Monday, February 28, 2005
Motley Crue.
What a crazy weekend! I only got to catch a few songs at the Crue concert due to other responsibilities, but boy did I pick the right songs to see. My buddy Ted Gruici (Terrible Ted) invited me to stop by a suite at the Palace, so I did, and just in time to catch “Red Hot” “Live Wire” “Too Young To Fall In Love” and my all-time favorite MC song “Louder Than Hell”. I had to cut out at the intermission to get to the official post show party at Clutch Cargos. The good news is Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee actually showed up at the party as planed. The not so good news is they choose to be secluded in a VIP section up stairs in typical rock star fashion. When I got up there to talk to the boys, I asked them to make an appearance on stage, or at least let me bring the wireless mic up stairs to address the crowd, but my ideas were shot down. So I thanked Nikki for his on stage comments at the show about WRIF. He said it was “My please, WRIF has been playing us from the very beginning”. I also talked to Tommy (after our champagne toast) about his solo and M.O.M. stuff. He claimed that he is working on more stuff that will feature guest appearances by some of the members of Sum 41 (that explains why they are opening on the summer leg of the tour) and that Slash is also involved with the project.Tommy was still at the club having fun when I left at 1:45am. I gave him my card and asked him to keep me posted, if he does, I’ll keep you up to speed.
Black out.
¶ 10:25 AM
Friday, February 25, 2005
Disturbed, KoRn & T.S.O.
The WRIF Disturbed VIP show was pretty wild last night. It is always fun to bring a big band to a small venue!
I was back stage before the show talking with Disturbed guitarist, Dan Donegan. What a cool down to earth guy. He reminds me a lot of Zakk Wylde & Dimebag Daryl the way he invites you to hang out and be comfortable. Just a cool guy who loves what he does.
You may have heard that Brain Welch “Head” has left KoRn. All the reports are that he has become a born again Christian, and although he and his former band mates still love each other and get along well, he is now uncomfortable playing KoRn music.
“Head” was in Chicago on Wednesday for the Dimebag Foundation fundraiser that was hosted by Disturbed. I asked Dan Donegan what “Head” had to say about all of this? Dan said “I was wondering myself, but I didn’t want to ask him. It didn’t seem like the right place to talk about it”. So much for the inside scoop.
One last snippet. I called Paul O’Neill (creator of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra) at his home in Florida yesterday. The new CD is coming along nicely. He will be back in New York on Monday to continue recording. The new album called “Nightcastle” will be released on T.S.O.’s own division of Atlantic Records called Nightcastle Records, and could be out as soon as January 2006. Please keep in mind Paul has never in his long history of producing album EVER turned in a project on time!
I will probably join the band in their N.Y. studio when they start mixing in late summer. I’ll keep you all posted.
Black out.
¶ 10:24 AM
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
meeting the bands.
I had a good time at the State theatre last Friday. I got to meet all 5 of the bands that stopped by to sign autographs for the WRIF listeners. Some of the guys from “Future Leaders of the World” were a little under the weather, so I didn’t hang with them much. The guys from Strata were cool and hung around for about a half-hour. After that a got the chance to do a Chop Shop interview with Page Hamilton of “Helmet”. He took it very seriously. The guy is WAY into guitar! Around 3:30 in the afternoon “Crossfade” came out to the State Bar to play a few songs for our RIF winners. After the jam session, Ed Sloan & I went to the tour bus to record some Chop Shop stuff as well. Who would have known he was so into Yngwie Malmsteen? Afterward, most of the WRIF crew was on the bus partying with the band, but I had to decline the invitation to hang out. I had one more interview scheduled.A few minutes later I was backstage talking guitars with Pete Loeffler of Chevelle. Pete was pretty into the 90s players like Jerry Cantrell & Kurt Cobain. All & all it was a great day….now I’m looking forward to the WRIF V.I.P. show with Disturbed on Thursday and Motley Crue on Friday! Black out.
¶ 10:22 AM
Thursday, February 17, 2005
N.H.L. (No Hockey League).
What an Embarrassment!
When I think of the amount of money and time I’ve dedicated to the sport of hockey and the NHL, it sickens me to know that greed means more to both sides than the game itself.
