Gilmour to Play on Waters' Wall

Wow. I go off the grid on vacation for a week and Pink Floyd get back together. Well, not really, but close.

According to a Billboard article a couple of days ago, the recent Gilmour-Waters reunion at a charity gig came as an offer from Gilmour, who said if Waters joined him at the gig to do the obscure "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by the Teddy Bears, Gilmour would join Waters onstage for ONE Wall gig to rip his Comfortably Numb solo, presumably from the top of the wall just like in the old days.

Oh please do it in San Jose! Ha ha.

Here are some choice quotes from the article:

Waters says Gilmour emailed him with a tongue-in-cheek offer for them to collaborate at the 2010 benefit on the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is To Love Him," in a nod to the pair's famously rough-and-tumble relationship. Waters says he "loved" the idea, and the duo agreed to also round out their set with the Pink Floyd classics "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb."

The only trouble: Gilmour began sending Waters "a number of very musical and eloquent demos of how we could do the song in two-part harmony." Waters then got cold feet and told Gilmour performing the song in that fashion was "way outside my vocal comfort zone," to his "eternal shame."

According to Waters, Gilmour then made him a better offer. If Waters would agree to perform "To Know Him Is To Love Him" at the Hoping Foundation Benefit, Gilmour would guest on "Comfortably Numb" at a to-be-determined show on Waters' upcoming tour featuring Pink Floyd's "The Wall" being performed in its entirety.

"You could have knocked me down with a feather," Waters says. "How f*cking cool! I was blown away. How could I refuse such an offer. I couldn't, there was no way. Generosity trumped fear. And so explaining that I would probably be sh*te, but if he didn't mind I didn't, I agreed and the rest is history. We did it, and it was f*cking great. End of story. Or possibly beginning."

The plan is for Gilmour's appearance to be a surprise, adds Waters.

Are you kidding me? This is a fantastic development and I hope it leads to further collaboration between the two. Hopefully Gilmour will have such a blast on his one show that he'll do a few. WOW!

The audio to the below is from the Live 8 reunion but there are lots of great photos from last weekend:

Waters and Gilmour Unite in Charity Gig

Logged into the "I swore I'd never see this happen" file is the news story I saw on Spinner.com this morning.

Roger Waters and David Gilmour performed four songs together over the weekend at a charity event for the Hoping Foundation Benefit Evening at Kiddington Hall in Oxfordshire, England.

The duo were backed by longtime side guys Guy Pratt (bass and acoustic guitar), Harry Waters (keyboards), Andy Newmark (drums), Chester Kamen (guitar) and Jonjo Grisdale (keyboards). The line-up performed in front of 200 people, raising some £350,000 for the foundation.

They played "To Know Him Is To Love Him," (a cover) "Wish You Were Here," Comfortably Numb" and "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), and of course this was the guys' first time back together onstage since the Live 8 reunion in 2005.

This is obviously notable because despite the 2005 reunion, the two have not been totally complimentary of the other and most held out little hope of them playing together again.

This totally begs the question, will Gilmour join Waters to rip out his Comfortably Numb lead on top of Waters' giant Wall on any dates on the upcoming tour? Let's hope so!

Alex Lifeson Talks About His Crazy New Amps, Some Tour Spoilers

SPOILER Warning: If you are trying to steer clear of anything to do with the new Rush tour (I couldn't take it anymore and looked at the set list yesterday - it's very different but very, very cool in my opinion. Lots of stuff I have never seen them play live), don't read this post.

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Alex Lifeson must have gotten tired of Geddy having dryers, chicken cookers etc instead of amps on his side of the stage because as you'll see in the below video, Alex now has some pretty whiz-bang visually killer new Hughes & Kettner amps that run along with the theme of the tour (time machines, steam engines etc).

There are some sneak peeks at the set list and of course some of the stage look is given away in this video. But if you don't care, and you dig weird assed amps and yabbing on about gear, watch the video!

McCartney Joins Starr Onstage For Birthday Surprise

Any dream of a Beatles reunion was of course shattered by Lennon's senseless murder in 1980. We did get as good of a reunion possible with the Anthology project. The DVD bonus features of the three surviving Beatles jamming is pretty priceless even though they seem a little tentative around each other.

Of course with Harrison's death a few years later, we have half the band dead. Just like The Who as a matter of fact. So we take whatever we can get when it comes to reunions.

Which leads me to this post. Ringo turned 70 this week. He is on his umpteenth All-Starr band tour and who joined as a surprise guest in New York? The one and only Sir Paul. As reported by Spinner:

All Ringo Starr asked for as a 70th birthday gift on July 7 was "peace and love" from all his fans around the world. However, he was the one who delivered a big birthday surprise to the wildly cheering attendees at his celebratory concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York when Paul McCartney joined the legendary Beatles drummer onstage, fronting Ringo's All-Starr Band for a joyous encore appropriately consisting of the Fab Four's 'Birthday.' Sir Paul, clad in a tight black suit and skinny tie right out of 1964, waggled his iconic Höfner bass in time while delivering his full-throated take on the song. Starr merrily bashed away behind him on his kit alongside his drummer son Zak Starkey, with Joe Walsh joining in to supply guitar pyrotechnics.

And thanks to the Internet (God bless the Internet), here it is:

The Who to Trot Out Quadrophenia Again?

After the band's atrocious Super Bowl performance I was about ready to throw in the towel and say The Who have officially jumped the shark for me, again.

I say 'again' because they jumped it when they had Kenney Jones replace Moon in 1979, again in 1989 when they rolled out the Who Review tour with a full horn section and line of backup singers. And despite the intense resurgence of the band's energy in the 90s through Entwistle's death, they jumped it yet again with the thud of a new album (Endless Wire) and boooorrrring tour I saw in 2006 and reviewed here.

I don't think anything would get me back into an arena to see these guys again. Except perhaps Quadrophenia. My interest and passion for the band was fully renewed in the mid 90s when I saw the guys (with Entwistle of course) tear through the whole album live, with guests Billy Idol as the Ace Face and Gary Glitter as the pedophile.

The performance ripped my head off and Townshend was fully engaged. Something about the music on that album up-levels the band's game, and I would eagerly see even this rather gutless, tired version of the band play Quadrophenia again.

I MAY get the chance, based on what Daltry told Billboard yesterday:

"We're just working out what to do next," singer Roger Daltrey told Billboard.com. "We've got ideas ... We're looking on probably being out there, hopefully if all goes well, in the spring of next year ... We definitely don't want to stop. We feel it's the role of the artist to go all the way through life 'til you can't do it anymore."

