One of my all-time favorite bands, The Church, decided to make it’s way to Buffalo last week. This was one of the best concerts I’ve been to in some time. The Church is stronger than ever with their performance and Steve Kilbey is an exceptionally entertaining front man. The show started strong with ‘Tantalized’ from the Heyday album and finished the set with ‘Under the Milky Way’ and ‘Reptile.’ The band then graciously did 2 encores. The last encore ended with ‘Buffalo’ and ‘Hotel Womb.’
I consider this indie artist to be underated. Check out his video for the song My Narcoleptic Sara:
“Merry Christmas.Well, that’s what people say at Christmas, right? Except normally they have somebody to say it to. They have their friends and family all around them. They haven’t been crouched naked under a Christmas tree with a needle in their arm like an insane person in a mansion in Van Nuys.They’re not out of their minds and writing in a diary and they’re not watching their holiday spirit coagulating in a spoon.I didn’t speak to a single person today…I thought of calling Bob Timmons, but why should I ruin his Christmas? I guess I’ve decided to start another diary this time for a few different reasons…
1. I have no friends left.
2. So I can read back and remember what I did the day before.
3. So if I die, at least I leave a paper trail of my life (nice lil suicide note).Merry Christmas…it’s just you and me, diary. Welcome to my life.“
So begins one of the best rock biographies to come out in 2007. A couple of weeks ago I finished reading the Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx. The story was so engaging that this book was read in record time for me. I took it to lunch; I read it while following my wife around the stores in the mall; I kept reading it during every spare moment I could grab. It was that good.
The Heroin Diaries is the story of Nikki Sixx’s addiction to drugs, and just how low one can sink. It consists of diary entries he made over the course of a year, primarily during the Girls, Girls, Girls tour. At times it is funny, and other times just shocking; but it is always from the heart. Sixx bears his soul in a way few other musicians have. You see the real grit that was Nikki Sixx and Mötley Crüe. To give a complete perspective the diary entries are mixed with feedback from the people who were around Sixx at the time. The honesty from these contributers is real, and at times brutal. No punches were pulled.
And I almost forgot to mention: the book is an fantastic work of art on its own. A lot of creative work went into putting this together.
But things don’t just stop with the book. Nikki, together with some of his closest friends has put together a new band called Sixx:A.M. and created a soundtrack to go with the book: The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack. This CD took my excitement about the book to a whole other level.
The CD is hands down the best project Nikki Sixx has ever produced. Plenty of hard rock goodness with a dose of progressive rock mixed in, all to tell a truely heart wrenching, emotional journey. It’s hard not to be moved by the emotional ups and downs of the music, especially if you reading the book at the same time. My favorite songs off this album include the single ‘Life Is Beautiful’ and ‘Pray For Me.’
And the best part about buying the book is that proceeds will be donated to Running Wild In The Night, a fundraising initiative for Covenant House Of California started by Nikki Sixx. Its objective is to give kids an outlet in music and try to keep them from going down the road that Sixx traveled. If even 1 person reads this book and makes the choice to stay away from drugs, then Nikki has done some good with his book.
Learn more about Sixx:A.M. and watch the ‘Life Is Beautiful’ video at http://www.sixxammusic.com/
…and this would be why the last 5 CDs I bought were from independent artists. Looks like the RIAA is just itching to put the people its “protecting” out of business in the future.
Is this finally proof to the industry that it can succeed in the digital world, regardless of P2P file sharing?
My new podcast, Radio.Speljamr, is now officially open for business. The show will be about idependent music and will feature plenty of music from Buffalo/Rochester bands. The show will not be genre specific, but will instead try to cover as much different music as possible. If you are an independent musician and would like to find out how to get your music played on this and other podcasts, please email me at radiospeljamr@gmail.com.
Radio.Speljamr Vol.1, No.1 is now online.
There are some things that just set off that inner anger, and this is one of them. According to Steve Ballmer, Microshaft CEO, “The most common format of music on an iPod is ’stolen’.” Excuse me sir? I own, yes that’s right own, over 1000 cds and I have been building my music collection for years. All of the music on my iPod comes from that collection. So, is it really theft if I own the original cds? The answer to that question should be a resounding ‘NO’ because the copyright law our founding fathers originated allows for what is called ‘Fair Use’. Simply dumping my collection to my iPod so that I can make use of what I paid for is, in my humble opinion, ‘Fair Use’. Those like Mr. Ballmer have a vision of a world in which all use of creative works is controlled. That’s not a world I want to live in, nor should anybody else. Our founding fathers knew that copyright law must be a careful balance between protecting intellectual property and allowing for ‘Fair Use’. The current state of IP law seems to forget this notion.
So to Mr. Ballmer I say, be careful what you say. Because those of us who have spent our hard earned cash on music and are now being lumped in with thieves might think twice about where we spend our money next. Like on that nice new HP laptop that comes with (*gasp*) Linux…..
Read more: iPod users are music thieves says Ballmer
A few weeks ago I finished reading Neil Pearts’ “Traveling Music - The Soundtrack to My Life and Times.†It was an enjoyable read allowing one to tag along with Neil on one of his travel adventures while listening to him discuss his various choices of listening pleasure. Some might find his descriptions of the passing landscape to be a bit dry, but the real gold nuggets were his views on the music business and his favorite artists.
Because I enjoyed this exploration through Neil’s musical preferences I decided that maybe I should do the same on this blog. So, I’ve added a new category called ‘Programming Music’ and I will soon start exploring some of my own musical inspirations. It’s ‘Programming Music’ because over the last few years 90% of my listening time has been spent while programming. So look for some upcoming musical diversions.
Ok, next time I complain about the price of a ticket to a Rush concert someone please smack me in the head to remind me why it’s worth it. Sunday nights concert is hands down, one of the best Rush shows I have ever been to. Not just because I was in the fourth row, but also because these guys still know how to put on a solid show.
While the show was great, the experience of getting into the place was less than exciting. I missed the first couple of songs because the security at Darien Lake thought it was sufficient to have only 3 single person entry points to go through. The line of people still outside at the start of the concert was quite large. Why must they hire such idiots to run security.
Now back to the show…
Rush played for approximately 3 hours, including a 15 minute intermission. I’m very pleased that they don’t bother with opening acts anymore. The more Rush the better.
Karlyn and I were in the 4th row. Let me tell you, the 4th row might as well have been the first row. I have never seen these guys this close, or had my eyebrows singed so badly(the pyro was a bit close, and hot). Watching them interact on stage it is very clear that this band is all about having fun. It must be the reason they have stayed together for 30 years; they just love what they do.
Now I know my review of Rush’s new album Feedback was not the best, but the show helped redeem some of my disappointment with that release. A live show is the best place to hear cover tunes; Rush did an incredible acoustic rendition of ‘Heart Full of Soul’. Their version of ‘Crossroads’ was also much better live. In this setting it was much more fun to watch them jam these songs. Personally, I think they should not have bothered with the album and simply performed the covers on the tour.
All-in-all, this was one tremendous show. I can’t wait for the next time they pass through town.
P.S. I’ve been giving Feedback a few more listens, and maybe it’s not quite as bad as I first thought. It’s starting to grow on me.
