music – The Boring Old Man

Oooof!

Last night I was unwinding after dinner and scrolling through YouTube when I came across a young-ish lady doing a reaction video for the song “Time Stand Still” by Rush. Lately I’ve been getting a kick out of seeing the younger gen’s reaction to classic rock songs, but the ones featuring Rush I find are particularly entertaining. That band seems to absolutely blow the minds of everyone under 40, and it’s fun to see. It reminds me of hearing them for the first time as a kid. I can still remember the first time I heard “Tom Sawyer” – it was the summer between 7th and 8th grade for me – and I was forever changed that day.

Out of curiosity, I clicked on the vid wondering what this youngster was going to think of this particular tune. I’ve watched a number of Rush reaction videos, but I’ve never seen one for that song. I don’t think I’ve even heard that song in a few decades. After the first measure of the song I was transported back in time…

When that record came out, I was 18 or 19, I can’t exactly recall. At the time I was working delivering pizzas (back when that was pretty much the only food you could get delivered to your door!) and just having the time of my life. I had a great group of friends, I was doing exceptionally well with the ladies, my band was picking up steam getting some radio play, a few write ups in the local weekly paper and good gigs, I was going to see other bands play or going out dancing a couple nights a week, going to parties, just living life like only a teenager with no real responsibility can. A lifetime of untold possibilities lay ahead of me. And eating all the pizza my heart desired! My “delivery van” was exactly that – a 1968 Dodge A100 van, with the old dependable slant-6 and 3-on-the- tree which I had outfitted with a cassette deck, a pair of speakers in the front doors and two 6×9 speakers in the back and that setup would sing! But I digress…

Anyhow, back to Rush…

I remember having that album on repeat (it was an “auto-reverse” cassette deck after all!) as I was driving around delivering pies until I nearly wore the cassette out. While no one would argue that was their best record, it was their latest at the time and I was a huge fan of the band so naturally I had to absorb every note, every rhythm, every drum fill. But what I never really paid any attention to was the lyrics.

Side note: I never really pay attention to lyrics. There are exceptions of course, but to my ears singing registers as a type of melodic percussion, like a piano or a xylophone would, and it really doesn’t matter to me WHAT they’re saying. Which is kinda ironic, as I wrote lyrics for my bands for a decade or more and but with rare exception I don’t really care for strictly instrumental music…

Now, this particular “Reactor” was really focused on the lyrics of the song and spoke at great length about them, dissecting the meaning, etc., and I gotta tell ya, the words to that song hit me like a ton of bricks. After the initial flashback I had hearing the music, the words – that I’d never paid any attention to over several hundred plays nearly 40 years ago – it was like my entire adult life flashed before my eyes.

I can understand why they’d be meaningless to a teenager. There is no context, no life experience to give meaning to the words. But as a Boring Old Man?!? Frankly, it was a little overwhelming. If I’m being totally honest and transparent, it made me “feel a certain way” as the kids say. It wasn’t just nostalgia. It made me look at my life through a completely different lens. It hit home. Hard.

Maybe it’s just me. Quite frankly my life has been a shit-show these last few years. Untold stresses, aging and ailing parents, job losses, losing friends to illness, or just distance, becoming more isolated, losing the “fire” that made life exciting and just trying to hold it all together without blowing a gasket… And looking back, wondering what that teenager with the old van and the blaring stereo would think of what “the real world” would turn out to be. Not that it’s been all bad, there have been some good times too. Most of them, at least over the last few years, have been recorded for posterity right here on this blog. It’s been an eye-opening experience, totally unexpected and honestly, not all that welcome.

They say growing old ain’t for sissies and I always took that as meaning when the knees go, and your back hurts and you gotta get up to pee in the middle of the night. But the worst pain? That’s gotta be regret. It’s an absolutely brutal affliction. There’s no turning back the clock and undoing what’s been done, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. And time seems to move faster with each and every passing day. As much as we might wish it were so, time cannot stand still.

Now, thanks to Geddy, Alex, Neil, and some random lady on YouTube I’m in a deeply introspective head space, one that I never would’ve guessed could possibly be brought on by a 40 year old, nearly forgotten song.

Life can be strange sometimes…

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath,
Before I start off again.
Driven on
Without a moment to spend
To pass an evening
With a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
I’d like to pause,
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim —
Who learns to transcend —
Learns to live
As if each step was the end

Time stand still —
I’m not looking back —
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Experience slips away…

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes,
Let my defences down —
All those wounds
That I can’t get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause —
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain,
Whose ship runs aground —
I can wait until the tide
Comes around

Make each impression
A little bit stronger
Freeze this motion
A little bit longer
The innocence slips away…

Summer’s going fast–
Nights growing colder
Children growing up —
old friends growing older
Experience slips away…

Thanks for stopping by.

Feeling Out of the Loop

As my readers know I’m a lifelong music fanatic and to this day I’m still trying to keep my finger on the pulse of the latest and greatest. On the one hand, with the advent of YouTube and Spotify, it’s never been easier to indulge in this practice. On the other hand, using these tools brings so much disappointment, so much faster than before!

