The Music Mix Challenge
By Eric | December 4, 2007 12:06 pm
A large group of us recently put together a mix of the music we’ve been listening to as of late, a little bit of a soundtrack to 2006-2007 if you will. Naturally, since I usually put forth way too much effort into these things, everyone else has to stick it to me a little bit, and as such I received a couple of CD’s full of the most hysterically bad stuff everyone could conjure up. Only Dan would think to put Charlene’s “I’ve Never Been To Me” on a CD (seriously, that song shouldn’t be on any CD’s… ANYWHERE), Karen + Jeremy saw fit to make a CD chock full of Britney, Jessica Simpson and Indigo Girls songs, Kelley found some acoustic songs with worse singers than the local karaoke bar, and Adam just repeated the same shitty 5 songs as many times as they’d fit. Thanks guys! My faith in your taste still hasn’t wavered!
Anyway, Matt threw his list up on his site, so I figured I’d do the same, just for fun. Of course, I actually remembered to put the liner notes in with my CD’s 🙂
1. Vanilla Ice – Yo Vanilla! (from To The Extreme, 1990) – Um, gotta kick this off right!
2. Burden Brothers – Buried in Your Black Heart (from Buried in Your Black Heart, 2003) – I saw them in March, and have been listening much more regularly since then. You may recognize the voice… Todd Lewis was the lead singer for the Toadies.
3. Cake – Mahna Mahna (from B-Sides and Rarities, 2007) – Everyone loves Cake, so everyone should love Cake covering the Muppets!
4 Pride Tiger – Let ‘Em Go (from The Lucky Ones, 2007) – Pride Tiger is a Canadian band that I saw as the first opener for Finger Eleven, and they blew me away with their live show. The album’s pretty good too.
5. Alter Bridge – Ties That Bind (from Blackbird, 2007) – This is off the 2nd album by the other 3/4 of Creed and the singer from The Mayfield Four. Sorta Creed-like, but a little harder, and way less preachy!
6. Will Hoge – The Man Who Killed Love (from The Man Who Killed Love, 2006) – Tiff saw him open for Edwin McCain a couple of years ago, then got all the music, and now I really like him as well. He’s a great rock/blues/country singer/songwriter.
7. Eric Hutchinson – You’ve Got You (from Sounds Like This, 2007) – We saw him open for Toby Lightman in Geneseo, and he’s another one of those pop singer/songwriters you’d see on VH1, except he’s not famous yet. But he should be.
8. Sevendust – Grasshopper (from Home, 1999) – A goofy little filler track.
9. Killswitch Engage – Holy Diver (from As Daylight Dies (Special Edition), 2006) – A cover of the Dio classic, which KsE make sound like their own. Yay Massachusetts metalcore!
10. Breaking Benjamin – Topless (from Phobia, 2006) – I’ve seen them three times already this year, and they’ve been great every time. A great radio hard-rock band.
11. Matthew Good – Born Losers (from Hospital Music, 2007) – Another Canadian, another artist I’ve seen live this year. I’ve liked MG since 1997, and his new stuff is still good.
12. Emerson Hart – Ordinary (from Cigarettes and Gasoline, 2007) – You may know EH as the lead singer of Tonic. His solo album just came out, and it’s a bit mellower than most of Tonic’s stuff.
13. Psychostick – BEER! (from We Couldn’t Think Of A Title, 2006) – Karl and I found this song within a week of each other, and we laugh our asses off every time we hear it. “Uh, I think you’ve had enough…” “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
14. Seether – Like Suicide (from Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, 2007) – First song on Seether’s new album, which I like a lot better than their last one. More radio rock, but hey, not that there’s anything wrong with that!
15. Stone Sour – Made Of Scars (from Come What(ever) May, 2006) – Saw ’em twice this year. You’ve probably heard “Through Glass” enough times to stab yourself in the ear when it comes on, but this is more what Stone Sour actually sounds like, and is a way better song. Fun Fact: lead singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root both perform those same duties in Slipknot.
