Super ultra mega updated concert schedule

7/2 Adam Franklin from Swervedriver
7/7 Boredoms with 77 drummers!
7/8 Rush
7/13 Testament
7/28 Sonic Youth
8/2 Metal Meltdown III (Gods of Fire)
8/6 Zappa Plays Zappa
8/7 Deep Purple
8/9 Daft Punk
8/11 Symphony X
8/24 Dream Theater (4th row on John Petrucci's side!!!!!!)
8.25 Dream Theater (probably, no tickets yet)
9/8 Heaven and Hell/Alice Cooper/Queensryche
9/23 The Cure
10/9 Qui (David Yow's new band)
4/1/08 King Diamond/Kreator

Sonic Attack! aka "Hawkwind played! Hawkwind played!"

Resembling a lower tech underground version of Pink Floyd in almost every respect, I finally got to see my heroes Hawkwind live at Europa on Monday. Yes, the very day after Nuge. Turcotte came along for the ride, always up for hearing something new, and Lee who loves the records as well.

Hawkwind has had a very long, complex and storied history that involves very distinct periods and exceedingly tumultuous lineup changes. I am by no means a Hawkwind historian, but from what I gather, David Brock makes Dave Mustaine look like a positively benevolent saint.

The band that performed in Brooklyn was a very stripped down four piece of Brock on Guitar/Synth/Vox, a bassist, a drummer, and a Keyboard player who rocked two Korg Tritons.

Opening up with the titular track from the "Warrior on the Edge of Time" record, the performance started off a bit rocky. The band wasn't really gelling and the vocal harmonies were way off. Whether the issues were performance related or technical is not really known, but as the show went on the playing improved dramatically. Most of the set concentrated around the Space Ritual era and the 1977 masterpiece Quark Strangeness and Charm.

There were video screens, as evidenced by the photos I posted, which were pretty low resolution and were showing computer animation dvds that had very little to do with the music. Some of the graphics were laughably low tech and looked like graphics from an old PlayStation one game. How do I know they were sourced from a DVD? Someone was physically switching the tracks back and forth as they played and you can see the commands "Previous" "Next" "Play" etc. on the screen as the appropriate buttons were pushed. But this only added to the overall charm of seeing ambition pulled off with limited resources.

What do they sound like? The only way I can really describe Hawkwind's sound is that the band found a whole bunch of shared connections between Pink Floyd and Public Image Limited and devoted their career to exploiting that middle ground. Punk and Psychedelia on paper should have no common ground but it is simply not true. Hawkwind is amazing proof to the contrary.

Opening the show was The Phantom Family Halo. They were a pretty great pseudo Kraut Rock/Glam band. The singer played drums standing up, but used a semi-conventional kit. It was more unique and less cheesy than lets say, Phil Collins rocking Su-su-dio. Stylistically the singer was a dead ringer for Jello Biafra, but the music was much more droney and psychedelic.

Uncle Ted

So the Nuge had some major problems selling tickets to his show at the Nokia (pronounced "Nookie Theater" by our crazy Uncle Ted during the concert) so there was a deal on Ticketmaster that admission was free as long as you paid service charges. This worked out to about 10 bucks a ticket. Turcotte already had one so we grabbed a couple and went on a journey to the centers of our minds.

I am not even sure how to write a concise review of the show. I'm just going to list out random thoughts and observations of the evening.

Picture 1 - Yes, the Nuge rocks a headset Mic Sammy Hagar style. It is not cool when he does it either.

Picture 2 - That is a cane. Yes. Someone was rocking so hard they had to raise their CANE in the air. Not a pimp cane, just a cane.

Picture 3- Taken so you can see the backdrop. Click on the picture to enlarge. Make it your wallpaper.

