Last month, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were coming to town and I wanted to take Shari and I to the show. I’ve bought (or won) us tickets to 3 shows in the past but she hadn’t made any of them yet (including the show we BOTH missed because we were armpit deep in bathroom renovations). Unfortunately, with finances tight lately I had to give up on the plan for getting us tickets for the TLA show.

The morning before the show, I saw an announcement that WXPN was having a contest giving away a few pairs of tickets to the show if you liked their page on Facebook and left a comment. I figured that lighting wouldn’t strike twice (I won a pair of tickets to the show at Bryant Park in NYC a couple of months ago), but what the hell.

Enter a little bit of luck (or karma) – on the morning of the show I got the email that I had won a pair of tickets – and Shari had a cancellation of an appointment in New York, which meant she would be here to go. Fourth time was a charm, I guess.

Opening Act

The opening act was a four-piece band called HACIENDA from Texas who played a mixture of blues and rockabilly with a tex-mex accent. The band was led by vocalist/guistarest Dante Schwebel and his cousins bassist Rene Villanueva, Abraham Villanueva on keyboards and a drummer Jaime Villanueva, who was oddly reminiscent of Animal beating on the skins.

They put on a good show – despite a little snafu with the equipment at the beginning (“I think something just blew up on the stage!”) – mixing it up with a variety of songs and a few covers of 50′s rock-and-roll.

The Main Event

After a short intermission, the headline act came out with Scott, Benny, Cat and Matt jamming to what their set list called “Psychedelic ?uestlove Intro”, going into “Sweet Hands”. The whole band was styled to nines, the guys in their 70′s porn best and Grace and Cat in some hot sequined dresses. From the first tune, you knew that they were going to rock.

The second song, “Oasis”, slowed it down but didn’t rock it any less as the sultry tune echoed through the full theater, Grace in place behind the piano where she would spend a good portion of the night (vs. the Bryant Park show where she seemed to be playing guitar more often than not). After the tune, Grace talked about their dinner arrangements at a new Italian restaurant which wasn’t completely open — and yet gave them ‘some of the best Italian food they’ve ever had.”

Following that brief interlude, the band went into a trio of tunes from the new album, “Goodbye Kiss”, “Hot Summer” and an extended “Tiny Light”. The first song was a great rendition as Grace belted out the funky tune – matched by Scott on harmonica – to a dancing and singing crowd, but the band really started to wail when they hit “Hot Summer Night”, a mile-a-minute rock-and-roll tune that is one of my favorite tunes on the album. Favorite, except perhaps for “Tiny Light” which sounds better every time I hear it. Like the last show saw, the band extended the tune into a long outro to the song. After rocking for 3 straight tunes, they slowed it down again for a “Falling or Flying” from This is Somewhere.

By this time, Shari was into the show (almost) as much as I was – and I was glad that she was finally getting a chance to see Grace and band live and to enjoy them with me. At this point, they presented me a personal gift as they played “Mastermind”, a tune I’ve been wanting to hear for a while but haven’t had the chance. “Treat Me Right”, one of the band’s most straight-blues songs was another good tune from an early album but slightly paled against the songs on either side of it.

The band paused for a bit, as Grace started talking about how they were going to play a tune that they didn’t often play live (‘I’m not sure why,” she admitted) and said they were playing it that night because of a personal request for “Jake”, who had left it on her Facebook page. They did a great job of a delicate song as the music and their voices carried through the thick air in the venue. Next up was “Stop the Bus”, a great tune that they have jammed through every time I’ve seen them – and this was no exception. Another one of my favorite tunes, I might have gotten a little too into this song, as Shari laughingly told me to stop over-singing the band. Whoops.

Grace and friends next jumped into another song from the new album, “That Phone”, a spunky, jazzy number about the final kiss-off. Then the lights when down and the band starting mellowing as the the opening notes of “Apologies” began with Grace leading from the piano. It was a beautiful rendition of a beautiful song and the crowd was captivated. But the peaceful tone soon gave way to the finale for the night, “Medicine” – a new favorite of mine from the latest album. The band seems to always have a lot of fun with the track and this time was no exception, as Grace danced and exuded the sexiness that the song embodies.

Encore

I’m not sure why bands bother to do this, since we all know they’re going to come back out but the band left the stage for only a brief time before returning for their encore. After all, we hadn’t heard “Nothing But the Water” yet, and they didn’t disappoint as Grace’s voice carried the tune a capella, a soulful, bluesy dirge cast out into the night … and then jammed as the rest of the band joined her for “NBTW II”.

Then we were given a treat as she took the piano and started playing something I couldn’t place – and yet was strangely familiar. After a few moments, I realized that they were doing a cover of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”. While unexpected – it wasn’t a song I would have expected Grace to do – but she pulled off a beautiful rendition of this ballad. Then it was time for the final song of the night as they band rocked it out one last time as Grace strapped ON THE FLYING V and launched into “Paris”, a great finale for the show.

Overall, it was a great time – from the luck in winning the tickets to an awesome show – and best of all, I finally got to share it with Shari.

