Flogging Molly!!!

Last night I went with a friend to see Flogging Molly at the Aragon Brawlroom. For those who aren't familiar, Flogging Molly is Irish Punk - with a bit more Celtic influence than the Dropkick Murphy's who are more Punk-Irish, I guess. We found our place on the right side of the house, sort of close to the bar, but on the outskirts enough to not get pulled into the chaos in the middle of the floor. Three words: Irish Mosh Pit.

A few guys came into our little area and we were all talking & joking around. They were pretty big dudes and they promised to provide a block to prevent people from pushing us around during the show. They all turned out to be either Chicago cops or Chicago firemen and they were the nicest guys. We were all buyin each other beer - my beer glass kept magically refilling itself as one of them would pour some of theirs into my cup. (I've never had to pee so bad after a show as I did last night, lemme tell ya). There's no better place to stand at a general admission show than in the company of friendly Chicago's Finest...


Gotta love the internets. I remember back in the day when you had to write the setlist on your arm if you wanted to remember what was played.

SetList
1. (No More) Paddy's Lament
2. The Likes of You Again
3. Swagger
4. Requiem for a Dying Song
5. Every Dog Has Its Day
6. The Worst Day Since Yesterday
7. Drunken Lullabies
8. You Won't Make a Fool Out of Me
9. Man With No Country
10. The Wanderlust (Acoustic)
11. Us of Lesser Gods
12. Factory Girls
13. Float
14. Punch Drunk Grinning Soul
15. Tobacco Island
16. Rebels of the Sacred Heart
17. Devil's Dance Floor
18. If I Ever Leave This World Alive
19. Salty Dog
20. The Lightning Storm
21. What's Left of the Flag

Encore:
22. The Wrong Company
23. Black Friday Rule
24. Seven Deadly Sins

Lollapalooza: Jane's Addiction

15 albums that effected you

Finally one of these lists that makes total sense for me to do, given how I've always turned to music as therapy...

Instructions:

Think of 15 albums, CDs, LPs that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dug into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wasu, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean.
----
In no particular order:

1. Pink Floyd -Wish You Were Here (what, not Dark Side??, nope. but it was close)
2. Meryn Cadell- Angel Food for Thought
3. Radiohead - The Bends
4. The Doors - Morrison Hotel
5. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
6. George Carlin - Class Clown (ok, not music, but still)
7. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
8. Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
9. Green Day - American Idiot
10. New Order - Substance
11. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
12. Johnny Cash - Live at Fulsom
13. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
14. Peter Gabriel - Us
15. Ramones - Road to Ruin

Getting out

I've had a few people concerned that I won't get out and do stuff during this difficult time. Don't worry, I have plenty of social engagements lined up for a while. The holidays help with that, for sure.

I've gotten used to doing certain things without John over the years since he doesn't like clubs or bars. This weekend is something I've been looking forward to for almost a month. A local DJ, who used to do a weekly new-wave/post-punk night at a few local clubs (one of which I frequented during my undergraduate years until it closed) is planning a Wax Trax! revival night at a local club.
For those who don't know, Wax Trax! was a record label in the mid 80s to early 90s based in Chicago (spun off from a record store in Denver) that produced many of the early industrial bands, like Ministry and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, among others. So Saturday will be a night full of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Ministry, KMFDM, REVCO. These bands set the stage for artists like Nine Inch Nails to gain a fairly mainstream following, even if many of the early influencing bands have gone the way of the DoDo. My kind of fun!

Meaningful lyrics

There's a lot of debate about what this song is about, but here's what I think: To me, it tells a story of a society that has become so far removed from it's own sense of agency that we see no choice but to sit back and passively accept what Government, God, Greed, Globalization, George (capital G) does and says without critical thought.