Don’t get me wrong, there has always been musical disappointment in my life, this isn’t really anything new. I can remember hearing a song on the radio and being immediately hooked by it. Waiting days to hear it again. Maybe a couple weeks goes by, and a few more listens before you even find out who the artist is, because the DJ finally said the name over the air. Now you’re a few weeks in, you’ve got this great new song stuck in your head, you finally know who the artist/band is, so you head down to your local record store to snatch it up, only to find they don’t have it in stock. Maybe the album hasn’t been released yet, maybe they only had a few copies and it’s sold out so you have to wait a few more weeks. The anticipation builds and builds. You find yourself wishing they’d play it on the radio again, preferably when you’re at home so you can tape it from the radio to have something to tide you over until you can get your paws on the actual album. Then finally, FINALLY, after weeks of waiting and searching and waiting some more you finally find it in a store, slap down your hard-earned cash and now you’ve got your hands on the record. You race home to drop in on your turntable and listen to every song, every note, while devouring the album’s liner notes to find out everything you can about this new band…and after all that, it turns out the song from the radio, the song you love, is the ONLY good song on the record! Ugh! So much build up, so much excitement, and it all comes crashing down… It’s happened to me more than a few times, and the disappointment is great, but at the same time you’ve had an adventure, maybe spent time with your buddies trying to track it down. Maybe you got to talk to the cute girl working at the record store… It was all part of the game. And even if the record kinda sucked, you still had that one great song. The thrill of the hunt and whatnot… And, fortunately, the opposite was often true. You’d hear “that song”, go through all the rigamarole and find out the album is astounding. Sonic euphoria, from start to finish. And those moments my friends, made up for the few clunkers over the years.

But nowadays, things are much different. I still listen to “terrestrial radio” from time to time, but 99.9% of what I hear are the old familiar tunes. It’s been well over a decade since I’ve been turned on to a new band from the radio. I read different blogs that have a focus on music, I read a ton of articles from various musical publications to try and suss out what’s new and exciting. My wife and daughter are both music fans and I always take suggestions from them. And of course there is the almighty algorithm that knows what we’ve listened to before and makes suggestions as to what we might like… Nine times outta ten it’s not something I like, but every once in a while the algorithm strikes gold for me. And lately – say over the last 18 months – I’ve been reading a lot of threads on Reddit that are music-related (Side note – I can’t really “endorse” Reddit, there is so much on there that sickens me, but if you stay away from politics and “social issues”, there is actually a lot of entertaining and/or useful stuff there. All the threads I follow are either music, automotive or local-to-me stuff and I studiously avoid the rest of the bile…). Anyhow, I keep my eyes peeled for new bands that get a lot of notice and once I see a certain band or song mentioned more than a few times, I’ll go check them out for myself.

Now, I recognize that I’m a “boring old man”, and not everything is going to be to my liking. And frankly, being more from the alternative/punk world of music, I know there is going to be a lot of stuff that simply doesn’t do it for me. And that’s fine. But I’m also astute enough (as far as music is concerned at least) to pick up on things that are special, or impressive, or dare I say groundbreaking that leads to my understanding of why a certain artist or band is gaining notoriety.

A great example of this is the band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. If you were to believe the folks that post on Reddit, they are hands down the greatest band to ever pick up instruments. I have seen dozens upon dozens of posts extolling the virtues of this band, recommending them to anyone that has ears. Seriously, their fan base is RABID and all in. So naturally, I had to check them out. And while the music was not MY thing, I completely understand why a lot of people have gone mildly insane over them. Those guys can play! The music is quirky, kinda jam band meets jazz combo, meets psychedelic, with a little Zappa thrown in. It’s weird, it sounds like nobody else I’ve heard and I totally get it. I just don’t find myself sitting around listening to that style of music. I would however go see them live, I’m sure it’s an experience. And I’m thrilled that such a band exists in a world full of computerized, boring, unadventurous music. I hope that they achieve massive success and have a long, fruitful career. I sincerely mean that, even though I will rarely listen to them.

On the other hand, there is a relatively new band that I swear I see their name daily, a band called Geese. So after seeing them mentioned so many times for several months straight, I decided I needed to check them out. And I’m left shaking my head in disbelief. THIS? This is what has everyone in a tizzy these days? I honestly can’t think of a positive thing to say about them, and yet the “general public” hails them as the greatest band since the Beatles. I simply don’t get it. To me, calling them mediocre would be giving them more credit than they deserve. I went through their Top 10 songs on Spotify, each one of which has well over 5 million streams (one of them was over 20 million!) and I couldn’t get through more than a minute of any of them. Just messy, atonal dreck as far as I’m concerned. And yet, they are massively popular right now.