Ted Nugent HATES the French. He made two derogatory references to them during the night. I think he still holds a grudge that they wouldn't join the coalition of the willing in 2003. As the show was really starting to cook, he exclaimed that he celebrates his freedom each and every day. He then told us to appreciate our freedom and this rock show as you "can't do this in France." No, really. Then he played a simple pentatonic blues lick on his red white and blue American made Gibson Les Paul and said "you can't do that on a Jap guitar." No, really.

He saw a small child in the audience and asked the father to bring him closer. Ted tells the child, speaking directly to him, that he is 59 and loves life because his father taught him to hunt, fish, and kill his own meals. No, really. Then he said you can be as happy as "Uncle Ted" if you just follow these four rules: No drugs, no alcohol, no tobacco, no fat pussy. "The fat pussy will kill you first!" he said. The child was under 10.

Not only did the Nuge constantly bring up that he was raised in Detroit, he called the music he played "Soul music" and also told us he was a black child with a large afro. Nuge said it was his job to give us white folk soul, and to get us to dance. No, really. He also played a cover of "Soul Man."

There is a song in his repertoire called "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang." This should not be confused with the song "Wango Tango," which he segued into a cover of "You Really Got Me." This was third up. He opened with "Journey to the Center of your Mind." As Kristin pointed out he really wastes no time just diving into those hits.

At a certain point in the show the Nuge did a shout out to all the members of our Armed Forces who were in the audience tonight. No doubt to pad more of the empty space left open by those who didn't buy tickets. He enthusiastically announced how much he loves "when the good guys kill the bad guys."

His drummer is "Wild" Mick Brown from Dokken. No, really.

There is more, but this post is now quite long. He obviously did not pull me to his side, but I enjoyed and admired the FUCK out of him. Like Manowar, believe it. He is for real and takes himself completely seriously. He, unlike most of you and myself, has a real life philosophy he applies towards his everything he does, and he lives well. I do not dig his tunes, I disagree with his politics, and I think he is a pretentious prick. But I had a really fun time at the "Nookie Theater" last week watching the Nuge just be the Nuge.

Porn Rock Ball- The Aftermath

Wow, I am hungover (surprise, surprise) ! They say a picture is worth 1,000 words so in lieu of an actual write up, you'll have to do with this. If you didn't show up, you were a FOOL!

Thanks again to Pink for inviting us!

New Concert Schedule Update

6/21 Porn Rock Ball (Gods of Fire)
6/22-6/23 Brooklyn Metalfest w/Ross-the-Boss, Seven Witches, Magus Beast, others
6/24 The Nuge
6/25 Hawkwind
7/7 Boredoms with 77 drummers!
7/8 Rush
7/13 Testament
7/28 Sonic Youth
8/2 Metal Meltdown III (Gods of Fire)
8/7 Deep Purple
8/9 Daft Punk
8/11 Symphony X
8/24 Dream Theater (4th row on John Petrucci's side!!!!!!)
8.25 Dream Theater (probably, no tickets yet)
9/23 The Cure
10/9 Qui (David Yow's new band)
4/1/08 King Diamond/Kreator

Porn Rock Ball tonight!

Everyone should be coming out to tonight's rock show. Strippers, porn stars, fake boobies and Gods of Fire. This is why we started the band in the first place. To play with strippers!

And the Fulltone Wah will make its debut live appearance.

This is going to be sick sick fun. I think I'm going to try out the bondage room. I tend to do whatever women tell me always, but the pain is usually mental. Maybe I'll be a good masochist. Although...........sadism is pretty metal.

Remember ladies, it is not exploitation, it is empowerment!

$5 off admission if you print out the flyer here: www.pornrockball.com

Captain Beefheart's Ten Commandments for Guitarists

Thanks to Jacktastic for sending this along. I don't agree with all of it, but it is pretty great and worth reading for perspective.

