#AAR – The Boring Old Man

Concert Review: DOGSTAR at Graton Resort & Casino, Rohnert Park, CA

It’s that time again folks, DOGSTAR has a new album out, just released today in fact, and they have set out on another tour. Some of y’all that have been around a while know my history with this band, but for any newcomers, I will tell you right up front, full disclosure, that I am highly biased towards this band.

If you know the name DOGSTAR at all, it’s most likely because of their household name bassist, Mr. Keanu Reeves. And as much as I like Keanu – I mean, who doesn’t? – he’s not the reason I’m a super fan of the band. No, my adoration for them is strictly due to their guitarist/vocalist Bret Domrose. I was the drummer in Bret’s very first band back in the prehistoric days, also known as the 1980’s. He and I struck up a friendship, that turned into a brotherhood, and we wrote songs and played in bands together for a good decade before he went to seek his fortune in LA and became the front man for DOGSTAR. And I’m still his biggest fan. So view everything you read from here on out through that lens.

First off, the venue. I’ve never been to this place before. In fact, I have driven through Rohnert Park many times – roughly 45 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge – but I’ve never actually stopped here. It’s very odd to see a casino outside of Reno or Las Vegas, but sure enough it’s an honest to goodness casino! The event space was nice, the staff very friendly and they had a very nice sound system, even if it was a little subdued for my taste. I may be a Boring Old Man, but I still like my rock and roll cranked up a few notches! Nonetheless, I give the venue a thumbs up and would certainly come back for another band, should someone pass through that grabs my attention.

The band started off the set with a song from the new album and were brimming with energy right outta the gate.

I had a chance to run through the new record a couple times on the drive up here, and it’s quite a departure from their last outing. It’s certainly heavier, but not akin to their earlier albums back in the 90’s, it’s more reminiscent of early music by the Cult and the Cure, with a dash of Muse, mixed in with the core DOGSTAR sound, based on a solid power trio.

Their set was a good mix of the new record and their last one, and while slightly rough around the edges they turned out a solid hour-plus set that showcased some really fantastic songwriting and some great performances.

In this day and age, when so many musicians are relying on the latest technology to put on a show, it is really refreshing to see a band just come out and play. No backing tracks, no loops, just 3 guys with stings and skins and good ol’ tube amplifiers making good, memorable music on stage. It was a rock and roll show in its purest form, the way it was intended to be. And I’m here for it. As Mick and the boys so eloquently stated back in the day; I know it’s only rock & roll, but I like it!

They’re heading out to the U.K.and Europe in just a few days, so if any of my rare readers from that part of the world happen to see this – get yourself some tickets! It seems like they’re going to be everywhere, from Ireland to England to Holland and Germany, even Romania if I recall. And I’m probably forgetting a bunch of places you’ll find them. Later this summer they’ll be back in the states for a pretty substantial run as well. Basically, there is no shortage of opportunities to see this band over the next few months.

I’m continually more and more proud of Bret as he’s grown as a musician. He’s not some flashy shredder, and he’s not your typical blues-based guitarist, but over the years he’s developed a style all his own, with a tone to match, and it’s just a joy for me to hear him play. Yeah, I know I’m biased. That’s irrelevant. He is obviously and demonstratively an exceptional guitarist.

In the end I guess this was more of a recap than a review, but I’ve seen them so many times it gets difficult to find new ways to write about them. Bottom line, they’re a solid band, they write good songs, and they have a hell of a guitarist with a great voice. Real guys, with real instruments playing real rock and roll without all the unnecessary frills. Sure, one of them is ultra famous because of his day job, but don’t hold that against them. He’s also a damn fine bass player. And I’ve played with enough lousy ones to know the difference!!

Did I enjoy the show? Yes. Do I think you should go see them if you have the opportunity? Also yes.

At the very least, go listen to their new record, they just put out a gem.

Thank you DOGSTAR for a great evening, and thank you for stopping by

Wait…Good news? Nowadays?

This past Sunday, Mother’s Day for us folks here Stateside (I don’t know about other countries, but every one SHOULD celebrate mothers!), our daughter cooked up a little Mother’s Day adventure for us and treated the Mrs. and I to a “Brunch on the Bay” cruise up in San Francisco.