Capital G, Year Zero, Nine Inch Nails

I pushed the button and elected him to office and a
He pushed the button and he dropped the bomb
You pushed the button and could watch in on the television
Those motherfuckers didn't last too long

I'm sick of hearing about the have and have not's
Have some personal accountability
The biggest problem with the way that we are doing things is
The more we let you have the less that I'll be keeping for me

Well I use to stand for something
Well I'm on my hands and knees
Turning in my god for this one
and he signs his name with a capital G

Don't give a shit about the temperature in Guatemala
Don't really see what all the fuss is about
Ain't gonna worry about no future generations
And I'm sure somebody's gonna figure it out

Don't try to tell me that some power can corrupt a person
You hadn't had enough to know what its like
Your only angry cause you wish you were in my position
Now nod your head cause you know that I'm right..alright!

Well I use to stand for something
But forgot what that could be
Theres a lot of me inside you
Maybe your afraid to see

Well I use to stand for something
Well I'm on my hands and knees
Turning in my god for this one
and he signs his name with a capital G

Lollapalooza, Days 2 & 3

Day 2: Our volunteer shift started early, and given that we didn't get home until after midnight the previous night (it took FOREVER to find a cab even after waiting an hour in my office after the Radiohead show), we were a little tired. John doesn't do as well with little sleep as I do, so we had a small breakfast and made our way downtown. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get some munchkins for the early morning crew and arrived for our shift at 8:30am. We helped our team lead get things set up for the day, and after that the day was pretty slow.

For those a little slow on the uptake - this is Volunteer HQ.

The Greeter/Information team getting ready to meet the masses.

Since most volunteers work all three days, very few people needed to sign the liability form or pick up t-shirts on Saturday or Sunday. There were some, but not many. Mostly we hung around, checked in those people starting for their shifts, and goofed off. Our shift ended at 1pm, at which time we walked over to t-shirt vendors, got a couple of shirts (reasonably priced, surprisingly) and then to the food vendors, got some lunch, and listened a bit to a nearby stage. I was amazed that the food prices were so low - given what you pay at many other local venues, $5 for a sandwich and $5 for a beer isn't bad at all. I guess they figure if people are forking over $200 for a three day pass and expecting to stay in the park all day, the least they can do is offer affordable food.

John went home to walk the dog and take a nap while I hung out in the park all day. It was a much cooler day that Friday, so I just relaxed in the various open spaces and listed to whatever was going on around me. I stopped by Perry's stage to hear Perry's set, rolled out my blanket against a tree and just hung out. A couple of guys sat by me who were from the Iraq Veterans Against the War organization and we talked for a bit. They were trying to get backstage for Rage - apparently Zach has done some stuff for IVAW and they were in contact with the band manager. The band spent the day at the Cubs game and wasn't around before their set.

Buckingham Fountain looking North toward the Standard Oil building
(I refuse to call it the Aon Center)

Unlike other music festivals or concerts, there's lots of green, open space to just relax.
I mostly just chilled out in the grass most of Saturday afternoon.

I called John to wake him up, got a beer, and wandered around a bit more. We didn't get to see Lupe Fiasco, cuz John arrived late - however, he was smart and brought the motorcycle downtown - free meter parking on Wabash after 6pm - so we didn't have any problems getting home that night.

Already scaling fences for a good look at Rage. The crowd was massive.

Relaxing at Rage?? What am I, old or something?

Unlike the previous night, where Radiohead played un-opposed (there's two headliner stages, one on either end of the festival), Rage Against the Machine and Wilco were both playing at 8:30pm. Given the sheer number of Rage shirts I saw throughout the day, I should not have been surprised at the size of the crowd, but I was. It looked even worse than Friday, though I don't know how that's possible. We found an out-of-the-way area in the back of the field. We couldn't see, but we could hear just fine. Thankfully we weren't amidst the chaos. They had to stop the show three times so Zach could tell people in the front to back up and stop crushing people against the barricade. I hadn't seen Rage live in 15 years, and they didn't disappoint. Just as frenzied and political and relevant as ever.


