Meat Puppets @ John And Peters - New Hope, PA 04/02/13

Meat Puppets- 04/02/2013

John And Peters - New Hope, Pennsylvania

Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks

We're gonna put this in the first 25 words because it's that important: John and Peters in New Hope is the most amazing place in the world! This little place on a little street in a little town, the perfect way to dive into our 2^nd night of seeing the Meat Puppets. It's this tiny bar with a sliding door leading 3 steps down to the basement in the back with low ceilings. When I say low ceilings I mean 7 or 8 feet high. You know what it felt like? It had the feel of a teenage party where one of your friends parents goes out of town and everyone runs a muck-only there's also booths, like a diner, all around the room and they have awesome food.. This makes Mercury Lounge look huge. Sign on the front door says "Smoking Permitted". How amazing is that? Almost as amazing as Mickey Melchiondo, better known as Dean Ween(!!!!!) hanging with the band as I watched the merch get set up. You might ask what would Dean Ween, Cris and Curt Kirkwood be talking about. What else? TROUT of course! There's a sweet river a few blocks from this place that separates Pennsylvania and New Jersey. City folk like myself don't usually see cool looking land and stuff, so I'm trippin' on the architecture of this town and this place even before the show. Speaking of shows, this one starts at 9:30 to, so much time to be spent in this cloud of smoke taking in a night of Meat Puppets.

It feels weird to smoke inside. I'm not at all used to this as The World Takes walked into the building a tad after 9(their from here, well 2 of them) and started tuning their stuff. The set list is within view, but the chords are over the words so I can't make it out. But I do know when they started rocking, I was into those first two cuts heavily. Besides looking kinda like Curt, which was made evident at last nights merch table where at least 5 people asked him to sign Meat Puppets CD's, the guitar player/lead singer Steve really takes some queues from a Curt Kirkwood style of guitar playing. It can get really spacey at times. If they play a bigger place on this tour, maybe he'll come up and jam with the boys during their set. That'd be cool. This place is packed to the gills with every one of these booths filled, with waitress service no less bringing pitches of beer back and forth through a crowd with barely any standing room. I settled for a spot by the girls bathroom after all was said and done. Sound in here is awesome, I hear the vocals surrounding me.  

At around 10:05 or so The Meat Puppets trotted downstairs onto, well, I guess we're calling it a stage. The show was not to go on without a hitch however, as somehow in the mix of things some beer got spilled all over Curt's peddle board. Such a tiny place, everyone crowded everywhere you could see how that could happen. He messed with it for a little while and eventually got it to a point that he was alright with, and “The Monkey and the Snake” ( along with “Touchdown King” and the sweet new track “Waiting”) kicked us off for the 2^nd night in the row. Everything with the guitar sounds sounded awesome to me, but I'm no musician after all. Change up thrown when Up On The Sun makes an appearance in the 4^th slot tonight and Plateau followed.

Tonight is the night of the extended jams. Check that, tonight is the night for super extended jams. Up On The Sun drifted to a far off land for a while there, and then it came back to earth and blew our freaking minds. You know what else I notice on the steps on the side of the stage? Dean Ween with his eyes closed, head nodding drifting off to this far away place Up On The Sun with us. He's one of our peers tonight. Of course, in the back of my mind all night was “maybe they'll jam”. I'll save the suspense, that did not happen.

We got our “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” and “Hey Baby Que Paso” fix tonight, and I've figured out the names of those songs from last night that I didn't catch. Elmo took the lead vocal duties again tonight, and the song is “Cathy's Clown”, an Everly Brothers cover. That was hilarious, I love this freaking band. After the song Elmo states: “I wrote that earlier”. The title track from the new record “Rat Farm” is glorious as hell if I may say so myself. “Time and Money” was played last night, although I noticed Curt shaking off Shandon when he suggested it tonight. In the bar earlier in the evening, I overheard them at sound check playing “Down”, but that didn't appear tonight or last night.

Sloop John B, Lake Of Fire and Backwater before they said goodnight and ducked up the stairs. No idea what time it is as my phone was dead hours ago. I don't know this place, maybe they don't have encores. But none of us cared, as a Meat Puppets chant grew strong with us in the crowd and pounding on the fragile ceiling went along with it. Eventually, they came back down and we showered them with cheers. For a small place that can't fit more many people we got loud. Remember that “super extended jams” line? I wouldn't have even brought that into the mix if it wasn't for this encore. “I'm A Mindless Idiot” and “Lost” had to combine for close to 20 minutes at least. These guys are like their own video game, these sounds are coming from guitars? Then “Oh, Me” began and the place erupted again. Deaner has moved to the right side of the 'stage' now, passed me by on his way there and I made sure to touch him.

Again, who knows what time it was when they went off, but I know this much. Most of these folks stuck around to just reflect on this epic evening of events. I was talking to so many fans like me and so many different shows. Like the girl who came all the way down from Vermont. That makes my trip from New York look like small potatoes now. Whatever size vegetable, this trip to Pennsylvania for two nights has been amazing. Now the band will spend the next two nights in my town. How great is life?

Meat Puppets @ The Chameleon Club - Lancaster, PA 04/01/13

Meat Puppets -  04/01/2013

Chameleon Club - Lancaster, PA

Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks

Opening Day. Fresh cut grass, blue skies and Baseball. It is indeed the foundation of America. Today is a different kind of Opening Day for this guy, as it's the first of four consecutive nights to be spent with my desert punk legend buddies, The Meat Puppets. They've got a new record coming out, Rat Farm, this month and all reports are that the first few shows of this Rat Farm tour have been kicking ass. Tonight we're in Lancaster-somehow stars aligned and my good friend Linda was able to pick me up for a little road trip into Pennsylvania to catch the band twice before the back to back at the Mercury Lounge in New York City the 3rd and the 4th. So with a bag packed and a pocket full of dreams, and not a dollar to my name we got in that rental car and hit the road. The Chameleon Club sneaks up on you, as it appears to be your regular run of the mill street when suddenly appears a club across the street from a parking lot. Really old school feel. I'm from city where everything is extravagant, its cool to settle into a grass roots looking kinda joint in the middle of somewhat no where to take in some awesome music.

  The World Takes hit the stage at 8:15, I could hear them from the back of the room. The guitars got really funky at times, their second or third song had a pretty awesome solo, and the next song sounded like some early Meat Puppets on speed. Twangy at times, straight forward at other points, the World Takes far from sucked. Did you know their drummer is DJ Bonebreak from 'X'? How cool is that? Throughout their set the songs sounded more and more like a mixture of the Pups and like, Pavement with more added twang. At one point scouting spots, I ended up downstairs and there was some dude doing stand up comedy in this dank sidebar part of the club. Lots of stuff happening in Lancaster, if I wasn't here on business, I'd go tell a few joke. The World Takes played til a few minutes before 9. They'll be on the next four dates at least, so show up early and check them out.

