Heavy Metal in Baghdad

To say Baghdad is a depressed city is a gross understatement. For those of us who have never visited the war torn region, it's hard to envision just how bad living conditions are these days for the Iraqi people. Over the weekend I watched Heavy Metal in Baghdad, a documentary directed by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi.

The film makers follow the band Acrassicauda (Faisal Talal ((vocals)), Tony Aziz ((guitar)), Firas Al-Lateef ((bass)) and Marwan Riyak ((drums))). The name is Latin for a deadly insect, so that's pretty Metal I suppose. From the documentary, it's hard to say if Acrassicauda possess above average talent or if the quartet is just comprised of men with big dreams. At any rate, Heavy Metal in Baghdad gives the rest of the world a glimpse into the other side of war. At some level, I think we all know it's incredibly dangerous to live in Baghdad, but this film shows that just practicing the guitar can put a giant target on your back. So many parts of this documentary are utterly tragic, but the silver lining is these four men are absurdly committed to Metal - and so are their fans!

At one point in the film, all the members of  Acrassicauda flee Iraq for a bigger shot at making a career in music. While it's not clear if Acrassicauda will gain musical success -- as none of us are ever guaranteed success -- the film does give the four men an admirable level of exposure. If you haven't watched the film, I won't ruin the ending for you -- but let's just say I was a little surprised with the initial outcome.

Brass tacks? If you are a true Metal fan - regardless of where you stand on American involvement in Iraq - you need to see this movie. A true documentary, Heavy Metal in Baghdad paints the bigger picture of a humanitarian crisis bestowed on the Iraqi people. The soundtrack just happens to have wailing guitars and heavy drum beats.  

Like every band on the planet, Acrassicauda has a Myspace page. The film documents the band professionally recording three tracks, which serve as a demo. Click the link to hear those tracks.

You can see the movie trailer below:

Poster Power

I found myself at the local mall last night. That naturally meant a trip to F.Y.E -- the only music store inside the mall. I actually didn't look at any music. Instead, I spent a lot of time in the poster section and then I couldn't help wonder: do people even still buy posters?

As I was flipping through the poster stacks, I looked at some classic Aerosmith and Pink Floyd prints and also looked at new shots of Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Hinder, Slash, and Nickelback. Needless to say, the band choices were pretty grim, but there was a poster of the Def Leppard Hysteria cover art. 

When I was a freshman in college, I took some posters to decorate my dorm room. I had pretty great living conditions during college, save that freshman year. During that first year of school I landed in an all-girls dorm with no air conditioning and concrete block walls - and this was the most coveted underclassman dorm on campus! Anyway, I took along an Aerosmith poster to make myself feel more at home. My roommate naturally (giant sigh) hated Aerosmith but I insisted on the poster, much to her chagrin. Back then (and we're talking about literally 10 years ago at most) you could still buy rock posters at Wal-Mart and Kmart. Now it's pretty hard to find posters, save for the odd music shop and prices are fairly high.

The posters I browsed today cost upward of 20 bucks each, thus proving inflation hits everything! I remember looking at all the awesome poster options you could mail-order through those rock stores that bought advertisements in Metal Edge in the 80s and 90s.

In addition to the higher price, the modern posters seemed to lack...cool.  There was no imagination, but maybe that had to do with the band options? Still, I sort of wish I'd purchased  that Hysteria print. I think it would look good in my office.

Do you still buy and display posters?

What if...Festival Edition

Since festivals are all the rage these days...I was wondering: what if a festival promised non-stop music for, say, three or four days?

I'm not quite certain how many bands that would be, but we're talking about 24 hours of music. That means nite owls could enjoy some Metal at 4 a.m. and early birds can rock out at 8 a.m. I highly doubt both groups were ever intersect because, well, humans need sleep.

The prospect of paying for a ticket and enjoying live music at any moment of the day is quite intoxicating. Still, there would be lots of questions: if the music is non-stop, when do the headliners play? Who plays at 3 a.m.? 9 a.m.? How do you have enough staff to support such an event?

My guess is that headliners could still play around 11 p.m. and smaller or more obscure bands could play in the true dead of night.

Here are some bands I think could, ahem, "set the night on fire."

Here's Stars from Mars

Here's Pretty Boy Floyd

Here's W.A.S.P.

So what do you think of my band choices to play in the "dead of night?" More importantly, do you think a 24/7 festival is possible? I think it sounds both fun and downright exhausting. I await your comments.

Rock the Bayou?

You probably already know about Rocklahoma and South Texas Rock Fest (both in just 13 days!) but what about Rock the Bayou?

The inaugural Rock the Bayou fest is slated for Labor Day weekend of this year in Houston, Texas. So far, some Internet searches reveal Sammy Hagar and Warrant are confirmed for the event. A little more sleuthing leads me to believe that Queensryche, Ratt, Skid Row, Y&T, Firehouse, Gilby Clarke, Jetboy, Dokken, Great White, Enuff Znuff, Bulletboys w/ Steve Adler, Britny Fox, Little Ceasar, Alice Cooper,  Yngwie Malmsteen, Slaughter, Pretty Boy Floyd, Lizzy Borden, Black N Blue, Broken Teeth, Bret Michaels, Twisted Sister, Dangerous Toys, Lynch Mob, Tora Tora and more.

Random postings on ticket broker sites seem to point that tickets will go on-sale July 5th. To me, that is incredibly risky because festival organizers are only giving patrons a little over six weeks to buy. This could also mean the line-up is incredibly strong and ticket prices very reasonable.

The official website is Rock the Bayou and that domain is registered to the president of Online Tickets. Also visit the official Myspace page.  