Day 3: Our shift was from 1-5pm on Sunday, so we slept in and took the motorcycle downtown again (free parking on Sundays on Wabash). Sunday's shift was even slower than Saturday's, with even fewer people needing to check in while we were there. See, most people check in around Noon for the day, check out the music, and then return for their shift, so very few people check in between 1 and 5pm. We passed the time watching one of the other team leads whose job was over chase fence jumpers and filled up on freebie giveaways from the Whole Foods booth.

We went with one of our other teammates to find a spot for Nine Inch Nails, found a lovely area of grass, rolled out our blankets, and listened to Flogging Molly's set. After that, Love and Rockets came on, and they were pretty damn good too. We bumped into a couple other volunteers who set up camp by us. I went to forage for food during The Nationals set, and we hung out on the lawn until NIN took the stage.

Now, yes. I love Radiohead, and I like Rage a lot. But I've seen both of them before. I've never seen NIN live and I think that, and the sheer enthusiasm shown by Trent and the band is why I had such a great time. I seriously felt 18 again. That show has re-kindled my crush on Trent Reznor - and man, he's lookin pretty damn buff lately. Just goes to show that lifting weights is always a better option than heroin. At one point, near the end of the show, he said he was amazed that he was still alive and that he was playing Lollapalooza 17 years after he first played Lolla to an appreciative crowd. Well, I'm certainly glad he's still alive. They put on one fantastic show.

Driving the motorcycle down LaSalle street canyon Sunday morning.
Yes, this is where they flipped the semi truck in the Dark Knight.
They call it the canyon because the Board of Trade at the end of the street makes it look like a canyon.

Love and Rockets had some weird dancing things on stage that looked like the Bumble Bee Man and the Michelin Man had a love child.

Devoted volunteer. He has 5 wristbands. Why?
Friday pass, Saturday Pass, Hospital wristband from getting a bruised rib at an after party Saturday night, Sunday Pass, Beer wristband.

Nine Inch Nails takes the stage.

Nine Inch Nails, Closer. It's a little shaky, but the sound is good. Epileptics beware.


Nine Inch Nails, Hurt. Our video was ruined by chatty Cathy's in our midst who jabbered through the whole thing, but I found another good one. This one also includes Trent's comments prior to the song. The friend he refers to is Johnny Cash.

Lollapalooza

Sorry it took so long... I've had little motivation to do much of anything the past week or so.

Day 1: Our shift at Volunteer HQ was from 1pm to 5pm, so we arrive after taking the el downtown. We dropped our provisions at my office, about 2 blocks from Grant Park and make our way over. It's HOT and humid and John is feeling it already. Not a good sign. Our jobs were very easy, and we got along well with our leads and our team. Friday was the busiest day because most volunteers work all three days - so Friday is the big check-in day. All volunteers have to sign a liability form (if you're injured while working, don't blame Lolla and all that jazz), get their t-shirts, and go meet their teams. The Funniest thing was that I saw the name of a girl I went to high school with on my list of check in volunteers. So when she arrived, I said "Hi Corinne", and she was like 'wait, how do you know my name? Do I know you? OMG, wait..." It was pretty funny. She also knows one of my old DePaul friends and former roomates, Jeff, who was at the festival covering it for the Daily Herald, a newspaper in the Northwest burbs of Chicago. Small world.

So we finished our shift, went back to my office to cool off, take a potty break, and grab some food. We went back to Grant Park to see Radiohead, and they did not disappoint. We grabbed a piece of lawn near other people who had put down blankets - I'm of the mind that if I can hear fine, then I'm good. I don't need to stand shoulder to shoulder with sweaty drunkards, especially when we have a huge field. Small world again, we ended up right next to a blanket where a guy I work with was sitting.

Radiohead did not disappoint. I have some photos (mostly of Chicago because we were too far to get photos of the stage) and a youtube video I took (Everything in its Right Place/Fake Plastic Trees). That's facing South, the Field Museum of Natural History is in the background. Let me say, I am AMAZED at the quality of video and sound coming off my little Canon PowerShot SD950 IS camera. If you're in the market for a point and shoot digital camera - I highly recommend it. The detail in the pictures is phenomenal.

