Media Hound

We Need To Talk About Kevin (Movie Review)

2012-01-05T19:10:00.003-06:00

Every once in awhile, a little movie comes along that delivers a giant kick to the gut. We Need To Talk About Kevin is one of those.

Eva is a mother left to deal with the aftermath of her son Kevin’s killing spree at his school, but there is so much more to the movie than that. Essentially the story is told in three overlapping parts. Part one takes place before Kevin was born. Eva was like a female George Bailey, wanting to travel the world, but instead she meets Franklin (John C. Reilly) and settles down to start a family. Part two is the birth and the raising of Kevin and the third part takes place after his rampage. The opening third of the movie skips back and forth between these three parts before settling into a more linear story.

Tilda Swinton is excellent as Eva, a woman desperately trying to cope with being a mother and raising a deeply troubled son. You can see and feel the guilt, grief, and pain she is in as she struggles just to get through the day in a small town that blames her for the actions of her son. She is struggling with the effects of the massacre as is the town. Her house and car are vandalized, neighbors glare at her and in one startling scene, a woman she doesn’t know comes up and smacks her in the face.

Her trouble begins the day Kevin is born. During a scene in the hospital, Franklin is holding the newborn baby, while Eva lies in the bed, staring straight ahead. Which brings up one of the underlying questions of the film: What happens if you don't love your own child? And what if your child doesn’t love you?

Eva has no idea what it takes to be a mother or how to deal with a baby. When his incessant crying drives her to the edge, while out for a walk she stands next to a jack-hammer just to drown out the cries. He develops slowly, refuses to speak, is uninterested in anything and still wears diapers well after he should. They take him to the doctor to see if anything is wrong, only to be told they have a normal, healthy boy. Kevin is manipulative and knows how to push her buttons. When she complains to her husband, he refuses to see what’s going on, as he has been manipulated by Kevin also. Franklin sees a different Kevin and they get along great, but the father fails to see the potential evil growing in his son. Eventually he (unknowingly) introduces Kevin to the weapon he'll later use.

This film brings up so many questions, some answered and some left to the viewer to decide. Are monsters born, or are they made? Was Kevin born normal, but changed based on his upbringing or lack of it? Was he mentally ill even at a young age but wasn’t diagnosed correctly? Or was he truly born evil (ala’ Damien)?

Personally, I think it’s the second question posed. There is one scene when Kevin is young and is sick with a fever. It’s the only time they ever bond; he snuggles up with his mother as she tells him a story. He doesn’t want anything to do with his father, just be with his mom while he’s sick. Once he is better, he’s back to his hellish self.

There is tension almost the entire movie. The school shooting itself is the elephant in the room, always lurking such as when Eva gets the call at work to come to the school, as she’s watching the bodies being carted out, or later talking to a wheelchair-bound survivor. Director Lynne Ramsay doesn’t sensationalize the event, and most of it takes place off screen. There where other plot points where I was sure something was going to happen, and dreading it the entire movie, only for the film to take a different path.

Swinton certainly deserves an Oscar nod for this performance. She already won for her role in Michael Clayton, and this far surpasses that. Also impressive are the performances of all three boys (Rock Duer, Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller) who play Kevin from childhood to teenager. As far as I can tell, this is the first major film any of them have done, and all are remarkable.

The one flaw I can find though is in the (mis)casting of John C. Reilly as the father. He’s mainly known for his offbeat, comedic roles, and while he has played some dramatic characters, he comes off as kind of a shallow goofball here.

In real life, so many shooting have ended with the killer(s) also dying, so we never really know their motives. Even though this is a work of fiction (it’s based on the book by Lionel Shriver), this time the shooter lives, and we (and Kevin) still don’t know why he did it.

This movie will leave you thinking about it well after the lights come up, as great movies should.

Uriah Heep - Wisconsin State Fair August 10th, 2011

2011-08-15T19:38:00.002-05:00

Last year Uriah Heep came to town and played to a sizeable crowd at Summerfest. This year they got stuck at the Cousins Amphitheater, playing a free show at the Wisconsin State Fair. This stage is an "amphitheater" in name only. The stage is barely bigger than my living room and kitchen put together, and a sky glider literally goes right over the front of the stage. Luckily, this didn't seem to bother the boys in the band one bit, as they seemed to be having a good time and put on a great show in front of a couple hundred fans.

They opened with a blazing "I'm Ready" from the excellent new Into The Wild album. Yup, they are still recording new material, this one being their 23rd studio release. "Return To Fantasy" and "Stealin' " brought the crowd to their feet.

Speaking of the new album, they did "Money Talk," "Nail On The Head" plus the title track, and all went over well, but it was the old songs people came to hear. "The Wizard," "Lady In Black," "Gypsy" and "Look At Yourself" really got people going, as did deeper cuts like "Rainbow Demon". Best song of the night was a great version of "July Morning". Bernie Shaw can definitely hit the notes! An encore of "Easy Livin' " sent us all back out to the fair on a high note.

Uriah Heep has always been referred to as kind of a a poor man's Deep Purple, but the organ sounds of Phil Lanzon and the guitar riffs of Mick Box give Heep their own sound. Some bands playing a State Fair anywhere, and especially on a stage like this one could've just phoned it in, but Heep didn't tonight. The only down point was an unnecessary drum solo. Other than that, it was a great show.

For those who were fans of Uriah Heep in the past, but might have drifted away from the band over the years, check out their new album. One of the best of the year!

Captain America (Movie Review)

2011-08-15T19:09:00.001-05:00

Captain America: The First Avenger is the 4th and final major super hero film this year (I’m not really going to count Green Hornet as a super hero) following Thor, X-Men: First Class and Green Lantern, and the one I was looking forward to the most. This is also the last stand-alone character movie from Marvel leading up to next year’s Avengers movie, which brings together Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain American, Hawkeye and more.

Since his first comic book appearance in 1941, Cap has had several live action adventures over the years, including a 1944 serial, two TV movies in 1979 and a direct-to-video film in 1990. Now with a big budget, and big name cast he’s back on the big screen.

First films in a projected franchise usually start with the origin of the hero and/or villain, before we get to the action and are usually boring and unnecessary, especially to comic book geeks who already know the story, but they have to be there for the uninitiated. Captain America starts in the present day, with the discovery of a downed plane and Cap’s shield frozen in ice, before taking us back for the majority of the movie that’s set in a simpler time, when America was just being drawn into World War II.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a kid who just wants to serve his country, but has been turned down countless times by the Army. He desperately wants to go to war, especially since his childhood friend Bucky Barnes is about to ship out. A scientist (Stanley Tucci) who is working on a secret government program takes him under his wing, injects him with a Super-Soldier Serum turning him into a muscle-bound super hero. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t get to see any action, instead he’s forced into a tour with the USO, shilling for war bonds and trying to boost the troop’s morale. When he finally has enough of that, he sneaks behind enemy lines to rescue some captured soldiers and the action finally takes off.

The villains aren’t Nazi’s per-se, but actually an offshoot of Hitler’s troops called HYRDA and are led by Johann Schmidt aka The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) who with the powers of the occult and the Cosmic Cube (also seen in Thor’s after-credits sequence) wants to take over the world (of course). The Red Skull’s make-up looked great, just like in the comics. Amazing what you can still do with prosthetics without resorting to CGI.

The movie is pretty faith full to the comic book stories. We see Cap’s original shield and how he came to get his signature one, and also the evolution of his costume. Characters from the books are here such as the Howlin’ Commandos led by Dum Dum Dugan, and Peggy Carter. He knocks out Hitler (about 100 times, although this time a fake one) just like on the cover of the very first issue back in 1941. And if you look real close during the World’s Fair scene, you will see the original Human Torch (aka Jim Hammond). We meet Howard Stark, who is Tony Stark’s (Iron Man) father, and there is also the obligatory Stan Lee cameo that’s pretty funny. The film does take liberties though, especially with Bucky. In the comics, he was Captain’s sidekick (ala’ Robin) in costume and fighting alongside him. Here he’s Cap’s childhood friend, and gets killed off before he ever becomes a hero.

The first 30 minutes are basically the origin story of how scrawny military-reject Steve Rogers became Captain America, protecting us from the evil Nazi’s and defending life, liberty and the American way. Then the action kicks in, with several chase scenes involving submarines and motorcycles racing through the forests of Europe. The filmmakers did a great job of capturing Cap fighting, and throwing his shield around. It was just like I imagined it would be.

My biggest problem with the movie was Captain America himself. Chris Evans did a great job of portraying him especially in the action scenes, but the character both before and after he became the Captain came off as kind of a milquetoast. He’s a patriotic, goody-goody boy scout type. While other heroes are flawed and conflicted, he just seems one dimensional. I assume in The Avengers and future Captain America movies he will grow into the leader he eventually becomes, but here he seems very wholesome and boring. And while The Red Skull is a great villain, his plot to take a giant airplane and drop bombs on major cities around the world doesn’t seem all that scary and evil. As such, the final third of the film doesn't live up to the buildup. It just didn’t have that epic scale to the climax like X:Men or Thor had, and there wasn’t a single time I felt that Cap was in any type of danger or peril.

I liked the 1940’s period setting and costumes, which like X:Men’s 1960’s era set this apart from the other worlds of Thor and Green Lantern. As a whole it was good, and much better than the awful Green Lantern, but it felt like what it really was: an introduction to Captain America, and another piece of the puzzle in the Marvel Universe that leads into The Avengers and future Captain America films.

Avengers Assemble!

2.5 Stars (Out Of 4)

Bridesmaids (Movie Review)

2011-07-30T19:31:00.003-05:00

Viewing the trailer for Bridesmaids, one would think that this film would be the female version of The Hangover, or just another R-rated wedding comedy. It has a largely female cast, and the story is told from the bride and bridesmaids side of a wedding, you might also think this is a "chick flick." And most of the cast and crew come from TV backgrounds, so you might expect it to be kind of a TV movie with a bigger budget. You would be wrong on all counts.

After some memorable supporting roles, Kristen Wiig (SNL) finally gets her own starring vehicle playing Annie, a woman who's life is a mess. The business she started failed, and she hasn't done much better in her love life. When her childhood friend Lillian (played by Maya Rudolph, also an SNL alum) announces her engagement, she asks Annie to be her maid of honor. While honored, she finds herself both financially and emotionally not ready for the role, making plans for someone elses happiness, while her own life is falling apart.

Rose Byrne (Damages) is a new friend of Lillian's who is also in the wedding party. With her wealth, she has the resources to outmaneuver Annie at every turn, and their battle to one up each other makes for some of the funniest scenes in the movie. Ellie Kemper (The Office) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (Reno 911!) are also in the bridal party, and except for one scene on the plane, are pretty much just background players. But it's Melissa McCarthy's ( Mike & Molly) Megan who steals every scene she is in. I'd love to see a spin off movie with this character!

Yes, some parts are fairly raunchy, but scenes where the girls get sick while trying on bridal gowns, or on the plane to the bachlorette party in Vegas are hilarious. Speaking of the trip to Vegas, that's where this movie could have veered off into Hangover territory, but a twist sends the movie in an entirely different direction. It's parts like these, where things are more heartfelt, that sets Bridesmaids apart from other comedies of it's ilk.

Wiig (who also co-wrote the film) proves she can hold her own as a leading lady, but sometimes some of the things Annie does feel vaguely like some of her SNL characters. It was nice to see Byrne play against her usual serious and dour roles in Damages and Insidious too, and the scene involving Wilson Phillips was great! But at a running time of 125 minutes, some scenes that seemed to go on too long could've been trimmed.

While filmed mainly in California, the movie is set here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and it was nice to see some of our great city in the opening shots. Although we don't have any cops that I know of with Irish accents, that was explained away nicely. Far from being perfect, Bridesmaids was still much better than expected due to good acting and especially good writing.

*** (out of 4 stars)

Summerfest 2011 Wrap Up

2011-07-22T19:17:00.005-05:00

It's hard to believe another Summerfest has come and gone. I would have to rank this years fest as one of the better ones I've ever attended. The music lineup was great this year, with somebody to see every single night. Except for opening night, there was not much overlapping of bands I wanted to see, so no really tough choices to make this year. The weather was virtually perfect every day. I've been down there when it got so cold that I had to wear a jacket or buy a sweatshirt to keep from freezing, I've been there when it's been so hot and humid it was absolutely miserable, and I've been there for some pretty wicked storms too. Except for a few light sprinkles in between the Heart and Def Leppard sets, it did not rain at all. Almost 900,000 people came through the gates this year, and attendance was up over the last several years. I'm sure the weather played a part in that.

The following are some of my observations of the good, the bad and some changes I'd like to see in the future:

-Closed On Monday When I first heard they were going to do the unheard of and actually close the grounds for a day in the middle of the fest, I was skeptical. Both Monday's and the 4th of July were always some of my favorite times to go, mainly because they weren't well attended, so they were usually relaxing nights with no waiting for anything and no crowds. Looking back now, I'm kind of glad they did it. It was nice to have a little intermission after 5 straight days, and it recharged my batteries for the final 6 days. I wasn't dragging as much towards the end this year. Summerfest has already announced they are going to do it again next year.

-South End Changes The fest did a great job with the renovation of the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage and the new south gate area. That area was one that definitely needed it, especially the bathrooms. The stage area has a more cozy feel to it now, and by moving it out from under the Hoan Bridge, the acoustics sound better. They did add a video screen, but I'd like to see at least another one if not more added like they did at the Miller Lite Oasis and the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse stages. For some reason, they decided to serve Coors products at this stage, when all the other stages have the various Miller lines. Luckily they had Leienkugel's Summer Shandi tough.

-Classic Rock Stage The next stage area that needs a makeover is this. While still a fairly new stage to the fest, it's been around long enough to deserve better treatment. When it first started, they had the stage facing north, but moved it closer to the lake and faced it West a couple of years ago. While some of the other stages have some bleed over of the music, this area seems to have the worst problem. During certain shows, you could hear the thumping bass coming from Kayne West or Britney Spears at the Marcus Amphitheatre, and friends who went to see Peter Gabriel said they could make out exactly which songs Hall & Oates were playing during Gabriel's show. Some of the shows such as Styx and REO Speedwagon were so packed, if you left during the show to grab a beer or hit the bathroom, it was going to be next to impossible to get back to your seat. Obviously, this stage attracts some big crowds, but we still share several rows of Port-A-Johns with Jo Jo's Martini Lounge next door. This stage needs it's own permanent bathrooms put in. It could also use some video screens like the other major stages.

-The Food Excellent as usual. Kudos to Saz's, Major Goolsby's, The Venice Club, Martino's, The Greek Village, and John Hawkes Pub. Two thumbs down to new vendor Zaffiro's though. I tried their pizza once and while it didn't suck, it's nowhere near as good as The Venice Club's. Plus you only got a choice of 1 topping, (Venice Club's has sausage and pepperoni on one pie), and while it was smaller and had a thinner crust than Venice Club's, it was .50 more. I went back the last night and tried their cheese garlic bread. Of the 8 thin slices, only 3 actually had any cheese on them, and it was so greasy, I had to squeeze the bread to get most of it out. Nothing I would order again.

-Cell Phone Service When cell phones stated getting popular, I used to complain about all the people talking on them at Summerfest, mostly saying inane things to the person on the other end such as "Guess where I am?" I do find now that they come in handy when a great song is played and you call a friend who couldn't make the show just to rub it in. It's also good for trying to meet up with people on the grounds. I'm not sure if it's just the location down by the lake, or just too many people using them, but no matter who your provider is, the service sucks at Summerfest. So many times I couldn't get calls to go through, or I would be on the way home and all of a sudden a bunch of calls or texts would show up from people who were trying to get a hold of me.

-Staggered Start Times For Headliners I liked that some of the shows at the Classic Rock Stage and some others started at 9 or 9:30 instead of the usual 10PM start. This way if the band ends at 10:30 or even 11 you still have time to see another show at one of the other stages. I'd like to see more of this, especially with acts that might appeal to the same demographic.

-More National Acts Earlier The biggest thing keeping Summerfest from really becoming the best music festival in the world is that most of the day's bands are local cover or tribute bands. When you look at other festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, they have a 10 day run and you have acts like Jeff Beck playing at 3:30 in the afternoon, or Bon Jovi and Jimmy Buffett playing at 5:30. Other fests like Coachella, Sweden Rock Fest and the Download Festival, while having shorter runs, all have major acts playing all day long. I realize that it is cheaper for Summerfest to book those types of bands, and if they did start booking more national acts, then ticket prices most likely would go up. I'm not sure if there's a perfect solution to this, but it would be nice to see more national up and coming acts playing the 6 and 8PM slots. While there were some bands such as Fitz & The Tantrums, Bad City and Dot Dot Dot to name a few, I'd like to see a lot more in the future.

-Drop the Rap, Bring Back Jazz I realized that rap and hip-hop is a popular form of music, but it brings the wrong element to Summerfest. Witness the events of the night that some guy named Whiz Kalifa performed. That night was the closest it came to feeling "uncomfortable" at the fest. When I walked through that stage area around 6PM, the smell of marijuana was already wafting through the air. The crowd eventually grew way too large for that stage area, and several fights broke out. Walking past that area on the way out later that evening, it was clear there were groups of kids who were just looking for trouble. In talking to several security guards the next night, they said it was not a good situation, and luckily didn't turn out as bad as it could have. There's plenty of local outlets with security who are prepared to handle this type of audience, so there's no reason to have this style of music at Summerfest. They are just asking for trouble.

For years, the Miller Lite Oasis was known as the Miller Jazz Oasis featuring jazz bands almost every night such as Spyro Gyra, Jeff Lorber, Tower Of Power etc. Those days are long gone for dedicating a stage to a single type of music, but as far as I could tell, there wasn't a single jazz act appearing this year at all, not even local boy Daryl Stuermer. Probably the closest to jazz was the Max Weinburg show, mainly because Mindi Abair was on sax. It would be nice to add some jazz in future years. I doubt they will ever bring back stand up comedy either, but one or two acts a year couldn't hurt.

My Top 5 shows this year were:

1-Styx

2-America

3-REO Speedwagon

4-Heart

5-Kansas

Summerfest starts again June 27th, 2012. I can't wait!

Summerfest - Day 11 July 10th. 2011

2011-07-11T17:06:00.002-05:00

The final day of Summerfest. so a night to walk around and have one last mozzarella marinara at Saz's and some other good food too. There was a threat of rain and storms throughout the day, but they held off.

On the recommendation of a friend, I went to check out a band out of Chicago called Dot Dot Dot. The band are made up of 3 guys and 2 girls, and play a mix of rock, power pop and dance music that was really infectious. They've been around for 4 years now, but I don't think they've ever played around here before. Since I'm not familiar with them, I'm not sure of a lot of the song titles, but one song called "Good Bye Love" was really good. I'll be checking out this up and coming band again.

Todd Rundgren was the last show on my schedule this year, and one I was really looking forward to. The show started just after 9:30 to an almost full Potawatomi Casino Stage. With a Rundgren show, you never know what you are going to get. He was doing shows performing the entire Healing album, then was doing blues shows promoting his latest cd "Todd Rundgren's Johnson." After a great opening blast of "Real Man," "Love Of The Common Man" and "Buffalo Grass," he mentioned that this show was being billed mistakenly as a blues show, but he was going to be doing all hits tonight. While I wouldn't go that far, he did manage to stick a few in such as "Can We Still Be Friends," "I Saw The Light," "Love Is The Answer," and "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference." And he threw in some nuggets for us die-hards like "Drive," and "Determination." Thankfully, no "Bang The Drum All Day."

Todd just turned 63, and the age is starting to show a bit. He's not as crazy on stage anymore, and about halfway through the show a stage hand brought out a stool and a table with some water bottles and a fruit plate on it. He spent a good portion of the show seated. A medley of "I'm So Proud/Ooh Baby Baby/La La Means I Love You" and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" weren't bad, but I would've liked to hear more of his own songs (yes, I know he did recordings of all those songs, they weren't just random covers). He also seemed more than mildly upset about the sound bleed over from some of the other side stages nearby, and mentioned that several times.

An encore of "Hello It's Me" and "A Dream Goes On Forever" brought the show and Summerfest to a close. Rundgren is always a treat to see, but tonight just wasn't one of his better shows that I've seen.

Look for a Summerfest wrap-up to be posted in the next couple of days.

Summerfest - Day 10 July 9th. 2011

2011-07-10T16:24:00.003-05:00

It was a hot and humid day in the Milwaukee area, and a really weak night musically, so I waited to go down there until early evening.

Headlining the Marcus Amphitheater tonight was Britney Spears. A friend had offered me a ticket just before the show started, but I saw her 11 years ago when she was here and didn't want to waste my night watching her lip-sync. Guess I would rather walk around and hear cover bands.

Opening for America tonight on the Classic Rock Stage was Bad Medicine, a local Bon Jovi tribute band. While the set list leaned heavily to all the Bon Jovi classics, they did branch out and do other songs of the era by Autograph, Poison, etc. The lead singer did his best to look and sound like Jon Bon Jovi, even having the same poodle perm, and his shirt open to show off his 6 pack abs. Unfortunately, his bottom two packs were hanging over his belt line.

I walked around and saw some of the other bands like Cerfus Project, The Get Up Kids and The Meat Puppets. Nothing grabbed my attention enough to stay for more than one song, so I went back to Bad Medicine, and when they were done just grabbed a table on the walkway by the lake and watched the girls go by.

America brought their 40th Anniversary Tour to Summerfest tonight, and was the only band I saw this year that actually started early! They opened with a really good version of "Tin Man." Already I could tell this was going to be a mellow night, with everyone sitting down on the benches, and if you were to stand up, you were going to get yelled at. For once it was nice to just sit down, relax and enjoy "Don't Cross The River," an excellent "Daisy Jane," "I Need You" and "Ventura Highway."

The band, formed as a trio, has been the duo of Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley for over 30 years now. They recently went back into the studio to record an album of covers called Back Pages that will be out later this month. They talked tonight about doing a collection of songs that they wish they had written, and after picking over 100 songs, they narrowed it down to 12 recordings. The first one they did tonight was Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," made famous by Crosby, Stills & Nash. The harmonies were spot on with their version. They also did "Till I Hear It From You" (Gin Blossoms/Marshall Crenshaw) which actually made me like a Gin Blossoms song for once, and surprisingly "A Road Song" by Fountains Of Wayne. Actually not so surprising since Adam Schlessinger from FOW helped produce America's last studio cd Here& Now.

Then it was time for some of their lesser known songs, but still ones you would know such as "The Border," "Woman Tonight" and "Only In Your Heart." A cover of the Mama's & Papa's "California Dreaming" that they recorded for a soundtrack for a movie of the same name in 1978, rounded out that part of the set.

The main set finished up with "Lonely People," an excellent version of the haunting "Sandman" with lyric appropriate video shown on the screen behind the band, and "Sister Golden Hair." Encores were a cover of Buffalo Springfield's "On The Way Home" from the forthcoming album, and the obligatory "A Horse With No Name."

The band was tight tonight. They have an excellent guitarist, whose been with them for 33 years and a drummer with 39 years of service who both should be actual members of America by now. I've seen America several times, mostly at Summerfest, and this was by far the best they have ever sounded. Great set list, great singing, great playing=great show. Weirdly though, about 3 songs in they said "get comfortable, we have a long night ahead of us" and then only played for 75 minuets!

So with it being only around 11:15 I decided to do my usual stage by stage check. Closest stage was the Big Backyard, and the Bodeans headlining. People who know me know my disdain for this overrated band out of Waukesha, WI, but I have to give them credit tonight. The stage was crowded as expected, but the song I got there for was "Good Things" and it sounded great!

