September 11, 2011
Currently listening to: “Gilded Cage” by Mojo Radio
10 years ago today…
I’m having a hard time believing it’s already been that long. The events that happened on 9/11/01 still affect me emotionally when I’m reminded by TV shows recounting the events of that day. Such a sad loss.
I revisited my original telling of that dreadful day. It’s still linked on my site here.
I also looked through the scrapbook I put together a few years ago. I included pictures I had taken during the days after 9/11 and pics I had taken on the 1st and 2nd year anniversaries. There are pictures of store signs, around where I live, showing support, cars with flags flying, cars painted as flags, etc.
I hope the pain of loss for those that are still with us was a little easier a decade later. Loss is never easy, but it’s supposed to get better with time, right?
Never forget.
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June 21, 2011
Currently listening to: Rival Sons from 6-15-11 @ The Abbey in Chicago, IL
Bands you probably are not listening to, but you NEED to!
Drop everything and check them out NOW!
Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights
Taddy Porter
Rival Sons
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May 10, 2011
Currently listening to: New album by Black Label Society “The Song Remains Not the Same”
Once again it’s new Music Tuesday. Yesterday, I made a comment to my son that there wasn’t any new music to buy today. I was wrong. Some how these two slipped by my “new release radar”…
5/10 Black Label Society – “The Song Remains Not the Same” (unplugged + unreleased tracks from the Order of the Black recording sessions)
5/10 Warren Haynes – “Man in Motion” (Best Buy version has 2 bonus tracks)
Side note on CD purchases this year: I have somehow managed to purchase 21 brand new releases. We’re barely into the 5th month of 2011! (I’ve also added 8 CDs released in previous years along with about 9 pieces of new and old vinyl.)
LONG LIVE THE MUSIC!!! (and all the Best Buy gift cards I get as gifts! They go a long way in the cause!)
Also, this morning, I found out one of my Chicago Volbeat pics had been used in an article on a music blog website (I knew about it ahead of time, just not when the piece would be posted). Check out www.rockthought.com for their PICS of the Day 5.9.11. Great little article on the singer of Volbeat and the Gibson SG GT guitar. Thanks again ROCKTHOUGHT for the very cool shout out!
The countdown to Rock on the Range is now at T-minus 10 days and counting! I can’t believe it’s in less than 2 weeks now!!! I can honestly say, I can’t wait to get this 5th year party started!!
One other big countdown…my son graduates HS on May 28. YOWZA! Hard to believe 4 years of HS are almost over. Where DID the time go?
May is a big month…can’t wait for all the celebrating!
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May 2, 2011
Currently listening to: New album by SIXX: A.M. “This is Gonna Hurt”
Once again, it’s New Music Tuesday. I picked up two new releases and one that was out back in Feb. The new SIXX:A.M. (mentioned above), the new Beastie Boys: “Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2” and “Keys to the Kingdom” by the North Mississippi Allstars.
All are awesome!
Found an article today that I TOTALLY agree with! Ten Reasons Why I Still Buy the CD. Check it out. Even though I have 100’s of CDs, I still really do get excited opening new CDs. You never know what you’ll find inside 🙂
Added some more 2011 concert pics and some old Halloween pics.
Here are a few new updates on upcoming music releases:
5/24 Duff McKagan’s Loaded – “Sick” (CD & DVD)
7/12 Theory of a Deadman – “The Truth Is…”
7/19 Tom Morello – Union Town (8 pro-union songs featuring three Tom Morello originals, as well as the Woody Guthrie classic “This Land Is Your Land”)
8/2 Kenny Wayne Shepherd – “How I Go”
Late Summer – Nightwatchman (Tom Morello) – World Wide Rebel Songs
One side note: I’ve joined the Twitter nation. EGADS, right? Who’d have thunk it, shirley not I! haha It’s fun…and everyone’s doing it, right?? HAHA You can look a sister up here: MuzikFreak70
And last but not least…the countdown to Rock on the Range has begun….T-minus 18 days and counting!!!
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April 11, 2011
Currently listening to: Crowes/Page 6-29-00 Summerfest – Milwaukee, WI
New Music Tuesday is tomorrow and I plan to get the new Foo Fighters album “Wasting Light.” Their documentary recently aired on VH1 and I hope that is released soon as well. (Edit: it will be released on 6/14)
Also being released April 12th is Nikki Sixx’s new book This Is Gonna Hurt. I pre-ordered that since someone decided Nikki didn’t need to stop at a bookstore in the greater Chicagoland area! 🙁 WHY o WHY? (he was here on his last book tour) But anyway, it has already shipped. I hope to have it by the end of the week.
Other new releases this year that will be arriving in the mail soon:
Local H – “The Island Years”
Ray Davies – “See My Friends”
Eddie Trunk’s new book – Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal
Here are a few more future upcoming releases:
4/19 Duff McKagan’s Loaded – “The Taking”
4/26 Bootsy Collins – “Tha Funk Capitol of the World”
5/3 SIXX A.M. – “This is Gonna Hurt”
5/3 Nikki Sixx “This is Gonna Hurt” audiobook
5/3 Shinedown Somewhere In the Stratosphere (2 CD/2DVD)
5/17 Seether – “Holding On to Strings Better Left to Fray”
5/23 The Answer – “412 Days Of Rock’n’Roll” (DVD – UK release)
5/24 Duff McKagan’s Loaded – Sick (CD & DVD)
5/31 Black Stone Cherry – “Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea”
In other news, Hard Rock Cafe is celebrating it’s 40th year! WOW Hard Rock, you’re as old as…nevermind. I helped to celebrate by adding to my never ending collection of HRC pins and shot glasses! It’s the least I could do, right? I want to add a picture list to my site of all the many HRC pins, shot glasses, magnets, etc that I’ve bought (or been given) from the various HRC’s I’ve been too. We’ll see how far I get with that.