1. LISTEN TO THE BIRDS...That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. YOUR GUITAR IS NOT REALLY A GUITAR...Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A BUSH...Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush doesn't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. WALK WITH THE DEVIL...Old delta blues players referred to amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts demons and devils. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. IF YOU'RE GUILTY OF THINKING, YOU'RE OUT...If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. NEVER POINT YOUR GUITAR AT ANYONE...Your instrument has more power than lightning. Just hit a big chord, then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CHURCH KEY...You must carry your key and use it when called upon. That's your part of the bargain. Like One String Sam. He was a Detroit street musician in the fifties who played a homemade instrument. His song "I Need A Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another church key holder is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty making you want to look up her dress to see how he's doing it.

8. DON'T WIPE THE SWEAT OFF YOUR INSTRUMENT...You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. KEEP YOUR GUITAR IN A DARK PLACE...When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure to put a saucer of water in with it.

10. YOU GOTTA HAVE A HOOD FOR YOUR ENGINE...Wear a hat when you play and keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a wet paper towel around it to make it grow.

Great Audio Mix- Firewater

If you do not own Firewater's Man on the Burning Tightrope album go to their official site here. On the top right of the main page pop up is a button that says "click here to listen to the new album." Skip ahead to track 8, "Secret."

Firewater albums have all generally been extremely well recorded. Check out this track. In addition to being a great song the mix is very interesting. It violates quite a few of my "rules" about where instruments should live in the stereo space, but everything is so well balanced it works.

As the song starts the acoustic guitar is hard left, with a strong stereo voice keeping both sides balanced. As the song kicks in, the acoustic stays hard left, accompanied by the ENTIRE DRUM KIT. The right channel gets all of the bass, and the electric guitar. The organ (for the most part) stays on the right, while strings are pretty close to hard left, with reverb trails coming in on the right.

This is the sort of thing that should get the "unlistenable in headphones" tag but I am floored by how clever use of instrument levels and EQ allows everything to sit perfectly balanced, even in headphones. I wonder why they chose to do something so bold for this ballad, unless they were consciously trying to emulate a vintage 60s Beatles mix.

Either way check it out. If you have only appreciated the band for their songs in the past take a moment to appreciate the craft. This could have easily fallen off the edge of disaster, but instead makes a good song extraordinary and memorable.

Two cans and some string

Reeling from the wall to wall akwardness that was yesterday, I remembered as I was leaving the office that today is payday. What better reason to swing by Guitar Center and check out their cans?

They were very cool about letting me try everything out. I grabbed a Seinnheiser pair (can't remember the model number), Ben's trusty AKG K240's and the Beyerdyamic DT 770 pro.

The Seinn's went out first. They were too bright and felt like an improper reference. At first I thought the AKG's were too dark, but then quickly realized I was hearing limitations in my own recording for the first time! The Beyer's were so accurate that at first I was completely taken aback. I started thinking they were TOO accurate, that maybe I need to hear with the hoi polloi. Maybe I really should be mixing with earbuds? Just kidding folks. I am a nerd.

I spent a LOT of time A/B'ing the AKG and the Beyer. I listened to my song "Dysgrace", and "The Dark Eternal Night" from the new Dream Theater. In addition to being very well recorded the new DT is the only album I had on my iPod that is encoded lossless and almost completely uncompressed.

At first I was having trouble noticing the differences between the two pairs of cans, but my patience was rewarded and I decided the Beyers are more accurate and have a subtle extra sense of space and definition.

One pair of headphones, a pop filter, and a free 2 year replacement warranty later (I can't go into GC without the jew in me coming out and wanting to haggle. I always gotta get SOME kinda deal) I was out the door, cans on my HEAD. The nerd equivalent of wearing your new shoes out of the store.

Yes, that picture is me on 2nd Place in Brooklyn happily walking around with huge freaking clompers on my head. My sweet shit lord they sound good. I put on Pink Floyd and "Welcome to the Machine" sounds very close to what I always assumed the true voice of God sounds like.

OK, enough talk, I'm firing up Sonar!

Wheels! Motion! Streetlights! People!