A lot of people told me to check out The Flaming Lips, so I did. Absolutely packed, but I was able to get a decent view of the stage and their Pink Floyd inspired video screen. Lead singer Wayne Coyne was kind of freaky, staring into a video camera mounted on his mic, but he seemed to really command the audience, and the song or two I did see sounded good. Towards the end of the show, canons at the sides of the stage shot off huge plumes of confetti. I haven't seen that much since the last KISS show I was at. If they are down there again and there's nothing else to see, I will check out more of their show.

Summerfest - Day 9 July 8th, 2011

2011-07-09T16:20:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that Summerfest 2011 is winding down, with only 3 days left. Most of the big shows are over for me, and and the pickings were slim tonight.

Bobby Friss was playing a mid-day set at the Miller Lite Oasis, and he always puts on a fun show so I went to see him first. His sets nowadays are all classic rock covers, but he puts his own spin on them. If you are around during our Wisconsin State Fair, make sure you check out his nightly shows at Saz's, where he can be a little bit more free-wheeling.

It's been awhile since I've seen Michelle Branch at Summerfest (2002 I think). She drew a decent sized crowd to the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage for an 8PM show opening for The Gufs. Branch was there with what she called her "recession" band, with just another guitarist and her husband Teddy Landau on bass. Stripped down versions of her hits such as "Everywhere" and "Breathe" still sounded great and retained their hooks, as did the song she did with Santana "The Game Of Love." She also did a song called "Loud Music" from a forthcoming album that sounded promising.

Headlining the Classic Rock Stage this evening was Leon Russell. Most people I've talked to about this show don't know who Russell is, but they've all heard his music whether they know it or not. Working with Phil Spector, he played on some of the greatest hits of the 60's. He's also recorded or toured with some of the biggest names in music, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Joe Cocker, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and George Harrison, plus he just did a recent album with Elton John called The Union. Most likely the only solo song people might know would be "Tight Rope." It's the songs of his that others have recorded that most will be familiar with, artists as diverse as George Benson, The Carpenters, Helen Reddy, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, and too many more to mention here. Which is why I found it strange, with his huge catalog of songs that he did so many covers tonight.

Russell came out with his band using a cane to walk slowly to the keyboards, where he stayed for the entire show, and opened with "Delta Lady," a hit for Joe Cocker. He's a lot like Dr. John with his slow, delta blues singing, mixing rock, blues, country and gospel. Among other songs, he did covers of The Rolling Stones "Wild Horses," and "Georgia On My Mind" by Ray Charles, along with songs written by Buck Owens and others.

Tonights version of his own "A Song For You" (easily his most covered song and one of my favorite songs of all time) was good, but proved that he's much better at writing songs and being a sideman than being the front man. Good show, and I'm glad I saw him, but really nothing special.

Only two more nights to go.

Summerfest - Day 8 July 7th, 2011

2011-07-08T14:58:00.002-05:00

Once again I was woken up early by machinery right outside my window. There's nothing like the smell of fresh, hot asphalt in the morning.

Another night with plenty to see, but not many late shows. First item of business was to meet up with some friends and see Ross Bon and The Mighty Blue Kings at the Miller Lite Oasis. The Kings are a horn-driven swing/blues/rock band in the vein of Brian Setzer, Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Royal Crown Revue, but didn't seem to catch that wave when it came and went. They are still plugging away though, and this was their first show back at Summerfest since 1998. It was a fun, upbeat set, and Ross Bon was nice enough to come out and talk to us after the show.

I then walked down to the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage to hear local Milwaukee band Kings Go Forth. If we wouldn't have been playing this in the book store I work at, I would probably have missed this great band. If you like funk & soul music like Earth, Wind & Fire or great Philly soul like The O'Jays, this band is for you. The group was made up of 10 musicians, all wearing white except for the lead singer who looking like Rick James and was wearing green (he must not have gotten the pre-show memo). They were really tight, and played a set of mostly originals expect for a Curtis Mayfield cover. I actually missed the beginning of Kansas, these guys were so good!

Kansas were headlining another early 9PM show at the Classic Rock Stage. Good crowd, but still nowhere near the masses for REO and Styx. As with Peter Frampton, the casual Kansas fans tonight were only there to hear three songs: "Point Of Know Return," "Dust In The Wind" and "Carry On Wayward Son." They sat on their asses for all the songs they didn't know, but that was fine with me. "Point" and "Dust" were played within the 1st 8 songs, so as people started leaving, I just kept moving up, and within a couple of songs I had a great seat right up front.

For those that only wanted to hear the old stuff, this was the perfect set list for them. Kansas did at least one song from each of their first 7 albums, with only the encore of "Fight Fire With Fire" recorded after 1980 (1983 from the vastly underrated Drastic Measures album). I thought versions of "Song For America" and "The Wall" were especially good tonight. Bassist and singer Billy Greer has taken a bigger role in being the "front man", but it's the vocals and keyboard playing of Steve Walsh that really make this band. While not the energetic performer he once was, doing handstands on the keyboards, he still is the voice of Kansas.

There are several rules at Summerfest. One of the most important is to always cover your beer and food when you are crossing under the sky glider. I have no personal experience with anything bad landing in my stuff, but you can never be too careful. Another rule is never leave early when there is still music playing. With Kansas over at 10:30, and still another 90 minutes to go until close, it was time to walk the stages and see what was going on.

I started back at the Briggs stage where some band called Musiq Soulchild was playing. The first song I saw was one of those awful soul ballads where the lyrics go something like "baby, baby, baby...you are my woman" etc. The next song was a pretty good upbeat R&B number, but then the lead singer started telling a story about meeting some girl, and I left after a couple minutes when it appeared that story was going nowhere.

I next stopped by the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse for G. Love & Special Sauce. From the music that they were doing, it was some kind of bad r&b and rap hybrid played by white guys. Not my cup of tea.

But then lightening struck. I walked passed the Miller Lite Oasis where Michael Franti and Spearhead were playing. I had heard of him before, but never his music. The song he was currently in the middle of didn't really impress me, so I decided to finish my beer while sitting and doing some people watching near the stage. The next song he did caught my ear big time, and drew me back over to the stage. Since I'm not familiar with his music, I can't even tell you what song it was, but it made me stay for the rest of his incredible set! The music was different every song, with a little rock, pop and reggae sprinkled with a U2 vibe. A barefoot Franti went into the audience at one point and danced with some girls, and various band members made it out there too. Towards the end of the show, he called for anybody over 60 to join him on stage, and one spry little lady jumped up there (ok, she had a little help from security). He also brought up a bunch of kids from the crowd, all girls ranging in age from probably 4 to 15. They sang and danced along with him and it was just incredible how much fun everybody was having.

One of our local music writers wrote in his review "It might be impossible to leave a Michael Franti show without a wide grin" and he was exactly right because I left with one. One of the greatest things about Summerfest is discovering new music like this, and this is one guy I will be getting some of his music and seeing him next time he comes around.

Summerfest - Day 7 July 6th, 2011

2011-07-07T15:07:00.002-05:00

Today was the first day of my vacation, and the plan was so sleep in. At 7AM, I was awakened by the sound of heavy machinery tearing up my parking lot, which unfortunately is right outside of my bedroom window. This was supposed to be done a couple of weeks ago, but for some reason they picked today to start.

I headed down tonight with my old friend Stacy, who I recently re-connected with. It was a beautiful night, with temps in the 70's, and with not many huge names headlining (Black Keys at the Marcus, with Morris Day & The Time, O.A.R., Skinny Puppy and Tonic on the side stages), there weren't as many people on the grounds. It was a great night to just relax, walk around and take in the music.

First stop was at the Miller Lite Oasis to see Michael McDermott, singer-songwriter out of Chicago. McDermott and his band, including his wife on violin, ran through a set of music in the Springsteen/Mellencamp vein, with "11 Nights Of Whiskey" especially good (he should have changed it to "11 Nights Of Beer" for Summerfest).

While walking past the new Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage, we were drawn in by the music of Blake Thomas & Josh Harty on acoustic and electric guitar. I had never heard of either before, but they mentioned they were out of Madison and this was a sort of reunion show for them. One looked like Kenny Loggins, but with red hair and the other looked like a cross between Russell on Survivor and Michael Stipe of REM. We stayed for about 5 or 6 songs of pleasant country rock in the vein of Loggins & Messina and Seals & Crofts.

Peter Frampton was an early headliner, starting at 9PM at the Classic Rock Stage. It absolutely amazes me about some of the people that come to these shows, especially a Frampton show. The first thing most people mention about him is his hair. Yes, there's not much left, but he hasn't had that mane of hair for over 20 years now, so get over it. There is also alot more to his catalogue than just "Baby I Love Your Way", "Do You Feel Like We Do" and "Show Me The Way." It's unbelievable how many people claim to have that album, but nobody knows the songs on it! First off, the tour is called Frampton Comes Alive 35th Anniversary Tour, obviously celebrating 35 years since that groundbreaking album was released. Secondly, a slide show presentation showing pictures of Frampton from that era was shown before the show started. Any true Frampton fan already knows that he was going to being playing that album in it's entirety, and it was even mentioned in articles online and in the paper. So it absolutely galls me when a guy sitting by us yells out during the 3rd song "Lines On My Face" that he's here to hear the old stuff, and not this new crap, even though that is an old song from 1973's Frampton's Camel album!

He opened just like the live album with "Somethings Happening," but mid-way through the second song "Doobie Wah" (which is one song he hasn't performed in years), people were yelling for us upfront to sit down! But of course by the 4th song "Show Me The Way" people stood back up on the benches because that was familiar to them. I decided to just ignore the ignorant and enjoy the show, which I did.

When you make a list of the greatest guitar players around, for some reason Frampton doesn't get mentioned much, but he should. From his days in Humble Pie through his Grammy winning instrumental Fingerprints album and last years Dear Mr. Churchill, the guy has proven he can play that thing. And he proved it live tonight, especially on "It's A Plain Shame" and "(I'll Give You) Money." He slowed it down a bit with cool versions of "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" and "Wind Of Change" before picking it back up with a great extended version of "I Wanna Go To The Moon."

After Framton, we went to see Milwaukee native and American Idol third place finisher Danny Gokey at the brand spanking new Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard Stage. Gokey is currently on tour with Taylor Swift, but managed to fit in a show at Summerfest. Since he started at 10PM, we came in about halfway through his set. The crowd was nowhere near as big as last years appearance, but it was still a decent showing of mainly women and teenagers.

Gokey seems like a genuine and humble guy, but it seems he hasn't found his musical niche yet. On Idol he got to do more gospel and soul type songs, but he somehow got pushed towards the country genre. His debut album from last year was decent, but really nothing special. The songs he did from it tonight sounded much better in a live setting, especially "It's Only" and the title track. He debuted two new songs from an upcoming album, and both were more in a popier vein and sounded really good this first time hearing them. Hopefully his best days really are ahead of him.

With only one album out, he doesn't have a whole lot of songs to fill out an entire show, so it was no surprise that he threw in some covers in the main set such as Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer". He came back out for a long encore and started with a really good version of Michael Jackson's "PYT," followed by the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." After a couple of Motown songs, he finished with a great version of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey that had everyone singing along.

Since I didn't get there for the start of the show, I'm not sure if he came on right at 10, but with him finishing up at 11:50, it was one of the longer side stage shows at Summerfest this year. The only band still playing when we left was O.A.R. and I'm pretty sure they were still on their first song.

Tomorrow night, it's Kansas and also a mini JR's Music Shop reunion!

Summerfest - Day 6 July 5th, 2011

2011-07-06T12:08:00.004-05:00

To the girl at Def Leppard tonight, sitting in Section 3 Row R Seat 12, there by yourself, with your hair pulled back and wearing a white shirt with pink stripes, I think I love you. And I'm willing to overlook the fact that you were texting during the entire Heart set.

Anyways......

After a unprecedented day off on Monday, the fest re-opened. From a report in the local paper, at least a dozen people still went down to Summerfest on Monday, expecting it to be open. They then went back to their rocks.

Tonight's main event was Heart and Def Leppard at the Marcus Amphitheater. At the start time of 7:30 some unannounced guy came out with an acoustic guitar and did a couple of boring songs, allowing us to grab another beer before Heart. While the crowd wasn't as big as the one for Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock, it was still impressive for a Tuesday night, and it filled up even more by the time Leppard hit the stage.

Heart always has been, and always will be Ann & Nancy Wilson. Other members have come and gone, but if one of them were no longer in the band, there would be no Heart. The sisters work so well together, and they proved it again tonight with Ann sounding as good as ever with that powerful voice of hers still intact, and Nancy throwing out here signature guitar riffs on electric and acoustic guitar.

For some reason, Heart either weren't allowed to use the video screens, or chose not to, but they did have a state-of-the-art video presentation. State-of-the-art if it's 1971 and you are Englebert Humperdink! They had 4 panels of bulbs that did absolutely nothing except change colors, and it actually detracted somewhat from the show. If they weren't going to do video, they just should have used a giant Heart banner behind then.

At least the set list had a little something for everyone. Their new album Red Velvet Car came out last year, but they only did one song off it, the crunching "WTF." If you were there for the old stuff, you got it with "Magic Man," "Crazy On You," and Barracuda." Fan of the '80's comeback era? You got to hear "Alone," "Never," "What About Love" and "These Dreams." And if you are like me, and wanted to hear some of the more obscure songs, they did "Cook With Fire," "Heartless" and their version of "You're The Voice." A cover of Led Zeppelin's "What Is, And What Should Never Be" finished off a tight, hour-long set.

Following a short intermission, Def Leppard opened with their great new single "Undefeated," one of the studio songs on the new live Mirrorball cd. I've seen the band at their biggest, back in the Hysteria days, and at their lowest, playing our State Fair and having the power go out in the area after only a couple of songs. I've seen them at the top of their game, and I've also seen them get blown off the stage by their opening act (Journey with Jeff Scott Soto). Tonight was kind of in the middle for me. They weren't awful, they just weren't great. It was a nice, safe show, playing the hits. Luckily they have plenty of them.

Leppard used the video screens on either side of the stage for live shots, but the large video screens behind the stage and on the risers detracted from their show just like Heart. A lot of the stuff, except for the rare instance during "Photograph", had nothing to do with the song at the moment. I found myself looking at the side screens (and the girl in the row in front of me) more than at the stage. If you are going to have a large video presentation, spend some money and make sure it enhances the music, and doesn't provide a distraction.

The music and performance itself was good though, especially on songs like "Foolin'" and "Animal." They guys gathered at the end of a ramp that went out into the seating for an acoustic "Two Steps Behind" that led into an acoustic/electric "Bringing On The Heartache." Except for the instrumental "Switch 625," it was pretty much what you'd except in terms of songs. They finished up their 90 minute show with "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Rock Of Ages."

By the time we made it out of the Marcus, both other acts, Cinderella and Paul Rodgers were already done, having started their shows at 9 and 9:30 respectively. Whoever booked Cinderella and Def Leppard on the same night wasn't thinking, as they both appeal to a similar fan base.

Tomorrow night, it's Peter Frampton doing the entire "Frampton Comes Alive" in it's entirety!

Summerfest - Day 5 July 3rd, 2011

2011-07-04T16:32:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, things don't go the way you planned them. My original idea for the day was to get down to Summerfest early to avoid the inevitable traffic jam of people heading to the lakefront for the fireworks, and also catch Berlin who were playing at 4PM. Then explore the grounds for awhile, catch U2 Zoo (local U2 cover band) at 7:30, see some of the fireworks at dusk and finish with Don Felder at 10.

What actually happened was this: I flipped between the Brewers game and the Tour de France instead of getting my blog review done and heading downtown. After the Brewers failed to come back and win, I finished up my review and got ready. Then I decided that I'd rather catch up on True Blood than fight traffic and see Berlin.

When I finally got into the grounds around 6:30, I got a call to meet some friends down by JoJo's Martini Lounge. Turns out they had an extra ticket for Kid Rock at the Marcus Amphitheater, and somehow talked me into going if I promised to at least give Kid Rock a chance. I reluctantly agreed. (Thanks Janie and Gina, I had a good time!)

Sheryl Crow seems to bounce between stages at Summerfest. I've seen her headlining the Marcus on opening night several years ago (the night John Entwistle died), and I've also see her relegated to the side stages. Tonight, she was back at the Marcus, but as the opener to Kid Rock. Her hour long set pretty much stuck to the hits. "Steve McQueen" led into "If It Makes You Happy," "My Favorite Mistake" and "Everyday Is a Winding Road." Large video screens behind and to the side alternated between the promotional videos for some of the songs to close ups of Crow, looking tan and fit, with her long hair blowing from the stage fans. A cover of "Stuck In The Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel fit perfectly in the middle of "All I Wanna Do".

I was surprised to see Doyle Bramhall II (Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Arc Angels) on guitar with her, and he got a couple of spots to shred. The set ended on a slightly mellow note, with Crow behind the keyboards for "I Shall Believe."

The amphitheater was about three quarters full, with just some sections of bleachers empty. It was only about 20 minutes after Crow had left the stage when the lights went down and a video presentation showed Rock's life in pictures, video clips and music throughout his career was shown to a boisterous crowd. And then there he was, leaping from a riser and launching into "Cowboy." I don't really care for his hyrid of rap and metal, but this opening version was pretty powerful. Next up was a newer song "God Bless Saturday" that sounded like a Kenny Chesney leftover. During "American Badass" I decided I had had enough, and the fireworks had already started in the skies over the lake.

The 3rd of July fireworks have become overrated to me the last 10 years or so. Summerfest's opening night Big Band, and several of our ethnic festivals seem to come up with bigger and better shows. It amazes me that people will camp out down at the lakefront for more than a day ahead of time just to watch what usually is a fairly blase fireworks show. This year, US Bank went with a different company than the one that has done it the last 30 years and it was a good decision, as this years show was spectacular. They started going off around Kid Rock's second song and ended about 5 songs into Don Felder's show, so they were going off for at least an hour. During that time I walked all the way from my seats in the Amphitheater to the opposite end of the grounds where Felder was going to be playing, stopped to watch the ground show for a bit, listened to the opening song from Taking Back Sunday (nothing special there) and had a pizza at Zaffiro's.

Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder headlined the Potawatomi Casino stage this evening and played to a small, but enthusiastic crowd. Almost everyone I talked to had no idea who Felder was until I mentioned he was in the Eagles. Besides Don Henley and Glenn Frey, Felder was in the band the longest but was always overshadowed by those two, Joe Walsh and even Timothy B. Schmidt, despite the fact that he wrote and played on some of their greatest songs. Eventually some in the band decided that the paycheck was better divided by 4 than by 5 and kicked him out. Two of the best guitar riffs ever in my opinion were done by Felder on "Hotel California" and "Life In The Fast Lane," and he's one of the few performers at Summerfest this year who is in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame (not that that really means anything).

He opened the show with a scorching version of "Hotel California." The set list pretty much stuck to the three big albums he was a part of, "One Of These Nights," Hotel California" and "The Long Run," but strangely he delved back into the early albums that he wasn't even on, performing songs like "Witchy Woman," "Tequila Sunrise" and "Take It Easy." Also disappointing was, except for a great version of "Heavy Metal (Taking A Ride)" he did nothing from his solo album or other movie soundtrack songs, instead doing covers of Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride And Joy" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition."

Felder handled all the lead vocals tonight, something he didn't do with the Eagles. He did a decent job with the songs, but it was his guitar playing that made the show. It was great to hear his versions of "Victim Of Love," "The Long Run," "Those Shoes" and "Heartache Tonight," and his band, that included keyboardist Timothy Drury (Eagles, Whitesnake), helped out on the harmonies and delivered a cool rendition of "Seven Bridges Road." He closed the main set with a smokin' "Life In The Fast Lane."

While as a front man, he's a better sideman, it's great to see him out there still playing music for his fans.

Summerfest - Day 4 July 2nd, 2011

2011-07-03T16:34:00.002-05:00

Another hot and humid night at Summerfest. With a large crowd expected for tonight, getting into the grounds took a little longer, with security doing their best TSA impersonation.

I decided to check out a band at 8PM called Fitz & The Tantrums out of LA. We had played the album at the Barnes & Noble I work at, but it got pulled due to a naughty word. The band play a horn driven style of blue-eyed soul and r&b.

The Miller Lite Oasis was jam packed with fans waiting for the nights headliner, Maroon 5. It was so full already, that I could only manage to get a view of the band on the video screens. Lead singer Michael Fitz reminded me of that freak from Arcade Fire, but with a much better voice. While he is the leader of the band, singer Noelle Scaggs threatened to steal the show and kept things interesting. Performing original songs including ones from their latest cd "Picking Up The Pieces," they kept the crowd, who clearly weren't here just for them, on their feet and dancing. A truly awful cover of the Eurythmic's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)," really deflated the crowd though. It was already after 9PM and I wanted to get some food before Loretta Lynn started, so I headed out from Fitz. I like these guys, but I don't see them really making it to the next level.

Country music living legend Loretta Lynn was somehow placed at the Classic Rock Stage. Incredible that they did a bio-pic on her life over 30 years ago, and at 79 years old she is still out there performing. Unfortunately, not many people showed up to see her as the audience was nowhere near the size of the crowds from the last 3 nights at the same stage. I was expecting an older crowd too, but surprisingly it was mostly younger people.

This was one of the strangest shows I've ever seen at Summerfest. Scheduled to start at 10PM, her band and tech guys were fiddling around with a keyboard for some reason and it wasn't until almost 10:20 that the lights went down. Her son and guitarist Ernie Lynn opened with two horrendous songs, and pretty much tried to be Larry, The Cable Guy all night. Then her twin daughters, The Lynns came out and did 3 more songs. It was now 10:35 and still no sign of the headliner.

Finally she came walking out from stage left to a rousing reception. She still looked great for her age and her voice is still intact, but she was wearing a floor length purple gown with long sleeves and buttoned up neck. She had to be really uncomfortable in that in this heat. She asked for people to shout out their favorites and did most of them such as "The Pill," "Rated X," "Fist City" and a great version of "Dear Uncle Sam" that she wrote during the Vietnam War era. She also did a nice Patsy Cline medley including "Walking After Midnight" and "Crazy."

Then someone brought out a chair, and she sat there on stage while her band did versions of the Eagles "Hole In The World" and "How Long" plus "Man Of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys. All the while she sat there with the mic, but didn't sing along. After that little interlude, she stood up, did "Coal Miner's Daughter" and that was the end of the show. The whole show, while good, reminded me of the type of show you'd see in Branson or off the strip in Vegas. I'm glad I saw her, and can now cross another legend off my bucket list, but I sure am glad I didn't pay to see her.

One of these years, I'm going to see an entire Phil Vassar show. He plays at the fest every single year, but it always seems like there is somebody else to see instead. I usually catch the end of his set, and did so again tonight. I got to the still crowded, newly remodeled Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard stage for a rousing encore of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting." Of course the best part of his show is the closing sing-a-long of Billy Joel's "Piano Man." Simply amazing stuff.

Tomorrow night we have the big fireworks show at the lakefront, and Don Felder.

Summerfest - Day 3 July 1st, 2011

2011-07-02T16:15:00.003-05:00

Not a good Friday at all. I was tired, we were abnormally busy at my main job, and it seemed like most of the customers were being (what that guy from MSNBC said about Obama this week). Plus, when I got home from Summerfest, everything in my house was blinking. No storms at all, but the power must've gone out at some point during the day, and the NASCAR race didn't tape. I had to read about what must have been an exciting finish. But between those times, there was Summerfest and Styx!

It was HOT, temps in the mid-90's and humid, even by the lake. While the wind wasn't as strong as Thursday night, it was enough to make things bearable. Toby Keith and Eric Church were at the Marcus Amphitheater tonight, and there were plenty of cute country girls walking the grounds this evening.

Besides Keith and Styx, it was a fairly weak line-up for a Friday. Other headliners included Taj Mahal, Third Eye Blind, Anberlin, The Red Suit Jump Apparatus (really, that's the best name you could come up with for your band?) and some guy named Girl Talk whose entire show was made up of samples of other peoples songs.

