely been embraced by a very youthful group of fans. With the possibility of GN'R or Led Zeppelin reuniting looking slim, the tour that follows this release could be monsterous.

Here's a brief excerpt from a interview AC/DC singer Brian Johnson recently gave:

AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has confirmed reports that the band is recording its new album in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with producer Brendan O'Brien, best known for his work with PEARL JAM, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and more recently, AUDIOSLAVE and VELVET REVOLVER.

Speaking to the Los Angeles radio station 97.1 KLSX FREE FM, Johnson revealed that the band has been in the studio for about five weeks now and added, "We're working with Brendan O'Brien, [Bruce] Springsteen's producer, and he's a great guy. He knows exactly what we want, and so far, it sounds really good. I'm well pleased. This will be the first album in about eight years." Asked if the band would hit the road once the current recording sessions were complete, Johnson replied, "I would probably thinks so, yeah. I always hate to say yes in case something happens, but I really do think we will be out there — everybody's enjoying being back together again and the buzz is still there and the excitement. Mal [Malcolm Young] and Ang [Angus Young] are still just electric on their guitars, and Phil's [Rudd] got the old magic on the drums and Cliff Williams is Mr. Reliable on bass — he's brilliant — and it's just been fun. It's like a bunch of old [friends] getting together again and having a great time."

Read the rest of the article here and hear the confirmation via an audio clip here.

Wal-Mart Secures Bryan Adams Album Exclusive

Bryan Adams is one of those artists that your average person would never admit to listening to. I'm not one of them. I've always held the movie balladeer in high regard even if he did step a bit too far into adult contemporary mode for my own tastes. Still, his rockers can not be denied and in concert, he's nothing short of devastating. He never takes it easy and will do everything in his power to wield the crowd around his finger. He's recently released a new album, 11, and it will receive it's US release on May 13th. It will be a Wal-Mart exclusive according to this article in Billboard.

Considering his last album shifted a mere 44,000 copies this is a good move on his part. However, I must be honest, after a few listens to 11, I have a feeling that Room Service would have been a better choice. Room Service was full of open road romanticism with songs that had an undercurrent of visionary significance. The canvas he painted from was vast and wide and the end result was some of the strongest material of his career. 11 on the other hand is a bit mellower and introspective with a large significance on love ballads. I need to delve deeper into it before I make any hard decisions, but for a potential comeback album, it would have been nice to see him unleash his inner John Fogerty versus his inner Neil "Heartlight" Diamond.

What is on Springsteen's iPod? Find out here...

Right before Springsteen relaunched his Magic tour a few months back, USA Today did a rather fascinating article not so much as to what to expect on the tour, but gave an indepth look as to what is on his iPod. Now, as impressive as the list is, I have to wonder what guilty pleasures did he have on it but he refused to let them publish? Hannah Montana? Nah, but I bet Hilary Duff's melodic medleys have a soft spot in his heart? Even if the published list is a tad elitist, it makes for a fascinating read, check out the full article here.

{Photo Credit}

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen still plays to the audience
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

ASBURY PARK, N.J. — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band begin a new trek through North America tonight with a concert in Hartford, Conn. If you score tickets to one of the shows, be forewarned: The Boss may be watching you.
"The first thing that I do when I come out every night is to look at the faces in front of me, very individually," Springsteen says. "I may find a certain person and play to that single person all night. I'm playing to everyone, but I could see one or two people and decide, 'You're the reason that I'm out here right now, and that I'm going to push myself till it feels like my heart's going to explode.' "

Certainly, anyone who has caught Springsteen live might assume that he or she was that lucky fan.

The singer/songwriter, who added three Grammy Awards to his collection this month, is famous for throwing house parties in arenas and stadiums, channeling his charisma and camaraderie with his longtime bandmates into performances that seem at once intimate and majestic.

Sitting in his dressing room during a rehearsal break at Asbury Park Convention Hall — just a stone's throw from the Stone Pony, the decidedly smaller venue that the 58-year-old Jersey boy helped make a national landmark — Springsteen is true to his persona: a regular guy with a larger-than-life presence (and an endearingly goofy laugh).

After releasing last fall's critically acclaimed Magic, his first album with the E Street Band since 2002's The Rising, he and the group played dates in the USA and Europe. The current leg of their tour will wrap April 30 in Charlottesville, Va.; then they head back overseas, returning for three homecoming gigs at Jersey's Giants Stadium in late July. (Sessions Band keyboardist Charles Giordano, who played on Springsteen's Pete Seeger albums, fills in while E Street's Danny Federici undergoes treatment for melanoma.)

"On any given night, what allows me to get to that higher ground is the audience," Springsteen says. "I look for an audience that's as serious about the experience as we are, which, after all these years, continues to be pretty serious."

Springsteen tends to use the pronoun "we" a lot in discussing his creative process these days. His career with E Street has been littered with detours, including starkly haunting acoustic albums such as 1982's Nebraska, 1995's The Ghost of Tom Joad and 2005's Devils & Dust. His colleagues have enjoyed side outings as well.

"Each one of us has at one time or another stepped out, to protect not only our own interests but the interests of the band," Springsteen says. "It's rare to be with the same people 35 or 40 years after you started with them, and at this point in our lives, its pleasures are very great. You really appreciate the guy next to you, you know?

"You ask for your audience's investment in your music; you're in a relationship with them. And their relationship with the E Street Band is separate from whatever else I might do. I like the idea of us being something that people rely on."

He's been in the studio with E Street, along with Brendan O'Brien, who manned the boards for both Rising and Magic. The singer also is "recording on my own, for an acoustic record. I work on a lot of projects at once." But he acknowledges that he was excited by the pop-savvy songwriting and lustrous production that distinguished the tunes on Magic.

"I got to use muscles that I hadn't used in a long time," he says. "It's been fun going back to more lush arrangements and not being afraid to craft a bigger sound, to get back to writing choruses and hooks."

The songs on Magic, like much of Springsteen's work with and without the E Street Band, also drew attention for their social and political consciousness. "Part of what I'm doing is chronicling the times we live in. The people that have really moved me, whether it was Frank Sinatra or Hank Williams or Bob Dylan or James Brown or Curtis Mayfield or the Sex Pistols and The Clash. When you hear their music, it defines a particular moment."

But "in the end, music is an emotional medium and a sensual medium. I don't like to write rhetorically or get on a soapbox. I try to make the stuff multi-layered, so that it always has a life outside its social context. I don't believe that you can tell people anything; you can only draw them in."

That's Springsteen's philosophy not only as an artist, but also as an extremely famous citizen. "I don't think that people take their political opinions from musicians or actors," he says, alluding to his endorsement of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and participation in that year's Vote for Change tour. "You can be marginally helpful sometimes, and if you're not careful, you can be marginally damaging. I always try to tread carefully."

Thoughts on politics

In the current presidential race, "there are two really good Democratic candidates for president. I admire and respect them both enough to wait and see what happens." But while he won't endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama yet, he specifically praises the latter, who cited Springsteen as the person he would most like to meet in a recent interview with People.