Then I jumped over to a song by Kendrick Lamar. I’ve known his name for a long time, I’ve heard him featured on other hip-hop artist’s tracks, and to me it was just… M’eh. Not horrible, but nothing special. But again, he’s hugely popular. Most of the kids my wife and daughter teach LOVE him. So anyways, I’m reading this gushing review of this one particular song, how it’s so amazing that the listener (and writer of that piece) is now inspired to seek out music in a whole other genre than hip hop, because this song just broke down barriers and made something completely new and ground breaking. So I’m thinking, OK, he’s been around a while, perhaps he’s grown as an artist, this sounds like something I need to hear. Uh, no. It was so flippin’ boring I couldn’t believe my ears. I’ve heard that “same” track a hundred times, and 20 of them did it better. There was nothing ground breaking. Stylistically it was the same regurgitated, uninspired nonsense that hip hop has devolved into over the last 2 decades. It was the Toyota Corolla of hip hop tracks.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Hip hop is NOT my main thing, I’m not nearly as well versed in that genre as I am in several others, but I do have a fair amount of it in my CD/record collection. I’ve been a drummer for a hip hop group, I’ve done recording sessions for another hip hop group, I would say that yes indeed, this late-50’s Northern Cali Anglo is indeed a fan of hip hop. But a lot of the very popular, successful hip hop artists leave me scratching my head. Jay-Z is arguably the most successful artist in the genre of all time, and I cannot stand his music. (FWIW, I can’t stand his wife’s music either!) I think Tupac is highly overrated. There are a great many artists that have become wildly successful that I think are terrible. This is nothing new. But it got me to thinking, is today’s music so dull because the kids and 20-somethings that are making today’s music had such terrible music to emulate and be inspired by?

I could be wrong, but it seems like the bands of the 60’s took their influences of say, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly and the like, and pushed the boundaries into something wholly different and dare I say, better. If you listen to early Beatles or the Who, their music isn’t that far removed from “rock around the clock” type of tunes, but by the end of their respective run, they were putting out records that would’ve been unimaginable to Bill Haley and his cohorts. Or take the riff-heavy classic rock of Montrose and Deep Purple, add in some punk ethos and swagger and you get Soundgarden or Alice in Chains. Of course there were always middle-of-the-road bands that did their thing, but weren’t pushing the boundaries – say Foreigner or April Wine for example, but they still had talented musicians and solid songwriting and could put out a good, cheap thrill of a song on the regular. Nowadays, not so much.

I know for a fact that people get caught up in the era of music that defined their teen years. It’s scientifically proven. And I absolutely love the music of my generation, it will always and forever be special to me. But I kept gleaning onto new stuff for decades after my school years and hoped to do so forever, it just seems that music has lost a big part of what made it special over the last decade. Not that I haven’t discovered some great new bands in the last decade, I absolutely have and I am grateful for it! It’s just that the music that is getting so much attention these days would never have even seen the light of day back in the 80’s or 90’s. Musically, we seem to be in the Cream-of-Wheat era… Bland, bland, bland…

Music used to be exciting, sexy, somewhat dangerous maybe, it made you FEEL something. Most of today’s music just makes me feel bored. I’m excited by the fact that post-Covid people seemed to regain some interest in guitars and drums and actual instruments as opposed to computers, but we’ve lost that “it” factor for the most part. I hope this latest generation that is starting to put out records is just another starting point, and we see a resurgence of daring, exciting music. I’m encouraged by a lot of youngsters making “reaction” videos to classic rock and such, they seem genuinely blown away by much of what we took for granted growing up because it was as close as the FM dial on the radio. All day, every day. Will we ever see another band like the Who, or U2, Primus, or 311? Bands that took the past and all their influences, threw it in a blender and came up with something wholly unique and mesmerizing? I certainly hope so! It’s ironic that in an age where recording and releasing music has never been easier, when the Gatekeepers of the past are long gone, that musicianship and songwriting are at such a low point. If nothing else today’s artists need to pick it up to inspire those coming up behind them.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with all this. This piece kinda took a turn, and turned into a tangent with no real direction or resolution. I guess I should just consider it an “old man yells at clouds” post. If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. Please leave a comment with a band/artist/song from the last decade that knocked your socks off. I could use some inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

Desert Island Discs

Way back when, in a time where there were these places called “record stores”, one of the greatest amongst them were Tower Records. Tower Records used to print a monthly magazine

noun

1.a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject or area of interest.

that was all about bands and Records and whatnot. One of the things I used to love about that magazine were the letters section where readers would send in things to the magazine – sort of a “comments” section, but it actually took effort and had to be chosen by the editor for print…

Anyhow, one of the reader driven things was called “Desert Island Discs”, essentially a list of the 10 albums you’d want to have if you were stranded on a desert island. I guess if the Professor on Gilligan’s Island could make a radio out of coconut shells, then we could figure out how to make a record player… But I digress.

I used to love that feature and it helped me discover a lot more new music. Either someone would list a record you loved, and that would pique your interests toward other albums on their list, or there would be an overwhelming amount of people that would list the same record over and over (the Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd or the Beatles White Album for example)

Back then I was discovering so much new music – having discovered punk rock and new wave – that my Desert Island Discs would change from month to month, if not day by day. It was impossible to pick a Top 10 because I’d hear stuff for the first time every week that just blew me away. (Thank you college radio!!!)

But now I’m old, and while I still search out and love new music, it doesn’t generally hit me in the same way, where it just knocks my socks off. I mean back then (say from 1978 – 1990) not only were you hearing new styles of music, we were getting SOUNDS that had never been heard before thanks to synthesizers and drum machines, and then turntables were being used as instruments which gave way to digital samplers, not to mention new, wild guitar effects coming on the scene, electronic drums and sequencers. It was the Wild West of music in those days and I was captivated. Obsessed, really.