Now, my initial reaction to this news (internally of course, you don’t want to be a wet blanket, especially on Mother’s Day!) was ewww. As mentioned in several other posts on this blog, I’ve come to loathe San Francisco over the last several years. But, I’m a fan of boats, I LOVE the water, and it was a day out of the house with the Mrs. and our kid, so I put on a happy face and decided to just roll with it.

As a kid and well into my 20s, I loved San Francisco. I spent a lot of time there as a youth with my family and have a lot of fond memories of those days. In high school when I was doing my best to be a ne’er-do-well, I used to ditch school and head up to the city just to hang out. When my band started getting gigs up there, we thought we were on top of the world – it was a vastly different scene to the one in San Jose we came up in. We had a number of friends that lived up there and visited often. At one point I even wanted to move there.

Then, sometime around the early 00’s, most likely after the Dot-com Bubble burst, the city went into decline. After the financial crisis of ’06-’08, it got worse. By the time the Plague rolled around in 2020, the city was unrecognizable. And it just kept getting worse from there. To the point of my family deciding a year or so back, that unless there were very critical reasons for traveling to SF, we just weren’t going to anymore. It was vile. All the stories you see about the rampant homeless population, the feces strewn sidewalks, the full throttle degenerate behavior out in the open, the crime, the shockingly crazy people screaming at nothing in the middle of the street… ALL of it was true. Heartbreaking, but true. I remember thinking, they just need to burn this entire city to the ground, it’s beyond hope.

So you can imagine my surprise, my utter SHOCK, when we rolled into the city and it was as if the clock had been rolled back 20 years. Now, granted we were down at the water’s edge in a very tourist-centric area, but a year ago that wouldn’t have made a difference. We had to walk maybe 6 blocks from where we parked to the pier, and I didn’t see a single person sleeping on the sidewalk, much less any shantytowns along the way. I didn’t have to dodge any poop on the sidewalk. I didn’t see a single needle. Nobody asked us for money. I was in utter shock to be honest.

Even after the event on our way back to the highway, there was a noticeable lack of blight. Yes, many, many vacant storefronts – business is still very clearly down – but overall I was very pleasantly surprised at how different the city looked overall. Between the ousting of the loathsome District Attorney, Chesa Boudin a few years ago and that clown of a mayor, London Breed, getting kicked to the curb last year, San Francisco seems to have turned a corner, and I’m really glad to see it.

Of course, there are a lot of areas in the city we didn’t see that day. Some neighborhoods were extremely dingy and dangerous long before the decline that started 20 years ago, and I’m sure they are still as bad if not worse. But a year ago I couldn’t go ANYWHERE in San Francisco without seeing the despair and the filth and the decrepit nature of the place, so I consider it a win for the city.

Now the next time a great band or comic comes through San Francisco I won’t be so reluctant to make the trip. Whatever you’re doing San Francisco, keep up the good work!

Thanks for stopping by!

I Should Probably Stop Reading “The News”…

I’ve been making a concerted effort to avoid as much of “the news” as possible, but the last couple weeks with elections going on, I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know why I do this to myself. It’s not like my knowing is gonna make anything better or worse, all it does is make the blood boil and take my hope in humanity down a couple notches.

These memes here pretty well sum up my feelings on our current state of affairs. But hey, it’s the weekend and the sun is out, so things could be worse, right? Right!?!?

Best wishes to y’all out there. Stay safe. Practice situational awareness. Start recognizing patterns. Know your exits. Avoid crowds. Make peace, make amends. A troubled soul is a heavy burden to carry around. Do what you can to shed some of that weight while you still can. A grudge holds no value, and regret is far too costly. The world is a crazy place, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any less crazy as the days tick by… Summer is right around the corner and traditionally Summer is when things really let loose. I think this one’s gonna be a doozy.

And to any mothers who unwittingly stumbled across my little space here, Happy Mother’s Day to you. None of us would be here without you all, so blessings to all of you!

Thanks for stopping by.

GDMFSOB!!!

