SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011Motley Crue & The Doors Recreate History

I love history.

Over the past two decades I've been blessed enough to experience firsthand a lot of rock and roll history in the making. Through it all, had anyone told me I would have had the chance to relive the history that got us here, I'd have called them crazy. But that is exactly what happened at this year's Sunset Strip Music Festival.

While most fans looked at the lineup and saw a chance to see Motley Crue and Tommy Lee's remarkable roller coaster drum solo, Public Enemy bring the noise, and Bush return to the Hollywood limelight as part of the annual street festival that shuts down the Sunset Strip between San Vicente and Doheny, I saw significantly more.

I saw the rare opportunity to see two of the biggest acts responsible for shaping the Sunset Strip, on the very grounds they grew up on, on back-to-back nights - Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors performing Friday night, August 19 at the historic Whisky A Go Go, their late-'60s mecca, and Motley Crue performing on the Sunset Strip itself Saturday night, on a stage constructed in front of the Key Club and just a stone's throw from the legendary Rainbow Bar & Grill.

While we can never go back, this proved as close to recreating history as we can get, and it was a landmark for event organizers - where other festivals plug big ticket acts into formulas, losing any sense of chemistry, personality and individuality in the process, this year's SSMF was the epitome of everything a festival should be.

The third annual Sunset Strip Music Festival was more than relevant, it boasted the biggest and best its very name had to offer. It delivered more than hit singles, presenting a unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to relive the unadulterated color that lights and haunts the Strip so many of us frequent on a nightly basis, and so many more people can only read about.

The Doors at the Whisky, and Motley Crue on the Sunset Strip - history recreated! And that was just the beginning...


I'd seen The Doors exactly two weeks earlier, headlining the Pacific Amphitheater at the Orange County Fair on August 5. The show was phenomenal, and the best I've ever seen Manzarek and Krieger - as much as I loved seeing Cult frontman Ian Astbury front a modern-day incarnation of the band Jim Morrison made famous, no frontman since Morrison has worked as well as current vocalist Dave Brock.

Recruited from Doors tribute act Wild Child, Brock is the perfect vehicle to deliver fans the ultimate 21st century Doors experience. He's studied Morrison, and from his moves through to his inflections pays tribute to not only the songs, but also the iconic figure that brought the music to life. That reverence is precisely what puts Brock head and shoulders above anyone who's sang for Manzarek and Krieger since the untimely death of Mr. Mojo Risin on July 3, 1971.

Where the Orange County show featured The Doors (that's not what they're billed as, but that's what I insist on calling them) at their big-stage best, the Whisky show was nothing short of a revelation. The intimate room was packed from wall to wall, so much so that trying to navigate the mass to even get a drink on the main floor was an exercise in futility - looking down from the balcony, you couldn't see an inch of floor... and the energy was palpable.

Seeing Manzarek, Krieger and company at the Whisky A Go Go is akin to seeing Joe DiMaggio manning center field at the old Yankee Stadium or Vince Lombardi pacing the Lambeau Field sidelines - and that point was driven home with the opening notes of "Roadhouse Blues." "Whisky Song" and "Strange Days" were sublime, "Peace Frog" resonates as much today as it did the day it was written, and there wasn't a more impacting pair of songs than the mind-opening anthem "Break on Through" into the epic wash of "When the Music's Over."

In a word, it was magical. "The Changeling" and "Not to Touch the Earth" awoke the spirits that built the Whisky A Go Go, punching through the decades and bringing the venue to life with their timeless vibrato and eternal swagger. I often say I was born a generation too late, and the music of The Doors is part of my argument. Being able to experience them in this setting was a dream come true... The irony is, long before I grew to appreciate The Doors it was the music of my generation that made me the music fan that I am - and Sunset Strip Music Festival headliners Motley Crue are one of the bands most responsible for my voyage.


I've seen Motley Crue dozens of times and in every permutation, and the best Crue show I've ever seen was this summer, June 14 at the Hollywood Bowl. The band has never sounded better, Mick Mars laying guitar licks better than most players a third his age, the set perfectly paced to accommodate Vince Neil's vocals, Nikki Sixx every bit the iconic blend of bastard brilliance and phantom presence, and Tommy Lee turning the Crue-niverse on end with a drum solo that makes all his historic exploits pale in comparison. And the face paint is back!

Their 11-song, tour-ending and SSMF-closing set was all that and more - yes, a few songs were shaved from their standard set and their twisted carnival spectacle was scaled down a tad for the custom-made street stage, but the spirit of the event more than made up for a few less bells and whistles.

I was standing, literally, under the Sunset and Wetherly street signs, a constant reminder of just how cool it was to be seeing one of the most infamous bands in Sunset Strip history, on the Strip that they helped make famous. It was a set of classics, but highlights were "Saints of Los Angeles" (an instant new classic) and "Primal Scream," which offered the ideal sonic flare of an introduction to Tommy Lee's already legendary looping roller coaster drum solo.

Motley Crue celebrate their 30th anniversary as a band this year, and there may not be a more stirring testament to their lasting power and authority as a band than the performance they delivered at the Sunset Strip Music Festival. This wasn't a crowd of Motley Crue diehards, it was a mixed bag of metalheads, hipsters, rockers and wanna-bes - all bonded by the energy of the Crue kicking ass on the concrete wildside that spawned their Motley legend. They blew their home sweet home sky high on this Saturday night, and proved that they've still got plenty of gas left in the tank.

