Let Mr. Fitzgerald tool with the past all he wants. Let’s focus on today. Nearly half a century after Mo Slotin, writing for Atlanta’s underground paper The Great Speckled Bird, coined the phrase in a review of an Allman Brothers Band concert, Daytona Beach’s indie powerhouse Greye is kicking ass, stirring up the hard driving dust these past years (via hundreds of local and regional shows, only briefly interrupted by the pandemic) on a fiery, no holds barred, in your face vibe that’s unleashing Southern Rock 2.0 on the world!

Since the term “Southern Rock” traces its origins to the clever phrasing of a single astute reviewer, it makes perfect sense to leave it to the music journalist tastemakers to let you know what you’ve been missing if you haven’t yet been blown away live by this multi-generational band featuring 20-something Hannah Summer (lead vocals/lyrics), guitarist Jett Wolfe, bassist Lorenzo Rizzardi and the “older guys” who grew up during a time when SR 1.0 reigned on the pop charts, drummer Ray Grimard and keyboardist Ken-e Williams.

Even if you’re new to the raw, raucous and authentically rockin’ Greye aesthetic, you should know that they’re a helluva lot more than a regional phenomenon. As they dropped their most recent single, the fiery, unstoppable “Over My Head,” they were riding high overseas, with three consecutive #1s (“So Far So Good,” “Growing Pains,” “I Don’t Mind” on the Euro Indie Music Chart and World Indie Music Chart. Previously, their first 2020 track “Lucky” hit #1 on the World Indie chart and #2 on the Euro chart while racking up over 1.2 million views for its video. “I Don’t Mind” also landed quickly at #2 on Spotify’s Global Radio Chart Toppers playlist.

Maybe it’s because they’re located along the Central Florida Atlantic Coast. Or maybe, for those writers who know their Greye history, it’s the fact that the band formed back in 2013 at Seabreeze High (alma mater of Duane and Gregg Allman, Class of ’65) when Hannah and Jett were students and Ray was on the faculty. But a lot of writers checking out the band’s sixth and latest album So Far So Good are labeling what they hear, among other things, Southern Rock – and drawing appropriately impactful parallels to the classic sound.

Claire Uebelacker of Ballyhoo Magazine writes, “Thunderously groove-laden in one track and carefully layered as to channel the heavy metal gods in another, it’s obvious when listening to the new album So Far So Good from Greye that the noted Daytona Beach rock outfit has a lot of energy they’re looking to burn off this summer. . .“Shoulda Coulda Woulda” delivers crunchy southern rock riffing where “Over My Head” takes a punky beat and ties it up with a blues-inspired harmony. . .

Samuel Pratt of Entertainment Eyes raves: “There’s no need to question whether you’re hearing a strong southern rock element in tracks like “Shoulda Coulda Woulda,” the blues-powered “Burn” or “Lucky,” as this group of Floridian musicians are undisputedly putting a lot of Skynyrd into their artistic structure here – and unashamedly, I might add. There’s a lot more of a countrified aesthetic influencing the relentless kick of the instrumentation of all ten songs on the album, but it’s never presented in such a fashion as to alienate the rock n’ roll puritans who have become the biggest source of support for this band – and many of their Daytona Beach rivals.”

In an earlier review of their single “Lucky” (which appears on the new album), Nicole Killian of Mob York City made some pretty telling references: “The violent exchange between the different players is held together beautifully by Summer, whose voice acts as a sonic linchpin for every rough edged facet we encounter here, and even when the band is roaring like a southern garage rock unit ready to blow down the walls of an SEC stadium, the musicality they dispense is hardly overwhelming to the audience.”

One more ought to convince you that whether they intended to or not, Greye is at the forefront of a major movement. Clay Burton of Independent Music and Arts, Inc. (IMAAI) wrote, “Fiery guitars and southern-style beats are something of a commodity to the mainstream pop consumer these days, but for those of us who live on the left side of the dial, they’re hard to ignore when they’re being played by a band as talented as Greye are. . .(They) have been making rock their business for years now, lighting up an otherwise dismal Florida scene that hasn’t done much for anyone outside of the insular hip-hop underground in recent memory, and their latest album So Far So Good picks up right where their lauded 2019 effort Under the Weather left off.”

