Quick Weekend Vaca

Yes, another Vacation, but this one is MUCH shorter. Im going to Nantucket to see some family for the weekend and won't be home till Monday. I left a few posts below so I gave you something before I felt. Ill have more stuff to add when I get back on Monday.

-matt

Golf Claps for Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation at the Berkely Community Theatre

I have to say that I was a little disappointed at the crowd who attended the Sonic Youth show at the Berkeley Community Theatre. As Paxtejana commented "What's with the golf claps after each song?" The crowd seemed like they were watching a Pat Metheny show...quiet, listening to every nuance to make sure a note didn't go unheard. I guess that's all fine and good, but this is SUPPOSED to be a fucking Sonic Youth show! Not a group meditation.

Kudos to the one dude in the front row who was jumping around, flipping out, flailing wildly...that's how they do it at the Fillmore in S.F. Maybe the crowd was down because they don't sell beer at the Berkeley Community Theatre? I know Paxtejana and I were...Maybe the crowd was so reverent due to the reason we were all there...to enjoy Sonic Youth's epic album Daydream Nation from front to back? I guess...but still...

Anyway, the pic shown here is a survey sent to me by Live Nation that I filled out...basically it says the theater was too damn hot, no beer, the sound was rough up top, and you couldn't see where your seats were after the lights went out. Basically, if you're gonna see a show at the Berkeley Community Theatre get tanked before hand and wear shorts.

Oh, and Sonic Youth seemed to be just getting warmed up during the first encore...over all an OK show.

Nickelback - All the Right Reasons: 6 times Platinum - PUKE

Who are these people who listen to such drivel? Gawdddd.....Jeeezzzzz....Mannnnnnn....PUUUKE!

That dudes voice from Nickelback makes me think he's gotta a serious case of constipation.

6 million people listing to that crap...what the hell is going on?

6 times platinum is like U2 big or The Police big or even Madonna big (on one album release)... sad, sad, sad.

OH, and you fans of crapperback...here is what happens to a crappy band like Nickelback when people realize that they really suck without really good engineers and producers.

Deerhoof - Indie Prog?

In a Pitchfork review of Deerhoof's new album "Friend Opportunity" Chris Dahlen says "We've been using the term "inde prog" mostly to describe bands that quick-cut between ideas and construct mini-suites out of mini-songs. But on this record Deerhoof take everything that clique of indie bands has worked toward-- add the suddenly popular twee vocals-- and ride it like an h-bomb."

Chris Dahlen further goes on to mention 70's art rock bands like Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson to describe Deerhoof's musical highs...interesting. Sounds like a band I could get into, but what other bands would be considered "indie prog"? When I did a search on Pitchfork Media's website for this so oft term to describe bands like Deerhoof I got...well...nothing. Also, what the hell are "twee vocals"?

Reunited Van Halen Eyeing Fall Arena Run

A proposed summer amphitheater tour by a reunited Van Halen that was derailed when guitarist Eddie Van Halen checked into rehab now looks like it may be resurrected as a fall arena run. Several arena holds are in place in major markets for potential Van Halen dates, Billboard.com has learned.

The tour, negotiations for which were first tipped here on Jan. 24, would feature David Lee Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen's teenage son Wolfgang on bass.

Metal Imagery

Is a band really metal if its lyrics and iconography don't feature dragons, Frodo, vikings, hellhounds or other creatures and places of Western European lore and mythology? A recent post from one of our esteemed colleagues here at Top 40 Music Sucks criticizes RUSH's lyrics on the grounds that they include such phantasms. But, in defense of Rush and the sacred devil horns, it seems that this is one of the defining elements of Metal -- from Immigrant Song, to Ironman, to Rime of the Ancient Mariner, to By-Tor and the Snow Dog, to Slayer's and Dio's and Maiden's album covers . . . it's elemental. Right?

Does Technical Proficiency = Lack of Soul? Ever hear of Michael Hedges?

An interesting underlying debate here at Top 40 Music Sucks... Here is Michael Hedges (RIP) playing Rickover's Dream at a 8/1/87 performance at the Maheavy Theater in Great Barrington, MA. Tuning: C2G2D3G3B3C4

A perfect marriage of technical proficiency and Soul IMO...