OK.....

Today I read online that because of the Sopranos finale, Journey sales are through the roof on iTunes.

I also read the take from Steve Perry and the rest of the band regarding the use of the song in the final scene.

Lastly, Blabbermouth just wrote current Journey singer Jeff Scott Soto left the band.

I think we've all seen this movie before. Can you say JOURNEY REUNION????

I sure can!

Come on Steve Perry and Neil Schon, make this so!

HAWKWIND IS COMING!!! HAWKWIND IS COMING!

I've been feeling weird nervous and jittery since late last night when after checking the site I work at for errors (I do this every day after midnight when our ad placements shift) I decided to putz around MySpace.

Thank God for the new changes where your bulletins are on the front page! I saw Hawkwind mention hotel rooms for the "Hawkfest" they are doing in England this weekend. I clicked on the link to see what that was all about and noticed REAL tour dates. AMERICAN TOUR DATES!

A BROOKLYN TOUR DATE!

MAMA MIA! No one covered this yet. It was not on Brooklyn Vegan, this was not being shouted from the mountain tops! It turns out this was very last minute, the band was even being coy about 100% confirmation. However tickets were on sale at Ticketweb for a very reasonable $25.

I was shaking as the order page came up. What if I was the only person that didn't know about this show? It would not be the first time it happened. By the time I heard about the Blackfield/Jordan Rudess gig at the Bowery it was long sold out. What would I do? Stubhub? Do I go to the club? How much am I willing to pay for a scalped ticket? $500? $5,000? Blood? Semen? Plasma? Do I convince a girl to donate some eggs for a ticket?

I kind of really like this band. Alas, tickets are still available. I bought one, Lee bought one, I sent an email to everyone I know who likes marginally psychedelic music.

They are on sale here if you want one too.

I do go to a lot of shows. But this one is different. HAWKWIND IS COMING TO MY BOROUGH!!! HAWKWIND! FUCK! And it is SOOOOOOOOOON!

Who is being Hi-Fived right now? Steve Perry

Last song on the Sopranos, "Don't Stop Believing????"

It was like David Chase was thinking, how do we make Seth Diamond living in Brooklyn New York go to tears?

Steve Perry, don't let Jeff Scott Soto cash in that Sopranos pussy on the Journey tours! Rejoin the fucking band!

I bet if you put it in your contract they had to play Oh Sherry in the set they would do it!

I owe y'all stories

I know.

Roller Derby.

Skinny Puppy.

Why am I buying pedals?

I'll get to everything I promise. I'm just busy doing some actual living (as opposed to writing) and may pre-empt everything to meditate on the end of the Sopranos.

But rest assured, all requests will be processed in the order they were received. This blog may be monitored for quality assurance

Never say Never: New Pedals!

Bought a Fulltone Wah today and ordered the Blue Box. Got a nice discount. Despite all the virtual modeling of cabinets and amps, it does feel good to stomp shit.

Dinosaur: The kids are alright!

The kids are alright my friends! We like to lament the kids but I think I am eligible for 2-4 years down at county for all the underage boob I accidentally came in contact with in the pit. That's right, a pit! Dinosaur Jr. in 2007 was very very similar to Dinosaur in 1993. Down to the underage kids. They did a great mix of the entire catalog. Nothing from Green Mind this time but they did add "Out There" and "Feel The Pain" from the 90's records. The new record sounded great live, and J is once again surrounded by stacks of 4x12s. Not all of them active this time around but DAAAAAAAMN were they loud!

Wow great show. I need to go to sleep and get my strength up for the Roller Derby and subsequent after-party tomorrow. But tonight I sleep basking in the transcendent old school feedback of Dinosaur Jr.

Did I mention I was in the pit?? A real old school pogo pit!!!! Jesus Christ I had fun tonight!

