I missed my wrestling column last Saturday due to an unannounced trip to Boston with my kinda sorta not really ex-girlfriend. All you readers of Grut vs Daniels have lived through the trials and tribulations of Daniels and his ex-girlfriend. I gotta say, I finally understand why you city people actually stay in the big cities. Always something to do… always people around… it was very nice. The only thing I had a problem with was the driving. There was one intersection, with about 8 or 9 inlets and outlets and a traffic light for each road… I still have no idea whether or not I ran the traffic light or not.
Regardless, I had a great time. Got to check out a Dark Side of the Moon laser show at the Museum of Natural History (That’s Pink Floyd for all you uncultured types)… then I got to head over to Quincy Market on Saturday afternoon. Went to the Boston Beer Works for lunch (great microbrews) and Legal Seafood, which had maybe the best Clam Chowder I’ve ever head. Our night on the town was in the Quincy Market section of Boston, and I went to the replica of Cheers. I have to say, Cheers in Quincy Market is the ultimate tourist trap. The girl and I were drinking Malibu and Coke and Sam Adams Boston Ale, respectively, and the rounds were costing $10. That on top of $5 just to get in with two awful, awful bands. One soul group doing dance type music and one guy on the other side with an acoustic guitar. I’ve seen better in Albany…. For free.
I guess you pay for the atmosphere, though… However I had a ball out there, and we never made it over to the Harvard part of the city to go out on the town. That would be what I would do next time around. So, next time around I plan to stay in Harvard Square or down by the Harbor so I’m right near the nightlife.
Daniels’s next big weekend out is a trip to Montreal the weekend of August 9th. Getting ready for that one by trying to get my tolerance up to handle the Canadian Beer. There’s only one way to do that in the US… shots. Lots and lots of shots.
My weight loss update. I think Slim Fast has finished working for me at 20 pounds, so I’m thinking no more of it. Time for me to find another eating regimen. So, I’m currently fluctuating between 222 and 224 from week to week, which is about 20 down from the beginning of the year.
This evening I will be checking out Weird Al Yankovic in concert. Whether or not I will file a concert report remains to be seen. Depending on how I feel on Wednesday morning, I might try to do the report. Else, I’ll include it in next week News Release.
On with it.
DM vs DMB
So, I went a lot of years with resisting the pull of enjoying the Dave Matthews Band. I mean, a long time. When Satellite got overplayed, it disgusted me with the band for a long time, and I never really got into them… until I caught Grey Street on XM Radio (Ethel 47) about six months ago. That song broke through my defense of detest and I was able to find a decent chunk of songs that I could get into. I think a lot of it is because new music is so stagnant, that it’s bloody nigh impossible to find new, good, talented musicians.
So, I picked up about 12 or 13 songs off Kazaa and made myself a decent CD (yeah, that’s right Dave… people still trade your songs online, ban or no)… however my enjoyment of the band is still very polarized. I either love the songs I love, and absolutely detest the rest of them.
Where is this going? Nowhere, really, but Dave is releasing his first solo effort in September off RCA Records. This effort is stuff written primarily by him, rather than stuff written by all five members of The Band. The feature track will likely be a song co-written by Dave and Trey Anastasio of Phish for all the hippies to get stoned over. Why the separation from the band? Sez Dave:
I think the idea of recording a couple of things that just didn’t have a place with the band grew into a sort of, just a writing experience and recording experience that in some ways I hadn’t really expected
Will the fans be into it?
Like most of what I’ve done, it’s done, and so now I just move on from it. I’m excited, I hope people like it, but I try not to get too excited because what if everyone f***in’ hates it? Then I can let it go like an empty beer can. That’s the way I look at it now: My part in it is done, and I hope people like it. But in case they don’t, I’m gonna try not to invest too much in it that I might be disappointed
However, DMB Fans are possibly the fanatical freaks in the world. Dave can do no wrong. No one else even approaches the skill that Our Lord Matthews has… which is a bunch of horse shit, but that’s another column. I think this one will do just fine.
I’ll have to see which two songs I’ll dig off this one.
A Perfect Pumpkin
So, all you displaced Pumpkin’s fan who just don’t dig Billy Corgin’s new group all that much can rest easy. James Iha is taking the place of Troy Van Leeuwen in A Perfect Circle. Van Leeuwen left Circle to join Queens of the Stone Age and is not featured on Circle’s upcoming release.
Really Snazzy Article
I had found a really good article on Yahoo about how bands and the recording industry are eyeing secure downloads accessible only via codes found on the CD. Basically, while most bands are including bonus DVDs or CDs in their new releases, many bands, including Metallica, are setting up secret, secure portions of their websites only released by accessing a CDs unique key. Metallica, for instance, has a motherload of SIXTY live tracks available in MP3 format on their website, available freely for download if you have a copy of St. Anger in your CD Rom Drive.