16. The Tragically Hip – The Kids Don’t Get It (from World Container, 2006) – I’ve loved the Hip forever, and this is my favorite from their new album. Saw ’em twice this year, front row the 2nd time!
17. nine inch nails – capital g (from Year Zero, 2007) – Trent came back with a noisy album that sounds a lot like most of his Downward Spiral-era remixes. It’s cool. So is this song. So are song titles with no capital letters (see what he did there?)
18. Maroon5 – Wake Up Call (from It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, 2007) – Yes, I like slickly produced, well crafted pop. Like Maroon5. No, I’m not ashamed. Yet.
19. House of Pain – Commercial 1 (from House Of Pain, 1992) – “He who breaks the law, goes back to the House of Pain!”
20. Mudvayne – Dig (from L.D. 50, 2000) – I dismissed Mudvayne as useless nu-metal when they came out, mainly due to all idiot kids that liked them. Turns out, as far as nu-metal goes, they’re pretty good. It only took me 7 years to figure that out though. Their first album is easily the best, and this is one of the more accessible songs on the album.
21. Sevendust – Clueless (from Alpha, 2007) – By far and away, Sevendust is the best band to come out of the nu-metal era, and they’re still going strong. This is one of my favorites on their latest album.
22. 36 Crazyfists – Bloodwork (from A Snow-Capped Romance, 2004) – A co-worker in Tioga introduced me to these guys, and and it took me almost a year to finally really listen to the three albums he gave me. I like these guys a lot, and this is from the album I listen to most often, their 2nd.
23. Nothingface – Error In Excellence (from An Audio Guide To Everyday Atrocity, 1998) – I heard of these guys back in 2000, and had their latest two CD’s for awhile. I dusted them off earlier in the spring, realized why I bought them in the first place, and went and found albums 1 and 2. This is off their 2nd album, and I’ve been listening to all 4 of their CD’s practically all summer.
24. Black Light Burns – Lie (from Cruel Melody, 2007) – This band is fronted by Wes Borland, who was better known as the guitar player for Limp Bizkit. This band/album sounds nothing like LB. At all. This is a good thing, and a really good album.
25. Chimaira – No Reason To Live (from Resurrection, 2007) – Pure American Metal from Cleveland, Ohio. I’m sure most of you won’t care for it, but A) I wanted to be as representative as possible with what I’ve been spinning lately, B) I’ve already gotten Adam to come over to the dark side, so I may get another one of you! and C) It’s awesome and you should just accept it. Seriously.
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Tags: Beer, commercial, house, music, NT, snow, tiff, Work
11/18/2007 Will Hoge (Ithaca, NY @ The State Theater)
By Eric | November 18, 2007 11:59 pm
Tiffany swung by and picked me up from work (an odd Sunday I filled in) and we trekked down Rt 89 to Ithaca. Will was part of a double-bill with the Avett Brothers, and he was on first. Our seats were about 15 rows back, literally in the middle of the ground floor. The state theater was reminiscent of the Riviera in NT, but a little smaller. Anyway, Will started at about 7:45, and eased everyone into it with Someone Else’s Baby, starting with just him and a female violinist/singer, before the rest of the band joined him. These Were The Days was next, and thus began the ebb and flow of the set, mixing slower songs with the rockers. I can’t remember the order exactly, but the meat of the set consisted of When I Can Afford To Lose, Sliver Or Gold, Hearts Are Gonna Roll, Wait Till Your Daddy Gets Home, I’m Sorry Now, The Highway’s Home, and Sex Lies and Money. The closer was another down-tempo, Lover Tonight, with just him, the violin, and the organ. He closed the song by singing sans-microphone, just belting it out, before backing off the stage, still singing. The set was a bit heavy on the slower numbers, and consisting of mainly songs from the last two albums, but that certainly didn’t detract from how great the set was. Just like the Buffalo show, the musicianship was excellent, and Will’s voice was spot-on.