Set List*

Psychedelic ?uestlove Intro >
Sweet Hands >
Oasis
Goodbye Kiss
Hot Summer Night
Tiny Light (LONG) >
Falling or Flying
Ah Mary
Mastermind
Treat Me Right
Things I Never Needed (for “Jake”)
Stop the Bus
That Phone
Apologies
Medicine

encore
Nothing But the Water I (acoustic) >
Nothing But the Water II
Take My Breath Away
Paris

*set list thanks to Setlist.fm [http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/grace-potter-and-the-nocturnals/2010/theater-of-the-living-arts-philadelphia-pa-73d56e29.html] for the setlist. You can also see video of all of the songs (from different venues) on this page.

You can see some sweet pictures of the show (much better than my iPhone pix) on thewaster.com [http://thewaster.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=907:grace-potter-and-the-nocturnals-102810-tla-philadelphia&catid=5:photography&Itemid=39]

More pictures on TriStateIndie [http://www.tristateindie.com/?page_id=6173]

Then I get an email telling me I won two tickets to a ‘secret’ show being held at Bryant Park for a taking of the PBS show “The Artists Den”. Needless to say I was pretty stoked even considering the drive. It seemed like it was going to be a fairly limited audience and I figured if they were being taped, they’d really deliver (although the only time I’ve seen them at the TLA in Philly, they were pretty extraordinary without being taped).

I came home with the good news, expecting to FINALLY take Shari to see her (the first time she was sick, and we both missed the second show in the midst of bathroom renovations); to my surprise, she said she couldn’t go because of work commitments! I was bummed and considered giving up my tickets, but decided I could pull it off fairly cheaply by bringing my own food/drink and parking in Jersey, taking the subway in. But I had an extra ticket. I tweeted about my extra and got a response from someone who knew someone who wanted to go. We made arrangements to meet up, and up to NYC I went.

THE VENUE
I got to Bryant Park about 75 minutes early to wait in line for my ‘tickets’ and learned I was going to be flying solo. But the wait wasn’t bad and once we were inside, I was impressed with the venue. The Southwest Porch in the park appears to be quite a nice place to spend some time at lunch, complete with a plaza sporting Adirondack chairs and a small cafe. For the show, the attendees with the special tickets were given access to a smaller portion of the plaza, with a smallish stage set directly in front of a cottage- like structure. Others were filled in around the porch at a further distance.

Next to the Porch was the park proper which was occupied by hundreds of yoga practitioners going through their stretches. That site itself was pretty impressive. Later, they’d give way to other GPN fans who cane top the park to get at least a glimpse of the band and listen to the music at a distance.

THE SHOW
I was lucky enough to get a spot at center stage about 10′ away – a great vantage point for their energetic performance (I was lucky enough to get to three stage at the TLA). And I was able to meet a cadre of cool fans to talk to as we waited for the show to start, including one guy who was at the TLA show two years ago (small world).

Soon enough, it was time to begin. It was twilight over the park, light enough to see clearly and for the cameras to record without the lights blaring, but just dark enough to set an ambience. The band came on first in their full 70s porn star chic – particularly bassist Catherine Popper in a barely there dress – hitting the first tentative notes to an eager crowd. They began gaining stream just as Grace hit the stage to the opening of “Hot Summer Nights”. I had expected to hear this tone but was a little surprised it was the opener; it turned out to be a great choice as the crowd joined in happily. The vibe was good from the start and you just knew this was going to be a fine show.

Grace herself was stunning in a short toga- inspired white dress that was both eye- catching and a bit naughty but all sexy. Her voice was a perfect match for the dress, fiery and sultry to compliment the just there heat in the air. (I got a Quicktime video of “Hot Summer Nights“, with really poor quality audio due to it (a) being an iPhone and (b) me accidentally putting my finger over the recorder several times…)

After a quick greeting, the band jumped into “Aah Mary” and “Goodbye Kiss” from the new album, the latter being particularly fun with lead guitarist Scott taking some time on the harmonica in this blues-funk track. Overall, the new record would be well-represented as they’d play 9 of the 14 tracks, sprinkled with other hits and fan favorites from older albums. It was evident that the band was having as much fun as the audience, smiling, laughing and joking as they played. The crowd – especially those in front of the stage were all in a state of mellow exuberance (well, except for those two drunk neo- hippie chicks who kept dancing into everyone).

Grace moved back and forth between piano and lead singer all night, picking up a guitar on many of the tunes – in only a short time, she’s become a good player and it added another dimension to the show, especially when she grabbed the Flying-V (gotta love a women wielding one of those).

After “Goodbye Kiss”, they launched into “Only Love” and then into the first single from the new album, “Tiny Light”. While I love the studio and acoustic versions, the live version was easily the best as Potter belted out the chorus with a passion, and finished up the song with some vocal tricks to add dimension. At this point, the show was in full swing and the band started having some fun: jokes on stage, the band members all taking up positions around Matt’s drum set to bang out their own rhythms, the chatter to the crowd between songs.

On “Apologies”, they mellowed it out a bit as Grace took a seat and let her piano and voice take over in the slightly warm night over a quieted crowd. I looked over and noticed that the park on the outside of the patio enjoying the show from a distance. If you couldn’t get into the show, sitting on the lawn listening to the band belt out a few tracks seemed like a close second.