Grimard, who owns the local recording studio where Greye initially joined forces, is grateful that the critics are helping define the sound of the band in ways he and his cohorts always had some challenges with. There’s been a lot of organic growth from their early days when “progressive Americana Rock” seemed to be the best description, but not until recently did the drummer realize the value of being considered bona fide Southern rockers.

Another proverbial feather in Greye’s Southern Rock cap is the fact that they recorded their fifth album Under The Weather at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and had it mixed by multi-platinum engineer Brian Reeves, who has worked similar magic for everyone from Billy Idol and U2 to Elton John and Miley Cyrus. In Grimard’s estimation, Reeves is the one that helped catapult Greye from the status of “emerging regional band” to “rock powerhouse.”

As strong as her voice was, for Greye’s early years, Hannah took a polite, reserved approach to her lead vocals and stage presence. When the drummer sent a demo one of their songs to Reeves, the engineer replied, “Ray, I like the song, but your singer is not delivering everything that’s inside of her. She might really have it, but I can’t feel it yet.”  Ray then delivered Brian’s reaction to the demo to Hannah. Ultimately, she got the message. Suddenly, it was like she took off every protective device on her and went out there and started blowing people away. She owns that stage, and she owns that mic in the studio. This prompted me and Jett to start writing heavier grooves and riffs for her to put lyrics to – because we knew she could deliver.”

“For years, people would come up to us and ask what kind of music we played,” Grimard says. “I would laugh and say it’s either s***y music or good music. But when I think about it, groups like the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd built their legend by doing exactly what Greye is doing, making music that’s authentic to who they are. For them, that meant a rock, blues and jazz hybrid, and for us because of our intergenerational, biracial makeup, it’s a fusion of R&B and heavy rock. Most of what is considered classic Southern rock came out of three counties in Florida, and we’re proud to be considered a modern manifestation of that incredible tradition.

Now that the band itself has caught on to what the musical tastemakers are hearing in them, Grimard add that he’s excited by the opportunity to present Greye to promoters as the new phase of Southern Rock rather than try to fit into the country-oriented lineups at some popular regional festivals. “We’re glad we went the balls to the wall rock route rather than morph our Americana leanings into what passes for country music today,” he says. “If Nashville had gotten a hold of us, they would have watered us down and emasculated us into a safe country/pop sound that has replaced what was once ass kicking, rock edged music that was born in the Southern U.S.”

As one of the older guys in the band, whose involvement with Greye led to the restoration of a long set aside dream to play music, Grimard comes from a rock and roll generation that didn’t mince words for fear of offending people. So, forgive his French when the drummer sums up Greye’s being a driving force in Southern Rock 2.0 this way: “Say goodbye to homogenized p***y rock. You’ve got to hear what’s coming out of the South these days. So, get ready. Our audience is there. The band sees it every week when we do the originals from the new album. They love them and don’t even know why.

RECENT REVIEWS:

BALLYHOO: https://ballyhoomagazine.com/2021/06/11/rock-band-greye-releases-new-music/

ENTERTAINMENT EYES: https://entertainmenteyes.com/2021/06/11/so-far-so-good-by-suring-rock-band-greye/

MOB NEW YORK: “Lucky” by Greye – Mob York City

IMAAI: https://www.imaai.org/greye-so-far-so-good/

“Now we can tell them, because maybe they’re too young to realize it – it’s a simple return to good old hard driving Southern Rock without the redneck label,” he adds. “Okay, maybe not in the old school Skynyrd or Molly Hatchett sense with any type of hooky twang but in the real sense – with a soulful, intense and burning rock/blues power sound that breaks ground on and defines the new sense of the term. We’re continually grateful for all the fans, local and worldwide, who have allowed us to keep bringing that fresh air to what’s been a stale rock scene for way too long!”

Jonathan Widran

The tour will open April 13 in Key West, Fla., and includes six dates in Florida, as well as four shows in Texas. Other stops include New Orleans and two shows in Arizona, wrapping up April 30 in Scottsdale. The band then heads to England, where it will perform its new album in its entirety at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 14. Visit the Furs’ website for full ticket information.