At 9:17 with the whistling of “The Monkey and The Snake” we were off and running with this evenings proceedings. During Touchdown King, I headed my way upstairs, trying to explore every corner of this place. I got there I was along the rail overlooking the band almost from above/behind them, and by the time I settled in, we're already getting our first taste from Rat Farm. Before the set, Shandon said that they'd try to squeeze in four tracks from the new album. That's entirely possible because 3^rd song in I see Curt say “Waiting” to Shan. Ah ha, but I recall the trusty article on AQ that gave me the list of tracks, and can recall that Waiting was one of those new ones. That was followed by “Sometimes Blue”, also off Rat Farm. From this angle you can really appreciate Shandon's drumming expertise.

Band has a different energy tonight. Ripping through the “Oh, Me”, “Coming Down” and “Plateau” ferociously before hitting us with the double dip of Sahm action: “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” and “Hey Baby Que Paso”.

That Wasted Days is some real groovy stuff man, always finding that being the song I hum during the writing of these things.

Elmo, shredding behind Cris throughout the evening, rounding out the craziness that is this band was thrust upon the mic with his turn to take his crack at the vocal duties, helping out Curt on a song that the name is escaping me. Wonder if they'll ever get a 3^rd mic up there. Out of that song, and the next two at least one of them had to be new considering those were the only three I couldn't name all night. After that section, it was time for Sloop John B straight into the always blistering Lake Of Fire. Then they ducked off stage.

Figure this gave me time to run back downstairs (as you can see from the pics/videos, I'm not in stand still mode tonight whatsoever). I come out of the staircase literally 14 seconds after they went off they were back on ready to kick it encore style. I'm A Mindless Idiot jammed us into Backwater. That was the last song of the evening. Nothing left to do but hang out by the merch table waiting for the boys to come out and congratulate them on a their victory here this evening in Lancaster. And there was this chick with purple hair waiting to have a pic taken with the band and I could not take my eyes of this chick. So purple hair Lancaster girl, if you read this, you have an admirer from New York. 10th time seeing this band. Great times.  Tomorrow night: New Hope! [gallery type="slideshow" ids="54707,54708,54709,54710,54711,54712,54701,54702,54703,54706,54705,54704"]

An Evening With Soundgarden - Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom 01/23/13

Soundgarden - 01/23/2013

Hammerstein Ballroom - New York City

Words/Photos/Video - Jay Porks

Episode 82

If this was my start to 2013, then boy is it going to be tons of musical fun. What goes on people, welcome yourselves to yet another Jay Porks Experience. Tonight it's Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City to see Soundgarden, who are on the 2^nd night of a back to back here at this dreadful venue located at 34^th and 8^th. It's 15 degrees outside and I don't have any money. No money means no cabs. No cabs mean spending 2 hours traveling and being frozen by the time I got to the venue. Luckily tonight, Cornell and Co. were here to help thaw out roughly 4,000 icy New Yorkers.   Let's talk about the security outside of Hammerstein Ballroom for a second. At about 7:30 I was able to make my way inside without much of a line, the doors are at 7 and the show is at 8. The search at the door was insane. They're making people take off their ski hats and everything. Searching every single person. My friend Pam is en route. They let me wait for her in the lobby so I'm watching this all go down. I get a call at 8:15 from Pam asking if the line I got on was around the block, because that's where she is. I head outside to find a line has indeed, formed around the block. These guards are searching three people at a time. This place holds close to 4,000 people, and you guys can't get a few more event staffers out there and get us in quicker? They've created a situation where half the crowd won't be inside by the time this show starts. It's 15 degrees out here. I'm not saying I know a better way, but there has got to be some sort of alternative to this. Can we do it like the TSA at the airport? I want to tell these people that I'm only going to be here for 2 hours or so, there's no reason to bring every single illegal thing I own to this building. Not worth the struggle. This is one of the many reasons why I choose not to visit this venue if I don't have to. What a scumshell this place is. This is not an issue I have at any other venue and they all do searches.

  So remember that “show is at 8” part? Well, we didn't get to our seats til after 8:30. Another travesty, the seating in the mezzanine. The seats are in “first come, first serve” order. So no matter what number it says on your ticket, no matter if you got tickets 5 weeks ago or 5 minutes ago you have your pick of the litter from all the seats up top. So what did I pay $65 + fees for if my seat isn't reserved, that's my only question. And if you caused fans to get into the building a half hour late because of your rigorous search outside, then whats all that weed I smell everywhere? We seated ourselves in the last two seats on the right side, in the last row. Literally the furthest place you can be in this place. But remember folks, last time I saw Soundgarden I was about a football field away from them at the Gorge in 2010. So being able to actually see the action on stage was a treat. Somewhere between 8:30 and 9 the lights dimmed and the band was set to hit the stage. Ladies and Gentleman, SOUNDGARDEN.

When Soundgarden hit the stage and kicked things off with “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” they began a career spanning (I hate the term “career spanning”) set of old hits, old obscure tracks, and of course a nice dose of King Animal spun in there. We didn't get into King Animal though, until “Non-State Actor” checked in as the 10^th song of the evening. “Spoonman”was awesome in the two slot a the band ripped through “Gun”, “Rhinosaur” and “Flower” before I had to turn to Pam between songs and say “We're seeing fucking Soundgarden!”. I was excited. I'm happy Twitter exists because I'm terrible with song names. Speaking of Twitter, last night I read tweets about an oversold Hammerstein Ballroom. I read that it was crowded on the floor. Tonight the floor looked packed out, and even though I was in the last row of the building, I did notice people standing behind me by the time we were into “Loud Love” and “Drawing Flies”. It was during “Drawing Flies” I decided time to grab some quick drinks, and I stood on a line that had 4 people in front of me for the duration of that song as well as “Hunted Down”. I ordered a Coors Light and a Captain and Diet and received a Budweiser and some fruity looking beverage that was clearly not Captain and got charged 17 bucks (Pam got charged 17 bucks). I swear the only people who should be paid for working here tonight are the four on stage because everything else going on inside this venue is a train wreck.