Next up was the upbeat tune “One Short Night”, a peppy tune that the band really did up right, followed by the blues-country song “Low Road” where her vocals really soared, the soulsy-blues number “That Phone” and the funky “Oasis” complete with vocal and music effects, all from the newest album [I also got a video of "Oasis" that's cool to see but the audio is a bit rough - see at end of the post]. After a little banter within the band, the brilliant cover of Jefferson Starship’s “White Rabbit” began to a grateful crowd. I have to admit that there are some songs that it’s hard to duplicate but Grace’s channeling of Grace Slick is nearly perfect.

After taking a bow, they went into the song that “was strangely popular, if inappropriate, among kids”, “Paris” and then into the awesome “Medicine” where she was really jamming. Both tracks provided a high-energy drive into the close of the show – or at least the recorded portion. Thanking the crowd, the band left the stage but only for a few moments as the crowd chanted for “one more song”.

The first song out was a cover of Debbie Harry’s “Heart of Glass”, a song I hadn’t heard her do before and didn’t immediately recognize, although they did a great job of it. Grace come back to ask the crowd if they wanted another, which of course we all did. At this point, we were in ‘bonus time’ and I was hoping for them to do my favorite cover – “Cortez the Killer”. That didn’t happen, but I was treated to the duo of great songs from “This is Somewhere”: “Stop the Bus” and “Big White Gate”, both of which were outstanding.

After another pause and check on our determination for yet another ‘one more song’, the band entered into their first hit as they moved back and forth between “Nothing But the Water” I and II. The jammed out to the end of the show, thanking us after 2 hours of a great show. It was over but it seemed too soon, another great night of music from a great band.  You can see a slideshow of better pictures than mine from the GracePotter.com site.

Set List
Hot Summer Night
Ahh Mary
Goodbye Kiss
Only luv
Tiny Light >
Apologies
One Short Night
Low Road
That Phone
Oasis
White Rabbit
Paris
Medicine
– Encore –
Heart of Glass
STB
Big White Gate
Nothing But the Water 1> 2 > 1

Extra Stuff: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – “Oasis” (Quicktime video)

Okay, now that THAT’S out of the way, let me explain. I don’t listen to radio very often around here, almost exclusively when I’m in my car. But when I do, the radio is usually tuned to WXPN, a local station that focuses on more independent (read: folk and singer-songwriter) music. However, there are times when WXPN is playing some programming (such as Kid’s Corner or during their pledge drives) that I have had to turn elsewhere, and my first two choices have been two rock stations – 93.3 WMMR and 94.1 WYSP.

Around Halloween, I started noticing something about those two stations – there seemed to be a ridiculous number of times that I would be listening and songs from a limited number of bands would be playing: primarily Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica and Nirvana. It was a little bit of a joke – any time I turned them on, I figured that the chances were about 50-50 that one of those bands would be on. But as I listened more and more, I found out that it wasn’t as much of a joke as I had thought. So, enter the OCD and I started tracking what I was hearing.

Lo and Behold, I found that WMMR and WYSP do seem to have a rather limited stable of songs that they play. From the day before Thanksgiving until the end of the year, I kept a tally in the car of what they were playing, and I found that 10 bands were accounting for almost 50% of all of the music I heard on these stations; in fact, SIX bands were accounting for almost 1/3 or more of all of the songs they were playing. See below for the stats (the ‘Big 6′ are in bold):

So, as you can see WMMR’s songs were from the ‘Big 6′ accounted for 29% of their airplay, with the top 10 ‘bands’ being over 40%; for WYSP, the numbers were even worse – 41.7% from the ‘Big 6′ alone, and a whopping 55% of their music (that I heard) coming from just 10 ‘bands’.  Pretty glum when it comes to hearing a variety of music – but great, I guess, if the bands listed are your favorites.  One thing I didn’t track was the number of times I heard the same songs by these bands, and that happened at least a couple times (such as Tom Petty’s “American Girl” being played 3 times out of 5 total plays).

The Trend Worsens

So, I figured I was done with this after finding out that I was right – commercial radio sucks because they play the same stuff repeatedly.  But then, in the first 3 days of 2009, I found out that it was even worse than I had feared.  I literally went 5 or 6 songs in a row between the two stations – and every one of them was from the ‘Big 6′ bands.  Every. Single. Song.

Since 1/1/09, WMMR has played 6 songs out of 11 (54.5%) from those 6 bands; WYSP has played SEVEN (7) songs out of 11 (63.6%) from that limited stable of bands – including two G ‘n’ R and 2 AC-DC alone.

Now, I love hard rock and with the possible exception of Nirvana, who I think is an over-rated (though still decent) band, I like these bands.  But I seriously find it both humorous and sad that these COMPETING stations play such identical playlists all the time.  Where are the new bands coming out?  Where are the newer or different songs from bands we like?

I tell ya – THIS is what happens when only a few companies control most of the radio stations in the U.S.