"I always look at my work as trying to measure the distance between American promise and American reality," Springsteen says. "And I think (Obama's) inspired a lot of people with that idea: How do you make that distance shorter? How do we create a more humane society? We've lived through such ugly times that people want to have a romance with the idea of America again, and I think they need to.

"The hard realities and how things get done are important, too, but if you can effectively convince people that it's possible to make things better, they get excited."

Springsteen is equally avid in championing members of his profession. "I buy CDs all the time. I'll go into a record store and just buy $500 worth of CDs. I will! I am singlehandedly supporting what's left of the record business." His iPod selections include "everything from old American music and old jazz to a lot of new stuff."

His three children with his singer/songwriter wife (and E Streeter) Patti Scialfa are similarly eclectic in their tastes. Elder son Evan, 17, "likes political punk: Rise Against, Against Me, Rage Against the Machine, who I knew from being friends with (Rage guitarist) Tommy Morello. He's always telling me, 'Hey, check these guys out.' He'll take me to shows with him sometimes, which is nice. He doesn't stand with me. He's usually in the mosh pit or something."

Younger son Sam, 14, "likes reggae music and tends to be more of a classic rock guy," while daughter Jessica, 16, "is into top 40, so I'll hear a lot of Rihanna and Mary J. Blige. There's actually an enormous amount of good music in the top 40 these days, well-written songs and well-made records."

Springsteen is more ambivalent about downloading. "I hate to see record stores disappear, and I'm old-school in that I think you should pay for your music. But what my kids do is download a lot of things, pay for them, and then if they love something, they'll get the CD. That may be the future."

With Magic approaching 1 million sold, Springsteen isn't lamenting the end of the music industry's glory days, when pop stars released blockbusters such as his Born in the U.S.A., which has sold more than 15 million copies since its 1984 release. "There are people who still view making albums as a vital form of expression — I know I do." He and the E Street Band "lucked out and had a few singles here and there for a while, but it really wasn't in our nature. Sales go up and down, but we tour a lot, and we've had a pretty consistent audience."

That audience now includes a substantial chunk of his children's peers, Springsteen notes proudly. He has spotted many young fans at recent shows, "probably more than we've had in a decade here in the States. And in Europe, we have an enormous young audience. Every time we go over there, there's a new wave of 16-year-olds."

Still, sustaining the illusion of eternal youth has never been part of this rock icon's long-term plan. "I was 24 when I wrote 'We ain't that young anymore' " in the song Thunder Road.

"If you go back to Darkness on the Edge of Town, which I wrote when I was 27 or 28, or The River, where there are a lot of songs about relationships coming together and falling apart — the characters on those records are all adults.

"I was interested from when I was pretty young in writing music that I felt I could sing at the ancient age of 40 — or maybe even older. It was important to me, along with the exhilaration and rhythm and sexual vitality of youth, which I wanted to maintain, to add a certain complexity — the kind of complex questions you have to sift through once you reach adulthood.

"I've written in that voice consistently, and I assume that I'll continue to go where life leads me."
thx

Bon Jovi To Play Central Park July 12th

According to this article, it looks like Bon Jovi will be performing on July 12th in Central Park in New York, this precedes their two Madison Square Garden shows. Count me as one of the few who find the whole idea blasé and wholly unoriginal. With the potential for such an enormous crowd, I’d expect some of the least interesting set lists known to man and I really hope this is not what they plan to film for a tour DVD. Alas, I’m not on their payroll and have no say in the manner but it would make more sense to either capture to intensity of the crowds in a stadium in Europe or the more intimate feel of an arena to fully showcase the stage they created for this tour. Look for an official announcement soon on the Central Park show soon.

It's Official: The E Street Band Joining Springsteen at Basie Benefit on May 7th

Bruce Springsteen is doing a fund raiser for the renovation of the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ on May 7th. Tickets have sold out and they have already raised enough funds for the renovation. However, now comes the news…or rumors…that Springsteen will be joined by the E Street Band on this night which means the evening will either be largely forgettable (well…few Springsteen shows are completely forgettable) or we’ll witness a performance for the ages.

Some of the donors paid upwards of $10,000 for seats so there’s a part of me that thinks Bruce is going to play it safe and give these donors exactly what they want to hear (“Glory Days”), however, there is also the outside change that the band will pull out some big dogs for this evening. Could we finally see “The Price You Pay” brought back to life? Or how about E Street Band re-workings of his albums from the 90's? Lucky Town is more luminous than people want to give it credit for and I feel Human Touch is an album that would have benefited from the band backing him. Maybe some choice jams with Southside Johnny or digging into his catalog even further than he did on the Devils and Dust tour? We’ll have to wait and see…but until then we can all let our minds race with the possibilities.

Guy Ritchie's 'Revolver'-If You Are Confused...You Are Not Alone

A few weeks back I had the unfortunate luck of spending two-hours of my life watching the Guy Ritchie film Revolver. Now, let me make it abundantly clear that I think Ritchie is a devastatingly talented director with a keen eye for criminal drama in a way that would make Scorsese and Tarantino blush with envy. I remember vividly sitting in the Evanston Movie Theater for a preview showing of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels back in 1999 and it was a watershed moment for me providing me with a euphoric feeling that I had after seeing Hard Eight and Pulp Fiction. For the first time in a half decade, I felt here is someone with a wholly unique vision and wasn’t merely trying to be a Tarantino copycat. I rather enjoyed his 2000 film Snatch whose story couldn’t touch his debut but the style, excitement and vigor was still there for all to see. Then came the misfire of Swept Away, which is OK, everyone is entitled to a bomb at least once in their career. But then comes Revolver which is return to the crime genre he’s so damn good at, yet I found myself cursing at the TV and scratching my head simultaneously trying to make sense of what I had just watched. Even though Revolver completed filming in 2005 and was released that fall in the UK to disastrous reviews. Before they released it in America, they decided to re-work the film and it finally received its US debut more than 2-years later.

I didn’t care what the critics said, because I admired Richie’s passion, vision and strengths too much to not give it a chance and let me tell you; I should have listened to the critics. I watched the extra features on the DVD in the hopes of getting some insight to what I assumed was a major plot point I missed. Needless to say, the interviews and extras shed no new light. However, a quick on-line search brought to light that I was not alone in my confusion and disenfranchisement. Cue Roger Ebert as my savior. Ebert’s review isn’t just bloody brilliant, its spot on and far more entertaining than Revolver. Needless to say, read Ebert’s review below and stay away from Revolver at all costs, trust me on this one.