I didn't even need to hear the lyrics as soon as I saw that backwards American flag on the video screen I knew we were into “Non-State Actor” by now, so I figured they'd go back to back with new tracks and hit us with “Been Away Too Long” but not so fast-they slipped “My Wave” between them. “Worse Dreams” into “Blow Up The Outside World”-now we're in a new one, old one portion of the set. It's only the halfway point. Kim is adding a little extra funk in his riffs for this one, I hear his guitar trailing off in another direction from time to time in this one, and I like it. “Zero Chance” and “Eyelids Mouth” preceded “By Crooked Steps”- another one of my favorites off the new record. Speaking of the record, Chris Cornell said at one point earlier (and I have this on video if it ever uploads): “the new record is called King Animal.. if you haven't bought it by now, well I don't care if you steal it or whatever” before jokily retracting the statement when he said “I think the president of our record company is here tonight”. “Outshined” was a little extra special tonight heard everyone in my section screaming along to that one. That place was rocking all night long. Such an amazing live band these guys are. I've seen them do it outdoors now I'm seeing them do it indoors. The guy walking around my section who looked like Scott Ian from Anthrax was really getting into it with his girl during that one. I was waiting to have a good laugh when “Blood On The Valley Floor” came on. The reason for that is because the other day while moving quickly to post a video of Soundgarden performing a song never heard live I mistakenly said that “Blood On The Valley Floor” was unreleased and wasn't on King Animal. So here I am taping it and I can't help but laugh at myself. Great track none the less. This King Animal record isn't an album people should brush to the side while only being grateful that Soundgarden playing together again-this album is awesome. And I really thought I appreciated it when it came out. But seeing these songs brought to life live, Cornell's howling, the back drop of a powerful Matt Cameron on drums. Just cause he's currently ¼ of the band I hate the most in my life he is also ¼ of Soundgarden and he's tearing stuff up back there. One song another dude was drumming with him on the same kit. I also have that on video, again, barring it uploads anytime this month.

Moment of truth time: Yes they did indeed play "Black Hole Sun". It was a sweeter version of the song, the ever so slightly more mellow chorus much like I witnessed two years ago across the country. I hate when bands don't play their biggest hit so I'm happy they played it. Although, had I known what would come or not come later, I would have traded it for Jesus Christ Pose and Pretty Noose(both of which absent tonight). But like I always say: When you've got a bitchin' camera doubling as binoculars, sitting in a seat rocking out to Soundgarden next to a cool chick who loves Seinfeld as much as you there's really no way that can turn into a losing situation. "Rowing" was next up before they ducked off. People were exiting since Outshined so lots of people walking in front of my camera. I have no desire to go back out into that cold I'm sitting right here til they make me leave. Came out to a four song encore of “Head Down”, “Rusty Cage”, “The Day I Tried To Live” and “4^th of July”-the middle two of the four being my highlights of that section. I was so into this show I wasn't even keeping notes besides songs, I wasn't writing down exact times and stuff. After “4^th of July” Chris left is guitar on the floor of the stage face down and feedback fed through the PA until it faded out into the house music. Somewhere between 11-11:30 they were done and we were on our way out.

You know you've taken in something of epic proportions when there's a handful of songs you wanted to hear that didn't get played and you're still walking down the block chatting it up about how amazing the show was. And that's what Soundgarden brought to the table here tonight. 28 songs. Count it, 28. That's like a Bruce Springsteen type number. And someone tell Billy Corgan that if what I just witnessed was nothing but a “cash grab” then Cornell and company can snatch my wallet anytime they please. May have mixed up a few songs in the paragraphs above in terms of order, but the full set list is below.. Late.

 Setlist: Searching With My Good Eye Closed
 Spoonman
 Gun
 Rhinosaur
 Flower
 Loud Love
 Drawing Flies
 Hunted Down
 Live to Rise
 Non-State Actor
 My Wave
 Been Away Too Long
 Worse Dreams
 Blow Up the Outside World
 Zero Chance
 Eyelid's Mouth
 Like Suicide
 By Crooked Steps
 Outshined
 Blood on the Valley Floor
 Fresh Tendrils
 Mailman
 Black Hole Sun
 Rowing
 ---Encore---
 Head Down
 Rusty Cage
 The Day I Tried to Live
 4th of July        

Dinosaur Jr And Friends - Terminal 5 NYC 12/01/12

Dinosaur Jr + Special Guests - 12/01/2012

Terminal 5 - New York City

Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks

In two weeks, Dinosaur Jr's second studio record “You're Living All Over Me” will turn 25 years old-why wait til then to start the celebration? Tonight, in the 81st Edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series we return to Terminal 5 in New York City (610 West 56th Street) for what is billed as “Dinosaur Jr's 25th anniversary of "You're Living All Over Me" with Very Special Friends Sitting In and Special Guest Kurt Vile” Well, it's well known that if the ticket says Dinosaur Jr and I can get there via Bus, Train and/or Boat-chances are I'm getting myself in the building. Kurt Vile and The Violators supporting, if nothing else, peaks my interest for an opening band. And Vile's a bitchin' guitar player so sitting in should be fun as well. But friends? Who? Weeks after I bought tickets a few names sprinkled out. Johnny Marr will be here. Dale Crover will be here. Al Cisneros will be here. Frank Black will be here and Kim Gordon will be here. If that's not enough, there's going to be two Dinosaur Jr sets, first playing the record and the second being a collection of hits ranging the band's whole catalog. There's still the extreme likely possibility that more guests will appear tonight on stage. Anything can happen. Let's hope “anything” means “everything that you can think of in the world” tonight. In my first trip into Manhattan in a post- Sandy world, I found myself outside online to get into Terminal 5 at 6:30 with doors set to open at 7 due to train stations being out of order. I would complain about walking a few blocks, but I still have my home and stuff plus I could use the exercise. Felt like forever standing out there on line-not because it was cold. It was my anxiety, my prayers to several gods to be able to obtain my awesome third floor spot. I was about 100 deep in the line and another 100 people (at least) were behind me by the time doors opened. We got in and I ran up two flights of stairs to find exactly what I was looking: an empty third floor with plenty of chairs and ottomans to keep me comfortable until showtime. After I grabbed myself a Pepsi, it was already 7:30.

At 8 o clock Kurt Vile and the Violators hit the stage. They impressed everyone by the end of their set. Each songs having a different feel, kept thanking us for being a “beautiful audience”. They seem like a band that should have been around when bands like Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth were getting big in the late 80's. They have that psychedelic thing going, but the sweet melodies are what, well, keep making me want to compare them to Dinosaur Jr. Was that an 18 string acoustic I saw Kurt Vile bust out on a song called “Freeway” or am I wrong? He changed guitars every single song. I like guitars, so this is a plus in my book. And we share a haircut. His voice is very punky, the tone is perfect for this kind of show. You know-effects pedals everywhere and extended noise jams. I recorded their song “Monkey”. Awesome job by them. It was 8:40 when they went off.