Last night, it was finally time to go. We planned on meeting at Dmitri’s in Philly (one of my favorite restaurants – read my review), then heading down to South Street to get some drinks and then head into the TLA, a venerable South Street venue for all sorts of music. Well, Erin and Chas decided to forgo dinner, but the rest of us still made plans to meet.

Unfortunately, Shari ended up being on day 4 of a migraine and couldn’t make the show, which really sucked because I was looking forward to us enjoying the music and time together out being social. On the plus side, my stepson Blair decided to use her ticket and join us for a night out.

Dmitri’s

Dinner at Dmitri’s was good, as usual as Blair and I led the ordering with our normal menu: Greek Salad with Greens, BabaHummus (1/2 baba ganoush, 1/2 hummus) and our favorite – the grilled octopus. Mark and Lisa also ordered some grilled veggies, grilled scallops and a salmon dish. The salad and the Baba-hummus were delicious, as usual although for the first time I can remember they overcooked the octopus a bit. That was particularly dismaying because I had been talking up the octopus for days. However, some fried calamari we ordered more than made of for it – they were delicious!

Everyone seemed to love the salmon, although I don’t eat it. Mark, in particular, was raving about how good it was. I found the scallops to be mediocre and no one else really commented on them either, so I’m guessing they were decent if not overwhelming. Overall, however, everyone really liked the place and we hung out there for a couple of hours until it started getting crowded and we figured we should let paying guests use the table.

onto the show

The TLA (Theater of Living Arts) is one of the classic music venues in Philly, and has the added bonus of being on what was one of the most unique streets in town (that was then, now it’s more kitschy and Polo-ized). An old theater, it still has the old chandeliers hanging from the ceiling but other than that it is the quintessential band venue — lots of metal, all-ages area in front of the stage and drinking areas on the bottom and top floor. We chose to go upstairs because there was some seating. I won’t say I’m getting old, but I really enjoyed having a chair later in the night.

We had gotten there before the doors opened at 8, and figured we would be waiting a while before the first act came on at the official 9:00 start. But we were pleasantly surprised when the Rustlanders came on stage at 8:30 and immediately launched into a great 6-song set of bluesy rock. Turns out that they are from State College (aka Penn State), which makes me like them just a little bit more. They reminded me a bit of Gov’t Mule – a little bluegrass mixed with catchy bluesy rock. They describe themselves as “Americana”, which is a pretty apt description, I guess.

Every song really went full tilt into a jam, and they were well up to the task. I wish I had a setlist, because song number 4 was awesome – very moody and it even got my hippie dancing started a little (luckily, that would stay in check the rest of the night). I think it was “Blind Faith” but whatever it was, they really did a fantastic job of getting our attention.

Cornmeal

The second opening act, Cornmeal, was a little more odd. Hailing from Chicago, they label themselves as “progressive bluegrass”, which seemed pretty apt. Taking the stage, the 5 members lined up behind an electric cello, fiddle, acoustic guitar, banjo and drums. From the start, they seemed much more bluegrass than the Rustlanders, which made sense considering their setup. But they would turn out to be much more than just bluegrass. All of the members of the band were obviously talented, but fiddler Allie Kral was simply amazing and driving the bus, as it were.

Their first two tracks fell more to the bluegrass side of things, but then they moved to a more blues tone and really caught fire. “Troubled Land” was a particularly fantastic song and as they pushed the pedal to the metal (literally – I think Kral was using a foot pedal with the fiddle, but I was hoping for a whammy bar). I love good jam bands and they gained stock in my book from those few songs they played.

the main act

After not too long a delay, the headliner came on stage – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. They immediately jumped into “Mastermind”, one of the better tracks on This is Somewhere (although all of the songs are good). Grace was strong at the piano – her natural setting – but the rest of the band kept pace with her (and would for the rest of the night). The first song was done very well, but you could tell that there were some minor sound problems and it came across a little metallic. But they fixed the problem quickly, and by the time they jumped into “Treat Me Right”, things were going a lot better.

I went downstairs quickly to catch up with Blair and Megan, who were standing about 3 feet from Grace at the front of the stage. Their set was simple but had some amusing touches to it. A figurine of a squatting gnome taking a dump sat on one of the amps, and an Obama bobble-head had a place next to one of those owls you put on your roof to scare pigeons. Even better, drummer Matt Burr’s drumset had a stuffed “Monster” from the Muppets on it, and every time he hit the bass drum, one or both of the legs would kick out. Simple, silly but really amusing. On her piano, Grace had an battery-powerd candle to set the mood – I guess open flames are a no-no now after that Great White show. I tried to get some pictures; however, although the iPhone may be many things it is NOT a good camera phone. Oh well. So I chatted with Blair and Megan briefly, hoping that Grace would turn toward the crowd, but for the first 3 songs she steadfastly never looked out at us and I decided to head back upstairs.

Just as I got back to the group upstairs, wouldn’t you know that she turned toward the crowd for the start of “Stop the Bus”, one of my favorite Potter tunes. And they really did it justice – really amping up the volume and the heart of the music. They followed “Bus” up with two songs I didn’t recognize but really liked, especially the second one having Grace come out on guitar. But what was really fun was seeing her pull out a Flying-V guitar to rip it on “If I Was in Paris” – and she proved that she’s got licks with an axe as well as with the keys.

