Legends of Hip Hop Tour

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Tonight was Salt n Pepa’s Legends of Hip Hop tour at Shea’s with Lindsay and Alex. I’ve seen Run DMC and Sugar Hill Gang, but this was really my first hip hop show. And it was quite an interesting experience. If you want to see an enthusiasic crowd with lots of participation, go to an old school hip hop show. It had to be the most energetic and excited crowd I’ve seen in a long time, if not ever. It was amusing. And I can’t say I fit in AT ALL, but it was a cool happy party vibe.

So the show was Rob Base, Kurtis Blow, Doug E Fresh, Whodini and Salt n Pepa. I can’t say I was really familiar with what got played, but I did recognize songs here and there, and I used to loooove SnP back in the 90s. Each set was 20-30 minutes I think, even SnP’s, and it was one after another (no set changes when you just have djs haha). SnP played what you would expect (Whatta Man, Shoop, Push It) and older stuff I sorta recognized but didn’t know real well.

It was cool to see, and just a very different experience from a rock show. Had fun, glad I went 🙂

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30 Seconds to Mars – Rapids Theatre, Niagara Falls NY

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This will be a quick review of the show. I am only familiar with 30stm’s first album, and then some radio singles, but I figured it was a night off of work, and it should be a good rock show to balance out seeing Salt n Pepa in a few days haha.

Opener was Middle Class Rut, and were fairly generic. Just 2 guys, singer/guitarist and drummer/singer. The guitarist would be better suited in a Jane’s Addiction cover band because he sounded just like Perry Farrel.

To be honest 30stm was underwhelming. I’ve seen many many bands where I have been unfamiliar with all or most of their catalog, who have still impressed me. I went into this show hoping to leave wanting to get their other albums, but alas that didn’t happen. They didn’t play anything from their 1st album, so I really only knew 4 or 5 songs, and those not very well. As Bliss put it at the end of the show, it was pretty much “the audience sings to 30stm”, with Jared Leto singing a few words and holding out the mic for the audience to sing. I half think it’s because the way he sings seems like it would be difficult to recreate live night after night, or that he just is not a good singer, I don’t really know. But it was alot of audience participation and not alot of Jared singing. I wondered if they just had an off night, and Leighanne, who had seen them twice before, said it wasn’t the best show she’s seen, so I guess my take isn’t all that off.

Now Rapids Theatre…I had been there for the Tea Party in 04 or 05, and Lacuna Coil/Stone Sour in 07, then it closed for a while. And wow what an improvement. It no longer feels dirty, and like the decorative ceiling is going to fall down on you. New owners spent millions on restoration work and it shows. It was a great place to see a show even when it was falling down, but definitely more comfortable now. It’s a good size for a small venue, interesting leveled floor setup and a nice balcony. I hope they have more good shows coming in the future.

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lady gaga toronto

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headed up to toronto with steph, meredith and laura to see lady gaga at the air canada center. stopped for dinner at the village idiot pub, checked into the hotel, then a few more drinks at elephant and castle before cabbing it to the ACC. it is weird to me to go to a show where i haven’t sat in line all day, so that when you get there you don’t know what gate or entrance you’re supposed to go to haha. got in and staked a claim on spots about 25 feet from the stage.

semi precious weapons opened, and they were freaking fabulous bowie/hedwig type glam rock. very entertaining.

gaga…everyone seemed surprised that i’d go see her, but i find her songs to be pretty good pop songs, and she is interesting to me. first impression, her face is still funny looking in person and she’s pretty short. but she sang live, with backup singers and some recorded back up, and i give credit to that. pretty much no one sings live anymore if they dance or have an active stage presence. she had a whole crew of dancers which made me think of janet jackson and her “kids”. it had been a long time since i’d seen a pop show, so much was reminiscent of MJ and Madonna (and janet), but i guess probably all pop shows are. she had a ton of costume changes, and set changes as the sort of “story” of the Monster Ball unfolded. i’m pretty sure this setlist is not right, as after speechless she did a new song I think she said was called “you and i”, and i don’t know if that replaced “so happy i could die”, or if she played that too. but the rest is probably spot on.