Anyhow, something I came across online recently triggered the memory of Desert Island Discs and I thought I’d put mine down for posterity. While this is a vastly different list than it would have been in, say 1982, certainly a few of these albums would have been on my list back then too. Perhaps I’ll come back and revisit this in a few years to see how it’s held up.

So, without further delay, here are my Desert Island Discs, as of January 2026. In no particular order…

London Calling by The Clash
Look Sharp! by Joe Jackson
Tropical Gangsters by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Spring Session M by Missing Persons
Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde
Music by 311
Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too by New Radicals
Ten Women by Wire Train
Tim by The Replacements
Dancin’ Undercover by RATT

Ok, this was considerably more difficult than expected… here are some honorable mention albums I must include:

Hippie Castle by Magic City Hippies, Diamond Life by Sade, The Knife Feels Like Justice by Brian Setzer, Who’s Next by The Who, Love by The Cult…

Who am I kidding? I could do this all day. I suffer from acute music addiction I’m afraid!

Anyhow, everything I’ve mentioned above comes highly recommended. Go check something out you’ve never heard before, who knows, you just might find a new favorite! And please, as I am a FIEND for new music, drop me a suggestion in the comments to check out. I like stuff all the way from Chick Webb in the 1930’s up to Sombr’s latest release from 2025, and tons of stuff in between. I’m all ears, so let me have it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday: Paul Siminon

Paul Gustave Simonon was born this day, December 15, 1955. Not a well known name, but profoundly influential in my life as the bassist for my favorite band of all time, The Clash.

The folklore of the Clash says that Paul was chosen for the band simply because of his look. When he joined the band, he didn’t even play bass. In fact, it’s been said that guitarist Mick Jones actually wrote the notes on the fretboard so Paul could find his way around. True? Who knows? Suffice it to say, he BECAME an outstanding bassist over the years and had a hand in making some of the most important records of my lifetime.

Paul always seemed to simply exude “cool” to me as a kid. He wasn’t particularly flashy, he wasn’t often in the spotlight, but he was a presence. There was just something about him that was magnetic. I don’t know what “it” is, but he had it!

It is startling to see he is now 70 years old! It makes sense, seeing as I was only 9 when the first Clash album came out, and I was 12 when I first heard them with the release of London Calling. I was positively obsessed with the Clash in my teens and 20’s, and I still listen to them quite often in my late 50’s. As most of my readers will know, I’m a huge music nerd and music has been the biggest thing in my life for the last 4+ decades. I love lots of music, I’ve been influenced by countless bands and artists, but if I had to pick one band to listen to for the rest of my days, undoubtedly it would be the Clash.

So, cheers to you Mr. Siminon! Without you and your mates, my life would be immensely different. Thank you for your work all those years ago, and for the lasting, profound impact you had on this (formerly) young musician. I owe you a debt of gratitude. You may have come from humble beginnings, but you were a giant in my eyes (and ears!). Well done Sir!

Concert Review: BALTHVS at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA

I first discovered Balthvs in July of 2024 and was immediately hooked. So much so, that when Spotify sent me my “Year in Review” for 2024, Balthvs was my number one most-listened-to artist of the year and my Top 10 songs included 5 of theirs! And I’d only known of them for 5 months at the time.

Now, I love a lot of newer bands. I’m not none of those crotchety old coots that proclaims all new music is garbage and gets stuck on an ever-repeating playlist from my high school days. But it has been years, decades maybe since a band just completely turned my head inside out with their music. I’ve been telling anyone that would listen that they are the best band out there right now, insofar as their creativity, their musicianship and their unique sound and compositions.

At it turned out, the band – which hails from Bogota, Colombia – happened to be playing in my area about a week after I discovered them, but I had other commitments and couldn’t attend. Then a short while ago they were back in Menlo Park, CA but at the time I didn’t have two nickles to rub together and could not afford the tickets, so I missed them again. Then much to my surprise and delight I learned this past Tuesday that they were playing in Santa Cruz Thursday night! At the Catalyst no less, one of my favorite clubs EVER!

Being a “school night”, I couldn’t get the Mrs. to attend, but she encouraged me to go solo and boy am I glad I did!!

My fascination with Balthvs is primarily due to their guitarist, Balthazar Aguirre. I’m telling you right now, this young man is a legend in the making. The band is often labeled as a “psychedelic funk trio”, but that only (barely) scratches the surface. Balthazar plays everything, every genre you can imagine, magically intertwined to create something altogether unique. His playing is like water. It flows, it bubbles, it swirls, it rushes, occasionally it erupts! I’ve never seen or heard anyone like him. His playing is absolutely enthralling. And his tone, the actual sound of his guitar, is positively gorgeous. Just amazing. Seeing him play live, I felt like it was one of those moments you hear old geezers talking about – “I saw Jimi Hendrix back in 68” or seeing Stevie Ray Vaughn in some smokey bar before he hit it big. This wasn’t just a concert, a run of the mill club show, this was an EXPERIENCE. There are a handful of guitarists out there that you know who it is immediately when you hear them play, whether you recognize the song or not…Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Stevie Ray, David Glimour… Balthazar is in that class. Seriously. All its gonna take is one song to crack the shell, and the whole world will know this man. He is an exceptional talent. A vessel. One of those guys where it’s hard to tell where the man ends and the instrument begins, as they seem to be one in the same…

Yep, my camera still sucks. Balthazar Aguirre, a legend in the making!!

