Black Tide, Airbourne Live

Two side stage bands blew the main stage acts away at this weekend's Rock on the Range festival: Airbourne and Black Tide. I had high expectations for both bands, and each delivered.

Airbourne were great! I didn't own their debut album Runnin' Wild before this weekend, but after the show I made it a point to pick up the disc. The band played most songs off Runnin Wild and the crowd seemed to eat them up. Lead singer  Joel O'Keeffe screams like a madman and makes funny faces when he performs, but it all adds to the show. Airbourne deserved a main stage slot.

Black Tide are one my current favorite bands. I recently told you that their debut Light From Above rules - and they rock live, too!  Unfortunately, a bunch of morons had to ruin my experience by taking the mosh pit back way too far. At one point, the security detail encircled the pit to create a human barrier. I'll never understand why people would rather beat the shit out of one another instead of listening to music, but whatever. At any rate, Black Tide played quite a few songs off Light From Above as well as a Metallica cover from Kill 'Em All.

Black Tide are so cute - and so young. It was kind of funny watching a group of literal kids rock the faces off of people more than double their age!

Rock on the Range had something pretty cool for all the side stage bangs: an F.Y.E. tent. During the shows, F.Y.E. employees would walk through the crowd selling CDs by the band currently performing. Each CD purchase came with an autograph wrist band. I didn't participate, but I think this is a great way for up and coming acts to get some exposure and one - on - one time with new fans.  

More about Rock on the Range: 

1 - I've never seen concessions more expensive in my life. At one point I was wishing I was at freaking Disney World just to save a couple bucks. Yes, beer was $8 a bottle! A "margarita" was $10! You can imagine how much nachos cost. Parking was $15 each day too - makes me wish I owned a giant parking lot!

2 - The crowds were too violent. Seriously, DO NOT throw objects at shows. This is dangerous for both patrons and performers. Can you imagine being on stage, performing for 20 thousand people and having a beer bottle fly at your head? This isn't cute, it isn't funny and it sure as hell isn't Metal. The only thing it is? Ignorant.

3 - The main stage sound was lousy. The second stage bands were much better than the main stage acts. Most of that has to do with talent, but a lot of it was also because the main stage sound was very weak. I only noticed four suspended speakers at the sound board. When sitting in the bleachers, the sound was muffled and when standing on the field everything was distorted.

With the sound issues and high prices, I still love festivals. I firmly believe festivals are the best way to enjoy great rock music and big doses. Just remember: don't throw bottles! Rock on!

Stone Temple Pilots: Reunited

Rock on the Range music festival in Columbus, Ohio is currently underway. The biggest event of the weekend is the Stone Temple Pilots reunion concert. Scott Weiland and company played a 75 minute set of their most famous songs, "Big Empty," "Wicked Garden," "Big Bang Baby," "Vaseline," "Lady Picture Show," "Creep," "Plush," "Interstate Love Song," "Sex Type Thing," "Trppin on a Hole in a Paper Heart," "Dead and Bloated" and many more.

The crowd of more than 15 thousand all seemed very excited during the STP reunion. During some parts of the show it seemed like every person in Columbus Crew Stadium was singing along with Scott Weiland. The now former Velvet Revolver singer came out on stage looking like a member of the Blues Brothers in a three-piece suit and hat. As the show wore on, Wieland stripped down: first, ditching the hat, then his jacket, then his vest. Yes, he kept his pants on. The reunion show was good overall except the audio mix was off and Weiland's microphone sound was very distorted. It was a little easier to hear and understand lyrics during the songs, but impossible to decipher anyone in the band during stage banter.

Sometimes it's easier to tell a story in pictures, so please enjoy the following images: 

 

 

 

 

I'll have a complete wrap of Rock on the Range, more photos and a review of Airbourne and Black Tide soon.

More Lists, More Opinions

Usually when I talk about a list someone else has written about Glam, it's out of anger. This time I've found a list that's actually decent - and worth sharing!

My friend Carlos Ramirez made a list of the "Ten Great Hair Metal Power Ballads"  for IGN Entertainment.