Revolver
1/2 Star
December 7, 2007
By Roger Ebert

Cast & CreditsJake: Jason Statham
Macha: Ray Liotta
Zach: Vincent Pastore
Avi: Andre Benjamin
Lili: Francesca Annis

Samuel Goldwyn Films presents a film directed Guy Ritchie. Written by Ritchie, Ethan Gross and Paul Todisco. Running time: 115 minutes. Rated R (for violence, language and nudity). Opening today at Pipers Alley and Cinemark Evanston.
By Roger Ebert

Guy Ritchie's "Revolver" is a frothing mad film that thrashes against its very sprocket holes in an attempt to bash its brains out against the projector. It seems designed to punish the audience for buying tickets. It is a "thriller" without thrills, constructed in a meaningless jumble of flashbacks and flash-forwards and subtitles and mottos and messages and scenes that are deconstructed, reconstructed and self-destructed. I wanted to signal the projectionist to put a gun to it.

The plot. What is the plot? Jason Statham has spent seven years in jail, between a con man in the cell on one side and a chess master on the other. Back on the street, he walks into a casino run by his old enemy Ray Liotta and wins a fortune at the table. Did he cheat, or what? I dunno. Liotta sics some hit men on him. Then two mysterious strangers (Vincent Pastore and Andre Benjamin) materialize in Statham's life at just such moments when they are in a position to save it. Who, oh who, could these two men, one of whom plays chess, possibly be?

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW HERE.

Paul McCartney Announces Free Historic Concert-Kiev Independence Square, Ukraine – Saturday 14th June 2008

Paul McCartney Announces Free Historic Concert

‘Independence Concert’

Kiev Independence Square, Ukraine – Saturday 14^th June 2008

On Saturday 14^th June 2008, at the invitation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Paul McCartney will perform to hundreds of thousands of people in Independence Square, Kiev, Ukraine. This groundbreaking event has been named Independence Concert and was launched today in Kiev by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Paul’s special show will be free to attend and will be broadcasted live on Novy TV.

This exciting event will be seen as symbolic for several generations of Ukrainians. It will allow people of different ethnicities and religions, political preferences and geopolitical orientations to come together around the ideas of peace, love and unity; the very ideas that Paul McCartney with The Beatles helped bring into the World. Independence Concert is an independent social initiative that aims to strengthen the confidence and understanding in the Ukrainian society.

The ideology and spirit of The Beatles helped build the democratic aspirations for much of the soviet society and eventually led to the peaceful collapse of the USSR and independence of the former Soviet republics.

Independence Concert appeals to the ideals that helped 30 years ago to melt down the ice of the ‘cold war’ in the hearts of millions and changed the world into a better place. Today the ideology that forms the core of Ukrainian independence is shared with Paul McCartney’s own ideology. Independence Concert serves to promote happiness, freedom, love and peace not only in the Ukraine but also to the entire World.

It is planned that this historic concert will be broadcast live on screens in cities across the Ukraine for those who can’t make it to Kiev.

Paul McCartney said:
‘I’m very excited because on the 14^th of June I’ve been invited to play a concert in Independence Square, Kiev. Me and the band are going to be there and we’re going to have to a great evening and we hope to see you there. So come along, it’s going to be great evening hopefully for the Ukraine. Pull together, groove, rock and roll – all together”

Victor Pinchuk, Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist and founder of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation said:
“One could not imagine this 30 years ago. Nobody could even dare to hope for this 20 years ago. One could only dream about it 10 years ago. 5 years ago we could only envy our neighbours for whom this became a reality. And finally the day has come. For the first time we have the opportunity to hear the songs that changed the world and created a new culture. The songs that we grew up with and became who we are.

These songs tell us about very simple but nevertheless important things: real love can’t be bought and that real friendship can’t be sold. There is much more to what unites people than what divides them, and in reality it’s not an impossible task to become a better person and to make the world a better place, especially if you do it all together.

Recently, we had not so many reasons to unite. Not to group under some political flags but to really gather all together. There are not so many ways to bring together the East and the West, to make the young and the mature closer, to combine different convictions and aspirations into one common national idea of building a free, tolerant and prosperous country. And I believe that this initiative and the concert can help us”

In addition to the concert the Victor Pinchuk Foundation will also be exhibiting 40 of Paul’s paintings at the Pinchuk Art Centre, the largest in Eastern Europe. This will be Paul’s first exhibition in this part of the world. His first art exhibition was in Siegen, Germany in 1999. Paul will personally open the exhibition.

Miley Cyrus's Memoirs...WTF?

Well, slap me silly and f**k me sideways. We interrupt this blog for a rant...

I can not believe that we live in a world where someone feels it is appropriate to whore out their daughter’s life story before she is even old enough to drive. I have nothing against Miley Cyrus, hell she makes better music than most of the artists signed to major labels. There’s nothing wrong with that in the least, but seriously, what can a fifteen-year old (who was born a millionaire) really have to tell me about her life and how it will affect my life? Hell, what can she tell a bunch of twelve-year-old girls that will make a difference? This is coming from someone who never had to worry about where her next meal was coming from or if they would be kicked out of their home. On top of that, there are actors and musicians who have had careers going on two and three decades and I’m not even sure if any of them would be ready to write their memoirs because the climb and journey is not yet over. This is a money grab…and I have to say, it’s blatant and repulsive is taking advantage of someone who actually has a chance at a career.

Bob Leftsetz Mailbag regarding Keith Urban (4/11/08)

Industry columnist Bob Leftsetz usually does a run down of album sales every few weeks with some biting commentary and when it came to Keith Urban, he filled it in with a email he received from a reader, it has been published below in it's entirety. Check out Leftsetz's blog here.

162. Keith Urban "Greatest Hits"

Sales this week: 4,772
Percentage change: -1%
Weeks on: 20
Cume: 513,386

The reason they put out these greatest hits albums is because Wal-Mart
won't stock the catalogue!
_________

Bob:

Your email today got me thinking about this past Weds. night and an earlier email of yours.

Our daughter is 12 and we took her to the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore to see Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Of course Carrie did a nice job but you can see that she has some maturing to do with her stage presence, but all in all a nice show and my daughter loved it.

Then Keith Urban came out. I told my daughter to hang on as I had heard he was good. Now I am not going to do that rock and rock "cred" thing but suffice to say I am 54 and my first of many big concerts was Jimi Hendrix also in that same arena about 4 months before his death.

Keith Urban was fantastic, what a show! One of the best I have EVER seen. Many times over the years I have gone to see big name acts and I find myself checking my watch after an hour or so. When I left Keith's show, I felt I was leaving home after being on vacation, I was bummed out
it was over. WOW. I kept think about it yesterday. I think his audience rapport equals or even exceeds Springsteen's. He really made everyone in the arena feel that he was glad they were there. Great staging too. Went out into the crowd, gave away a guitar and did a nice surprise duet with Carrie (Stop dragging my heart around....they should release it, it was GREAT). It was too loud, but they all are nowadays (maybe I am just getting old!). I have tinnitus (too much loud music) so I wear good quality ear plugs (I know, I'm a dork, but I want to save what is left). His blend of rockers and laid-back acoustic country/rock makes for a nice dynamic. It blew my daughter's mind, she had never seen anything like it and I was glad to be able to share it with her. I listened to his albums for all of my 100 RT mile commute yesterday. $300 well spent.