Dance in the Dark
Glitter and Grease
Just Dance
Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
Vanity
The Fame
Love Game
Boys Boys Boys
Money Honey
Telephone
Brown Eyes
Speechless
So Happy I Could Die Play Video
Monster
Teeth
Alejandro
Pokerface
Paparazzi
Bad Romance

overall, it was a good pop show. the people watching was great, many dressed up in gaga outfits, or just dressed up glittery and feathery and fab.

after the show we hit up the hotel again before going out. went someplace in the gayborhood that was like a sauna inside, and you couldn’t take drinks onto the patio so we only stayed for one, and then went off to the bovine sex club (relax it’s just a bar!), because semi precious weapons had said they’d be doing another set there after the main show. not knowing what time they were going to be there at, we actually only saw their last song, but it was a pretty cool place so we stayed there til it closed. kinda biker-y type place with all kinds of creepy crap hanging all over the walls and ceiling. my kind of place. got some cheap yummy falafel at a 24 hr place down the street before calling it a night.

good times good times!

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Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie @ Artpark

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gruesome twosome tour with rob zombie and alice cooper came into lewiston for their final tour date (which we did not know). eric, adr2 and bliss and i headed out, we had seats inside the main building at artpark. i had not been to artpark since high school graduation TWELVE years ago gaah! i like it there, they should have more shows.

we had assumed rob zombie would play first, but we were wrong and alice came onto stage to “schools out” and continued on with the majority of the 5 alice songs i know LOL. alice is fantastic. he truely is the godfather of that whole “shock rock” genre and despite not being super familiar with his music he does not disappoint. he broke out all the major theatrics that he is known for – the guillotine, gallows, spike box thing, straight jackets, etc. no snakes though. he played for about an hr 20, and the show was highly entertaining. i don’t know if it’s sad, or amusing, but i spend my time watching shows thinking “oh that’d be a nice shot” or “that’s a great pose for a photo” etc. alice’s show is full of awesome photo opportunities haha. i’m lame.

Setlist:
School’s Out
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I’m Eighteen
Wicked Young Man
Ballad Of Dwight Fry
Go To Hell
Guilty
Cold Ethyl
Poison
From The Inside
Nurse Rozetta
Be My Lover
Only Women Bleed
I Never Cry
Black Widow Jam
Vengeance Is Mine
Dirty Diamonds
Billion Dollar Babies
Killer
I Love The Dead
Elected (complete with MirrorBall Man outfit ha)
Under My Wheels

so rob zombie followed. i had seen rob zombie at ozzfest several years ago as the headliner of the 2nd stage. i remember being surprised at the time that it was really just him on stage wearing jeans, and walking around singing. there wasn’t much show. this time was completely different, as they had “outfits”, and props, and robots, and video and light screens, and it was much much more what i was expecting from a rob zombie show. again i’m not super familiar with his catalog, only knowing his hits, and one recent album. but he was very entertaining as well, and metal shows are always good haha. i

 

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metallica buffalo

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We only had tickets to the metallica show for, oh, 7 months, and it finally arrived. eric had gotten us floor seats, justifying it with “well it won’t be any worse than other pits we’ve been in”, and in the end it was the most ridiculous GA crowd i’ve ever been in. no it wasn’t rough, there was NO ONE AROUND US…the metallica stage is truly 360 (unlike u2), at center ice, with the crowd fully surrounding the set up. we had been hanging out in the parking lot since 3:15 but didn’t get in any lines until we saw them open the doors inside. we joined into a line which went super fast, and when we got in we could still get rail. that was a surprise to say the least. they really utilize their entire stage, with mics set up for james hetfield all around the stage, so no matter where you stood you were never really “in front” or “in back”. lars drum kit rotated, and the other 3 wandered around all night. but for some reason everyone clumped together in the traditional front and back of the stage. we were toward the side, hanging around with plenty of space. i actually left during the 2 openers to hang out with frank and jenn in the concourse, and when i went back after lamb of god finished i expected to have to fight to get back to eric and his friends – nope. walked right up, STILL. i was amazed. surely the floor would fill in by the time metallica started. nope. had so much room i could have danced like a freak all night and never touched anyone. ridiculous.

so as i said, i left during the openers so i have no comment. they were volbeat and lamb of god.