What a weekend

A full report is forthcoming, with pictures, as soon as I weed through them.

This past weekend was Lalapalooza and - wow... just wow. John and I both got a volunteer gig through a friend of mine who was a team lead this year and it was so much fun. You volunteer 4 hours of your time each day and in return, you get a pass for the day. Technically, we're being compensated $200 (the cost of the three day pass) for 12 hours of "work." Now, a lot of the other volunteer teams did have hard jobs - like walking around the park distributing program books or answering questions. Our job was at volunteer headquarters. We checked in the volunteers for their shifts and sat under a shaded tent and watched one of the other team leads chase fence jumpers. It was a great experience and I will totally do it again next year. Once you're a volunteer, you're more likely to get in again following years because they know you're reliable.

What astounded me was the sheer number of no-shows. You get a free pass to the festival but these ass clowns just never showed. Oh well.

The highlights of my experience, in no particular order, were Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Flogging Molly, Perry's set at his small stage, and the people we met through the volunteer program. We took a way back seat during Rage Against the Machine - setting up camp off to the side of the field away from the mayhem. I'm glad we did. Reports vary, but the scene was chaotic, as described here by Jim DeRogatis, the Sun Times music critic. It's unfortunate, too, since Rage isn't meant to inspire violence.

Friday was very, very hot and humid, but the evening was perfect. Saturday and Sunday were perfect weather, hot, but not too bad. Monday, the day after the festival ended, were thunderstorms and spotted tornadoes in the area. Mother nature likes Perry Ferrel.

Lucky

So John and I were bummed that we couldn't see Radiohead on their latest tour. Their only stop in Chicago was Lollapalooza and the tickets for that are $205 for the three day passes ($100 something for one day passes). We decided it wasn't really worth the cost.

It is, however, worth 12 hours of our time (4 hrs each day) as volunteer coordinators. A friend of mine worked last year's Lollapalooza as the "Green team" - coordinating recycling, and other things to make sure the fest wasn't too wasteful and didn't tear up Grant Park. Well she's doing it again this year, and is a team lead. She let me know they had two open spots in the volunteer HQ tent and were John and I interested. The three of us, two years ago, tried and failed to get Radiohead tickets when they were playing the Auditorium Theatre, so she knew how much we wanted to see them.

We applied, and were hired. We work 4 hour shifts each day, getting the volunteers for each area set up with the shirts, materials, etc. In return, we each get a pass for each day. That's not a bad deal, huh?

So... now, not only do we get to see Radiohead in Grant Park again, but we also get to see Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Lupe Fiasco (a new rapper out of Chicago's West Side who is very, very interesting), and a whole host of others.

Yippie!

FYI, even if you don't like Hip Hop/Rap, you might like Lupe. He's a Muslim, into nerdy stuff like skateboarding and videogames, raps about nerdy shit, and speaks out against the rampant violence and substance abuse of the black community. According to "Sound Opinions," a music critique show on Chicago Public Radio and WXRT, Lupe Fiasco said he wanted to make a rap album that would hold up to time like Dark Side of the Moon. He's an interesting cat...

Intro (Food & Liquor)

Food and liquor stores rest on every corner
From 45th and State to the last standing Henry Horner
J&J's, Harold's chicken, good finger licking
While they sin, gin, sin sin at Rothschild and Kenwood Liquors
The winos crooked stagger
meets the high stride of the youth searching for the truth
They rebel and raise hell across alleyways and in classroom settings
They get, high off that drum bass and 20/20 rims
They rock braids, Air Force Ones and Timbs
They drink Hennessy, Hypnotiq and 40's
They call they women hoes, bust downs and shorties
They keep funeral homes in business and gunshot wards of hospitals full
Prisons packed, bubbling over in brown sugar
They keep empty, Westside lots crowded, hype's powdered
The well is running dry, the days of Malcolm and Martin have ended
Our hope has descended and off to the side
Waiting for the reinstallment of the revolution
Because we are dying at the cost of our own pollution
But God has another solution, that has evolved from the hood
I present one who turns, the Fiasco to good