Special thanks to my friend Chris, who was nice enough to get down there at noon and save me a seat in the 7th row center! I did bring her a wine cooler and some water to reciprocate.

Opening for Styx was a local band called Bluehand, who I had never heard of before. They were really good, doing covers of blues based bands like Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. Especially good was a cover of the Faces "Pictures Of Matchstick Men." Sometimes sitting through a cover band, waiting for the headliner can be unbearable, but these guys made the time go quick. I'll would definitely see them again.

Styx came on promptly at 10. I've already mentioned that they are my favorite band of all time, so this review obviously will have a biased slant. I've seen Styx more than 30 times now, and while I've never seen a bad Styx show, I haven't seen as good a one as this since the glory days back in the Paradise Theater/Kilroy era. They were just on fire tonight!

Last year they toured doing the entire Grand Illusion and Pieces Of Eight albums in their entirety. Unfortunately, they didn't come to the Milwaukee area, but we got close tonight. Except for "Superstar" and "The Grand Finale" they performed the entire Grand Illusion album, including an incredible version of "Castle Walls" which I've never seen them do before. Tommy Shaw introduced "Man In The Wilderness" with a story about how he wrote the song about his brother who had served in Vietnam. They also did "I'm OK," also one of my favorites from the Pieces Of Eight album.

I was pretty much in Styx heaven at that point. The only thing that could have been better would be to do the rest of Grand Illusion, the entire Pieces Of Eight, maybe "Lights," "Why Me?" and "Borrowed Time" from Cornerstone, most of Paradise Theater......

The whole show was just great song after great song, from opener "Blue Collar Man," to "Too Much Time On My Hands," "Lady," "Crystal Ball," and "Lorelei". These guys are having fun and sounding as good as ever. Not a single other band at Summerfest (except for maybe REO) can have the whole crowd singing along to entire songs like "Come Sail Away". I looked over at the Marcus Amphitheater, which towers over the grounds at that end, and saw people at the Toby Keith concert lined up along the top railings watching Styx! And not many other bands can have a lead singer come up to the mic and just say "Oh, mama" and you immediately know the song.

Original bass player and founding member Chuck Panozzo came out for a couple of songs, including the thumping bass line in "Castle Walls." I loved this show so much, I wanted to hop on the tour bus and hit the next city with them! But then I would miss the rest of Summerfest.

Tomorrow night, it's country night for me, with Loretta Lynn and Phil Vassar.

Summerfest - Day 2 June 30th, 2011

2011-07-01T18:01:00.002-05:00

The story tonight was the weather. While temperatures were in the 70’s, overcast skies made it look like it could rain at any minute. Luckily the storms went south and hit the Racine/Kenosha area, with winds there at 70-80 mph. The wind coming off the lake was intense, especially at the Classic Rock stage which is right on the shore of Lake Michigan. Mini trash tornado's and dirt were blowing across the grounds

Busy evening tonight, with plenty to see. My first stop was the Classic Rock stage to see local legends Bad Boy, opening for REO Speedwagon. While they’ve been doing some reunion shows lately with the original members, this was the latest line-up performing.. Xeno, Steve Grimm, Craig Evans and Scott E. Berendt ran through the usual set including “Run From Yourself”, “Cheat On Me”, and “Girl On The Run” plus some newer material. I could have done without the Zeppelin cover though.

Around 7:45 I left to head down to the Potawatomi stage where this evening’s headliner Wanda Jackson was doing a meet & greet. There were only about 15 people in line to meet her. It’s a shame that more people don’t know who she is. She’s been performing for almost 60 years now, crossing genres from rockabilly to country to gospel music, and has enjoyed a resurgence lately thanks to a new Jack White produced album called fittingly The Party Ain’t Over, touring with Elvis Presley (they dated for awhile also) and even had her own TV show.

Her husband of 50 years Wendell Goodman brought her out to the merchandise stand and I was shocked how tiny she was! Barely 5 feet tall, if that, but what a huge voice! I told her that my Dad was a fan of hers and had seen her perform in the area back in the 50’s while she signed my Rockin’ With Wanda cd booklet. She signed it “Rock On – Wanda Jackson ‘11” and I could actually read her signature, unlike some other autographs (Rick Springfield) I’ve gotten lately.

I had some time to waste before REO started at 9, so I wandered over to the Miller Lite Oasis where Better Than Ezra was headlining. This stage is usually packed, but tonight there were probably around 100 people milling around, listening to a band out of Chicago called Company Of Thieves. They were your typical boring indie/alt rock crap, with a female vocalist who sounded as blasé as that chick from the Cranberries. I can see why there was nobody there.

Big thanks to my friend Lisa who got to Summerfest at noon (and sat there for 9 hours), for saving me a great seat right upfront and center for REO Speedwagon. Luckily she did, because by the time the band hit the stage, the crowd had swelled to overflowing. During the show, lead singer Kevin Cronin said that they were playing in front of 20,000 people. I would estimate there were more like 8,000-10,000, but still, there were people as far as you could see.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years since Hi Infidelity came out. I remember that album and Styx’s Paradise Theater came out within a month of each other and both had a huge impact on the formation of my musical tastes. It was fitting then that REO started their show with a healthy portion of that classic album. Opener “Don’t Let Him Go” led into “Keep On Loving You,” which is normally towards the end of the set. More Infidelity songs followed with “In Your Letter,” “Tough Guys” (with the Little Rascals intro) and “Take It On The Run”. I would’ve loved to see them do the entire album, especially “Out Of Season.”

After paying tribute to that album, they went back to some older songs with “Keep Pushing,” “Golden Country,” and “Son Of A Poor Man.” I’ve seen them do “Golden Country” many times before, but the lyrics took on new meaning with the state of our nation lately. Cronin mentioned that the song was originally written about the Vietnam War, Kent State etc. and the themes in the song still ring true today. “Time For Me To Fly,” “Back On The Road Again,” and “Roll With The Changes” finished off the main set, with “Riding The Storm Out” and “157 Riverside Avenue” as the encores.

For some reason, over the course of a 90 minute show, Kevin Cronin changed his shirt at least 6 times. Now, I know it’s hot under the spotlight, but with the wind whipping off the lake the way it was, there was no way he had to make a wardrobe change that many times. Other than that small quibble, it was a great show! Guitarist Dave Amato, who took over for Gary Richrath and has been in the band for over 20 years now, continues to prove he was a worthy replacement. Cronin still has the pipes and the personality that make him one of rock’s great frontmen. Cronin promised that as long as we keep coming to shows, REO Speedwagon would never stop rockin'.

I then took the fastest way I could find to get back to the Potawatomi stage to catch the end of Wanda Jackson’s show. I got there for the final two songs, as well as a rousing rendition of “Go Pack Go”. She’s 73 years old, and as far as I can tell is the second oldest performer at Summerfest this year behind Loretta Lynn at 76. The two also have a connection in that Jack White produced both their latest releases and brought them both to new audiences. Not a big fan of him or his music, but he does have an ear for resuscitating the careers of some ladies who certainly deserve it. She still sounds great, and her backing band was rocking with Wanda, despite being about a third of her age.

With still around 45 minutes to go before closing, I decided to wander back over to at least see what Better Than Ezra was all about. There were still around 100 people there, easily the worst attended show of the night. I lasted about a song before moving on to the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse to check out Owl City. A friend of mine was at the show and has been raving about them. Actually, it’s just a “him” on record, with Adam Young pretty much being the band. In concert he had 5 members with him, including a very cute and talented violinist. The music was kind of that dreamy, emo pop that is the background for every show on the CW it seems. I didn’t mind the music, but the lyrics were pretty bad.

Tomorrow night, my favorite band of all time…..Styx!

Summerfest - Day 1 June 29th, 2011

2011-06-30T09:57:00.004-05:00

Well, opening night at Summerfest didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned it, but I managed to have fun anyways. I got down to the grounds later than I had planned and missed seeing Animation, a really good local Rush tribute band. Next I tried to get some free lawn tickets for the Peter Gabriel show, but the wristbands were already out by the time I made it over to the box office.

While walking around about 8:30, I passed the Harley Davidson Roadhouse stage where Buddy Guy was headlining. Just then, this 12 year old kid with a Bieber haircut named Quinn Sullivan comes onstage and proceeds to blow everybody away with his incredible guitar playing. Being that young, his singing voice is still in the higher range and he hasn't developed the blues growl yet, but it was his impeccable playing that make me take notice. He already has a cd out and played a couple of originals from that, but a version of Hendrix's "Little Wing" was simply amazing. One to watch out for!

I was really torn tonight. With Peter Gabriel out of the mix, I still had to decide between seeing Hall & Oates or Meatloaf. Then, I find out that Bill Champlin (Chicago, Sons Of Champlin, and one of my favorite singers ever) is with Max Weinberg's band, along with gorgeous sax player Mindi Abair. And they all started at the same time!

Based on the set lists I had seen, and because Hall & Oates were at a stage close to the lake where the Big Bang fireworks were going off, I chose them. The Classic Rock stage was already jammed with people before the first firework went off and got even more packed once the show started. While the crowd was mostly in the 30-60 year age bracket, it was nice to see parents who brought their kids.

With Hall & Oates, you expect the main part of the show will be the hits that everybody knows, but I always hope for those little nuggets. They didn't disappoint tonight, with "Family Man", "Adult Education", and "Las Vegas Turnaround" in the set. It would have been nice to hear "It's A Laugh" too, but I'll take what they give me. Daryl Hall, wearing sunglasses during the entire show, pretty much stayed put behind his keyboards while John Oates provided harmony vocals and tossed out the occasional guitar solo.

The band was tight, and the sound crystal clear, especially on a great version of "She's Gone". With encores of "Rich Girl", "You Make My Dreams", "Kiss On My List"and "Private Eyes" I knew that I had made the right choice of who to see tonight.

It wasn't even 11:30PM yet, but Meatloaf, Max Weinberg and Buddy Guy were already done, so I couldn't even catch an encore song. In previous years, while unannounced, the closing time is usually well after midnight so the bands can play longer after the fireworks. Not tonight. Still, beautiful weather down by the lake and a big crowd got this years Summerfest off to a good start. It can only get better!

Tomorrow night, it's Bad Boy, REO Speedwagon and Wanda Jackson.

Summerfest Preview

2011-06-28T13:24:00.002-05:00

It’s that time again, my favorite time of the year. Summerfest, the Big Gig, THE best music festival in the world starts tomorrow!

The powers that be decided to do something different this year. Instead of the normal straight 11 day run, they are starting this year on a Wednesday ( it’s always opened on a Thursday) with a day off on Monday, July 4^th. I always enjoyed Mondays at the Fest. No lines for concessions or bathrooms and you could usually get a great seat for the concerts. Just a nice night to mellow out on the grounds. With the 4^th falling on the same day, and people spending time with their families and fireworks at the local parks, I can see for economic reasons why they would try this. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

Compared to the last several years, the line-up is really good this time, with something for almost everyone musically. I usually go to around 5 of the Marcus Amphitheater shows over the 11 days, but will only be seeing the Def Leppard & Heart show, and possibly Peter Gabriel this year. They did manage to book some big names, especially in the country genre with Sugarland, Toby Keith and Jason Aldean (although I think it’s a bit early in his career to be headlining a 23,000 seat venue). They have Kanye West for the rap crowd, Jason Mraz and The Black Keys for the alt fans, plus Katy Perry and Britney Spears for the kiddies. Kid Rock? Still not sure who he appeals to anymore.

I’ll be going all 11 days and spending most of my time at any one of the 9 stages featuring the free acts. Over the course of the next week and a half I hope to catch all or some of the following: Hall & Oates, Meatloaf, REO Speedwagon, Wanda Jackson, Styx, Phil Vassar, Loretta Lynn, Berlin, Don Felder, Cinderella, Paul Rodgers, Peter Frampton, The Spinners, Kansas, Michelle Branch, Leon Russell, America and Todd Rundgren, plus all the great local bands we have playing before the headliners.

One of the great things about Summerfest is discovering new music that I wouldn’t have known about or even thought to bother going to see. Just last year I ran across a great new band called Halestorm, realized that Kellie Pickler isn’t just a dumb blond and actually is quite talented, especially live, and I even enjoyed a couple of songs from Public Enemy (but just a couple). I’ve already gotten recommendations to check out Blackberry Smoke, Bad City and a couple of others I’ve never heard before. If anyone has some other suggestions, let me know.

Of course, besides the music there is the food! Already looking forward to getting a hot dog on a nice, steamed poppy seed bun from Martino’s, mozzarella marinara from Saz’s, pizza from Venice Club, kabobs at the Greek Village, fish & chips from John Hawkes, a flowering onion at Pitch’s, plus trying something from a couple of the new vendors this year. Of course, there will be some adult beverages too.

So, if you don’t live in the Milwaukee area, or can’t make it down there, you can read my exploits from each night (hopefully posted in a timely manner this year). If you are going to be there, let me know and we’ll meet up. I’ll even let you buy me a beer.

Let’s Fest!

Devil - DVD Review

2011-02-16T16:51:00.003-06:00

After a promising start to his career with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan’s name has become mud to movie lovers. In my opinion, his downfall started with the ending of the otherwise great Signs, and continued until The Happening and The Last Airbender were the final nails in his directorial coffin. When his name appeared in the credits on the trailer for this movie last year at a festival, the audience jeered. It’s become pretty clear that he’s lost his fan base. Luckily, he has decided for now to forgo directing, instead coming up with story idea's and letting others handle the writing and directing.

Devil is the first of these, part of what’s being called The Night Chronicles. With Devil, Shyamalan has come up with a very basic story of five disparate people trapped in an elevator, but adding the twist that one of them is the devil himself. In a quick 80 minutes, he manages to make a riveting and suspenseful film that relies more on story and acting than on blood and guts.

The film opens with a disorienting upside down flyover of downtown Philadelphia, while the narrator sets up the story:

When I was a child, my mother would tell me a story about how the Devil roams the Earth. Sometimes, she said, he would take human form so he could punish the damned Earth before claiming their souls. The ones he chose would be gathered together and tortured as he hid amongst them, pretending to be one of them. I always believed my mother was telling me an old wives' tale. My mother's story would always end in the same way, with a suicide paving the way for the Devil's arrival. And it would always end with the deaths of all those trapped.

Sure enough, a body falls from the sky and sets the films events in motion. The film utilizes multiple locations in and around the skyscraper that the elevator is stuck in, including security cameras, but a good chunk of the film does take place in the elevator. What at first appears to be routine maintenance turns into a much more serious problem, and the tension is ratcheted up every time the lights go out.

Chris Messina plays a detective who lost his family several years earlier and subsequently has lost his faith (shades of Mel Gibson’s character in Signs). While investigating the suicide, he’s drawn into the gruesome events unfolding in the elevator.

Devil weaves a tale of fear, faith, forgiveness and things not all being exactly how they appear into a tight supernatural thriller where good eventually triumphs over evil. And yes, there is a twist ending typical of Shyamalan. I spent most of the movie trying to figure out which one was the devil, and even I didn’t see that one coming. In the larger scheme of things though, the reveal will not ruin repeated viewings, as is just a small part of a larger story.

If Shyamalan can keep coming up with stories like this one, I look forward to more in this series. Rumor has it that one project in the works is a sequel to Unbreakable.

Let Me In - DVD Review

2011-02-16T14:34:00.003-06:00

It’s pretty rare that a remake equals or betters the original, especially when it’s an Americanized version of a foreign film. Take The Vanishing, Funny Games, Ringu/The Ring, and REC/Quarantine as perfect examples of the original foreign language versions being much better.

When I heard they were redoing the near-classic Let The Right One In, and not only changing the setting from snowy Sweden to the desert of New Mexico, but the guy that made Cloverfield was directing it, my (and many others) first reaction was “why”? While it was not a perfect film, there wasn’t much to be improved on. This had all the makings of yet another Hollywood money-grab, taking a popular little cult movie and remaking for it mainstream America and those who refuse to see movies with subtitles. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Let Me In is equal to, if not slightly better than the original.

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) plays Owen, a lonely pre-teen boy, living with a single mom who is hardly around, and who is constantly being bullied at school. He’s a kid with no friends and no direction, who steals from his mom, spies on a neighbor and fantasizes about getting back at his tormentors. Then one night an older gentleman and a girl around his age move into the apartment next door.

Chloe Moretz (so good in Kick-Ass) is Abby, a girl with her own dark secrets. She’s a vampire who is decades old, but trapped in a girls body, never aging. One night while Owen is sitting in the courtyard of his rundown apartment building, Abby approaches him. He doesn’t ask too many questions of her (like why she’s barefoot and not wearing a jacket in the snow and cold), he just accepts her, even though she tells him, "Just so you know, I can't be your friend", and she smells a bit. It doesn't take long for Owen to realize just who and what she really is.

At first, we don’t see Abby do the vampire deed herself. Her guardian (Richard Jenkins) selects the victims, drags them into the woods where he hangs them upside down, draining their blood into jugs for Abby to drink from. One particularly suspenseful scene that is different from the original is when he is hidden in the back seat of a car driven by a potential victim. This leads to a spectacular car crash, which the filming of is documented step-by-step in a bonus feature on the DVD.

While a lot of Let Me In is similar to the original, it’s not a scene for scene remake. It takes that film’s premise, and ideas from the book that were left out and builds on that. The new version gives us more of an insight at what evil lies beneath the image of an unassuming, sweet and innocent young girl who is also a monster. We see the changes she goes through, especially when she has to kill on her own after her guardian fails to bring back her needed sustenance. While the original was more subtle and ambiguous, in typical American fashion things are a little more spelled out and bloody here.

Most of the typical vampire mythology is intact, but I especially liked the part where the film takes it’s title from. Now we know exactly what happens when you don’t grant a vampires request to be invited in.

Stephen King wrote "Let Me In is a genre-busting triumph. Not just a horror film, but the best American horror film in the last 20 years." I wouldn’t go that far, but it probably is my favorite film of 2010. Unfortunately, it died a quick death last fall at the box office, mostly I think because of the backlash at it being an unnecessary remake of the much loved original. I know I failed to see it in the theater because of that. Hopefully it will find a whole new audience on DVD with those who have never seen the original and those who have that stayed away from theaters like myself. There is a place of my shelf for both versions of this one.

Vanishing On 7th Street

2011-02-05T15:28:00.003-06:00

This movie has an interesting concept, that of an event that leaves the city of Detroit utterly empty, with only piles of clothing and abandoned cars left behind by the disappeared. The few survivors come to the realization that the darkness is out to get them, and the only way to stay alive is to stay in the light. Add in a decent cast (Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton) and this had the makings of a cool little “last man on earth” movie. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to its promise.

The first 20 minutes of the movie sets up the mystery, telling the story of the three main lead characters and why they weren’t taken along with the rest of the population. They just happened to be near a source of light when the event took place. They eventually cross paths, band together and try to figure out what’s going on, and how to stay alive when batteries don’t seem to work as well anymore, and the nights are getting longer while the daylight is growing shorter.

The small group finds a bar where the lights are still on, powered by a generator in the basement. Keeping the power going is James (played by Jacob Latimore), a young boy waiting for his mom to come back. At this point, the movie starts running out of suspense, and starts inviting more and more questions that are never answered. What is in the darkness; what does it want; where did it come from, and why doesn’t it take animals? Why do brand new batteries keep dying quickly? Why does an old Chevy still start, but all the other cars are dead?

We’ve seen it too many times before; a movie that has a great concept but fails to deliver on it. There are some small subplots about Roanoke Island and the colony that disappeared, and also contact with possible survivors in Chicago, but both ideas go unexplored. There are plot holes galore, and so many stupid things done by the characters. If you’re about to run out of fuel in the generator, why would you plug in and start up the jukebox? And why keep using flashlights if the batteries are only going to die almost immediately? How about lighting a bonfire, or better yet, start a house on fire to create light. It’s Detroit, they do it all the time!

Vanishing was directed by Brad Anderson, who besides The Machinist, Transsiberian and Next Stop Wonderland has mainly worked in TV. The writer Anthony Jaswinski also has two TV movies to his credit, and this kind of felt like a drawn out television episode. In fact, if there still was a Twilight Zone or similar anthology style show still on, this would be perfect for that medium. At 90 minutes, and with no real payoff at the end, this is just too long for a theatrical movie. There is no violence, gore or sex. If it weren’t for a couple of f-bombs, this wouldn’t have even been given an R rating. Ironically, TV is the only place you can see it as currently it’s only available on VOD. It starts in theaters on February 18th.

Luckily the production is decent, as well as the acting, especially young Taylor Groothuis who plays a mysterious little girl that comes in towards the end of the film. Those things saved this from being a complete and total waste of time. I really can't recommend this one.

NFC Champtionship Game - Packers vs. Bears

2011-01-22T21:12:00.001-06:00

We are now less than 24 hours away from the biggest game ever in the history of the NFL. Ok, that might be overstating things a bit, but it just might be the biggest game in the history of the Packers and Bears rivalry.

These storied franchises are two of the longest tenured teams in the NFL. They have played each other 181 times over the decades, more than any two teams in history, but have only met once in the playoffs, just 7 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor almost 70 years ago. This time the winner goes to the Super Bowl, and the loser goes home. But it’s so much more than that. This is for bragging rights for the rest of our lives.

Of all the teams in the NFL and especially in our division, I don’t hate a team anywhere near as much as I hate the Bears. I’ve been a Packer fan since birth, but there wasn’t much of a rivalry between the teams back then because the teams weren’t good at the same times. The Packers were coming off the Lombardi glory years of the 1960’s, and the Bears weren’t really any good until the 1980’s. When I was a kid, I loved the movie “Brian’s Song” and read Gale Sayers book “I Am Third”. I respected them, especially Sayers and later on Mike Singletary, Walter Payton and maybe some others, but I didn’t like them.

It was tough to be a Packer fan in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. We suffered through the years with QB’s like Lynn Dickey, David Whitehurst and Randy White, and the tenures of coaches Bart Starr and Forest Gregg. Some years we would come close to making the playoffs, but would somehow fall short. We finally made the playoffs after the 1982 season (the first time since 1972), beating the St. Louis Cardinals before losing to the Cowboys. The next season, the Packers had a chance again to make the playoffs. All we had to do was beat the Bears in the last game of the year. We had a 21-20 lead with 90 seconds left, but let the Bears march down the field and kick a game winning field goal. Starr was fired the next morning, and the Packers wouldn’t be back in the playoffs until the 1990’s when Mike Holmgren , Brett Favre and Reggie White came to town.

My hatred for the Bears and their fans runs deep. Their players and coaches are a bunch of jerks, and their fans are about as fat and stupid as they come. People from Illinois have always thumbed their noses at Wisconsin. They drive like idiots, and treat Wisconsin as a second class state, just a suburb of Chicago. They have to put Da in front of all their teams and think it’s cool. They come up here for Packer and Brewers games and act like drunken idiots. And they call soda “pop”. I like to say “the only good thing to ever come out of Illinois is I-94”.

The team and their fans love to rub our noses in it. I remember a game in 1980 which the Bears won 61-7, one of the worst defeats in Packer history. The Bears rolled up 594 total yards in the game, kept blitzing until the end and kept passing long after the game was decided. With the score 55-7, they put Walter Payton back in the game!

Then in 1985 came the ultimate humiliation. The Packers weren’t on Monday Night Football very much, so it was huge for us as fans to play the Bears on national TV. The Bears, coached by Mike Ditka were in their Super Bowl season. Ditka decided to use 350 pound defensive tackle William Perry on offense. Twice, Perry blocked at the goal line for touchdowns by Walter Payton. The third time they let Perry carry the ball in for a touchdown in a 23-7 win.

The Bears had a good team that year, I’ll give them that, but they completely embarrassed themselves with that awful Super Bowl Shuffle song and video. They had some complete a-holes on that team too, none bigger than Jim McMahon and Steve McMichael. Several years later, McMahon finished his pathetic career as a backup QB in Green Bay. He is the only Packer player I ever hated.