The Furs’ current lineup includes mainstays, and brothers, Richard and Tim Butler on vocals and bass, respectively, as well as sax player Mars Williams, drummer Paul Garisto, keyboard player Amanda Kramer and guitarist Rich Good.

Made of Rain will be the Furs’ first new album in nearly three decades, since the 1991 release of World Outside, which spawned the modern-rock radio hit “Until She Comes.”

Check out the band’s full tour dates below.

The Psychedelic Furs tour dates UNITED STATES

April 13: Key West Theater, Key West, FL
April 14: Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale, FL
April 15: Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater, FL
April 17: Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando, Orlando, FL
April 18: Sunrise Theatre, Fort Pierce, FL
April 19: Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, Ponte Verda Beach, FL
April 21: Tipitina’s, New Orleans, LA
April 22: House Of Blues, Houston, TX
April 24: Paper Tiger, San Antonio, TX
April 25: Emo’s, Austin, TX
April 26: Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
April 28: Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ
April 30: Showroom at Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale, AZ

UNITED KINGDOM
May 14: Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

“The Stadium Tour”, as its title suggests, consists of major shows in stadiums across the US, beginning July 7th in Miami. Of the 22 dates, noteworthy stops include Hard Rock Stadium in Miami; Citi Field in New York City; Fenway Park in Boston; Wrigley Field in Chicago; and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Update: Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard have added seven more stadium shows to the tour’s docket, including stops in San Antonio, Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Nashville, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. There’s possibly even more shows to come as they’ve hinted that the tour could extend into 2020.

Joining Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard will be fellow fellow veteran hard-rockers Poison, as well as punk rock godmother Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

The tour will mark Mötley Crüe’s first shows since they ended their “Final Tour” on December 15th, 2015. At the beginning of that run, the Crüe had signed a “cessation of touring” agreement which prevented them from touring again. However, the band dramatically blew up the agreement when they recently announced their return, crediting the success of the Netflix biopic The Dirt for their decision to reunite.

Tickets to all of the upcoming dates are available for purchase here.

The Stadium Tour 2020 Tour Dates:

06/21 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
06/23 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Stadium
06/25 – St. Louis, MO @ Busch Stadium
06/27 – Minneapolis, MN @ U.S. Bank Stadium
06/29 – Nashville, TN @ Nissan Stadium
07/02 – Cincinnati, OH @ Great American Ballpark
07/03 – Cleveland, OH @ FirstEnergy Stadium
07/07 – Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
07/09 – Orlando, FL @ Camping World Stadium
07/11 – Charlotte, NC @ Bank of America Stadium
07/14 – Arlington, TX @ Globe Life Field
07/15 – Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park
07/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Park
07/23 – San Diego, CA @ Petco Park
07/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ State Farm Stadium
08/09 – Atlanta, GA @ SunTrust Park
08/11 – Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium
08/13 – Buffalo, NY @ New Era Field
08/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park
08/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PNC Park
08/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miller Park
08/20 – Detroit, MI @ Comerica Park
08/22 – Washington, DC @ Nationals Park
08/23 – Queens, NY @ Citi Field
08/25 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
08/28 – Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field
08/30 – Denver, CO @ Coors Field
09/02 – Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park
09/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium

“The Legacy of the Beast Tour” has been touted as the legendary British metal band’s biggest production yet, and it certainly lived up to its billing, featuring an array of stage pieces and backdrops that visually brought Iron Maiden’s songs to life on the stage, not unlike a drama or play. After an opening set from metalcore act The Raven Age, which features Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’ son George Harris, the lights dimmed and a low rumble signaled the Beast’s arrival. UFO’s “Doctor Doctor” blared as the opening hype track, rousing those in the floor pit who pumped their fist to shouts of “Mai-den! Mai-den!” Two stage hands dressed as military officers appeared stage right and left, removing the tarps covering the amps and monitors, which were draped in camouflage netting. The lights went dark and three lights hovered above the stage mysteriously.