Truth be told, I haven't listened to "You're Living All Over Me" front to back in a few years. So I had to go back this past week leading up to the show and re-brush myself up on the masterpiece that is that album. After kicking off the night with "Thumb"(with a chick on stage playing the flute.. or a clarinet) , our first guest of the evening hit the stage next and was our first surprise guest of the evening: Lee Ranaldo(of Sonic Youth fame). He provided some vocals on the record's first track, “Little Fury Things”. So here we are, for the next 46 or so minutes watching Dinosaur Jr just kill it. I mean it's not like I haven't seen this band kill it before, this is my forth time. But they're getting better. J Mascis takes a cerebral attack towards his playing, making his guitar his total bitch. This is beyond distortion, this is beautiful madness at it's finest. At one point his guitar sounded like a flock of doves-I'm serious. And I'm up here, sitting on a chair, (Low to the ground like an ottoman, yet it has a back like a chair. Very comfortable) 3^rd floor Terminal 5- not taping. I'm taking this whole album in right now strictly like a normal fan, we do have two sets after all. I'm under an influence alright-the heavy drug known as awesome music. I'm checking out the crowd, they're going nuts, slamming into each other and crowd surfing like crazy. I mean, it's a very tiny part of me, but part of me wanted to be down there smashing myself into strangers. But the sea of people doesn't end as I keep turning my head-this place is packed to the gills (and my “private” section has turned into a full house) One note, I know here in NYC we have some less than desirable fans in the crowd who throw stuff on stage. Usually empty beer cups- I know I've been hit with several beers in the pit at past shows. But tonight, it was hoodies exclusively being thrown. I hate to break the news to these people that although it's hot in the pit it's still cold outside. Keep glancing over to the rhythm section to see Murph is the only person in shorts, beating the kit with everything he had on ever song he drummed on. I could tell, he worked up quite a sweat. And Lou. Every time I looked in that direction his head was down, bass hanging real low and he was just creating earthquakes over there with his heavy bass licks. At 10:01 Murph and J dart off stage and the lights dim, revealing Lou Barlow alone, holding a Ukelele ready to play “Poledo” solo, adding that this is an "awkward end to an amazing record" before cranking out the oddity but goody.

This was advertised as two sets, and the bill fit the length of what you'd get out of two sets. But props to the band for not making us wait like 15 minutes in between. Frank Black (or is it Black Francis these days? I get them mixed up) former Pixies frontman was on stage by 10:06. He's here to "help out on one of the songs off the new record "I Bet on Sky" according to J. After they played the tune, Mr Black hands the gigantic hand drawn lyric sheet he had in front of him to a lucky member of the crowd, re-tunes his guitar and next thing you know you're hearing the lyric "hips like Cinderella" and we're jumping into "Tame". Dinosaur Jr and Frank Black doing “Tame”. Are you freaking serious?!?! Pass me a tissue, I just wet myself. it was so perfect, so right for this evening. So many joyous screams.

A great old tracked popped up “Alone”, a great new track from the new record popped up, “Watch The Corners” and here comes Johnny Marr at around 1045. Besides that crappy band with Morrissey, I loved Johnny Marr's stuff with Modest Mouse and he is a highly regarded guitar player. He's actually releasing his debut solo record later this year. He lended a hand on "The Wagon". Then they brought out a lyric sheet on a stand for J as they got into a song I didn't know. Thankfully we live in the 21st century and Twitter was buzzing within seconds chiming in with the song title: "The Boy with The Thorn in his Side", a Smiths cover. There was another guest vocalist up there(thanks to fellow fans comments, it was pointed out to me that it was  Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene) .At least it wasn't Morrissey. Dale Crover(of the Melvins) was out there drumming on the Smiths cover with them. Al Cisneros (known for his work in Sleep and OM) was on and off stage throughout the evening as well as Kurt Vile. Don Fleming(used to be in a band called Gumball) came on stage to cover a song by the band Iron Cross called “Crucified For Your Sins”. Your a typical hard rocking DC punk rock anthem to perk up the pit as some start to sober up. It was intense.

And at 11:09 Kim Gordon hops on stage. The sexist 59 year old chick I've ever seen, since her recent divorce with Thurston Moore (in turn, putting all things Sonic Youth on indefinite hiatus) Kim spends these days playing in an experimental noise rock duo with Bill Nace called Body/Head. Surprised Kim's lungs didn't come flying out of her chest during "Don't".

 That one that requires screaming multiplied by a million. I hated when the band played this song last year(Review of that show here) because they let some fan sing the vocal and he kept slamming the microphone down and had an annoying scream. Kim was awesome, I just wish there was some better lighting in there for me to grab a better picture of her. Well, the lighting was good, but the shine from the drum set was messing with my camera. Everybody ducked off stage at 11:19

They came back out not long after. You know, there was one kid I saw outside wearing a Replacements tee shirt. At the time I saw it I said to myself “Sweet..the Replacements”. That must've been my spider senses tingling, because out for the encore on bass is none other than Tommy Stinson from the Replacements! Tommy also plays in the fake Guns N' Roses band that Axl Rose tours with these days. And there's my buddy John Petkovic (see Mike Watt & Friends 05/02/12) on vocals-and they're playing The Stooges! “TV Eye”. The pit was chaos once again. I had read reviews claiming Fred Arminsen was on stage at one point and I had to look back at my pictures a day later and notice that he is in fact drumming on "TV Eye".  I was  having such a good time I missed the Portlandia star. “Start Choppin” followed and then our night ended with “Freak Scene”. The house music came on slightly after 11:30.
 Dinosaur Jr never disappoint, but that my friends was something for the ages. I've placed a picture of the set list below.  Enjoy the videos! Late.

NYCTaper has a great capture of this show available for download. You can click this link here to check out all the audio goodies

The Darkness - Terminal 5 (10/21/12)

The Darkness (w/ The Dirty Pearls & Sweatheart) - 10/21/2012

Terminal 5 - New York City

Words/Photos/Video - Jay Porks

Well, today was another case of me being on my way to a bitchin' rock show while one of my professional sports teams loses in heartbreaking fashion. Thursday was the Yankees, and before tonight's show kicked off the Jets had lost in overtime. Speaking of the show- Hello everyone, and welcome to the 80^th edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series (I'm told there's a watch waiting for me at # 100) which takes us to Terminal 5 (610 West 56^th Street) in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City to see The Darkness play one of their two shows on this side of the pond in support of their new album 'Hot Cakes', which you should go buy if you haven't. Now, the only bad news is that Foxy Shazam is not in the building (they opened up for the band at Irving Plaza in February) but we've got two other openers to make a case for themselves here tonight as we have 'Sweatheart' and 'The Dirty Pearls' due up before everyone's favorite cock-rockers hit the stage. Doors are at 7, with showtime at 7:30. Let's roll.  