We got some sweet justice in 1989 when QB Don Majkowski threw a touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe with 32 seconds left to beat the Bears 14-13. The Bears swore that Majkowski was over the line when he threw the ball, but instant replay was inconclusive and the TD stood. The Bears and their fans are STILL whining about it 21 years later. They even put an asterisk next to that game in their media guide like it never happened. We had a saying after that: “After further review, the Bears still suck”. One thing I love to do is listen to sports talk radio in Chicago after a Bears loss. Their fans call in and whine about everything and everyone. They turn on their team faster than any other fan base I can think of. The sound of their ankles breaking from jumping off the bandwagon can be heard all the way up to Green Bay.

The Bears fans love to think that their team is the dominant one, but let’s look at the numbers. The Packers lead the NFL with 12 Championships. The Bears are 2nd with 9. The Packers have been to the Super Bowl 4 times, winning 3 of them. The Bears have been to 2 Super Bowls, winning only the first one 26 years ago. Since 1990, the Packers hold a 25 to 15 edge against the Bears. Yes, the Bears hold a slight edge in total games won over the course of 181 games, but no team has dominated the other. Even when the Bears were good in the 1980’s, the only held an 11-7 edge in the 18 games (the teams didn’t play during a strike shortened season).

This season I think the Packers are the better team. The Bears won the division by one game, but they had some help along the way, especially in their two games against the Lions. We didn’t help ourselves either in our first meeting this season, committing 18 penalties for 152 yards and turning the ball over twice, especially a fumble by James Jones on a crucial drive at the end of the game. We dominated in the stats, with 379 total yards to the Bears 276. We had the ball for over 11 minutes more than they did, and Aaron Rodgers had 316 yards passing to Jay Cutler’s 221. Both had an interception. In the end, we lost by only 3 points. In the rematch on January 2nd, the Packers held on for a 10-3 victory, in a game that was a lot closer statistically.

It would be one of the best moments, if not THE best in Packer franchise history to hoist the Halas Trophy at Soldier Field, on our way to Dallas for the Super Bowl and the Lombardi Trophy. If the Bears win, we will hear about it from their fans for the rest of our lives. I have several friends that are Bear fans and they are always insufferable when the two teams meet, but no more so than this week. The Chicago fans interviewed on TV are so cocky and condescending, thinking they already have the game won.

It’s going to be a great game, hopefully one for the ages. It would just kill me to watch the Bears celebrate, and then have to hear about them for the next two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. I’m sure the Bears fans feel the same way about the Packers. I realize in the end, it is just a football game, but it means so much more to me and all the Packer fans around the nation. 2PM tomorrow can’t come fast enough. Bring on the Bears!

Summerfest Day 5 June 28th 2010

2010-06-30T09:17:00.006-05:00

It was a chilly, but not cold night at the Fest, with 10-20 MPH winds blowing in off the lake. The pickings were pretty slim again tonight. Eric Clapton with Roger Daltrey headlined the Marcus Amphitheater, but with tickets priced at $116 each (even the lawn was $55), I had to take a pass on this one. The incredibly weak Monday night line-up on the side stages included Gavin Rossdale, Saliva, Mint Condition, and some rapper called Pit Bull.

Blue Oyster Cult started early at 9PM, and the place was practically empty. At a stage that can hold thousands, there were maybe a couple of hundred people. The last time BOC played here at this same stage, it was so packed we were lucky to get a table to stand on near the back of the venue. Usually when I'm at a packed show by myself, I have to buy the person next to me a beer just to save my seat until I get back. Tonight I went to get a beer and came back to an even better seat.

With nothing new to promote (no new album since 2001), they ran through a pretty typical set of hits and some oddities. Original members Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma were joined by bassist Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Ozzy) and keyboardist/guitarist Richie Castellano who has a pretty impressive career as an recording artist and producer/engineer. They opened with "The Red And The Black" and "This Ain't The Summer Of Love", but the crowd really started getting into it with "Burning For You". "Buck's Boogie" gave Dharma a chance to show off his chops.

Of course, one of the songs everyone came to hear was "Godzilla". During the song, the band was introduced and Sarzo got to play some snippets of "Crazy Train", "Cum On Feel The Noise" and "Here I Go Again". Then everyone left the stage and we had to endure a drum solo before they returned to finish the song. Why bands still feel they have to do a drum solo, especially when they are only playing at most a 90 minute set is beyond me. My mind started to wander to such things like is it better to buy a 16oz bottle of beer for $6.00 or get a 12oz tap beer for $4.50? What is the better deal? Instead of the solo, they could've done something like "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars", "Joan Crawford" or "Dancing In The Ruins". When will these bands learn?

They finished up with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (and yes, people yelled for "more cowbell") and "Cities On Flame With Rock N Roll". All in all, a solid show.

On my way to see Terrance Simien, I walked past some rapper called Pit Bull at the Harley-Davidson stage. The place was overflowing with people, but from what I could see, it was mostly white kids, lots of hot girls and guys who don't know which way the bill of a cap is supposed to go, or how to use a belt to hold your pants up. Never heard of this guy, so I can't believe how packed it was there.

Terrance Simien plays at Summerfest at the Potawatomi stage every year, and it's always a packed, fun zydeco/Mardi Gras party. When I got there about halfway into his set, I was shocked to see the place was practically empty and I was able to get a seat in the front row. Local musician Paul Cebar, who opened for Simien, sat in for several songs on guitar. It was still a fun time, with beads being thrown and audience members being brought up on stage to play the washboard, but without the normal huge crowd dancing their butts off, it just wasn't the same atmosphere.

Musically for me, a great evening, but it was just disappointing to see a rapper draw more than BOC and Simien combined.

Summerfest Day 4 June 27th 2010

2010-06-27T22:00:00.000-05:00

For the first time in almost 25 years, I voluntarily stayed home from Summerfest. If my streak was still intact, I would've been there, but I needed a night off and besides Robert Randolph and the Family Band or B.B. King, the pickings were pretty slim tonight. Justin Beiber headlined the Marcus Amphitheater, with side stage acts the likes of Less Than Jake, The Gufs and a bunch of other bands I've never heard of.

I WILL be back tomorrow though!

Summerfest Day 3 June 26th 2010

2010-06-27T19:54:00.012-05:00

Some storms came through the area early Saturday morning, but it was sunny and beautiful by the time I headed down to the Fest. Wang Chung was scheduled at 4PM at the Potawatomi Bingo Stage. Since they didn't have another show until Detroit tomorrow night, I have no clue why they were scheduled so early in the day.

Also, they picked today to go heavy with the security. The previous two nights was just a basic search of purses and bags, but today they decided to do the whole airport style search. Pockets had to be emptied, and everyone was "wanded". At least I got to keep my shoes on. Of course the lines were huge and it took forever to get in, so I missed the first part of their set, including the songs from To Live And Die In L.A. that I really wanted to hear.

Unfairly lumped in with 80's New Wave, I've always liked these guys since they did the soundtrack for To Live And Die In L.A. Yeah, their music was filled with synths and was danceable, but it was also guitar driven and incredibly melodic.

The place was packed and everyone was up on the benches and tables dancing. Original members vocalist/guitarist Jack Hues and bassist Nick Feldman have aged well, and Hues was in fine voice. They did a couple of decent sounding songs from their new Abducted By The 80's EP, and finished with "Let's Go", "Dance Hall Days" and "Everybody Have Fun Tonight".

From the set list I saw, they only did 11 songs total, and they didn't do "Wake Up, Stop Dreaming" or "Praying To A New God" that I was hoping for. And although they were backed by a real drummer and keyboard player, a lot of the background vocals were obviously taped. The crowd didn't seem to mind, but this could have been a longer show and at a later time. They had to get off the stage by 5:30PM so some local act I'd never heard could play at 6.

After that, I had 4 hours to fill before seeing Uriah Heep at 10PM. For a Saturday evening, the line-up was pretty weak with headliner's the likes of Thievery Corporation, Violent Soho, Cage The Elephant, RED, Skillet, and The Constellations. I at least knew who Gavin Degraw was. This was the best they could come up with?

This gave me time to sample some of the new food and restaurants on the grounds. Grabbed some mozzarella marinara from Saz's (always great!) and some pizza from Venice Club (not that good this time, way undercooked). Then I checked out U2 Zoo, a U2 tribute band from the area. They do a fairly respectable job of covering U2, and the sizeable crowd was really into it, especially the older songs.

After their set, the place just emptied out and I was able to get a nice seat in the 2nd row, just off dead center. Unbelievably, there were more people for a U2 cover band than stuck around for Uriah Heep, and a lot of the people who I talked to didn't even know who they were! One couple next to me said they were there because they heard they were a good band from the 70's. When I listed some of Heep's' hits that they might know, I was greeted with blank stares. They lasted about 2 songs and left. Most of the bartenders didn't even know who was headlining.

Guitarist Mick Box is the only original member left, but this is probably the most stable the line-up has ever been, considering the revolving door in the 70's and early 80's. All except the drummer have been with Heep around 20 years. After a 10 year gap between albums, they released the excellent Waking The Sleeper in 2008, and they opened with the title track. Lead singer Bernie Shaw told the crowd (if you could call it that) that they weren't just another oldies act and would be doing songs from all periods. They ran through classics such as "Return To Fantasy", "The Wizard", "Stealin' ", and "Easy Living", plus some newer songs including "Only Human" from last years hits package. Shaw's voice sounded great, and he showed off his range on several songs, including an excellent version of "July Morning".

I would have loved to have heard some stuff from one of my favorite albums "Abominog" such as "On The Rebound" or "That's The Way That It Is", but it wasn't to be. Still, a very impressive show, and after missing them several times I was finally able to cross another band off my "bucket list".

The night was still not done. One thing I try and do is catch the last part of Phil Vassar's set every year he plays here. I've seen a full show from him before, but he always ends his shows with a solo piano version of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" that gets the whole crowd singing along. The place was packed, but I found a spot where I could at least see the stage. He had the crowd in a frenzy with a medley of songs including Huey Lewis's "Working For A Living" and Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music". By the time that ended it was already after midnight and the park was closing, so no time for "Piano Man" tonight.

Summerfest Day 2 June 25th 2010

2010-06-27T18:01:00.002-05:00

The original plan tonight was to see Light Up and then Jeff Beck, but a friend called with a ticket in the 9th row center for Tom Petty that I just couldn't pass up.

Due to a nice five car pileup on the freeway, I was about an hour late getting there, but I only missed the first two songs of ZZ Top's set ("Got Me Under Pressure" and "Waiting For The Bus"). The Top was in fine form, and the Marcus Amphitheater was jam packed.

With no new album to promote (c'mon guys, it's been 7 years now. How about a new cd?), it was just wall to wall hits, with some album tracks for us die-hards in their hour-long set. Backed by a state-of-the-art video screen, they tore through "Jesus Just Left Chicago", "Cheap Sunglasses", "I Need You Tonight", "Just Got Paid", "Foxy Lady", "Gimme All Your Lovin' ", "Sharp Dressed Man", "Legs", "La Grange" (w/ "Sloppy Drunk" & "Bar-B-Q" thrown in), and finally "Tush". They made great use of the high-def screen the entire night, especially during "Tush", with pictures from all the way back in their early days. And that was it, no encore. Strange for a opening band of ZZ Top's caliber, but maybe since they got pretty much full use of the stage and video, there was some compromise there with Petty.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are a perennial at Summerfest, and still have the distinction of being the only act to ever headline the Amphitheater 2 nights in a row, back in 2006 w/ Pearl Jam and now doing it again this year. Petty loaded the front of his set with hits like " You Don't Know How It Feels", "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin' ", "Last Dance With Mary Jane", and "Breakdown".

Petty always throws a cover or two into the set, and this year was a good choice in Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well". Our local "critic", in his review wrote "Perhaps the biggest surprise was Petty underplaying Lindsey Buckingham' vocals on a cover of "Oh Well"". This cover had nothing to do with Buckingham's live version from 1980, it was a fairly faithful version of Peter Green's original from 1969. Amazing how this guy always seems to go to a different show than I do.

Having hooked the crowd with songs they knew, it was time for some new stuff from the excellent "Mojo" album. "Jefferson Jericho Blues" kicked off four straight from the new album. As good as "Mojo" is, the songs including "Running Man's Bible" and "I Should Have Known It" sounded even better live, especially the blues track "Good Enough", with guitarist Mike Campbell channelling Gary Moore.

These guys have never let me down live, always putting on a great show. Campbell especially was in fine form tonight, proving what an incredible guitarist he is. Steve Ferrone pounding away on the drums and Benmont Tench's swirling keyboards drove the music. Only Ron Bore (I mean Blair) seemed out of place. I realize he is an original Heartbreaker, but the guy looks so uncomfortable on stage, like he'd rather be anyplace else at the moment.

But it didn't matter when it was back to familiar songs like "Learning To Fly", "Don't Come Around Here No More", and "Refugee". Encores were "Running Down A Dream", "American Girl" and a cool cover of Van Morrison & Them's "Mystic Eyes".

The main problem I had with this show, and what kept it from being a great show in my opinion were the video screens. They had 15 large screens suspended in a semi-circle around the stage, plus several more towards the top. The 5 or 6 top ones showed great video from the concert, but the 15 large screens that took up most of the back were those old bulb type screens from 10-15 years ago. And the animations they showed on them, while not only having nothing to do with the songs, looked like a screen-saver from Windows 94! I tried not to let them distract me from the music, but it was tough. With the technology out there now, how do you still use some archaic system? ZZ Top's video presentation was so much better. Either utilize it to enhance the show, or don't use it at all.

With about an hour left in the Fest, I tried my best to see as much as I could. Caught a couple of songs from Pink Floyd tribute band Think Floyd, then headed down to see Jeff Beck. Got there for the last song at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse. Place was packed, but I was able to see him on the video screens. Really wanted to see this show, but it wasn't to be.

The last place I thought I would end up would be at a Public Enemy show, but by the end of the night, there I was. They were just finishing up, but I wanted to see what this Flavor Flav guy was all about. Following the last song (which actually had some guitars in it, sampled of course) Chuck D thanked the crowd and even mentioned (I refuse to use the term "shout-out") Jared Kellner, the 15 year old who was killed by a falling piece of concrete while he was on his was to Summerfest, and his family. I thought that was kind of cool for him to do that. Then Flavor got the mic and I was surprised at how articulate and sincere he was (even though he had that stupid clock hanging around his chest), talking about racism and the need to get along with everyone. Normally, when it's apparent that the band is done and they are just saying their thank yous, people leave in droves, but the crowd stayed and listened to what they had to stay. I was very impressed.

Another Friday night done. Tomorrow, it's (hopefully) Wang Chung, Uriah Heep and Phil Vassar.

Summerfest Day 1 June 24th, 2010

2010-06-25T09:48:00.006-05:00

One of the things I love most about Summerfest is that no matter what your plans are, you never know what's going to happen over the course of an evening. One minute I'm heading to the bathroom, the next minute I'm up in the VIP area drinking free beers with a former Green Bay Packer.

After three straight days of rain and severe storms in the area, you couldn't have asked for more perfect weather for Opening Day at the fest. Temperatures in the low 80's, a nice breeze off the lake, not a cloud in the sky and a big full moon. Surprisingly, the grounds weren't as packed as I thought they would be. I don't think I stood in line for anything the entire night.

I would've liked to have checked out Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum at the Amphitheater, but it wasn't in the budget this year. There were plenty of other free options though. First up was Night Ranger, playing an early 8PM set at the Classic Rock stage. Not a huge crowd to start, (it filled in later) so I was able to get a seat in the 10th row on drummer Kelly Keagy's side. They played pretty much the same set as last years show at State Fair, opening with "This Boy Needs To Rock (with Purple's "Highway Star" thrown in the middle), "Rumours In The Air" "Sing Me Away" and "You're Gonna Hear From Me" from their newest album. No real surprises, but they did do an album cut in "Eddie's Coming Out Tonight" and the title track to film The Secret Of My Success.

An acoustic set in the middle brought things down a bit, with Jack Blades asking each band member the first concert they went to, and then doing some Zeppelin and a bit of "Roadhouse Blues" from the Doors. A great version of Damn Yankee's "High Enough", and their own "Goodbye" finished things out and then it was back to rockin'.

Jack Blades is still one of the best front man/bassists there is. Full of energy and humor, he keeps the crowd engaged. Man, I hope I have his stamina when I'm 56! Brad Gillis also proved what an incredible guitarist he is. Still miss the guitar duels with Jeff Watson, but replacement Joel Hoekstra wasn't bad (although he totally looks like Sebastian Bach). The obligatory "Sister Christian" and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" finished out the show, but just like last year, they ran out of time for "You Can Still Rock In America" because bands have to be off stage when the fireworks start. No big deal though, I've heard it enough.

The Big Bang fireworks were excellent as usual. Always much better than the 3rd of July show downtown (yeah, we have our 4th on the 3rd). I managed to catch a bit of Kool & The Gang's set including "Joanna" and "Jungle Boogie". Those horns sound great!

Then it was down to the Miller Oasis stage for Sheryl Crow. The show was packed, but somehow I managed to get to the 2nd row center for the last couple of songs. Crow is another act who once was big enough to headline the Marcus Amphitheater (saw her there the night John Entwistle died) but now is back to playing the side stages. I was hoping to catch a song or two from her upcoming album "Memphis", but got there too late so I had to settle for "Everyday Is A Winding Road", "Steve McQueen", "Leaving Las Vegas" and "All I Wanna Do". She still looks hot, but a bit skinnier than I've seen her. Crow still sounds good though, especially on a closing cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll".

Another great opening night. Tomorrow, it's Light Up:A Tribute To Styx (great local cover band) and then Jeff Beck!

I'm Back!

2010-06-24T09:30:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I posted anything. Life just gets in the way sometimes, but I'm ready to kick-start this blog again.

I'm also back at Summerfest after missing most of last year. For those that don't know what Summerfest is, it's only the worlds largest and greatest music festival! 11 straight days of music, with over 700 bands on 12 stages, on the shores of Lake Michigan with the Milwaukee skyline in the background.

The Marcus Amphitheater (the only stage you have to pay to get into) has a pretty impressive line-up this year. Headliners are Tim McGraw w/Lady Antebellum, Tom Petty w/ZZ Top, Justin Bieber, Eric Clapton w/Roger Daltry, Lynyrd Skynyrd (replacing Brooks & Dunn who canceled this week), Usher, Santana w/Steve Winwood, American Idols, Rush and Carrie Underwood. Not bad, but McGraw and Petty seem to play here every year. I would have liked to see maybe James Taylor & Carol King, Paul McCartney or even the Styx/REO/Kansas package.

Tonight's free shows include Night Ranger, Sheryl Crow, Colbie Cailat, Kool and the Gang, Beatallica, and more. I'm going to try and make it down there all 11 days, so look for my reviews daily.

David Foster - Hit Man (Book Review)

2010-02-16T15:27:00.005-06:00

One of my favorite performer/producers besides Todd Rundgren and Jim Steinman has always been David Foster. From the 1970's through the 1990's, he's written, performed and produced so much great music, and brings an instantly recognizable sound to everything he touches. He's always been reviled by the critics, but at least he shows he's OK with that when he states "who I am is a guy who writes music that people make babies to -- and I'm not going to apologize for it.".

His credits are much too many to list here, but suffice it to say he's done it all. He's managed to cross over from Rock, Pop, Country, R&B, Adult Contemporary and Jazz, won 15 Grammy awards, an Emmy and been nominated for 3 Oscars, done Broadway (Dreamgirls cast album) and movies (St. Elmo's Fire, Secret of My Success, The Bodyguard), worked with 3 out of the 4 Beatles as well as Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand and Madonna, and either discovered or brought to prominence artists such as Celine Dion, Josh Groban, The Corrs and Michael Buble. He also undeniably resurrected the careers of Chicago and The Tubes, among others.

So when I sat down to read his book (co-written with Pablo F. Fenjves) I was excited to read about the man behind the hits. He may be a musical genius, but unfortunately he's not a very nice person. With all his success, he's entitled to be proud and have an ego, but this is as narcissistic as it gets.

The book starts out strangely disjointed in 1990, where Foster is rummaging around the Capitol vaults looking for Nat "King" Cole's master tapes for the project he's working on with Natalie Cole. Then he's off on a vacation with Kevin Costner, working with Whitney Houston on The Bodyguard soundtrack and telling an anecdote about how he doesn't even like Celine Dion's biggest song "My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From "Titanic")". It seemed like this first chapter should have been in the middle of the book, and felt out of place at the beginning.

After that, it reads like a standard auto-biography. Foster grew up in British Columbia, and realized early in life that he was musically gifted. When he was just 16, he moved to London and got a gig backing up Chuck Berry (he doesn't have any nice words to say about Berry, but not many people do). He passed on a chance to tour with Cat Stevens when he became homesick. Upon moving back to Canada, he joined the band Skylark and had a hit with "Wildflower". After that brief success, he moved to LA and became a sought after session man and later producer.

Hit Man is full of stories about working with Streisand, Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra, Madonna and others. There's not much dirt that we didn't already know (Streisand is a perfectionist. Really?) , and almost no insight at all into his creative process. What we do learn is that while he works with several charities and causes, and is incredibly talented, he's not that great of a person, and an even worse husband and father. He's been through three failed marriages and has 4 daughters from those unions, plus another that he had out of wedlock and was given up for adoption (they have since re-connected).

One of the better stories is when he first started working with Chicago, who had fallen on hard times after the death of Terry Kath and several disappointing albums. When he first meets them, the group played him 13 songs they intended to put on Chicago 16. Foster's reaction was "I've been a fan, but these songs suck. If I'm going to produce this album, we're going to have to write 13 new songs, because this isn't even close to what you should be doing." They did and went on to have some of the biggest hits of their career on albums 16, 17 and 18. I just wish he would have gone into more detail like this about other aspects of his career.

Foster seems to think unless a song goes to #1 and wins a Grammy Award, it's a total failure. Unfortunately, because of this attitude, most of the stories revolve around his huge success's and gloss over or completely omit anything he considers a "failure" even if it really isn't. Take for example the excellent album he did with Jay Graydon and Tommy Funderburk called Airplay. This is one of my favorite albums of all time and is considered a classic among fans of West Coast style music. The project doesn't even get mentioned at all, and Graydon, who has worked with Foster for a long time is barely mentioned in the book. The late session vocalist Warren Wiebe also gets barely a line, even after working on countless demos and sessions with Foster. I guess if you want to find out what Foster really thought about Wiebe, you'll have to read about it in the obituary he wrote on Warren's web site.

As a fan I expected more than this. I learned more about Foster's sisters and 3rd wife Linda Thompson's sons than I did about what it was like to work with Earth, Wind & Fire on arguably their best album, writing "After The Love Is Gone" with Bill Champlin, what it was really like in the studio with Chicago and so much more. Coming in at a slim 209 pages (plus 8 pages of acknowledgements and 12 pages of award listings), I felt somewhat cheated.

If you are just a casual fan, you might find some insight by reading this one, but longtime fans will be sorely disappointed by the lack of depth here. Foster might have churned out a ton of hits over the years, but this book is a big time miss.

Several years ago I asked Fee Waybill of The Tubes if he thought he might work with Foster again in the future. He told me straight out that it wouldn't happen because "they couldn't afford him anymore". That outta tell you something right there.

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (DVD Review)

2010-02-10T13:00:00.004-06:00

Please, somebody, stop Ti West from making more movies! I'm sure he's a great guy, but he has absolutely no talent as a director at all. His films, including The Roost, Trigger Man and last years awful House Of The Devil (out later this month on DVD) show he has no clue about story, dialogue, pacing, editing or even how to get his actors to act on screen.