i am not familiar with a big chunk of metallica’s catalog, so this really was a show where i had absolutely no expectations. i could care less what they played cuz most i don’t know, and could just appreciate it as a sort of outsider. from beginning to end they were really together and on fire, and even tho i hate lars, he didn’t do a bad job hehe. they had pyro as expected (and no one started on fire! ha), which you could definitely feel the heat of on the floor. my only disappointment, if i could have one, was when they came out for the encore they started playing “bleeding me” (eric thinks it was “outlaw torn”) which is one of my favs from “load”, and for whatever reason lars stopped them all. they look confused about it too, but whatever. would have liked to hear that one (or “outlaw torn”, if eric is right, that one is great too).

1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End Of The Line
3. Creeping Death
4. No Remorse
5. One
6. Broken, Beat And Scarred
7. Cyanide
8. Sad But True
9. Turn The Page (Bob Seger cover)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Damage Inc.
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
16. Blitzkrieg (Blitzkrieg cover)
17. Phantom Lord
18. Seek & Destroy

they stayed on stage quite long after “seek and destroy”, throwing out TONS of picks, and drum sticks (which lars wasted, by trying to lamely throw them into a bullseye sign someone had made, and kept missing). it was funny to walk out of the place watching people struggle to deflate the giant black metallica balls that came down from the roof during the last song. i walked out empty handed but that was fine with me, i’d rather have a true fan get souvenirs.

so it was a pretty good show. having hair to headbang with was sorta fun haha. would i pay so much to see them again, i’m not sure. i’m getting old and cheap haha.

oh and btw…my hot water tank exploded sometime between 6:30am and 2:30pm on monday. woke up and went to go to the basement as usual and the carpet was all wet. shit. so after a waterless day, a plumber came around 9pm to look at it, turned the water back on then came at 8am tues morning to replace it. so we’re back in business $1200 later.

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Rolling Stones 1997!

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for some reason or another i’ve been involved in a lot of talk about first concerts, and classic concerts, bands that don’t exist anymore and what not, and it got me wondering what the setlist was for my first Rolling Stones show in 97. god bless the internet

1. Satisfaction
2. It’s Only Rock’n Roll
3. Bitch
4. Let’s Spend The Night Together
5. Gimme Shelter
6. Sister Morphine
7. Anybody Seen My Baby
8. 19th Nervous Breakdown
9. Out Of Control
10. Memory Motel
11. Miss You
— Introductions —
12. All About You (Keith)
13. I Wanna Hold You (Keith)
14. Little Queenie (center stage)
15. Crazy Mama (center stage)
16. The Last Time (center stage)
17. Sympathy For The Devil
18. Tumbling Dice
19. Start Me Up
20. Honky Tonk Women
21. Jumping Jack Flash
22. Brown Sugar (encore)

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Julien-K Buffalo 6-27-09

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saturday was the day of 29797 things to do. work didn’t give me friday off so i could be in toronto in the morning for Carolyn’s wedding so I had to miss that. and they wouldn’t give me saturday off for the terminal’s 80th and for julien k, so i had to call in.

so started the afternoon at the terminal, the party started at 5. hung out manning the new gift shop til i had to leave at 6:30 to adr2’s so we could go to town ballroom for julien-k and combichrist. 4 bands played…first was…displaced? i don’t know, something with a D and they were memorably not good. 2nd was aestetic perfection, who weren’t too bad. julien-k was 3rd, and that’s who i was there to see. last time they were in buffalo, they were supposed to play with black light burns 2 years ago but ryan got sick and they cancelled. so this was a long time coming, and given that i really really love the cd (death to analog) i was excited. i hadn’t seen my orgy boys in a long time, and they make me happy haha. i’d say they were decently entertaining. it is weird to see ryan shuck as a front man, and it seems he’s not quite used to it either. he’s got a surprisingly good voice, i was surprised (on the cd too). he channels jay gordon at times, and other times i was reminded of trevor hurst haha. amir was amir, still cool and calm and perfect on stage. i was satisfied with their set. in no particular order i think they played: death to analog, someday soon, kick the bass, technical difficulties, systeme de sexe, nvr say nvr, look at u, futura. i don’t have anything to say about combichrist because i don’t know their material at all. we saw them open for kmfdm, and they were good, so…yep.