Rough start this morning… The Mrs and our daughter are out of town, and per usual when the Mrs is away, I did not sleep well. Nonetheless, I was up at 5am and out the door around 5:40, cuz it’s a “gym day”. M,W,F I hit the gym before work, but I digress …

As I’m about to leave, I’m wrangling the house rabbit back into his pen and I notice the little bugger had chomped through a nearly new charger cable. Chewed that sucker into 3 pieces. In about 2 unsupervised minutes. That makes about 10 cables he’s destroyed over the last few months, and this particular one was only a week or two old. So, naturally I’m irritated, but such is life and I had bigger fish to fry -primarily getting to the gym and then to work by 8am.

Then I get to my truck and go to throw my bags in the passenger door, when I see the cab of my truck is in total disarray. Uh oh… That’s not a good sign, but it’s still pitch dark and I can’t really see what all is missing, so I figure I’ll go work out and then deal with it. Only trouble is, when I go to put the key in the ignition I discover some piece of human refuse tried to STEAL the entire truck – the steering column is all busted up and the ignition switch is broken, wires pulled out, just completely inoperable.

Capital F to the You See Kay!!!

So now instead of going to the gym and work, I’m calling the boys in blue at 5:45am, filing a police report, then dealing with insurance, getting a tow truck, arranging for a rental car…all that “fun” stuff.

Aside from the broken column and ignition switch, they also broke the exterior door handle on the passenger side. And, to add insult to injury, they also stole about $1,000 worth of tools and personal items like sunglasses and such that was inside the cab.

Yes, I know it’s only “stuff” and I’m lucky they DIDN’T get the whole truck. But I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t been in a murderous rage all day, nonetheless.

So happy I pay a generous premium to live in the “nice” neighborhood…/s

No moral to the story here kids. Just me “ranting” cuz I feel a burning desire to load a scum bag into a wood chipper, feet first, Which in my not so humble option is what ALL thieves deserve.

I guess I should consider myself lucky. I went through a rash of burglaries about 25 years ago – my car was broken into 3 times and my storage unit twice. (That one HURT!! All my drums and music gear were wiped out with NO insurance.) All that happened in the span of about 3 years. But things on the crime front have been good for a long time. Be that as it may however, I have a deep, brutal loathing for thieves. I guess it’s good that I didn’t hear the commotion as I would have, likely as not, answered that call with Mr. Nineteen-eleven for backup and ventilated some POS in my carport. I can only imagine (being in California) the day that followed that kind of scene would certainly be worse than the one I actually had. I’ve had copious amounts of rage bottled up for several decades, it’s best that I didn’t intervene. I was looking forward to a great week, not catching felony charges.

Anyhow, it’s been an absolute shit day. I hope yours was better…

Serenity now, serenity now, serenity now…

Tomorrow is a new day.

Thanks for stopping by.

Well, That Was Weird…

Today I had an unusual experience. Not unusual like an alien abduction or a religious experience or anything fun like that. No, just a wave of nostalgia combined with a shock to the system based on current data and a tinge of a glimpse of a bizzaro world future dystopia.

Where, you might ask, did this odd interconnected experience happen? Why, “The Mall” of course!

As it happened on this fine Saturday, I was running around taking care of various odds and ends, and I happened to have about an hour to kill before my next engagement. It was hot, I needed to take a leak and I just happened to be a few blocks away from a shopping mall, so I figured I’d make a pit stop there rather than find some grody gas station bathroom and sit in my hot (black) pickup for an hour. And who knows, maybe treat myself to an Orange Julius drink – it’s been years!