By this time our whole group was really getting into the show. The mood of the crowd was good, the music was jamming and they were hitting many of their better tracks, although they focused much more on her second album than any of their older stuff. She threw in a new track, “Sugar” which wasn’t bad but not as good as some of her other stuff.

Then they launched into my favorite original, “Big White Gate” and quite simply … it was awesome – completely mesmerizing as they pounded it out, added a jam and brought the house into a frenzy which continued as they moved into a cover of The Who’s “Gettin’ In Tune” which was just as good as “Gate”. The two songs together were just amazing and everyone was moving and tapping out the beat on the railing as they jammed. Sadly, the momentum was broken up as they ‘ended the show’ … only to come back out moments later for a 4-song encore that made for an exhausting finale.

“Joey” was the first track back, an angry blues song akin to the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl”. It’s a ‘fun’ song (in terms of the harmonies, not the story) but not one of my favorites. But the crowd was still responding though the response got stronger when they went into the gospel “Take Me Down to the River”, interjecting Grace’s raspy blueswoman voice into the song. Then, they finally reached back to the first album with “Nothing But the Water”, the first song that really got me interested in Grace Potter to begin with. Like an old friend, they slipped into sync and belted away at the song. Then, in the middle of the song, everyone but drummer Burr put down their instruments and and walked over to the drums. Guitarist Scott Tournet took up the main seat behind the kit, while bassist Bryan Dondero took position at the cymbals and Burr moved over to the high-hat. Grace moved to the front of the bass drum and they all started drumming away, staying with the tune but going completely drumline for it. It actually was quite interesting as I hadn’t expected a four-person drum circle on stage, particularly with only one drum set. As they finished up with the drums, they returned to “Water” but with a particularly funky twist to it which was a pleasure to hear – different from any other rendition I’ve heard of the song.

Then they ended the night with a fantastic cover of the Rolling Stones “Paint it Black”. I hadn’t heard her do this one yet but she and the band nailed it. They could have played it note for note and it would have been unique with her signature voice, but they added flavor to make it their own, and it really worked. As they were pounding through the last half of the song, the entire crowd was practically jumping with the energy of the room. Sadly, it had to come to and end all too soon.

Setlist

Mastermind
Treat Me Right
Ain’t No Time
Stop the Bus
?
? Delta (found this on another live set)
If I Was In Paris*
Ah, Mary
Sugar**
Big White Gate
Gettin’ In Tune***
— Encore —
Joey
Take Me Down to the River
Nothing But the Water
Paint It Black****

*Grace on a flying-V! | **Unreleased track | *** orig. by The Who | **** orig. by The Rolling Stones

What a night

All in all, it was one fantastic night of music. All three bands were great, and Grace Potter was everything I had hoped she would be – although I would have loved another hour of music, including getting to hear them do their fantastic cover of “Cortez the Killer”. I would have also loved if Shari could have made it – I had to lie to her and tell her the show was decent, although since I suck at lying, she saw through that pretty quickly. Still, although I missed her I’m glad that I got to go. I got to hang out with Blair, got to see a bunch of my cousins and see some great music. I had forgotten how much I love to see live music, made better by Philly’s ban of cigarettes in bars so that I can actually walk out without wheezing from the acrid smoke.

But back to THIS show – if you have a chance to see Grace Potter live, I highlyrecommend seeing her. I’ve listened to her albums, listened to numerous bootlegs and neither can really compare to the live show. The TLA was a great place to see her, too, since it is a relatively intimate venue but anyplace that you can see the band and have a little room to move would be perfect.

Back in high school, I discovered a new heavy metal band through my buddy Chris’s brother. They were a bunch of pimply kids on a small indie label called “Megaforce” but THEY ROCKED. They were called Metallica and the album was Kill ‘Em All. We had been listening to metal standards like Iron Maiden, Dio, Judas Priest and Saxon, while delving into the heavier bands like Mercyful Fate, Raven and Exodus (Venom was out there, too, but I found most of their stuff more noise than music).

The best thing about Metallica was that they were “harder” and “heavier” than most of the other bands (which was – in the early- to mid-80′s, the premiere qualification for a good metal band), but they also had talent – musically, vocally, lyrically. We jammed to them, banging our heads to mediocre recordings made of the album (at $1 per side of tape, courtesy of Eddie – the only guy with a decent LP-to-tape deck system we knew) while others floated around on the sounds of Michael Jackson or a-ha.

When Ride the Lightning was released, we ALL bought a copy – four guys who considered themselves metalheads (despite our shorter hair — our parents had limits, after all), clad in our best torn jeans and denim jackets with painted or patched album covers on the back – walking out of Wonderland with copies of the album in huge anticipation of getting home and blowing out a speaker or two listening to it. And it was awesome. The music was tighter, the sound better (though they were still on Megaforce Records – I would later pick up the first pressing of the Elektra version, too), and the songs were fucking awesome. For weeks, nothing else was played with any frequency.