While there are tour plans in the works, there are a few things that the Who need to sort out -- namely, the potential of incorporating the band's 1973 rock opera 'Quadrophenia' into the show.

"There are issues with it to make it work at our age," Daltrey said. "I'm 16 years older than when we last did it and I always had a bit of a problem as far as the crowd was concerned, with the way we were presenting the show, the way our position within the piece was explained. For the newcomers, it was narratively a bit of a puzzle, what Pete and I were to this guy on the screen. It needs a revamp. It would be dated to put it out as it is now. We need to fix that area, but I know how to do it."

One more thing that Daltrey cites as a concern is bandmate Pete Townshend's severe Tinnitus, but he believes it's something that shouldn't be too much of an issue with the help of technology.

"It's nothing that can't be sorted out -- just different monitor systems, different onstage volume, which is where the issue is," Daltrey said. "Pete being the addictive character he is, if he gets carried away he tends to turn up his volume to the odd levels, and that's when it causes the trouble. That's one of the problems with rock 'n' roll, once the old adrenaline kicks in."

Sharon Osbourne Sucks - Ozzy Confirms It

As seen on ClassicRock.com this morning, Ozzy confirms in an interview with Pulse Radio that he was against the idea of replacing Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake’s work on his first two solo albums. I blogged about this issue here earlier.

The crux is that in 2002, bassist Daisley and drummer Kerslake were removed from the Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman albums, after they took legal action for unpaid royalties. Their parts were replaced by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin who were in Ozzy's band at the time.

Ozzy told Pulse Radio: “Believe me, it wasn’t my doing. I mean, I didn’t know that was being done, ’cause Sharon (Osbourne) was fighting all the legal things that were going down at the time. I said, ‘What did you do that for?’ And she said, ‘The only way I could stop everything was if it went to that level.’ And I said, ‘You know what, whatever the circumstances were, I want the original thing back.’ I mean, I wouldn’t have done that.”

Well, mistakes are mistakes and I am glad it's being fixed. Now I can actually get those albums on CD soon.

KISS Manager Bill Aucoin Dies at 66

Breaking sad news in the KISS family. Bill Aucoin, original manager of KISS, has died. Aucoin discovered the band, got them signed to their first record deal, bankrolled their early days, and steered the direction of the band in regards to merchandising, redefining the role of band manager the same way guys like Peter Grant (Zeppelin) and Brian Epstein (Beatles) did.

Put it this way - when I was a little kid and loved KISS, I knew who Aucoin was. Who can name the manager of a recent artist with the same degree of recognition? This is another legend passing away here.

From the AP:

Aucoin, manager who discovered Kiss, dies at 66

Bill Aucoin, who discovered the rock group Kiss and helped build them into a musical and merchandising juggernaut, died Monday in Florida. He was 66.

Aucoin died at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center in Aventura of surgical complications from prostate cancer, said Carol Kaye, a family spokeswoman.

A former television cinematographer, Aucoin discovered Kiss in New York City in 1973 and helped launch the makeup-wearing, fire-breathing quartet into a moneymaking machine.

He financed the band's first tour on his personal American Express credit card when money was tight, but he was well rewarded when the band's popularity exploded in 1975 with the hit "Rock And Roll All Nite."

"He was the fifth Kiss," said drummer Peter Criss, who had Aucoin serve as the best man at his second wedding. "If it wasn't for Bill, there would be no Kiss."

Aucoin first saw the band at a showcase gig at New York's Diplomat Hotel, then brought it upstairs to meet with record company executive Neil Bogart, who signed it as the first act on his Casablanca Records label.

Criss said Aucoin had an eye for what was visually striking and recognized the vast merchandising potential of rock bands in a way that few others could. With Aucoin's help, Kiss became as famous for the vast array of products bearing their likeness — including belt buckles, Halloween costumes and makeup kits, action figurines, vitamins and even a Kiss pinball machine — as they were for their music.

ClassicRock.com posted a great interview with Aucoin here.

The KISS home page has put up a splash screen with some kind words. Here is an image of it:

Movie Review - Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage

I took my loving, patient wife on a date night to see the new Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage. Well, it was actually her suggestion and we have seen Rush a couple of times live, so I knew it was not going to end with a train wreck.

I have read just about every bio on Rush, seen all the DVDs, read all of Neil’s books etc, so my question was, am I going to learn anything new? I did glean a few new nuggets such as Alex Lifeson’s opinion on the keyboard-laden late 80s albums, or Rush’s work with Kevin Caveman Shirley on Counterparts, and why that album is so heavy.

But overall if you are a big long-time Rush fan, there is not a lot of new stuff, bio-wise. However, there are loads and loads of live performance clips, photos and interviews from back in the day that I had never seen. I mean, how did they get a film of Lifeson telling his parents he did not see why he needed to finish high school to pursue a life in music?And who are all those other people in that scene? It looks like an intervention!

The film does an excellent job presenting how the band came together, the bond between Lee and Lifeson, how they all overcame great challenges to stay true to their vision, and how they keep reinventing themselves as a band, to this day.

The new interviews with all three guys are great, especially the Neil interviews, which are very informative and telling. For a guy who is pretty much a recluse, he really opens up in the film.

Some of my favorite moments are the interviews with people who admire Rush, including a couple of very articulate life-long fans, Jack Black (yes Jack Black) and Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins who makes a great case for why Rush is one of the best bands in history despite the fact that they are always marginalized by the powers that be who hold the keys to institutions such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

One of the musicians interviewed said something along the lines of, it was way back in the 70s and 80s when it was fashionable to not like Rush but that was a long time ago, and they are still around, selling out arenas year after year – you need to get over it and if still don’t like/respect them now, you are just being an old dickhead. Nice.

The one time the filmmakers show the whole band together (offstage at least) is in the rolling credits where the three are having wine in a restaurant and are clearly lit up a bit. They throw jokes back and forth across the table and are clearly really enjoying each other’s company. One would be lucky to have friends as close as these guys are, much less make fucking awesome music together and sell 40 million albums worldwide.

Great job, filmmakers, for allowing us into that private world to see a little bit about what makes one of our favorite bands tick. I DVR’d the film off of VH1 so I can watch it again until I buy the DVD when it comes out June 29. It's just that good.

Concert Review - Iron Maiden

Caught Iron Maiden last night in the second week of their Final Frontier tour. As expected, the band did mostly material from its last three albums, much to the chagrin of many Maiden fans based on Internet chatter. I too wish they had struck a better balance between all the various eras of the band, mainly because I did not know the bulk of the material performed.