Cinderella - "(Don't Know What You Got) 'Til It's Gone"
Def Leppard - "Love Bites"
Dokken - "Alone Again"
Europe - "Carrie"
Leatherwolf - "Hideaway"
Motley Crue - "Home Sweet Home"
Poison - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
Stryper - "Honestly"
Warrant - "I Saw Red"
Whitesnake - "Is This Love"

You can read Carlos' commentary here.

I love a lot of songs on this list, but I would definitely take out the Leatherwolf and replace it with Danger Danger's "Don't Walk Away" and also I'd ditch Stryper for Guns n' Roses "Patience." Other than that, I'd say the list is spot-on. I know most will disagree with the Warrant choice, but I do believe "I Saw Red" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" represent Jani Lane's best writing.

What do you think? 

Black Tide This Weekend!

It's finally concert season, and I have a big weekend ahead of me because I'll be at Rock on the Range. The two-day festival takes place in Columbus, Ohio and features modern Metal bands (Papa Roach, Kid Rock, Stone Temple Pilots, Finger Eleven...you get the idea). There's a lot of stuff on the bill I don't care about seeing, but one band in particular has my attention: Black Tide. A heavy Metal band of mere children, Black Tide formed around 2004 in Miami, Florida.

These guys are a mix of Iron Maiden, Metallica and a touch of Motley Crue. In short, they rule. Their debut album Light From Above kills. Hell, even a hipster magazine like Rolling Stone ran a whole page article on them - I think that's good for Metal. Perhaps not in the sense that Black Tide are a chosen band and therefore accepted - more so that Metal is really making a strong return in popularity.

So, on Sunday I'll be perched at the barrier ready to rock with some teenagers. Well, at least the ones on the stage.

Here's the track listing for Light From Above:

Shockwave
Shout
Warriors Of Time
Give Me A Chance
Let Me
Show Me The Way
Enterprise
Live Fast Die Young
Hit The Lights
Black Abyss
Light From Above
Again

Listen to the album's title track:

If you'd like to know more about Black Tide, visit their website.

Guilty Pleasures?

Why the hell does every "journalist" refer to hair metal (remember: we say Glam) as a guilty pleasure? Guilty pleasure my ass. Here's a quote from a recent Seattle Times article (written by Olga Pierce) on the resurgence of "hair metal":

"'When people realized hair metal was a commodity that would sell, they brought in hair-metal producers, started marketing it, and it got kind of sanitized,' said Steve Peake, author of the 'Guide to '80s Music' on About.com.

Peake, 35, who grew up in North Carolina, remembers the days when it was OK to sport a mullet and your favorite band's T-shirt. He confessed to having a hair-metal song — or two — in his iPod.

'There are certain things in my iPod that make me feel like I have to keep the volume down and the windows closed — hair metal is one of those things,' Peake said. 'It just feels like something you're supposed to be ashamed of.'"

I've got a few words for Steve Peake. If you're lucky enough to be considered an expert on anything, be it Glam, cooking, gardening, painting - you don't run that expertise down in an interview. Yes, the Seattle Times is a big newspaper with an impressive circulation and excellent writers. I don't get why Peake used the opportunity to run down the genre.

I know a thing or seven about journalism. I know that it's easier to run down a subject than report positive news. I also know that people are damn well sick and tired of reading/hearing/watching negative stories all the time. There is some serious news at our doorstep these days, people. Thousands upon thousands dead in China and Burma because of natural disasters. Gas is at a record high, meaning you have to work more hours a day just to afford to get to your job in the first place and the United States is poised to elect a new leader of the free world - and no one seems to care. For this, Seattle Times, I thank you for sparing your column inches on Glam but I kindly deplore your use of negativity at the expense of a beloved genre of music.

What the hell does Guilty Pleasure even mean? Something forbidden?  What is forbidden these days - certainly not music, unless you count theft. I don't consider soap operas, reality television, or romance novels guilty pleasures, either. Too much work goes into making those forms of entertainment. Is chocolate a guilty pleasure? I certainly enjoy chocolate. Sometimes I do feel guilty for eating too much chocolate at one sitting, but the general idea of me enjoying the treat doesn't make me feel bad. I think this means "guilty pleasure" is a worthless phrase and certainly has nothing to do with Glam.

Whatever. I love it, and it's my life. I guess I'll never be quoted in the Seattle Times.

