Wild At Heart
The month of July continues to confound me with the mass of news worthy things going on. Since I last talked on this, we have now seen the end of the NFL bargaining agreement so we can get all those football players on the field and not (hopefully) miss any games. While I am still not a Lions fan, I have grown enough to love the city of Detroit in such a way that I am invested in seeing them do well and take advantage of the momentum they ended last season with. Here’s to hoping they will break .500 and maybe contend for the division. We can now send the NFL guys to Washington and hopefully lend some help for solving the current debt crisis. I am extremely pissed at both sides of this issue, and no offense to my fellow Republicans, but I don’t buy that “no new taxes” for the rich. Everyone looks to Ronald Reagan and his “no new taxes” manta but forget he raised taxes 6 years out of 8 and increased the debt ceiling 18 times (found that surprising). We were very well off back then and the money is needed to fund these social programs that “make America great”. Obama should have got rid of the Bush tax cuts when he entered office because face it, after 10 years of tax cuts, I’m not really seeing where the supposed new job were coming into play. I just see the gap between the rich and poor getting wider so guess where that extra tax money is going? Not to workers it seems!
We also have the death of Amy Winehouse of which I hate to say, but I don’t really care at this point. She had a ton of talent but wanted to live a lifestyle that was destructive. I have been to a lot of concerts hearing aging rockers joke about not knowing how they got through a certain time in their career due to excessive use of drugs, alcohol and extreme partying (just read “Dirt” about Motley Crue) and while we tend to just nod and laugh along, it is serious when you look at some of the burnouts including Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix and Cobain to name a few. Not to mention Japanese musician Taiji who committed suicide a mere week prior with no fanfare in the press. She had some real talent but never got to really showcase it beyond her one big album “Back To Black” due to all her problems. Of course that success probably accelerated her demise (and I was surprised to remember that she beat out Taylor Swift, as well as Paramore and Feist, for Best New Artist that year). I wonder if Lindsay Lohan is paying attention.
I don’t even want to get started with the tragedy created by Anders Behring Breivik over in Norway and I am wondering how even someone dressed as a cop, which Norwegian cops don’t carry guns normally, could bring enough ammo to last 1 ½ hours. I hope the bastard fries.
Thinking more positive thought, here are some concert choices for the week:
Tuesday (7/26) - Taking Back Sunday & Thursday @ St Andrews Hall
Wednesday (7/27) - KISS @ Caesar's Windsor, Michael McDonald & Boz Scaggs @ Pine Knob
Thursday (7/28) - Serena Ryder @ Liberty Plaza (Ann Arbor)
Friday (7/29) - Airborne Toxic Event @ Majestic Theatre, Grand Funk Railroad @ Ren Center (free show), Beach Boys @ Pine Knob
Saturday (7/30) - Heartless Bastards @ Blind Pig, Handsome Furs @ PJ's Lager House, Amy Gore @ Magic Stick Lounge, 60 Second Crush & Rockets @ Detroit Bike Fest (Commerce TWP), John Waite, Sponge & Mitch Ryder and Detroit Wheels @ Palmer park (St Clair Riverfest)
Sunday (7/31) - Journey, Foreigner & Night Ranger @ Pine Knob
Monday (8/01) - School Of Rock All Stars @ Magic Stick
Speaking of Airborne Toxic Event, I have a special interview with keyboardist/guitarist Steven Chen which I will be posting Tuesday or Wednesday so keep a lookout for it.
I have been hitting a bunch of shows and have a backlog of photos to share so here we go.
Coming up at Hart Plaza on August 5th-7th is the Rib-N-R&B Jazz Festival, which has some great music and fine taste ribs. Here in Rochester, we had our smaller version and that is what these pictures are from. Of the 5 vendors, in order the best were
and
If by any chance either comes to Detroit, they are both worth it.
The fest also brought some good music including some local talent with Hayden Ford (reminds me of Millions of Brazillions in attitude)
Local Rochester Idol Champaign
Another look at the Tommy Brunett Band
And the gospel tinged Voices In The Clouds
There were 2 headlines that I saw. I missed Robert Cray but I did catch the Felice Brothers. They are from upstate New York and have performed with Old Crowe Medicine Show and Dave Matthews so hopefully big things might be on the horizon with their folk rock/country style. Wouldn’t surprise me to see that at the Ark someday (either at the club or on the big for their folk festival). They have no upcoming dates in Michigan but will be doing Cleveland/Cincinnati/Columbus 9/23-9/25 for anyone looking for a road trip.
Check back later in the week for part II of Ribfest pics with guitarist Matt Scholfield, bluesman Swamp Dogg and the crazy Rev Peyton’s Big Damn Band. I also got Chris Duarte pics as well as Rob Base, Lisa Lisa, SWV, CeCe Peniston and Al B Sure! coming up.