The day before, I had put together an iPod playlist of the set list (I had to buy most of it on iTunes), and we listened to it in the car. Great stuff for the most part, but I like to have a better grasp on a band’s music before seeing it live. Especially when the average song length is seven or eight minutes.

But last night, people were into it! It seems for example that Fear of the Dark, a song I had never heard prior to the last tour, is a huge fan favorite. Same with Brave New World. Huh.

The band exploded onto the new outer-space themed stage set after an opening of Mars The Bringer of War by Holtz. The Wicker Man was first and it went on from there. Two things really struck me this time. Bruce Dickinson’s voice was in top form, and Dave Murray was totally on fire. He has always been my favorite Maiden gunslinger even though Adrian Smith might be technically better. But Murray was totally inspired. His leads blew me away and he has that unique tone where he uses the wah pedal only part way engaged so it has that washy sound. Awesome.

Steve Harris was manic and precise as usual, and Janik Gers annoyed me far less than the last two tours. Probably because he has a big role in these latter era songs, as he played on those albums. I really enjoyed the three-guitar interplay, actually. Whether it was a three part harmony or a layer of three totally different parts, it was really interesting. You just don’t see bands with three virtuoso guitarists who equally share the spotlight.

The place was packed all the way back to the lawn. Dickinson joked that Maiden must be getting the overspill from the cancelled Christina Aguilera tour. Ha ha. The set was high energy and if people were pissed at the set list they didn’t let on. People stood the entire time, fists in the air, and again people seemed to know these songs and sang along all night.

Aside from the five older tunes, my favorites were the new El Dorado, which absolutely kills live (and I got the solo order wrong in my review – it’s Smith, Murray, Gers!), and the two songs from A Matter of Life And Death. I wish they had done more from that CD, as I still think it’s one of their best post Seventh Son efforts.

Reviews of the tour have overall been positive, performance-wise. Meaning, people bitch about the set list but in the next breath say, “But Maiden was awesome as usual.”

I think it just depends on when you discovered the band. Before the song Blood Brothers (which Dickinson dedicated to Dio, by the way – very cool), Brucie asked how many people were seeing the band for the first time. A LOT of hands went up and there was a sense of torches being passed. But instead of a KISS concert where the same old torch gets handed off, with Maiden you get a whole new set of tunes to call your own.

Put it this way – one kid I talked to (the son of a friend) brought his Brave New World CD for Steve Harris to sign. He told me that Out Of A Silent Planet from that album is the best song Maiden has ever recorded. He was very adamant about this. I had never heard the song before and I barely knew the handful of songs Maiden would pull live from that album.

But I realized on my way home that to this kid, Brave New World is his Powerslave. Or if you are even older than me, his Killers. This is the CD he probably discovered Maiden with and who am I to say it’s no good? He was rightly stoked they were going to do four songs off of it, as I was stoked last time to hear so much from Powerslave.

It’s very, very cool that Maiden can provide so many different frames of reference for its multiple generations of fans.

We heard that after this short tour of the States there is a World Tour and the band would be back to the U.S. next year. Will I go again? Likely, yeah. And you know what? I have Brave New World stuck in my head and am enjoying discovering some ‘new’ Maiden! Mission accomplished.

Set List:

The Wicker Man
Ghost Of The Navigator
Wrathchild
El Dorado
Paschendale
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
These Colours Don't Run
Blood Brothers
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
Brave New World
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Running Free

Short video I took of Wrathchild:


As usual, my buddy Pat who knows Steve Harris from the early 80s got us all passes so we were able to say a quick hi to Steve and then I was able to wander a bit near the latter part of the show to take some close up photos. Here are a few of the better ones overall:

Music Review - New Iron Maiden Single

As I mentioned yesterday, Rush and Iron Maiden recently released digital singles in advance of their 2010 tours. I reviewed Rush's single here and today it's time for Iron Maiden's El Dorado, the single from the upcoming Final Frontier album.

First of all, I am seeing the band perform tonight so I am pretty fired up. The last two tours have leaned heavily on the classics, and now it's time for the U.S. to pay the price with mostly 2000-era Maiden. Yep, most of the songs I will see tonight are from the last three albums - Brave New World, Dance of Death and Matter of Life and Death. I love the latter album but don't really know the other two.

Fellow blogger Vince Neilstein did a solid job earlier this month laying out the debate over the pros and mostly cons of this move. He called the post-2000 material Iron Meh-den, which is pretty funny.

It's a hot topic in metal circles for sure. Me? I wish they would just do a little of everything instead of leaning towards "classic" or "modern." But I am just glad to see them at all.

OK the song. It's a tad under 7 minutes, and is pretty typical prog-metal from Maiden. I am always hoping for something as catchy as Two Minutes to Midnight or as epic as Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but those days are long gone. What we do have now is a triple guitar onslaught. It just occurred to me that poor Janik Gers had to suffer through the last two tours windmilling his way through songs he didn't play on on the albums. Hmm.

OK, El Dorado -- After a nicely noisy intro, we get that familiar Steve Harris gallop! (think The Trooper). Ripping triple guitar onslaught. Good Dickinson performance - he still has yet to phone it in. The guy always delivers. Song is a little repetitive through the second pre-chorus and the chorus is pretty decent. Air Raid Siren Dickinson emerges but a little strained on the high end. Usual complex Maiden center section leading to triple solos. I think it's Janik Gers, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith in that order. But we'll see tonight if I nailed that one or not. Out of the solos - more galloping, then another verse/pre-chorus/chorus. Overall it's a good tune. I like it.

And shit, they are giving it away - grab it and tell me what you think! You can get the song El Dorado from Maiden's Web site here.

My review of the last tour is here and here. I hope to post a review of tonight's show this week.

Music Review - New Rush Single

Two classic bands (read, 'been around since the 80s or earlier') to get their shit together for the new era of music discovery, delivery and consumption (read 'Internet and mobile devices') are Rush and Iron Maiden. Both bands have released previews from their upcoming full length albums ahead of summer tours.

In Rush's case, the band decided to put out a single, tour and THEN record the bulk of the new album, so their chops would be particularly rocking. In Maiden's case, the album will be out after the tour has started, but it's pretty much cooked.

On Rockline recently, Steve Harris confirmed the band would just do the one pre-released song live and wait to unleash any more new material until the full album is out. Same with Rush - we can expect to hear both of their new songs live on this year's tour.

The new Maiden song, called El Dorado is offered as a free download, and the new Rush single costs $2.49 and includes a 5-page digital booklet.

OK, all good. But how are the songs? Here is my take on the Rush tunes. I will review Maiden's tomorrow in advance of me seeing the band live tomorrow night.

Rush - Caravan/BU2B:
It took me a long time to fully appreciate these songs, as usual for me with modern Rush.