For the vinyl collectors, or just supporters of the local music store, don’t forget, April 16th is Record Store Day. Not just in the US, but the UK as well. Check out the list, you may just find something you can’t live without.
Record Store Day US
Record Store Day UK
For those keeping score, I added some pics to my site from some recent shows. Check those out here: 2011 Concert List.
Music is my remedy…
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February 11 , 2011
Currently listening to: “It’s Five o’clock Somewhere” – Slash’s Snakepit
Rock on the Range. My friends and I first heard of this festival way back in the early part of 2007 when we found out it was one of the tour stops for Buckcherry. After seeing the full line up, we decided to attended the first one in Columbus, OH. We had an awesome time. In 2008 we planned to attend again, if the line up was good enough. It was. Same for 2009 and 2010, I was there. Now in 2011, they are celebrating the 5th anniversary of the festival. Once again, I will be attending. Pre-sale tix went on sale the other day and I fully took advantage of it. Why wait to purchase if you don’t have to? 😉
As of now, this is the line up (there are usually a couple smaller bands that will drop off from the initial announcement, so we’ll see).
A Perfect Circle, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Korn, Stone Sour, Staind, Alter Bridge, Hollywood Undead, Bullet for My Valentine, Black Label Society, Hinder, A Day To Remember, Danzig, Escape the Fate, Sick Puppies, All That Remains, Saving Abel, Finger 11, My Darkest Days, 10 Years, P.O.D., The Damned Things, Rev Theory, Black Veil Brides, Trapt, Crossfade, Cavo, Pop Evil, Fu Manchu, 2 Cents, Evans Blue, Egypt Central, Art of Dying, Hail the Villian, Trust Company, Downplay, Red Fang, Bad City
I’m hoping the schedule (which should be posted early May) will work out and I’ll be able to see everyone I want.
It’s kind of weird knowing I’ve attended a festival every year since it started. But at the same time, pretty damn cool too!!
LONG LIVE ROCK ‘N ROLL!!
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February 2 , 2011
Currently listening to the radio: “Live and Let Die” by Guns ‘N Roses
Wow! I am an updating fool so far this year! It’s barely the 2nd month too!
I have a good reason for another update…I survived the Northern Illinois Blizzard of 2011!! I still can’t believe how much snow we got! Of course, I took lots of pics to document it too. After writing up this review of the storm I realized, I really do like to document things and with pics no less 🙂 Lots o’ pics! Read about the Blizzard of 2011 now.
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February 1 , 2011
Currently listening to: “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes” by Social Distortion
Today they announced the line up for Rock on the Range! Check out their website for details! While I’m not quite sure this is my fave line up of all the years (I’ve been to all of them since the beginning in 2007) there are at least 21 bands of the 38 announced so far that I want to see. Once I check out another 11 bands I don’t really know much about, that 21 could change.
I am also kind of surprised that the only new band in the headliner/co-headliner spot that hasn’t played ROTR before is A Perfect Circle. Oh well, what can you do, right? My hotel was reserved back in December. Now I just have to wait for tickets to go on sale!
Oh, I picked up one more new release during the last week of January: Mission Bell by Amos Lee. EXCELLENT album. Great song writing, music and vocals.
Found some more new CD and DVD releases coming out this year:
2/2 Bruce Kulick “Bk3”
3/15 Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son of a Bitch (DVD)
4/19 Duff McKagan’s Loaded “The Taking”
Some sad news…my Buckcherry/HELLYEAH, etc show tonight was cancelled yesterday due to the MAJOR snowstorm expected to hit the Chicagoland area tonight. It’s been well over a year since I’ve seen Buckcherry so we had BETTER get this two feet of snow they are forecasting!!! 😉
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January 19 , 2011
Currently listening to the album: “Pardon Me” by Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights (for the 3rd time in a row)
We’re only 19 days into the new year and there have already been some really great new releases!
You may consider picking these up for yourself, like I did. 🙂
1/11 Cage the Elephant “Thank You Happy Birthday”
1/18 Social Distortion “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes”
1/18 Gregg Allman “Low Country Blues”
I also picked up a CD that was out last year. You NEED to check out “Pardon Me” by Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights. Just…WOW!
Future releases Im looking forward to include:
3/11 Ian Moore “El Sonido Nuevo”
3/22 Ray Davies “See My Friends”
May – SIXX A.M. “This is Gonna Hurt”
Then the ones with no release date yet: Royal Bliss, Foo Fighters, and The Answer.
I know there will be more to come. Heck, I somehow ended up with 44 new releases from LAST year! That doesn’t include the new vinyl I bought either! haha
And just when I thought my first show of the year wasn’t going to be until February 1st, I found out a couple days ago that John Corabi is playing an acoustic show near Milwaukee towards the end of the month. I’M SO THERE! I LOVE that man’s voice and never pass up a chance to see him if I can help it! Please God, let the snow stay away that day! 😉
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January 12 , 2011
Currently listening to: the new album (avail as of 1-11-11) from Cage the Elephant: “Thank You Happy Birthday”
Happy New Year!
Hard to believe it’s now 2011…but it is. I have a feeling this year is going to be full of great memories. Well, I hope anyway.
I already have three shows lined up this year: 2011 Concert List
I’m not so patiently waiting for the Rock on the Range line up to be announced. It’s the 5th year…so it had better be BIG! haha
Today, a challenge almost one year in the making, was finally completed! Read about my Locks of Love challenge here.