Month: January 2017

Top 5 Butch Trucks moments

I just found out that Butch Trucks, a founding member of The Allman Brothers band,  committed suicide this week. His work was often overshadowed by great guitar work. However he was called the Lou Gehrig of rock drummers by Warren Haynes.

5

4

3

2

1

Hopefully his son, and nephews can carry on the family legacy.  love the guitar work of Derek Trucks and am very sad for him today. R.I.P. Butch.

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40 Years Ago Today. Album Review: Pink Floyd – Animals (1977)

I must admit that I am a huge Pink Floyd fan. All of the different lineup changes mean different things to me. I must admit it has never been easy being a Floyd fan. All of my buddies except for one hated them. My brother hated them. I tried hundreds of times to put Floyd on, but usually got shot down. Floyd is a love ’em or hate ’em band, although I hope that with age, their music will grow on the haters.

This album is 40 years old today(which makes me feel real old) so I had to review it. This album was the first of three Pink Floyd albums dominated by Roger Waters. It was loosely based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and was a commentary on society. The songs refer to 3 classes of people: combative dogs, upper class pigs, and mindless and unquestioning sheep.

As I pop the album on, the house is empty, except for my dog Bowie and I so we can listen to this album properly. I shut off all the lights, crank it up and soak it in. (Floyd is best listened to in the dark.)

Pigs On the Wing (Part One) – Acoustic guitar and mellow vocals start this album off. The song is over a minute long, and is breaking us in for the next three songs that are between 10 and 17 minutes long.

Dogs – This is a long song with amazing guitar solos. The keys here are really amazing as well. The bass is booming and the drums are solid. The dogs barking in the middle of the song ruined the moment a bit as Bowie started barking along. I can only think this was his way of approving.

Pigs (Three Different Ones) – Pigs grunting and laser sounds begin this song off. This is a really cool 70’s tune with wah influenced guitar work. The bass is boomingly awesome. The drums sound great. The background vocals suit perfectly. The piano and keyboards add a nice touch. There is even cowbell and talkbox to set it way, way over the top. This song is way underrated. It is definite Floyd Top 10 song material and most non-Floyd fans wouldn’t even know it. As an added bonus there are pig noises if that floats your boat. Also, the lyrics may fit into today’s political scene down south “Big man. Pig man. Ha ha, charade you are.”

Sheep – Sheep baaing, keyboards and wicked heavy bass(especially chilling with the lights off) start this song off. Then the drums pound and off we go. The vocals are amazing here, and David Gilmour shows us just how awesome he can be. Another possible contender for top 10 Floyd songs.

Pigs On The Wing (Part Two) – A wonderful but short acoustic song ends the album off on a great note.

David Gilmour may give his finest Floyd solos on this album. Great vocals, keyboard, bass and drums make this all into a great album. For added pleasure the band also adds in cowbell and talkbox.

Happy Birthday Animals. Hopefully I can listen to you in another 40 years.

9.9/10

 

Sorry. I’ve been busy.

It’s been 16 days since I posted anything here. I’ve been busy over the Christmas break and beyond with family things. I have not been able to read many of my fellow bloggers posts and I feel bad about that. I will hopefully be able to catch up. As well I have been organizing my first concert. Ok, well not exactly MY first concert, but this is the first time I have ever organized a concert.

  1. Securing the bands – I wanted 4. I had 2 on board from the start. The other 2 were a problem. Some bands were on board but wanted WAY too much cash. The bands that have managers were the ones that were most expensive. The manager would try and shine me about how awesome the band is, but money talks. I probably reached out to 50 or 60 bands, but most had prior commitments, were working on a new album, or just couldn’t make it for whatever reason. The 3rd and 4th took tons of phone calls, emails, texts and Facebook messages. Ok 4. Not so fast. The 4th band backed out 3 weeks after they committed. Now I need to scramble and find a 4th again. More calls, emails etc. Finally 4 again.
  2. Securing the venue – I assumed this would be easy. Well you know what happens when you assume. I quickly got the feel of what it is like as a promoter. Money talks, bullshit walks is the saying. Most venues want a cash outlay. They want me to come up with cash up front before I can use their venue. Umm. Uno Problemo Senor. I have no liquid cash. I’m married and have bills. The conversation I would have with my wife about dipping into our finances to fund a concert that may or may not ( or most likely not) turn a profit would likely end within 60 seconds. I assumed that when you want to bring a band to a venue, and therefore bring fans to that venue, that they would welcome you with open arms. The fans would be paying to get in, and paying for booze, so what’s the problem. I guess I didn’t look at it from the venue’s point of view. They need to pay people for bartending, door, set up, clean up, etc. If not enough show, then they have to pay staff from their own pocket. They are not in business to lose money. I finally found a place that seemed to suit. It was within my target area and the price was right. I had to call, email, and go see them and sign forms, but it was finally done.
  3. Advertising – This is something that doesn’t magically happen. If you want your event advertised, you have to do it yourself. More emails, calls, Facebook posts, making posters, driving around and hanging posters(sometimes having to put them amongst dozens of others). Calling and emailing radio stations (some don’t post their info and this takes more digging) to see if they can promote your event.
  4. The Sound Guy – The venue I chose does not have a p.a. This means I need to arrange it. I asked the bands but none of them had this setup. I got some tips and got on the phone. The prices seemed ok, but then I would still need a guy to run it. The venue knew a guy but I thought he was a little too much. A local music store gave me a name, but he was booked. He sent me to the guy that I settled with. He was already doing sound on New Years Eve at the same venue for an AC/DC cover band, so I knew he would work out. Also, the price was right Mr. Barker.

There are more incidentals. My wife offered to help sell tickets at the door. Anything to keep costs down. This was a hell of a lot more work than I thought it would be. I was sort of under the gun a bit due to the time constraints. I didn’t start this until late November, and the event is January 14, so only about 6 weeks. In that time I truly have been busy, and I have been feeling sick as well (boo hoo). Don’t feel too sorry for me though as I leave tomorrow morning for Cuba for 7 days of relaxing on a beach(I probably won’t have any access since Cuba is kind of like 1995 or so as far as the internet is concerned). If you are anywhere near Kitchener, Ontario, Canada on Saturday January 14th, 2017 stop in and hear 4 awesome doom/stoner/NWOBHM/sludge metal bands.

Here is the link if any of you can make it

http://www.1075daverocks.com/events/72912

Hopefully this event goes off without a hitch. Maybe this will turn into an annual event, or maybe this is a one and done deal. Either way, the music will kick some serious ass, and in the end, that is all that matters.

Now I just have to be busy practising my espanol. How does “Ola Amigo. Mucho grande cerveza, por favor” sound? (It sounds pretty damn good to me)