MUSIC: My brush of fame with The Tom Tom Club

http://t.imehop.com/P7AG5s

MUSIC: No! This is just wrong!

How dare they announce these two events at the the same time! Ewwww!

https://m.facebook.com/groups/115576341852105

MUSIC: My Destiny With Devo

What can I say? Especially since I wasn't kinda sorta not there.

I was thrilled when I heard Devo was coming to my town. I had been a big fan of theirs since the late 70s. They were the band that introduced me to alternative music. I saw them on “Saturday Night Live”doing “Satisfaction” and “Jocko Homo”.

They, along with other alternative bands, became an unifying force between me, my brother, and my two closest friends of the time. And I've been hooked on Devo and alternative music ever since. And their first four albums are constantly on my iPod.

Unfortunately, thrills do not a ticket buy. And with my finances being what they are, I could not afford the $50 they were asking. I know by today's standard that's a reasonable price, but if you don't the money...

But I had been to a Cracker show at the outdoor amphitheater where Devo was suppose to play. And I saw people on the bridges watching the show. Admittedly, they saw the back of Cracker's heads from a distance, but hey, they got a free show. So I knew what I was doing for Devo!

My single brother with no children, though, had no problem getting the 50 bucks for the show! The jerk! Grrrrr, he needs more responsibilities!

Anyway, a few days before the show, I heard they were the show to one of the nearby bridge, because the flooded river made the amphitheater useless. I shrugged my shoulders. Maybe I wouldn't see the back of their heads, but I would still be able to hear them fine.

Then my oldest friend, one of the two friends I listened to Devo with, put on Facebook how he was going to watch Devo free from the bridge!


I got there first, and sat with someone parked across the river with some lawn chairs. It was right at the intersection where the bridge was blocked off for the show. And people would ask from their cars what was going on. When we told them it was Devo, we got some interesting reactions! “Devo?!?!” “Oh really?” “Are we not men?”

I thought of yelling “Duty now for the future!” to some of the spud boys in the red flowerpots passing by. But considering that album came out about 30 years ago, I probably should have yelled “Duty then for now!”

Strangely enough, before the show started that played this weird combination of classic soul and old school punk. I love both of types of music, but I don't see how soul music revs someone up for a Devo concert.


Finally, my friend arrived and I joined him on the bridge. Actually, we could see the band. Not a great view, but I've had worse in a stadium like when I went to see The Who in the 70s!

So after 30 plus years, there was my oldest friend and I finally at a Devo concert. Okay, couldn't see the band real well, but hey, it was free!

And as my friend said, since we can't see them that well, we can imagine still being thin and young while they played.


How was the show? I liked it! The band started off with some of their newer stuff which doesn't really appeal to me. Only one song out of the first five or so came from the four albums I listen to!

But then the boys got into their old yellow jumpsuits, and it was a wonderful stroll down memory lane with band playing most if not all of my favorites.

My friend and I were standing at that bridge singing along. My friend actually started singing kind of loud, and I said people would probably prefer hearing Devo sing.

I was tapping my feet and bobbing my knees. Must have looked a little silly to the people crossing the bridge!

Of course, it must have looked sillier when my friend and I were pretending to scream at Devo and “woot” them. We knew they couldn't hear us from the bridge, so we didn't do it seriously. Though I did do a pretend shout of “Mark and Gerry, we love you!” Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerry Casale being the leaders of Devo.

My friend's wife was there and she was kind of laughing at us. Can't really blame her.


And the show eventually its conclusion with Booji Boy singing “Beautiful World”. And then strangely enough, it ended. No encore, just thank you.

My friend thought Devo needed The Blue Man Group's guide to rock and roll, which says there's always an encore. But Devo always did things their own way!



And as a bonus track, just because it's Devo and it's so awesome!

MUSIC: 50 Concerts (But Really 50 Music Acts Seen Live)

Okay, I got this from a friend on Facebook. - OlderMusicGeek

OK, here are the rules. Test your memory and your love of live music by listing 50 artists or bands (or as many as you can remember) you’ve seen in concert. List the first 50 acts that come into your head. An act you saw at a festival and opening acts count, but only if you can’t think of 50 other artists. Oh, and list the first concert you ever saw first (you can remember that, can’t you)?

Should you choose this challenge, here’s what you do:
Copy this. Make your list. Change the number at the top, and add your title. Then email it to your friends, and return it to the person that sent it to you.


Well, I don’t know if I can remember 50 concerts I’ve been to, but I think I can remember 50 acts I’ve seen. I mean I could if I included all the local acts I’ve seen at various bars – though if I could remember all the names of the acts is another question! But I’ll stick to fairly well known groups here – the key word being “fairly”! So here goes…

(To be honest, I kinda cheated and looked up on the web to see who were at some of the festivals I attended to refresh my memory!)

