Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
Wild At Heart
I am very excited for the next couple of weeks and have more planned than most of my friends do in an entire year. I got a couple of nice shows including Salt N Peppa in Buffalo, Def Leppard and my girl Lita Ford at Darien Lake (I haven’t been to the amusement park since high school but I got my free passes for the day prior to the show) and Dead Can Dance at the Sony Center in Toronto (should be an amazing show). I am also working to get Marshall Crenshaw and Mark Farner interviews set up.
Speaking of high school, I just went to my 25th High School Reunion where I got to meet a lot of people I never really talked to in high school and for the most part didn’t talk to hear either. But what the hell, the food was good and I did run across a couple of people that it was great to catch up with. It is amazing how some people look like they could still be in high school and some like they are ready for the old folks home. We also had the drama of two different people trying to organize, hostile takeovers and everything. Nothing like some good ol drama to make you relive the entire high school experience 25 years later. Wouldn’t have missed it!!
Then in 2 weeks, I will be in Toronto for a few days to take in the Toronto Fan Fest and the new Ultimate Dinosaur Experience at the Royal Ontario Museum. Both of these events are going to be huge. I will go into more detail next Monday but the dinosaur exhibit is supposed to have a number of dinosaurs that have never been on display on this continent before so that is super exciting for me. Fanfest is always a blast and has great guest stars. This year they hooked me with the mighty trio of one of my TV sci-fi babes Gillian Anderson (Agent Scully from the X-Files) who I have had many a fantasy concerning (I love strong, intelligent redheads), the eccentric actor Christopher Lloyd (from Taxi to Star Trek, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai to Back To The Future) who for a good decade played a number of memorable roles in some fun films and one of my favorite directors from the 70’s horror group, John Carpenter (The Thing, Dark Star, Escape From New York, Halloween, They Live) who I have always wanted to meet and share in his vision. I haven’t been this excited since I saw Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and Rowdy Roddy Piper a few years ago up there. Still more hype next week but I should mention they are having a Jay & Silent Bob performance going on Friday Night and tickets are going fast. If you regret not seeing this when it was at The Royal Oak Music Theatre, this is a good time to make up for it in one of the best cities on the planet.
I will take this time to catch up on some past shows I have seen this summer starting with the danceable Balkan Beat Box. Think a more electronically driven Gogol Bordello as this American-Israeli band mixes in some Balkan and gypsy influences into there beat heavy style creating a wonderfully driven sound that makes you want to move your feet.
http://www.balkanbeatbox.com/
Then came on Laura Mann and the Fairly Odd Folks from Calgary. Laura started out doing the classical music thing from an early age but started to lose interest until getting into jazz training which she incorporated into this indie-driven folksy sound. She has a nice voice and the band compliments her nicely.
http://www.laurenmannmusic.com/
Here are a few concerts that I would recommend over the next week as some nice diversity comes to town:
Tuesday (8/14) – Neon Trees @ Majestic Theatre, Buckcherry @ Machine Shop (Flint), Train @ Toledo Zoo Amphitheater (Toledo)
Wednesday (8/15) – 311 & Aggrolites @ Pine Knob
Thursday (8/16) – “Sonic Lunch” feat the Ragbirds @ Liberty Plaza (Ann Arbor), Bonnie Raitt & Mavis Staples @ MotorCity Casino, Claire Lynch band @ the Ark
Friday (8/17) – “Rockin On The Riverfront” feat Marshall Crenshaw and Mark Farner @ Ren Center, Silverstein @ the Shelter, “Dukes On September” feat Boz Scaggs w/ Mike McDonald and Donald Fagan @ Pine Knob, Stewart Francke @ the Ark, Robin Thicke and Melanie Fiona @ Chene Park, 60 Second Crush @ New Way Bar (Ferndale)
Saturday (8/18) – Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels @ Howell Melon Festival, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals open for Kenny Chesney @ Ford Field, “Motors & Music Experience” feat Stone Temple Pilots (also Shiny Toy Guns, Howling Diablos, Dutch Pink, High Strung, Mayer Hawthorne, Chiodos, etc) @ Silverdome, Otep @ Machine Shop (Flint)
Sunday (8/19) – Candye Kane @ Hayloft
Have a good week and see you next Monday (earlier if those interviews come thru).