After a pretty intense walk from the train station, I made it to the entrance at 6:47 where they were already bringing people in and having them wait on the roof top smoke deck not to crowd the streets of Manhattan. Did I mention I'm wearing a suit? Well, last night my friend Janine (who was at The Offspring with Pam and I) got married and the ceremony was so awesome I figured why not let the good times roll on into Sunday night. I mean, it's the Darkness we're talking about here-must keep it classy. So they let us in at 7 and I'm dashing to my usual spot on the 3^rd floor when I'm stopped by event staff. First he's asking me for my VIP sticker (because I'm wearing a suit I guess) and when I tell him I'm a regular fan he informs me that the 3^rd floor is not open this evening. I said “What's that, due to lack of ticket sales or something?” he nodded. I cannot believe the Darkness are underselling this place? It holds 3,000- They sold out both nights at Irving Plaza in February, granted it's a third of the size I figured this show would be sold out for months. Bummer. So my new spot is right behind the sound board and the guy controlling the lights, I'm looking down at all the action, hey there's the Darkness set list right there on the table-let me just copy all these songs down and scout out when I'm going to tape. This spot I grabbed is on the 2^nd floor, straight in the back. Finally get to see the stage background thing that bands always hang but I never see because I prefer a side view.

 At 7:31 Philadelphia's own “Sweatheart” hit the stage. No, I'm not misspelling the word Sweetheart-it's actually Sweatheart. They have a mannequin siting at the key board , several members wearing black hoods, (Halloween is around the corner after all). Once she removes the black hooded thing, this lead singer has a this skin tight bodysuit hot enough to keep my attention, and that girl's name is Amanda Blank. For a half hour, they dropped their weirdness on us, filled with plenty of innuendo and crotch grabbing to explain why they were indeed opening for the Darkness. Justin Hawkins says this band did the animation for their music video “Nothin's Gonna Stop Us”. As I watched I kept trying to pin what sub-genre they fall under. They were like Bubblegum-Heavy, but when I came home, I read that they're “performance rock”, and the band's website says: “Approachable Stadium Pop, Man Jams (with Women) or Community College Rock. No wait, 80's Screwball Comedy Soundtrack Rock”. Well whatever it was it sounded good to me, I like bands with a sense of humor (and a hot lead singer who openly discusses ejaculating on breasts). I did not see a bass player. They went off at 8:02

Things are moving quick on stage, as it only took til 8:13, for The Dirty Pearls to come on and rock this joint out-and they did. This band was more straight ahead Rock N' Roll. Here we have a hometown band with a lead singer wearing sunglasses indoors and two guitar players playing nothing but gnarly fucking riffs man. Fuck Eddie Van Halen. I'm starting to get packed into this little spot here as people are catching on to this awesome view. Only one slow jam from them: “You Got Me Where You Want Me” to counter act the hard hitting songs like “Bruises” and the track that ended their set, “New York City Is A Drug”. They just released their debut full length record “Whether You Like It Or Not” which you can download at the bands website. Good times. They went off at 8:47

At 912 when "The Boys are Back in town " started blasting through the PA, you knew that the boys were in fact back in town as the Darkness hit the stage. The band has a new record out called “Hot Cakes” and it's spectacular. They have two U.S. Dates supporting this effort-that;s right TWO. Us NYC folk get them, as well as the City of Angels in a few days. Not surprising they'd began the evening with the first song on the new effort, “Every Inch Of You”.
Dan Hawkins in a Thin Lizzy tee shirt while Justin is in his usual Freddie Mercury style shiny white jump suit. “Black Shuck” followed with “Growing On Me” really had this place (well, the two floors of the place) rocking.

 I mean, I know about a handful of people who are as into this band as I am-not everyone is smart enough to get these guys. But the ones who do were here tonight, as hands were waving, people in the back on the first floor were dancing (good idea for the playlist if I ever get married-The Darkness), just good vibes all around this place. “She's Just A Girl Eddie” was our next Hot Cakes track to appear, and people already knew the words to it! This isn't even one of their singles.

“One Way Ticket” came next and it featured a pause in the middle of the song as Justin was kicking guitar picks with his heel until finally the bass player caught one on like the seventh try to a resounding ovation.

 Then before they played “Nothin's Gonna Stop Us” we were informed about how Sweatheart did the music video for them, and they were very grateful. Towards the end of “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” Justin had pointed to some fan in the crowd, who raced up through the sea of people to the front, where he was dragged on stage to help out on the “mother fucker” audience participation part of the song. That guy was funny. He took off his shirt and threw it at Dan, before walking over and taking a sip of Justin's water. All of a sudden this guy's a rockstar now. Awesome. Justin told him “end it with a leap!” and he did, he leaped right into Justin's arms before grabbing his shirt and diving into the crowd to be surfed to the back of the room. Priceless.

I find it funny that the band has two songs on the set list that start with the word love and they choose to put them back to back. That's the case next when the band busted out “Love Is Not The Answer” followed by my personal highlight of this evening: “Love Is Only A Feeling”.

 This is a song where Dan gets some time to shine with his gee-tar..See, back at Irving Plaza when I saw this band, event staff made me put my camera away before I was able to tape this epic ballard. So I was thrilled to be rolling when they jammed out on that one before Justin ran back stage to change jump suits. Tattoos much? Jeez I thought that said “Thug Life” across the stomach for a second. This guy's bad ass. In the black and silver jumper, an older tune “Friday Night” was followed by two new tracks “Concrete” and “Everybody Have A Good Time”.

This is the part where I say “The Darkness Covered Radiohead!!”  but it's not a rare thing as they do “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” live almost every set, so much so that they recorded a version of it for Hot Cakes. I have to be honest here, I'm not a fan of this song much as a Radiohead song, but The Darkness knock that shit out of the park. The band was in rare form tonight, and I hate myself for living in the only borough you need to take a boat to get to and having to leave right after that because of the Ferry's Sunday scheduling. Justin was introducing “Givin' Up” on my way out, as I heard him saying “Hey, you want to hear me and my brother sing a song about Heroin?”. What a great freaking band.