Taking the Stage: Quite literally launching into the intro of “Aces High”, the band finally emerged beneath a hovering airplane bomber as frontman Bruce Dickinson, clad in vintage flight cap and goggles, darted around the stage, dodging the floating plane as he sang. Every song in the set featured a different set piece or backdrop, the plane being one of the most elaborate — it even had a working propeller. Between songs Dickinson ran backstage for a costume change, wearing a white parka in a snow scene for “Where Eagles Dare” and donning an old-school denim vest for a thrashed up version of “2 Minutes to Midnight”.

The setlist and theme for the tour is a retrospective of Iron Maiden’s discography, with the band playing many of their most celebrated songs and a couple surprises. Many adoring fans shouted every lyric back at Dickinson throughout the night as Barclays turned into an echoing choir. In Dickinson’s only monologue, he offered his two-cents and remarks of surprise at the audience’s fervor. “We had 14,000 in here last night and there’s nearly 14,000 in here tonight,” he said. “Is there some rap band playing Barclays tonight? Heavy metal in 21st century, f**king hell. Somebody better tell the media. Actually, f**k the media.” The crowd particularly enjoyed the last remark. “One day there will be new Iron Maiden songs, but today is not that day. We’re here to celebrate. Go f**king nuts!”

Blaze Bayley-era track “The Clansman” (a staple in prior setlists) was followed by the band’s classic “The Trooper”, as guitarists Dave Murray, Janick Gers, and Adrian Smith nailed the iconic opening riff in unison. A stilted Eddie in British red coat took the stage wielding a sword, so Dickinson grabbed a blade of his own and the two engaged in a brief duel before the singer ran to the second level of the stage above drummer Nicko McBrain. In a humorous moment, Dickinson pointed his sword at Eddie, who busted out some air guitar during the solo. Every song featured these charming and campy moments, proof that Iron Maiden are taking this elaborate production seriously, but not too seriously.

The middle of the set saw the band bring out some deep cuts, including “Revelations” (against a beautiful cathedral backdrop), another Bayley-era song “Sign of the Cross” (to a darkened graveyard setting), and Brave New World’s “The Wicker Man”. Sadly nothing from Somewhere in Time or Killers made the cut, but the rousing finale of hits more than made up for it.

Stage left during “Flight of Icarus”, Gers shimmied and danced around as he played, projecting a classic ’80s metal guitar attitude that balanced nicely alongside the more workmanlike performances of Harris, Smith, and the seismic and calculated drumming of McBrain (meanwhile, Dickinson ran around with an actual backpack flamethrower, spraying flames from both arms). The dynamic “Fear of the Dark” sounded particularly massive and dense before the stage lit up with fire and a hellacious burning pit backdrop for “The Number of the Beast”. Even by Iron Maiden standards, the stage piece looked convincingly evil.

The titular “Iron Maiden” was the only Paul Di’Anno-era song played, closing the initial setlist before the band returned for a three-song encore, where they finally hit Seventh Son of a Seventh Son for the staple “The Evil That Men Do” and gave Brooklyn the ultimate one-two ending of “Hallowed Be Thy Name” — rendered beautifully by an visibly exhausted Dickinson — and the anthemic “Run to the Hills”. Nobody was in their seats, the crowd shouting the chorus in euphoria, concluding a joyous night that saw Iron Maiden re-imagine its stage show into a full-blown visual feast while giving fans a no-filler set of career-spanning hits, worthy of such a legacy.

With the release of the long-waited Fear Inoculum, Tool, one of the last major digital streaming holdouts, uploaded their entire catalog to streaming platforms earlier this summer. It’s been a massive success as the band became the first act to ever own all Top 10 spots on Billboard’s Digital Rock Songs Sales chart.

There was even a point where each one of Tool’s albums was in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Fear Inoculum, Tool’s first album in 13 years, dropped today (Aug. 30) and we’ve prepared your guide of what to expect on your very first listen.

Tickets go on sale Sept. 6 at 10AM local time.