[Lupe Fiasco]
A'uzu billahi min ash shaitani r rajimi
Bismi 'llahi 'r-rahmani 'r-rahim
Dedicated, to my grandmother
Peace! And much love to you
YEAH!! And it start
1st and, 15, proudly present
You know what it is
See.. I got this philosophy right
I think the world, and everything in it
Is made up of a mix, of two things
You got your good, y'know, and you're bad
You got your food, and your liquor
That's right.. Chilly Chill!
You already know, it's a long time coming
I give you my.. I give you my heart
My soul, my mind my thoughts, my feelings
My experience, nothing more, and nothing less
Yes, FNF, uh-huh! So
With no further adieux...
Lupe, Fiasco's, "Food & Liquor"

Pandora's box of Christmas Hell

According to Jason, I opened Pandora's box.

My student at work asked me if I'd ever heard "Christmas Shoes" or seen the video. I have never heard of it before and he was aghast. So he loaded up Youtube and I thought I had seen the worst Christmas song/music video ever. It is as if Oprah, Lifetime network, After School Specials, Ned Flanders and Bob Geldof (who brought us the lyrical gems "there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas" and "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you") got together to whip up some holiday fun with a message.

I bring you Christmas Shoes:



But wait. There's more. I sent this to a few people who I thought would appreciate the awfulness of this whole charade. What I got in return were several more links to several more, increasingly worse Christmas music videos. I think that artists can release all manner of schlock and be guaranteed that people will buy it if they simply call it a "Christmas album". Cuz you know if it's Christmas, it's got to be good.

Then Jason, in retaliation sent BoyoyBoy, some boyband 'yo MTV raps ripoff. It doesn't help that one guy looks like Squiggy dressed as Bono and another looks like Screech:


Then Heather got into the mix, sending probably the worst Eurotrash outfit I've ever seen. To quote Jason: "I don’t know what I like more… the outfits, the hair, those dynamite dance moves or the beautiful notes coming off his xylophone."



Then Jason played the Ace up his sleeve with Leslie and the Lies "Gem Sweater". Now, for those who don't know, Leslie is actually pretty big with the feminist and gay activist groups because she is a purposeful parody of women and fashion. (Click the photo to play)



Then finally... the fucking Christmas Macarena... seriously?




Which one is your "favorite"??

So... do you feel in the Christmas spirit yet? Oh, I forgot our friends the Jews. One of my all time favorites, from Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics...

crabby

I've been crabby lately. I think it's the weather. Here's something to cheer you up... thanks to CilliC for the find...


Radiohead covering New Order's "Ceremony"...

I've often wondered this myself....

I reiterate Richard Roeper's question: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?

I can barely tolerate Christmas music for the 48 hours I am subjected to it during family gatherings. I do my Christmas shopping online now to avoid not only the crowds and screaming brats in the toy section, but also the blaring music stores play from now until New Year's. I seriously want to know how store clerks can stand that and NOT end up taking it out on their spouse/significant other/pet.

======================================
Would you celebrate July 4 in May?
No? So why do you listen to Christmas songs in Nov.?

November 6, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist

Couldn't help it. Out of curiosity, I tuned to WLIT-FM (93.9) Monday. "O Tannenbaum" by Vince Guaraldi.

Ack. Why don't you just Tase me, bro?

Of course I immediately hit the tuner button and vowed to stay away from the Lite until at least Dec. 10. The only thing as abhorrently anachronistic as decorations that go up too early or stay up too late is the playing of holiday music when we're still putting away the Halloween decorations and we haven't solidified our Thanksgiving plans.

But that's just me -- and probably you. The evidence says the reason stations go early with the X-mas tunage is simple: The numbers go up.

