Another Deadly Nightclub Fire - Pyro Devices To Blame

Tragedy in North Macedonia overnight - a fire broke out at Club Pulse, killing 59 and injuring 155. There were apparently 500 people in the club when the fire began.

A local pop group named DNA was performing at the club in Kocani. So far, 20 people have been arrested including the club owner. Apparently the Club Pulse didn't have a license to operate as a music venue. Band members were also arrested.

From NPR (bold mine):

The blaze broke out around 2:30 a.m. during a concert by a local pop group at Club Pulse, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski told reporters. He said 39 of the dead had so far been identified.

He said, following an initial assessment, pyrotechnics likely caused the roof to catch fire. Videos showed chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged people to escape as quickly as possible.

Less than two million people live in Macedonia and this is a massive tragedy for the small nation. You have to wonder why clubs keep allowing indoor pyro, especially after The Station nightclub fire (22 years ago now). My required reminder: always check the exist points when you enter a concert venue. Be aware of your surroundings and how the crowd is acting. If there is pyro and you are inside, it is time to get out - period.

Life Really Is Stranger Than Fiction

Nothing makes sense anymore and basically everything is upside down, so I don't know why I was even surprised to read that Gene Simmons showed up to do the weather report on a California news station the other day.

The actual meteorologist for the station is Adam Krueger from FOX 11 Los Angeles. The little hit was a nice stunt for Gene to promote his solo work outside of KISS. Plus I'll go out on a limb here and say that Krueger is probably a big fan. During the segment, Gene astutely points out the difference between Las Vegas and Los Angeles on the map. He even threw in the word "futurecast." Gotta love it. He should probably stick to music and marketing, though.

A New Van Halen Album Is Coming (Maybe?)

At first I took it as rumor that Alex Van Halen was done with retirement and working on new music. Turns out, he is working with Steve Lukather to finish up some incomplete Van Halen material. Well, material between Eddie and himself at least. Will there be vocals? Will Wolfgang Van Halen participate? So many questions.

L.A. Guns and Tom Keifer Band Announce Tour

Gonna be a fun one for the late summer! Not a whole lot of dates listed yet, but maybe we will get some more! The link in the post below has the dates so far. You can't ever go wrong with some Cinderella tunes on a warm night outside.

Currently Listening To 'Roots, Rock, Reggae'

This morning on my way into work,I popped over to the Bob Marley SiriusXM station and was surprised to hear "Roots, Rock, Reggae" featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. I hadn't heard the track in forever, so it was a nice change.

The song is on the 1999 album Chant Down Babylon, which is a Marley tribute album. Marley's vocals are intertwined with Stevn's for some interesting and great harmonies. Basically, the entire track is a vibe. Enjoy:

'Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party' Streaming Now

Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party marks Cameron Crowe's directorial debut. The 80s film is now available for streaming on Paramount+. I must admit I have never seen this film. This isn't a surprise I suppose since the piece debuted on MTV in February 1983. Considering I was a toddler at the time, I wasn't exactly the target audience. Not that my parents had cable then anyway.

The film chronicles Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as they released the Long After Dark album. This updated film version also includes some never-before-seen Petty footage.

So I Saw Steely Dead Live

I went to Oahu for vacation. When Eric and I were leaving Duke's (his favorite), I spied a poster from the corner of my eye that looked like the Steely Dan logo. Upon inspection the poster said Steely Dead... and was promoting two shows that same night! I literally jumped up and down and immediately bought tickets to the late performance.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect and I will admit the show was a little odd. Basically the band rotated between Dead and Dan pretty consistently and then would meld up the songs to close out each little vignette. This was cool because I honestly never would have put the two bands together. I also loved that the set was made up heavily of deep tracks.

I guess the most surprising to me was the crowd. Everyone had on their tie-dye, so cool. It was clear these folks were Dead Heads, also cool. I just didn't expect the nonstop dancing like what happens at an actual Dead / Dead and Co. show. Like, we were in the Blue Note jazz club with assigned seating but no matter! Dancing everywhere! And all that dancing meant thirsty folks, so the patrons were just going to the waiter stand and helping themselves to glasses, ice and water. I've never seen that before.

Some of the songs we got included "Bodhisattva" (SD), "Loser" (Jerry Garcia) and "Showbiz Kids" (SD). Steely Dead is coming to Columbus, Ohio next month and I might try to convince Eric to see them again, just to see if I can get a set with the Dan's "Caves of Altamira" in it. Steely Dead do that song from my beloved The Royal Scam album but it wasn't on offer for me in paradise last weekend.

As a side note, The Blue Note Hawaii is a super cute club, right on the Waikiki strip (Moana Surfrider area). We spent most of our holiday away from the madness but always like to add a couple "city" days to our Oahu trips. I would recommend the Blue Note. That said, the show certainly wasn't free or even cheap. But that's Hawaii for you.