The only thing wrong with the show? The crowd. I’ve always been told that Ithaca is a haven for cultural people, it’s all about the art and the music, etc. BULLSHIT. It’s obviously not about the respect for the artist up on stage, because the amount of people talking throughout the entire set was nothing short of obnoxious. I realize not everyone sits at rapt attention, hell, I’ve done it myself, but at *club shows*, not in a theater, where you can, heaven forbid, GO OUT IN THE %@#$%$# LOBBY AND TALK. It was bad enough during the quieter songs, but one could hear all kinds of talking over the rocking songs too! The big mistake was having a bar available at the rear of the seating area, where everyone congregated, and of course, had to be heard over the band on stage. It was brutal, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard that level of conversation at a show, ever. I’ve been to free festival shows with less talking. Seriously. We mentioned this to one of the ushers after the set, who referred us to the head usher, both of which genuinely acted concerned and equally horrified at the noise level. I’m guessing we weren’t the only ones who complained. However, when I mentioned it to the “promoter”, or at least, the guy who introduced the band on the stage (and apparently runs the Grassroots Festival), he acted as if he could care less, was quite condescending, and generally was indifferent. So much so, that he felt compelled to tell me that “you really won’t notice it with the next band, because they’ll be louder”. Okay, so explain A) why we could hear talking during Will Hoge’s loud songs (which got pretty loud), and B) how that in any way whatsoever excuses it from occuring in the first place? I got a little melodramatic, but I asked how that was supposed to make up for the talking during the performance I just saw?? He didn’t really have an answer for that. So much for supporting the arts. We have no idea how good or bad it was for the Avett Brothers, as we left before they came on. For their sake, I hope everyone was there for them, and kept their mouths shut. So yay for Will Hoge, but boo to the “cultured” Ithacan’s that couldn’t shut up.
Topics: Concerts | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2007, Ithaca, The State Theater, Will Hoge
11/17/2007 Chimaira, Kataklysm, Terror, Divine Heresy (Buffalo, NY @ Club Infinity)
By Eric | November 17, 2007 11:59 pm
This show was a communal gathering of sorts, as I met my Toronto friends Nick and Scott (the guys we met at the Black Light Burns show) in line, and also met Adam there, who happened to bring his friend Mary along. While we were waiting in line, we missed Stemm’s short set, so we got in as Divine Heresy was setting up. This was the band Scott and Nick made the trip for, as they were not on the bill for the Toronto stop of the tour. Divine Heresy is described as melodic death metal, but whatever you call them, they were pretty damn good. Fear Factory’s ex-guitar player, Dino Cazares formed the band with drummer Tim Yueng, who’s actually originally from Rochester (and one of the most famous extreme metal drummers), and singer Tommy Vext. It certainly helped that there were more than a handful of people there to see them, and the crowd was pretty into it. After their set, Terror was up next, and they are of a more hardcore persuasion, ala Hatebreed. Their stuff was pretty cool as well, and all the hardcore kids were doing their thing in the pit. They also have a Buffalo connection, as singer Scott Vogel used to be in Buried Alive. At this point, I headed back to the merch booth to check things out, and I finally bought the Stemm CD, two years later. Their guitar player Joe was back there, so I chatted him up for a little bit, mentioning I’d been seeing them since 2000 and to keep up the good work. He seems like a pretty cool guy. Anyway, next up was Kataklysm, a Canadian death metal band who have been around seemingly forever (1992), but I’d never heard of them before. They were quite good also, some of their riffs were awesome, and their drummer was quite talented. I was impressed with their set.