I had copied down the set list before the show started from the sound board, you can find that below this little photo gallery. So pissed at myself for having to duck out of there, but as with life, stuff happens. Once the videos upload, they'll all be posted right here. The Darkness covering Radiohead is first up of course. And oh yeah, check out my awesome photos. Seriously, I'm getting pretty good at this. [gallery link="file" columns="2" orderby="rand"] Set List:   Every Inch of You Black Shuck Growing on Me She's Just A Girl Eddie One Way Ticket Nothin's gonna stop us Get Your Hands Off My Woman Love Is Not The Answer Love Is Only A Feeling Friday Night Concrete Everybody Have A Good Time Street Spirit (Fade Out) [Radiohead Cover] Givin' Up Stuck In A Rut I Believe In A Thing Called Love ----Encore---- With a Woman Hazel Eyes Love On The Rocks With Ice  

Local H - The Bell House 10/18/12

Local H - 10/18/2012

The Bell House - Brooklyn, NY

Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks

The CMJ Music Festival: Hundreds of bands, tons of venues, and so little time. The “Marathon” as they call it consists of 4 days this year of shows in and around New York City and Brooklyn and is the reason I get to see Local H tonight for the 2^nd time this year. A scheduling conflict cost me my shot at seeing the band perform at Webster Hall in the afternoon on Wednesday, but as we turn the page to today, I find myself pumped for several reasons amidst heading to the Bell House tonight in Brooklyn. First off, my friend Pam is finally going to get to see Local H. Truth be told, any other Local H shows I've attended that I have confessed to on this site I've had a ticket for her every time. She never quite could escape work or traffic, but tonight is locked in (hopefully not my famous last words). Also, my buddy Flo (who I met at the Lemonheads) will be meeting me there too-It's going to be a freaking party. Do things get better? Well, how bout some Scott Lucas acoustic action at 8PM to open up the evening? Because that was the Facebook post from Local H that I woke up to this morning. Doors are at 7:30PM, I get off work at 4PM. Hopefully we can get ourselves there in time to grab that little elevated spot in the back, which is awesome for taking video, sitting, and charging our cell phones . So let's have some fun here in the 79^th Edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series...   We walked in and got to pass a big screen TV to take a glimpse at my baseball team taking it's final swings of the season. Some good news, the dream spot in back of the room is free. So we settle in as we wait for Scott to come on, which Facebook said was an 8PM set. I noticed that the other opening band already has their stuff set up on stage and just an acoustic guitar in the middle of the stage. There's four lights set up on stage too. I guess this has something to do with 'The Life and Times'.

Scott Lucas came on shortly after 8:30 and kicked off his acoustic set with a Misfits cover “Last Caress” before getting into some Married Men tunes like “Steady Gaze”, “Heavy Lidded Love” and “Blood Half Moons”, the latter of which being the title track to the latest Married Men release. It's amazing because, here I saw this band in April and Scott did this same opening for himself thing-then I went and saw him with the Married Men on their own, so all these songs are familiar to me and I get to sing along and stuff. Suddenly Scott starts explaining that they have the album at the Merch table for sale, and asks if we have any requests. Someone screamed “Nothing Else Matters”. That was probably worse than screaming “Freebird” at this point, Scott just looks at the guy and says “Nothing Else Matters? Yea fuck you asshole”. It was either “fuck you asshole” or something close to that. I drew a blank. Too much pressure for me to have 1 point 5 seconds to shout out a song that not only the crowd but the performer would be on board with. For some reason my whole night is focused on not giving Scott an excuse to throw me out or beat me up(You've seen the Cold Manor video!), and with less people here than there were for the Vaselines I could easily be picked out. No chances taken as someone screamed “Eddie Vedder”, which Scott and all of us liked so it got played. Next it was “Hey Rita” followed by the song that goes along with the new Scott Lucas and The Married Men music video, “a Halloween song” as Scott put it, and that's “Ain't No Grave”. A string broke on his guitar during “Hey Rita”, but the bad ass just kept it moving finishing off the seven song set with five strings. It was a little after 9 when he departed. http://youtu.be/Lgo3UJUGQKQ Let's talk about the band 'The Life And Times' for a second, because they were slotted as the main support tonight. They have four lights sitting on the stage surrounding the band. These lights went on when the band started playing, providing light on their instruments as they played. As they broke into their murky-noise tunes and rocked their 45 minute set out. As a band, they were good. Maybe not my cup of tea, but tight musicians non the less. Maybe not the most cheery folk, after their 2^nd or 3^rd song the lead singer says “Wow, hope you guys make more noise for Local H when they come on”. I know we're New York scum rockers and all that, but usually we get a “Hello, thanks for having us” before we start getting treated like garbage. With their lights and macho head games. So one of their songs sounded like “My Sharona” by the Knack. I mean the bass line and the drum line is extremely similar. I didn't even point it out originally, Flo and Pam were screaming at me “MY SHARONA!!” and that's when I noticed the similarities. So I may or may not have started screaming out the lyrics to My Sharona. After the song they decided to tell us about their new record and the lead singer goes “Yeah, did you hear that ding-dong over there screaming My Sharona? Yeah he's probably not gonna buy the new record”. Ding-dong? Touche amigo.

Tonight is one of the few times I'm seeing a band headline and I'm praying for them to play a healthy amount of songs off their new record. Usually hate it when bands try to shove new shit down your throat at every opportunity-but the key word there is “shit”, and the new Local H record “Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!” the exact opposite of that. This album is a beast of it's own species, So at 10:36 when the beginning chimes of “Waves” hit the speakers, I was beyond pumped that we might be getting the same heavy dose of this record that the Troubadour got a few weeks ago. We went “Waves” into “Cold Manor” straight into “Here Come Ol' Laptop” (all from “Hallelujah I'm a Bum”)

http://youtu.be/DNiImb5hORI before an early appearance of “Bound For The Floor”. This is the first time I've seen that song appear this early in an evening, but it was so right for the moment-so right for the evening to get that out of the way and keep this new stuff rolling. It's one of my favorite songs of all time don't get me wrong, but it's good to have a night where the set isn't closed with it-let's roll the dice tonight. Next up, a stand out from the new album “They Saved Reagan's Brain”. Now, I'm not an incestuously political guy (besides when it comes to Republican lying scum who hate Big Bird), but songs off this record make me want to go out there and make a difference. “There's no use running with the Chinese coming and I don't want to see this world burn no more”. Damn right there isn't.

“Everyone Alive” came next, and that was followed by “The One with Kid” (from 12 Angry Months).The One With Kid is an amazing song, and as this night goes by the question is posed: Is Scott Lucas getting younger? Seriously, the car ride home consisted of a conversation between Pam and I about how old Scott is to be able to jump all over the place like a 12 year old having the time of his life when he's been putting out music for almost 20 years. The only thing that ages is his guitar playing-which ages like fine wine. It gets better EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Little added parts and alterations to riffs and sounds and the way he can turn feedback into puddy in his hand and mold it whatever he pleases at any given time. It's not just bass and guitar at the same time, he's making enough sounds for 4 or 5 people up there. Every time I see this band I mention how Brian St. Clair is “Grohlian” on drums, in attempts to coin my own phrase and it hasn't worked out. But he's incredible, it's like Keith Moon on speed assuming Keith Moon wasn't already on speed. Were more symbols added to his kit recently? How can these two guys fly under the radar all these years? It boggles my mind. Especially when you hear the crunchy guitar sounds on “Night Flight to Paris”. Then the band kicks it back up to crazy once again with an oldie but goodie “Back In The Day”

http://youtu.be/mKV9YykWA7s before another 3-peat from the latest effort with “Say The Word”, “ Feed A Fever” and “Another February”. Since 2011 at the Mercury Lounge, I've seen Another February go from “here's a new song we're going to kick around” to a well oiled machine. I was late to hit record, so I got to rock out to this one. And it felt great.