Just had to tell you,
Denman Schmid

Danny Federici...According to Brian Lisik

I received a number of emails from friends and colleagues after I sent out my review of the final show Danny Federci performed with the E Street Band last month and one shot me right through the heart. It's from friend and musician Brian Lisik whose official website cann be found here and whose MySpace page is here.

He has allowed me to reporduce it here and I thank him for that.

....so I'm driving down Interstate 77, south of Cleveland, where I had just played a set at a place called the Beachland Tavern. Cool club, mediocre show. And I hear "Sandy" come on the radio...some far-off sounding AM oldies station, so of course I turn it up and some voice-over says "Danny Federici, long-time organ and piano man for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band" and I think, "oh man, this can't be good" and I immediately start doing that thing everyone does when they hear something like that: "Now, how old was Danny, etc. etc." I knew he'd been sick of course, but I didn't realize it had been three years and when I heard about the Indianapolis show/special appearance I had to choke back a little something.

Then the song ended, the news report went off air, and I got pulled over by a Copley Township Ohio police officer. Not a State Trooper, and he let me off with a warning, but the most interesting part was when he said "Where are you headed tonight? Where are you coming from? Oh, you're in a band? What kind of music do you play?" and I almost said, "Well, I always wanted to make a record with somebody like Danny Federici, but I guess that's one more thing that won't ever happen."

But I still got Asbury Park, 4th of July. So grazie tanto Danny. And I'll see you around.

Brian

OUTSIDE THE ELMS By Brian Lisik

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Ghosts, Phantoms and Spirits In The Night (In Memory of Danny Federici -RIP (January 23, 1950-April 17, 2008)

Writer's Note:
On March 20, I ventured to Indianapolis, IN to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was a last minute trip and when Danny Federici appeared, I felt hopeful that his battle with melanoma was going to be victorious. I learned earlier this evening that my initial thoughts were wrong. Federici passed earlier today. The Phantom is with us no more and even though I didn't know him, the music world has lost one of the most instinctive musicians to ever play an instrument. I didn't know him personally so I'm not going to even attempt to write a proper eulogy as it would be boring. What you will find below is my review of the Indianapolis show four weeks ago today with featured the final performance by Phantom Dan. Godspeed.
Tony Kuzminski


Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Ghosts, Phantoms and Spirits In The Night
Indianapolis, Indiana-Conseco Fieldhouse
March 20, 2008
By Anthony Kuzminski

When I see a concert, I hope that the artist resonates in a way that moves you beyond the two or three hour performance. There are nights where you want to be entertained and other nights where you NEED to be taken to a higher plane. As the E Street Band descended on stage at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, I knew on this particular night I needed to touch that higher plane and reach an emotional apex that may be tough for the band to reach. Despite my reservations, I found myself absorbed towards the end of the main set where Steve Van Zandt took over vocals for “Long Walk Home’, the defining moment on ‘Magic’ and even though the performances of this number last year were nothing to sneer at, the song has evolved into an epic along the lines of the performances of “Backstreets” from 1978. The performance revealed untold affecting emotions through the sheer power of guitar rock, without relying on sentimentality. Even the uninitiated around me found this to be a seismic watershed moment of the E Street Band at their finest reminding us that it ain’t so sin to be glad you’re alive and let me tell you, this was just one of many goose bump moments of the night.

Opening the show with a spot-on penetrating performance was the triple guitar attack of “Night”. For the next 150-minutes, the band proved to be fixating and focused, even if they never quite reached the emotional and pulverizing highs of the show in Milwaukee three nights earlier. Springsteen’s connection to the crowd and recognition of signs from the pit, made the intimacy of the show much more palpable even from back in the arena. This is sadly something that will be lost when he moves to stadiums in the summer. Right before the fourth song, Bruce asked for a sign to be sent to him, which showed the band and revealed to the crowd; “Please play ‘Prove It’”. I won’t mince words; I personally felt that anyone who had taken the time to make a sign like that should be banned from the pit for life. However, as I began to watch the always fervent and impassioned performance, it struck me that since I had been catching Springsteen shows in Indianapolis, I never recalled seeing “Prove It All Night” live. When I got home, I did a little research and found out that the last time “Prove It All Night” had been performed in Indianapolis was January 8, 1985. So if it was a long time resident of Indy who requested that song, I forgive them.

The next audible (replacing “Growing Up” on the handwritten set list) was “Rendezvous” which was a welcomed switch as the band immediately found their groove on this under appreciated and underperformed gem. The thunder clapping hysterics of “Reason To Believe” and “She’s The One” left the Hoosier crowds mouths agape once again. The whole evening was on overdrive until the usual set stalling “Livin’ In The Future”, which once again, silenced the enlivening crowd. On this particular night, the song reached a new low as the shtick went over like a John Mellencamp song at a John McCain rally. Sadly, “Future” feels forced, cold and calculated and the performance never takes off. Say what you want about the bloated delivery of “Mary’s Place” and “Tenth Avenue Freezeout”, but they did connect and warrant attention even in their ballooned form. The only interaction during “Livin’ In The Future” comes from the pit. Springsteen’s inability to eschew not just this song, but the politics he speaks about surprises me (even if my political affiliations tend to lean towards Springsteen’s). Five people in my row got up, left their seats and never returned as a result of the PSA. Considering he has such a rich, varied and diverse catalog, it continually shocks me to see him perform this anemic number night after night with the PSA…why not let the music do the talking? “Born in the USA”, “Living Proof” and “Souls of the Departed” would fit better thematically, emotionally and pacing wise. However, despite what I feel, I don’t expect to see a single show on this entire tour without “Livin’ In The Future”.

Despite the friction “Future” left upon the crowd, a release was right around the corner. Instead of cuing the band to immediately segue into “The Promised Land”, Bruce walked up to the microphone and introduced Danny Federici, a most welcomed surprise. For those who are reading this review and are unaware, Federici took a leave of absence from the band last fall for treatment to melanoma. He apparently is doing very well and it showed. His invigorated playing defied expectations on “Spirit in the Night”. I’ve seen the song performed a number of times over the years, but tonight’s version was bluesy and boisterous with an extended organ intro. It even got the nosebleeds on their feet. “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” was sweet, soulful and evocative. As Danny was front and center on stage with his accordion, the scoring on his face spoke volumes. This isn’t just a musician or a face in the crowd, but a long standing friend of Springsteen’s who has been with him since the beginning. When people look up at Federici, they don’t just see an A-grade musician; they see a tale of friendship they relates to their lives as well. We all face mortality sooner or later and to those of us who have lost loved ones too son, this is a reminder of how short and precious life truly is. Watching the ethereal performance of “Sandy” made me think of those I know who have lost loved ones in the last few years and how lucky we all are, including Danny, to be here in the moment and experiencing not just music, but life.

