I Shake My Head at the Rock Hall

Ok, I think we can all pretty much agree that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a joke. Or, that the people in charge of picking the bands that go into the hall are out of touch -- maybe that's more accurate. At any rate, I try not to think about the rock hall much anymore. After all, only "hipster" bands get in - I mean, any hall with the word "rock" in the title that doesn't induct Alice Cooper or KISS just seems a little nutty to me. All that said, I can accept and embrace the fact that artists from other genres are in the hall. I believe pop and rap artists have their place there. Sure, it should probably be called the "music hall of fame" but why pick? My real issue lies with the fact that the powers that be - perhaps mainly Jann Wenner, creator of Rolling Stone and major force behind the hall - wants to change the induction criteria.

Right now, a band (or solo artist) must have been in the business at least 25 years since their first record release. Now, there's word that the charter may change to 20 years. Why? So bands like Guns n' Roses and Nirvana can get in sooner. For what it's worth, BOTH those bands deserve a spot in the hall, but they can wait their due time - especially since there's so many bands that have already met the current charter and have been passed over (and over and over...)

So, what do you think? Is this a sad cop-out or a good idea?

Win a Vinyl Copy of 'Whatever Gets You Off' by The Last Vegas

Want a copy of Whatever Gets You Off by The Last Vegas? I'm giving away three copies of the CD and two copies of the album on vinyl. That's right - vinyl! The album is pure Glam in 11 tracks. If you'll recall, it even made my "best of 2009" list. If you'd like to win a copy of the album, just email me at allyson@bringbackglam.com. In the email, include your real name and mailing address by Sunday, January 10, 2010. Winners will be picked via random draw. Good luck.

BBG! Chat Room Is Up

Version 1 of the BBG! chat room is up and available now via the left hand navigation (directly above "This Day in Rock History").If you follow me on Twitter, I’ll tweet when I’m in the room to moderate. You can follow me @bringbackglam. Obviously, I don’t need to be there for you to chat. It will probably take awhile for the room to catch on, but it’s worth a go I guess. Any bad behavior will result in me deleting the room, so act like an adult.

Let's Talk About Orianthi!

Orianthi has been on my radar since Michael Jackson died. CNN played the clip of Orianthi and MJ rehearsing "They Don't Care About Us" over and over and over and I just had to find some info on the amazing guitarist. Orianthi is Australian and she's young - just 24. She's opened for Steve Vai and Santana and was due to have a starring role in Michael Jackson's comeback shows in the UK. In fact, if you saw the movie This Is It, you watched tons of Orianthi.

The beautiful guitarist released her debut album Believe at the end of October. I was stunned to learn she could sing almost as good as she plays guitar. Her singing voice is definitely commercial pop but when she starts wailing on solos, you can immediately tell her influences draw from 80s guitar icons. I quite like almost all the songs on Believe and I think you will too. The last time I checked, Believe was on sale in the Amazon download store, so if you've got some extra cash, you might preview the disc. I think I'd like to interview Orianthi so I'm going to get to work on that.

Watch these clips. Here's the official video for "According to You." Note the posters on the wall and the wailing solo at the two-minute mark.

And here's a clip of Carlos Santana talking about Orianthi's awesomeness plus her shredding:

And the now famous clip with MJ:

My Whirlwind Visit to Graceland, Sun Studios and the Lynam/Sevendust Show

I like to travel, yo. I hate staying in Ohio for too long - I've got places to go and people to see! Nearly all my trips revolve around music. Yesterday morning, I was thinking back to the days when my husband and I actually took real (read: relaxing) vacations. Those days are long gone! Now, it's go, go, go - no sleep! The rock doesn't stop for anyone, so I'm always trying to cram in as much activities as possible per trip. With that, my whirlwind:

About 12 seconds after I got home from Shiprocked, I logged on to Lynam's Myspace to look at their tour routing. Now, when we were in the car at the airport parking lot, my husband said "I sure would like to see Lynam again."

Ok. So the wheels were in motion. I find the show with Sevendust, email Kari and that was it - she was in too! A few (ok, eight) hours by car for me and six for her didn't seem like too much...and suddenly it was New Year's Eve and I was off to Nashville to see the Opryland hotel and ring in 2010 with my husband. We only fought a few times on the car trip, too! [Dear readers, that was a joke for the people who know me and Eric personally].

I think it took five hours to get to Nashville, TN. It was bloody cold there on New Year's Eve, so I didn't even bother going to the guitar drop at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was on TV and that was good enough for me. My poor husband was transfixed by college football anyway...