Metallica hit the ‘big time’ with the release of Lightning, and we could scoff at the newcomers who finally found their sound. But it didn’t matter – the band and its music unified us together through all of the debates of who was “heavier” or who was the best band out there. Nightly we would be hanging out, singing at the top of our lungs every song, doing our best air band impressions of the incredibly active geniuses at the far end of that album’s creation.

When the band – now on the brink of superstardom amongst the metal crowd – released Master of Puppets, my allegiance was sealed. Sure I still loved Maiden and Dio, but Metallica was the shit. Once again we ran out to by the album (although this time most of us bought the tape – only I bought the LP, so that I could record copies when my tape ran out of life), and listened to it all night at my buddy Scott’s. We rocked it loudly, taking advantage of the fact that Scott’s dad wasn’t home, only giving up the record player briefly when non-metalhead Scott needed a short break to listen to some Was (Not Was) or make a prank phone call to an unfortunate victim.

Metallica would prove to be my first real concert, too — all of us put up our hard-earned cash once we were 16 so that we could see them and Ozzy at the Spectrum in Philly. We made banners – pretty damned good banners, I must say – that were eventually stolen by those below us. But it didn’t matter – Ozzy was good, but Metallica was AWESOME.

I sense a disturbance in the force

Things started to change a little with And Justice For All – they still had a good edge and were pushing the throbbing bass line and hard rock, but the loss of bassist Cliff Burton obviously affected them quite a bit. The songs were good, but there was something of the edge missing. This would continue and grow after they hit mainstream commercial success with “The Black Album” and “Enter Sandman” when I was in college. I thought that the album was missing some of the edge that I was accustomed to, but to lead singer James Hetfield’s own admission, “It’s hard to sing about being angry and teen angst when you’re a millionaire”. The band had grown up, but were still putting out great music – and attracting more fans. I saw them 3 more times but distinctly remember the last show one night in Pittsburgh – distinct because it was like the band couldn’t have given two shits about playing that night, and when the crowd didn’t get into it, the band seemed to get pissed. Looking back, it seems like the beginning of a fundamental change in the band – one that we would only later find out was fracturing them from the inside due to the ubiquitous ‘creative differences’ and drug addiction.

And then came the dark years. The music they put out during this time would have tested the faith of many a fan. Load wasn’t a horrible album but it was definitely a new direction that wasn’t where the fans wanted them to go. You expect a band to experiment a bit but the new sound really wasn’t jibing with what Metallica represented. The subsequent Reload didn’t help as it was really more of the same – a more electronic Metallica trying to channel Linkin Park or something. I found my interest waning quite a bit, although I have to admit that the double album Garage Inc. was an inspired and fantastic set of music. Those songs renewed my faith in the band – even though they were all covers.

And then the wheels came off

I had been tested and found once again my love for Metallica’s music — even if I had to turn to songs written by others. The double-whammy of the “Loads” still stung, but I could listen to the band without shaking my head in questioning where their metal cred had gone. But then there was Napster.

I will never understand what drove them – or more specifically mouthpiece Lars Ulrich to do what he did. Getting pissed off that people were taking your music – okay, everyone understood that. But actively tracking and reporting your FANS to the RIAA, the antichrist of the music establishment? Doing PSAs for them? Suing your own fans? I had never seen a band have their fans turn on them so quickly and viciously. Hardcore fans found themselves detesting everything that band stood for, and spitting on the visage of Ulrich. Their names became synonymous with being sellouts and demon spawn (and not in the good way). Metallica had become the whipping child for not only what was wrong with music, but for what was wrong with spoiled rich musicians who were completely out of touch with their fanbase.

And then came the proverbial needle in the coffin – St. Anger. People might have forgiven and forgotten if they had given them some good music to enjoy (although that might be pushing it. I still wonder if Ulrich realizes just how despised he became). But the complete piece of shit that they put out sounded nothing like Metallica should sound – in fact, it sounded just like what a once-cool but struggling to stay relevant, whiny bitch band would put on a CD to make a little more money before their fire was completely out. I bought it. I listened to it a dozen times. And then I threw it out. I didn’t try to resell it – I made sure that no one else had to be subjected to that garbage. It was obvious that the band had spent way more time being spiteful and the whipping boys of the RIAA than writing music. It still reeks as one of the worst albums I’ve heard from a band I admired.

But they weren’t done. Showing up on the Jane Pauley Show to hawk their latest self-help “woe is us” piece of crap Some Kind of Hell album only made it worse. Metallica was dead. They were now some old, washed up losers with a chip on their collective shoulders because they couldn’t write decent music and the people who used to call themselves fans called their bluff.

Fast Forward to Now

So, the present. I’m going through my bookmarks when I come across a recent article on Wired talking about the band’s new release, Death Magnetic, which comes out this week. The article wasn’t really about the band or even the release — it was about the album already being ‘in the wild’ on the web and how the band was reacting to it (in fact, you can hear one tune, Cyanide, streaming on their site). This time, they weren’t as hyper-antagonistic about it and were keeping it in stride. However, the ‘fan’ reaction was still at a fever pitch – and most negative.