Danny retreated from the stage for the remainder of the main set, but returned for the entire encore which opened with “Backstreets” making the epic song a tad more emotional on this particular evening. Following in quick succession was the smoky-sweet “Kitty’s Back” which found Federici stealing the show. One thing Danny never gets enough credit for is what an intuitive musician he truly is. I despise the song “Your Own Worse Enemy” from ‘Magic” yet I’ll occasionally listen to it to hear the alluring organ which almost (but not quite) redeems the song. “Kitty’s Back” is a song I’ve amazingly seen many times in concert from small theaters to stadiums and aside from a few Convention Hall performances, tonight’s was about as good as it gets. Danny’s masterful fills were full of grandeur and remind us of what an integral part he is to the E Street Band, who fed off his energy and found themselves clearly in the zone not just on this particular song but throughout the whole night.

As the band reached the climactic end, Springsteen took changed the channel from “The 70’s Show” (eleven of the twelve pre-2000 songs were from this decade) for a fierce full throttle “Dancing In The Dark” which found a childlike Springsteen taking a young girl from the crowd to dance with not just once, but multiple times. As the band hit the spot with the “American Land” finale, I couldn’t help but sit back in amazement at the indefinable quality Springsteen and the E Street Band bring to their shows nightly. I’ll be the first to admit, that over the last year I have lost faith in this band. However the band reminded the crowd in Indianapolis a fundamental lesson; that when you need it, rock n’ roll will enthuse and transform. On this particular night the band proved to me they still have the goods and that they can indeed prove it every night when they want to. After the final note had been performed Danny Federici made his final public bows to the Indianapolis crowd and at the time, I was hoping I would see him again. Sadly this was not meant to be. While he will physically never grace the stage with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ever again, I'll never forget the intensity, charm, wit and instinctive talents he brought to Springsteen's music. He may be gone, but will never be forgotten. Whenever Bruce and the band hit the stage for a live performance, the Phantom will look over them like a spirit in the night who will hopefully always inspire them to greater heights.

(Originally published on antiMusic)

The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (IMAX) Review (on antiMusic)

Fifteen-minutes into the start of Shine A Light the IMAX screen transposes from only using a portion of the screen into a full blown affair with the band jump starting the ferocious "Jumpin' Jack Flash"; Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood's flash their guitars like switch blades, Charlie Watts drum beat is adept, swift and downright dirty while the ever ostentatious Mick Jagger coasts on stage like a general leading his troops into battle with more drive than most musicians two generations removed. This is a band of soldiers united ready to fight not just the battle but the war. Who are they fighting? In short, every naysayer who has blasted the band since the 1960's saying their popularity had peaked and would never last. By the end of the film, it's safe to say the band was beyond victorious. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show…the world's greatest rock n' roll band; The Rolling Stones.

It is almost fruitless to write about the Rolling Stones as they're the world's preeminent rock n' roll band no matter how you feel about them. They've done it all and are still managing to do it today. As their new IMAX film, Shine A Light flies into theaters we're reminded just why they continue to defy expectations and not fall into a category labeled nostalgia. I was fortunate to see five of the shows on their last tour spreading a thirteen month period. Each and every night they never ceased to astonish me with their fountain of youth mentality that makes these songs continually refreshing, imperative and relevant. It's with this vivacity that the band set out to capture the band at this moment in time on film so future generations of rockers in their sixties will watch with mouths agape. To ensure they get it right, they enlisted the help of director Martin Scorsese whose skilled camera and intense drive for intimacy deliver a film and performance unlike any in the band's forty-six year career. Ironically, back in April 1998, I witnessed the Stones in an arena for the first time and the intimacy compared to the vastness of stadiums I had become used to make it feel like I was seeing them in a club. A day later I ventured to Indiana to present my senior thesis, Martin Scorsese: The Great American Narrator. Ten years to the month later, the Stones and Scorsese are headlining IMAX screens across the world; the world's most preeminent rock n' roll band and the greatest living director.

Read the rest here

John Mellencamp Summer 2008 Tour Announced w/ Lucinda Williams

MELLENCAMP SETS SUMMER TOUR DATES IN CONJUNCTION WITH ALBUM RELEASE: LIFE, DEATH, LOVE AND FREEDOM IN STORES JULY 15

Bloomington, IN - April 15 - John Mellencamp will begin his summer tour this July on top of the release of his 23rd career album, Life, Death, Love and Freedom. The greatly anticipated tour kicks off on Tuesday, July 8th at Philadelphia’s Mann Music Center with more dates to follow that will bring John and the band to play on both coasts as well as the middle of the country over the course of almost four weeks on the road. It’s the iconic artist’s first tour since his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.

Mellencamp and his touring band will be highlighting new songs from the album as well as a broad spectrum of repertoire reflecting four decades of recording and touring. Tour markets include Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and others. Mellencamp began performing unreleased songs from Life, Death, Love and Freedom, last year within his concert set. The new songs were enthusiastically received by audiences and critics, alike, in the American Midwest, North East as well as across Canada.

Writing in the Grand Rapids Press, John Sinkevics noted, “Mellencamp expertly straddled that line all night long – delivering the expected as well as the surprising.”

The Calgary Herald’s Eric Volmers wrote, “New songs, like a soaring rocker with a stirring anti-racism message, showed that the songwriter is still an artist, not merely a jukebox.”

Jeffrey Lee Puckett, in his Louisville Courier-Journal review, observed, “Instead of the youthful rebelliousness of decades past, I saw an artist, parent and American who is pondering what will be left for future generations expressing genuine concerns about what tomorrow will bring. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such raw emotional vulnerability from an arena artist who has sold millions of records.”

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix called Mellencamp “the Poet Laureate of the Interstate” while The Nation suggested, “Mellencamp has repeatedly taken career-risking anti-war, anti-racist and anti-poverty stands that other celebrities of his stature tend to avoid.”

Following a recent benefit for New York’s Housing Works, Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times, “...he hasn’t forgotten his insolent guitar riffs or the defiant streak [that] he now channels into populist convictions.”

Mellencamp and the band, consisting of Mike Wanchic (guitar), Andy York (guitar), Miriam Sturm (violin), Dane Clark (drums), Jon Gunnell (bass), and Troye Kinnett (keyboards) recorded Life, Death, Love and Freedom at Mellencamp’s Belmont Mall studio, near Bloomington, Indiana, working with producer T Bone Burnett.

Three time Grammy® Award winner Lucinda Williams will be on the concert bill for most of the upcoming Mellencamp dates.

In keeping with a policy that started more than ten years ago, members of the official John Mellencamp fan club, Club Cherry Bomb, will be offered early access to premium concert tickets and concert ticket packages via an internet pre-sale available through John's website Mellencamp.com.