Subway Defacement- best poster ever

Saw this in the 14th Street F stop this morning on my way to work. What a totally sweet defacement! Notice the title scraped away perfectly to say "EF U" and the Glen Benton style inverted cross on the forehead!

Has anyone actually seen a poster being defaced? Who does this? I love this one though. It is so creepy! Enjoy!

Inside The Studio

A couple of people have asked to see some pics of the Studio, which I have now come to think of as "Oblivion Research." Well, more like my new Blackberry demanded I give them a company name for my personal email accounts and I had to think on my feet and that is the first thing that came out. In high school and college I used the pseudonym Hello Oblivion when I made 4 track recordings. I have always liked the word Oblivion. But anyway here are the first pics, taken with the Blackberry camera of Oblivion Research. Like all good porn it is a little blurry and a little grainy.

Yet even more super duper updated concert schedule

Because it seems to be the blog's most popular feature!

Now: With shows I think I'm going to but don't actually have tickets for yet!

6/7 Dinosaur Jr.
6/9 Skinny Puppy
6/19 Big Business
6/21 Porn Rock Ball (Gods of Fire)
6/22-6/23 Brooklyn Metalfest w/Ross-the-Boss, Seven Witches, Magus Beast, others
7/7 Boredoms with 77 drummers!
7/8 Rush
7/23 White Stripes/Grinderman (This is a maybe, and mostly for Grinderman)
7/28 Sonic Youth
8/2 Metal Meltdown III (Gods of Fire)
8/7 Deep Purple
8/9 Daft Punk
8/11 Symphony X
8/24-8/25 Dream Theater (probably)
4/1/08 King Diamond/Kreator

We're up on the YouTube!

Thanks to Michelle for the fun stealth shots of us playing Nectar from Don Hills on Thursday.

This is really going to please the shareholders when we are asked to speak to our 2.0 strategy!

Gods of Fire are user generated!

LOLBots

Just makes me laugh. Sometimes for a late hungover Friday that is enuff, dammit!

For more fun go here.

Frickin' Lasers!

Look at that well timed camera phone pic on the left. That was a ROTATING LASER PRISM reflecting a ROTATING LASER RAINBOW!!!!!

Wednesday was the second time Heidi and I saw the same Roger Waters show at MSG. The first time last September we got Nick Mason as guest drummer on Dark Side of the Moon (played in its entirety) and harlem ghetto children singing on Another Brick in the Wall wearing oversized white shirts that said "FEAR BUILDS WALLS" in Frankie Goes to Hollywood bold type.

But there was something missing. Something that really upset me. There were no lasers! Are lasers simply out of vogue I mused? Was there a discovered health risk? Originally this post was going to be a long tirade on the death of the laser. Then during Brain Damage/Eclipse that beautiful laser prism emerged and by the end of the song was bathing us every rotation in rainbow laser light. It was breathtaking!

God save the lasers! The rest of the show was pretty unaltered. There was an amazing "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" where the video screens showed vintage footage of the original Floyd lineup. "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" was note for note accurate with a beautiful haunting image of Syd Barrett on the screens.

He still did that stupid fucking borderline anti-semitic "Leaving Beirut" tune. The major conceit of the song is because in 1961 a Lebanese family took him in and treated him well we are all ignorant for going to war and not letting Palestinians have Israel. It is very naively written and the lyrics are astonishingly literal. If this is not bad enough the video screens have the lyrics put up in big comic book style voice bubbles. Now the effect was VERY cool out of context, but since it was all about letting us see his pointed remarks against Tony Blair and GWB it lost a lot of its cool real quick. The worst part was his stupid simplistic attitudes and accusations regarding foreign policy made my lefty anti-war ass start to feel jingoistic. I was all like "no, fuck you Waters! We gotta bomb them back to the stone age!" I don't think that is the sentiment he was trying to stir.....

But still overall great show. I would probably spend another 100 bucks to see it a third time (although if he wanted to do an Animals show the next go round I wouldn't complain).