Motley Crue aren't waxing nostalgic, they're at the top of their game.


Bush has always been one of my favorite rock acts to emerge from the '90s, and they didn't disappoint in their late-afternoon slot before Motley Crue on the Strip's West Stage. Gavin Rossdale has never been known for his pristine vocals, but it's the subtle imperfections and the warmth in his tone that give the songs their character - that character prevailed on hits including "Machinehead," "Comedown" and "Glycerine," and transformed a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together" into a euphoric celebration. And while it may not have been a moment of zen, after all the times I've seen Bush live, it was pretty cool to actually hear the line, "Should I fly to Los Angeles, find my asshole brother..." while seeing the band in the City of Angels.


Representing the opposite side of the country, Public Enemy turned the East Stage into their own terrordome, where they had the predominantly white crowd losing their shit to such suburban anthems as "911 is a Joke" and "By the Time I Get to Arizona." I kid, I kid, but there is great amusement in watching some of the whitest people in the history of white turn into hip-hopping gangsters. To each their own, it was just tough to tell at times if people were seriously into the show, or just playing along a bit too exuberantly amid the comfort of their own crowd. There were a lot of memories in the set for me - Public Enemy was the first act I ever covered as a journalist, and it was cool as hell seeing them joined onstage by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian for "Bring The Noise."


I missed Buckcherry at The Roxy Friday night because their set was at the same time as The Doors, but I had friends at the show who said they were fantastic. I did hit The Roxy Thursday night and was completely blown away by Nico Vega, who delivered a set that was lush, frenetic and beautiful - it may not have been metal heavy, but it was kick your ass and move your soul heavy, and in this case that proved twice as powerful.

SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL SETLISTS:

RAY MANZAREK & ROBBY KRIEGER OF THE DOORS
1-Roadhouse Blues
2-Love Me Two Times
3-Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
4-Back Door Man
5-Strange Days
6-Peace Frog / Blue Sunday
7-Break On Through
8-When The Music's Over
9-Love Her Madly
10-Hyacinth House
11-Touch Me
12-The Changeling
(into "Chain of Fools" / "Sunshine of Your Love")
13-Not To Touch The Earth
14-Riders on the Storm
15-L.A. Woman
ENCORE
16-Light My Fire

MOTLEY CRUE
1-Wildside
2-Saints of Los Angeles
3-Livewire
4-Shout at the Devil
5-S.O.S. (Same Ol' Situation)
6-Home Sweet Home
7-Primal Scream
(drum solo)
8-Dr. Feelgood
9-Girls, Girls, Girls
10-Smokin' in the Boys Room
11-Kickstart My Heart

BUSH
1-Machinehead
2-All My Life
3-Little Things
4-The Chemicals Between Us
5-Afterlife
6-Everything Zen
7-The Sound of Winter
8-Glycerine
9-Come Together
10-Comedown

Cinderella: 25th Anniversary Tour(06.02.11 - House of Blues Sunset, L.A.)

The blues don't grow old, and they never go out of style - the same can be said for Cinderella, who celebrated their 25th Anniversary in Hollywood Thursday night.

Going back about 15 years, I inadvertently insulted a member of the band with what I thought was high praise, calling them one of my favorite acts of their era. Said band member found that to be a back-handed compliment (at best), and some good-natured (ok, maybe mean-spirited) jostling in online forums ensued. We eventually kissed and made up - so of course I made it a point to say hello after the show last night. "Great show," I told him, "don't worry, you're still my favorite band of your..."

What can I say, the more things change, the more they stay the same - Cinderella remain one of my favorite bands to graduate from the mid/late-'80s hard rock scene. In fact, they're one of the only bands "of their era" that I actually like more now than I did then, which says a lot about the lasting power of their music.

The funny thing is, I'm not alone in that sentiment - at least a half-dozen people in the balcony at the House of Blues Sunset also said Cinderella were their "favorite band of the era" (their words, not mine) and, judging from the packed floor, the feelings downstairs were mutual.

When I told Chris Cornell that Soundgarden were my favorite band from their era, he didn't get offended (he thanked me). I'd never tell Maynard Keenan that Tool is my favorite band of his era, only because I know it would lead to him debating me on what era he's from - like me, he's the type that would argue that a blue sky is red just to amuse himself. If I told Tony Bennett he was my favorite of his era, he'd probably tell me why Frank Sinatra should be...

My point? There's no shame in being the best at what you do, and Cinderella are among the best at what they do. They deliver hard rock with a simmering blues base, equal parts Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, without being copycats. And like all good artists should, they evolved.

Few would argue that style wasn't a key selling point of Cinderella's Night Songs debut, their purple hues and big hair a perfect coupling to ingratiate them to fans of the exploding arena rock scene. But for all of the album's style, it packed just as much substance - and I'm prepared to argue that it placed the band far ahead of the curve.

If Twilight were set in the late-'80s, Cinderella could, should and would be part of the soundtrack. They were unwittingly a predecessor to H.I.M. - a saturation of sound and color that bled from a gothic underbelly long before Type O Negative introduced us to "Black No. 1." Yeah, they looked glam and made "Shake Me" their mantra, but "Nobody's Fool" built cold, damp castle walls around the soul long before emo was fashionable.

For me, the real glass slipper dropped when I saw Cinderella open for Judas Priest in the summer of 1988 on the Ram It Down tour. They weren't hell bent for leather, but they were dark enough to fit the bill, winning over even the hardest metal heads at Connecticut's long-since demolished New Haven Coliseum.