Then came the reason we were all there… Chimaira! They came out to the beginning sample from Nothing Remains, and then launched into the song, throwing everyone into a frenzy. They kept the momentum up with Worthless, then The Flame. Cleansation was next, followed by Needle. Needle featured a special guest, North Tonawanda’s own Andy Williams (from Every Time I Die) on bass, as Jim was in the back doing whatever. That led to No Reason To Live. Now it was time for the “Epic” part of the show, all 13 minutes of Implements of Destruction, which dovetailed into Six. Both were awesome, but I can’t help feeling that it sucked all the momentum out of the set. However, again, hearing Implements live was awesome, Mark played guitar, and they busted out a theremin in addition to Spicuzza’s samples! They did regain most of their footing though, by playing Resurrection next, followed by Severed. The Dehumanizing Process had the saddest excuse for the wall of death I think I’ve ever seen at a Chimaira show, but the performance was spot on. They sent everyone home tired and happy however, as the last two songs were Power Trip and Pure Hatred, back to back. The setlist seemed a little short, but considering there were four bands on before them, I can forgive it. The band sounded excellent as always, and the crowd was certainly into it! I snagged the setlist off the soundboard, bid farewell to everyone, and hightailed it back to Rochester. A great show all around!
Topics: Concerts | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2007, Buffalo, Chimaira, Club Infinity, Divine Heresy, Kataklysm, Terror
3 Concerts in 2 nights (what?)
By Eric | November 4, 2007 11:21 pm
Friday was two concerts in one night! I had planned the Hip show well in advance, and when I saw Sevendust was coming, I jumped on that ticket as well, not bothering to check what day the show was. As luck would have it, it was the same night. My only hope was that since the Sevendust show had four bands playing, and the doors were at 7:30, it’d go long, and Sevendust wouldn’t start until 11pm, leaving me time to see the Hip (which ended at 11) and then book over to Water Street. My plan actually came through for once, and worked like clockwork. I busted out of the Aud Theater, didn’t encounter any resistance in the parking lot, and the biggest miracle of them all, actually found a parking spot on Andrews. I ran down Water Street to the club, and only missed two songs of Sevendust’s set.
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Tags: bills, cat, concerts, family, music, NT, rochester, sabres, shopping, target, tiff, volleyball, wegmans, wizard, Work
11/02/2007 Sevendust (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
By Eric | November 2, 2007 11:59 pm
My 10th Sevendust show! 10 Years, Black Light Burns, and Neverset were also on this bill, but I didn’t see them, because I was too busy enjoying my front row seat to the Tragically Hip show across town at the Auditorium Theater. However, I got out of that show, flew over to Water Street, miraculously found a parking spot on Andrews, ran down the street, and got to the Music Hall to find that I’d only missed 2 Sevendust songs! I promptly found a spot next to the bar, grabbed a beer, and surveyed the crowd while listening to the boys get back to the self-titled days with Terminator and Prayer. After the beer, I decided it was time to get down and dirty in the pit, and I careened through the actual pit to get to the outer fringe in front of the stage. It was kinda nice having all the energy, just getting there, as opposed to being there all night and already being tired by the time the headliners start. As per usual, seeing Sevendust is a full-contact sport, but the crowd was pretty cool, no real idiots in the pit. The song selection was a bit different than when I saw them in Buffalo in late July, mainly with the distribution of older songs. I missed seeing Crucified and Pieces (neither of which they played in Buffalo, oh well), some of the older stuff they mixed in was the Terminator/Prayer medley, and Born To Die which I’ve never seen them do! Great times. I got out all of my aggression in the 45 minutes I saw of them, and it was well worth the ticket price just for that.