There is a LOT going on here. The general vibe? Heavy. Caravan starts out like the soundtrack to a Godzilla movie, if Godzilla is the size of the Empire State Building, which I imagine is slightly bigger than his actual size. Um, well, you see where I am going: The song is large and lumbering.

The opening riff gets turned on its head once the drums come in, and is as solid as any Rush riffage. Geddy comes out swinging with fairly typical Neil lyrics:

In a world lit only by fire
Long train of flares under piercing stars
I stand watching the steamliners roll by

The caravan thunders onward
To the distant dream of the city
The caravan carries me onward
On my way at last
On my way at last

Which yields to the very catchy chorus refrain of "I can’t stop thinking big, I can’t stop thinking big, In a world where I feel so small, I can’t stop thinking big."

After the second chorus there is a multi-part instrumental freak out that is for the most part, well fucking awesome. It took me a while to really grasp what is going on in this section because it changes pretty quickly. I still don't get it all but the bass and drums interplay going on under the guitar and solo are incredibly strong and complex, and then out of that they just hit that big chorus one more time, freak out some more and wrap it up.

The second song, BU2B is even heavier if that is possible. Lyrically very consistent with Neil's science over religion bent:

I was brought up to believe
The universe has a plan
We are only human
It’s not ours to understand

The universe has a plan
All is for the best
Some will be rewarded
And the devil take the rest

This song follows the 'new Rush' tradition of throwing in some super duper heaviness on each album, along the lines of Spindrift and Earthshine from their last two albums. Pretty pummeling vibe, sometimes atonal guitar. But there are some moments of relief, such as the bridge which brings back some of that 80s keyboard padding. Doesn't last long though and we're back to the main plodding riff. Fucking huge. Not sure I have heard them this huge.

These songs are going to blow people's minds live. And if the whole album sounds anything like this, it's going to be kick ass.

In more Rush news, the documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage will air on VH1, VH1 Classic and Palladia this Saturday, and will be preceded in some markets by the Classic Rock album series episodes on 2112 and Moving Pictures. That's a whole lotta Rush and I like it! Full reviews on that shiteness next week.

Notes From St Croix Part Two

Here is the rest from my trip, from which I am re-attempting to return from today. More on that another time and once the airlines actually get me home...

St Croix Day Four – Excuse me, we are having technical difficulties. Please stand by…

So what have we learned so far?

--Island time = things running a bit slow. Be patient.
--It’s easier to freshen up by jumping in the pool, b/c you sweat coming out of the shower anyway.
--Bug spray – almost as important as food.

Technical difficulties. Ah yes… Be patient with this as well. Between the power service on the island being a little spotty and the interesting, creative condition of the roads, yesterday was pretty entertaining.

Early in the day we drove to the airport to drop off a roommate for a return trip to Chicago for a wedding. Given the Stanley Cup upset, I advised him to please flip over a cop car for me.

Not a mile later, we blow a tire. No tire iron, and this is Vrba’s second blowout this week. I could blame the condition of his car (a 90s Olds), but I have to blame the roads here, which are barely paved and rife with potholes. One hitch to the station later to borrow a tire iron, and we are back on the road.

Later that night is our next gig, at the Sports Bar, which is on the Christiansted Boardwalk -- a very hopping stretch of shops, bars and restaurants. The first set is OK but sure enough those power demons rear their heads, with the power cutting out here and there. Our guitar cables are struggling with the climate and we have to switch a few crackly ones out, and of course there are some broken strings to boot.

But after a sort of challenging first set, we take a break, work it all out and the rest of the night goes smoothly. Show times on the islands are much earlier than in the States and we are out of there at the shockingly early hour of 11 p.m., with plenty of time to come home and run over more tunes in preparation for Saturday’s recording. Luckily we encounter NO problems with cars, guitars or power once we get home!

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St Croix Wrap Up – The Moment of Truth

The last couple of days on the Island were pretty eventful, but mostly in preparation for the Saturday house concert/live CD recording. Matt and I ran over the 20 songs he wanted to record. Some of them were pretty straight, or I had been playing them for a long time. Others were brand new or required me to double Matt’s chords higher up on the guitar using different voicings. Whatever the case, I felt 100 percent ready when the sound crew showed up at about noon Saturday.

These guys were total pros – Padraic Coursey and his company Aqua Sounds for those of you keeping track. Not only did Aqua Sounds provide a sweet PA system, monitors, a crew and the whole works for the live gig, but they brought the recording gear as well – Mac with Pro Tools, loads of great mics, etc.

What this meant is that the audience had excellent live sound, and the Aqua guys also captured the performance in high quality audio for the CD. Best of both worlds. My favorite detail is that they recorded all the tracks separately, which means my guitar is on its own track – so if I made a mistake they could just delete it in the mix. Whew! I love having that option!

Lots of friends kicked in to help get the place ready, set up the seats, serve drinks, take donations, clean up etc. It was a real group effort so all Matt and I had to do was focus on the music.

So, we started the concert with three tried and true Vrba warhorses to get warmed up. Then we dove into 10 of the new songs. For the most part it went great. The very last tune, a song about life on the island, was a real barn burner but there were a few mistakes so we did it again at the end of the second set. Otherwise we didn’t have to repeat any songs to get good takes. The second set was 10 more tunes and then it was over.

Out of the 20 new recorded songs, all Matt has to do it find roughly 12 that don’t suck and there’s the CD. I am confident he’ll be able to pull it off successfully. The audience was a bit of a “this is your life” from my week on the island, as many folks I had met at various times and places all gathered at Vrba’s for the gig. That was cool.

And while I had lots of fun, played loads of music, saw some sights and met some great people, I am very eager to get home to my family and get back to my “real” life. Just 11 hours of travel and it’ll all be a memory!

Sharon Osbourne Pulls Head Out Of Own Ass

Sharon Osbourne has seen the light. Her bogus, grave error of replacing the original bass and drum parts on Ozzy's first two albums due to a business dispute with Ozzy's then-band mates Bob Daisley (bass) and Lee Kerslake (drums), is about to be overturned with the upcoming 30th anniversary editions of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman.

At the time of the original sin, Osbourne explained it this way:

"Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake have harassed Ozzy and our family for several years," she said in 2002. "Because of their abusive and unjust behavior, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums."

What a bunch of shit. Those remasters sounded horrible, and I was so glad to have the vinyl records as a back up. There was no way I was going to buy those CDs. I have a feeling I was not the only one. And to blame this on Ozzy is equally bogus. This move has Sharon written all over it and to say otherwise is an insult to Ozzy's fans.