Twenty-five years later, the shit we ate for breakfast still gives us cancer - and Cinderella were tight as ever at the House of Blues.

My only complaint? The 70-minute set was only 13 songs long. There wasn't a dull moment throughout, but I'd have loved to have heard more than three songs from Heartbreak Station, as well as anything from Still Climbing (if you're not familiar with it, I highly recommend digging into the vastly-underrated 1994 release, their fourth - and most recent - studio offering)... And where the hell was "Push Push"?

But that's nit-picking.

I was bristling at the back-to-back bump and grind of "Somebody Save Me" and "Night Songs," and "The More Things Change" offered the perfect bridge into "Coming Home" (Favorite. Cinderella. Song. Ever.) and "Second Wind," which strutted along to a blues breakdown and electric keys. And in the unexpected laugher of the night, a friend and self-professed "huge fan" turned to me 10 seconds into "Gypsy Road" and asked me what song it was - not because it didn't sound great, but because she couldn't remember...

They say you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone - here's hoping Cinderella are back before too long.

SETLIST
1. Once Around The Ride
2. Shake Me
3. Heartbreak Station
4. Somebody Save Me
5. Night Songs
6. The More Things Change
7. Coming Home
8. Second Wind
9. Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)
10. Nobody's Fool
11. Gypsy Road
ENCORE
12. (Intro) Long Cold Winter
13. Shelter Me

SLASH AND BURN @ SUPER BOWL XLVBlack Eyed Peas pack serious halftime heat

The only thing I found annoying about the Black Eyed Peas halftime performance during yesterday's Super Bowl, was the outpouring of hyperbole and criticism that followed.

We live in a culture of hatred and entitlement, and I'm finding it harder and harder to disguise my disgust. It used to be you needed a modicum of training, etiquette and professionalism to be a critic. Now all you need is an internet connection.

Spelling, grammar and any hint of education are optional, and typically frowned upon.

Just because you and all of your like-minded friends may agree that you hate the Black Eyed Peas, does not mean that the Black Eyed Peas suck. It just means that you don't like the Black Eyed Peas. I follow a disproportional number of rock fans on Twitter, and I could have predicted their reaction before the halftime show even started. But that was tame compared to the reaction at the party I was at, where I was standing between members of the Guns N Roses camp.

The tough crowd got even tougher when the "Sweet Child O' Mine" cover started and Fergie delivered a little Axl Rose slither as she cozied up alongside Slash, GnR's iconic ex-guitarist.

I'm an Axl Rose loyalist to the core - but, admittedly, even that collaboration didn't bother me that much. The Super Bowl halftime show is arguably the biggest stage there is in music - can you blame the Black Eyed Peas for pulling out all the stops?

Unfortunately, they didn't sound great. But it's the halftime SHOW, not the halftime CONCERT. The spectacle was huge, and it delivered. No, maybe the performers didn't deliver as well as they - and others - may have liked, but if you are watching the Super Bowl with the sole intention of critiquing ads and the halftime show, you're part of today's problem, not part of the solution.

The Super Bowl is a worldwide institution and, in a lot of ways, its prevailing hooplah has come to represent everything that's wrong with America as we spiral through the 21st century as a culture of lemmings that care more about being heard, than about right, fair or even articulate.

I never got the guy's name, but I had a great conversation in the third quarter about how much money was spent on advertising, and where all that advertising money comes from... Us.

We're in a recession, but we're still fueling an economy that continues to cater to excess at a time when we should be dialing our habits down. I don't care how much money Budweiser pays to license a classic Elton John song, their product still tastes more like stale piss to me than it does beer.

Which brings me back to the Black Eyed Peas...

They are a pop music phenomenon, not a live music staple. Their songs are built around club beats and designed for dance floors, not live performances. And if you want to compare them musically to any other act that's performed halftime in recent memory, you're just advertising your own tunnel vision.

Black Eyed Peas are a production team, not a rock band. And they're damn good at what they do. In fact, they are amongst the best. That show last night was visually stunning, even if the vocals fell a little flat. But you know what? At least they were singing (or trying, as the case may be) - I'd rather relish the effort amidst the spectacle, than watch a lip-sync laughathon.

It didn't take a sound engineer to know there were sound problems. All their mics cut out at one point or another, and that's not the band's fault. Who knows what they were actually hearing on stage? Am I making excuses? Yes, I am - but I tuned in to watch the Super Bowl, not play armchair quarterback and pass judgment on the bells and whistles that surrounded the game.

Last night's game was a phenomenal steak dinner. The Black Eyes Peas performance was akin to finding some wilted lettuce in a salad that is highlighted by some superb blue cheese dressing.

If you're tuning into the Super Bowl to get your music fix, I feel sorry for you - there's so much more out there, you just need to open your ears and listen. And if you're one of those people screaming that the Black Eyed Peas suck and are a musical travesty, maybe it's time to look beyond your own short-sightedness.

They don't suck,they're just not your thing. To the masses that are not metal fans, Slipknot suck so hard they should change their name to Hoover. That doesn't make me appreciate them any less. Green Day is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me - that doesn't mean that they suck, it just means that they're not my thing.

To each their own... But we live in America, where people are incapable of compromise. It's all or nothing, and our way or the highway.

If you're liberal, all conservatives are evil. Period.

And if you're a rock fan watching the Black Eyed Peas during the Super Bowl, you've judged them before you even stop to consider the very nature of what they do, or how they do it. Yes, their performance wasn't perfect, but they were playing the Super Bowl, not the Grammy Awards.