Now, I admit that I was willing to give the band another chance, perhaps out of false hope. I even signed up for that ludicrous website that promised sneak peaks at music and videos. Videos that were nothing but self-promoted ego on film (the music never seemed to materialize, although I’m sure if I had shelled out the $49.95 or whatever they were asking, I would have gotten to hear a demo of “Puff the Magic Dragon” or some similar crap. Okay, maybe I’m still a little bitter, too… So, on a poll on a related article, fans overwhelmingly voted that Metallica “just doesn’t get it, and never will” by a margin of 93% to 6% (vs. having made amends).

I was a little startled by the enormity of the bad blood, but I guess I understand it. But it’s still amazing that a band that had the world in its hand could not just lose a fan base because their music lost its lustre – I mean, how many bands have fallen prey to that), but that they could create such a massive solidarity of hatred toward themselves. Former fans aren’t just disinterested – they’re still angry, still bitter and willing to go out of their way to bash the band instead of writing them off. I can’t think of another band who has managed to do that.

Will a better release help assuage the haters? I doubt it – Lars and friends managed to really create some haters for life out there with the combination of the Napster Incident and a string of piss-porr musical release. Me? Well, for my part, as I said earlier I’m still bitter. I’d like to believe – I just want a decent bit of Metallica music again – but they are really going to show me something this time. Screw the touchy-feely “Metallica Loves You” bs – just give me some heavy metal that has some heart. Then we can start talking about being BFF again.

In Other News…

• Take to pot brownies and call me in the morning – pot may be GOOD for you.
• Metallica picks the best Metallica cover videos (YouTube) – kind of cool that they took the time, at least.

Top 15 Songs

1. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, This is Somewhere – “Big White Gate” , “Stop the Bus”  and “Mastermind”
2. “Morningside” – Sara Bareilles, Little Voice
3. “American Folk Song” – Warren Sroka, American Dreams Soundtrack
4. “Mr. Columbus” – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, This is Somewhere
5. “Love on the Rocks” – Sara Bareilles, Little Voice
6. “Jesse James” – Bruce Springsteen, Live in Dublin (CD 1)
7. “The Mountains Win Again (Live)” – Blues Traveler, Travelers & Thieves: On Tour Forever
8. “Late Morning Lullaby” – Brandi Carlisle, The Story
9. “The Story” – Brandi Carlisle, The Story
10. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” – Green Day, Bullet in a Bible
11. “Falling or Flying” – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, This is Somewhere
12. “Sola” – Insite, Sola (Single)
13. “Piece of My Heart” – Janis Joplin, Greatest Hits
14. “Watch Me Walk” – Keri Noble, Let Go
15. “Die In My Bones” – The Barrel House Mamas, gathering

Top 5 Albums

1. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, This is Somewhere
2. Bruce Springsteen, Live in Dublin
3. Sara Bareilles, Little Voice
4. Brandi Carlisle, The Story
5. Janis Joplin, Greatest Hits

New Discoveries

• The Barrel House Mamas – My boss’ daughter’s band, it’s very folk-oriented but good music.
• Tin Bird Choir – My buddy Matt turned me on to this band, led by his friends Eric and Heather Hurlock. A local band, they are getting quite a bit of notice, even getting to play in the Philly Folk Festival this summer.
• Eddie Vedder, Into the Wild – Great music from the movie: Vedder uses a more laid-back folky style but with his traditional edge.
• Jack Johnson, Sleep Through the Static
• Tina Dico, Far

Old Classics Returned

• AC/DC, Back in Black and Fly On the Wall – For some reason, I’ve been on an older AC/DC kick – not just the typical stuff, but good bluesy heavy metal tunes like “Whole Lotta Rosie” and rockers like “For Those About to Rock”.
• Janis Joplin, Greatest Hits – We should never forget one of the best vocal performers in classic rock. Every time I hear her, I get chills.
• Everlast, White Trash Beautiful – I go through spurts with this album. There’s some really good, powerful songs here, although “Saving Grace” is still my favorite tune (but it’s not on this album).

Best live album

1. Widespread Panic – “Light Fuse, Get Away”
Simply an amazing performance start to finish – they jam, they rock and they have a really good time and pull the crowd in, too. Of course, this might be my most biased pick.

2. Dire Straits – “Alchemy”
An album that doesn’t get nearly the attention it should, it fits a LOT of music into a few tracks on those 2CD. Features the brilliant live version of “Sultans of Swing”, but “Romeo and Juliet”, “Tunnel of Love” and “Telegraph Road”

3. Led Zeppelin – “The Song Remains the Same”
There was Led Zep, and then there was Led Zep LIVE. The movie was cool, but they really took their songs to a new level in this live version of the movie.

4. Dave Matthews Band – “Live at Red Rocks”
If Dave Matthews Band was on the way up when this album came out, this catapulted them to the top. Great sound and a really tight band that takes chances and gives great live versions of their own stuff and some great covers.

5. Iron Maiden – “Live After Death”
Definitely for the heavy metal fan, this album nevertheless showed off Maiden’s skills at live performance – a place that they were more comfortable than in the studio. Great vocals and roaring guitars give a hell of a show (I should know – I saw this tour, and it was fantastic).