But later this year, the original bass and drums will be restored (I had read they had been erased, which really would have been an affront). According to an article on Gibson.com:

Sharon Osbourne told the website, “They definitely are coming out this year. They are coming out for [U.S.] Thanksgiving and they will be on the market then. It’s going back to the original recordings with [Bob] Daisley [bass] and [Lee] Kerslake [drums]. And there will be a lot of stuff that you haven’t heard before in the packages. Like certain conversations that were going on in the studio with the guys just messing around while the tape was still rolling. All of that will be added into it.”

Notes from St Croix

So, I have been in St Croix in the Virgin Islands for the last few days, backing up alt-country singer-songwriter Matt Vrba. I have posted a few updates to my MySpace page but fellow blogger Seano suggested I put them up here as well. So, bear with the lengthy post (and forgive me if you have already seen this stuff on MySpace), but here you go. The last three days in Croix:

Part One -- Off to St Croix - Thanks, Edelman!!!
So how cool is my company? My day job is working as a public relations professional for high tech companies (my main client is Adobe Systems) for Edelman, the largest independent PR firm on the planet. One of the cool programs for helping keep employees growing is called the Edelman Escape.

From the company Web site:

Have you ever wanted to record a song or help rebuild houses in a disaster zone? Edelman employees have pursued these and many other personal passions as part of Edelman Escape, which rewards employees with time off and a stipend for a one-week trip to fulfill a long-held dream.

I will spare you the gory details of my full submission but in 2008 I put in for a week backing up alt-country singer songwriter Matt Vrba on one of his biannual tours of Europe and lo and behold I was graciously accepted for an Escape around this idea! Two years later and a few changed details and I am off to St Croix in the Virgin Islands today for a week of shows with Matt, culminating in a live house concert recording this Saturday for Matt’s next CD.

How cool is that? Thanks Edelman and here we go…

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Part Two -- St Croix Day One - Island Time

My first clue that things were a little different on these islands was when my flight from Dallas landed in Puerto Rico, on time I might add. Close to boarding time, it was announced that our plane (and two others) had 'mechanical difficulties' and would all be delayed. They would let us know how long of a delay in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, no news but we'll tell you in another 20 minutes. 2 and half hours later we departed, but not before about six ambiguous updates, the last of which coincided with the airport for the most part shutting down. I thought I would be spending the night...

I bring this up b/c there is a bit of a laissez-faire here. Playfully called "Island Time" it just means that no one is any kind of a big rush to get anything done, including making a plane take off on time, taking a food order, bringing your bill etc. Luckily I adjust to island time pretty well.

Vrba’s place is a villa-style bungalow in the hills with a pool and a view of the ocean. Not too shabby. In true musician fashion, I am on a pull out bed in the office area. Woke at about 4 a.m to the loudest most insane lightning and thunder, so severe it knocked out power to the house for two hours. Wow, what a welcome!

Monday was supposed to be a rehearsal day - Vrba intends to record about 30 tunes at the house concert on Saturday and pick the best 12 or so for his CD. Some of these songs I know already and others are new. But even the ones I know, he plays a little differently.

So we went over a number of tunes parked on the beach at Chenay Bay Resort. Got pretty hot so we took a break. I ordered nachos from the bar and 15 minutes later was informed they were out of chips. Island time, remember! They are out of chips? I thought that was pretty funny.

After dinner, we wound up playing an impromptu gig at a friend's house – a graduation party with a bunch of guests/family visiting from fabulous Kansas, and that was a nice way to cap off the evening. That technically makes five gigs in six days here, and I like that. This is why I am here.

Overall, the songs Matt wants to record Saturday are all very, very good IMO. I am stoked to have this week capped off by a gig that will yield a CD release. All in all a good start to the trip.

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Part Three -- St Croix Day Two - More Island Time

Tuesday was supposed to be our first official gig day, with a 6 to 9 p.m. show at a place called Spratnet, which is a bar/club right on the sandy North Shore of the island - about a 45 minute drive.

Much of the day was spent getting ready for the show. As noted earlier, I smuggled an arsenal of electric guitar effects in a backpack onto the plane, and today was the day we'd hook 'em all up to the amp I am borrowing here to figure out how to get the best sounds for the music - the right tools for the right job, as Hank Hill would say.

More strings changed as well - the island humidity makes brand new guitar strings sound dead and flat in about six hours.

Then the loading of the car and 45 minute drive to the gig. We pull up and the place looks pretty quiet. Matt says, "This does not look good." Sure enough, there is no gig. Calvin, the owner asks if Matt got his messages, and of course there were no messages to be gotten - the dude just decided to not open the bar this week for whatever reason. Spotty cell service on the island provides a pretty convenient general excuse for not calling anyone anyway.

Matt is generally fairly irritated - rightly so - and says there is no way we came all the way out here for no gig. Thus begins a trip to the various surrounding bars to see who wants a surprise concert in exchange for dinner and drinks. Coincidentally we end up playing at the one place on North Shore Matt has never played before - Rowdy Joes. A few phone calls ensue (we use my phone because I actually HAVE reception on the North Shore) and a good crowd trickles in.

All in all it's a great gig. Matt and I click on the tunes. Amp sounds pretty good. A few tips, a few CDs sold. Sadly, this "island time" concept frequently extends throughout the whole business of music anyway, and this 'the gig is cancelled, let's just line another one up right now' thing happens a lot, everywhere. I was pretty sure when the Spratnet gig fell through that we'd find something, even if it was playing for dinner and tips. You just have to roll with it and make do, and a lot of times the gig is better for it anyway!

BlackSabbath.com Posts Dio's Last Concert

Bittersweet to see this one, but here is Ronnie James Dio's last live performance ever. He still sounded epic - who knew he'd pass away just eight months later!

It's The Mob Rules, so enjoy it dammit!

A Fear Of Flashing Light - My New CD Is Out Today!

You may be aware that over the past year I have been working on recording my first ever solo CD. Well, today is the big day and the release, called A Fear Of Flashing Light, is now available for download at http://paullesinski.bandcamp.com.

Recorded from April 2009 through May 2010, the 12 song CD spans various genres including straight ahead rock and roll, progressive rock, and some acoustic-based tunes as well. There is also a fancy 13 page digital booklet with lyrics and artwork so your eyes can be as jazzed as your ears.

For those of you who don't know me, you will hear some of the following influences throughout the disc: Peter Gabriel, Rush (Alex Lifeson), Neil Young, The Beatles, Yes (Steve Howe), Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Pete Townshend and dare I even say a smidge of Warren Zevon, Coldplay and/or U2? I dunno - you tell me what you hear.