It was a football game, and they provided a halftime spectacle - and an excellent one at that. To say that Fergie can't sing is just flat-out wrong - she can sing, even if she wasn't in top form Sunday night.

If you would care to discuss how your definition of music is different than a Black Eyed Peas fan's definition of music, that's another story altogether - but, again, we are talking about opinions, not facts.

I just think back to how I felt growing up, being a fan of heavy metal and having people talk down to me because that wasn't what they consider "real" music.

I remember how it felt when people would tell me that Metallica sucked, when in fact they were just scared and intimidated of the band and what they stood for. They said they aren't music, they're noise. Those judgmental people helped shape me into the person I am today - and those memories are what make me want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

As Dan Akroyd said in the cinematic opus Spies Like Us - we mock what we don't understand.

As for the Super Bowl? Don't hate the playas just cuz you don't like the game.

And as for me? I like the Black Eyed Peas, and all the boom boom pow they deliver.

GOO GOO DOLLS: Better than Bon Jovi? (08.29.10 - Greek Theatre, L.A.)

If I had a dollar for every person that says, "I loved the Goo Goo Dolls when they were on Metal Blade Records...", I'd have more money than the Goo Goo Dolls made in that early phase of their career.

I'm not that guy. I liked them then, but there were way too many bands I liked a whole lot more to really say that they stood out - until they started writing pop songs.

I turned to my wife a few songs into the Buffalo trio's show last night at the Greek Theatre and said, "I know you'll say I'm crazy, but the Goo Goo Dolls may have ousted Bon Jovi in my book..." To her credit, she didn't call me crazy - but she did give me the scrunched-up 'you're crazy' face, followed by a 'who are you, and what have you done with my husband' smirk.

Bon Jovi's reign of pop-rock supremacy began September 19, 1988, the day New Jersey was released and I first listened to the cassette in my high school parking lot. The album remains one of my all-time favorites, and to this day I maintain that "Lay Your Hands On Me" is one of the best opening tracks ever - live and on record. Yet, with every passing year, they fall a bit further down my musical hierarchy.

I still like them, I just don't love them. The easy explanation is that I outgrew them. The more complicated explanation details why I outgrew them - Bon Jovi shifted gears. They used to feel inspired and radiated an energy, now they're more inclined to repackage old plot lines to appease middle-aged women and win over country converts. That's fantastic marketing, I just don't fall into either group - I've lost the connection that burned throughout the '90s.

Which brings me back to the Goo Goo Dolls. I feel a connection to their songs that intensifies with every listen. "Iris" boasts one of my all-time favorite lyrics. "Broadway" is lined with brilliant wordplay. "Name" flames with passion. "Better Days" is a majestic snapshot of the human spirit. "Dizzy" swirls like a whirlwind.

Because the band are a master class in pop-rock songwriting, I don't mind that I can't seem to connect with their live show. I feel the songs - and as any music fan will agree, that's more than enough to make any concert a night to remember.

I like frontman Johnny Rzeznik, he just doesn't grab me live. It's as if he doesn't own the songs and he's just borrowing them, using them as a backdrop for the music video being choreographed each night onstage. The lighting is impressive and the smoke is a nice touch, but it's like watching 3D television - you ooh and aah a few times, but you never really feel like you're one with the show.

The band sounded great at the Greek Theatre, the performance just wasn't dynamic and alive - it's as if all of Rzeznik's focus is on looking the part of a VH1 heartthrob, and he's lost the spark that fueled him back in the more high-impact days of Hold Me Up and Superstar Car Wash. Bassist Robby Takac injects the show with a punk rock tailspin on the four tracks he sings, but I need more.

My solution? Strip the Goo Goo Dolls to their core and put them on a club tour. Don't just forget about style, go out of your way to defy it. You don't worry about your hair, you worry about staying hydrated. The focus should be on sweating through every song in an over-packed room where you can look your fans in the eye and visualize your connection. In the more intimate setting, you're pressed to interact, something that was non-existent last night.

Let the audience feel you feeling your music, then capture that energy and carry it over to the larger stages... Shift gears.

Could the Goo Goo Dolls be bigger than Bon Jovi? Not likely. But as far as being better goes, they've already got the songs. You know what that means? That's right - whoa, oh, they're halfway there...

I can say this much - if both Bon Jovi and the Goo Goo Dolls were in town on the same night, right now I'd be hard-pressed not to support the boys from Buffalo. Sorry, New Jersey.


GOO GOO DOLLS SETLIST

1- Sweetest Lie
2- Big Machine
3- Slide
4- Dizzy
5- Here Is Gone
6- Another Second Time Around [RT vox]
7- Smash [RT vox]
8- Can't Let It Go
9- Black Balloon
10- Home
11- Better Days
12- Stay With You
13- Now I Hear [RT vox]
14- Tucked Away [RT vox]
15- Name
16- Let Love In
17- As I Am
18- All Eyes On Me
19- Acoustic No. 3
20- Iris
ENCORE
21- Not Broken
22- Broadway

OZZFEST 2010: The Setlists(08.14.10 - San Manuel Amp., Devore, CA)

OZZY OSBOURNE SETLIST

1- Bark At The Moon
2- Let Me Hear You Scream
3- Mr. Crowley
4- Fairies Wear Boots [Black Sabbath]
5- Suicide Solution
6- Road To Nowhere
7- Shot In The Dark
8- Rat Salad [Black Sabbath]
DRUM SOLO
9- Iron Man [Black Sabbath]
11- Killer Of Giants
12- Fire In The Sky
13- I Don't Want To Change The World
14- Paranoid [Black Sabbath]
ENCORE
15- Crazy Train