Tool + Killing Joke 2019 North American Tour Dates:

Oct. 13  – Sacramento, Calif. @ Aftershock Festival
Oct. 15 – Denver, Colo. @ Pepsi Center
Oct. 18 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
Oct. 20 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Staples Center
Oct. 21 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Staples Center
Oct. 23 – Glendale, Ariz. @ Gila River Arena
Oct. 25 – San Antonio, Texas @ AT&T Center
Oct. 27 – Houston, Texas @ Toyota Center
Oct. 29 – Tulsa, Okla. @ BOK Center
Oct. 31 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Fiserv Forum
Nov. 2 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Banker’s Life Fieldhouse
Nov. 3 – Chicago, Ill. @ United Center
Nov. 5 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ US Bank Arena
Nov. 6 – Cleveland, Ohio @ Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Nov. 8 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ PPG Paints Arena
Nov. 9 – Detroit, Mich. @ Little Caesars Arena
Nov. 11 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank Arena
Nov. 12 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank Arena
Nov. 14 – Boston, Mass. @ TD Garden
Nov. 16 – Newark, N.J. @ Prudential Center
Nov. 18 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wells Fargo Center
Nov. 19 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Barclays Center
Nov. 21 – Uncasville, Conn. @ Mohegan Sun Casino Arena
Nov. 22 – Atlantic City, N.J. @ Boardwalk Hall
Nov. 24 – Raleigh, N.C. @ PNC Arena
Nov. 25 – Washington, DC @ Capitol One Arena

With the Pixies playing the third show of a three-night stand at Brooklyn Steel on Tuesday night (November 20th), there wasn’t much mystery in the setlist, with these gigs serving as a celebration of Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa, both collected on a recently released deluxe box set titled Come On Pilgrim … It’s Surfer Rosa. We knew we were going to get the complete EP and album, as well as some rare B-sides during the main set, with the only surprises left for the encore.

There was no opening act, but prior to the Pixies’ set, a short movie was shown — an avant-garde film documenting the stunning artwork of both Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa — setting the stage for the Pixies to present the music.

Frontman Black Francis, guitarist Joey Santiago, drummer Dave Lovering, and bassist Paz Lenchantin got to work on Come on Pilgrim right away, starting with the leadoff track “Caribou”, mostly appearing in silhouette during the heavily backlit first song. And while the band proceeded to perform the entire EP in order of its tracklist, they didn’t try to replicate the work note for note, offering up varying arrangements of the songs, with “Nimrod’s Son” and “Levitate Me” among the highlights. Along with the music, each song had its own custom graphics projected on the screens behind the stage.

Lenchantin then let the audience know that the band would be performing a series of B-sides, and that’s exactly what they did, playing songs like “Down to the Well”, “Dancing the Manta Ray”, and the haunting “In Heaven”.

Then, a graphic for Surfer Rosa popped up on the screen, signaling the evening’s main event. If Doolittle is the Pixies’ masterpiece, then Surfer Rosa is a close second. Front to back, the band’s debut full-length album is filled with intensity, beauty, heaviness, humor, anger, and more. Starting off with “Bone Machine”, Francis and company delivered the album front to back, complete with recreating the fun dialogue moments that are sprinkled throughout the disc.

The band has been minus original bassist Kim Deal since 2013, but they’ve found a stellar replacement in Lenchantin. Not only is the onetime A Perfect Circle member a great bass player, her vocals absolutely shined on “Gigantic”, and complemented Francis’ anguished scream on songs like “Break My Body” and “Broken Face”.

The centerpiece of the Surfer Rosa portion of the evening came with the first notes of “Where Is My Mind?”, one of the great rock songs of all time. Already quite ethereal in nature, the track echoed throughout Brooklyn Steel with a celestial majesty, a true highlight of an exceptional night of music.

After ending the Surfer Rosa portion of the set with album-closer “Brick Is Red”, the band members all came up to the front of the stage to take a group bow, playfully debating whether to stick around and play a few more songs. Luckily for fans in attendance, the Pixies treated the audience to quite an encore, ripping through the Doolittle classic “Debaser”, their cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On,” and another Doolittlefavorite, “Tame”.

While the Brooklyn shows marked the end of Pixies’ 2018 tour itinerary, the band will be back on the road in the spring, co-headlining arenas with Weezer on a North American trek. See a full list of dates here.

“Turned On, Tuned In and Unplugged” spans 15 dates, kicking off March 3rd in Vancouver. According to a press release, each performance will feature the duo’s own hits (“Rebel Yell”, “White Wedding”, “Dancing With Myself”), as well as deeper album cuts and “songs that influenced them.” Additionally, fans will hear “spoken word interludes” from Idol.