JOHN MELLENCAMP SUMMER 2008 WITH OPENING ACT LUCINDA WILLIAMS

July 8 Mann Music Center - Philadelphia, PA
July 9 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY
July 11 PNC Bank Arts Center - Holmdel, NJ
July 14 Bank of America Pavilion - Boston, MA
July 15 Bank of America Pavilion - Boston, MA
July 18 DTE Energy Music Theatre - Clarkston, MI
July 22 Charter One Pavilion @ Northerly Island - Chicago, IL
July 23 Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH
July 25 Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK*
July 27 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO
July 30 Santa Barbara Bowl- Santa Barbara, CA
July 31 Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Aug 2 Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA
* - Lucinda Williams will not perform at this show.
{Photo Credit}

Essential Reading...The Audio Project (Bon Jovi, INXS, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters content)

My good mate from Australia, Adam, is really venturing out and making his blog, The Audio Project a daily read for me. He writes from the gut and about a wide variety of music, most of which I largely identify with. Check his blog out here.

Here are some posts you should check out:

Getting tickets to see Bon Jovi at Madison Square Garden

Video Participants from Nickelback's "Rockstar"

A passionate composition about the INXS song “Don’t Change”

Plus...

Rock vs. Hair, a discussion to determine if the length of one’s locks means anything in terms of how good their music is.

Bookmark the site!

xT

Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi Jamming in Dallas (4/13/08)-Pic Included

Bon Jovi and Springsteen have been playing back to back nights out West the last few weeks and the “guest appearance” finally happened last night. Jon Bon Jovi joined Springsteen and the E Street Band in the encore for a spirited “Glory Days”. Jon is no stranger to the song as he previously guested with Bruce on “Glory Days” in Europe in the spring of 1993. Bon Jovi also used to sound check the song regularly during the Slippery When Wet tour and even through it into the middle of their “Sleep When I’m Dead” medley back in 1995. Here’s to hoping it happens again in Florida in the coming weeks.

Previous Boss and Bon Jovi Jams:
"It's My Life" Asbury Park, NJ 2003

{photographs by Alan Chitlik as they appear on Backstreets Magazine}

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Ghosts, Phantoms and Spirits In The Night (Indianaplois Review from 3/20/08-on antiMusic)

Indianapolis, Indiana
Conseco Fieldhouse
March 20, 2008

When I see a concert, I hope that the artist resonates in a way that moves you beyond the two or three hour performance. There are nights where you want to be entertained and other nights where you NEED to be taken to a higher plane. As the E Street Band descended on stage at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, I knew on this particular night I needed to touch that higher plane and reach an emotional apex that may be tough for the band to reach. Despite my reservations, I found myself absorbed towards the end of the main set where Steve Van Zandt took over vocals for "Long Walk Home', the defining moment on 'Magic' and even though the performances of this number last year were nothing to sneer at, the song has evolved into an epic along the lines of the performances of "Backstreets" from 1978. The performance revealed untold affecting emotions through the sheer power of guitar rock, without relying on sentimentality. Even the uninitiated around me found this to be a seismic watershed moment of the E Street Band at their finest reminding us that it ain't so sin to be glad you're alive and let me tell you, this was just one of many goose bump moments of the night.

Opening the show with a spot-on penetrating performance was the triple guitar attack of "Night". For the next 150-minutes, the band proved to be fixating and focused, even if they never quite reached the emotional and pulverizing highs of the show in Milwaukee three nights earlier. Springsteen's connection to the crowd and recognition of signs from the pit, made the intimacy of the show much more palpable even from back in the arena. This is sadly something that will be lost when he moves to stadiums in the summer. Right before the fourth song, Bruce asked for a sign to be sent to him, which showed the band and revealed to the crowd; "Please play 'Prove It'". I won't mince words; I personally felt that anyone who had taken the time to make a sign like that should be banned from the pit for life. However, as I began to watch the always fervent and impassioned performance, it struck me that since I had been catching Springsteen shows in Indianapolis, I never recalled seeing "Prove It All Night" live. When I got home, I did a little research and found out that the last time "Prove It All Night" had been performed in Indianapolis was January 8, 1985. So if it was a long time resident of Indy who requested that song, I forgive them.

Read the rest of the review HERE

Bon Jovi Madison Square Garden Announcement July 14th and July 15th 2008

American Express Cardmembers get tickets MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2008 @ 10AM - SUNDAY, APRIL 20 @ 10PM, before tickets go on sale to the general public on MONDAY, APRIL 21 @ 10AM.

Jul 14 7:30pm $49.50 - $304.50
Jul 15 7:30pm $49.50 - $304.50

Tickets go on sale April 21, 2008 10:00 AM

More info here

The Rolling Stones: Live Chicago 10/11/06 Soldier Field Review (Repost)

The Rolling Stones: Rocking The Cold Chicago Night
Soldier Field-Chicago, IL
October 11, 2006
By Anthony Kuzminski

When I launched this blog, the very first review I did was of the Rolling Stones show from Chicago a few weeks earlier. It was 28 degrees, was 14-months into a two-year world tour and it was the single best show I have ever seen by them. The review below explains why. I only hope I did them justice. So in honor of Shine A Light being released, here's an older review for you all to enjoy.
xTony
4/10/08

I’ve seen upwards of 300 concerts in my short lifetime and of the ones I have seen outdoors, I have been blessed with blue skies, sunshine and warm temperatures, even for the shows I’ve seen in the month of October. A fine example being Bruce Springsteen’s tour finales at Shea Stadium in 2003 –which proved to be chillier than normal for that time of year – however, nothing could have prepared anyone for the weather that greeted the Rolling Stones at Chicago’s Soldier Field on October 11^th. In short, my luck for outdoor shows finally ran out. The temperature at show time was around 32 degrees and that was without the blistering wind chill which took the temperature below freezing. If you are a local Chicagoan, every news report and review written about the show focused on this fact and in what outfits the band were attired when they hit the stage. What such reports and reviews had neglected to mention was that the band gave one of the most illustrious performances of their nearly forty-five year career and performed a number of songs that have rarely been played live. As I read the daily newspapers reviews of the show, I sat there dumbfounded as they discussed and dissected everything except the music. They were far too concerned with the enormity of the spectacle, the weather and how people would keep warm rather than the musicianship and adventurous set, which the band brought to Chicago for seemingly customized showcasing. I came to the realization that virtually all of these reviews were done by people who are some how connected to the business of entertainment and yet they know nothing about it; I’m here to set the record straight. This isn’t some sort of exaggeration or fan boy review, but merely fact; the Rolling Stones proved to the Chicago faithful, who braved the extreme weather, why they are indeed the world’s greatest rock n’ roll band.