I am making the CD available as a free download but am also offering the option to pay a suggested $5 to help offset the cost of recording and mastering. Physical CDs will also be available via snail mail in about a month, and I will let you know about that when the time comes.

Thanks, and ENJOY the CD!

Bold Prediction: Mick Taylor Will Re-join The Stones

Running on the treadmill tonight listening to the remastered Exile on Main Street, a bunch of random tidbits of information coalesced in my mind and I had a eureka moment that I needed to share with everyone. It's a little far-fetched, or is it? Here is my bold prediction:

The Rolling Stones will get back together with guitarist Mick Taylor, will ditch Ronnie Wood, and will tour playing Exile On Main Street in its entirety.

My rationale? Dig it:

--Exile On Main Street is #1 on the charts this week and there is currently a great interest in the Mick Taylor era of the band (1969-1974). This has always been called the Stones' most creative period, and much of the credit goes to Taylor's tasty and fluid lead and slide playing. It is the Stones' first #1 album in 16 years.
--Mick Jagger had Taylor come to the studio to lay some leads down on the new Stones single from the Exile bonus tracks, Plunder My Soul (video below).
--Keith Richards in a recent Rolling Stone interview said "If I had my way, Mick Taylor would still be in the band."
--Ron Wood has been off the deep end for more than two years, falling off the wagon and splitting up with his long-time wife Jo in exchange for a 21 year old Russian girl, who he later was accused of assaulting. Too extreme even for the Stones, Keith reportedly was trying to cut down on his drinking and partying after he saw how low Wood had fallen. That to me says a lot. Respect for Woody lost?
--Wood just this week is reportedly in a reunited version of the Faces, his pre-Stones band fronted by Rod Stewart. New gig for Woody.
--Rumors of Ronnie's departure from the Stones heated up when the band's official Web site changed his bio's status in the band from 'ongoing' to '1976-2010.' (It has since been fixed)
--Mick Taylor isn't doing anything right now.

OK yes I am crazy but think about the show. I predict they would do theaters, and play Exile along with other Mick Taylor material. Think of the the set list: Exile On Main Street (all 18 songs), Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Brown Sugar, Sway, Wild Horses, Moonlight Mile, Stray Cat Blues, Dead Flowers, Heartbreaker, Angie, Time Waits for No One, It's Only Rock And Roll, If You Can't Rock Me, 100 Years Ago, Dancing With Mr D. Need I go on? I have a boner just thinking about this.

Pair that with the fact that bands playing their classic albums all the way through is also very hot right now. Everyone from Springsteen to Rush are doing this.

Well, time will tell but remember you saw it here first! What do you think?

Plunder My Soul, from the Exile bonus tracks:

Preview Track From My Upcoming CD - Voices

Here is the second sneak peek track from my forthcoming CD, A Fear of Flashing Light, which will be released next Tuesday, June 1.

Like I said yesterday, the songs on the CD vary, with four tunes that lean on the prog rock side, a couple of more acoustic based, moody things, and some more mainstream sounding tunes. This one falls into the middle category, and has probably my favorite guitar solo I have ever recorded, which is kinda me going out on a limb here. Let me know what you think!

The song is called Voices. Enjoy!

Preview Track From My Upcoming CD - Wondering Why

As some of you may know, I have been working on my first solo CD for about a year now. I have played in numerous bands over the years, have been on many CDs, and have had lots of my songs recorded. But this is the first project I have put my actual name on (yes, the identity of "Isorski," while always a loosely guarded semi-secret at best, is about to be officially revealed!)

The CD is called A Fear of Flashing Light, and will be released next Tuesday, June 1. But in the meantime, here is a sneak peek at one of the 12 songs: Wondering Why.

The songs on the CD vary, with four tunes that lean on the prog rock side, a couple of more acoustic based, moody (Floyd-ish?) things, and some more mainstream sounding tunes. This one falls into the latter category. Let me know what you think!

Cool Rush Interviews on CBC Hour

Lots of recent Rush news with a new tour, new songs available next Tuesday, the documentary film Beyond the Lighted Stage, etc. So I am trying to be choosy in what I post - there could be something every day! (For that, go to RushIsABand.com). But these recent interviews are really cool. They get some questions thrown at them in part two that I have never heard anyone ask before. Enjoy!

Part 1:


Part 2:

Bono Injury Forces Scrapped U2 Tour

This is not a news flash, as it's been pretty well covered this week. U2 singer Bono injured his back severely enough in rehearsals to require emergency back surgery in Germany last week. Originally a couple of shows were scrapped but now the U.S tour is postponed as well.

Why is this a big deal, besides the obvious concern for Bono's health and the inconvenience and disappointment of the people who made travel plans to attend the enormous shows?

Well, this is not just a typical big arena tour, but rather a continuation of the massive 360 tour. Some info on the logistics from last year:

The cylindrical 360 degree video screen weighs 54 tons and opens up in a scissor-like fashion to resemble an enormous gyro. Fully extended, it covers an area of 14,000 square feet which is as big as 2 doubles tennis courts. The video screen is made up of over 1 million pieces… 500,000 pixels, 320,000 fasteners, 30,000 cables and 150,000 machined pieces. Once the show is over, it takes 6 hours for the production team to dismantle the stage and another 48 hours for the road crew to take down the super-structure and get it loaded onto the trucks. The stage cost $40 million to design and build and that was just for the first one. The band is currently traveling around North America with 3 complete stages tended to by 500 crew members who are using 189 Semi-trucks for its transport.

That means Bono's back surgery is going to cost the band millions of dollars. Note that manager Paul McGuinness after delivering the perfunctory "The band is devastated they can't play for you because they are artists" line, betrays to Reuters the very real monetary concern of this disaster:

Paul McGuinness, speaking to Reuters outside the Munich hospital where the operation was performed on Friday, said the 50-year-old singer "feels awful" about the tour changes, which will affect over a million fans. "Clearly this is a serious injury and the recuperation time necessary to rehabilitate Bono is a big problem for the U2 tour and has unfortunately necessitated the postponement of 16 shows in North America," he said. As well as the band and fans, the injury will also hit Live Nation, the music concert company which signed a 12-year deal to handle merchandising, digital and branding rights and touring for one of the world's most successful bands. "Obviously Bono feels terrible about missing these shows and we are working as fast as we can with Live Nation to reinstate them and reschedule them for next year," McGuinness said.

Let's hope Bono gets better and doesn't worry about the dollars. Money comes and goes but your health is paramount!

Last Dio Track Ever Recorded

Let's wrap up this week's series of Dio posts with definitive evidence that the man went out on top.