Check out the full itinerary below. Tickets will be available starting Friday, January 18th. You can also get them here.

Prior to embarking on tour as a duo, Idol will launch his second Las Vegas residency at The Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort on Friday, January 18, together with Stevens and the rest of the Idol band.

Billy Idol and Steve Stevens 2019 Tour Dates:

03/03 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
03/05 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
03/07 – San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
03/11 – Monterey, CA @ Golden State Theatre
03/13 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
03/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Ace Hotel Theatre
03/19 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
03/21 – Joliet, IL @ Rialto Square Theatre
03/22 – Battle Creek, MI @ Firekeepers Casino
03/25 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
03/27 – New York, NY @ Town Hall
03/30 – Bensalem, PA @ Xcite Center
04/01 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
04/03 – Lynn, MA @ The Lynn Auditorium
04/04 – Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Theatre

At exactly 10:00 PM the room goes dark and the intro music plays.  All of a sudden the stage is lit up in hues of blue and yellow as Flogging Molly begin their set.  The crowd is jumping so much right from the start that it feels like you are standing on a trampoline.  There is so much bounce that front-man Dave King comments on how the stage is bouncing after their first song and that is going to keep up all night.  King is running around the stage with an intensity that is often missing in other performers.  He takes time to drink Guinness toasting the crowd and interacts with them from the beginning to the very end and this is the same with the entire band.  Accordion player Matt Hensley makes playing the accordion it’s own art form twisting and contorting the instrument and his body.  He and Nathan Maxwell on bass play off of each other on their side of the stage.  On the opposite side, Dennis Casey on guitar and Bob Schmidt on banjo have a similar interaction.  Violinist and tin whistle player Bridget Regan stands in the middle of the stage playing along with a calm elegance.  The overall picture is one of combined energy, intensity, and all around fun.

The set consists of the songs you’d expect and want to hear including “Requiem for a Dying Song,” “What’s Left of the Flag,” “Drunken Lullabies,” “Swagger,” and fan favorite “If I Ever Leave This World Alive.”  The music is interwoven with stories from King about his life, growing up in Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day itself.  It is clear he and everyone in the band are enjoying the party as much as the crowd is. They play at this pace and intensity for the next hour and a half, the crowd keeps jumping and the drinks keep flowing.  Heading into this show everyone was talking about the show and how great it was going to be.  They were right, and if possible they were talking even more about it on the way out looking forward to the rest of the St. Patrick’s Day weekend and the next time they can see Flogging Molly.

Setlist:

1.     (No More) Paddy’s Lament

2.     The Hand of John L. Sullivan

3.     Drunken Lullabies

4.     The Likes of You Again

5.     Swagger

6.     The Days We’ve Yet to Meet

7.     Requiem for a Dying Song

8.     Float

9.     The Spoken Wheel

10.  Black Friday Rule

11.  Devil’s Dance Floor

12.  Crushed (Hostile Nations) / We Will Rock You

13.  If I Ever Leave This World Alive

14.  What’s Left of the Flag

15.  The Seven Deadly Sins

16.  Salty Dog

It started out with grabbing an Uber ride up that-a-way. Jake wrongly told our Uber driver the way to go. Or did he correctly tell the driver the wrong way to go? Either way this caused us to just hop out of the uber in a traffic jam and walk across Seattle center to a bar on the other side. Jake took the liberty of peeing in public, right in front of MoPop. Hell of a guy that Jake Flatt.

Anyways, we were obviously feeling’ pretty good. In the bar it was obvious everyone was jacked for the show. It was packed to the rim but amazingly, and luckily, drinks were cheap. (Maybe that wasn’t so lucky looking back on it?). I think it only took us a max of 15 minutes to finish 2 drinks a piece there.

We then headed to a buddies house and finished off some whiskey bottles. No, they weren’t fifths or anything, the smaller ones. Pints I guess you’d say, nothing outlandish, however on top of the previous pregaming it was enough to make my head spin. Yea yea I know it was a bad idea but hey, YOLO.