Unfortunately, I found said article at work today and it’s since fallen off Yahoo.
This amidst news that the Recording Industry is preparing hundreds of lawsuits against average, ordinary, everyday kids like you and me.
I got sued for 1 billion dollars by the RIAA and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
John Mayer News
John Mayer’s sophomore album is due this fall.
He still sucks.
And he still is Dave Matthews Jr.
Chester Bennington vs The Internet
Chester Bennington and the rest of Linkin Park are exploring ways to block their record company from offering individual tracks of their album Meteora on the legal song swapping sites. Bennington believes that fans shouldn’t be downloading single tracks from the album, but should instead have to buy the whole album online.
Linkin Park joins the ranks of Kid Rock, Metallica, and Green Day as a group of bands who disagree with the new form of sales that iTunes and other such services offer, believing the single song downloads to cut into their royalties.
We’re all going to have to adjust. You know what I’m saying? Eventually everything is going to be purchased online. It’s just a matter of how you’re going to do it. You know? Do you sell albums by track or do you sell albums to download for one cost when you go in to download the music? Who knows? It’s not up to me, it’s up to the people to figure out the way they want to do it, and to do it in a way that’s not going to destroy the bands that they love
To make sure Chester Bennington doesn’t hate me, I will just download all of Meteora for free on Kazaa. Oh wait, I already did that because I refuse to pay $20 for a CD with a running time of 33 minutes.
Good luck with that, guys. We saw how successful people who align themselves with Metallica are. Smart move, douchebags. Try to stop the downloads that you’re actually getting paid for.
Funny Story from Memorial Day Weekend
I kept forgetting to bring this up, but I finally thought of it tonight, probably because I’m stretching for material.
About four months ago, I got an email from a guy, an R&B artist who read the column and saw that I am an alumnus of RPI in NY. Oddly enough, he was currently going there… and he’s trying to get an album off the ground and asked me to help a brotha out… literally.
So, I sent him back the standard e-mail… that being: “send me some of your shit and I will be happy to review it for you and give you as much publicity as I can if I like it.†I’m pretty fair with all forms of music… I even gave the girlfriend some time with Shania last weekend and one of my top ten favorite current songs is Miss Independent for some retarded reason.
Anyway, I never heard back from the dude, so I figured he either moved on, got a real job, or gave up… whatever.
So, I’m playing Beirut on Memorial Day weekends with my standard group of friends, when, wouldn’t you know, this posse comes down the street. Four of five black guys in an entourage, passing out flyers for, lo and behold, a concert featuring the self same dude that Emailed me for a pimp not too long ago.
Not being one to namedrop myself, I stand there and let them go through their spiel about how this dude is the next big thing in the R&B world, culminating with a promo live singing expo with him… and then they start trying to sell tapes. Now, I have no interest in buying an R&B tape, and neither do MOST of the people I’m with, but the dude did have a pretty decent voice… especially considering he was instrumentless and had nothing to warm up with.
Long story short, the Park Rangers came down to break up the sales quoting a law that says you can’t sell shit without a permit on state property… probably true.
Small world, ain’t it?
Sevendust Touring
Sevendust’s Fourth Studio effort off TVT Records is due out in October and the feature track is called Seasons. They will be pre-touring to support the new album:
Jul. 19 – Nashville, TN @ Havana Lounge (NAMM show)
Aug. 14 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
Aug. 15 – Chattanooga, TN @ Cricket Pavillion
Aug. 16 – Jackson, MS @ Crazy Eight’s
Aug. 18 – Fayetteville, AR @ Dave’s on Dixon
Aug. 19 – Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theater
Aug. 21 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amp.
Aug. 22 – Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
Aug. 23 – Old Bridge, NJ @ Birch Hill
Aug. 24 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
Aug. 26 – Knoxville, TN @ Blue Cat’s
Aug. 27 – Ashville, NC @ Orange Peel
Aug. 28 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
The bolded one is near me. Anyone from TVT, Roadrunner, or Northern Lights who wants some free publicity, feel free to comp me or schedule an interview.
Out this week
Nothing much except a 3-disc live set from Pearl Jam. Whether this is a regular release or an example release of the full tours, I’m not sure. Regardless, it looks like a great disc… the full tracklisting is available Here.
Looks like a pretty snazzy setlist.
In Other Reading
Mitch Michaels visit’s Jesus and Hank’s Front Porch… which I think is a news column. Maybe he’ll be taking over for Murphy next Week.
Ryan Murphy, who hates me, will not be joining us on Mondays anymore. Good-bye Column here. Hey Murph… no hard feelings.
Both of them got ticked because Mathan Erhardt decided to be all uppity to try and get hits and throw around the racist card. . Cuz, you know, no one can make fun of anyone of a different ethnicity without it being racist.
In Conclusion
That’s it for me… check for me on Saturday over in the wrasslin section… I should be back.
As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week.