This sequel to Eli Roth's 2002 original is so bad, even West himself has tried to disowned it and get his name taken off, but since he's not a DGA member (they won't let him join?) his name remains attached to this piece of crap. Shot several years ago, it sat on the shelf until now (it was originally scheduled for DVD release last April). The producers went back and re-shot some scenes including the ending, but really, nothing can save this one.

While not a classic, Cabin Fever was a fun splatter-fest about some kids staying at a cabin being attacked by a flesh eating virus that gets spread through the water supply. This one opens with the only "survivor" from the first film (Rider Strong) wandering out of the water and into the road, where he's promptly turned into roadkill by a school bus. That's followed by an animated credit sequence that's fairly original for a horror film, and shows the spread of the virus via a bottled water company. So far, so good. Unfortunately, after that it's all downhill.

The plot (stop me if you've heard this before) revolves around a bunch of high school losers, one of whom has it bad for the hot girl Cassie (Alexi Wasser, a 3rd rate Gwyneth Paltrow). He's got several even dorkier friends, and of course, she has a jealous boyfriend. They all end up at the prom, drink the virus tainted water and blood and puss spews from every orifice. The school is surrounded by some type of haz-mat unit, who chain all the doors shut and open fire on anyone who tries to get out.

Lame attempts at humor, including returning Deputy Winston (Giuseppe Andrews), cameos from Judah Freidlander (30 Rock), Larry Fessenden and local boy Mark Borchardt (American Movie) and tons of gore (including amputation by table saw, cauterization by welding torch) can't save this bloody mess.

Even at a running time of 85 minutes, it has more padding than a teenage girls bra. Take out the prologue/opening credit's, tacked on epilogue, and a 9 minute(!) closing cartoon/end credit sequence and you are basically left with an hour of actual movie. Scenes go on way too long, the acting is wooden, the dialogue is laughable, and the use of wipes in between scenes is amateurish. And West seems to think that having the characters talking on phones with cords gives it some type of 1970's or 80's feel to it.

Why people keep bankrolling his films, when there are many more talented, but struggling film makers out there is beyond me. He actually has two more films in production right now!

Do yourself a favor, and just watch the 3 minute "gore" reel on the DVDs extras. Set to Paul Zaza's disco theme from the original Prom Night, it features all the best gore scenes from the film, and some that didn't make it.

Why do I watch these movies? So you don't have to.

Daybreakers (Movie Review)

2010-01-26T14:48:00.003-06:00

January and February are usually dumping grounds for movies that the studios didn't deem worthy of releasing the previous year. The blockbusters and award contenders come out in November and December, and the leftovers are lucky to make it to the theaters for a week or two in the dead of winter, especially horror, sci-fi and action movies. When awards season comes around again at the end of 2010, no one will remember the movies that came out at the beginning of the year. But Daybreakers is a pleasant surprise.

Written and directed by Australian brothers Michael and Peter Spierig (who previously made the very good zombie flick Undead), Daybreakers is a new spin on the increasingly tired vampire genre. Set in the year 2019, a plague has turned most of humanity into vampires. The remaining humans who refuse to "turn" are hunted down and are held in a literal human blood bank. Unfortunately for the vampires, the blood supply is dwindling, and the search for a substitute isn't working out so well.

While keeping with most of the vampire mythos (they can't be seen in mirrors, sunlight will kill them, etc), the brothers manage to throw some originality into the mix. In this new sun-less lifestyle, everything goes on as normal, just the opposite of the old world. After the sun sets, business thrives, traffic flows, and kids hang out on the corner. And Uncle Sam is now a vampire too. For those that have to go out during the day, tunnels connect buildings, and cars can keep sunlight out, with monitors inside for driving. And most vamps like a little shot of blood with their coffee. They also don't grow up, stuck at the age when they were bitten. This makes for an effectively cool suicide, leading into the opening credit sequence, which if you watch closely gives some background to the story.

With humans almost extinct, and blood almost gone, those vampires starving for blood are regressing into bat-like creatures called "subsiders" complete with wings, who feed on other vampires to stay alive. Working on a synthetic blood is Chief Hematologist Edward (Ethan Hawke), who is also a bit of a human sympathizer. He finds an alternative from a small group of humans who have found a cure for vampirism. The resistance is led by Elvis (Willem Dafoe) who was once a vampire, but now is very much human again.

I really liked the way this movie was filmed. It has a 1950's noir style, especially in the beginning, with some parts that reminded me a bit of Blade Runner. There's also a ton of gore, and some good scares in places you won't expect. But all style without substance doesn't a good movie make. Luckily this one has a great plot, and several twists that drive it to a satisfying ending. In fact, there is so much going on here, this would make for a really good TV series, exploring further the vampires vs. remaining humans and the search for the cure.

There is some subtle social commentary about class warfare, and the health care system. At one point the head of the synthetic blood project (played by Sam Neill) says "What's to cure?" But if you look past that and ignore some small plot holes, this is a bloody and entertaining way to start off 2010.

The Road (Movie Review)

2010-01-21T11:56:00.002-06:00

After reading Cormac McCarthey's Pulitzer Prize winning book The Road, I didn't know how they would make a movie out of it. Not that it couldn't be made into one, but how would you sell it to audiences? Because really, not much happens and the plot is minimal.

The Road is a bleak, dark story set in a post-apocalyptic America, about a man and his son just trying to stay alive. There are no big action sequences, or Mad Max type gangs roving the wastelands, raping and pillaging. Whatever caused the end is only implied. It could have been a nuclear war, an asteroid or something else. Any raping and pillaging was done years before this takes place. There is nothing left for any survivors, and the road is littered with emptiness. Empty towns, empty houses, burned out cars and cities and forests. There are no animals, plants, or leaves on the trees. The forests are still on fire, the air is filled with ash and it's seemingly always raining.

The book has no chapters. It's a day to day diary of two people trying to find food, water and warmth while walking their way to the west coast with the only possessions they have left. At the heart of it, it's a man trying to protect his son from the horrors of what's left of the world, as well as teach him how to survive and "carry the fire".

The main characters are referred to as Man (Viggo Mortenson) and Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Woman (Charlize Theron) is only seen in flashbacks. She is pregnant when the apocalypse comes. After giving birth, she gives up and eventually wanders off to meet her end instead of continuing to live in what is left of the world. That world is divided between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." At one point, the boy says to his father "We're the good guys, right?", but even they will kill to stay alive.

When not sleeping or foraging for food, Man and Boy are constantly on guard for the scavengers on the road, who will steal from or kill and eat anyone they come across. They carry a gun with two bullets, one for each of them. Better to kill yourself, than to be captured and eaten.

Movies almost never live up to the books they are based on, but this one captures it better than most. There are some small changes, but nothing major. The characters in the book wear masks because of the polluted air, but don't in the film, most likely because actors can't be seen with their faces covered up. While cannibalism is a major theme in both, a scene in the book where they come across a campfire with a baby roasting on a spit is cut from the movie. The Woman character is fleshed out a bit more in the film, and the boy, while still a bit whiny, isn't as annoying as in the novel.

But another event that is actually better in the movie is when they come across a house with a basement full of survivors who are being used as a virtual food bank for the inhabitants of the house. In the book, they simply take off running after the horrifying discovery. In the film they are trapped in an upstairs bathroom filled with blood when the family comes back home, which creates some almost unbearable suspense.

Still, a lot of the emotion of this story can only be conveyed in the written word, and didn't translate well onto the screen. McCarthy made you feel what they were feeling, their desperation in trying to survive with little or no food, and the struggle it was to just get through each day. Or the little victories, like when the father finds an old soda machine and watches his son enjoy his first taste of a Coke. The part where they come across the house Man grew up in just falls flat in the movie version. And I never felt the sense of constant danger they were in that I got from the book, when they never knew who was ahead or behind them, or who was watching them.

The Road is visually stunning, and captured my vision of the book perfectly. A lot of the scenes were composite shots filmed in Katrina ravaged Louisiana and around the Mount St. Helen's area in Washington. Some shots will stick in your head, such as the scene on the overpass. The performances are good, but nothing spectacular.

This is not an entertaining, popcorn movie. But then again, it wasn't meant to be. In this world, the lucky ones were the ones who died early.

Paul Shaffer - We'll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives (Book Review)

2010-01-09T19:47:00.003-06:00

Maybe Paul Shaffer doesn't know every celebrity in the world, but it sure seems like it. From growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario and getting his start playing at temple, to coming into your home 5 nights a week as David Letterman's hipster bandleader for the last quarter century, Shaffer's recently published book takes the reader on a 40 year musical odyssey of his life in music and TV. He's met or played with almost everyone, and has a story about them all.

The book details his first paying gigs at strip clubs, then catching on with the musical Godspell, which eventually was his stepping stone to fame and fortune. During his time trying to make it in the business in Canada, he hangs around with future stars Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner and Martin Short (always called Marty here). He became the bandleader during the first seasons of Saturday Night Live, and helped create the Blues Brothers. There are plenty of anecdotes about John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd, and especially Gilda. Probably his biggest regret and a mistake he'll readily admit to is when he left SNL to go out to the West Coast to star in a short lived sitcom for Norman Lear. That ill-fated move cost him not only his SNL gig, but he wasn't able to appear in the Blues Brothers movie either.

The book is filled with stories about his childhood heroes, and the people he's worked with through the years. He grew up idolizing the Brill Building songwriters like Ellie Greenwich, and was obsessed with Ronnie Spector, and especially her then-husband Phil. We find out about his playing with James Brown and Ray Charles, organizing the jams at the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame inductions every year, and inadvertently pissing off Eric Clapton.

There are a ton of little nuggets to be found in the book: One time, Bob Dylan was a guest on Letterman. Paul can't wait to meet him and tell him that he grew up at the north end of Highway 61. When he's in Dylan's dressing room, all Dylan wants to know is if he can meet Larry "Bud" Melman; Shaffer spent the night with famous groupie "sweet, sweet Connie" from Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band"; Britney Spears thought Paul was Dave's "DJ" and has no clue who Bob Hope was; Paul grew up obsessed with the Jerry Lewis Telethon and watches it religiously every year.

Remember when Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler had their infamous confrontation on Late Night? Everything I've heard all these years was that it was real, but Shaffer asserts that he saw them having dinner together that same night. And who knew that Gilda Radner had an affair with magician Doug Henning?

Unfortunately, while there are some very entertaining stories and anecdotes, there's not enough detail to satisfy this reader. He's best known as David Letterman's sidekick, but there's very little information on what it's like to work with Dave. Letterman is hardly mentioned at all, and while this book was most likely done before his recent "troubles", if Paul saw any funny business with the female staff over the years, he doesn't mention it here. And while he touches on Phil Spector's legal problems, he only writes about the convicted murdered that he "regrets the tragedy that has surrounded Phil these past years".

The book is written in a non-linear fashion. One chapter he'll be discussing his childhood, then in the next he'll be dishing on a recent musical guest, followed by a chapter on trying to make it in New York in the 70's. It all feels a bit disjointed

Still, the stories Shaffer tells are told with a sense of awe, like he still can't believe he's playing with these "cats". You get the feeling that really loves music, loves performing and just loves living and being around show business. He'll be doing it for the rest of his life.

Invictus (Movie Review)

2010-01-05T19:42:00.003-06:00

This movie has everything going for it. It's a fact based story with an inspirational sports theme set against the end of apartheid in South Africa. It stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela (a role he was born to play) and Matt Damon, and it's directed by Clint Eastwood (who should have at least been nominated for the excellent Gran Torino last year). Unfortunately, it's about rugby, which besides the shirts, most Americans including myself know almost nothing about.

The film takes place post-apartheid, when President Nelson Mandela tries to unite the races of the country by throwing his support behind a rugby team playing for the 1995 World Cup. The blacks in South Africa despise the team, especially since their team colors are the same as the old apartheid era flag.

Part political biopic and part sports movie, it fails miserably at both. Normally a movie about an underdog team overcoming insurmountable odds would be a rousing success, but not here. Who gives a crap about rugby anyways? They might as well as made a movie about cricket.

At 134 minutes, it's way overlong, especially with the entire last 30 minutes of the movie devoted almost entirely to the championship game. While Freeman is very good as Mandela, Damon's character is boring to watch, and the movie lacks any depth. I hate it when movies talk down to me, but Invictus provided almost no background about what was going on in the country at that time, and no info on the game of rugby itself at all. Even during the climactic match, they hardly even show the score, so we only really know who's winning by the crowd reaction. I still have no clue why the teams were just kicking the ball back and forth to each other, or hugging in big circles (called a "scrum" I believe) or drop kicking field goals.

Token Hollywood-ism's abound also. A white family brings their black maid to the climactic game, and a black kid in the ghetto walks past some taxi drivers listening to the game on the radio. At first they tell him to get lost. By the end of the game he's sitting on the hood of a taxi and slapping high fives with them. I guess this is supposed to be an allegory of how the whites and blacks came together over this one game and lived forever in peace.

In a weak year for movies, I'm sure this will get some award nominations, but besides Morgan Freeman, there just isn't much to recommend about this movie, unless you understand rugby.

Joe Vitale - Backstage Pass (Book Review)

2010-01-04T23:28:00.002-06:00

Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale may not be a household name, but if you're a fan of classic rock from the 1970's and 80's, you've no doubt heard his music or seen him live. He's played and recorded with the likes of Joe Walsh, Ted Nugent, Dan Fogelberg, Peter Frampton, The Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young). His songwriting credits include "Rocky Mountain Way" with Joe Walsh and "Pretty Maids All In A Row" from The Eagles album, "Hotel California."

If you are looking for a "tell-all" book full of dirt on those artists, you aren't going to get it here. There's not a hint of drugs, booze, groupies or any other debauchery. Instead, Vitale presents a collection of wildly entertaining stories, as told to his wife Susie, about life in the studio and on the road. He's clearly led an exciting life, and he shares plenty of it here in a positive, upbeat and funny way.

Loaded with over a hundred pages of pictures (most in color), Vitale takes us through his early years with Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, then forming Barnstorm with Joe Walsh after Walsh had left the James Gang, playing with The Eagles on the Hotel California tour, touring with Peter Frampton at the peak of his success, played on albums by Dan Fogelberg, Ringo Starr, Rick Derringer, Eric Carmen, Boz Scaggs, the Outlaws, Jay Ferguson and John Entwistle.

When Vitale and Walsh get together, trouble is likely to follow. Some of the best stories involve being on tour with Walsh and the pranks they'd pull on each other and the members of the band, including trashing hotel rooms and water fights. Besides the pranks (and there are plenty), what makes this book such a quick and enjoyable read is all the rock history or near history he's been apart of. He was involved in some clandestine jam sessions with Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, John Lennon and Ringo Starr, which came to an end when word leaked out and reporters were camped outside the studio when they left. He was also there when all the members of Buffalo Springfield were together in the same room, but a proposed reunion unfortunately never happened.

Even the non-music stories are entertaining. The guy grew up playing catch with Thurman Munson, and there's also some stories about filming an SCTV bit with John Candy, and hanging out with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

But the thing I liked most about this book is the detail he provides about the recording sessions, the stories behind the songs and even how the album artwork was created. Ever wondered where the "Theme From..." songs on Vitale and Walsh's solo albums came from, what the story was behind "Rocky Mountain Way" or what a humorless a-hole Don Henley really is? It's all in here and more. This is exactly how a rock biography should be written.

Retail Hell by Freeman Hall(Book Review)

2009-11-12T19:50:00.004-06:00

I've been in the retail and/or service industry since I was 16. Not really by choice, it just kind of happened that way. I've also always wanted to be the next Stephen King or Steven Spielberg, so when I read that there was a book coming out by an aspiring screenwriter who was influenced by the Steve's, but was stuck in "retail hell" I figured this was right up my alley. And it was, to a certain extent anyways.

Subtitled "How I Sold My Soul To The Store Confessions Of A Tortured Sales Associate, the book is an amusing, and sometimes horrifying look at a life spent working in a mall. Anyone who works in retail, whether it's selling books, music, clothes, candy or anything else, will recognize the horrible situations and customers Hall writes about. In his case though, he's a guy selling purses (excuse me, Handbags as they are now called) at an upscale chain store in a Southern California mall. For legal reasons, he's re-named the store The Big Fancy, but as far as I can tell it's a Nordstrom. Over the course of the book, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about high end purses, er, handbags. Why anyone would spend thousands of dollars on a place to keep your lipstick and a hanky, or to match your shoes is beyond me.

Almost every character in the book has a nickname, and any Retail Slave will identify with most of them. There's Satan, the store manager, and the department manager is The General. There are also customers known by names such as the Piggy Shopper (leaves merchandise wherever they fell like it), Picky Bitch, Crazy Lady, and Fashion Disaster. And of course there are the Nasty Ass Thieves (from shoplifting to switching tags), the Stalkers, the Jabberjaws (they just won't shut up!), Discount Rats ("is this on sale?") and the Bloodsuckers who will just suck the life out of you.

An aspiring screenwriter, Hall has divided the book into 3 "acts" and some stories are written as mini-screenplays. At just over 250 pages, it's a quick and enjoyable read. I've found myself in several of the situations he's written about here. He's got a sarcastic sense of humor, and some of my favorite parts of the book are the things he thinks, but doesn't say during his interactions with management and customers.

My major complaint about the book though is that the author has to constantly bring up the fact that he's gay. Fine, we get it. You are a male selling ladies handbags. But he has to remind us on seemingly every other page that he'd rather be measuring men's in-seams or hanging at the leather bar. None of that has to do with the subject at hand.

Anyone who has worked in retail should enjoy this book, and it would also make a good read for all those customers who sometimes make our days and nights a living hell. If you are offended by vulgar language though, you might want to skip it. This guy swears worse than a sailor. It might at least give some people a clue as to what it's like on the other side of the counter. I have plenty of stories myself, and maybe someday I'll share them in my own book.

Hall has a website at retail hell underground and also retail hell the book where people can shares stories of their very own retail hell on earth.

Paranormal Activity (Film Review)

2009-11-04T18:27:00.004-06:00

When The Blair Witch Project came out 10 years ago, the marketing behind the movie was so well done that people actually thought the movie was real. The Internet was nowhere as big as it is now, but they used websites and word of mouth to generate so much hype it became a huge success. It also spawned a "found footage" sub-genre all it's own, with films such as Cloverfield, REC (and it's subpar US version Quarantine), and others.

Now comes Paranormal Activity, the little movie that could. For those who haven't heard the story behind this movie yet, here is a quick overview. Director Oren Peli shot the film back in 2007 in his house over the course of 7 days for roughly $11,500, which includes paying the two lead actors $500 each for their roles. It languished for awhile until Paramount decided to buy the rights to it, with the intention of re-making it with a big budget for a mainstream audience. Steven Spielberg saw the movie and convinced the powers to be to release it as it was, although he did suggest a different ending which was later shot and added (you can find the original ending on YouTube).

Just like they did with horror movies of the 70's and early 80's, they released it slowly across the country instead of opening it nationwide on the same day. Starting with midnight showings in college towns, they built the hype with word of mouth, web sites and blogs, and a new site called Demand It! where people could vote to have the movie come to their town. It has worked so well, that this little $11,000 movie that almost didn't get seen has now grossed over $86 million. The main actors are on the cover of this weeks Entertainment Weekly and have been making the rounds on the talk show circuit, and there is already the inevitable talk of a sequel.

The movie deals with a couple Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), who have come to believe their house is haunted and attempt to document it on video. The entire film is shot from the camera's point of view, and if the jerky footage from Blair Witch or Cloverfield left you nauseous, don't worry. Besides some movement when Micah is carrying it around the house or interviewing Katie, the camera is stable on a tri-pod, capturing what happens while they sleep. And that's where the scariest moments come from.

They consult a psychic, who tells Katie that it is useless to run or move away. The spirit will follow her wherever she goes. At first, Micah is skeptical that there even is a spirit in their house, but after some spooky things start happening while they are asleep that get captured on video, he begins to believe. He starts antagonizing the spirit and things start to quickly get worse.

Paranormal Activity plays on our fear of the dark and all those little noises we hear in the house late at night. We see the footage from their bedroom with a time code in the lower corner, and are privy to the things happening while they sleep. Thankfully the director fast forwards us to the good parts. ( I would like to know though where this guy got his tapes/memory sticks and batteries for his camera. This thing is on for what seems like 12 or more hours and it just keeps recording!)

While I love a good, gory over the top horror movie, there's something to be said for being subtle too. There's nothing really visually scary, just things heard or perceived. A lot is left to the imagination, and that can be even scarier. Something as simple as a slowly swinging door, or a light going on and off, or even just the complete silence when you just know something is about to happen is enough to make your hair stand on end. This isn't the "scariest movie ever" as some Internet postings claim, but there are at least two parts that will just scare the crap out of you.

The acting is fairly believable from two unknowns, but not great, especially during the daytime scenes, and there are some slow parts where not much seems to happen. It is good to see that a small, fairly original movie like this one can draw an audience and make huge profits. Maybe the studios will finally figure out we want to see more originality instead of endless sequels and unnecessary remakes.

If you are afraid of things that go bump in the night, don't watch this one alone. And you might want to leave a light on.

I Love You, Beth Cooper (DVD Review)

2009-10-31T16:15:00.003-05:00

You can't really say that the death of John Hughes this past August left a hole in coming-of-age teen movie genre. Since Hughes hadn't directed a movie since 1991's Curly Sue, that hole had been there for a long time, filled with crap like American Pie and it's ilk.

I Love You, Beth Cooper has a Hughes connection, in that it was directed by Chris Columbus who also helmed Home Alone, which was written by Hughes. While this movie was written by Larry Doyle (adapted from his novel), almost every character and situation feels like it was ripped right out of a John Hughes movie. Bits and pieces of Some Kind Of Wonderful, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles and even non-Hughes films such as My Bodyguard and Wayne's World appear everywhere.

The movie begins with an interesting "what if" premise. Taking the advice of his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter), high school valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) decides to not live the rest of his life with regret over not making his feelings known to the girl of his dreams, so he professes his love for her by blurting out the title of the movie during his commencement speech. Much to Denis' surprise (and ours), Beth and her two friends show up at his house for his graduation party. She is of course followed by her extremely jealous boyfriend, and a night of car chases, drinking, vandalism, excrement jokes, wet towel fights and other "hilarity" ensues.

Hayden Panettiere plays Beth Cooper, the schools popular cheerleader (not much of a stretch from her TV character) and the object of Denis' affection. She's actually quite likable, and not exactly your typical stuck up rich girl. He's admired her from afar, sitting behind her in class all these years. He thinks he knows everything about her, knows her locker combination and has a blown up picture of her taped above his bed. I don't know about you, but this feels a little more creepy than just a simple crush. I found it weird later on in the movie then that he didn't even know what color her eyes were. He has built this image up in his head of her that no one could ever live up to, and the filmmakers should have explored that angle a little more than just a quick couple of scenes. Maybe as they got to actually know each other, he would realize that she was different than his expectations, and she wouldn't look at him as just the school nerd. But nope, they have to have the movie play out over the course of one evening and throw every conceivable gag into the mix, including a crazed raccoon.

Panettiere is very good in the title role, but almost everything else about this one just went wrong. Where John Hughes took high school stereotypes and made us see there was more to them (Breakfast Club for example), this movie does nothing to change our perceptions. All the stereotypes and teen movie cliches are here. Hot cheerleader? Check. Nerd who's in love with her? Check. His equally geeky best friend? Her muscle bound, overly jealous jock boyfriend? The loving, but oblivious parents? Check, check and check.

Even the music is cliched. Guess what song is used at the end of graduation? If you guessed "School's Out" by Alice Cooper, you are correct! Denis' parents make out to Foreigner's "Feels Like The First Time". And when Denis is finally alone with Beth, what song is on his iPod? Yup, "Beth" by KISS. At one point in the film, I thought to myself that the only thing missing was the nerdy girl who has a crush on Denis, but he's too focused on Beth to realize it. And sure enough, halfway through the movie, there she was. Even Beth's boyfriend acts and talks exactly like Chet (Bill Paxton) from Weird Science!