Setlist:
Crucified
Pieces
Denial/Terminator/Prayer (medley)
Enemy
Ugly
Deathstar
Clueless
Waffle
Praise
Born To Die
Black
Encore:
Beg To Differ
Face to Face
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Tags: 2007, rochester, Sevendust, Water Street Music Hall
11/02/2007 The Tragically Hip, Joel Plaskett Emergency (Rochester, NY @ Auditorium Theatre)
By Eric | November 2, 2007 11:58 pm
I had jumped on the pre-sale for tickets for this show, and through sheer luck of the draw, got a front row seat on the right side of the stage. I arrived at 10 of 8, grabbed a beer, and settled in my seat for the Joel Plaskett Emergency. A cool three-piece from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Joel and his Emergency ran through a 45-minute set of rockin’ tunes, with both electric and acoustic guitars. Plaskett was originally the lead singer for the band Thrush Hermit, who had some considerable success in Canada in the late 90’s, and this music is an extension of that. They were certainly entertaining, and had the crowd into it. During the intermission, a bunch of Canadians started up a “Go Leafs Go” chant, which was met with an equal, if not greater response in the form of “Let’s Go Buffalo”, before both devolved into the standard “Hip! Hip! Hip!”. And then, as if on cue, the members of the Tragically Hip appeared, and launched into their set. I almost hesitate to write that it was a standard Hip show, because that isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. They’re consistent, and consistently great. They sounded fantastic, the song selection was spot on, and the sold-out crowd was as raucous as always. Some of the best singalongs included “Courage”, “Hundredth Meridian”, and “Grace, Too”. There isn’t much more to say, it was a great show as always! As soon as the last notes of Fireworks ended, I hightailed it out of there, rushed to my car, and sped off in the direction of the Water Street Music Hall, to try and complete my Friday night concert doubleheader, to see Sevendust!
Ahead By A Century
Scared
100th Meridian
Setlist:
01: Yer Not The Ocean
02: New Orleans Is Sinking
03: My Music At Work
04: Itís A Good Life If You Donít Weaken
05: Family Band
06: Ahead By A Century
07: The Lonely End Of The Rink
08: Courage
09: World Container
10: Scared
11: In View
12: Springtime In Vienna
13: At The Hundredth Meridian
14: Bobcaygeon
15: The Kids Donít Get It
16: Fully Completely
17: Little Bones
Encore
18: The Drop Off
19: Grace, Too
20: Fireworks
Topics: Concerts | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2007, Auditorium Theatre, Joel Plaskett Emergency, rochester, The Tragically Hip
10/30/2007 Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Seether (Hamburg, NY @ The Agri-Center)
By Eric | October 30, 2007 11:59 pm
Jerry and I got out of work at 5:30, and trucked on down the highway to the Fairgrounds, where we were met by a good deal of traffic on South Park Ave. We finally got into the parking lot, paid, and got to the building just as Seether was starting (Red was the first opener, just like at RIT, but we didn’t miss much not seeing them). Since it was the day before halloween, there were a good number of people dressed up (including the chicks!), so we at least had something to amuse us while we were waiting in line. We heard Seether’s first song standing outside the building in the will-call line, which was Gasoline. We actually got into the lobby to hear Fine Again and Needles, and we were finally in the place by the time Truth started. We found ourselves a nice spot right in the center of the floor, and enjoyed the rest of Seether’s opening set, which continued with the first song off the new album, Like Suicide, then a crowd sing-along with Broken (with BB’s bass player coming out to play with them). The new single, Fake It, was next, and while giving the shout-outs to the other bands, they did some snippets of BB’s “Water” and 3DG’s “I Hate Everything About You” before closing with Remedy. They sounded pretty damn good, despite the long layoff for Shaun being in rehab and the loss of the 2nd guitar player. They did just fine as a three piece. Wish they would have played longer.
In any event, just like RIT, Breaking Benjamin didn’t headline, so they were next. The set list was a bit different this time out, as they frontloaded the set with Phobia songs, starting out with the Intro right into Diary Of Jane, Had Enough, Until The End, Breath, and Topless. I like all those songs, but guys, mix it up a bit! Breakdown was next, followed by Polyamorous, and Break My Fall. Then we were “treated” to an extended drum solo, which was cool, but I’d have much rather seen another song or two, considering they weren’t headlining. They brought out Shaun from Seether and the guitar player from 3DG for a cover of the Deftones’ “Change”. This I could get behind! Back to the BB stuff for the last two tunes, those being Sooner or Later and So Cold. As with the other BB shows, they sounded good, had the crowd into it, and had fun up there, but I think they killed their momentum by starting with all Phobia tunes. Opening with Polyamorous always got everyone fired up right away, and I think they should have stuck with it. Ah well. Still a good show.