With eight new songs already on display, I wasn't shocked that the band made the pit happy with “Alright, Oh Yeah”, “All The Kids Are Right”, “Fritz's Corner” and a haunting “Hands on The Bible” before which, Scott heard someone scream out The Libertines, and he replied with "Play The Libertines? No. We're American"..   “Waves Again” book ended their set and they ran off at 11:47. http://youtu.be/WTw825Pck4s The encore I'd assume would be three songs, so after “California Songs” (with a “Fuck Brooklyn Too!” lyric included) and “Look Who's walking on Four Legs Again” it finally hit me what they were going to close with: “High Fiving MF”.. They got right into that next, and towards the end of the song were saying what I thought would be their final goodnight of the evening. But they didn't stop playing for more than a second before I heard a familiar riff. No way. Can it be? Are we getting “Wolf Like Me” right now?? http://youtu.be/Dv1H1tjAPWc You're damn right we are! Unreal. This is just insanity. After Midnight Thursday turning into Friday in Brooklyn and Local H has not only burned down the Bell House with this set, but pissed out the fire-closing the show with a TV On The Radio classic. I wouldn't have believed it was that good if I wasn't there. Me, Pam, Flo and what couldn't have been more than 100 other folks just witnessed a shot to be heard round the world.

  Set List: Waves Cold Manor Here Come Ol' Laptop Bound For The Floor They Saved Reagan's Brain Everyone Alive The One with Kid Night Flight To Paris Back In The Day Say The Word Feed A Fever Another February Alright, Oh Yeah All The Kids Are Right Fritz's Corner Hands On The Bible Waves Again ===Encore==== California Songs Look Who's Walking On Four Legs Again High Fiving MF Wolf Like Me (TV On The Radio) [gallery link="file" columns="2" orderby="post_date"]    

Concert Review: Slash and Foxy Shazam 09/18/12 Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators  with Foxy Shazam - 09/18/2012

Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom - New York City

Words/Photos/Video - Jay Porks

“The essence of “cool” that is Slash cannot be matched”. That's a phrase typed by this very music fan posing as a journalist in a social media world, after walking out on the band currently touring under the moniker of Guns N' Roses during their encore at Izod Center last November. Well, after tonight that phrase cannot sing any more true as Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators (on tour supporting Apocalyptic Love) made a pit stop at Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom to turn a disgusting, rainy Tuesday night in New York City into an evening full of magic. Getting to see one of your favorite guitar players play live for the first time is an amazing feeling, and to top matters off, the opener. Now if Slash represents the essence of “cool”, then you'd need to find a bad ass opener able to keep up with that. You'd need to find a band that simply can't be touched right now in terms of putting on a rock show. Whelp, if those are the qualities needed, then you need Foxy Shazam. And tonight that's who we have. We've got Slash and Foxy Shazam, we've got mezzanine seats and best of all, we've got a good camera. Doors open at 7PM. So without further ado let's jump into the 78th Edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series, shall we? Showed up at the door at 6:10. I have to stop showing up so early when I have a seat. The seat is there for me, why am I standing out here in the rain? Tad's Steakhouse taking the Patty Melt I usually get off the Menu and causing me to leave (I'm not a steak guy) may have effected my time. When they started letting us in the search was vigorous. I know I always complain about the search procedures and I sound like a broken record- but this one seriously had me rethinking if I had actually had anything illegal on me. Which of course I never do anyway, because I fear prison. They bring me to my section and tell me “Anywhere in these six rows is fine”.. What??? I paid for an assigned seat, I have the number on the ticket and I scouted online to see the angle I'd be on and everything, now you're just saying I can sit anywhere here? Is it hard to number the seats?

Soundspeak hit the stage at 8:01PM. That's right folks, they went “surprise 1^st opener” on us. I was pissed, not at the band they didn't do anything wrong. The venue should advertise ALL of the openers. Hey maybe it was advertised and I didn't catch it since my place of employment is in the 19^th century and I'm not allowed to touch my phone. But seriously Hammerstein, what's with these surprises? And this band I find out later is friends of my buddy who I met at the Lemonheads and later Local H. Had I known that before I would've given them a chance. They weren't bad, but I can't sit here and break them down for you because they were in a tough spot there (with me personally anyway). They went off at 8:19.. Had I known we were in for an 18 minute set I would have lightened up a bit.

At 8:34 when the lights went low I'm up there screaming “here it comes- the mother fuckin' Church!”. I was so excited. And look at this Eric is rocking a new hair color. Interesting. They ripped through “The Church of Rock & Roll” and “Holy Touch”. I was head nodding and screaming lyrics the whole time. I'm conscience of saving battery on my camera anyway. Suddenly, after Holy Touch I get a tap on my shoulder from the girl next to me. She's with her boyfriend and they have accents so they may or may not be from here but the girl says to me “What is the name of this band” and I told her and she says “They are amazing!!”. You damn right they are. The first song of their set I decided to tape was “Unstoppable”. Well, I decided to get the 3^rd song in, it just happen to be that very song currently running in that MLB commercial. “The Rocketeer” followed, I don't think they played that one at Bowery Ballroom this past May, after I got it at Irving Plaza opening for The Darkness in February.  Interesting.

“Killin' It” before jumping into “I Like It”. And that song, well, “I don't like it baby I fucking love it” as Eric would say. Cigarettes got eaten during “Temple”, which was the set closer at about 9 maybe a tad after. “If we had an ocean, we'd all be Surfin' USA” was our “Deep thoughts by Eric Nally” moment before the lights came on. Unreal. And this night's not even over yet! I go out to smoke a cigarette, but you are not allowed to do that. They don't have stamps for your hand or anything. You must stay inside, where they have confiscated your lighter at the door anyway and not smoke cigarettes. Okay, to the bathroom for that cigarette I go. I guess it's okay to eat them but you can't smoke them at this place.