Classic Rock.com posted a link to the below YouTube, a song called Elektra, which was slated to appear on a follow-up to Dio’s Magica album, released in 2000. The track was reportedly recorded before Dio’s stomach cancer had been diagnosed.

Magica was originally intended to be the first part of a trilogy of concept albums. Shortly before starting his (final) run of dates with Heaven And Hell, Dio announced that he planned to start working on new Magica material after the tour’s end.

This song is pretty pummeling, and shows that Dio's voice at 67 was as sharp as it was over his whole career. Enjoy the song, and have a great weekend everyone.

CD Review - Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Reissue

Even though Exile on Main Street is my favorite Stones release hands down, I had not heard the album all the way through in quite some time. Growing up, I used to practice playing leads to this album, since almost all the songs are in the same key (A), and I could practice my Pentatonic scales to almost all of it. To this day, when someone throws a song at me that goes from A to D, all my Exile licks come out!

Exile is a bit of a weird choice of albums to remaster and repackage since its beauty is how gritty the thing is – among other things, the album is notorious for being recorded in Keith Richards' basement when the band was living in France as tax exiles in the early 70s. The basement had no ventilation or natural light and was basically a total shithole. The tales of drug use and debauchery, while probably exaggerated, go hand in hand with the basement legend.

But this remastered version is crisp and certainly benefited from digital transfer with modern technology, just like The Beatles remasters from last year.

Regarding this grittiness, when you get down to it only about half of the 18 tracks were recorded in Keith’s basement, and all the vocals were laid down in L.A. But this just shows that it’s not necessarily the place, but the general vibe of the band that is etched on this release. The album embodies blues based rock and roll and also seeps with a druggy undertone and groovy rawness. Is it Charlie’s slinky beats? Mick Taylor’s shimmering slide parts? Keith’s thin, creepy backup vocals or grungy rhythm guitar? Or is it Mick Jagger, who vacillates between a full bore coke-induced jittery screaminess (Rip This Joint, All Down The Line) and downer induced lethargy (Torn and Frayed, I Just Want To See His Face)?

I dunno. It might be the guest musicians who push it over the top. Billy Preston on organ, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Bobby Keys, sax. Those guys add as much to the vibe as the rest of the Stones. Anyway, if you have not grooved on this album in a long time (or – gasp – ever!), you owe it to yourself to do so stat.

The bonus CD of 10 unreleased tracks from the sessions is pretty cool. New old Stones. New songs Alive and Kicking, and Plunder My Soul are both worthy of inclusion on Exile, despite the fact that the vocals were clearly recorded this year, not 40 years ago. But the music is swampy and gritty, with dirty harmonica, honking baritone sax and barroom piano.

The other new songs (I’m Not Signifying, Following the River, Dancing In The Light, So Divine) are OK but you can see why they were left off the original album release. I’m Not Signifying has some sweet slide guitar and dirty blues harp interplay over a slow bluesy shuffle that never really seems to lock until the end when slightly out of key New Orleans-esque horns come in and Charlie moves to the ride.

Following the River sounds like the not quite as developed bastard cousin of Shine A Light – music is better than the lyrics here but nothing really special until, again, the band kicks it up at the end of the song. Dancing In The Light is a pretty good upbeat tune with all sorts of snapping Telecaster leads. I could hear this one of the original release but they probably ran out of space, and it meanders a bit. So Divine starts out with a variation of the Paint It Black lick and carries on for four and a half more minutes. Snooore.

Then we get to the alternate takes of Loving Cup and Soul Survivor. Loving Cup is much slower and frankly sounds like an outtake from Beggars Banquet, which is a very good thing. Killer to hear this. Soul Survivor is also a real gem, with Keith taking the lead vocals here, singing totally different lyrics from Mick’s version on the original album. Kind of a trip.

The next tune, Good Time Women, is a working version of Tumblin Dice and has the signature lick in the chorus. Very cool tune that reminds me of Taj Mahal for some reason. The final song, Title 5, is short and sweet and is almost like the Stones doing a surf shuffle instrumental. A bit of an offshoot of Rip This Joint, but not as good.

My Best Buy version came with a second bonus CD with audio interviews from all the Stones on the album (Jagger, Watts, Richards, Taylor and Bill Wyman and nothing from Ron Wood). Truth be told I bought this release partly for this disc so I could hear the band share their stories of the album (esp Taylor and Wyman who are no longer in the band). In retrospect, it's interesting but not a must-have.

Overall, the re-issue sounds fantastic and provides enough solid bonus material to make this a must-have for fans of rock and roll and certainly fans of Mick and da boyz. Get it!

Rush on CNN, Two New Songs Available June 1

Lots going on in the world of Rush but I have tried to be judicious and not post ALL of it. But today it was announced that two new Rush songs will be made available for digital download on June 1.

According to the band's Web site, the main song is called Caravan, and a b-side song called BU2B is also going to be for sale. Caravan's running time is 5:40 and BU2B's is 4:21. You can buy them together or separately, and if purchased together a digital PDF booklet is included.

Cool! Looking forward to that.

Also, the band was interviewed recently on CNN about the movie Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, which will hit cable TV on June 26 (VH1 and VH1 Classic). I love how humble these guys are...

One More Dio Post

So here I am on a trip for work, running about 3 miles to my Dio mix, and I got some classics. Neon Knights from Live Evil is probably the most pummeling metal vocal I have ever heard. 'Nuff said.

There have been loads of comments, articles, stories the last two days. Notably the New York Times ran no fewer than three items - one a fairly amusing blog post about the lighter side of Dio. I will let you enjoy that here.

It's pointless to repeat it all but one interesting statement seemed to encompass everything. This is from Queen's Brian May:

“It’s a shock to hear that Ronnie has gone. Even though we had all known he was battling with cancer for some time, he was such a wiry fighter, and of such an amazingly optimistic nature, I think I assumed he would go on forever. Well, he fought to the very end… was gearing up to go back out on tour. I know this will be a very hard blow for my friend Tony Iommi. When I last saw Ronnie in Los Angeles, he was as full of life and positivity as anybody I’ve ever known… and sang up a storm with Heaven & Hell in the Universal Amphitheatre.