And for all the fan-boying I’m doing about the guitarist, let me tell you the rhythm section was pure fire! To be perfectly honest, I never paid much attention to the drums and bass while listening to their records. Sure, it was groovy and tasteful, but also pretty subdued on record, where the guitar certainly takes center stage. But live? WOW!!

Drummer Santiago Lizcano was a machine! He is not some off-the-shelf drum basher, just keeping a beat. There is absolute mastery of his instrument as well. Tight, solid grooves, killer rudiment-laden fills and percussive elements, and his flow from one style to the next was seamless and frankly, very impressive. I was honestly blown away but how good he was and astonished that I hadn’t picked up on his immense talent from the records. I have an entirely new perspective on his playing and a newly found deep respect for his talent!

Founding member and bassist Johanna is currently off the road on maternity leave, and her spot was filled by Vanessa Cejuo who was spectacular. She was so solid, so groovy and she kept throwing in just dashes of spice – not playing everything by the book – but adding just enough ‘extra’ without being flashy or trying to stand out. It was really impressive bass playing, just locked in and holding it all together. Exceptionally tasteful. Bathvs found a PERFECT fill in for Johanna. As someone that has struggled finding competent bassists for the past 40+ years, this too was an amazing feat!!

Their set was amazing, from start to finish. They played about an hour and ten minutes, playing all my favorite songs of theirs, a couple I hadn’t yet heard and even a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe”, which was both a bold choice and wonderfully executed.

Then they came back for a 20+ minute encore, which included a rendition of Pipeline, the classic surf rock tune by the Chantays. Very apropos for Santa Cruz!

What can I say? I went in a fan of Balthvs and walked out a super fan! I’m so glad I went, it was the best show I’ve seen in years. I’m not kidding when I say Balthazar Aguirre is a legendary guitarist, he’s just not being recognized for it. Yet. It was a magical night and even though I’m facing a 10 hour work day on 5 hours of sleep, I have ZERO regrets about making the trip over the hill to see them. I hope it’s the first of MANY Balthvs shows for the Boring Old Man!

Do yourself a favor and go listen to Balthvs. If you have ears that work, you’ll find something to love about them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Concert Review: Sammy Hagar at the Concord Pavillion, Concord, CA

Off the bat, I’ll say I was never really a big fan of Sammy Hagar during his heyday. And frankly when it was announced that he was replacing Diamond Dave in Van Halen, I was outraged and assumed that would be the end of Van Halen. However, despite my strong bias against Sammy fronting one of my favorite bands of all time, I freely admit that the “Van Hagar” era put out some great music.

In reality, my musical relationship with Sammy was complicated… the very first song I ever learned to play on the drumset was ‘Rock Candy’ by Montrose – a band fronted by Sammy Hagar (I was still in elementary school when I got turned on to Montrose, I wouldn’t make the connection with Sammy until years later!). In middle school, I was a big fan of the Heavy Metal soundtrack album, to which Sammy contributed the title track. My favorite Rick Springfield song – ‘I’ve Done Everything for You’ – during that same era, I found out decades later was written by Sammy… I was generally luke warm toward his solo music, although I LOVED ‘I’ll Fall in Love Again’. Then a bit later came his huge hit song ‘I Can’t Drive 55’ which I HATED… Then when he joined VH, it took me a while to get over the “betrayal” and actually listen… And while it will never match the David Lee Roth era to my ears, I cannot deny there were some great songs put out with Sammy and the VH crew.

Much to my surprise over the last few years I found myself becoming a fan of Sammy Hagar, the MAN, through interviews and his TV show, and the more I learned about him I realized a deep respect for him and his history, his work ethic and his overall outlook on life. So when I found out he was going on a summer tour, I decided I needed to take it in. I was NOT disappointed in this decision!

For starters, he assembled a world class, stellar band: Van Halen alumnus Michael Anthony on bass and vocals. Jason Bonham, son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, on drums. And guitar hero, The Alien himself, Joe Satriani on guitar! Keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte rounded out the lineup. And let me say, these fellas were on top of their game!

Their set was heavily skewed toward Van Halen songs – both the Sammy era songs AND the Diamond Dave songs, but there was also a smattering of solo Sammy songs as well as some Montrose and Chickenfoot (another Sammy off-shoot band) songs and it was a fantastic show!

They played for over two hours straight (no encore, I think they hit the time limit for the venue!) and it was high energy and spectacular musicianship the ENTIRE TIME! They never let up, it was remarkable!

Sammy himself was in great form – he outperforms musicians half his age! Jason was great on the kit – a huge Alex Van Halen-type of setup, which is not his usual thing. He beat that thing like it owed him money and was rock solid for the entire set. And while honestly the drums were a bit ‘muddy’ in the mix, the snare sounded almost exactly like Alex’s very distinct snare tone! Alex was one of my biggest influences as a drummer growing up and sadly I never got a chance to see him live, but this was dang near as exciting!

The cherry on top of the experience was witnessing Joe Satriani do his thing. His playing was beyond exceptional! It’s no wonder he’s a living legend on the guitar! He played Eddie’s parts nearly note-for-note, and the only times he strayed, he just added his own little flavor, nothing diminished whatsoever from the original. His performance alone was worth the price of admission and I’m really glad I finally got the opportunity to see him in a live setting. It was not something I’ll soon forget.