Now this particular mall, now called “Westfield Valley Fair” has been around a long time. In fact, my personal history with the place goes back to some of my earliest memories as a child, when it was two separate shopping centers (Valley Fair and Stevens Creek Plaza) across the street from each other. The fondest memories of the place were going to the book store there – the book store had TWO floors – and when you’re 4/5 years old, that just seems to be an astounding amount of books! Both my parents read a lot, and often gifted books as presents, so that was a place we frequented. Though to be honest I was so young when we started going there I don’t even know what the name of the place was, we just called it “the bookstore”. The other very vivid memory I have from way back, is taking my paper route earnings, riding my bike the 4 miles or so down to the Macy’s at that mall and buying Levi’s 501 jeans and some store-brand knock-off “Polo” shirts, as it was my intention to re-invent myself as a “preppy” kid going into my Freshman year of High School. Yeah, that didn’t exactly work out for me, turns out lower-middle class kids from the “wrong side of the tracks” don’t exactly fit in that world. But that is a story for another day… I can still remember the 501’s were $12.50 then. The shirts were about 10 bucks. 3 pair of pants and two shirts – one red, one blue – cost me about $60, which is just a little less than I made in a month of schlepping newpapers. It’s weird how things like that stick in your mind. I guess when you’re 14, buying your back-to-school clothes with money you had to earn yourself, you pay more attention to what things cost. This would be the summer of 1982.

Fast forward a couple years and both those shopping centers were bought out by a big company and the place was “re-developed” into one, continuous, two story indoor mall now simply called Valley Fair. It re-opened in 1986 and it was the quintessential 80’s mall. Back then in my general area, which was essentially what we could reach on our bicycles, we had three malls. The one right down the street from my house – Westgate – was known amongst my cohorts as the “dirt mall”. Across town we had Valco, which was the “nice mall”, they had a McDonald’s AND an ice skating rink – the perfect place for kids to hang out back then. (And secretly, I LOVED to go into the Sears there and check out all the Craftsman tools!) But when Valley Fair reopened, it was quickly and decisively known as the “rich mall”. Naturally myself and my friends couldn’t BUY anything there, but we loved to hang out there, ‘cuz that’s where all the cute, rich girls hung out! Later, my bandmates and I would go down there and pass out fliers for our shows and bumper stickers to pretty girls that had “the look” of the type that might like our music… But I digress. I guess what I’m trying to say is I have some really fond memories of the place, going back to maybe 1972 or so.

Then from say 1988 until 2018 I only stepped foot in the place a handful of times, when I was after something very specific from a particular store. Usually a gift of some sort. Around 2020 I was driving by the place and noticed that once again they were doing a massive remodel of the mall, from one end to the other. The construction went on for I’d say at least 3 years. It was a massive undertaking. I hadn’t been there from at least 2018 until this past April, when once again I visited Macy’s to buy a suit for my daughter’s wedding. But at that time, I didn’t actually go in the mall, just Macy’s – in and out. That pretty much covers the nostalgia part of the tale.

Well today since I had an hour to kill, I decided to walk around just to see what the “new” mall is about. Holy. Crap.

As you might have guessed, I’m not exactly the mall type. Other than concerts, for which I will gladly suck it up, I am NOT a “crowds” kinda guy. They set me on edge, big time. And let me tell you this place was PACKED. Like, it’s 12 hours til Christmas morning, packed. It was unreal. And it was literally just a Saturday afternoon in August! I cannot imagine what that place would be like in a holiday shopping rush, but I don’t want to be within 5 miles of there from Thanksgiving til Valentines day!! It was beyond shocking, the sheer volume of people.

And the people? Look, I recognize my hometown (sadly) turned into Ground Zero of Silicon Valley and it’s always been “diverse”, but I’d be grossly exaggerating if I told you 10% of the people there were Anglo. My rough, purely non-scientific, off-the-cuff estimates based on my own observations – keeping in mind I didn’t venture into a single store or restaurant – would say the clientele was 70% Asian of one faction or another (I’m including Indian here), 15% Middle Eastern, 10% Hispanic, 4% Anglo and 1% black. It was wild. I’ve never seen such lopsided “diversity” in one place. And again, not being a mall kinda guy, I was really taken aback by the frenetic pace at which everything was moving. We used to go the the mall to hang out, to chill. There is NO chill left in the place. It reminded me of those crazy scenes you see in the movies of some bazaar in Calcutta or something. Everyone scurrying around, bumping into each other. Security guards evetywhere. And the din? Goodness gracious! It was SOOO flippin’ LOUD in there. The cacophony of dozens of different languages, each trying to be heard over rhe other, was dizzying. Like a mild roar, never ceasing, in the background. It was unsettling to say the least.