What I want to know is: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE? Seriously.

Take a look at this partial playlist of songs heard on the Lite on Monday:

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" -- Johnny Mathis

"Silent Night" -- Josh Groban

"Jingle Bell Rock" -- Hall & Oates

"White Christmas" -- Bing Crosby

"O Holy Night" -- Celine Dion

"The Christmas Song" -- Nat King Cole

"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" -- Harry Connick Jr.

All I can say is, Make It Stop! Make It Stop! Make It Stop!

I'm no Scrooge. I'd be happy to hear those tunes IN DECEMBER. Listening to them now would be like driving to U.S. Cellular Field in the hopes of seeing a baseball game. Wrong. Season.

So who IS listening to Christmas tunes in early November? If your sig-other started decking the halls with "Jingle Bells" and "Feliz Navidad," would you file for a legal separation? Do you work in an office where they're playing the holiday tunes? Is that grounds for a grievance?

As I write this, a lot of people are listening to "Silver Bells" by Anne Murray.

I want to know who they are, and also, why. Why??????

Richard Cheese

When we heard earlier this year that Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine were coming to Chicago, we jumped on it immediately. We first discovered Dick, I think, when we bought a Me First and the Gimme Gimme's CD and got the little "if you like this, you may like these others..." So we ordered his CD and loved it. Ever since, we've been dedicated Dick fans... We've been to Vegas twice since then and have always missed him.

We were among the first to buy tickets for the show, so our tickets still listed the original venue, the "back porch" (side) stage at the House of Blues. Well, those went so fast that they upgraded the show to the main stage, and... ended up selling out. For those of you unfamiliar with Richard Cheese, check out some of the songs on his website - they're a Vegas Lounge act that "swankify" popular songs like Shake Ya Ass, Hot for Teacher, Brass Monkey, the Clorox 2 Jingle, Creep... you get the idea. There's something just so fun when he sings really raunchy rap songs like Me So Horny, because the lounge style just really brings out the ridiculousness of the lyrics.

I went out and got a special plastic martini glass to bring to the show, ya know, you can't be a lounge act without a big-ass martini. Well, we had dinner in the House of Blues restaurant and I left it on the goddam table. Oh well.

John wanted to be up by the stage since Dick said he'd be taking requests and John had a special request and he wouldn't tell me what it was. There were request cards and pens all over, so we staked our claim by the stage by the center set of stairs set up to the stage. And we waited... the doors opened at 7:30, but the opener wasn't starting until 9 and Dick wasn't coming on until 10:30... The security guy came by to inform us that the yellow line that sectioned off about 3 feet at the front of the stage was for "Ladies Only" once Dick took the stage - too funny. When he came out on stage he looked down at all the ladies' cleavages and was like "oh yeah, this worked out great."

Up by the stage by us were a couple of women who drove all the way from Minneapolis for the show - his only Midwest appearance. There were also a couple of women who came in from Kansas and Oklahoma. It's stories like that that really make me appreciate living in such a great city - we're a musical wonderland and an airport hub. I never have to drive more than 20 miles to see a great show if I don't wanna.

The opening act, who, by the way for all you Chicago area residents who like Johnny Cash, was a Johnny Cash cover band called Cash'd Out. They were fucking fantastic and they played for an hour - unheard of for an opener. They're gonna be back at the HOB (back porch stage I think) in a couple weeks, so anyone who wants to go, lemme know. Seriously, you closed your eyes and you thought it was Johnny Cash. They were super fun.

Dick took the stage about 10:30 and played until just after midnight. It was seriously the most fun concert I've been to - just plain pure fun. He handled himself like a pro with the crowd, one liner zinger comebacks for people who say stupid shit. There was one chick at the front, some drunk trixie who showed Dick her boobs and then wouldn't shut up. She went up on stage uninvited because Dick grabbed her purse that she set on the edge of the stage and was gonna go through it under the spotlight. Then he let her stay to dance during Baby Got Back and then she wouldn't leave - so he gave her an "I love Dick" thong, told her to stuff it in her mouth for the rest of the show, and went on with the show. She eventually had to be told by security to chill the fuck out, and at one point we (and Dick) noticed she just vanished. She was probably puking in the bathroom...

