That's How People Grow Up

Been posting quite bit lately - suppose I feel as though I have more to talk (type?) about.

Recently caught both The Police and Morrissey in concert (over the last two weeks). I found both shows quite enjoyable, but the venues to me were... odd. I think the trouble is, I grew up going to the Mann and the Spectrum in Philly for concerts. For the most part, those venues set whatever strange expectation I now have in my head for what a "normal" concert venue should be like - so others, even when far superior, seem at least a bit alien. Anyway - fairly positive reviews all around for these shows (check them out here for the Police and here for Mozz, the latter having links to pics and vids taken by the fans).

Cheers!

Major Hack

Good times @ The Flying Pig this past weekend - the crowd was great, hanging out until the wee hours. I broke out the Azola Bugbass II EUB for that show - been months since I played EUB and my chops were... not great. I had fun though, as much fun as I could while feeling like a complete hack on the instrument.

Hard to believe that I have only 5 PA shows left this year with the SL Band (others are NJ or private party gigs). My next PA show with the boyz is on September 28th @ Triumph Brewery in New Hope. We're still hoping to book a few shows in DE in the winter, primarily to record a live album (more on that as the plans are better materialized).

In the "Computer Stuff That Kicks A__" department, if you've not yet checked out LifeHacker, then you need to do this with all speed. I am not completely addicted to this website - I even check it from my crappy iPAQ on Sunday mornings when I already know that they don't update the site on Sunday mornings. Sad, really.

Recently picked up Clapton's Me and Mr. Johnson - reviews are mixed but I dug it. My mom also happens to like it. Also - I had to write about this somewhere - I found this item "recommended" to me in the customized portal to Amazon.com today.
...Uh ...WHAT?!???

Stuff that matters...

I wanted to send a quick shout out to my brother, who turned me on to Iron Maiden's latest release, "A Matter of Life and Death." I really haven't paid much attention to Maiden's releases since "Brave New World," and I don't have any good knowledge of their catalog since "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son."

Man, did I seriously miss the boat on this album... This release is so tight it's sick. I recommend that you buy it, bring it home, put it into your CD player - the one that is hooked up to the loudest sound system in your house - stand approximately 1.6 meters away from the speakers, and set the volume to "comfortably loud." Then press play, and enjoy the 70+ minutes of pure metal bombardment on your ears, head, and soul, after which you will peel yourself off of the opposite wall to rest in a pool of your own drool while contemplating just how much Maiden can still kick your a__! Definitely NOT safe to write this band off yet.

Plus, Maiden still has Steve Harris shredding bass and supplying the heart and soul of the band. Harris is an incredible bassist and songwriter (despite the pants), and an equally good metal poser (see total RAWK-out pic below - mad skills!!!).

By the way - next up for the Steve L. band will be The Flying Pig in Malvern, PA on July 20th. Hope to see you there!

Cheers!

Come Back to Camden OR [Insert bad pun on RUSH here]

Great time last night at the RUSH show in Camden. I had a blast hanging out with my DE peeps.

Overall, the sound was better than the Scranton show, as was the drum solo, but I thought that the performance had some glitches and wasn't as "ON" as the Scranton show. Minor cavils, really - can't complain much when you're seeing Rush and the band kicked major a__ as usual. Some nice fan reviews are cropping up already today.

I did notice lots of women at these shows for some reason - many, many more than I've ever seen at previous Rush concerts, and I was amused to see a very tall Rush fan to my right going crazy to each song during the show, with his girlfriend visibly perturbed throughout the entire proceedings - that's more the "classic" Rush experience for females I think... although I did see a girl in front of us in her 20's, I noticed her because she was dancing - to YYZ ! Very odd stuff...

Anyway, no cameras ("at the request of the band" we were told, which I know from interviews and other sources is total b.s.), and my cell phone pics/videos are pretty lousy - but my cousin Paul managed to get some respectable shots on his Palm Treo, so I will post some pics whenever I receive them.

Cheers!

Updatesssssssssssssss

Thought I'd report on the recent Rush show that Steve L. and I attended in Scranton, PA. In summary, the show was one of the best I've seen from the band (I've been attending their shows in the PA area on-an-off since the Presto tour in `89-`90). Reviews from this show have been quite positive so far. Geddy was especially into it, really trying for those high notes in some of the older material. When playing material from the new album, the band seemed especially energetic and into it.

Speaking of the new album, there is a DVD-audio version of Snakes & Arrows available that has a 'making-of' documentary and other tidbits. Some of the extras are useless, but the sound quality is top-notch.

Some photos from the Scranton show are starting to pop up around the 'net. A few amateur shots are below. Enjoy...