By the way, the entire Seattle Times article is available here.

24 Karat Gold

Do you have any of the semi-rare Mastersound reissue discs produced by Sony around a decade ago? Aerosmith was on Columbia records in the 1970s. Toys in the Attic was originally released in 1975 and years later, Sony put out a reissue as part of the Gold Mastersound series.

What is the Gold Mastersound series? Literally, it's a reissue of high quality sound, pressed onto a 24 karat gold disc. Here's what the packaging says:

"Introducing Mastersound Album Classics from Columbia and Epic Records. Commemorating The Tenth Anniversary of the Compact Disc. Each Mastersound Recording incorporates Sony's Revolutionary 20-Bit "Super Bit Mapping" Process which reproduces music with Unprecedented Clarity and Accuracy. In addition to SBM, each Mastersound Disc features a Pure 24-Karat gold Reflexive Surface."

These discs look as cool as you'd imagine. I mean, you get a sense of holding something valuable, but maybe that's because only the best albums ever recorded were selected for a special gold press.

Some albums besides Toys in the Attic released on 24K gold are:  Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), Bat Out of Hell (Meatloaf), Blonde on Blonde (Bob Dylan), Pearl (Janis Joplin), Boston (Boston) and tons more. The master recordings were used to create the highest quality sound possible. The 24 karat gold press was a way for Sony/Columbia/Epic to celebrate a decade of the compact disc. The MP3 is way older than a decade already. I don't remember a commemoration celebration for that music milestone...

I am not a sound engineer but I am betting that at least one of my daily readers has earned a paycheck or three by twiddling the knobs in a recording studio. Perhaps that reader can explain to me the beauty of Super Bit Mapping (SBM). Sony owns a trademark on that phrase and this is the technology used to make the gold press discs. I'd love to know the science behind sound mapping.

Back to my gold pressing of Toys in the Attic.  First off, this is one of my favorite albums, so I am bias but I really do believe my gold version sounds primo. The bass on the gold reissue is so much more prominent than the original release. Yes, I know it's probably not fair to compare vinyl to compact disc, but I don't care. We're talking about Aerosmith here, and I want my listening experience as rich as possible.

** Do you own any gold Mastersound discs? 

My favorite song on Toys in the Attic is "No More No More." Here's my beloved Aerosmith performing the song live at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Trust me when I say you need to watch this clip.

I Got New Records!

Holy crap, I own an Odin record. That’s right, I said record, as in vinyl. I’ve been trading emails with a Bring Back Glam! reader for quite awhile now and he thought of me first when it was time to clean the closets and make way for baby. So, this dear soul presented a list of Glam – some of it rare – for me to peruse.

So, a few bucks later and I’ve got a stash of records in great condition. It’s sort of ironic that I now own Don't Take No for an Answer and I’ll be seeing Odin at Rocklahoma in just two months.

There’s no way the band could have known their fate…and I can’t honestly say many people expected to see them pop up at a Glam fest after all these years.

If you don’t remember, Odin is a really heavily featured band in The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. You might recall singer Randy O wore assless chaps. Odin were a big band on the Sunset Strip, and Randy thought they'd be huge. I do feel for them…they watched as everyone around them got signed to a major label…while they played every night at Gazarris. By the way, the newest (or modern?)  incarnation of the band is known as DC4.

I got some other records, too. I now own Roxx Gang Things You’ve Never Done Before and Nitro O.F.R. I also selected the vinyl version of Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In and Open Up and Say…Ah!!! Naturally, the latter features the original, banned, cover. Also now part of my vinyl collection is Kix’s self-titled debut as well as Blow My Fuse. Yes!

As many of you know, I am getting into vinyl collecting. This splurge also helped me round out my Motley Crue collection with additions of Dr. Feelgood, Theatre of Pain and Girls, Girls, Girls.

I wish I had more money. My friend had so many records on his list, it was overwhelming to even read. Someday I will have all the best Glam records…oh yes, I will. Until then, I'll enjoy my newest acquisitions and listen in anticipation of concert season. While the chances of me ever seeing Nitro live are slim, I’ll still listen to O.F.R. just in case Jim Gillette jumps onstage with Lita Ford at Rocklahoma.

It’s fun to dream.