All in all, it was a fantastic night. I don’t know that I had any true expectations for this show, but whatever they may have been, Sammy and his boys far surpassed them. Some of the best musicianship I’ve seen in quite some time. I wouldn’t hesitate to see him again, and if you have the chance I highly recommend this show!

Thanks for stopping by!

Even Better Than The Real Thing?

It’s been a while now since I’ve written about any music stuff, but I wasn’t feeling terribly inspired for a particular “Flashback Friday” installment. Then out if the blue I heard a cover song done by a band – out of Romania of all places – that was pretty great, and it got me to thinking about some of the great cover songs that have been done over the years.

I’m case you’re not familiar with the term, a “cover” is a re-make of a song done by somebody else. You’ll often find cover bands in bars and at wedding receptions and such, where the paying customer wants the band playing music most everyone is familiar with. A true cover band will play all kinds of things, from a variety of artists, as opposed to a “tribute” band that will play only the songs of ONE artist, often dressing the part and doing their best to mimic the original band. From what I understand, tribute bands are where the money is at, but as a musician I can’t imagine doing such a thing. But I digress…

Now, I’ve been in cover bands and I’ve also been in bands that played 99% original music, with a cover or two thrown in the live set just for fun. In my case it was always a song from the past, something we as a group were inspired by, or just a song we really loved, not just some Top 40 hit for the sake of playing a hit song for an audience. And we always tried to put our own spin on it, it was never a straight up imitation. Did any of those bands play a cover that was better than the original? I couldn’t say. But for us it was just for fun and the love of a particular song.

All that being said, every now and again a known band will release a cover song that in my opinion outshines the original. The songs listed below meet that criteria, again in MY opinion.

Born to Run- Frankie Goes To Hollywood

I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years these guys would play a Bruce Springsteen song, but they did and it’s an awesome rendition!

Stop Your Sobbing – Pretenders

Originally released by the Kinks – another band I always loved – and produced by Nick Lowe, the Pretenders put their spin on it and knocked it out of the park!

Higher Ground – RHCP

It takes a lot of guts to cover a legendary musican like Stevie Wonder, but in my opinion the Peppers took a great song and made it 10x greater!

I’ve Done Everything For You – Rick Springfield

Written and originally recorded by Sammy Hagar, this version by Rick Springfield leaves Sammy’s version in the dust. Even Sammy himself liked Rick’s version better!

Only The Young – Scandal

I LOVED this song when it was released, it wasn’t until a few years later I learned it was actually written and released by Journey. I like the Journey version, but Patty and the boys took it to another level!

Sorry – the Three O’clock

I’ve been a fan of the Three O’clock since about 1982, and this was one of my favorite songs of theirs and it took me FOREVER to find a copy back in the day! Imagine my chagrin when I learned only ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO that it was a cover! Originally written and performed by Australian band the Easybeats, featuring George Young, older brother of Malcom and Angus Young of AC/DC

HONORABLE MENTION:

Wasted Years – Damone

Damone is (was?) a GREAT band and their debut album floored me. This wasn’t my favorite track on the album, but I liked it a lot. I later learned from a friend of mine more familiar with Heavy Metal that this was an Iron Maiden song! I can’t say Damone’s is better, it doesn’t really resemble the Maiden version at all. They certainly put their own spin on it and did a fantastic job of it.

Got the Time – Anthrax

I really, really like this version of the Joe Jackson classic. But is it BETTER than Joe’s version? Absolutely not. Just different and fun.

I think it’s a big deal to record a cover as opposed to recording a song simply written by someone else that’s never been out for public consumption. It’s a risky endeavor, especially if the song being covered was a hit when originally released. It takes an exceptional talent to take an already great song, and make it sound like your band rather than the band that originally wrote the song. No small feat! And don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of straight up CRINGE covers out there, but if you look and listen every once in a while a diamond shines through!

I could have easily added another half dozen covers to this list, if not more, I think are better than the original versions, but I’d love to hear from my readers. Tell me a song you think is better than the original version, I’m all ears.

Thanks for stopping by!

Flashback Friday! Springing Forward edition.

In “honor” of Daylight Saving Time happening this weekend, I thought I’d bust out some sunny, feel good tunes. My condolences to all my readers that still have snow on the ground!

I myself (and the Mrs.) will be heading out into the coastal woods for some nature time this weekend, hoping the seemingly non-stop rain gives us a break!

Wishing you all fair skies and easy sailing this weekend!

Turn up the volume and let the happy grooves move ya!

Thanks for stopping by!

Concert Review: Magic City Hippies at The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

Alright, once again we’re off to see Magic City Hippies! This is (I believe) our 9th time seeing them. They’ve become sort of an annual Birthday tradition for our daughter, as they always seem to be in the Bay Area on the week of her birthday, and we’ve been to every Bay Area show they’ve done. As my constant visitors may have gathered, we go to a LOT of shows, it is hands down our #1 form of entertainment, and MCH are our favorite live band so we do everything we can to see them when they are in town.