MOTLEY CRUE SETLIST

1- Kickstart Your Heart
2- Wildside
3- Shout At The Devil
4- Saints Of Los Angeles
5- Looks That Kill
6- Livewire
7- Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
8- Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)
9- Home Sweet Home [Tommy Lee piano intro]
10- Motherfucker Of The Year
11- Ten Seconds To Love
12- Primal Scream
13- Dr. Feelgood
14- Girls, Girls, Girls

HALFORD SETLIST

1- Silent Screams
2- Resurrection
3- Made In Hell
4- Golgotha
5- Crystal
6- Nailed To The Gun [Fight]
7- Made Of Metal
8- Heart Of A Lion [Judas Priest]
9- Never Satisfied [Judas Priest]
10- Savior

ZAKK WYLDE'S BLACK LABEL SOCIETY SETLIST

1- The Beginning... At Last
2- Crazy Horse
3- Overlord
4- Parade Of The Dead
5- Fire It Up
6- Godspeed Hell Bound
ENCORE
7- Stillborn

DROWNING POOL SETLIST

1- Sinner
2- Enemy
3- Feel Like I Do
4- 37 Stitches
5- Step Up
6- Tear Away
7- Bodies

RUSH: The Time Machine Tour(08.13.10 - Verizon Amphitheater, Irvine, CA)

I first saw Rush on December 5, 1987. Not only were they my first arena show, they were also my first introduction to the caste system within hard rock and heavy metal. Condensing what could be an entire sociology thesis into a few broad generalizations, many of us embraced heavy music as an extension of our identity, searching for acceptance from a non-judgmental ally - and when many of us didn't find what we were looking for, Rush found us.

Many of us were the geeks, the nerds, the outcasts and the castoffs. We didn't play football. We played Dungeons & Dragons. We didn't have girlfriends. We had two or three guy friends. We didn't walk with a swagger. We felt awkward.

We weren't cool, but neither were Rush - and they spoke to us.

Nearly a quarter-century later, they still speak to us - louder, clearer, and without the shackles that may have bound our formative years.


Standing amidst a packed Verizon Ampitheater at the tail end of Rush's 26-song marathon last night, the night belonged to all of us, and we shared a kinship with the music that was magical.

"Limelight" may mean something different to each of us, but all those somethings add up to a lot - and that's what we celebrated together as Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart led us through a performance of their classic album Moving Pictures in its entirety.

From the first time each of us heard Rush, until now, we have been those pictures, getting jostled through life, nicked up, patched up, color corrected and over-saturated. We were the pictures and the songs were our frames, providing us a safe haven in which to escape, or paths from which to explore. And Rush offered frames like no others - frames that were intended to guide us, not contain us.

"I will choose the path that's real, I will choose free will..."


So there we were, 10,000 Rush fans united by our passion for a band who were never afraid to be themselves, affirming that we could do the same in the midst of sprawling "Subdivisions." The opening set focused heavily on the second half of a career now in its fifth decade, tracks like "Stick it Out," "Walkin' Them Angels" and "Marathon" raising themes of faith and focus in their varying forms.

Dubbed the Time Machine Tour, the show offered just that, beginning with the more recent retrospective, continuing with Moving Pictures, and closing with arguably the strongest finale of the band's career. The set took us back, opening with "Spirit of the Radio" and "Time Stand Still" - two tracks that served as transecting dashes between the band's epic roots and more experimental sensibilities. They showed us a glimpse of their present, offering new songs "Brought Up To Believe" and "Caravan" from forthcoming album Clockwork Angels. And they dove into the future with their stalwart, 20-minute opening track to 2112.

The set zigged and zagged through the opening 11 tracks, then careened headlong into Moving Pictures, where the stage was stripped of fancy accoutrements and polish, transporting us back to 1981 with a design more Atari 2600 than Playstation 3.

When one of rock's greatest records is performed by one of rock's greatest bands, choosing highlights is akin to choosing the holiest third of the Trinity - "Tom Sawyer" needed no introduction, "Red Barchetta" was sublime, "Witch Hunt" cackled through the night air, and "Vital Signs" spun the album to its close, providing the perfect lead-in to "Caravan" and the ritual awe of Neil Peart's drum solo.


"La Villa Strangiato" rode the "Far Cry" vapor trail back to earth and eased us into set closer "Working Man," where the Time Machine Tour reinforced its resounding statement - the years may change the way we interpret music, but it's power remains the same, casting a spiritual glow on our psyche and guiding us down our chosen path.

Past, present or future, nobody illuminates a path quite like Rush.


RUSH SETLIST

1- Spirit of the Radio
2- Time Stand Still
3- Presto
4- Stick it Out
5- Workin' Them Angels
6- Leave That Thing Alone
7- Faithless
8- BU2B
9- Freewill
10- Marathon
11- Subdivisions
INTERMISSION
12- Tom Sawyer (Moving Pictures)
13- Red Barchetta (Moving Pictures)
14- YYZ (Moving Pictures)
15- Limelight (Moving Pictures)
16- The Camera Eye (Moving Pictures)
17- Witch Hunt (Moving Pictures)
18- Vital Signs (Moving Pictures)
19- Caravan
DRUM SOLO
21- Closer to the Heart
22- 2112 Part 1: Overture
23- 2112 Part II: The Temples Of Syrinx
24- Far Cry
ENCORE
25- La Villa Strangiato
26- Working Man

MEAT LOAF: Paradise Revisited (08.12.10 - Gibson Amphitheatre, L.A.)