Finally we arrive to the key arena and its kind of hectic. In my drunken stupor I said hi to a few people I knew. I’m not sure all of what was said but I’m sure it was the typical drunken banter of “Hey great to see you, I’m pumped….yea gonna be awesome….can’t wait….have fun”
By the time we got to our seats I was actually surprised at how close we were…I mean for buying seats at Key Arena that is. If you were looking directly out from the stage, we were back left but towards the floor. This had me excited but it only last a little bit.

First on was Eagles of Death Metal. This was my fourth time seeing them and honestly the worst time. Out of all 4 times seeing them I’d say the 3rd time was the best, followed by the 1st time. So maybe they’re like an every other show kind of band.

Regardless I still love them, in fact they’re one of my favorite bands, but a couple things combined to make it less than stellar for me. They were far away so I couldn’t see too clearly. For some reason the stadium had no tv screens (which would hurt the experience later too).
Boots Electric (Jesse Hughes) didn’t seem that into it, at least relative to the last show, so that sapped some of the energy out for me. Honestly maybe the blame lies more with me as I’ve seen this show 4 times before so perhaps the thrill is all ran out for me. I mean songs and everything sounded good, just didn’t really captivate me and to be honest, most of the crowd didn’t seem too captivated either. My drunk was pretty strong too, that probably effected my time as well. If it didn’t, it’s certainly effecting my memory.

Anyways after them came Queens of the Stone Age. This was my first time seeing them and to be honest, I was very curious to see what the fuss was about. I’ve always liked Queens, but I’ve never been a huge fan. I figured their live performance might be amazing. I was hoping for a “Primus” experience that I think I’ve talked about in this blog before. Basically, I was looking for a live performance to blow me away and show me exactly why they were one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

WELL I gotta’ say I had my hopes way too high. Granted, I was far away, they looked like stick people out there. Lights were awesome but nothing too crazy. Songs sounded just like the CD. Crowd was attentive but not too into it. I don’t know, it ended up just being a boring “movie theater” style concert.

Again, I want to reiterate I wasn’t in the pit. I’m thinking in the future for rock shows I should never be sitting. It’s just impossible to rock out in your seat. That being said, I just didn’t see anything crazy that made me think “wow these guys are crazy rock and roll badasses”. Alice Cooper put on one hell of a show. Primus put on a hell of a show. Eagles of Death Metal the Showbox with the Melvins put on a hell of a show. This show was just ehh. It was worth my money but honestly, I now understand why I don’t love Queens.

If you’re a fan and love the cds, go and enjoy the music. However, you could also turn on some Lava lamps and laser lights and put the cd on at home and have about the same experience.  After the show I quickly Uber-ed home and went to sleep. Nothing groundbreaking and my earth wasn’t shattered. For the final time I just want to say you can take this whole review with a grain of salt as I was drunk, which may have affected my judgement. Point remains I wasn’t captivated though, and with them being the “Villains” they are, I would think their rock show would appeal to drunken me.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I had a terrible day at work.  Alyssa surprised me and bought 2 tickets to see Kaki.  I was thrilled to say the least.  I was apprehensive as I normally only want to go to shows where I can stand, drink, rock out, and have a good time. This show “The Neck is a Bridge to the Body” is exactly what I needed and broke me out of my shell, all while sitting down! (albeit having a drink in hand)

Kaki had the audience’s attention the entire time, and the show is truly a unique experience.  I would almost venture to say it was a once in a lifetime experience. I literally have no idea of how I could ever see anything remotely like it again.  Images are projected onto her solid white guitar while she shreds and smacks the guitar to oblivion. in the back ground is a companion projection to whats playing on the guitar.

That’s not to say this is some crazy hardcore rock music either, most of her music is actually very soothing, but thats another thing she did so well. The balance of heaviness and softness was perfect, and the show even came with a perfect humorous interlude of a “movie” about her guitar being unique and not liked by other guitars.  While the movie was playing, the guitar “spoke” through Kaki’s playing.

I realize reading back at what I wrote that that sounds very confusing but it is one of those things where you just have to be there.  I would highly recommend this show to any diehard music lovers and show goers out there. It might be too weird for the mainstream (like my conservative dad or the girl you know who only listens to Imagine Dragons) but if you genuinely appreciate music, you’ll love Kaki King.