Tonight they played the Regency Ballroom, a venue we’ve been to numerous times. It’s really a great place, aside from the fact that it’s in San Francisco… (Seriously, any bands or managers or promoters out there reading this – for the love of God, STOP booking everything in San Francisco! There ARE other cities in the Bay Area you know!?!)

Anyhow, my loathing of SF aside, we were all super excited to see the guys again, as their shows are just pure magic (no pun intended!). The musicianship, the songs, the energy, the vibe…there is nobody like them!

The trip into the city was the usual mania. The people up there drive like they don’t want to live!! I always, ALWAYS get stressed out driving in SF, but for the Hippies I’ll still do it, even on a “school night”.

The opening act tonight was a young man by the name of Josh Fudge. We got there after he started his set, so we only got the last portion of it, but what we saw was really good. It was just him and a drummer, so not a lot visually, but the songs were good and his enthusiasm was infectious. He really seemed to be enjoying his moment on the stage. I’d certainly be interested in seeing more.

Up next in the middle support slot was The Palms from Los Angeles. I was vaguely familiar with them having heard a few of their songs, which I liked. I had a feeling they might be better live than on record, and I was right!

They are what you’d call a proper band – drums, bass, a keyboard player that doubled up on guitar and lap steel (!!), a lead guitarist and a vocalist that also played acoustic guitar on about half the tunes. Refreshing!

Don’t know what happened to my pics of the Palms… I took them, but they’ve gone missing…

For me, the shining star of the show was their lead guitarist, he was really impressive. He incorporated a number of styles in his playing as well as a full pallette of tones, and he was just fantastic. And if I’m being honest, he himself had about 70% of the charisma of the band. Don’t get me wrong, the band was solid as a rock. They’re playing was darn near perfect, they just didn’t give much of a “performance” on stage. Which is fine, not everyone is a showman. It just took the excitement level down a couple of notches. I’d give them a solid B+ on the set. If they keep it up they could be something to behold with a few more tours under their belts.

The Hippies opened up with Body Like a Weapon, which is a mid-tempo number, and the set opened with a slow burn. It didn’t take long before they were just tearing it up on stage.

Guitarist John was his usual extraordinary self. His playing is so fluid and he’s an absolute wonder to watch when he’s in the zone. I still miss the growl of his hollowbody guitar, which I haven’t seen him use in several years now and it appears the guys have traded in the Fender tube amps for digital pre-amps going straight to the PA, so there is a certain grittiness that is missing from the overall sound. BUT, I must admit the tones are much more true to the sounds on the records… A trade-off I can accept and most people that aren’t tone-snobs like myself would likely not even notice.

The greatest guitarist nobody knows about!

Robbie Hunter I still consider one of the best front men in modern music, and I was again reminded of what a stellar guitarist he is too!

Bassist Guillermo Belisario just keeps getting better and better. His bass playing has always been excellent, but he’s been taking on more duties on stage, playing some keyboards and singing harmonies. Clearly an outstanding musician and he really holds it all together when the other guys are really going off.

Drummer Pat… What can I say? He’s a true force behind the kit. Watching him play reminds me of Keith Moon – not the parts he’s playing, but the WAY he plays. It’s a straight up attack, and yet he never loses that deep Hippies groove. I’m a fan. I consider myself a better than average drummer and I’ve played a bunch of Hippies songs over the years, but I CANNOT play them like Pat. He’s one if a kind.

Jake Pinto really has gelled with the boys now that he’s been on the road with them for a couple tours. It’s almost like he was always there… And when he, John and Robbie play 3 part harmonies on guitar? Holy smokes! It’s really special and frankly unheard of in modern bands.

There was also a new element to the show this time around that turned out to be an excellent addition. I didn’t catch his name unfortunately, but MCH had added another player on stage playing trumpet and percussion. Let me tell you, this guy was off the charts impressive. His horn playing was excellent, his percussion playing very tasteful and in the pocket and his stage presence and style was super high energy and fun to watch. A really pleasant surprise and a great addition to the world’s best live band!

All in all, it was was an outstanding show. Not that I expected anything less. The Magic City Hippies are a shiny, gleaming needle in a haystack when it come to live music. They have great songs, exceptional musicianship and it’s obvious to everyone in the room that they’re having a great time on stage, doing what they do best.

A big thanks to everyone involved, it was a GREAT night and a great way to end what turned into a Birthday Week for our daughter’s 30th!

Thanks for stopping by!

Concert Review: Missing Persons & Bow Wow Wow at the Guild Theater, Menlo Park, CA.

Welcome to my first concert review of 2024!

This was a last-minute decision…the Mrs. and our daughter are on a girl’s overnighter so I had to decide if I wanted to go bad enough to go alone, and since the venue is right up the road from my workplace and I was going to be alone anyway, I decided to pull the trigger on a single ticket.

Now, I am a longtime, HUGE fan of Missing Persons and have been since the first time I heard “Mental Hopscotch” on KFJC back in middle school. The next year as a freshman in high school I got a copy of their “Spring Session M” album and DEVOURED it. I seriously could not get enough. I loved all of it, but it was drummer Terry Bozzio that got me obsessed with the band and he would become my #1 influence as a drummer for the next… well, he’s STILL my #1 influence some 40 years later!