Meat Loaf has a stellar body of work. Unfortunately, I've had a hard time distancing that body of work from the goofy-by-association branding of a high school girlfriend and her interpretive dance to "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" at senior prom.

For the past twenty-odd years, the man, the myth and the entree have all been intrinsically tied to said girl grinding what God gave her to the play-by-play of New York Yankees Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto. There's something about that pink dress with the black bow and the faux go-go dance on a banquet chair in the Stamford Marriott ballroom in 1989, that I just haven't been able to jar from my psyche (insert shivers down spine here).

Until last night.

Other than wanting to hear a handful of songs that are integral to America's rock and roll songbook, I had few expectations heading into the Gibson Amphitheatre, where I'd be crossing one of the final acts off my live concert bucket list. I had heard that there was a chance Meat Loaf would cancel the show due to an illness, to which I was actually sympathetic - yesterday was the first day I was even able to think about leaving the house all week, so if he ate from the same batch of eggs I did, I wouldn't blame him for postponing the show in support of his new release Hang Cool Teddy Bear...

But he didn't, and while I anticipated a fair amount of camp - not the unadulterated kitsch of the Blues Brothers review at the adjoining Universal Studios, but something that could come dangerously close - I was anxious to experience his legend live. His songs are larger than life, combining theatrical pomp with rock and roll stomp, and I believe in paying homage to musical royalty every chance we get.

What I didn't expect, was a show that would top the legacy of the songs themselves - a performance where the man born Marvin Lee Aday would not only allow his personality to share center stage with the music, but at times even ride that personality to new heights, enabling the set to throb with a pulse all its own.

While pop-culture regards "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as a cute song that's safe to play at proms and weddings, we were reminded that when your first name is Meat and your last name is Loaf, cute is all relative.

Introducing a song he wrote either in Boston, or with someone from Boston, a number of cheers could be heard throughout the crowd. I was only half-paying attention, distracted by the threesome in front of us - two guys in Tommy Bahama shirts and Budweiser hats pawing all over a girl who I'm guessing spent some time in the king-size bed of a pickup truck before the night was through. "Oh, we've got people here from Boston?" razzed my fellow Connecticut native from center stage... "Fuck the Red Sox!"

Amen to that, brother Meat!

I lost count of Mr. Loaf's f-bombs around the same time that Tommy Bahama missed his date/escort's mouth for the fourth time, once again licking her face for all of Orchestra 4 to see. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were planted as part of the show - Meat Loaf had a flair for profanity, and the menage-a-Marlboro were there to act it all out in kind.

This wasn't your mom's Meat Loaf, it was an R-rated rock and roll revival. During "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," we were joined by an enormous blow-up doll of a woman in various stages of undress, a guy mounted behind her, and his hands demonstrating the Scooter's well-documented voice over as he rounded her two-baggers.


The hits were there, but they were more than just classic rock staples from a veteran rocker regurgitating his catalog for a paycheck. This was equal parts rock show, musical theater, improvisation and audience participation, and everything about it was larger than life, bombastic, and fantastic. "Bat Out of Hell" was smoking hot, "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" was a roof-raising celebration, and "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" rivaled even "Paradise" in execution.

Taking a seat on a stool for a song, Meat Loaf joked about his age - he turns 63 on September 27 - but he delivered a set that put frontmen a third his age to shame. He even had grown men to the right of me doing chest bumps during "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad."

I didn't need to chest bump, as I was enjoying a revelation all my own. Now, when I hear "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," I don't think of a prissy little package tied with a bow. No, now I think of Meat Loaf - a man that can deliver the hits and still put the 'fun' in erectile dysfunction, his "big surprise" in hand (pictured above) and pumping white loads of cotton t-shirts into the crowd.

Live music is meant to be a celebration, and that's exactly what Meat Loaf made it - a night to remember, and songs we'll never forget.

Getting a picture with Meat Loaf after the show? That was gravy!


MEAT LOAF SETLIST

1- Hot Patootie
2- If It Aint Broke, Break It
3- Bat Out Of Hell
4- Peace On Earth
5- Living On The Outside
6- Los Angeloser
7- You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth
8- Song Of Madness
9- Animal
10- Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through
Encore
11- I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
12- Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
13- Paradise By The Dashboard Light
14- All Revved Up With No Place To Go

Six things I learned at...RINGO STARR & HIS ALL STAR BAND(08.07.10 - Greek Theatre, L.A.)

As anyone who has seen Ringo Starr & His All Star Band live can attest, the marquee attraction may be the former Beatles drummer, but the evening's highlights undeniably come from within his band. Case in point, Saturday night at the Greek Theatre, where the crowd didn't leave their seats until Edgar Winter took the helm five songs into the set and delivered his classic "Free Ride."

Think about that for a minute... One of two living members of the most influential band in rock and roll history performs at one of the most celebrated amphitheaters in the world, and it takes a guy that probably couldn't headline a venue larger than a House of Blues to get the crowd on their feet - two songs after Ringo Starr delivers the Beatles' 1964 cover of Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't."

Therein lies the difference between seeing Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Macca celebrates the Beatles. Ringo celebrates what the Beatles meant. One celebrates how they got there, the other celebrates what happened from there. They both twist and shout, but to the beat of their own drums. To his credit, as was the case with the Beatles, Ringo knows that his beat is heightened by his band.