Everyone is to blame in this mess. Including us the fans who allowed these greedy bastards to charge us 5 times what each ticket is worth and $7.00 for a beer. We are stupid enough to pay it, and that is one of the reasons it got out of hand (kind of like concert ticket prices).
The owners, like us buying a $4.00 slice of pizza, overpaid for players on a regular basis, and you add in all the agents, lawyers and perks each team supplies, and it easy to see why tough, hard-noised hockey player have become pampered, greedy, cry babies.
I say bring on replacement players. They canceled the entire season, that means it is time to start over. Let’s have a new NHL, with young players dedicated to the game, not the paychecks. I also say let the players start their own league. We will decide which is better in each market, and let the weak teams die.
Bottom line, the players and owners just said thank you for the millions of dollars we have given them with a knife in our back, so I’ll give my next couple of bucks to the Plymouth Whalers, Motor City Mechanics, UM or MSU. Greed exist in all of there arenas too, but so far it hasn’t overwhelmed that.
Black out.
¶ 10:20 AM
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Music news.
First let me say the new Black Label Society rocks! Zakk Wylde is his usual awesome self. I’ve only listened to 3 tracks so far, but very, very good. BLS will be at Harpos on March 26th.
Joe Perry has a new solo cd on the way. The self titled CD has 13 songs including a few instrumentals and a cover of the Doors ‘The Crystal Ship”. It hits stores on May 3rd. I’m working on interviewing Joe in the Chop Shop.
I talked to Steve Vai yesterday from his home in Encino CA. Steve is doing well and is set to hit the road for his US tour the first weekend in March. His new CD is also out soon (Feb 22nd) and he is pretty excited. Steve was at the grammy awards last weekend and he said his personal highlight “was spending a few minutes with Jimmy Page.”
We also talked a little bit about the 80s so tune in this Saturday night at 9pm to here some of that conversation.
That is it for now….see you at the Snocore tour this Friday at the State Theatre.Black out.
¶ 10:20 AM
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Amped on the 80s.
After 4 strong weeks “Amped on the 80s” is going quite well. It seems we like re-living the old memories on Saturday night from 7pm to Midnight. Here is just a touch of the email that has been pouring in.“Steve,Hey I love the show. I'm kinda surprised at that. In the 80s I loved Metal to death. A few years back I just let my Metal CDs gather dust. Got into bands like Nirvana, Staind, Godsmack, etc. Started to listen to some Punk too. Hearing the show Saturday really brought something back. Thanks!Y&T? Accept? Man I forgot all about them. I hope your show keeps going strong.” Rob, Allen Park“Steve, YOUR NEW SHOW ROCKS!!!! I was listening to it Saturday night and even took an extra 20 minutes in my car to finish listening to the show on the way home.““Steve! Your playing the soundtrack to my high school years, and I'm loving it! I forgot how much fun the music was!I'm straightening up my apartment in my stockings and heels...grooving to Mr Bone. The only way to do housework! I guess skipping the fetish event and staying in to get something done around the house turned out better than I expected. “ – Z.“Can you get something on from Queensryche? Keep up the good work and it was cool seeing you at the Emerald on Jan. 26th. Thanks, Maddogz4Thanks for all of your input. Black out.
¶ 10:19 AM
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Guitar news.
Steve Vai has a new cd on the way. Real Illusions: Reflections will be in stores on the 22nd of this month. Steve, who has always been a bit of an odd ball, is doing a 4-concept cd collection. This is the first in that series.I was able to secure an advance copy of the cd, and I report to you that it is deep! It takes a few listens to get the feel of things. The musicianship is off the charts with not only Mr. Vai but also Tony MacAlpine on Guitar & Keyboards and Billy Shehan is still on Bass.I’ll be playing a song from the new cd in the Chop Shop (WRIF Sunday mornings at 9am) on February 13th. Steve Vai is also coming to town on April 8th at the state…. I promise you it is the closest thing to Hendrix you’ll ever see!Check the latest edition of Revolver Magazine for an article on Ozzy. In the story Ozzy admits he considered hooking up with guitar phenom Buckethead. Ozzy said “Buckethead refused to remove the chicken bucket from his head, and would not go by the name Brian” and that was the deal breaker! Now if Epic records would just release the album Ozzy and Steve Vai recorded together back in 1993. That is the album I someday hope to hear.Thanks for all the great 80s email, see you on Saturday night Black out.
¶ 10:18 AM
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