At the RIT show, we left before Three Days Grace came out, so this time we actually stuck around to watch them. We passed the time inbetween sets (and actually during most of the set as well) by waiting in line for the concession stand. Yeah, it took that long. I think the fact that we stood in line that long was more motivation for staying then 3DG were once they started. Quite frankly, the singer can’t hold his notes. The band was okay (although way overdriven out of the monitors), and the songs are okay (I recognized a few), but the singer kinda ruined it. He sounded hoarse by the end of the first song. They also started Just Like You in the wrong key, before correcting it when the song kicked in. That was just kinda funny, I can’t bag on them too much for that. What I can bag on them for is their attempt at covering AIC’s Rooster. As I told Jerry, “You hear that humming sound? That’s Layne Staley spinning in his grave!” It just didn’t make it. Anwyay, we left early to beat the traffic out of the parking lot and grab something to eat. To make a long story short, we made the right choice to leave RIT early too! They were okay, but there’s no way they should be headlining over Breaking Benjamin (or Seether for that matter!)
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Tags: 2007, Breaking Benjamin, Hamburg, Seether, The Agri-Center, Three Days Grace
10/05/2007 Matthew Good, Drew Smith (Buffalo NY @ Club Infinity)
By Eric | October 5, 2007 11:36 pm
I rolled in from Buffalo, found a quick parking spot behind the club, and got in the already lengthy line. We got into the place in a quick and orderly fashion, and I grabbed a beer and just kind hung in the back for awhile, when I was spotted by a friend I hadn’t seen in a good long time. One of my classmates in the Harrison Co-Op program, Christine, recognized me, and along with her husband Matt, we pretty much hung out all night and caught up, so that was pretty cool, because the opener didn’t really hold our attention much. Drew Smith was two guys from Hamilton with guitars, and I have to confess to being one of “those people” that didn’t pay attention to them much at all. Ah well, Once Matt Good came out though, pretty much everyone was at rapt attention all night. This being a solo acoustic show, it was just Matt and a guitar, and occasional backing samples. He certainly can carry a show by himself, and the show was fantastic, but I still think I’d rather see him all plugged in. However, the fact that I haven’t seen him or his band live since March of 2001 might contribute to that (not that he didn’t come around, it just never worked out for me to go). In any event, as expected, the show was heavy on songs from his solo work rather than with MGB, and at that, heavy on the new Hospital Music Album. It was certainly an enjoyable show, and Matt was definately in fine form with the playing and singing, even with a comment about nasal drip during one song, which pretty much served to remind that this indeed was a live show. I really want to see him plugged in sometime soon!
Setlist:
North American For Life
I’m A Window
99% Of Us Is Failure
Show Banter
Born Losers
Avalanche
Strange Days
Load Me Up
Silent Army In The Trees
Black Helicopters
Alert Status Red
She’s In It For The Money
In A World Called Catastrophe
Generation X-Wing
Primetime Deliverance
Metal Airplanes
Apparitions
Encore:
Girl Wedged Under the Front of a Firebird (word)
Champions of Nothing
Suburbia
Pledge of Allegiance
The Fine Art of Falling Apart
Topics: Concerts | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2007, Buffalo, Club Infinity, Drew Smith, Matthew Good
09/18/2007 Finger Eleven, Sick Puppies, Pride Tiger (Rochester, NY @ The Club at Water Street)
By Eric | September 18, 2007 11:59 pm
I loved the 7:30 start time for this one, as I actually got to eat a real dinner at home first, then leisurely made my way to Water Street, and walked right into the club side. Unbeknownst to me, there was actually a 2nd opening band, by the name of Pride Tiger. Talk about the surprise of the night! These four guys from Vancouver came out with a ton of energy, especially their lead singer/drummer, who was one of the most facial-expressive musicians I’ve seen in quite awhile. But nevermind that, these guys sounded great! They rock a real 70’s album rock type vibe, to my ears they almost sound like Thin Lizzy, or Boston. The songs are groovy, catchy, the guitarists played some rockin’ solos, and the musicianship all the way around was excellent. Quite a nice surprise, and not what I would have expected for a Finger Eleven opener. So after their set, I bought their CD and had all the guys sign it, and chatted for a bit about how they liked touring the states so far. (I subsequently found out after the show that three of the four guys used to be in 3 Inches Of Blood, which is a metal band also from Vancouver, who obviously sound nothing like Pride Tiger!) I can add Pride Tiger to the quite short list of opening bands, who not having heard of them prior, I’ve been super impressed with (only Liquid Gang, Boy Hits Car, Greenwheel, Ra, Toby Lightman, Eric Hutchinson, and Tony C and the Truth come to mind.)