I'm really excited about this festival - even without an "official" lineup. I think fate intervened and kept me from booking another vacation (Cabo and Jamaica were the front runners) but now I have my heart set on Houston. Glam goodness I love festivals.

Speaking of Band Tattoos...

The other day I asked about your band tattoos. Well, BBG! reader Rich went the extra mile and sent me a photo of his Poison tat. As you can tell, this is the cover of the greatest hits album.

My girl Vicky just sent me her very cool Motley Crue tattoo. Check it out!

 

If you'd like to share your band tattoo photos, I'd be happy to post them here.  

In the Name of Glam...

I'll be the first to admit I do some really quirky things in the name of Glam. I'm sure some find these "quirks" endearing while others can't be bothered with my insanity.

A list of my biggest (and most recent) Glam quirks:

01. I had my toenails painted Poison green. It's hard to tell by the adjacent photo, but please believe, the green is definitely of the Poison variety. I'm pretty sure even the nail salon owners were impressed (amused?) by my color choice. Shock of shocks, the bottle of polish was completely full as if I was the first person to ever want Poison green toes...

02. Speaking of Poison green...I forced my husband to paint our newly renovated basement this color. Ok, so I cut the color with a tamer lime and used the Poison green as an accent, but still: I have a Poison green bar. In my basement. So Glam.

03. I spent 45 minutes the other day looking at vanity plates for my car. Glam was taken (damnit!) but I'm pretty sure I can come up with a suitable variation for my little car. It's the time of year when I have to renew a tag *and* get a new license, so I might as well get a vanity plate while I'm enjoying conversation with the pleasant people at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

04. My husband just built me a writer's office. When it came time to paint, he asked what I wanted and I said "Bring Back Glam!" pink. Guess what? That's the exact color I've got. Like Poison, I believe in sticking with your brand and boy am I dedicated to pink.

05. I wear rhinestone skull earrings to work. This tends to (still) confuse quite a lot of people. From far away it appears I'm wearing boring old earrings. A closer look reveals an angry skull and crossbones. The earrings say "Yeah, buddy in cubicle 4356, I'm looking at you and I don't mess around." On days when subtly alludes me I wear giant hoop skull earrings and some sort of rhinestone top.

06. I quote random Glam lyrics in normal work conversation. This humors me to no end. Naturally no one usually understands the joke, but that's alright. I am a fan of cheap entertainment and I'm easily amused. "No boss, the other team didn't get that report done and we're not gonna take it!" I giggle to myself and all is right with the world.

07. I try to play songs way out of my league on my bass because damnit, I'm a Glam musician! The practice sessions usually end with me completely frustrated and then returning to the homework assigned by my bass teacher. Is it so wrong that I want to play a little Megadeth at the end of a long day? The really quirky part is that I have a tendency to pick the hardest songs of a band's catalog to learn. I get frustrated, my husband gets frustrated, chaos ensues and I never learn the damn song. The next morning, I wake up and think "Today I'll play 'Primal Scream' on the first try."

08. Quirky is my middle name when it comes to sweets. You see, I am a junk food lover. Pass, I'm an addict. I'll admit it. My name is Allyson and I am addicted to junk food. Often, when I'm standing in front of the long freezers at the grocery, I stare blankly at the ice cream cartons and think "these flavors should have Glammer names." Like Quiet Nut Riot Sundae or Lynam Licorice or Stairway to Rocky Road Heaven. You get the idea.

09. I make up false words and phrases in the name of Glam. I did it above with "Glammer." Or at least I think I did. As in, which of these bands is Glammer? Or, "Glam gracious" or "Glam goodness."

10. At random times of the day I'll think "I wonder what David Coverdale is doing right now."

Yeah. I'm certifiable. Please tell me you also do quirky things in the name of Glam.  

Listen While You Work?

You've heard of whistling while your work...but what about listening?

While I was slowly dying, er...sitting, in my cubicle at work yesterday it dawned on me that I could hear several different radio stations at one time.  The administrative assistant assigned to my corner of the floor was listening to country on a local station and the woman across the way was listening to a CD through her computer. The noise wasn't loud. In fact, I find it sort of normalizing. I don't trust office spaces that are quiet. I truly believe there must be at least a little noise as proof work is actually happening.

Looking back on my career path, I can safely say that listening to music was allowed at every job I've ever held. Of course, I didn't ask about the music policy upfront, I've always just pulled out my headphones and listened. 

I've noticed a pattern when I'm listening to my iPod at work: I tend to pick one album in the morning and just listen on repeat all day. I can't explain this, except that at this point the music really is just background noise because I'm concentrating on work and the stuff I write at my day job is about as far away from Glam as you can get.

My work listening goes in moods, too. Toward the end of my time at the TV station, I was listening to the Heroin Diaries soundtrack for about five hours each day. I love the Heroin Diaries and think it's one of the best albums of this decade...but man, it can be a downer if you're already depressed!

Here lately I've been listening to Avenged Sevenfold's Waking the Fallen a lot at work for the aggressive tempo and kick ass guitar work. Saints of Los Angeles is now at the top of the rotation to help me shut out corporate life.

Here's a funny aside: one of my coworkers who is quite high-up the food chain came to me for some help writing a communication. I had in my earbuds and iPod and the coworker leaned over to see what I was listening to, which happened to be "Dr. Feelgood." His remark "Don't you think you're a little young for Motley Crue?" I cackled a little and said "You have no idea." He looked confused. I digress.

Anyway, I think music really does motivate at work. I can understand if an employer has a headphones only policy, as too many different types of music blaring can create office confusion. Still, giving employees a little music during their day can surely boost morale.

Hell, even Milton Waddams is allowed two hours of music in the morning while collating at Initech. 

Do you listen to music while you work?

Speaking of Milton Waddams, here's my favorite scene from Office Space.