But the thing that really blew my mind was the stores in there nowadays. Like I said earlier, it was the “rich mall” even back in the day cuz they had a Macy’s and Nordstroms as opposed to the Sears at the nice mall or JC Penny at the dirt mall, but now it’s become some grotesque monument to consumption that honestly made me wonder if I’d slipped into another dimension. Every name-dropped brand name from every hip hop record in the last decade had a storefront. Gucci, Fendi, Balenciaga, Bvlgari, Burberry, Rolex, Cartier, Prada…the list goes on and on. All kinds of brands and stores I’ve never even heard of. Additionally there were a bunch of clearly Asian stores with names I couldn’t pronounce. I don’t know what to make of a place like that. This is flippin’ San Jose, not Beverly Hills or Manhattan. It was so alien and frankly grotesque to me. That kind of crass consumerism really gives me the creeps. And what really hit me was that earlier that day, less than a mile down the road from all this excess, I’d stopped at a 7-11 for a cup of coffee and had to dodge a homeless dude sleeping on the sidewalk while also being accosted by another for some money to “get something to eat”.

I’ll be the first to admit that I do not “fit in”, I’m one of the least tendy people you’ll ever meet, and not only do I not care about “name brands”, I’ll generally cut the labels off of everything (a holdover from my early punk rock days surely). I simply cannot understand the appeal of this type of “culture”. That so many people are drawn to this spectacle that absolutely repels me just boggles my mind. Hence, the shock to the system.

As for the dystopia? Aa I mentioned, the sheer volume of people and the frenetic pace was almost too much for this boring old man the bear…but what really troubles me is that within a couple miles if this place, in every direction, enormous, soulless housing developments are popping up. I don’t get to this part of town often, and driving around today I was really overwhelmed by how many of these monstrosities were under construction. Traffic around here has been absurd for a long time, wait times for everything from medical appointments to a haircut get worse year after year, the job market is BRUTAL, everywhere is just crowded, the homeless shanty towns are all over the place…and “they” are building thousands of new housing units and packing them in like sardines. I moved to this area just before my 5th birthday and spent my youth running around the orchards and open fields, which were around every corner. Even as things slowly developed, it was still a great place to live and we still had a sense of community. But the last 10 years have been like a runaway train and all this “progress” has turned my hometown into an overcrowded, disjointed, ugly mess with greater and greater disparity between the haves and have-nots, and I fear they’re just getting started. I’m reminded of the old song lyrics “We gotta get outta this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do!”.

And to add insult to injury, the mall doesn’t even have an Orange Julius anymore!

Thanks for stopping by.

Wrench Time

My constant readers may remember I took possession of a “new” truck back in June and it has been my daily driver ever since.

It has been relatively problem free, aside from a blown out radiator hose, and I’ve now put a little over 9,000 miles(!!!)on it for it’s initial shakedown. Aside from a new upper radiator hose, all I’ve done is an oil change and new spark plugs thus far. Though it is due for another oil change…

My first impression was that front end and steering would be the first task to undertake, then about 10 days ago I started hearing some brake screeching (not a metal on metal sound, but as though a caliper wasn’t opening up and dragging).

So, change of plans… This weekend I drove over to my Brother-in-Law’s place and took care of ‘Phase One’…

The truck is now sporting new wheel hub/bearing assemblies (Mevotech) on both sides with new, un-rounded bolts, new brake calipers, pads and rotors (Powerstop) and new braided stainless DOT brake lines (Russell). While I was in there I also put in a new set of front shocks (Bilstein).

It was a lot of work – a good 8 hours, start to finish. Should have been less, but dealing with some rounded off bolts, a couple broken sockets (Snap-On brand, no less!!), forgetting to look up torque specs before I got started and other assorted flys in the ointment really added to the slog. But, all’s well that ends well.

It’s reassuring to have new bearings and brakes up front, but there is still much to do.