The DVD extras include some deleted scenes and an alternate ending that isn't any better than the one they kept, but does provide an interesting perspective.

I love you too, Beth Cooper, but I didn't like your movie. If you want to see one of Hayden Panettiere's boobs, or there's absolutely nothing else to watch, then pop this one in. Otherwise, stick to the originals.

Hit Hard by Joey Kramer (Book Review)

2009-07-21T12:07:00.005-05:00

If you want to read an account of how a band can make it to the top, blow it all on the way to the bottom and make it back up again, check out Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith, which came out back in 1993. It graphically detailed Aerosmith's history and exploits from not only the band's point of view, but the wives, girlfriends and others involved over the years. If you want to view it from the eyes of someone who was there the entire journey, then read Hit Hard: A Story Of Hitting Rock Bottom At The Top from drummer Joey Kramer. It's the first band member autobiography (singer Steven Tyler's book comes out next year).

The bands notorious drug and alcohol abuse and debauchery were well documented in the previous book and plenty of other sources. Kramer's book takes us down that same road, but also provides a more intimate look at a person that lived life hard and fast, and really should be dead by now. They were committed to music, but even more committed to drugs and alcohol.

Reading advance reviews before this book was published, I knew it wasn't going to be your typical tell-all rock bio, but more of a look at Kramer's upbringing which led to substance abuse, his journey to sobriety and eventual nervous breakdown after nine years of being clean. He makes it clear in the into to the book "Through the process of learning and self-discovery, I have managed to transform my relationship with myself, and, as a result, transform my closest and most painful relationships--Steven Tyler, my father and April (his future wife), those people whose judgment I turned into a weapon I stepped in the way of as on cue. I no longer have to see myself in that role as victim--a major pattern in my life that I really had to get to the bottom of and take responsibility for."

This book is Kramer's chance to share the story of Aerosmith, while telling of his personal struggles with addiction and mental illness that can maybe help some people dealing with the same issues. But if you are looking for an in-depth view of one of America's biggest bands, some insight into how the songs and albums came together, stories of the road, the groupies etc. you are not going to get it here, and that's unfortunate.

What we really get are bits and pieces of the whole story that make up the band. The book is 239 pages (plus about 16 extra pages of color photos), but it seems padded and strung together. It almost feels at times that Kramer wrote down snippets of things he remembered, and the editors just stitched them together. For example, one part reads "one of the new bands on the scene was KISS with the makeup and costumes and the fire swallowing. When Aerosmith and KISS played together, our roadies wound up pulling knives on each other" And that's it! No explanation over what the fight was about, or what happened because of it.

Another section says: "This was the year Joe's house burned down, Sid Vicious murdered his girlfriend, and Keith Moon went out with his overdose. Columbia Records was just about done with us after the fiasco with Draw The Line, but we went on the Bootleg Tour with AC/DC as our opening act anyway. We were based at the Whitehall Hotel in Chicago for a month, fanning out in a Learjet to do shows in the Midwest. At the Fort Wayne Coliseum, we were threatened with incitement to riot. "

or:
"Night in the Ruts was still not ready, but we went back on tour again. At the World Series Of Rock, fans camped out all around Cleveland Stadium the night before. There were several robberies and shootings, and one guy was killed. Backstage, Elyssa threw a glass of milk at Tom's wife, Terry, which started a fight that proved to be the last straw for all of us. Joe walked out. In August we canceled a world tour."

or:

"Before the year was out, Get a Grip was released, and we were on the road. The tour was a huge success, and the record sold 14 million copies, so I bought a house."

Most of the stories about the band are written in this steam of consciousness style, and it's frustrating. Fleshing these stories out would have made for a much better grasp on what was going on at the time. The entire recording of the 1st 3 albums are covered in just six pages. Kramer knew Steven Tallarico since Junior High, but eventually he is Steven Tyler with no explanation why. Kramer came up with the name Aerosmith in high school after listening to Aerial Ballet by Harry Nilsson, but never mentions how that became the bands name. Where there are names considered? What did the other members say about it? There are so many stories here that could be expounded on, but just aren't.

There are also many black and white photos interspersed throughout the text, some way out of context. For example, during a part in the book where the band wasn't even signed yet, there's a picture from the Draw The Line period. Parts of paragraphs are bolded to make certain passages stand out, but that gets old and gimmicky after awhile. And the editing is incredibly sloppy. Cymbal is spelled symbal (page 96) and other grammatical errors can be found throughout the book.

There are some nuggets of information here and there though, like the time the band wanted to purchase an airplane to fly from show to show. They had someone look at it, but the guy warned them against buying it. The plane ended up being used by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and we all know what happened there. There's also a story of Kramer and some friends going to Woodstock, and running into Steven Tyler in the middle of all those people, and an admission that early in the band's career they were backed by the mob in Boston.

And of course the stories of his drug and alcohol abuse figure prominently, what he can remember anyway. At one point he was snorting $5g worth of coke a week, and doing mescaline, hash, tuenols, quaaludes and seemingly anything else he could get his hands on. He was so drugged up, he left his wife at the hospital during the birth of their son and partied for an entire weekend. He recollects "getting high for days at a time, sitting in the same spot on Monday morning as I was on Friday night" and "Jack Daniels and rum on the the drum riser and coke lines on the amps, and God help a roadie who brushed it off or put his flashlight there. Joe and Steven would snort lines between songs, during songs...". He admits that "the only way I can keep the years straight is by remembering which car I was driving at the time."

Unfortunately, Kramer plays the victim card a little too much. Instead of owning up to his actions, he blames his parents, his wife, his band mates, his manager, his therapist and almost everyone else for his problems. Most parents in the 50's and 60's were overly strict with their kids. Get over it. Not everyone is a drugged out alcoholic because their father hit them with a belt when they came home after curfew.

Towards the end of the book though, it seems he's finally taken some responsibility and made peace with his ghosts, especially his father. He writes about being able to talk to him and come to some type of understanding about each other before he passed away. You have to give Kramer credit for his being open and honest in this book, and discussing the pain he's felt from perceived abuse, and dealing with depression and anxiety. He brings up a lot of things that some might have hidden or glossed over and it's not a pleasant read in parts.

It just seems like golden opportunity was missed to make us feel exactly what it was like to be part of one of the biggest American bands of the 1970's.

End Of An Era

2009-06-25T23:20:00.002-05:00

I had originally planned to write this article today about a different subject (which I will address towards the end), but the events of the day also go with this title.

Two icons from my childhood, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson both died today, within 5 hours and 5 miles from each other.

When I woke up this morning, they were already reporting that Farrah Fawcett had been given her last rites and had just hours to live. A couple of hours later she was gone.

I think my first memories of her were her appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man, my favorite show at the time, as Major Kelly Wood and also the movie Logan's Run. But most people knew her as Jill Munroe on Charlie's Angels. Although she was really only on the first season of the show, that and her famous poster shot her to super stardom.

And what a poster is was. Every red-blooded American boy growing up in the mid 1970's either owned the poster, or knew someone who had one. The red, one piece bathing suit, with just a hint of nipple (pretty exciting to a 10 year old boy at the time), the smile with those impossibly white teeth, and the feathered hair. Yeah, it was definitely the hair. Every girl in my school seemed to have or want that hairstyle, and I wasn't complaining. While my parents wouldn't allow me to have the poster, that image is burned into mine and probably all our minds forever and is what I will always think of first when I remember Farrah.

She wasn't even my favorite Angel. I was more of a Jaclyn Smith guy, but Farrah always seemed to be on all the shows I watched. Donny and Marie, Battle Of The Network Stars, Sonny & Cher, Brady Bunch Variety Hour and more.

The last couple of years were tough on her with the cancer, but at least now she's not feeling the pain anymore and is hopefully in a better place.

As I drove to work around 4:30 PM CST, news was breaking that Michael Jackson was in cardiac arrest and was being taken to a hospital. TMZ was reporting that, but Jackson reps were denying it. About an hour later word began spreading through the store I work at that he had died. It was kind of a surreal moment and it is still sinking in. We broke from our normal pre-programed music and played a cd of the Jackson 5 and his solo hits.

Michael Jackson's music was part of the soundtrack of my youth. The Jackson 5 and the Osmonds were two of the first pop groups that attracted my youthful ear. Like Farrah, Michael and his brothers seemed to be everywhere on TV. Sonny & Cher, Flip Wilson, American Bandstand, Soul Train etc. plus their cartoon show on Saturday mornings. I wasn't allowed to own any of their albums or 45's when I was young, but I at least got to watch the show and later the Jackson's variety show to hear their music. I still remember being at a sleepover with kids from school, and the one hosting the party had Michael's Ben album. We played that over and over that night, not knowing at the time it was an ode to a killer rat.

The Jacksons kept recording in the late '70's and early 80's and put out some of my favorite songs like "Blame It On The Boogie," "Can You Feel It," "This Place Hotel" (very Earth, Wind & Fire-ish), "Torture" and "State Of Shock" (Michael sharing vocals with Mick Jagger!).

I remember our middle school taking our class on a field trip to see The Wiz with Michael playing the Scarecrow. Critics derided it, but I loved it. Another memory I have is being on vacation with my family in the summer of 1982. We went to Texas to visit my relatives, Thriller was just hitting big and my cousins had it. My older cousin was driving already and we played the cassette non-stop wherever we went.

Michael and his brothers bridged the divide between black and white audiences. It was pop, dance, funk and rock all rolled into one. Unlike the untalented urban musicians of the last several decades, they played their own instruments, wrote at least some of their songs, didn't sample (steal) from other artists and performed actual songs, not just streaming rhymes over a beat. Michael did duets with Paul McCartney and had Eddie Van Halen play guitar on "Beat It", and Steve Stevens on "Dirty Diana".

Around this time it all started going downhill for him. He dubbed himself "The King Of Pop," drastically changed his look by bleaching his skin and having multiple plastic surgeries until he looked like a completely different person. His descent into weirdness has been well documented and I won't go into it here. He was about to embark on a 50 show "Farewell" series of shows starting July 13th.

There will be lots of speculation over the upcoming days and weeks about his death. While his personal life was full of weirdness, one can't deny he has left behind a huge legacy of music that will live on for a long, long time. I'll always remember that little boy on TV with the big afro, spinning and dancing and singing all those great songs.

My original intent for this End Of An Era post was to be about my personal Summerfest streak coming to an end. For those that don't live in the Milwaukee, WI area, Summerfest is the world's biggest music festival that's been held here on the lakefront every summer for over 40 years. For those that don't know me, I LOVE Summerfest. Since I went to my first one when I was 18 (I'm almost positive it was July 5th, 1988 and I saw Streets with Steve Walsh from Kansas on the Rock Stage), I've been hooked. Where else can you spend 11 straight days and nights, listening to national and local music acts for 12 hours over multiple stages, drinking Milwaukee's finest, eating great good and looking at beautiful women?

Over the past 21 years, I have made it to Summerfest all 11 days, every year. The last day I missed was July 8th, 1988. I remember vividly why I missed that day. It was all because of a girl named Jill Pedigrew. Steve Winwood was playing at Summerfest that night, but she wanted to go see Whitesnake at Alpine Valley. We weren't dating, and we never did date, but she hung around my circle of friends and for some reason wanted me to take her to the show. She was this beautiful blond with a great body, and I was thrilled to take her. The show was supposed to start at 8, and she was supposed to meet my at my house around 6. I sat on the porch, waiting and waiting. This was before cell phones, so you couldn't just call someone to find out where they were. She eventually showed up around 9PM with some excuse that I've forgotten over time. We ended up going to Big Boy, where she bought me dinner to "make up for it". We never went out again, and when I saw her years later in a theater lobby, looking hot as ever, she didn't seem to know me.

Until tonight, I have never missed a day, but I did come close. One year, I think it was 1993, I had tickets to see Pink Floyd in Madison that evening. I still went to Summerfest all afternoon, before heading to the show. Another night several years later, I had tickets to see Simon & Garfunkel at the Bradley Center. I went to Summerfest, left and went to see Paul & Art, then went back to Summerfest to see LeAnn Rimes. Other than those close calls, it's been straight from work or home to the festival and then back home when the grounds closed. Until tonight.

Tonight was opening night, and after 233 straight days of going, my streak is over. This economy and my job situation forced me to be unable to take time off and go. It just killed me not being able to be there tonight. I found myself looking at the clock and thinking what I'd be doing. Going through the gates and grabbing my first beer; getting some mozzarella marinara from Saz's or a hot dog from Martino's; heading down to the Marcus Amphitheater to try and find a ticket for Bon Jovi, and if I struck out, going to see local hero's Bad Boy open for Loverboy; watching the Big Bang fireworks and then staying for Loverboy, or checking out Robin Trower.

But as I sit here and type this, I'm watching footage on CNN of Micheal Jackson's body being transferred from a helicopter to a van to be driven to the coroner's office and I realize there are more important things in life than music, women and beer. So I miss a couple of days of Summerfest. At least I'm still alive. I'm sure when Micheal Jackson woke up this morning, he wasn't expecting to be dead by afternoon from cardiac arrest.

And besides, if the economy picks up and I find a better paying job, I can start a new streak next year, right?

DVD Review - Cold Prey II

2009-06-15T21:36:00.001-05:00

It's very rare, especially in the horror genre, that a sequel is better than the original. The Devil's Rejects immediately comes to mind, but not much else. That's why Cold Prey II is such a pleasant surprise.

While the first film echoed The Shining in parts, this one takes it's cue from Halloween II, set in an almost empty hospital. The hospital staff consists of a doctor, a resident and a nurse, all taking care of a young boy and an old woman who is only on screen for some quick comic relief. Seems the hospital is closing, which explains the lack of people walking the halls.

Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is back as Jannicke, the only survivor from the first film (although the other 4 main cast members from the first do show back up as corpses). Found by a policeman (who is also dating the resident) sent to check out an abandoned car, she's brought back to the hospital where she tells the authorities what happened to her. The bodies of her friends as well as the supposedly dead body of the killer are brought back to the hospital, and you can pretty much guess what happens next.

Obviously the success of the first film led to a larger budget, and a bigger cast. The addition of a police force, and especially the police chief character really add to the movie. A scene between the chief and the doctor who delivered the missing boy from the first film flesh out the back story of who the killer is, and why he kills.

Even though the way the supposedly dead killer is brought back to life is ludicrous, this is still one enjoyable film. While it's well into the film before the carnage starts, the time is well spent on the characters, their relationships and slowly building the suspense. There's much more gore than the first one, and the ending is satisfying, and for the most part believable. I especially liked that the entire police force, small as it is, was involved. Usually in horror films, there's never any law enforcement presence to protect the victims, or it's just a lone cop who is eventually dispatched by the villain. Of course they help add to the body count too.

Plans are already under way for a third film in the series, this one a prequel. I'm sure a Hollywood version of the first will eventually see the light of day as well.

*** out of 4

DVD Review - Cold Prey

2009-06-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

The current state of the US horror movie scene seems creatively bankrupt, with nothing by remakes, sequels and watered down PG-13 films coming out. Films from Japan, Hong Kong and Korea were fine for awhile, but one can only sit through so many ghost stories. Luckily the French have given us some really good and fresh new films the last several years, and now Norway joins them with the slasher film Cold Prey, or Fritt Vilt as it's known in it's native tongue.

Originally released in 2006, it finally saw a US DVD release earlier this year from Starz/Anchor Bay. The story centers around five people (two couples and a fifth wheel) who head to the mountains for a day of snowboarding. When the fifth wheel Morten Tobias breaks his leg, the group seeks shelter in an apparently abandoned ski lodge. As if their day hasn't gone bad enough, they soon will be picked off one by one by a pick-ax wielding madman.

This throwback to the slasher films of the 1980's brings nothing much new to the genre, but what it does bring is a likable and fairly believable cast of characters, and good pacing that builds the tension up to the finale. The opening car ride to the mountains gives us some insight into each character and since there are only 5 of them, and horror movie rules say that at least one has to survive the film, you can't start killing off the other 4 immediately.

Cold Prey is very well filmed, and makes great use of it's surroundings. Not many slasher films take place in the snow covered mountains, and director Roar Uthaug uses the blizzard conditions and isolation to his advantage. Maybe it's the blowing snow and hotel setting, but parts reminded me of The Shining.

But take the good filming and the snow out of the setting and it's just another run of the mill slasher film. The hulking killer is as big as Jason, and swings a mean pick-ax like the miner in My Bloody Valentine, but his back story is never really dealt with. Even with a quick "explanation" in the last couple of minutes, it explains nothing really about who he is and why he's there. And I'm not sure why this was released "Unrated" since there is no nudity and hardly any gore to speak of. In fact, the goriest part is when Morten breaks his leg. For some reason seeing a bone sticking out of a leg from an accident freaks me out more than seeing someone getting decapitated.

The extras on the DVD include an alternate ending that is not really alternate, it just adds some extra to the climax that wasn't filmed due to cost and time constraints. Unfortunately, they use storyboards to fill in the non-filmed scenes. And the "bloopers" reel isn't really made up of funny flubs, but mainly outtakes, of which one stands out where the killer practices swinging his weapon into the back of one of his victims. An alternate version of the opening car ride also makes for interesting viewing to see how that was edited down to the final version.

This is a decent film and worth watching, just don't expect anything much in the way of originality. Also, I recommend watching the movie with the English subtitles on, especially for the translation of news headlines and landmarks.

** 1/2 out of ****

Book Review - The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

2009-06-11T14:44:00.000-05:00

Vampires are in the spotlight again. From literary fiction in the teen oriented Twilight series (and now movies), the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels, and other vampire series to TV on Showtime's True Blood (also based on a series of novels), vampires are big business.

Now comes another twist on the vampire tale, this one written by veteran film director Guillermo Del Toro (Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth) and novelist Chuck Hogan. Originally intended as a TV mini-series, the idea was turned into a 401 page book after Fox deemed the project "too serious." The book reads almost like a screenplay, with quickly changing scenes, flashbacks and "interludes."

The story begins when a plane lands at JFK and goes dead, ceasing all communication with the tower. When the authorities enter the aircraft, all of the passengers are dead, except for 4 catatonic survivors. This jump-starts a thrilling story that crosses an out-of-control virus with the vampire mythology.

These are not your normal run of the mill vampires. No black capes, fangs and old world accents. While the authors stay true to the main conventions (an aversion to sunlight, silver etc.), or explain others away (garlic), they add new twists to the lore. Instead of biting their victims to feed, these vamps have long, sucker type extensions that shoot from under their tongues.

Without giving too much of the story away, the plot revolves around vampires who have always been here among us. There are 7 "masters", but one has turned against the others, and made it's way to New York with some human help. The main characters are an old professor Abraham Setrakian, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps who has faced this particular vampire before, and two members of the CDC, Dr. Eph Goodweather and Nora Martinez. They, along with a professional rat catcher introduced later in the book, race to contain the quickly spreading "virus" as it spreads across Manhattan.

While this is the work of two authors, from what I have read, Chuck Hogan did most of the writing based on the 12 page outline that Del Toro wrote. The book is fast paced and hard to put down at points, but it does have it's problems. While the Setrakian and Goodweather characters are well fleshed out with plenty of back-story, others are cliched. My biggest quibble is with Nora. She's in almost every part of the book with Eph, but we get little to no description of her or her background, except that she had a short affair with the Dr. During the climactic showdown with the Master, she stays behind to watch Goodweather's 11 year old son!

Also, while the authors definitely did their research on epidemics and especially rats, some of the book just reads too procedural, and parts are over-explained. Here is an example:

Eph searched around wildly for anything that would help him keep this guy away from him, finding only a trephine in a charger on a shelf. A trephine is a surgical instrument with a spinning cylindrical blade generally used for cutting open the human skull during autopsy.

Part of the pleasure of reading is that if you don't understand something, a word for example, you go look it up to find the definition or meaning. The reader doesn't need it explained to him/her in the same paragraph. This happens several times in the book. When I came across the word Strigoi used to describe the vampires, I looked it up and found it actually was an ancient Romanian word used before the word vampire came into vogue. See, I looked it up myself.

But those are small quibbles. The Strain is a very entertaining read that you will find hard to put down. This is the first book in a planned trilogy, with the next one planned to be done before Del Torro commences filming on The Hobbit movies. While nothing is really resolved in this one, it lays the groundwork for the next two, and the ending opens a whole new can of worms.

Movie Review: The Broken

2009-04-22T19:43:00.001-05:00

I just got my hands on the latest 8 films in the third After Dark Horrorfest series, and not having heard much about any of them, I decided to pop this one in first, mainly because Lena Headey was the lead.

The film takes place in England, which allows Headey (playing a character named Gail) to act in her native accent, which is slightly weird having heard her using an American accent the last 2 seasons on The Sarah Conner Chronicles. It revolves around Gail's family, who's father works for the American embassy. During a birthday dinner, a mirror on the wall inexplicably shatters, and sets up the events to come.

Thematically along the lines of last years Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland, The Broken uses "evil doppelgangers" who come through the mirrors to replace their respective characters. None of why this is happening is ever really explained, and a convoluted ending probably could be figured out. But after sitting through this way overlong movie (even at an 88 minute running time), I don't really care. Scenes seem to go on forever, and I found myself checking the remaining time on my DVD display every 5 minutes.

The Broken is very well filmed, almost an art house film pretending to be a horror movie. Several of the genre cliches are here, but just to toy with the viewer. You know the usual scene of someone looking into a bathroom mirror, opening it, then when the mirror closes the killer is standing behind them. Or the girl in the bathtub, where everything is quiet and the camera sneaks up behind. You expect something to come out of the water, or kill her from behind. Those are here, but the expected outcome never happens. In fact, not much happens in this movie.

As usual with the Afterdark series, the 8 films are hit and miss. While it had a couple of horrific moments, this really isn't a horror movie at all. Fans of slasher/splatter flicks will not care for this at all. Besides Lena Headey's nude scene, I really can't recommend this one at all.

*1/2 out of 4 stars

TV Review: The Final ER

2009-04-02T20:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight marks the end of an era on TV. After 15 seasons, ER is airing it's final episode. Most people I know,(and a it seems a lot of America), abandoned the show a long time ago, giving up after George Clooney left, and Anthony Edwards character died, but I never gave up.

I'll admit, I didn't start watching from the start. A TV show created by Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton should have been right up my alley, but I figured it was just another hospital drama. If anyone remembers, a similar show, David E. Kelly's Chicago Hope, actually premiered the night before. Already at that point I was becoming bored by the same old procedural shows. The cop shows, the courtroom and medical dramas, etc. Plus, no show could ever top the greatest hospital show of all time, St. Elsewhere, could they?

When it premiered in September of 1994, I was just over a year into a job that I would have for 15 years, was just a month since breaking up with the "love of my life" and just weeks from starting to date the next "love of my life." I guess one constant over the next 15 years was that this was one show that a network stuck with, and never kept moving to another night or time slot. The cast changed over the years, but it was always there for me, every Thursday night at 9PM.

It was the buzz that finally got me watching, the reviews and word of mouth that said this show might be something different, something special. So when they re-ran the 2 hour pilot, I tuned in and was hooked for the next 15 years.

Over the years, we were treated to one of the best written, acted, directed, most unpredictable and most original series ever. Week after week, the stories were compelling, whether they centered around the doctors, the hospital workers, the patients or their families. These were people we actually cared so much about, even though they weren't real.

This was a show that didn't always have that happy ending each week. Not every patient was saved. Parents lost kids, and kids lost parents. There were real consequences to people's actions and even the main characters, no matter how big they were, were susceptible. Carter suffered through drug addiction and Abby dealt with alcoholism. Mark Green was attacked in the hospital bathroom, and later gets cancer. Benton's struggles with relationship's and his son's deafness, Jeannie got AIDS, Romano lost his arm to a helicopter blade and Ray lost both his legs after being run over. Lucy was murdered, and Dr. Green, Pratt, Gallant, and Romano all died.

