Thursday, July 2, 2009

Shufflin' Thro My Ipod-"Don't Believe A Word"

Thin Lizzy will always hold a special place in my heart,they were the first "rock"band I ever got into,I can still remember buying the 7' vinyl single of"Whiskey In The Jar" in 1973 in Ireland.
I only ever saw them live once,at famed Hammersmith Odeon in 1981 on the "Renegade"tour but like any true rock fan I own a copy of 1976's classic "Live And Dangerous" on both vinyl and cd.
For a band that lost it's heart and soul 23 years ago when lead singer Phil Lynott died it still keeps rolling on,the recent discovery of a 1977 show at The Tower theater here in Philly not only keeps the Thin Lizzy legacy going but also introduces a whole new era of fans either too young to have ever heard/heard of them and also draw in older fans who for whatever reason passed on Phil and co back in the day.
"Don't Believe A Word" is off of Lizzy's 76 album "Johnny The Fox" it's a typical Phil Lynott "lock up your daughter"song,he had that swagger in both his music and lyrics that makes you wonder how many hearts were left broken as Lizzy toured the world.
"Don't believe me if I tell you that I wrote this song for you,there might be some other pretty silly girl I'm singing it to"
Def Leppard cover "Don't Believe A Word" on their 2006 cd of cover tunes "Yeah",a fitting tip of the hat tribute to Thin Lizzy's considerable influence.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Shufflin' Thro My Ipod-"Behind Blue Eyes"

Having recently gotten off my arse and gotten my pc fixed I'm now in the position of being able to download music to my ipod again,since I'm not in the lap of luxury of being able to go to gigs all the time I figured every so often I'd look at some of the tunes on my ipod and what they mean to me.
I opted to kick off w/ The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes"

This has long been a favourite tune of mine that's taken on new meaning recently,I always saw it as an angry song but recent events have found me looking at it from a new perspective.
Limp Bizkit's cover of it was pretty decent but nothing comes close to the original,and time will tell if the line
"my love is vengeance that's never free"rings true or if"no one knows what it's like to be the bad man,to be the sad man behind blue eyes
no one knows what it's like to be hated,to be fated telling only lies"will be the defining lyrics from this Pete Townsend gem
\m/

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Back In The New York Groove

I love New York City so it was a no brainer to take the train ride up from Philly to catch"The Story Of Anvil"movie.
I saw the trailer for the movie 2 months ago,I'm not gonna front,despite all my years of being a rock music fan{31 and counting}I wasn't fully aware of Anvil or their history but their name had cropped up from time to time.
The trailer looked great and I thought this was a movie I'd enjoy,sadly it only played in Philly for two weeks b4 getting pulled,go figure,the buzz on the movie began to pick up and Anvil landed the opening slot for AC/DC's upcoming North American stadium dates,gotta love Philly,shit we didn't even get the Whitesnake/Priest tour! so it was off to the East Village to catch the movie.

It is a feel good story,alot of bands would've given up by now but credit to Lips and Robb for following their dream.
Sure there are elements of Spinal Tap in the movie,the classic "Hello Cleveland"scene as the band leave their dressing room heading to the stage in Transylvania and the volume control going upto 11 in the recording studio.
There are also elements of Metallica's"Some Kind Of Monster" as Lips and Robb argue in the studio during the making of the "This Is Thirteen"album.

Do you need to be an Anvil fan to really enjoy the movie?sure it helps but like I said my knowledge of the band was limited and I loved the movie,when Robb talks about"I stayed dedicated to what?"it struck a cord w/ me as I struggle to deal w/ my recent tendon injury and question my recent devotion to my running.
For Anvil there looks to be a happy ending,after 30 years they look to be getting their just rewards,the movie will introduce them to a whole new legion of rock/metal fans and I for one look forward to catching them at Giants Stadium when they open for AC/DC next month and maybe just maybe Lips and Robb's refusal to quit is the spark I need to get back to my running in spite of my recent injury,inspiration comes in many forms who knew a 30 year old Canadian rock/metal band would be mine?

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Story Of Anvil

It's late and I've just gotten home from New York City having seen "The Story Of Anvil"movie,to do it justice I need to be more awake so a more detailed account is coming tomorrow but I have to say a 12 hour round trip for a 90 minute movie was well worth it and hopefully when I'm more awake I'll convay that.
One plus of my day long trek was catching a shit load of tunes I've recently downloaded onto my ipod,again more of that tomorrow

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Nothin'But A Good Time

The sad thing is were it not for my gammy tendon I wouldn't have gone to Camden on Tuesday nite for the Cheap Trick,Poison,Def Leppard gig and while my bum tendon is an issue I'm tickled pink I caught this show.
I'd never seen Cheap Trick or Poison and I'm almost ashamed to say it'd been 17 years since I last caught Sheffield's finest so off I went to Camden to the Tweeter Center,E Center,Susquehanna Bank Center,or whatever name it's going by this year till the next corporate take over.
While money was now not an issue which it had been b4 I still opted for a lawn seat,as it turned out that was an inspired move on my part,I haven't stood on the lawn in Camden since Aerosmith in 2001 and I'd forgotten how great it is to watch the sun set on the Philly skyline from across the Delaware River
Cheap Trick were really good,an inspired choice to open,you know in a 40 minute set they're gonna play songs you know so well"I Want You To Want Me","Surrender","Dream Police""If You Want My Love"and my all time favourite Cheap Trick tune,"The Flame" made up some of their set along w/ songs from their new cd...or album if you're an old fart like me!!
Poison were great,one of the few 80s ''Hair Metal"bands to still boast their original line up and their hour long set included such Poison classics"Look What The Cat Dragged In","Fallen Angel""You're Mana Don't Dance",''Talk Dirty To Me" and the still lighter inspired"Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
My only gripe,albeit a minuscule one is that "Something To Believe In"didn't make it into their set but when you're only playing for an hour and "Every Rose" is in the line up two ballards is pushing it.
And so to Def Lep,one of the things that convinced me see them again after such a long time was their recent{June 14th} set when they headlined the closing nite of the Download Festival in Donnington England,tonite's opening nite of this tour wasn't too far off of Donnington although unlike Donington tonite we got the "Pyromania"classic "Rock Rock{Till You Drop} as an opener.
Like Poison's set I only have one tiny tiny gripe,"C'mon C'mon" didn't make the set,I love that song,my favourite track off of last years "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" but otherwise it was a killer set.
It's hard to believe Def Leppard have been around for 30 years now,one of the few bands from the NWOBHM {new wave of british heavy metal}still around,along w/ the likes of Maiden,Priest,Motorhead and Saxon,long may they continue....and I doubt it'll be another 17 years b4 I see them live.
Tonite was the perfect way to kick off the summer,come years end when I review my favourite gigs of the year this one will be right up there,aside from three great bands the conditions were ideal,warm but comfortable,no rain{a miracle after the past two weeks!!}and I had enough personal space on the lawn to be comfortable while having a great view of the stage......"Rock Rock Till You Drop Indeed!
Rock On
\m/

Intoduction

Since my running has been put on hold untill my pesky tendon heals it's self I figured on feeding my writing jones by blogging my love of music.
When time allows I'll blog my review of Cheap Trick,Poison and Def Leppard from Camden on Tuesday.
Fot those about to rock.............we review you \m/