I’ve got all the parts to completely rebuild the rear brakes inside and out and a new power brake booster to install, just ran outta time and daylight this round. And unfortunately when I was replacing the components on the driver’s side I found the CV joint had a cracked boot and was spewing grease, which means undoing some of the work I just completed to install a new axle half shaft, which I do not have just yet…

Hopefully between now and the next round of the big work I can get the new distributor cap, rotor and camshaft position sensor installed and the new Serpentine belt assembly that I’ve been sitting on for a few weeks now.

Despite all those parts sitting around waiting for me, the old girl is running well and stopping better, for which I am grateful! And no more ungodly sounds emanating from the front wheels!

I’m no mechanic, by any stretch of the imagination, and this job really pushed me to the limits of aggravation, but I gotta say it was a big boost to the ol’ self-esteem tank to conquer it. And lastly I must give a big, no actually MASSIVE thank you to my BIL, Kaptain Karel for letting me take over his driveway for the day and loaning me some tools so I didn’t have to schlep my entire mini-storage unit over there!! Not to mention helping me to figure out solutions when things went sideways! If you’ve ever considered wrenching on your own automobiles, I say go for it! I’ve been doing it for decades and always learn new things. Not to mention the money saved over the years by avoiding the mechanics shops! And what better excuse to buy new tools?! Even with all the dough I’ve dropped on tools over the years, I’m confident that I’m still thousands of dollars ahead.

More to come – stay tuned (pun intended)!

Thanks for stopping by!

A little catching up…

My apologies to any readers that have been wondering where I’ve gone… I know it’s been quite some time since I posted here, but quite frankly I’ve been having ‘one of those days’ for a couple/few months now. I really try to not let this blog be a place for bitterness or despair, so I’ve had my head down just trying to ride the storm out.

I’ve got to say, 2024 will go down in my personal history as the worst year on record, and I’ll be glad to see it in the rear view mirror in a couple months.

And while the last few months have been pretty disastrous for me, it hasn’t been ALL bad…

Back in early September I had a reunion of sorts with some old friends, brothers from other mothers so to speak, that was LONG overdue. While I’ve been in touch with them both fairly regularly, the 3 of us hadn’t been in the same room together for over 30 YEARS! Yeah, seriously overdue! So that was certainly a bright spot for me.

And we saw a few great shows along the way – Dogstar at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, Nikka Costa in Berkeley, Abhi the Nomad in San Francisco and Still Woozy at the Greek Theater in Berkeley as well. All were great shows and there were some awesome opening acts as well – PawPaw Rod for one, was exemplary!

The Mrs. and I also had our 33rd wedding anniversary in October.

We had a couple nice outings with the family as well… A few day trips to Henry Cowells to bask amongst the Redwoods, we did the annual ‘Wine Walk’ in our little town which was nice. And just last week a 3 day camping trip down in Big Sur (more Redwoods!!) These are things that I hold dear. The things that kept me from losing my mind altogether. Much needed and welcome distractions from ‘the real world’.

And today is VOATING day. Yippee… Ordinarily I consider myself a very patriotic American and take my civic responsibility very seriously, but I’m struggling this year. BIG TIME. I’m sick of it all. Sick of the two wings of the same, diseased bird. Sick of the lies. Sick of the hyperbole and the projection. Sick of getting the short end of the stick, regardless of which way the wind blows.

Alrighty then, that is enough doom and gloom. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully a better one.

Thanks to all who have supported me here, I do appreciate it. It’ll probably be a little quiet in the near future, but eventually I’ll dig myself outta this hole and get back to it on the regular.

Thanks for stopping by.

Concert Review: Joss Stone at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA

After a long pause with live music, this weekend was a “Two-fer”! Saturday night we saw the Sammy Hagar show (see previous post for the review) and Sunday night found us back at the iconic Fillmore Auditorium for another great show!

Unfortunately the Mrs. was feeling a little under the weather and opted out of this one, so it turned into a Dad & Daughter outing, which was nice in it’s own way.

As often happens at SF shows, we got in the doors a little late so we missed about half of the opening set by Nik West and her band, but what we did see was really impressive! They were funky as could be and the band was TIGHT! I had never heard of her before seeing her on stage, but I’ll definitely be searching out more from her. It’s not every day you see a female bassist, and even more rare to see a female bassist just tearing it up with all kinds of slappin’ and funky grooves, but to play bass like that AND sing lead?!?! And then her stage presence on top of all that?! Are you kidding me?!?! This lady is the real deal! I was really impressed and lamented our tardiness greatly. I would have loved to see the full set.