Sick Puppies was next, and these guys are partly famous for having the song in the background of the Free Hugs video that was all over YouTube. They’re a three piece from Australia, with a chick bass player. They were okay, but it was generic alt-rock/post-grunge/whatever you wanna call it. I already like too many bands that sound like them, and they didn’t do anything special that made them stand out any. The half-hour was just enough, and enjoyable, as they certainly weren’t bad by any means, but they just didn’t do it for me. They did a mash-up cover of Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name”, using those lyrics with the music from Green Day’s “Brain Stew”, which was kinda neat.
Then it was time for Finger Eleven. It’s been over three years since the last time I saw them, which was at Steel with Thornley. I was less than thrilled with their performance that time, and now, three years and a new album later, it was still just okay. Just like the last time, I really like their new album. There’s just something about their performance that makes me say, “blah”. They were into the performance, in fact, Rick Jackett was as animated as I’ve ever seen him. The band sounded good also, including Scott Anderson’s vocals. It started out promising enough, with Good Times, and Falling On. Then it got slower, with Talking To The Walls, but they came back with Suffocate (only like 3 other people did the WE… FALL… DOWN… yell in the chorus, which was majorly disappointing) and Quicksand. Then it got slow again. Obvious Heart was next (and I love that song), Change The World (really slow), Lost My Way (getting better), and Easy Life (more uptempo, but the song’s not that great). Then the big hit (and I still say worst F11 song ever), One Thing. They kept it slow with I’ll Keep Your Memory Vague, and finally got it back up to speed with So-So Suicide and Above. The encore started with a Neil Young cover of Walk On, and closed with Paralyzer. The show was good, but not great. I can’t quite describe what my complaint is, but to me, it’s hard to “get into” their show. Maybe song selection has something to do with it, as most of the last two albums has not been as up-tempo and “hard”, if you will, as their first two. Even still, there were much better songs off of self-titled that they could have played (Other Light, Stay In Shadow) and only one song off of Greyest, and only two off Tip? Boo. And they didn’t play Tip again either. I’m afraid they’re going the way of the Tea Party, playing the same stuff over and over, and ditching the good songs out of the set. I must have to go see them in Canada instead.
One Thing
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Tags: 2007, Finger Eleven, Pride Tiger, rochester, Sick Puppies, The Club At Water Street
Enough CD’s To Fill A Catalog
By Eric | September 11, 2007 11:30 am
In other news, I’m in the process of being my usual anal self and cataloging all of my CD’s with a nifty program called ReaderwareAW, which lets me use my old CueCat barcode scanner (the freebie from Radio Shack that got hacked in like 2 hours) to scan the barcodes on the backs of the CD’s, and then grabs the info from Amazon and stuffs it into the database. Of course, with all the promos, imports, and other crap I have, it took awhile, and there was a fair amount of manual entry involved. The good news is, all of the CD’s are in there, in one form or another. The bad news is now the tweaking begins. Getting record labels, track listings, covers, and all that stuff correct is going to take some time. Be right or don’t be. The neat thing about the program is that it allows you to make custom HTML “reports”, so I’ll have something really nice to look at once I’m done, rather than the simple list I have on the site now. Don’t hold your breath though, I’m sure it’s going to take awhile!
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Tags: music