Notice with everyone I just mentioned, I only used one name. While we all know their full names, we were on a one name basis with all of them. Carter, Doug, Carol, Susan, Mark, Corday, Abby, Luka, Gates, Benton, Weaver, Gallant, Neela, Pratt, Romano, Archie, Sam and how about the desk clerks Frank and Jerry, and nurses like Haleh, Chuny, Lilly and Lydia. Name another show where you just know a cast this big, this close.

I stuck with them through blizzards, floods, fires, porch collapses, car crashes, helicopter accidents, births and deaths.

ER made stars out of several of it's actors, but it attracted it's own share of celebrities, some as guest appearances and some in recurring roles. Sally Field, Red Buttons, Angela Bassett, Bob Newhart, Ernest Borgnine, James Woods, Alan Alda, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rooney, William H. Macy and James Cromwell were just several of the big names.

It also survived the loss of some of it's biggest stars, soldiering on with new doctors, new nurses and new interns whose story lines were just as interesting. And unlike a lot of shows where actors leave on bad terms or don't want to be associated with their character any longer, almost every single one came back for an appearance in this final season. Carter came back for several episodes at the end, and played a pivotal role. We got to see what became of Doug and Carol and their kids, how Benton's young, deaf son had grown into a teenager, and even a flashback episode with Dr. Green which tied in with Angela Basset's current character.

Speaking of Dr. Green, is was perfectly fitting that this finale featured his daughter, now all grown up and applying at the very hospital that her Dad spent his life at. It's a credit to the show that they were able to bring back the original actress (and the actor who played Reese too), and it was so great to see how Rachel had changed from a bratty, angry kid to a poised and mature young woman.

It was also great to see the opening credit sequence return. Missing for several years now, it sent shivers up my spine hearing that familiar theme music again, and seeing the Benton fist pump one last time.

As far as the final episode goes, while I wish this show would keep going, it was a fitting end. It echoed moments from the very first episode, particularly the opening scene with Lydia waking up a doctor trying to get some sleep between shifts. And scenes such as Carter and Gates shooting hoops in the ambulance bay seemed to bring things full circle.

The finale made me think that the more things change, the more they stay the same. What was happening 15 years ago is still happening today. County General has always been there, and starting in 1994 we were allowed to peek in every week to see what was going on in these people lives. And even though the show itself has ended, things will still go on there, we just won't be able to share it with them.

Personally, while I still think St. Elsewhere as a whole was a better show, and it laid the groundwork for what medical dramas would become, ER will be remembered as one of the greatest shows in the history of television. Besides the acting and writing, it will also be known for it's frenetic camera-work, and also it's realism. Admit it, we've all learned so many medical terms and what they mean just from watching this show for an hour every week.

Not all story lines were tied up, and not every character got their happy ending. But compared to St. Elsewhere's "snow globe" finale, this was was fittingly perfect. I'm really, really going to miss this show, and Thursday nights will never be the same, but thanks to DVD, we can always drop in on our friends whenever we want to.

Movie Review - My Bloody Valentine 3D **1/2 (out of 4)

2009-01-25T19:10:00.000-06:00

This is the latest installment of Hollywood's effort to remake every single horror movie from the late 70's and early 80's. Actually, they aren't referring to them as remakes anymore. Now, they are "re-imaginings". Since the studios have run out of imagination, they have to re-imagine. While most have been complete dud's, every once in awhile one of them actually equals or betters the original (The Hills Have Eyes comes to mind).

The movie takes place in an in-bred little mining town, where they must be having one heck of a mild winter. For being set in the middle of February, there's no snow, the characters wear light jackets, leave the windows in their vehicles open and steam doesn't come out of anyones mouth, not even at night.

The basic plot and certain characters remain from the original. We learn from news montage that some miners were trapped in a shaft, and when they were rescued, there was only one survivor. Turns out the lone survivor killed the others with his pick-ax to survive, but is now in a coma. One year later he wakes and slaughters 22 men, women and children, then disappears down the shaft. Three kids at a party survive, but luckily they don't spend much time with character introductions at the beginning. The first 15 minutes are pretty much non-stop action and killing.

The main story takes place 10 years later, where we meet again the three survivors. One, Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith) is now the town sheriff, and is married to another survivors former girlfriend Sarah (Jamie King). The third survivor, and Sarah's ex-boyfriend is Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles), the son of the mine owner who has just returned to town after taking off following the massacre. The cast is also filled out with some veteran actors such as Kevin Tighe and Tom Atkins.

What follows is a decent story with several subplots and fairly believable characters. These aren't your stereotypical teens in danger who seem to get offed as soon as they are introduced. In fact I think having a cast of more twenty-something's along with the older actors actually made the movie better. The killers identity stays pretty well hidden for most of the movie. It could be the original miner Harry Warden, or it could be 2-3 others. I must say though that the reveal at the end was kind of disappointing, and anti-climactic.

And then there's the gimmick of showing the movie in 3D. Theaters are showing this in a regular 2D version also, but it's a must to see in as it was intended. Previous 3D movies such as Friday The 13th Part 3 or Jaws 3-D pretty much used it in a cliched, gratuitous way. The director used the technology throughout the entire movie, not just the killings. The police cars, buildings and more take on an added depth. But believe me, when it is used during the killings, it's more than effective. Be prepared to be bombarded with flying eyeballs, pick-axes, tree limbs, and even a jaw. I was very surprised with the amount of blood and gore allowed in the film. After seeing some of the stills in Fangoria magazine and on-line, I figured most would be cut. Luckily, it's all still there.

The main question about the movie though is, will it be as good on DVD, where it will lose the 3D effect and have to rely on it's story, acting and FX. I think it will stand up. I had a fun time watching this, and I'd like to see it again. That's saying something for a re-make these days. Also, the ending left it wide open for a sequel. I'm sure if it makes enough at the box office, a sequel will green lit. Let's hope it's better than The Hills Have Eyes 2.

BTW, for some reason many theaters are charging an extra "3D fee". The theater I saw it at charged $2 extra and you didn't even get to keep the glasses!

Concert Review - Jim Peterik & World Stage Jnauary 18th

2009-01-18T23:04:00.000-06:00

Jim Peterik & World Stage is like Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band, except for fans of AOR/Melodic Rock. Peterik (Survivor, Ides Of March) was joined by Jimi Jamison (Survivor), Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger), David Pack (Ambrosia), Don Barnes (.38 Special) and Rik Emmett (Triumph). If that isn't a melodic rock lover's wet dream, then I don't know what is. They only did two shows with this line-up, and luckily Milwaukee, WI was one of them.

Unlike Starr's band, Peterik has his regular World Stage backing band, and the guest singers come out one by one to do their hits. Yeah, it would have been nice to have them all out there for the entire show, but it is what it is. Only doing these two shows (last night was in McHenry, IL) you can't expect these guys who just flew in from wherever to learn everybody's songs for a two hour show.

Peterik took the stage and immediately introduced himself as the founding member of both Ides Of March and Survivor. Hopefully that was just for the benefit of the waitress's and security, since all there already knew well who he is. Jimi Jamison was up first and did the Survivor classics "I Can't Hold Back" and "High On You." (While he didn't get to perform anything off his excellent new "Crossroads Moment" cd, they did play it over the PA before and after the show).

Besides World Stage,Ides Of March, Pride Of Lions and solo work, Peterik also has a smooth jazz side project called Jim Peterik's Lifeforce. He brought along Lisa McClowry who besides singing backup all night, took lead on the song "Unconditional Surrender" which also featured Steve Eisen (Styx, Dennis DeYoung) on flute and guitarist Nick Colionne on guitar. Colionne and Peterik happened to meet up here in Wisconsin late last year at the Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival where both were appearing and have started working together. He did two songs including one called "Melt Into You" which Peterik co-wrote. This guy is one to watch if you are into guitarists such as George Benson. I would have bought his cd's they had on sale if I had any money with me. One to watch.

David Pack, long ago of Ambrosia was up next. Looking a little portly, but still sounding fantastic, he sang "How Much I Feel" and "You're The Only Woman." Before "Woman" he told an anecdote about playing at the Clinton Inauguration with Kenny Loggins, and while he was singing this song, the Clintons were dancing in front of them and Bill turned and said "Man, I love that song" (as you can imagine Bill saying it).

Night Ranger drummer and singer Kelly Keagy took his turn, wearing a fedora and singing "Sister Christian". After all the times I've seen Night Ranger, it was kind of weird seeing him out being the front man, instead of singing from behind the drum kit at the side of the stage. Interesting and cool version too, with Eisen's sax taking over the normal guitar solo towards the end. When he announced the next song would be off the 1st Night Ranger album, I figured "Sing Me Away", but it was surprisingly "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" instead.

Since Jim Peterik wrote some of .38 Special's biggest hits, you knew what to expect when it was time for Don Barnes. A slightly shortened version of "Caught Up In You" led right into "Hold On Loosely". After a short drum "duel" between World Stage drummer Ed Breckenfeld and Kelly Keagy, they all launched into "Rockin' Into The Night."

The rocking continued with Rik Emmett, finally back in Triumph, taking the stage. When he started the beginning of "Lay It On The Line" you kind of felt from the crowd that this is who, despite everybody else tonight, they had come to see. And despite some rough parts vocally on the high parts of the next song "Magic Power," Emmett got the first real standing ovation of the evening and the chants began of "one more song!"

Finally, after a crazed guitar solo by Peterik, Jimi Jamison came back out for the inevitable "Eye Of The Tiger," featuring Eisen on sax, and the horns from Ides Of March. Strangely, only Emmett and Jamison came out for the encore of "Vehicle." Jimi had some funny moments during the song playing bongos and trying to sing the chorus into the bongo mic's. Would have been nice to see everyone back out on stage together.

Unfortunately, I didn't hear about this show until two days ago when it was written up in the paper. Any local advertising besides that was pretty non-existent and it showed in the attendance. In an already small, intimate venue that only seats about 550, there were less than 100 people there. Lack of advertising, a Sunday night show (luckily the Packers weren't playing) and a $50 face value probably had something to with the turnout.

The band and guests didn't seem to mind though and still put their all into the show. Everyone came out afterwards to the merchandise table and were more than willing to talk, sign autographs and take pictures. Got plenty of info from talking to the guys including Kelly Keagy telling me he did some solo shows in Nashville last week and is writing songs with some local musicians there, David Pack has some new stuff recorded but no firm plans for a new cd yet, Don Barnes told me .38 Special will be touring this summer with a date already lined up at our Summerfest; and while I didn't get it right from his mouth, I have it on good authority that after Rik Emmett's solo dates are done in May, Triumph will be undertaking a US tour sometime in the summer of 2009.

Movie Review - Taken ** (out of 4)

2009-01-14T11:27:00.001-06:00

This was the first movie of 2009 that I was really looking forward to. It had a great premise, a great lead in Liam Neeson, and a solid cast in Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser (Dr. Dubenko on ER) and Katie Cassidy. FOX has been promoting the crap of of it lately, including an extended promo during the NFL pregame show this past Sunday. So it must me the first great movie of the year, right?

There is a reason why January is considered a dumping ground for movies the studios consider worthless. That's why the heavy promotional push was so surprising. Maybe FOX really did have something with this one?

Turns out it was actually released last February in Europe, Australia in August and the UK in September, and it's already out on DVD in most of those areas. Rumour has it also that several scenes have been edited in order to give it a PG-13 rating for the US.

Once again, all the great moments are in the movie's trailers. Taken is just your typical revenge flick that we've all seen before. While Neeson and Janssen turn in decent performances (although Neeson's accent seems to slip from American to Irish at times), most others are downright laughable. Check out Maggie Grace as the daughter, Kim. She's over-excited in almost every scene and every time she sees somebody she knows, she literally RUNS at them!

As far as the plot? There are holes big enough to drive a truck through. Without giving anything away, just watch closely the entire scene where Neeson records the phone call, then remember what you saw throughout the film. And scenes such as when his friend identifies the bad guy solely based on a quick phone recording will just make you say WHAT? An early sub-plot involving Neeson's character providing security to a Britney-like pop star serves no purpose at all except introduce his old spy buddies, provide a happy wrap-up at the end and pad the running time.

Mercifully short at just over 90 minutes, it's decent popcorn fare if you don't want to think too hard and only be mildly entertained. I expected more out of this though. I'll leave it to the critics the Friday this comes out, but I assume there will be more than a fair share of "don't be Taken" or "You've been Taken for a ride" used in their reviews.

CD Reissue Kansas - Two For The Show

2008-08-21T21:47:00.000-05:00

Released on July 1st, this live collection gets the 30th Anniversary treatment as a deluxe 2 cd set. When it was originally released on cd in 1989, the label did their usual shoddy job back then and left off "Closet Chronicles" due to "length" issues. That song has now been restored, as well as 10 unreleased songs recorded during the same period. You can toss that earlier version into the garbage bin, as this is now the definitive one.

Originally released as a double vinyl set in November of 1978, Two For The Show captured Kansas at the height of their early career. Recorded at different venues over the 1977-78 tour, it showcased the best of their first 5 albums. Most of the songs here are still staples in their set-lists even today.

My main bone of contention with this album and other live albums of that era has always been the fades between songs that ruin the continuity of the live concert experience. While the band maintains in the liner notes that there was no post-production overdubs or other studio trickery, a little cohesion between tracks still wouldn't ruin the recording's integrity. One part specifically stands out like a sore thumb. On Disc 2, a fairly benign drum solo by Phil Ehart leads into a great version of "The Spider" (which led into "Portrait (He Knew)" on the Point Of Know Return album). As the song fades out, you can hear the opening beats of "Portrait." Why not put them back to back as they should be? They couldn't have been worried about the original continuity since "Closet Chronicles" is already out of order. This will probably be corrected on the "35th Anniversary Edition" which we will be forced to buy due to the inclusion of more "lost" songs or "improved sound."

Still, the performance's on this release are the best they've ever sounded. As a fan of the band for a long, long time, it's interesting to see how the set list has changed. Here, songs like "Point Of Know Return," "Carry On Wayward Son," and "Dust In The Wind" are all early in the show, unlike today when they are held for the end and encores.

The unreleased tracks bring plenty of album cuts that are performed sporadically or not at all any more. Great to hear songs such as "Hopelessly Human," "Belexes," and "Sparks Of The Tempest" again. The band really shows off their musical chops too, especially on the over 11 minute jam "Magnum Opus." Steve Walsh's voice sounds as good as ever too, just nailing the songs.

In addition to the unreleased tracks, the liner notes include some new interviews with band members current and past (Kerry Livgren especially), and shed light on little know facts such as the album cover being based on a 1940's era Norman Rockwell painting. While this might not be the collection of hits the casual fan is looking for, the real Kansas fans need to add this to their collection.

Concert Review - KT Tunstall Pabst Theater 8/15/08

2008-08-20T20:24:00.000-05:00

The Pabst Theater was the perfect place for KT Tunstall to make her very first Milwaukee appearance. She's played Chicago almost 10 times and the Barrymore in Madison, but after 2 albums and critical acclaim, it's the first time in our city. The Pabst was well suited for her voice and style of music.

Dressed in a sparkly halter top, jeans and black boots, she looked attractive without playing up her sexuality. She took the stage by herself and did an acoustic song to open, then was joined by her band for a full-on rock show. Her voice was strong throughout the show and the band was tight.

I first stumbled across KT on the Today Show one morning, and she really impressed me with her first hit, "Black Horse And The Cherry Tree" which she performed solo while creating all the beats and background vocals herself. So it was great to sit close and be able to watch her use the Akai Headrush foot pedal, which lets her loop certain vocals and sounds live during the performance instead of using backing tapes.

A lot of newer acts headlining after only 2 albums sometimes rely on cover songs to fill the set, but not Tunstall. Her set was a good mix of her first release and the new Drastic Fantastic collection. "Black Horse" showed up just past the halfway point and was a clear audience favorite. "Suddenly I See" was saved for towards the end and finally got the Pabst crowd on their feet. Favorite of the night for me was an excellent version of "Other Side Of The World." This song has such a great melody and hook, and sounded even more wrenching live.

This is one talented lady who can write and sing incredibly catchy songs, plays her multitude of guitars like a pro, and has a great wit about her also. To me, she's been unfairly lumped in with the likes of Dido and others. She has so much more potential and I see a great future for her. Just don't stay away from Milwaukee so long next time!

Summerfest 2008 - Day 1 June 26th

2008-06-29T15:34:00.000-05:00

It was hot and humid down on the Summerfest grounds, and running my butt off to get down there in time didn't make me any more comfortable. I ended up getting a gig video taping the opening ceremonies and hopefully getting to film what really goes on at the fest from a fan's POV. Might lead to a cool documentary eventually. Surprisingly, even at the 40th celebration last year, nothing was done (as far as I know) to commemorate the event besides a decent coffee table book.

I've never bothered to attend the opening ceremonies before. They used to be held when the gates opened at noon (I had to work), and was the typical love fest of community leaders and still brings back bad memories of the late Mayor Meier or Mayor Norquist attempting to sing.

This year wasn't much different, with the current mayor, police and fire chiefs, county executive, alderman and assorted local "dignitaries" seated on stage. I won't bore you with a description of the festivities, but local guitarist (and occasional Genesis member) Daryl Stuermer did join a band made up of Summerfest workers and big-wigs for a decent run through of "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven", although Bob Babisch should stick to what he does best (booking the music) and leave the singing to others.

The event was held at the brand new Harley-Davidson Roadhouse stage. This area used to be the site of the Pabst Stage and has undergone a considerable makeover. Situated between the Miller and Briggs & Stratton stages, it was always a tough area to get through during the bigger acts. I can recall seeing the likes of Meatloaf, Journey, Foreigner and others where it was so packed, if you found a good spot to see the shows, you didn't dare leave to get a beer or hit the bathrooms. They have torn down a building towards the back and that now opens a big area going all the way to the lake. Also added were much needed video screens so people in the back can still see. This is the second stage following Miller to now feature the screens and it would be great to eventually have them at all the big stages. They also built an observation /hospitality deck near the stage, although it remains to be seen how much the general public will have access to it, if at all. I was asked to leave (kicked out) after about 30 seconds up there.

Luckily, my favorite Venice Club pizza is still there, although they moved the gyro place to the ethnic area and replaced it with another pizza place. Unfortunately, it appears that Shakey's is gone completely. They didn't have the best pizza, but their Mojo Potatoes were great. I'm gonna miss those.

Fox Sports was broadcasting the NBA draft live at the sports area, so word spread pretty fast about the Bucks trading Yi and Bobby Simmons for Richard Jefferson. Reaction was mixed at best.

But enough about food and sports, let's talk about the real attraction at Summerfest: the music!
The first musical act I caught this year was Eric Burden & The Animals, playing an early show at the Briggs & Stratton Stage. Burdon is looking a bit long in the tooth, but still sounded like his old self. I caught the last couple of songs including "House Of The Rising Sun" and "It's My Life."

I also caught the last 2 songs from a band called Vedera. No clue who they are, and while the songs were of your typical background/end credit CW Network music, the female vocalist can sing!

Stevie Wonder was the headliner at the Marcus Amphitheater tonight. Personally, it was one of those hit or miss shows for me. If I could have gotten a good ticket cheap I would have checked it out, but missing it was no big deal. Instead I grabbed a good seat in the 4th row and waited for LeAnn Rimes at the Miller Stage at 9PM. For those that don't know, some of the big name headliners start early on opening night so they can finish before the Big Bang fireworks start at 10:30.

Rimes took the stage right after 9, opening with "Nothing Better To Do". Unfortunately, she looked like a cheap whore in a green checkered halter top, matching shorts that were considerably shorter than the ones worn by NBA players in the 1970's and black high heels. LeAnn, Hookers At The Point called. They want their outfits back. Being the red blooded American male that I am, I normally would not have minded that on a girl walking around the fest, but the tart look just didn't work for her. At one point she was seated on a stool with the camera was pretty much aimed at you know what. And her people should have made sure that if you are going to be shown on large video screen in front of a couple thousand people, you might want to make sure all the stubble is gone before you lift your arm in the air.

But she can sing, and she sounded great running through hits like "Can't Fight The Moonlight," "How Do I Live," "Big Deal" and of course her first hit "Blue." Songs from her new album Family went over well with the crowd, even though some probably hadn't heard them before. Several years ago she headlined the Marcus Amphitheater with Bryan White opening. That was one of her early headlining tours and she seemed ill at ease and almost awkward. Now she seems much more comfortable (almost too comfortable) up there.

Shortly after she finished, the fireworks started. I might be giving up one of my Summerfest secrets here, but this is one of the best times to get done what you need to get done. While people are fixated on the show in the sky, you can hit the bathrooms, beers tents and food vendors without much of a line. By the time the show was over, I got done what I needed too and had found a great seat for the next show, Little Big Town at the Harley Stage.

On record, Little Big Town sounds like a country version of Fleetwood Mac crossed with the Eagles. But could they pull off those gorgeous harmonies live? Yes, they can. The four members of LBT and their band ran through a roughly 80 minute set of their hits including "I'm With The Band," and "Fine Line." While the place wasn't exactly packed (it was 11PM on a Thursday night after all) those that were there seemed to know every word to every song. The show built to a big conclusion with a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" which led into the encores of their biggest hit "Boondocks" and a cover of the Eagles "Heartache Tonight."

Not that LeAnn Rimes was bad. Not at all. But she's gone from headlining the Marcus Amphitheater to playing the side stages. I think next time we see LBT at Summerfest, they will be moving on up to the big stage.

Summerfest 2008

2008-06-26T13:31:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've posted on this blog, but it's Summerfest time so I might as well start again.

Yes, my 11 day run of Summerfest starts today and I can't wait to get down to the grounds. Supposedly lots of changes have been made, especially around the Harley Davidson stage area. That's where some of my favorite restaurants were located. We'll have to see what's up there.

As far as the music goes, which is the main part of going to Summerfest, I personally think this is one of the weakest line-ups ever. Most of the acts on the side stages I'll be going to see have been there multiple times over the years. But I never get tired of seeing Cheap Trick or Kansas.

Summerfest Day 1 - June 28th, 2007

2007-06-29T16:59:00.000-05:00

Having the worlds greatest music festival on the shores of Lake Michigan is perfect 99% of the time. You've got the great view, and on really hot days that wind off the lake really feels good. But on nights like tonight, it's not as much fun. Here we are at the end of June and I have to wear a jacket to Summerfest because it's under 60 degrees. Such is life in Wisconsin.

Steely Dan was back again this year, headlining the Marcus Amphitheater. The Sam Yahel Organ Trio opened, and I really didn't want to see what their organs looked like, so I walked the grounds taking in all the changes to the festival, some for the good and some for the bad. I walked in around 8:30, just as the band took the stage.

Unfortunately, the place was barely half full, and on a cool night, it took the audience a little while to get into the mood. To me at least, Steely Dan is not an amphitheater band. Their brand of music just isn't meant to be played in 24,000 seaters. But it was nice to just sit and relax to Steely's music while the sun went down.

The 12 piece band was tight, and Donald Fagen seemed in an exceptionally good mood tonight (he kept referring to the crowd as "Summerfest babies"). This was the last show of the US tour before they head off to Europe, so they were having fun.

The set list was a good mix of hits, some newer songs and some obscure album tracks. "Time Out Of Mind" from Gaucho came early in the set and sounded fantastic. Guitarist Walter Becker really impressed me tonight with his playing, and he got a little mic time during "Hey 19". The two female backup singers added depth to the songs, especially on "Babylon Sisters". They also took lead on a nice version of "Dirty Work".

When they delved into some of the lesser known songs such as "Haitian Divorce" or "Green Earrings" people started to lose interest for some reason. Lot's of people leaving for bathroom or beer runs, or just talking loudly. Oh well, their loss. But everyone was on their feet for "Peg", "Aja", "Bodhisatva" and others. Great versions of "FM" and "Kid Charlamagne" closed out the show.