Which leads me to New Year's Day. Up at the crack of dawn and off to Birmingham, Alabama we went. I've never been to Alabama. It's very...flat. We met Kari at the hotel and watched more college football, ate dinner and got ready for our Lynam show.

Now, I love me some Lynam. When I'm writing for more respectable publications, I keep my bias hidden but this is my site so I do whatever I want. I got to interview Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust *way* before the show began, so we were all the venue early. By the way, Lajon is *very* cool and that interview will run soon on Noisecreep. Speaking of Noisecreep, read my more professional show review.

So the Lynam/Sevendust show is at Five Points Music Hall in Birmingham. Politically correct or not, I hate it when people bloody smoke at shows and I *love* that Ohio has a smoking ban now. Me being a liberal, I always want people to have their individual rights, but damn. There was so much smoke at Five Points my eyes were running and I developed a bad cough by the end of the night. For Sevendust, I had to keep going in and out of the main hall to breathe. Thankfully, the smoke wasn't heinous for Lynam. Now, I wasn't going to mention this, but I will: I drove eight hours for a 30 minute set. I think this makes me a super fan, no? Lynam played their heavier songs because it was better suited for the crowd. I was a little worried how Lynam would fit with Sevendust and the other heavier openers - but the crowd loved them! After all, they are local Birmingham boys and I'm pretty sure they are celebrities in Birmingham. So, the band is playing my fave songs (as I tend to favor the heavier tunes) and me, Kari and Eric are shoved all the way in the bloody back of the concert hall. Please. I'll be the first to admit I've become a concert snob. I *must* be able to see. I will pay top dollar for a close seat and if it's a club show, I'd rather be at the barrier or backstage. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is. I'm short and I figure I need to be able to see to review, right?

So, Kari's all cute and blond and she pushes us up and finally we could both see! By the time we could see, the show was nearly over. Still, we heard "Tanis" and "Porn Star" and even some of Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock." Longer Lynam shows get you power ballads and Jacob Lynam's sharp tongue. 

It's time to plan another Lynam concert road trip. Or maybe I should just hire the band for a private event in Ohio. And no, I'm not kidding.

Like I mentioned above, if you're a fan of Sevendust, definitely check out my Noisecreep review. They were amazingly tight and just brutal as hell. Reminded me of why I love metal - sans the smoking, of course.

So, after the show it was back to the hotel to sleep before getting up too damn early to drive to Memphis, TN.

Holy hell, it seemed to take forever to get to Graceland from Birmingham! Double holy hell, Graceland is tacky! It was so tacky I found myself laughing at the green shag carpet on the ceiling of the jungle room. I definitely enjoyed seeing Elvis' plane - very impressive - and all his awards. For me, seeing the awards was the most important part of Graceland. All those platinum and gold records hanging everywhere really confirm just how important Elvis was - and is - to the rock world. Oh, and I bought some really tacky Elvis earrings because I felt like I owed it to the King.

So Sun Records is where Elvis recorded his first song. He was on the label for a short time. So was Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. The Sun Studios tour was very cool. Short, but cool. After all, you do get to stand in the same room that created a lot of music magic.

By the time we arrived in Graceland, we'd added two more people to our little Glam entourage, meaning there was five of us to take in the music history. There was simply no choice but to have dinner on Beale Street. I could have enjoyed some of the clubs, too, if it wasn't 12 degrees.

Coming home Sunday sure sucked but I did get to take a detour back through Nashville to see all the record labels. My only regret is not getting out of the car to take a picture with the giant guitar in front of RCA/Victor on Music Row. All in all, I'd say it was a very productive Glam weekend. Sorry, kiddos - no crazy rockstar stories! Backstage isn't very exciting these days. To sum it up, Lajon Witherspoon said he was going to "lay down" before he took the stage with Sevendust.  See? Rock is work!

Something New to Consider - A BBG! Chat Room

I've been thinking about adding a chat room to this site for awhile now. The room could 1) always be open or 2) be open at designated times and I could moderate. Obviously I can't be in the room all the time - I have to write to make money. Still, I think a chat room about Glam could be fun. What do you think? Are you interested in a chat room or not? Let me know in the comments section. Also - don't worry. A complete wrap of my trip to see Lynam/Sevendust, Graceland and Sun Studios is rapidly coming...I'm just a little wiped from the long drive!

Scorpions Sunday!

The first Sunday of 2010 is a great time to review some of my fave Scorpions tunes. I'm dreading the long drive home from Memphis so I'll be cranking some Scorps on my car CD player.

"Wind of Change"

"Believe in Love"

"Rhythm of Love"