Ringo delivered six solo songs and six Beatles songs - "Honey Don't," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Yellow Submarine," "Boys," "Act Naturally" and "With a Little Help from My Friends" - but none proved more satisfying than his All Star Band's hits. He earned his legend as a drummer not a frontman, and we saw why at the Greek - his vocals were often spoken more than sung, his delivery was a bit awkward outside his kit, and his banter seemed rehearsed and superficial.

Introducing new material, he commented that new release Y Not "is the first time I hit double digits - I want to thank the 12 of you who bought it," and he made at least two references to his band receiving more applause than him. I found it annoying, the woman behind me thought it was hysterical (more on her later). To each their own, but I like my icons to embrace their brilliance, not their shortcomings.

Ringo Starr is a living legend - as much as I may have thought his performances fell flat, he was the only reason I attended the show. I didn't go to celebrate the Beatles, I went to celebrate Ringo, his legacy, and the rock and roll that he inspired... He's Ringo Starr, dammit, and that's more than enough for me!

But I knew all of that walking in - here are six things I learned by the time I was walking out...

1. Richard Page can flex those golden pipes!
I had to look up who Richard Page was when I heard he was in the All Star Band, yet after the Mr. Mister frontman performed "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings," I told my wife that I thought he stole the show. She agreed. His vocals were sublime. So good, that despite the fact that I'd never given Mr. Mister a passing thought, now I'd go see them in a heartbeat. So good, that I now think of Richard Page's performance when I hear the song "Broken Wings," not the adorable black E*Trade baby that 'flexes his golden pipes' in one of my favorite television commercials of all time. Richard Page was that good.

2. Sometimes one hit is all you need.
Gary Wright might wish he wasn't a poster boy for one-hit wonders, but who says that's a bad thing? Especially when your one hit is "Dream Weaver." If Richard Page stole the show, Gary Wright made the show. His "Dream Weaver" was the first song to be performed after nightfall, and the song meant even more after he explained that it was inspired by Beatles guitarist George Harrison. The song is epic, the mood was magic, and the results were mesmerizing. It was a performance I will never forget. Ever.

3. Rick Derringer is more than just Sloopy Hoochie Koo.
I always had Rick Derringer pegged as a crusty classic rocker with a few big novelty songs. That hasn't necessarily changed, but it's been built upon - now I see him as a crusty classic rocker who can play the hell out of a guitar (and has a few novelty songs). I didn't know "Hang On Sloopy" was the byproduct of his teenage band The McCoys, and I also didn't know that when the song rose to No. 1, The Beatles were at No. 2 with "Yesterday" (they unseated him the following week). Did you know that Derringer played with both Alice Cooper and Steely Dan? That his first widespread exposure came opening for the Rolling Stones in 1966, and that he also opened for Led Zeppelin on their last U.S. tour? Or how about that he discovered "Weird Al" Yankovic? Respect has been earned...

4. There's enough Sloopy Hoochie Koo to go around.
Off the top of your head, how would you define 'Sloopy Hoochie Koo'? I think it's a little bit of that space cadet glow Pink Floyd sing about, a healthy aura of peace and love, and a dose of the nuttiness that makes rock and roll stars so endearing. And that described Edgar Winter a lot more than Rick Derringer. The albino rocker riled the capacity crowd up with his "Free Ride," then treated them to his multi-instrumental prowess during "Frankenstein," when he played keyboards, synthesizer, saxophone and drums. His long white hair accented a black t-shirt with a silver peace sign, and his voice cracked so high, at times I swore he was Poison guitarist C.C. Deville's father. They just don't make 'em like him anymore!

5. Playing with Ringo Starr is as cool as it seems.
Just ask Wally Palmar, the lead singer and guitarist of the Romantics. It's no secret that his band was inspired by the Beatles, which made his intro even more stirring when, coming out of "Talking in Your Sleep," he re-introduced Ringo to perform one of his favorite Fab Four songs, "I Wanna be Your Man." Had someone told Palmar twenty years ago, when he was plugging away in the Motor City, that he'd someday tour with Ringo Starr, he'd have likely laughed in their face. Fast forward to 2010 - not only is he member of the All Star Band, "What I Like About You" is also one of the set's shining moments. I just wish he had worn a red leather suit.

6. Middle-aged women are more entertaining than teenagers.
I have a pet peeve - people at concerts who are oblivious of everyone around them. In the case of the woman behind us, at least she offered entertainment value. I'd guess her to be in her late-40s, which made her thigh-high stripper boots all the more fantastic. She asked my wife and I to move so we weren't directly in front of her, and when we did, she proceeded to move directly behind us. Probably because she needed a better grip on the railing she was swinging from throughout the set. Anytime Ringo said something, she cackled a laugh that only a plastic carafe of red wine could inspire (how she never spilled it on us, I'll never know), and she was absolutely fascinated by the staging, which featured a "ring" circling a "star" behind the drum kit. She even tried a stagerush. My wife, the master of self-portraits, actually managed to get a picture of us with her in the background... A good time was had by all!