So here comes Eddie Trunk (of That Metal Show, and the radio) on stage, to tell us Slash was coming up next. I'm so glad they had Eddie Trunk here to inform us of this drastic turn in events. And here I thought I was here to see Emerson Lake & Palmer. Anyway Eddie, thanks for that. At 9:28 the man in the top hat himself hit the stage-Slash w/ Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators (seems 'The Attractions' and 'The Imposters' were taken). They jumped into things with 'Halo', off their new record followed by “Night Train”. The place went bonkers. People walking away from their seats to make it to the back just to jump up and down and rock out. And all of these people are up to date on the new record a lot more than this guy. I have to admit I was more into the last record Slash put out with the revolving door of lead singers-but this stuff translates well live. “Standing In The Sun” came early and caught my ear. A few songs later they jumped into some more GNR cuts with a back to back of “Civil War” and “Rocket Queen”. An epic version of Civil War. Epic soloing as usual. Slash, Myles and the boys went to town on that one. During the 15 minute version of Rocket Queen that was only able to capture 9 minutes and 12 seconds of(because Slash went nuts with a solo that I can't wait to share with you as soon as it uploads), I noticed the entire floor level was pumping their fists in the air in unison. Looked like New Jersey, except that it was beautiful. Every song has it's very own “Slash crazy solo” warped into the song. He quite an amazing soloist on the gee-tar. A song later on in the set, that I can't even recall, I swear it was almost Phishy how Slash just jams out for 10 minutes at a time and then returns to the song Curt Kirkwood style. This became a problem on “Rocket Queen”, which I only have the first 9 minutes and 12 seconds of because I'm yet to figure out why my camera has a limit on the amount of minutes I can record a single video. I had camera issues all night.

Todd Kerns (the bass player) can sing too, so taking a break from Myles Kennedy for a song, we got “We're All Gonna Die”, which the vocals are sang by Iggy Pop on the record. So now not only was Myles killin' it but this guy is doing a hell of a job with this song. Good to have a second voice option in your band so you don't have to limit your set list-these are things professional musicians like these do. They jump back into the GNR catalog with “You're Crazy”. I mean honestly, right now I've “won” for lack of a better term. See, back when I saw the band touring as “Guns N Roses”, I got to hear the handful of songs I enjoyed but every time I looked on stage I realized that I hate Axl Rose and his way of being a douche nozzle in every sense of life. Tonight I look on stage and see Slash, a gifted guitarist who has switches cleaner than anyone I've ever heard who's whole life has been based on finding a singer. Finding someone to tour with and play music, write music, enjoy music with. This isn't a job, I mean, there is a paycheck of course, but Slash and Myles look to be having some real fun up there. And making some real good music too, you can't top the feeling of the artists you're seeing seeming to be almost as excited to see you as you are them.

“Bad Rain” came before Myles took a seat on his little pedestal there. What's with that? I first saw the guy from the Deftones doing it at BlackDiamondSkye with the tables set up in front. And he hardly stood on it. Anyway, he took a seat to get into a song called “Not for Me”, which, even with it's epic guitar parts may in fact, not be for me. Didn't hate it, but was one of the few times I looked to see what time it was during the night. But these guys know what they're doing, and that's when the “Sweet Child of Mine” riff started and then seriously there not an ass in a seat besides me trying to keep my camera steady. It was amazing. Myles does a really good Axl, like a much less annoying Axl. Then rumblings of a familiar riff again, but not of the GNR variety.. It was “Slither”! Velvet freaking Revolver! Eff all you people I loved Velvet Revolver and now we're finding out that Myles doesn't do a bad Scott Weiland either.. I was so happy to hear this song live.... again? That's when it dawned on me that I'm hearing this song live for the second time. In 2007 the first real concert I ever attended was Velvet Revolver with Alice In Chains and Kill Hannah. It's so old there's not even a blog for it. It took me til the last song before the encore for me to realize that this wasn't me seeing one of my favorite guitarists for the first time live, never the less it was the seeing this dude the best time live. It was 11ish when they went off for the encore.

I'm up, I'm on my way out. I know Paradise City is coming and to be honest I've already for lack of a better term “shot my load” here with this one. I've gotten everything I could have wanted. Then Slash is on the microphone, a rarity. He says something to the effect of “We haven't been playing this one, we're gonna do it tonight because it's fucking New York City!”. Then, with Kerns on vocals, we got ourselves “Welcome to the Jungle”. Once Slash grabbed the mic I stopped walking to see what they were up to. When he said that I immediately hit record and walking my way down the aisle and sat on the step there trying to record while everyone's passing by my freaking shot. I found a better seat when they jumped into Paradise City, but halfway through I look at the ticker on my camera and notice it's not moving. I didn't hit record. That's when I decided it was time to get my Foxy Shazam tee shirt and get out of here. Slash's merch is in the lobby and Foxy has a table set up in the back of the General Admission floor. The security guard won't let me through the velvet rope and tells me to head out the door as I'm ten feet from this merch table. So I walk out that door, and walk back in through a door this staffer is not guarding, and there I see Eric Nally taking pictures with two fans. I was trying to get my camera out to see if one of these strangers would take a picture of me with him but I'm way too anti-social for that kinda thing, so I went up to him when they left and shook his hand, told him they're awesome and that I've seen them three times this year and made sure to say “And the Reverend Justito says Hi”. Now this is all while Paradise City is still blasting, so who knows if he even heard a word of what I said, but he seemed like a very warm individual. Not the dude on stage at all. With Paradise City still rocking, and my $30 Foxy Shazam tee shirt hanging off my shoulder, I said goodbye to the Hammerstein Ballroom, I was in a cab at 11:31. What an amazing night.   LATE.   Show Notes: I have some issues with the venue I'd like to address here. Dear Hammerstein Ballroom: First of all, you search people like they're criminals. You take peoples lighters- for what reason might I ask? You think you're stopping people from smoking indoors? Everyone is still smoking anyway, raises lighters in the air, and I have 2 packs of matches besides the point. Speaking of smoking- you have a 3+ hour rock concert and people aren't allowed to go out to smoke cigarettes? What is that? You know what happens when you do that? People smoke inside of your building. People who are Drunk, high, tripping or all of the above are now using fire inside your precious “ballroom”. And on the way out your event staff wouldn't let me near the Foxy Shazam merch cause you stuffed it in the back of the GA standing area and security thinks I'm trying to sneak into that crappy area to stand for the last song of the show. Like I would want to sneak down from my SEAT to a STANDING AREA FULL OF NUTBALLS. Had to fake that lady out and head into the lobby before darting back in to grab my tee shirt. And hey, I don't want to tell you how to run things or anything, but you have a twitter account right? Of course you do, you follow me. Now why on earth would that twitter account not be put into use to TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THAT SECOND OPENER?! Is this a little game that venues like to play? Trick people into showing up early? And why do I get to choose where I want to sit in the mezzanine? I paid 50 dollars plus whatever fees you plugged my ass for on this ticket and you can't assign me a seat?? It's going to take a miracle to get me back inside that building again. [gallery link="file" columns="2" orderby="post_date"]