First off, Alice in Chains announced their latest set of tour dates and they’re playing in Kansas City on 02/21/10 at the Midland Theater. They came through a couple of years ago and even though I passed on it then I think I’m going to go this time. The new singer is good and the new album is decent enough that it should be a good show.
Bon Jovi’s also coming on March 15. Somewhere around New Jersey I lost interest in them as they became more of a generic rock band with a bunch of blah songs. I’ve seen them twice before during their 80s heydey but at this point they interest me so little that I wouldn’t go even if it was free.
The reason I bring up this show I that I saw a link to the ticket packages. There’s six of them, not including the travel package:
Diamond - $1725.00
Emerald - $989.00
Platinum - $575.00
Gold - $365.00
Silver - $142.50
The packages give you a seat whose location is appropriate to the amount of money you spend. For me the kicker is that this is the first time that I’ve seen these expensive packages where there’s no mention of meeting the band. For the most expensive package you get a front row seat and a fucking chair you get to take home and other than a bunch of crap that’s it. You’re paying Bon Jovi $1700 for a front row seat. The $142 package gets you a “second price” reserved ticket, whatever that means, and it doesn’t sound good.
I think what gets me is that this is Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi. They sang “Living on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”. They’re not the Beatles or the Stones. They’re a hard rock version of Genesis for Pete’s sake. I just don’t get it, but good for them that they’re able to get that kind of money for their shows.
Some interesting things out this week but the only thing I’m positive about picking up is from an ex-Beatle who falls on my list of artists whose stuff I always pick up regardless.
Paul McCartney - Good Evening New York City
Yes it’s another Paul McCartney live album, but the setlist on this is different enough from his previous live release to make it interesting, plus it comes with a DVD. I’m looking forward to “Helter Skelter”, “A Day in the Life” and “I’ve Got a Feeling”.
John Mayer - Battle Studies
I need to hear this first. I respect John Mayer as a musician and songwriter but a lot of times his stuff leaves me cold so I’m leery about buying this without hearing it first. With every new studio release I keep hoping that it will capture the energy of his live show, so hopefully this is the one.
Rush - Working Men
Really Rush? Another live album? With the exception of 2112 I don’t see anything that wasn’t on the last one. I love them live but this is just too much.
Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
I had no idea they even had a studio album coming out. This is why the radio sucks, why hasn’t any station been playing this? I really want to hear it first.
Fall Out Boy - Believers Never Die - Greatest Hits
I like Fall Out Boy enough to pick up a couple of their discs used but for some reason I have no interest in this. I could see myself listening to it a couple of times and then just putting it away.
I had originally planned on reviewing the actual Can’t Slow Down studio album but that CD is AWOL in a pile somewhere and instead I watched the live DVD that came with it.
First thing’s first: I’m not a big Foreigner fan. It’s not that I dislike them - there’s a handful of their songs that I really enjoy - it’s more that I don’t care about them. Their songs have been overplayed so much on classic rock radio that it’s mostly become background noise to me.
So why sit through a DVD of live performances? Mostly it’s that I’m intrigued by bands that replace key members. In this case Kelly Hansen of Hurricane replaced previous singer Lou Gramm, although their Wikipedia entry reports that Mick Jones is the only original member remaining. I’m always curious what route the band takes when replacing someone like a singer. Will they be replaced with a clone (like Journey) or will they attempt to change the band’s sound (oh let’s just pull out Motley Crue for this)?
In this case it’s somewhere in the middle. Hansen doesn’t sound exactly like Lou Gramm but close enough to see why he was picked for the Foreigner gig. However he brings enough of his own vocal style to give the current version of Foreigner some kind of identity.
As for the performance, with the exception of a terrible acoustic version of “Say You Will”, the songs sound pretty good. The energy level of the band is decent, not phoning it in but not putting on an amazing performance either. I suspect that if I were more of a Foreigner fan this is exactly the show I would want - they do a good job playing their hits without forcing too much new or unknown material on the crowd. As far as my personal feelings, it didn’t make me any more or any less of a Foreigner fan. It was interesting to watch once and that’s plenty for me.
I have no idea where I pulled this picture from or what it’s from, but I absolutely love it. A search didn’t turn up anything except that Buck Owens did appear on the Dean Martin show once, and Youtube comes up snake eyes on it. Anyway, this picture of two legends singing together makes me happy so I’m posting it here.
One of the best music stores in the Kansas City area, never mind Lawrence, is the Love Garden, a great place to find unusual stuff. Also they have cats roaming the store which increases its greatness by tenfold. They’ve been having a big sale apparently to get rid of some of their stock as they move to a new location. Everything in the store was a dollar and I ended up getting the following:
- Prince, 3121
- Original Soundtrack, Thank God It’s Friday
I had this back when I was a kid and I absolutely loved the movie although it’s one of those things where I should just enjoy the memory and never watch it again. From what I remember the title song and the Donna Summer stuff are the highlights, including a fifteen minute version of “Je T’Aime (Moi Non Plus)”.
- Tony Bennett - Sings Ellington Hot & Cool
- Jerry Cantrell, Degradation Trip
- Ashlee Simpson, Autobiography
- Ashlee Simpson, I Am Me
I fully expect these two to eventually be filed under guilty pleasures.
- Mick Jagger, Goddess in the Doorway
From what I’ve heard this isn’t that great an album but Rolling Stone did give it five stars when it came out so I wanted to see who was right. At least it completes my Mick Jagger solo collection.
- Scorpions, Live Bites
There’s a good chance this will blow because it’s made up mostly of their stuff from Crazy World and beyond.
- Atreyu, A Death-Grip on Yesterday
I don’t recall where I heard that Atreyu were good but I thought I would pick it up anyway.
- Marianne Faithfull, Kissin’ Time
My memory on this is a bit fuzzy but I think someone on NPR gave this a great review. We’ll see because Marianne Faithfull’s voice is something fierce to have to listen to.
- Elastica, The Menace
Did anyone know that Elastica came out with another studio album in 2000? I sure didn’t.
- Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited, The Spacesound Effect
This band was recommended to me somewhere along the line, plus it was filed under ‘Lounge”.
- Elvis Presley, 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong
Cool cover at the very least.
- Tony Bennett, Perfectly Frank
- ABC, How to Be a Zillionaire
I used to own this on cassette and remember that I really liked it. I’ve already listened to it today and if you ever wanted an example of 1980s production, this would be the one.
- Al Hirt, Honey in the Horn and That Honey Horn Sound
This was bought solely on the fact that he played the theme from the Green Hornet.
- Fergie, The Dutchess
- Winter & Winter, Las Vegas Rhapsody
Filed under ‘Lounge’ so I thought I would pick it up.
- King’s X, Best of
Yes I needed their best of because I only have four or five of their studio albums.
- Ty Tabor, Moonflower Lane
Good guitarist, should be interesting.
- Warrant, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich
My collection of Warrant CDs is now complete.
- Jerry Cantrell, Boggy Depot
- Molly Hatchet, Greatest Hits
- DJ Logic, Planet Logic
I liked the cover.
- Lounge Brigade, Put Some Style in It
- Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited, Jet Sound Inc
- Tony Bennett, The Playground
- Foreigner, Agent Provocateur
I don’t like Foreigner but yet I like both the singles that came off this album, “That Was Yesterday” and “I Want to Know What Love Is”. We’ll see about the rest of it.