1. Kiss
2. John Cougar (And NOT John Mellencamp or even John Cougar Mellencamp. This was in support of his first album. And it was an vinyl record album, NOT a cd!) (opening act for Kiss – believe or not)
3. Ted Nugent (twice)
4. Molly Hatchet (twice) (Don’t judge! This is how we rocked before punk!)
5. Blackfoot (opening for one of the Ted Nugent shows)
6. The Tubes (The stories I could tell about going to this show and coming back – but that is a blog in and of itself!)
7. Husker Du
8. Soul Asylum (opening for Husker Du)
9. Rick Wakeman
10. Ian Dury And The Blockheads (Glastonbury Festival ’85 – the one where it rained and the place was covered in mud)
11. The Pogues (Glastonbury Festival ’85)
12. The Men They Couldn’t Hang (Glastonbury Festival ’85)
13. Billy Bragg (Glastonbury Festival ’85)
14. Monochrome Set
15. The Ramones (Lollapalooza '96)
16. Rancid (Lollapalooza ’96)
17. Cornershop (Lollapalooza ’96)
18. Phillip Glass (also saw an opera of his if that counts)
19. Peter, Paul and Mary
20. Flogging Molly
21. Violent Femmes
22. Cracker (twice)
23. The Bottle Rockets (opening for Cracker at one of the shows)
24. Duke Tomatoe & The Power Trio
25. Pookiesnackenburger (an English cabaret band)
26. The Police
27. Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble (Taste Louisiana Festival ’06)
28. Sankomota (South African band I saw in Lesotho)
29. Electric Light Orchestra
30. Hall & Oates (opening for E.L.O. – otherwise, trust me, I wouldn’t have seen them at all!)
31. Ravi Shankar
32. Pat Benatar
33. Sonic Youth
34. R.E.M. (twice)
35. 10,000 Maniacs (opening one of the R.E.M. shows)
36. The Bangles
37. Boomtown Rats (Glastonbury Festival '85)
38. Joe Cocker (Glastonbury Festival '85)
39. The Style Council (Glastonbury Festival '85)
40. Calliope (a group that played Renaissance/medieval music)
41. Queen (Who had a horrible opening act! I went to the bathroom during the act, and there was a line at the toilet! And the group got their biggest applause when they said they were doing their last song. Then they dared to come out for an encore – despite a very mild applause at the end – and asked if the audience wanted another song. More people said no than yes!)
42. The Who
43. George Thorogood & The Destroyers (If memory serves me right, I saw him twice. Once was during his 50 states in 50 days tour back in ’80. We were state/day 37, and he was still going strong. Of course, he was a lot younger and thinner then!)
44. Jamie Bergeron & the Kickin’ Cajuns (Taste Louisiana Festival ’06)
45. Reel Big Fish
46. Roger Miller (Musician formerly of Mission of Burma, not the folk musician – but I was actually first interested in the concert because I thought he was the folk musician! He did though do “King Of The Road”! – On a synthesizer!)
47. Elvis Costello (who told David Letterman that our town was the best audience on that tour!)
48. Echo And The Bunnymen (Glastonbury Festival ’85)
49. Talking Heads
50. Frank Zappa

Local acts, past and present, I’ve seen (Support local music!) - at least, the ones I can remember:

1. Sinister Sons
2. Buick McSnake
3. The Hollowmen (numerous times)
4. The Chant (a few times)
5. The Big Picture
6. Vandon Arms
7. Slaughter House 6
8. North Of Grand
9. Look Out Loretta
10. Hollywood Burnout
11. Little Mojo
12. David Zollo
13. Poison Control Center
14. Pumptown
15. The Delstars
16. Gumbohead
17. An Afternoon Snatching
18. Old Scratch Revival Singers
19. Steve Robinson And The Foundation
20. Exit

MUSIC: Underground Scene Growing in Popularity

This is from our local alternative weekly newspaper. I edited it to hide references to where I live. :) - OlderMusicGeek

(Editor’s note: John Fox, a junior at Valley High School in (a suburb of my home town), attends underground shows in (my home town) on a regular basis. He wrote the following story after attending one last month at an undisclosed location.)

The room is dim, lit by a single light bulb and filled with sound. Packed with about 30 people, getting around is a tight squeeze. Nobody complains, because it’s just another night at an underground show. The first band from (a town near my home town), is speeding through its set, playing fast punk rock that sends the crowd into frenzy.

“I see much more passion in bands that play at these shows than I do with bands that play at large venues in (my home state),” said Forest Cochran of (my home town), a senior at a local high school.

This scene is like many others that happen almost weekly in (my home town). Unlike conventional concerts held at local music venues, underground shows are held wherever space can be found — whether it is someone’s home or a community center. The music is the kind you won’t find on the radio. The styles are mostly punk and metal, but other experimental and more ambient sounding bands play, too. The shows are designed to open people up to music that they may not have heard before — music that is simply dismissed as loud or obnoxious because it doesn’t fit the mold of mainstream music.

“I come to these shows because I can hear new music that the people in the bands really care about playing,” Cochran said.

Though the average music fan might not know it, many of the bands that play underground shows in (my home town) hail from music scenes similar to ours. A number of (my home town) bands play these shows, but it’s commonplace to hear bands from nearby towns and other cities around (my home state).

Unlike conventional shows, money isn’t a factor. Admission is free, though it is courtesy to donate a few dollars to the bands that are on tour from other cities or states. Instead of spending money to promote shows, advertising is done through social networking sites such as MySpace.com and through word of mouth. Flyers are circulated through online message boards and are also hung in music venues and small businesses.

“I know that when I’m on tour with my band, there would be shows where we didn’t even get paid, but we’re not in this for money. We do this because we enjoy playing music,” said Kyler Vande Kieft of one band. “I’ve been at shows like these for the past few days, and the people that are at them are really cool and I haven’t seen a band that I didn’t like.” — John Fox

A link to the original article
A link to the local alternative weekly newspaper