Nik West & band getting down to business!

This was our first time seeing Joss Stone, despite being fans of her since her very first record, and it was worth the wait!

She hit the stage with a 10 piece band (!!!) and the band was just sizzling from the jump! Seriously, I don’t know what to say – every musician on the stage was top-notch and exciting to watch. The rhythm section was exceptional, the guitarist was versatile and outstanding, the horn section filled out the sound beautifully without being overbearing. Even the 3 backup singers sounded amazing!

Personally, I love a ‘power trio’ above just about all other bands, but there is something about seeing a big ensemble like this that is totally in sync and just killing it musically that really rocks my world. And honestly it seemed like the entire band was having the time of their lives on that stage. It was infectious and exciting, to say the least!

And Joss Stone, herself? Freakin’ FANTASTIC!! How so much soul can be packed into such a tiny package boggles the mind! Her voice is just magic. And she seemed like she was having every bit as much fun as the band!

All in all it was a great night of music. Great songs, outstanding musicianship and the great vibe of the bands and Fillmore itself.

If Joss comes to your neck of the woods, do yourself a favor and GO! If you love music, you won’t regret it!

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!

This is no way to start the day…

Last night when I was nearly home, I noticed my “new” truck was running a little hot. Nothing crazy, but about 20 degrees (F) higher than what I’ve noticed as regular operating temps. Well, it was 90 degrees and I’d driven 25 miles in stop-and-go traffic, with the A/C blasting, so I didn’t give it too much concern.

This morning, I figured I’d play it safe and take my former SUV, that I haven’t gotten rid of yet, to work. BUT, since I haven’t driven it in the last month, the ol’ girl wouldn’t even THINK about starting, even with my jump-pack attached (which until now has had a 100% success rate!). So back to the pickup I go…

Again, playing it safe, I took the back-route, to avoid the highways and it’s a darn good thing I did!

About 7 miles in to the commute, I notice the temp gauge is nearly pegged at 250 degrees! Yikes! I cranked the heater on high, flipped a U-turn to limp her back home and a mile later lost all visibility due to the massive plume of steam pouring out from under the hood! D’oh!!

I pulled into the nearest parking lot, shut ‘er down and popped the hood. EVERYTHING under the hood was bathed in antifreeze.

Hello, AAA?

Long story short, had to get a tow home. I grabbed the Mrs.’ car for a run to the parts store, swapped out the upper radiator hose, and dropped in another 2 gallons of antifreeze. I also replaced the battery while I was under the hood. Supposedly it was “newish” when I bought the truck and it was dated 2/22 so I had no reason to think otherwise, but it’s been weak and I don’t need anymore “on the way to work” issues.

Then I cleaned up my greasy paws, took her on a quick test run, and made it to the “office” at 12:30 – enough to grab a half day’s hours.

So not exactly a banner day for the Boring Old Man! But it could have been a lot worse. I’m grateful that the Mrs. persuaded me to get AAA some time ago. I’m grateful that the parts store near home had the required part for a 25 year old truck ON THE SHELF. I’m grateful that it was just the radiator hose and not the radiator or waterpump! And I’m grateful that I have the tools and knowhow to fix stuff and not need a mechanic all the time! (Even if it had been the radiator or waterpump, that’s all well within my wheelhouse) And most of all, I’m exceptionally grateful this breakdown didn’t happen on the highway in morning rush hour traffic! That would have increased the stress levels ten-fold!

It was also a strong reminder to get my shizz together, vis-a-vis preparedness! I was so excited to start driving this new-old truck, that I just started daily-driving it without setting it up for emergencies. Dumb. Had I been properly prepared, I could’ve “McGuyver’d” it and not had to wait for the tow truck… Anyhow, lesson learned!

And now I’m back on the road with the first (albeit minor) repair to my new truck under my belt! All’s well that ends well, as they say.

Thanks for stopping by!