RINGO STARR & HIS ALL STAR BAND SETLIST

1- It Don't Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
2- Honey Don't (Ringo Starr, The Beatles)
3- Choose Love (Ringo Starr)
4- Hang On Sloopy (Rick Derringer, The McCoys)
5- Free Ride (Edgar Winter)
6- Talking in Your Sleep (Wally Palmar, The Romantics)
7- I Wanna Be Your Man (Ringo Starr, The Beatles)
8- Dream Weaver (Gary Wright)
9- Kyrie (Richard Page, Mr. Mister)
10- The Other Side of Liverpool (Ringo Starr)
11- Yellow Submarine (Ringo Starr, The Beatles)
12- Frankenstein (Edgar Winter)
13- Peace Dream (Ringo Starr)
14- Back Off Boogaloo (Ringo Starr)
15- What I Like About You (Wally Palmar, The Romantics)
16- Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo (Rick Derringer)
17- Boys (Ringo Starr, The Beatles)
18- Love Is Alive (Gary Wright)
19- Broken Wings (Richard Page, Mr. Mister)
20- Photograph (Ringo Starr)
21- Act Naturally (Ringo Starr, The Beatles)
22- With a Little Help from My Friends (Ringo Starr, The Beatles)
23- Give Peace a Chance (Ringo Starr, Plastic Ono Band)

COMMENTARY: Morrissey live in Los Angeles

I'm admittedly not the biggest Morrissey fan in the world - indifferent would be an appropriate word. I've always appreciated the Smiths more than his solo material, and have been to three shows before, all of which I've left partially through (early '90s in Milwaukee, about 10 years ago in New York, and Coachella last spring) - those factors considered, I thoroughly enjoyed his set last night, and left the Gibson Amphitheatre with a new appreciation for the man, the myth and the legend that is Moz.

A number of fans commented afterwords that it was one of his weaker shows that they've seen. Without the frame of reference of a couple dozen (literally) shows, I was impressed with what I saw. Let's face it, you can't hide from the headlines, and my opinion heading in had been shaped by his most recent escapades, from his "I smell burning flesh" tantrum at Coachella, to walking offstage after getting hit by a cup, etc. He's got a reputation for being a diva, and there's definitely a trainwreck appeal that - as a casual listener, not a devoted fan - you can't quite escape.

But not in Los Angeles last night...

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Paul Gargano is the National Music Examiner for eXaminer.com.
Click here to visit his Examiner homepage.

Adam Lambert's AMA kiss-off

Adam Lambert is good, but his closing performance on last night's American Music Awards made it pointedly clear why Kris Allen was the winner of last season's American Idol.

Instead of upping the ante visually and theatrically, we got four minutes of co-ed crotch grabbing and genitalia rubbing, capped by a "shocking" kiss with his keyboard player that looked more like Hannibal Lector biting his latest victim's face off.

When Marilyn Manson did it, it was dangerous. When Lady Gaga does it, it's gripping. Adam Lambert just makes it all look goofy and uncomfortable. As for the David Bowie and Freddie Mercury comparisons, show some respect - Adam Lambert can't even get a rehearsed kiss right, let alone deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as two of music's all-time greats.

"All hail freedom of expression and artistic integrity," Lambert said via Twitter following his performance.

Since when is going in for a commando kiss that looked as comfortable as prison rape defined as "freedom of expression"? I call it a whorish attempt at shock value, and the type of cheap publicity that is insulting to the gay community...

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Paul Gargano is the National Music Examiner for eXaminer.com.
Click here to visit his Examiner homepage.

LIVE REVIEW: Slipknot at the Palladium

Slipknot aren’t sneaking up on anybody at this point in their career. They’ve spent the past decade turning the metal world end-over-end, their reputation preceding them as a highlight reel of masked vomit, broken-bones, head-banging, hair-whipping and apocalyptic mayhem plays in the background.

They became a product of their own hype before their hype even had a chance to prove itself, to the point where their biggest story is often their mere survival

At the recently re-opened Palladium in Hollywood, CA, Thursday night, Slipknot not only lived up to the challenge of their hype, but they left it broken, beaten and scarred into submission. No, Slipknot aren’t going to sneak up on anybody… But the sheer power and razor-sharp onslaught of their performance just might.

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Paul Gargano is the National Music Examiner for eXaminer.com.
Click here to visit his Examiner homepage.

LIVE REVIEW: U2 at the Rose Bowl

U2, The Black Eyed Peas
The Rose Bowl - Pasadena, CA
October 25, 2009

Touring the world with a stage production that is without rival in the history of live music, U2 managed the improbable at the Rose Bowl Sunday night, delivering a set in which the colossal staging was dwarfed by the magic of the band’s performance.

The magic came in the form of celebration, Bono dropping to his knees and raising his arms high above his head during “Beautiful Day,” and a sold-out crowd of nearly 100,000 responding in kind. Opening with a trio of tracks from new album No Line on the Horizon– “Breathe,” “Get on Your Boots” and “Magnificent” – Bono , guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen not only set the pace for the rest of the evening’s music, they set the tone for the evening’s mood.

“The future needs a kiss,” Bono sang in the opening line of “Get on Your Boots,” and U2 meant it.

The 360 Tour – which concludes its current leg Wednesday night in Vancouver, BC – was never meant to be a rehash of old hits (many were missing from the 24-song set) but rather, a beacon of hope in a world where hope is at a premium. The beacon was cast from the stage, illuminated by the crowd, and – especially in the case of the Rose Bowl show, which was being broadcast live to five continents via YouTube – reflected in waves throughout the world.

To finish reading this review, and also to watch U2's Rose Bowl performance in its entirety, please click here.

Paul Gargano is the National Music Examiner for eXaminer.com.
Click here to visit his Examiner homepage.