before combichrist went on, they played thriller and surprisingly everyone started cheering, and were dancing around. then during their set, they were asking for cheers for the other 3 bands, and then named “michael jackson” and the whole crowd erupted, loudest they were all night. seriously surprising, an industrial show with people appreciating mj…

before julien-k came on, we were sitting on the floor on the 2nd level and i looked over at the boots this girl was wearing next to me, and there was a random julien-k guitar pick on the floor. yoink! and later some girl came up to me and said her friend wanted to come give me a hug..um ok. so yeah this random guy came over and gave me a hug. later during JK’s set, he walked by on the lower level and grabbed my hand LOL. then i made another friend in line for the bathroom, this girl who would not stop talking to me, and i was like pleaaaase someone get out of a stall so i can get away from this girl! thankfully i didn’t see her the rest of the night. but i did run into danielle, which was weird, considering she’s you know…living in boston lol. she came home specially to see JK and amir recognized her (she’s the rough cutt girl dontyaknow) and gave her his guitar slide.

after, went back to adr2’s and they had made me a birthday cake and we watched Repo the Genetic Opera. i had really wanted to see it tho it looked bad. it was supposedly a rock opera, and it has an interesting concept story line. but…it was not good. it was pretty, but the music, which is sorta key to a rock opera/musical, was unexpectedly bad. and not even bad in a good way. it was just bad. 🙁

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NKOTB!!!

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tonight was new kids on the block with jenn. 19 years later i finally get to see them and it was still super fun, and nice good old pop show. they performed for 2 hours, lots of new stuff that i didn’t know, and pretty much every old song that was at all popular. jordan did a reworked version of his solo hit “give it to you” (super hot) and joe did one of his solo songs as well. and joe doesn’t have tourettes when he is onstage 🙂 they still sound great (better than i remember them sounding live back in the day actually), and they dance and everything. openers were the dance crew jabawokees (sp), who were really good (makes me want to see MJ again), and jessie mccartney (young pop singer, i recognized one of the songs) who reminded me of Cory Heart (sunglasses at night) for some reason, maybe the 80s jacket. ran into mary and her sister, and some girls from work.

yay!

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Ashes Divide @ Water Street

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Ashes Divide at Water Street in Rochester.

Opener was a band called Inner Party System from PA. i thought they were pretty good. a very strong club beat, that uhntz uhntz beat, but with guitars and real lyrics – not just a few repeated words. young guys, good stage presence, seemed professional and not just hacks. i bought their EP cuz it was 5$. it’s not bad, but i think they were more interesting live. they played a half hour non stop, one song just went into the next.

eric arrived right before AD started, good timing hah. billy howerdel is SO skinny and alien like but such a good guitarist. he seemed very shy and not used to being the center of attention. he didn’t talk much, introduced the band, mentioned they’d be back for projekt revolution. they sounded good, i really like the album. i would like to say they played all my favourite songs, but they played the entire album so that’s sorta given. 2nd to last song he announced as a cover…and for the life of me could not recognize the song. until the chorus “if you don’t love me now, you will never love me again” and i thought wait, i know that, isn’t that fleetwood mac? yep. it was “chain” except it had to be the most rocked out version of a fleetwood mac song ever. i’ve heard the real song, and honestly i still can’t think that the AD music was the same hahah. if not for the lyrics i’d not have ever recognized it. it was really awesome. who knew fleetwood mac could be cool! 🙂 since they only have one album and it’s rather short i thought he might play some APC but nope. that’s ok. eric yanked a set list
Sword
Enemies
Too Late
Ritual
Stripped
Wish
Forever
Prey
Defamed
Denial
The Chain
Stone

stayed around for a bit after for billy to sign stuff. i realized on my way to the show that we saw APC open for NIN in toronto 8 years ago…EIGHT! jesus! i can’t believe “mer des noms” has been out for 8 years. so i told billy that, for lack of anything else to say when he signed my cd book.

the coldplay ipod commercial bugs me, because is he really TRYING to be bono now? that could BE bono in that commercial. stop it. bad enough you stole edge’s guitar tone.