The Stones hit the stage as the winds reached new levels almost knocking members of the band over in the process; however, this was no ordinary band. As their scrawny frames took the stage they blissfully segued into the surprising “You Got Me Rocking”, a non-standard opener which set the accelerated course for unchartered waters on this chilly evening. It is important to note this show marked the Stones ninth stop in Chicago over the last four years. During this time, they have performed some of the most audacious shows of their career in clubs, stadiums and arenas. Perhaps it was the weather, coupled with the band’s desire to prove something to those who braved the chilling air, in any event, tonight was going to be unlike any Rolling Stones show the Windy City had ever witnessed. For the next hour, the band pulled out one surprise after another. The set list had more in common with their best club gigs from 2002 and 2003 rather than the predictable stadium set. “Live With Me” and “Monkey Man” were both delivered with urgent precision. Neither song has been a staple in any of their sets, but both songs have been performed on a regular basis going back to 1994. However, it would be the chosen rarities that would define the evening. The first jaw-dropping moment occurred during “Sway”, a song that before last year had never been performed live in its thirty-five year history. I was hoping it would appear during the band two-night arena run last January, but needless good things come to those who wait and it was delivered with seductive fervor. There raw energy with which Ron Wood delivered his solo with meticulousness also brought the crowd to its feet. Personally, I always believed Ron was a loose cannon on the concert stage, but he has proven himself over the last few tours to be the bands secret weapon waiting in the wings. There is more than a smattering of the sublime involved, whenever one bears witness to the exhibition on Ronnie’s inner light with the guitar strapped around his neck. Much like “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” (also from 1971’s Sticky Fingers), one wonders why it took the band so long to perform this one live.

If seeing “Sway” live wasn’t enough, the band was primed to blow any and all expectations out of the water with the next number, “She Was Hot”. I’ve been blessed to see tour premiers before, but I’ve never seen the Stones be this adventurous fourteen months into a world tour. In the past, they usually find their groove and cycle songs in and out of the set list. However, this tour has found them pushing the envelope in ways I never thought imaginable. Mick Jagger belted the lyrics out with extreme fervor, partly to stay warm and largely because he means it. If the Stones had not announced this was a world premiere, no one would have given this performance a second thought as the band delivered this number as if it had been a nightly staple for decades. And yet again, Ron Wood delivered the slide solo as meticulously as Richards’ straight forward guitar work was precise. Not only was “She Was Hot” the evening’s biggest highlight, but it was also one of the defining live experiences of my life.

Proving they don’t fully relegate themselves to nostalgia the band delivered a spare performance of “Streets of Love”- one of the best tracks on A Bigger Bang (2005). The band did not begin to perform this number until Europe this summer and now they have found their stride with this song. Ron Wood delivered a nimble and dramatic solo as Jagger’s vocal illustrated the song’s underlying warmth. The extended coda added to the end of the ballad took the song to an epic status proving this song deserves to be head and regarded as a modern classic.

The Stones could have called it a night and left the stage and I would have been ecstatic, but they proved showed that there was still much for them to prove with a durable rendition of “Tumbling Dice”. An ever bigger surprise was the defiant and immediate performance of “Midnight Rambler”; the latter which lasted over twelve-minutes with an extended intro showcasing drummer Charlie Watts and Jagger’s harmonica. The bluesy version seemed extra special tonight as the band channeled the Chicago blues legends that influenced them. Keith Richards solo spotlight has found the rock n’ roll pirate unearth two chestnuts not often performed; “You’ve Got The Silver” from 1969’s Let It Bleed and “Little T&A” from 1981’s Tattoo You, the latter of which hasn’t been performed live in almost a quarter of a century.

Your average band would coast through the finale, but not tonight. Daryl Jones’ trashy blues bass and Richards’ gritty riff brought roars to the crowd as the band soared into “Under My Thumb”, as the B-stage made its way to the back of the stadium. The evening could have come to an abbreviated end after “Under My Thumb” due to the severe weather but the band pushed forward with a fired up delivery of “Rough Justice” (which will hopefully be performed with regularity on future tours), the gusty riffs of “Start Me Up” and the seductive “Honky Tonk Woman” which brought the band back to the main stage. As if all this was still not enough the band ran through the requisite hits with a visceral “Sympathy For The Devil”, the seditious “Jumpin' Jack Flash” and culminating with the set ending shot gun riff of “Satisfaction”. The Hot Rocks portion of the evening kept the crowd moving and shaking which allowed for increased body heat. Even more shocking was that under layers of clothes, the band moved and shook like a band a generation younger (I saw Bon Jovi in Soldier Field in July with temperature fifty degrees higher, and yet they did not move as fluidly as these rock elders). Mick Jagger canvassed and pranced across the entire stage like an up and coming rocker who was a mere twenty year old. The sole encore, “Brown Sugar” left the crowd on a high they would not soon forget. As the fireworks display lit up the sky, those in the stadium felt something far stronger as the Stones warmed our hearts with arguably one of the most storied performances of their illustrious career.

While the weather proved to be harsh, the musicianship served as the ornamental antidote, as it brought out all that glitters in the Rolling Stones. From a song-count perspective, it may have been one of the bands shorter shows, however tonight was not about record length but emotional impact. They are still a lean and mean touring machine and as far as I’m concerned, they’re still the best this world has to offer. Despite what any of the naysayer’s may have said, the Rolling Stones delivered their biggest bang yet.

Originally published through Unrated Magazine

Springsteen in Milwaukee Review (3/17/08) up on antiMusic

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: The Shamrock Shuffle E Street Style
Milwaukee, WI - March 17, 2008

Three songs into Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's St. Patrick's Day show in Milwaukee, I found myself nervous I would see a solid show, albeit one where the band coasted on material they knew like the back of their hand. As the ever conventional "Lonesome Day" ended, Springsteen stood front and center and the E Street Band manically tore through the opening to "Streets of Fire", a forgotten gem from 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. However, unlike some performances of the song in 2003, this time an angry jolt paired with manic hydraulics from the band made the performance not just incendiary but flat out devastating. This was one of these songs I never imaged ever seeing live, let alone having it be so unyielding and definitive. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why legions of fans travel far and wide to see Bruce Springsteen, because one never knows what magic may occur on any given night at any city in the world.

Milwaukee has always had a rich history with Bruce Springsteen from the infamous "Bomb Scare" show back in 1975 to being the second region where he played an outdoor show (Alpine Valley in 1984) to the bands explosive penultimate finale of their 2003 tour to the wondrous 'Devils and Dust' tour where he aired five songs from 'Nebraska'. Milwaukee has always been the Midwest version of Philadelphia to Springsteen. I'm not sure why, but the performances always seem to be a step above the rest and the St. Patrick's Day special was no exception. On "Streets of Fire", Springsteen's guitar work lit up the sky as the band oozed with determination and defiance. "Gypsy Biker", feeding off of the energy from "Streets", ventured into another realm on this evening with some searing guitar work by Van Zandt and Springsteen. The performance of this particular song was elevated because of what had preceded it proving that shaking things up and challenging yourselves can reap huge rewards.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE ON antiMusic.com

Springsteen Clobbering California (Anaheim recap)

I’ve never walked away from a Springsteen show feeling like I wasted money. However since he launched the Magic tour last fall I’ve been relatively negative about the shows in general; the shows have slightly become shorter, the ticket prices have gone up, you now have to take a half day of work to have a “chance” of entering the GA pit and lastly Bruce and the E Street band have been parading a new album (which I initially underestimated) that ultimately has issues when performed live and confuses more than it inspires. In some ways, when any artist plays more than six or seven songs off a new album, even if you are Bruce Springsteen, it’s wildly self indulgent. Now, I’m not going to lie, as much as I enjoyed the three shows I saw last fall, I witnessed the rustiest I have ever seen the E Street Band. The good news is that they found their muse, Steve Van Zandt has been reborn as Bruce’s primary foil and the set list has seen some major shake-ups in the last few weeks.