6. Black Sabbath – “Live Evil”
Black Sabbath = Ozzy, at least until Ronnie James Dio took the reigns to create this hard rock masterpiece. Taking songs from the two albums Dio and Sabbath did together and piecing in some off Ozzy’s great ones, it’s a wonderfully moody piece.

7. Kiss – “Alive”
The Granddaddy of live rock albums, you can almost imagine them up on stage doing these songs. Wonderfully under-produced, they capture the energy of the show really well.

8. U2 – “Live at Red Rocks”
Another classic album that put both Red Rocks AND U2 into the notice of a lot of people. Their rendition of “MLK” here is one of the best live songs ever (in my opinion).

9. Ella Fitzgerald – “Live in Rome”
Ella is never bad, but there are times – like this show – when she was very, very good. Perhaps more than her studio recordings, this shows off her range and her personality and gives a view into her soul. Stunning performance.

10. Bruce Springsteen – “Live in Dublin”
This is a recent addition. Recorded and broadcast on PBS, this is a great album that gives little of Bruce’s standards but a lot of classic and traditional songs that he powers with his brand of rock. I was astounded by how good it was.

Other Contenders

Van Morrison – “A Night in San Francisco”
The Who – “Live at Leeds”
Cheap Trick – “Live at Buddakhan”
Neil Young – “Love Rust”
The Allman Brothers – “Live at the Fillmore East”
Peter Frampton – “Frampton Comes Alive!”
Elton John – “Live in Australia”
Talking Heads – “Stop Making Sense”

Haven’t listened in a while? Grab your headphones, turn the office lights a tad lower and tell the cubby police to go to hell, you’ve got work to do with this spectacle reverberating between your ears.

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Now playing: Pink Floyd – Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) » Get it at iTunes

I’ve been doing a lot of listening to music lately, both at home and at the office becuase for me, music helps drown out the background noise. And I’ve been finding myself listening to a lot of stuff repeatedly, which is unusual for me. Usually, I can tolerate 3-4 plays of a song/album and then it has to sit on a shelf for a while. Not so much – maybe I’m getting better music, or I’m just getting used to it… Anyhoo, I decided to put together a list of the top 10 songs/albums that are getting major airtime… (well, 11 because I never like being restricted). FYI – the links go to iTunes, for your convenience… .

currently listening

1. Sara Bareilles – Little Voice, particularly the song “Morningside”
2. Brandi Carlile – The Story, most often “The Story” and “Late Morning Lullaby”
3. The Killers – “Uncle Johnny”
4. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – “Deliverance Road”
5. Soulive – “Crosstown Traffic”
6. A Fine Frenzy – “You Picked Me”
7. Daughtry – “It’s Not Over” (I know, but it’s actually a good tune)
8. Everlast – “Saving Grace” although “White Trash Beautiful” is also great
9. Guggenheim Grotto – “Wonderful Wizard”
10. Sia – “Breathe Me”: even with it being used in tons of commercials, it’s still great.
11. Blind Boys of Alabama – “Amazing Grace” They could kill this doing it normally – using the music of “House of the Rising Sun” makes it even better.

So, anyone else have a list? Sarah, Michael, Van, Tom?

“Lest ye get distracted, aarrggghhh…”

• You Know You’re Worth It Great infographic from Indexed
• Zeldman vs. Facebook – amusing.
• Chocolate Rain by Chad Vader – a hilarious parody of the original Chocolate Rain
• Innappropriate “Talk Like a Pirate Day” remarks Aaar… Feldman’s on a roll lately.
• Honestly. Another great reason to bookmark this site/add it to your RSS feed.

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Now playing: KT Tunstall – “Night Like Peppers”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the purpose of the federal government was to:
a) provide a national defense
b) mediate in intra-state disputes
c) guarantee the civil rights of it’s citizens
d) regulate interstate commerce

Even in the broadest definition of (d), cow towing to an industry group that has been PROVEN TO PRICE FIX (with their own settlement being further bullshit), as well as lie about the money it collects, doesn’t seem to be in their charter. And yet, here they are – giving them royalties for playing music, retroactive to 2006! It’s sickening, and it might just be enough for me to never buy an RIAA-sanctioned artist’s music again. I’m sick of this greedy, little cabal getting their hands into everything, and threatening to litigate at the slightest hint of music theft; if they were any good at what they are doing, wouldn’t they have figured out how to distribute the music and make money with a model that works? iTunes did it, but every method that the RIAA puts out there fails miserably – because they are monopolistic, greedy and oft-horribly designed ideas that only make sense to the penny-pinchers and lawyers.

In response, a vast number of webcasters went silent yesterday to protest the ruling. I doubt it will do any good, unfortunately, but I liked seeing it even if it meant that I was cut off of many of my streams of music. I think we have just seen the end of streamed music as we know it – and the only thing that will come out of it is another crappy RIAA-sponsored idea that strangles the market with lame, label-forced music that no one ones to hear, forcing out what we want – in other words, why we turned to streamed music in the first place.

My only hope is that there are enough independent artists out there to create their own version that bypasses the RIAA completely. If they do, sign me up.