While I enjoyed the concert, I would have liked it better in a more intimate setting. And conspicuously absent were "Black Friday" and "Deacon Blue".

Here is the setlist:
Time Out of Mind
Godwhacker
Bad Sneakers
Two Against Nature
Hey 19
Haitian Divorce
Peg
Babylon Sisters
Green Earrings
Dirty Work
Josie
-Band Intros
Chain Lightning
Aja
Bodhisatva

Encores:
FM
Kid Charlamagne
Carolyn

On opening night at Summerfest, we have a fireworks show billed as The Big Bang at 10:30. So some of the headliners on the side stages are moved up so they are done before the fireworks start. Two of the acts I really wanted to see were Phil Vasser (who started at 8:30) and REO Speedwagon (who started at 9PM). After Steely Dan was over, I ran over to the Classic Rock stage and caught the last two songs from REO. The place was jammed packed so there was no way I was getting up front, but I found a place I could at least see a little bit. "Roll With The Changes" and "Riding The Storm Out" were the only two I got to hear, but they sounded as good as always. And the crowd was singing along on every word.

Next it was down to see either Jack's Mannequin or Dickey Betts. Luckily they were on stages right next to each other so I could go back and forth with ease. While I'm not a huge fan of Something Corporate and Andrew McMahon's side project, I did like some songs on the Mannequin album so I figured I'd check them out. They drew a sizeable crowd of mostly 15-25 year olds. What surprised me the most though was the lack of enthusiasm from the audience. The band was rockin', but most standing on the benches were barely moving. Back in my day, everybody would be dancing or jumping around. Plus most kids looked like they were more interested in talking on their cell phones or texting each other instead of enjoying the music. They should all have been made to go to REO and see how a real rock crowd acts. The times they are a changing.

After being kicked out of the Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts has managed to put together an almost identical band. From the three guitar attack, to the two drummers and a percussionist, to a guy with long blond hair who sang and played the organ, this was a virtual copy. But they did sound good. Betts can play his ass off, and there were plenty of long jams. As expected, the set was heavy on Allman favorites. Summerfest gets to run past it's usual midnight closing on opening night because of the fireworks. Betts was still playing at 12:50AM, and when some guy next to me started extolling the virtues of Ratdog and moe, I knew it was time to go.

On the walk out, the Violent Femmes were playing "Blister In The Sun", one of the worst songs ever. Definitely time to go home. 10 more days to go.

Summerfest Preview

2007-06-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

Summerfest is turning 40 this year. Here are just some of the acts that I hope to be seeing over the next 11 days, starting tonight: Steely Dan, REO Speedwagon, Dickie Betts, Styx, Foreigner, Def Leppard, Blue Oyster Cult, Lindsay Buckingham, Sara Evans, George Thorogood, Big & Rich, Roger Waters, Heart, Buddy Guy, Asia, Bon Jovi, Peter Frampton and The New Cars.

Sounds like a great line-up right? With this being the 40th Anniversary, I was expecting a whole lot more though. With the exception of Betts, Bon Jovi, Heart and Roger Waters, I've seen all of these acts in the past year. And most were played the fest last year. I was hoping for some fresh blood, and who knows, I might stumble across some great music from bands I've never heard before. That's whats so great about Summerfest.

In a record that really only matters to me I guess, when I walk through the doors tonight it will mark 212 straight days of going to Summerfest. If I make it all 11 days this year, I will have not missed a day in 20 straight years. Hopefully the weather stays warm and it only rains in the afternoons.

Movie Review: Knocked Up

2007-06-13T13:55:00.000-05:00

I've been a fan of Judd Aptow since Freaks & Geeks. The guy has a writing style that is unique in that he manages to take ordinary people and situations and make them both funny and touching. Unfortunately, he has stumbled with Knocked Up.

I know, it's been getting great reviews and has done very well at the box office, but to me it was full of cliches, stereotypical characters and dumb dialogue, and it really wasn't that funny either. Except for a couple of scenes, most of the funny parts are in the previews.

Seth Rogan plays a loser named Ben, who's first love in life is getting stoned with his friends. They are all unemployed, but are working on a web site listing the exact time in movies when a celebrity has a nude scene. Yeah, that's a real money maker. This is a guy who, when there's an earthquake the first thing he grabs is his bong.

Katherine Heigl plays Alison, a beautiful, ambitious young woman who has just been promoted to reporter at E! Entertainment. She goes out with friends to celebrate, and after having a few too many, goes home with Ben and gets knocked up.

I'm not going to bring up the completely unbelievable premise that these two would ever get together. It's like the term "coyote ugly" in reverse. This isn't a documentary or a biography, it's a fictional movie and we are required to suspend our disbelief, and you really have to do that alot in this one. I think if the movie would have played up the absurdity of this, it would have worked. It doesn't know if it wants to be a gross out comedy, a romantic comedy or an exploration of relationships.

One of the main problems I had is with Rogan. He's a good character actor, but asking him to carry the movie is too much. He just walks around like a stoned doofus dough boy for most of the film. Maybe Will Ferrall might have been better in the role?

There are plenty of plot holes and unanswered questions too. Why did Alison decide to keep the baby? She got pregnant after a one night stand, the father is a fat slob, she has a promising career (in fact she doesn't even tell her bosses that she's pregnant until around 8 months!). It would have been nice to hear why she decided not to abort the child. Was it for religious reasons? Did she just really want to be a mom that bad? And why would she actually try to start a relationship with this guy?

Ben's friends have some funny moments, especially the pink eye scene, but Martin Starr (so good on Freaks & Geeks) is totally wasted here, literally and figuratively. The guys are all one dimensional horn dog potheads. It would have been better to flesh them out a little more. I'd love to hang out with the guys in Entourage, but not this group.

At two hours and nine minutes, this movie was overlong by at least a half hour. Some scenes seemed to go on forever. While the Vegas trip had it's funny spots, it really did nothing to move the plot forward. Comedies should never be this long.

There were a couple of bright spots though, especially Kristin Wiig in a hilarious turn on one of her SNL characters.

This is probably the most overrated movie of the year so far. Unless you are a male in the 12-25 age bracket, or loved the American Pie movies, you probably will not like this movie. Maybe worth a viewing on cable, but that's about it.

I have to give Knocked Up a ** out of ****

Genesis Opens Reunion Tour

2007-06-12T13:20:00.000-05:00

Here is the setlist from last nights opening of Genesis's Turn It On Again tour in Helsinki. From the looks of it, this should please most fans of the Collins era.

Behind The Lines / Duke's End
Turn It On Again
No Son Of Mine
Land Of Confusion
In The Cage / The Cinema Show / Duke's Travels
Afterglow
Hold On My Heart
Home By The Sea
Follow You Follow Me
Firth Of Fifth / I Know What I Like
Mama
Ripples
Throwing It All Away
Domino
Drum Duet
Los Endos
Tonight Tonight Tonight (intro)
Invisible Touch

Encores:
I Can't Dance
The Carpet Crawlers

Concert Review-The Original Idol's

2007-06-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

This is the 3rd year of A Taste Of Summer, held in Waukesha, WI. It's a small, but up and coming music festival that also features rides, a circus, lions & tigers and other amusements.

If you're a 70's junkie like myself, The Original Idol's is a dream line-up: The Bay City Rollers, The Cowsills, Leif Garrett, Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods and mc'd by Barry Williams. Merrill Osmond, Tony DeFranco, Rex Smith and Danny Bonaduce are also on the tour, but only select dates (not this show unfortunately). All you need is a Cassidy, and you pretty much have the still living idol's of the 60's and 70's.

Barry Williams (aka Greg Brady, aka Johnny Bravo) opened the show with "The Real Greg Brady", his parody of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady". He then introduced Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods, who were also the house band for everyone.

Donaldson was the only original member, but the band he's put together were spot on. They did his hits "Who Do You Think You Are", "The Heartbreak Kid", and of course "Billy, Don't Be A Hero". Surprisingly, there are no cd's you can currently buy at a store or at the major online sites, just songs on compilations. But you can buy a greatest hits cd from Bo's official site.

After Donaldson's set, Williams came back out and did the Brady Bunch classic (ok, classic if you're a Brady fan) "It's A Sunshine Day". He brought several people up on stage to be "honorary" Bradys, and taught them to do the Brady dance steps.

The Cowsills were up next. Susan, Bob and Paul were there, but drummer John Cowsill is on tour with whatevers left of the Beach Boys. They sang "The Rain, The Park and Other Things", "We Can Fly", "Indian Lake", "Love American Style" and "Hair". Their harmonies were impeccable and they seemed to be having a great time on what they said was their first tour in almost 40 years.

Leif Garrett hit the stage wearing a hat pulled down over his eyes. Opening with "The Wanderer", "Surfin' USA" and "Johnny B. Goode" (he forgot where he was in the song and started singing over the instrumental part). He also did a new song which didn't sound bad at all. Nothing about a new album though. He finished with "I Was Made For Dancin' ". Rumours were Leif is back to his old ways and was drunk. That probably explains why he didn't come out during the encore, or to sign and meet people after the show.

The Bay City Rollers were up last. The only Roller was Ian Mitchell, who replaced Alan Longmuir on the Dedication album. They opened with "I Only Want To Be With You" followed by "Rock And Roll Love Letter". Dressed in their trademark tartan wear and backed by the Heywoods, they really rocked with a harder edge than their usual bubblegum sound. They also did "Money Honey" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic", then closed with "Saturday Night" where everyone on the bill (except Garrett) appeared on stage.

Even though the show was a little rough, and there really weren't a whole lot of "original idols" present, it was still an enjoyable, nostalgic show. And they all came out after the show (except for Garrett) to the merchandise table to meet the fans, sing autographs and pose for pictures.

The Guess Who headlined tonight, and it was "guess who's in the band" night. No Randy Bachman or Burton Cummings. Only original bassist Jim Kale was in the band. Guess who left early? Me.

Fangoria Weekend Of Horrors - Part III

2007-06-05T16:17:00.000-05:00

Sunday, May 20th

Russell Mulcahy: Unfortunately, Mr. Mulcahy was ill today, so one of the producers of the upcoming Resident Evil: Extinction took his place. We were at least shown a clip from the movie, featuring the gorgeous Ali Larter (Heroes). From the looks of it, this will be an action and gore filled fun fest. If you've seen the trailer, you know they show several landmarks on the strip of Las Vegas. I asked if there were any problems getting the rights to those. The answer is, you can show whatever you want, but as long as you spell the name of the casino slightly different, then you are free to use it.

Thora Birch: Ms. Birch was here to promote her new movie Dark Corners. This looks more like a psychological thriller more than a horror movie.

Masters Of Horror Panel: Mick Garris, Tom Holland (Fright Night) and Peter Medak (The Changeling) talked about the series. Yes, there will be a 3rd season but since they haven't signed the contracts yet, they couldn't discuss possible directors or stories yet. I asked Holland about whatever happened to Stephen Geoffreys. He said he had heard that Geoffreys had overdosed, but that he was now fine and living in Southern California. Turns out he is returning to acting in the upcoming horror movie Sick Girl. Medak gave the best answer of the weekend. I asked him what was was next for him. His response? "Probably a bullet". Relax, he was just kidding.

World Of Boll: Uwe couldn't make it, so actors Zach Ward and Jackie Tohn previewed some of his upcoming movies Bloodrayne II, Seed and Postal. Of all, the completely un-PC Postal looks the best. This one is guaranteed to offend just about everyone. You can watch some trailers for it here. And yes, it's yet again based on a video game.

Neil Marshall: The director of Dog Soldiers and The Descent discussed his upcoming film Doomsday. While he didn't give too much away, it's a futuristic thriller about a virus that invades England and kills thousands (sounds a little like another film series, huh?). The authorities quarantine the living and build a giant wall around the city. 30 years later, the virus breaks out again and scientists have to go over the wall and try to find a cure. Unfortunately, no clip or trailer for the movie was shown. He also talked about the making of The Descent and how they built the cave sets.

The Breed Preview: Director Nick Mastandrea previewed his new killer dog movie starring Michelle Rodriguez (Lost). Of course I just had to ask him if Michelle was a drunk on the set, but he said she was nothing but professional.

Behind The Mask Panel: Actors Nathan Baesel and Angela Goethals along with director/co-writer Scott Glosserman discussed their new slasher film. The DVD will be out June 26th. I've already seen it and it's an interesting take on the slasher genre.

Clive Barker: The one everybody was waiting for today. Tony Timpone moderated and asked questions of Barker, who answered audience questions also. I had never seen Barker before and to me and several others, he appeared extremely inebriated. He seemed to lose his train of thought, looked like he was sweating heavily, and I swear he was slurring. But I've been informed that that's just the way he is. A mad genius I guess. So Clive, I'm sorry for thinking you were a drunk.

He was there to talk about the upcoming movie adaption of his story Midnight Meat Train. He also spoke about his new book called Mr. B Gone, about "a book that wants to eat you", and about his paintings. A weird but very entertaining discussion.

Signal Preview: This is a movie about a signal sent to cell phones, radios etc. that turns people into killers. Hmmm, sounds an awful lot like a Stephen King story. The trailer looked really cheap and cheesy too. Think I'll pass on this one.

All in all, another fun Fango weekend. Next year, it's moving to the LA Convention Center. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. While we won't have to fly into LAX and drive to Burbank, there's nothing like staying at a hotel where the convention is at and running stuff up to your room and not missing much while you are gone. From what I've been told, the nearest hotel to the convention center is about 2 blocks away, and it's not in the greatest neighborhoods either. Supposedly the reason for the move is because the convention is getting too big for Burbank. While I can see why they might need more room for the dealers, unless it's one of the major stars (ie-Rob Zombie, Clive Barker, Eli Roth etc), the room where they have the panels has plenty of empty seats. It rarely gets uncomfortable at all in there. And while I like walking around the tables and picking up rare DVD's or other memorabilia, the real reason we are here is for the movies, right? It always amazes me how people sitting around me who've paid big bucks for their gold tickets just disappear for hours at a time, only coming back for the big names.

I was also surprised that with all the upcoming horror movies, there weren't more trailers or promotion for films like Fido, 1408, Joshua, Captivity, Black Sheep, Day Watch (although we did get a shirt), The Invasion, The Eye, 30 Days Of Night, Skinwalkers, and Saw IV just to mention a few.

A couple of things I'd like to see at future conventions. For one thing, more movies. While they do show films at the WOH, they are shown during the day while the panels are going on. And most are either shorts, or movies that will be out soon on DVD. I'd love to see this turn into more of a film festival. We end up watching movies in our rooms at night on laptops instead of enjoying a new horror flick with other fans. In one of last year's memorable moments, we got to screen Nightmare Man, and the stars were in the audience to watch it with us. While the desert party on Saturday nights for gold patrons is great, I'd much rather watch a movie in a crowded room than watch lame magicians (thank God no Ron Fitzgerald this time) and Marilyn Manson wannabes all night.

I'd also like to see more involvement from Fangoria, the magazine. It would be great to meet and talk to the writers who give us these great reports every month. They are the ones going to the sets, so who better to get the scoop on upcoming movies from? Maybe get Dr. Cylcops or Michael Gingold to fill us in on smaller indy or foreign movies that we might not know about?

Still, for a horror movie fan, it doesn't get much better than this. 3 days just isn't enough for me. As long as Fangoria and Creation Entertainment keep putting these on, I will keep going.

Fangoria Weekend Of Horrors - Part II

2007-06-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

Saturday, May 19th

Heather Langenkamp: Ms. Langenkamp started the day off with a solo chat. With nothing new to promote, she was free to talk about what else, her experiences with Freddy and how it affected her life both for the good (people recognizing her) and the bad (loss of privacy). She also answered questions such as what her thoughts were when she first read the script for Nightmare, and about the low budget for the production. In one funny anecdote, she told about always having to make sure they used the fake blades for Freddy's glove when he was slashing at her. Apparently, she was almost stabbed by the real ones at one point. She mentioned how things were much different than today where the stars are pampered and get catered meals.
My friend asked her if that was really Johnny Depp's "girly" scream in the movie, or did they dub that in. Yes, that really was him, she explained. "We didn't have any money in the budget to dub that in."

Lately she's been working behind the scenes, having started an FX company with her husband David Anderson.

Afterwards, the first 3 rows of gold patrons were called to get in line for autographs. It was then announced that Heather would only be signing for those who had purchased autograph tickets. For someone who is basically known for only one role, it struck me as kind of pompous. We disappointingly headed back to our seats.

Hostel Pt. II Panel: No big deal on the Langenkamp faux paus as this was one of the panels I was really looking forward to. Flanked by two guys dressed in bloody hostel worker garb, director Eli Roth and actress's Bijou Phillips and Vera Jordanova took the stage. People packed into the room to hear Roth tell about his eagerly awaited film.

The first thing I noticed about Roth was his genuine enthusiasm for the genre and film making. He also does dead-on impersonations of Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch ("Ok, here's the deal. We need rabbits!"). He mentioned that he didn't think about making a sequel, but after seeing The Devil's Rejects, he wanted to expand on his original idea. The clip shown looked great and got a raucous reaction from the audience. And while nobody had any questions for the two actress', Roth kept them involved by asking them questions himself. He wants everyone to turn out and see it opening weekend (the film opens June 8th) to show the studios that there is demand for bloody, gory horror movies. He seemed especially gleefull telling the story of getting Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust) in his film as a cannibal.

One question I hoped would get asked, did. He WILL be making his great trailer Thanksgiving from Grindhouse into a full length feature! He also is planning on doing an entire movie of fake promos called Trailer Trash. All that, plus working on the adaptation of Stephen King's Cell.

Wrong Turn 2 Panel: I liked the first Wrong Turn, but it was no classic. Based on the clip we saw, this one will blow the first one away. After a false start (the fire alarm went off), we were treated to the first 5-7 minutes of the movie. Without giving too much away, this is one of the greatest kills in modern horror history. An woman is driving in the middle of nowhere and of course takes a wrong turn. She gets literally split in half by a machete, and two mutants each drag one side away. Needless to say, the crowd went wild!

Director Joe Lynch (maybe even more enthusiastic than Roth) and stars Henry Rollins and Erica (Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) Leershen fielded questions after the clip. I think Rollins stopped working out lately, because he sure doesn't looked like the muscular guy in pictures and movies. Lynch told me this one is going direct to DVD and should be out in the fall with all it's blood and gore intact. Can't wait to see this one.

Fangoria Comics Panel: Yes, Fangoria is launching it's own line of horror comic books. Editor Scott Licina, artist Mark Kidwell, writer Robert Kurtzman, co-creator Patrick Durham previewed the upcoming books. Michael Madsen, Amber Benson (Buffy), Taryn Manning (Hustle & Flow) and Rachel Miner (The Black Dahlia) also appeared. They showed a clip from Kurtzman's upcoming movie The Rage, which will have it's own prequel comic. Madsen was tired, having been filming until 3AM on Tarantino's upcoming Hell Rider, but was still personable. The art for these comics looks really good, so hopefully they will make for some good upcoming reading.

Manhunt 2 Preview: No, it's not a movie. It's a new video game from Rockstar Games. I'm not a gamer, but it looked pretty cinematic and bloody. They had a guy actually playing the game shown on the big screens.

Cabin Fever 2 Panel: Director Ti West (The Roost), Lauren Moews, producer of the original and returning cast member Rider Strong were among the panel. West, it turns out was recommended to helm this one by original director Eli Roth.

This time, the flesh eating virus is spread by bottled water. There was no clip shown so there's not much more to report on this one.

Borderland Panel: Moews and Strong remained on stage to present their upcoming movie, which is based on a true story of a group of human sacrificing cult members and some vacationing kids who cross their path. The clip they showed looked interesting. It's made the rounds at some film festivals, but I'm not sure of a release date yet for it.

Phantasm Reunion: As a fan of the series (well, some of them anyways) I was really looking forward to this one. Don Coscarelli, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Kathy Lester (in a lavender dress of course) from the original, and Gloria Lynn Henry from Part III were all present. Anthony Ferrante was back to moderate this one, and it was an enjoyable look back. They talked about what it was like to make the movies, and what's coming next. Coscarelli (much younger than I thought he'd be) said that he is working on the next chapter of the series, and that he has been contacted to re-make the original, but nothing has happened on that yet. Thornbury also shared a story about a rabid fan who broke into his house. To get the guy to leave, he gave him a box of Phanstasm memorabilia including one of the famous balls. He's now regretting that, but at least it got the guy to leave.

Then for some reason, instead of doing the usual backstage autograph session, they had the panel move to the Anchor Bay booth to sign. It was mass chaos, as it was first come, first serve unlike the normal orderly lines. I went out there several times, but the line snaked out the door and down the sidewalk every time. Luckily on Sunday we were able to meet Reggie Bannister at his table in the dealers room. What a great guy, who took the time to actually talk to us and answer our questions. And even though he had some b&w promo pics to sign and sell, he was gracious enough to sign my DVD booklet for free. I also hear he was in the bar the night before buying shots for people. What a great guy, and an example that others should follow.

ADI FX Panel: According to the info on this panel, "Monster maestros Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. give us the skinny on ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2". Well, that didn't happen. Far from it. Co-director Colin Strause immediately told us not to even ask any questions about the movie because they wouldn't be able to answer anything. After the first piece of crap movie, you'd think they'd want to build some interest in this one. Guess not. And no clips either.

Hatchet Panel: We saw a scene from this one at the Chicago convention, and it looked great! The gore is so over the top that so far this one's gotten an NC-17 rating. Director Adam Green did promise though that this would be the "hardest R" yet for a horror film. Stars Kane Hodder and Tony Todd were among the panel. The preview got a great response from the audience also. I expect good things from this one, hopefully turning Victor Crowley into the next horror legend.

Rob Zombie Halloween Panel: Probably the most anticipated panel of the weekend, and the place was jam packed. Zombie was joined by cast members Danielle Harris (Halloween 4&5), Sheri Moon Zombie, Kristina Klebe, Scout Taylor-Compton and Daeg Faerch, the new young Michael.

Predictably, most of the questions were directed at Zombie. Maybe he had other things on his mind, but he didn't seem to really want to be there and at times looked apathetic. Someone asked his why he doesn't use his own music in his movies and he replied "Because that would be stupid". He was also asked why he picked Halloween to follow up The Devil's Rejects. He said it really wasn't his intention to do it, but he went into a meeting at Dimension and one of the Weinsteins suggested it to him. While the really didn't explain a whole lot, to his credit he went into more depth on his MySpace blog.

Sheri was asked to do her Baby laugh and she happily obliged. Harris also answered some questions (I believe she said she has a nude scene in the film) and Daeg Faerch seemed eager to talk, but since the others are fresh faces coming mainly from one-off TV episodes, nobody had much to ask them.

They did show a trailer, but it was the same one everybodys already seen. Then it was announced that Rob had to get back to finish editing the movie and wouldn't stick around to sign autographs, and plenty of grumbling and a couple of boos ensued. I can take that explanation from Zombie (he did have to deliver a cut to Dimension by the next Tuesday) who after all did take the time to come down to the convention, but why couldn't the rest stick around to sign and talk after their panel? Did they all have to help Rob edit?

Shawnee Smith: While very nice to look at, Smith is one of the most vapid persons I've ever been around. Nothing she says makes much sense at all, and she takes forever to say it. I had already sat through her talk in Chicago, and this was pretty much of the same so it was time to walk around and see what else was out there. BTW, I'm not alone in this thinking. Later that evening Smith was a guest at the dessert party. When she came to our table, everyone pretty much just ignored her and she kept going. Some other tables seemed to do the same.

Paul Naschy: I'm not familiar with his work in Spain, but after seeing some clips I might track down a couple of his movies. He doesn't speak English, so all questions and answers were done through a translator.