Even though I let go of MOST of my vinyl records (READ: sold them ‘cuz I was damn poor and needed to make ends meet!), I never let go of my Missing Persons collection – all 3 studio albums, their first EP ( which took nearly a decade to source!) and 12″ singles are still proudly in my collection.

I LOVE all the MP albums, but this one in my favorite! Criminally underrated!!

As I was only 12 when they first broke out and the band only lasted (in it’s original lineup) until 1986, I never got a chance to see them live. Until about 2001 that is, when they (mostly) reunited and played a club show in LA. That was the first and only time in my life that I actually took a flight to go to a show!

I had “friends in high places” back then and actually got to go backstage before the gig and met Terry, his (by then ex-) wife, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and guitarist Warren Cuccarillo, who were all very nice and gracious to the blithering idiot that was I, telling them all how much they’d shaped my musical life for the last (at the time) 20 years. Then they went out and played one of the most phenomenal sets I’ve ever experienced!

I only tell you all this to get around to saying that I was iffy on this show because for the last 20 years or so, Missing Persons is really just Dale Bozzio with a bunch of hired hands, not the band I was obsessive about. Now, Dale is a GREAT performer and was undoubtedly a big part of why the band got the attention it did back in the day, but she was always the least interesting part of the band to me. They had the best drummer I’d ever heard in my life, an unbelievable bassist and an absolutely amazing guitarist, so the weird squeaky vocals to me were just sprinkles on the icing of the world’s greatest cake!

However, when I saw the opening act was Bow Wow Wow?!?! Ok, I was sold.

I was also a fan of BWW back in the day, though not nearly to the level of Missing Persons. I was actually a massive Adam and the Ants fan BEFORE I ever heard of Missing Persons, and Bow Wow Wow was an offshoot of the Ants, so naturally I was interested when I first heard about them. I still have their “Last of the Mohicans” album in my collection too, but this band was so short lived and I was so young when they hit that I never got the opportunity to see them in their heyday. So when I saw it was them playing with Dale and MP, I just couldn’t say no! Of course, similar to Missing Persons, Bow Wow Wow is now working under the name “Annabaella’s Bow Wow Wow”, after the singer, so I can only assume it’s the same sort of deal – the original vocalist with a bunch of hired hands. Nonetheless, both bands have great songs so I figured if nothing else it will be some fun nostalgia.

Well first things first, Bow Wow Wow exceeded all expectations, by a mile! Annabella sounded great after all these years and still had that spunky energy she had back in the early days. Her band though, holy smokes! These guys were OUTSTANDING! Their guitarist nailed not only the original parts, but his tone was spot on too. His musicianship was excellent and he was fun to watch as well, just exceptional. The bassist was rock solid, groovy as hell and didn’t miss a thing the entire set. The drummer was on fire all night and just tore it up. The man got a serious workout up there with all those tribal-type of drum beats, just a pulsating rhythm, driving song after song, it was a very impressive.

They played all their hits, some deep cuts, some newer tunes and even a Bob Marley cover. It was great fun, highly entertaining and well worth the wait!

Missing Persons opened their set with Mental Hopscotch which was exciting for me as it was the first song I ever heard from them. But here’s where things go weird… You’ll recall a couple paragraphs back how impressed I was with the Bow Wow Wow drummer? Well, Missing Persons used the SAME drummer and it was (in my incredibly biased opinion) a disaster. His drum parts were just the beats with none of the amazing drum parts that made Missing Persons music so unique and special in the world of “New Wave”.

They followed up with Noticeable One, another one of my faves. I will give credit to the guitarist- he did an excellent job recreating Warren’s spacey guitar tone and his playing was really excellent. And Dale sounded as good as ever. But it all just sounded wrong because of the drums. I just couldn’t get past it. The songs are so ingrained in my head that I “hear” the music that is missing and it was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Up next was Words, one of their biggest hits, and despite the outstanding guitar work it just sounded all wrong.

Imagine, say Jack White – an amazing guitarist in his own right – filling in for Eddie Van Halen… No matter the talent, it just wouldn’t sound right in that context.

I’m not gonna lie, I was getting bummed out.

I’m not trying to sound like an arrogant jerk here, I’m not he saying he wasn’t a good drummer, he just wasn’t playing the songs as written and to me it seriously diminished the music.

After Words, Dale went into a really long rambling talk that didn’t really go anywhere and I was getting a little perplexed…and then they started up “Simon”, from a late 80’s solo album and that was my cue to leave…

I have such strong memories of Missing Persons and their reunion show is still in the Top 10 of the hundreds of shows I’ve been to. I didn’t want to stay any longer and have my love of the band’s music tainted in any way, so it was best that I left early.

When all is said and done, I’m glad I went because Bow Wow Wow was great and I really enjoyed their set. And both of the bands had extraordinary guitarists which was a real treat. But unless all the stars align and there is another Missing Persons reunion with the original cast, I believe that will be my last MP show.

Are they still one of my all-time favorites? Yes. But it simply wasn’t the same…

I will say, if you’re not a hard core MP fan and you just remember them from MTV or the radio and you want some nostalgia, you’d probably be OK with their new sound. But if you’re like me and their entire catalog is committed to memory and ingrained into your soul I cannot recommend. To each their own, as they say…

Thanks for stopping by!