Then there were the two cats by us who were all dressed up in tux's. They were cool at first, but then proceeded to get so drunk during the wait that by the time Cash'd Cow came on all they did was every 2 minutes yell "free bird"... I wanted to grab the one dude by his ponytail and just whack him. So when Dick came on, and he yelled Free Bird, Dick sung about two lines and that was the end of that. Thank GOD.

Apparently, according to Dick, it was the biggest show they've played where people came out just to see them. He used the stairs, to go out into the crowd, mack on chicks, talk to people, and just mingle with the crowd. He changed his tux jacket 4 times during the show - of course one being the classic tiger stripe jacket (made by a real tiger).

The set list included a lot of Dick's classic restylings:

Airbag (he must love Radiohead)
Shake Ya Ass
Baby got Back
Brass Monkey
Down with the Sickness
Chop Suey
Me so Horny
People Equal Shit
Spongebob Theme
Gin & Juice
Milkshake
Another Brick in the Wall pt 2... and quite a many more. The set list was two pages long (I could see it on stage from where I was standing).

and of course, Creep...

Which brings me to John's request. Apparently John emailed Dick to see about a dedication and Dick said sure, just remind him with the request card. See, we played the Dick version of Creep at our wedding reception (some of you may remember a friend of mine drunkenly stumbling up to the dancefloor as the intro to the song played yelling to me "it's CREEEEEEP"). Or maybe not. In any case, yes, we danced to the swankified version of Creep at our wedding and much fun was had (it's my favorite of Dick's songs). So Dick dedicated Creep to me and John for our 4th anniversary (which was just this past Thursday) and he allowed John in the ladies only circle and put a spotlight dance on us for the song as he went down into the crowd... it was too fun. We thanked him again after the show. Isn't John cute?

He said that due to the huge success of this show, that he'll be coming back next year. So hopefully we'll do it again next year and maybe some of y'all will listen to me when I tell ya it'll be a fuckin blast...

Live Earth

So everyone's heard about this right? A worldwide 24 hour concert to raise money to fight global warming? If not, go here.

Sundance channel appears to be airing the entire thing from 4am Saturday (tonight) to 2am Sunday. Similar to Live 8, there's 7 concerts that take place one right after the other for an entire day, each in a different city.

Among the participants:

Roger Waters
The Police
Smashing Pumpkins
Kanye West
Madonna
Beastie Boys
Duran Duran
Damien Rice
Metallica

The list goes on.

I am going to watch the broadcast of the New York show and probably wait for the DVD (you know there will be one) for the rest.

Also, I've been thinking about re-working my blog template and I think I'm going to add a section called "Worthy Causes" where I'm simply going to provide links to charities and organizations that I think are worth my (and your) time and money. Once that's up, feel free to offer suggestions as I'm sure I will have inadvertently forgotten someone. It's easy to take a cause, think about it for a few hours and never act on it. It's more difficult to commit yourself, especially when you have limited time and resources.

That's why I love it when celebrities take up causes. They have the freedom that time and money allows. They also have the public eye. Rather than wasting that being some clubbing, pill-popping tramp like Paris, some celebs use their popularity for a good cause. If you can get more attention, and raise more awareness because of who you are, and your occupation and life circumstances allow you the time and access to make a difference - then god dammit, do it.

Some people roll their eyes and criticize celebrities for vocalizing their concerns. They're people too. They have opinions, and the right to voice them. The microphone is simply a little louder. And all this hubub about how artists should just keep their yaps shut... Tell me something - what art is apolitical? Art - whether visual or musical, paintings or films, has always been infused with political meaning. Sure, some of it is vapid, some of it always will be, but there have always been artists who used their art to send political messages.