Last night the band played their second show in Anaheim, CA and the twenty-five song set list is just flat out sickening. Even more shocking, is that he shook up the set towards the end dropping “The Rising” and “Devil’s Arcade”. Even if they are great songs and performances, sometimes you need to shake things up to give the show a fresh feel. Then there’s this middle six-pack that is nothing short of thunderous and exhausting:

Atlantic City
Candy's Room
Reason to Believe
Prove It All Night
Because the Night
She's the One

Then there’s Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello (and fellow Chicagoan) showing up for a complete and total reinvention of “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, something I have been calling for since the band reunited in 1999 and only now is seeing the light of day. {Video Link of Performance}
What gives? I’m not sure…but I’m happy to see it. Now if we could get some expanded ARENA dates in the summer and fall. These shows will lose something if the tour moves out to nothing but stadiums, so I’m secretly hoping for some more arena shows in the fall. Fort a full report and a look at all of the set lists from the last week, check out Backstreets.

Setlist:
Thunder Road
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Murder Incorporated
Magic
Atlantic City
Candy's Room
Reason to Believe
Prove It All Night
Because the Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Brilliant Disguise
The Ghost of Tom Joad (w/ Tom Morello)
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
Out in the Street
* * *
Meeting Across the River
Jungleland
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
American Land

{Picture Credit}

Springsteen Week on antiMusic

antiMusic is celebrating its 10 Year Anniversary this month and this week they're running a special on Springsteen covering my three reivews from last month. The Omaha, NE review can be found here.

Make sure you check out The Day in Rock and other assorted review right here.

Is Axl Rose Headed To Reality TV?

A very interesting article has appeared online here. Whether or not it is true or not remains to be seen. It makes sense and could prove to be beneficial not just to the new GNR but to their record label as well. I have a feeling that when Chinese Democracy is finally released, it will surprise people and after some time, be heralded as a minor classic. This is my hunch and I am sticking to it...in the meantime check out the article below.
xT

Is Axl Rose Headed To Reality TV?
A major music-oriented television channel has pitched an idea for a reality series to Axl Rose, according to sources close to the project.

The show, which would appear on a cable channel that asked not to be identified, would follow the troubled rocker as his continues his decade-long effort to release the Guns N' Roses project "Chinese Democracy."

Rose has been laboring on tracks for the project on-and-off since mid-1994, and in both 2006 and 2007 gave several interviews promising the album would be finished "within the year."

The sound of Chinese Democracy has often reported to be industrial rock music similar to Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, a style that Rose had long been a fan of. But the tracks that have surfaced online show a variety of sounds, with tinges of everything from Ministry to Queen to classic Guns N' Roses.

According to sources at Geffen (Rose's music label) a version of "Chinese Democracy" has been finished and delivered to the label. But there are still outstanding issues between the singer and the label, not the least of which is a recording cost for the project which (depending on who you believe), has reached between $11 and $15 million. Another stickler is the digital rights for the tracks, along with some proposed "bonus" tracks Geffen would like to release digitally.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE

Bon Jovi Summer Tour Update (4/8/08)

There should be some confirmation in the coming days, but look for two East Coast shows (in the same city) to be announced shortly. They will be indoors, there will apparently only be a few shows and they will not be on the weekend.

With a Detroit show announced for 7/7 and a Canadian show on 7/6, this should squash rumors that there will be no further shows in Europe after June.

That's all I am giving you...
:-)
{Photo Link}

Why are Counting Crows & Maroon 5 Lawn Tickets $52.80 ($22.80 above Face Value)?

Go here and be appalled.
LIVE NATION Recipt for 1 $30.50 Lawn Ticket to the Counting Crows/Maroon 5=$52.80

When did someone take the music from the people? I've always been an admirerer of the Counting Crows and maybe I think they deserve more credibility than they get, but they're not making my job easy. I just found out today that they will be in Chicago on 8/22, my birthday, and top tickets will cost $151. In what kind of a wacked world is it that your tickets cost more than Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Buffet, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Billy Joel...OK, you get my point.

Now, just when i wanted to give the Crows props for having a $30.50 lawn ticket, I went through the screens to see how much the Ticketbastard fee's would be and it's a whopping $22.30 OVER the face value of the ticket:

8/22/08 7:00 PM Counting Crows & Maroon 5 LAWN L1 103 $30.50 Parking Fee $6.00
Convenience Fee $11.15
$47.65
Delivery Fee $0.00
Order Fee $5.15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$52.80
Grand Total: $52.80

And people wonder why concert attendance is down?

What mystifies me even more is that the Counting Crows new album, Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings is the type of album that requires multiple listens to be fully digested. Hell, I've listened to it once a day for the last ten days and I'm still trying to get my head around it. This is an album whose emphasis has strongly been on the complete listening experience of THE ALBUM...not the single, but two divergent and ethereal moods over two sides of a record (back when there were records).

Is a ampitheater with Maroon 5 opening the optimum place to see new songs from the new album? The Coutning Crows will play 90-minutes if they are fortunate and I can not see people walking away with single tracks being performed off this new record and wanting to delve deeper into it. For some people music is about keeping your mind busy between point A and point B...and for others like me, it's about salvation and renewal. I want to take that big 12-inch record and be mystified, not get it and over time have the songs grow on me. I want to go to the concert and see a once in a lifetime performance of all the new songs and walk away going "Man, I was wrong about the album, it came alive in concert, I need to revisit it when I get home".

None of this is going to happen in a co-headline ampitheater setting! I remember when the Crows played Chicago in the summer of 1994 and opened the show with "Mr. Jones"...their hit single...they blew their load in the opening five minutes. Needless to say, the place was up for grabs at that point and Adam Duritz told the crowd, "Those of you who came to only see that one song can go home now". A shed brings out the worse crowds for a band like the Counting Crows and what frustrates me is that the importance of the music and their new album will be lost on the twenty-something crowd as they stand in line to use the washroom and buy beer and the thirty-something crowd will be pissed they're not hearing "Mr. Jones" and "That song from the 'Schrek' movie".

This was an album destined for a theater tour. Yes, I know the band is doing one-off gigs here and there and are ever doing Soundstage in my own backyard of Chicago, alas for people who are huge contributors to PBS and not fans like me. When the show eventually airs in November of this year, will anyone remember the Coutning Crows released a new record this year?

UPDATES WRITER'S NOTE:

It came to my attention that the band is now offering 4 lawn tickets for $121, which helps one save on service fee's, alas if you can find three other people to go with you. This IS a good deal and I give them and Live Nation props for coming up with this. But, still, $151 to be up close?