In my opinion, Ronnie was one of the creators of the genre of heavy metal. I’m not an expert on his work — there are many people much more knowledgeable than me… but our paths crossed many times over the years, and I had clear glimpses of his unique spirit and personality. He was in many ways the antithesis of the current mould of TV-bred singers. He had no apparent desire for fame, in the sense that so many X-Factor contestants seem to. He was not a TV face, a ‘celebrity.’ He just loved doing what he did. So, to his millions of fans, there was an unquestionable feeling of reality to his persona, his songwriting, and his performances. His lyric-writing was very distinctive, and set a style in heavy metal which has influenced many bands over the years. To me, it was as if his mind operated in layers — on the surface, a hard-working honest singer, with a great humanity and strong sense of humour — and underneath, in the world of his songs, his subconscious seemed to be populated by hobgoblins of all kinds, and palpable evil forever on the march. His lyrics, dark and mysterious, in tune with the metal ethos, always represented the sword of goodness in triumph over evil.

I don’t know if he invented the devil-horn salute, but he was certainly the man who, more than ever, made it a universal symbol, a worldwide salute of metal. He was universally loved in the community of rock music, and will be sorely missed.”

Still can't believe he lost that fight but there is a lot of his music to crank, so let's rock it this week. Horns at half mast...

Some Thoughts On Ronnie James Dio

It's been about 12 hours since I heard about Dio's passing and I am sitting in the Portland Airport waiting for a flight for work. Last night I created a "Dio mix" for the trip, comprised of his three studio albums with Rainbow, all his Sabbath work and Holy Diver, along with a bootleg or two.

Great to listen to but it's not like I had not been listening to Dio lately. Unlike some other bands that made a huge impression on me growing up, (The Who come to mind), I never really stopped listening to Dio.

I had the great, great fortune of seeing the man with Heaven & Hell just three years ago and as I posted in my review of that show, he blew me away. At age 65, he still sang better than most. I was frankly shocked at not only how excellent he was, but how many notches he raised Sabbath beyond when I had seen them with Ozzy a few months prior. It was like a different band.

And as stated by many others, Dio was also a great guy. I never heard a story of him treating people with anything but respect. No drugs or alcohol stories, yet he was not preachy about it. Even his reports on his battle with cancer were heartfelt and genuine.

At age 67, Dio went out at the TOP of his game. He will be missed but his influence will ripple forward for decades. Can anyone imagine the current state of heavy metal without him near the top? I can't. Below is his last interview, with Eddie Trunk, and a great live take on Heaven and Hell from the early 80s:


VH1 TV Shows Music Videos Celebrity Photos News & Gossip

RIP Ronnie James Dio

Sad, sad Sunday. From Wendy Dio:

Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.

Total bummer and a great loss. I will post some personal thoughts tomorrow night. Come back and mourn with me.

Paul Stanley Wants to Talk To You

First of all, apologies for the lack of posts recently. I have been working very hard on getting a new solo CD recorded. I hit a great stride last month and then as with a lot of big projects, the end took a bit longer to get to than I expected. Just sent the last track in for mastering today and it feels great. Artwork almost done, sequencing next week. I will for sure post a link so any interested parties can check it out once it's cooked. I am very proud of this disc and feel it's the best thing I have committed to tape (hard drive?) and that is saying a lot.

Anyway, while I recharge my blogging batteries, this is flipping hilarious -- Someone snipped a bunch of Paul Stanley's between-song cheerleader rants and put them in one place. Enjoy here. Thanks to Nedrum for the suggestion!

Roger Waters Wall Preview Video

Now here is a good interview. Waters talks a bit about the origins of The Wall from 30 years ago and what may be different this time around. There are some great clips that I had never seen, from the original limited run of shows.

Roger Waters on Jimmy Fallon

This is really interesting. Waters never does TV interviews and for some reason Jimmy Fallon got him. Fallon is slim on his Floyd history and is clearly intimidated and highly nervous (as I would be) and asks really dumb ass questions.

But at the same time, it's wild to see Waters on late night. Video is below.

As an aside, I signed up for the RogerWaters.com ticket presale lottery for Tacoma and San Jose and actually won the opportunity to buy San Jose tickets. I bought a good pair yesterday when that presale hit, so I am very happy to be seeing the show in San Jose on December 6.

The iTunes presale is running today (you had to buy a copy of the Wall film from iTunes to get access) and there is a LiveNation presale tomorrow. Lots of complaining on Waters' Facebook site about the insane prices for the premium packages ($750), but you can get decent seats for around $150 in most venues. It's a lot of dough, but really - this is a once in a lifetime chance, people.

Also, dig this Jim Ladd interview (Ladd was the DJ on Radio K.A.O.S by the way), talking about how the sound system will be quadrophonic and huge, the wall and gear will require 20 semis, etc. 100 stage hands to construct the wall...No wonder it's so expensive...

Part One:

Part Two:

AC/DC Let There Be Rock Coming to DVD

One of my earliest impressionable rock and roll memories was of me and my friend Bill in probably 7th or 8th grade taking a bus to the Century 25 theaters in San Jose to see the film Let There Be Rock.

This was the third rock and roll film I had seen in a short period. One was The Secret Policeman's Ball and the other was The Song Remains the Same - both of which inspired me to choose music as a career at a ripe young age, and both filled me with dread and uncertainty about HOW I would actually make that happen. But the seed had been planted.

If I had any doubts, though, Let There Be Rock buried them deep. This film (which I have never seen again since) carved itself in my head. The loud rock and roll. The insanity of Angus Young spinning around on the ground and then going side stage for a hit of oxygen. The ruggedness of Bon Scott. Raw raw raw.

I left that theater transformed. It's also why I immensely prefer the Scott-era AC/DC over the Brian Johnson version. But as Johnson said when AC/DC made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, "It's Bon's band." Yeah baby. Good man.

Adding to the aura of this film in my mind is that it's apparently never made it to DVD. Oh I am sure I could have found it on VHS or DVD if I had really wanted to, but I am glad I will be able to watch an official sanctioned version some (almost) 30 years later on a large screen TV with the sound CRANKED.

The official release is slated for January 2011. According to Eddie Trunk's Web Site:

"Let There Be Rock", the AC/DC concert documentary that was filmed December 1979 at the Pavillion De Paris, will receive its long-awaited DVD release in January 2011.

According to the All Music Guide, "Let There Be Rock" was released in France a year after it was filmed, though American release was delayed until well after the band had established themselves in the States with new vocalist Brian Johnson and the multi-platinum success of the "Back In Black" album.

In his review of the original "Let There Be Rock" film, Fred Beldin of the All Music Guide writes, "Director Eric Dionysis captures the excitement of the live show with an energetic style and effective close-up shots, though the staged interviews and sub-'The Song Remains The Same' fantasy sequences show the band to be bemused but not convinced by these attempts to add some arty depth to the proceedings. The highlight of the extracurricular segments is Bon Scott, radiating warmth and humility in these last interviews before his untimely death at age 33 from alcohol poisoning."

I will be first in line. Online, of course. Let There Be Rock!