speaking of bono, i had a strange dream that i was in london with ang, and sometimes cassie was there, sometimes jenn. we were walking around and we were near our hotel when we saw u2 – or at least bono and edge – standing around outside with a bunch of other people. bono asked us if we knew how long the side door of the hotel was going to be closed for. i told him it wasn’t closed when i had been in london last year (ha). he had a bit of attitude with us, which i expressed to cassie, but still thought he looked hot so i forgave him. later on walking around we ran into them again waiting to cross a street. edge was holding a banjo, or ukulele and would randomly play a few notes every now and then. i kept laughing cuz each time it made me think of the banjo version of “vertigo” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=edSOGPYp3xA). then bono was talking about being fat or something, and rubbing his stomach. so i patted/grabbed his stomach to see how fat it was, and i said it was comfortingly chubby. not too fat, but no rock hard abs or anything. he didn’t seem to mind. ha wtf.

also dreamed about terrorists at the casino.

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Saul Williams in Toronto

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“That’s just Sean Avery being Sean Avery,” Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil said. “It’s kind of like an instigator. He may not be doing anything, but he is initiating.” http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/hockey/nhl/specials/playoffs/2008/04/14/avery.ruling/index.html and that comment coming from chris fucking neil….ha! i gotta say avery’s behavior in front of brodeur is pretty childish, i can’t stand him and i’m glad they made an unsportsmanlike penalty ruling if he does it again but…it is sorta funny haha.

tonight (monday)’s colbert report is the same bit on the political candidates that he ran by us at the UB speech.

tonight was saul williams in toronto with adr2 and tammy. thanks to george w bush and the terrorists, you now need passports or certified birth certificates to go into canada, when in the good old days you didn’t even need your drivers license…i mention this because, you would think having a passport would make crossing the border much easier. but no, that just means i get pulled over and get my car searched. at the booth the lady kept asking us about saul…what kind of music, how did we know him, how’d we know about the show…adr2 knew we were getting pulled over. so when we did, we had to go talk to immigration, which i’ve never had to do and i’ve been pulled over before (i believe this is the 5th time). he checked out our passports and all sorts of stuff in the computer for ages, before going back to the other agents to search my car. the guy searching starts asking us about saul again, we say he’s a rapper, hiphop, spoken word artists. then the guy goes, “is he the messiah?”….what?! what do you say to that? so i said, “some people might think so.” LOL. then he goes into how canada has strict narcotic laws…omg who is he trying to kid, everyone knows pot is almost legal in canada! he insisted he didn’t care if we did drugs as long as there were none in the car. adr2 was offended hahah.

all in all we were at the border for about 45 minutes but still made really good time and got to mod club not long before doors opened. i was starving so we stopped into the grocery store across the street where a lady thought adr2 and i were actresses. tammy arrived after doors opened and we hung out up at the stage.

saul had an opener but she never said what they/she was called. she introduced the band members twice but not herself. she didn’t play long but she had a great voice and the music was interesting…dj, and bongos and another percussion thing, and guitar.

between acts i was saying something to adr2 about being asexual, and this kid who was by us suddenly is like…did you say you were asexual, because so am i! hahah one of my own kind. we ended up talking to him and his cousin the rest of the time and they were hilarious. definitely some of the best crowd people we’ve encountered in a while.

saul came on around quarter to 10. i wish i could tell you what songs he played but i don’t know many of the titles so it’ll be tough. they began with “break” before he came onto stage, but i can’t remember what song they actually performed after that. it was quite excellent. they did almost all the new album and about 5 from his first. he actually had a “band”, cx kidtronic, a guitarist and a keyboardist. they closed with “sunday bloody sunday” which i forget that saul covered, and it was amusing because the guitarist did the “Edge stomp” 🙂 the whole show i kept thinking, it’d be neat if he busted out with “gunshots by computer” since technically it’s his song too but i didn’t think he would. they came back out for a short encore, and he ended up really closing with “gunshots..”…and it was clear from the crowd reaction that everyone there was nin fans haha. anyway. great show. saul was very energetic, all over the place, in the crowd. they had some technical difficulties with the sound on stage, and their tech’s suck, but they over came it and put on a good performance.

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