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The 2011 Rockfest lineup was announced earlier this week and I only got one band right, Alter Bridge, and they’re not even headlining.  Headliner Disturbed meets the usual criteria for an act that’s not as big as it used to be.  I wouldn’t mind seeing their set but I have a feeling I might just skip out before they go on or perhaps in the middle of their set.  I’m looking forward to Stone Sour, that was a nice suprise.  Alter Bridge should be another good performance though based on the schedule they’re only playing for about an hour.  Black Label Society and Halestorm should be good as well.  I’m not crazy about Hinder’s albums but I think they have the potential to put on a good set.

The one I can’t figure out is Papa Roach.  Admittedly I don’t listen to 98.9 that much (or really any other terrestrial radio station other than NPR) so maybe they’re huge in Kansas City.  Other than them coming to Kansas City a lot I don’t hear much out of them so it’s strange that they get such a high spot in the lineup.

Overall it looks like the best lineup they’ve had in a while and I’m looking forward to it, if not for the music at least for the craziness.  And the five dollar lemonade, you can’t forget about that.

Well first thing’s first, I just discovered that Maestro Alex Gregory has a website now.   He also has a new album Bach on Steroids with a great cover though it doesn’t compare with Paganini’s Last Stand.  I also saw that you can purchase MP3s of his four albums on Amazon.  I would love to get all of them but for not I’ll pick up the new one and Paganini’s Last Stand.

I have a fair share of live albums featuring Ronnie James Dio (both solo and with Black Sabbath and Rainbow), but the 1983 performance documented on the first disc of Dio at Donington UK beats them all hands down.  The band plays with an intensity and urgency that you typically don’t hear on live albums.  If you compare the songs from Holy Diver here with 2006’s Holy Diver Live, the difference is night and day.  “Stand Up and Shout”, the set’s opener is the real highlight here with an energy that continues through the rest of the set.

In 1983 Ronnie James Dio had just broken off from Black Sabbath and the first Dio album had been released.  From the sound of it they really had something to prove.  Everyone’s playing is phenominal, but Vivian Campbell’s playing really shines here.  As time goes on you forget what a great guitarist he is, but this reminds you of how much is playing really contributed to the first few Dio albums.

The second disc has his 1987 set.  The band was touring behind Dream Evil and performs a lot of now-classic songs like “The Last in Line” and “Rock and Roll Children”.  The performance is not as good as the 1983 one, but to be fair it set a pretty high bar.  It’s still great to hear and the appearance of “Neon Nights” is a bonus.

It’s been a while since a release I was looking forward to actually lived up to expectations.  Not only are there two great shows on here, but the price is a deal for what you get. This is easily one of Ronnie James Dio’s best.

A couple of videos in anticipation of the upcoming Jackyl show. The first one was filmed in Kansas City.

The second is my favorite song of theirs.

I don’t consider myself the biggest Jackyl fan but I’m really looking forward to the show. The crowd - which should be okay as long as I stay away from the hyper-aggressive knuckle draggers near the stage - is really going to be into the show. Jackyl puts on a good live show and the Midland is a great venue, so it should be a good time.

Really only two things I’m interested in came out today as far as I know.

The first is a re-release of Band on the Run.  When the John Lennon remasters came out recently I realized that for someone who loves the Beatles as much as I do, I don’t have a lot of their solo work.  I honestly think I have more Ringo Starr solo albums than any other Beatle so I don’t even know what that says about me.

I’ve seen the 2-CD, 1-DVD edition for around $15 so I’ll be picking it up.    For the life of me I don’t know why I don’t own this in the first place….it’s probably his best known solo album and the track list looks solid, so it should be good, right?  RIGHT?

On a side note, a couple of weeks ago I was shocked to see that Venus and Mars is out of print so I’m hoping that strong sales of this leads to Paul’s other stuff being re-released.

When I saw that Neil Diamond was coming out with a new album, I was pretty excited.  12 Songs and Home Before Dark were great so I thought this would be something to pick up.

Except that it’s a covers album.

I despise covers albums.  I’ve never owned one that I was really satisfied with.  I usually end up liking maybe a third of the songs which isn’t enough to get me to listen to it on a regular basis.  It doesn’t help that I’m not interested in the songs he picked out.  “Desperado”?  Yuck.  “Halleluia”? I don’t need to hear another version of it.

I’m going to pass on this one, although I’m sure it’s light years better than Carlos Santana’s recent release.