The Flaming Lips at the House of Blues, Atlantic City: July 4th 2010

Did you hear? Lady Gaga is playing a show in AC tonight.. If you want to hear all about that-then exit this site and go somewhere else. As for the rest of us-all signs point to this night being crazy. Jay Porks here to welcome all of you to the 29^th edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series for the Flaming Lips at the House of Blues in Atlantic City. I'm coming to you live from my hotel, the Trump Marina here in the lovely Atlantic City. This is going to continue with the 'Summer Series' section of the little blog thing we have going on here considering the weather: It's 90+ degrees outside- a good day if your in shape. If you're me, then your stationed 21^st floor in your room with the Air Conditioning pumping, set to a steady 65. The House of Blues website says that the Doors open at 9PM and the show is also listed to start at 9PM. Opening act is 'Fang Island', a band I haven't yet heard of. The House of Blues I located in the Showboat Casino, which is sort of a distance (a bus called the 'Jitney' goes there for $2.25) as oppose to the last time I stayed here, when I was attending Stone Temple Pilots and The Meat Puppets right across the way at the Music Box at the Borgata back on July 18^th of last year.

For those who don't know anything about the Flaming Lips, they are a freaking amazing band from Oklahoma..Wayne Coyne, Micheal Ivins, Steven Drozd and Kliph Scurlock make up the band. The Flaming lips can be described as the, for lack of a better term, the weirdest band of their time. From their inception in the early 80's still rolling strong today. Last year saw the Lips release two albums- one being the critically acclaimed “Embryonic” in October; a double album containing contributions from 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O and Brooklyn's own MGMT The other release from the Flaming Lips camp in 2009, was 'The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon'. Long story short, there are two sides of the fence with this one. My “Pink Floyd die hard” sources are extremely pissed for all the obvious reasons you can name. Myself on the other hand have found myself with the Flaming Lips giving me new appreciation for Pink Floyd. The record is brilliant, and I suggest everybody checks it out.

The Flaming Lips performed 'Dark Side of the Moon' in it's entirety at this years Bonnaroo Festival. I got my hands on the audio days after the performance and was enamored. This is what's bringing us to the question of the night-Will the Flaming Lips do 'Dark Side of the Moon' here at the House of Blues for the 4^th of July? Weeks of searching Google for show reviews and artist released info has left the hand un-tipped, as there is no inkling to what they will do tonight. The beauty of this band-I mean seriously: Who knows what they're going to do? Will Wayne pull out the gigantic hands or tell us that we must do our part to fight for the legalization of Marijuana in America, who knows? Hell-they could come out and play a set containing not one song I know the name of and this shit is probably still going to be a life changer. At least one credible rock music publication has them on their list of “Bands you must see before you die”. Well then, lets get to it.

Lets not overshadow the opening act, Fang Island- a band that just released it's debut album, which was self-titled, on Sargent House records in February of this year. They have to be cool if they're opening for the Flaming Lips right? Well, lets see how the night turns out

I finally got to the House Of Blues at like 9:30PM- and sure enough, show is at 10 not the 9 o clock it was listed on the website. Never a surprise. So I run into the Showboat casino to find this place and of course it's way deep in there- what felt like a mile.. I get there and it's this elaborate place- with a concourse downstairs from it and an escalator leading up to the venue.. When I got there I was greeted by an old fashioned cowboy sort of feel to the room. Imagine if there was a perfect looking place to see a concert-now picture a bunch of high rollers trying to imitate that kind of look to their establishment. It was a little overdone(the inside section where the shows take place is flawless-sound was top notch, sight lines are great and they didn't hassle me about video).. Concessions everywhere but since I thought I was late I was in a dash upstairs and not shopping around- I finally find the stairs that lead up to the balcony where my seat is and then proceed to head up four flights of steps at which point I was light headed-but I made it. here I am Row M- aisle seat.. The balcony seating is steep and elevates quite a bit- there is no way I can be blocked by anyone's head-Awesome.

So the story goes from what I heard from some security guy is that the "Opening act is at 10, The Flaming Lips at 11".. So here I am in my seat- at 9:44PM- as I await the set to begin.. And the crowd gets into the Star Spangled Banner before the bands hit the stage then clap for themselves.

Fang Island came on 10:03 and now I notice we have video screens to the left and right of the stage.. By 10:42 I had enough of these guys.. What's up with the keyboards? You guys have three guitarists- you have potential to rock and you choose not too. They played a few songs- not sure how many were songs and how many were just flat out noise jams.. Half way through the set I notice the balcony seating not even be half full- leaving people to pretty much sit where they want. I'm right where I need to be- the highest row you can be-awesome view..

Fang Island went off a quarter to 11 with roadies running on stage to set up for the act we all came here to see - the one, the only, the kings of the weird- THE FLAMING LIPS!!!

It's not until 11:10 that they start inflating the giant bubble Wayne uses to walk the crowd in.. Then a ramp was set up where all the other band members walked through a door that opened in the video screen and out on to stage to a big hand.. Then when they went into the first song with Wayne( after he stepped out of his bubble) fires streamers into the crowd, keeping with the 4th of July theme. The stage is set with almost everything orange, with tube/cannon shooter looking things on each side of the stage. These things shot out what must have been 1000's of balloons in all different sizes and they were everywhere. The balloons were filled with confetti which burst out from each when popped- I gotta say it was a sight. You got the light show going with the visuals on a big screen behind the band which varied between visual effects and a close up of Wayne's face.. He gave an emphatic 'thank you' after pretty much every song along with thanking the crowd for "being such freaks". Every song they played seemed to have a different feel to it.. constant vibe shifts..  

The set got more epic as the night progressed. We had “Mr. Catfish” on the side of the stage-one of the roadies in this big cartoon looking costume-its a great shot with that dude watching from the side of the stage. The later it got the more people started showing up and when I thought the props done I was so wrong.. Wayne heads off stage and comes back with the gigantic hands.. Those things are so great. I have it on video- he comes out with the hands and as the stage goes black each gigantic finger tip has a green light beaming onto the two big disco balls floating over the stage.. It was freaking crazy- I haven't seen that one on YouTube. 

They did a basic Flaming Lips set- no dark side- but was still something that needed to be witnessed.. They played alot of songs off 'Embryonic', like 'I can be a frog', 'Convinced of the Hex'. 'See the Leaves', 'Sparrow Looks up at the Machine', 'Powerless'...I recorded a great version of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' .. They did that song 'the W.A.N.D.'- it was in a Dell commercial, 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah song'.. The show went on til about 1:10AM, when they ended with “Do You Realize?”- a song that will be stuck in my head probably until the next time I get my bank account out of a negative balance.. and that's a long, long time from now

Bonkers.. Complete shock that the show was that good-I thought there would be times where I would get lost in the deep cuts section of the show. Not so. This was everything I've seen in videos, everything from all the stories I've read and heard about seeing the Flaming Lips-it lived up to the hype.. what an awesome band. Also was great that by the end of the night it was like we all just saw 'Blue Man Group' as everyone was covered in confetti, streamers and pieces of balloons...What a night!

Flaming Lips-"She Don't Use Jelly" 7/4/10 House of Blues, Atlantic City!

Stone Temple Pilots w/ Jerry Cantrell- Sex Type Thing 5/23/10

STP & Alice In Chains w/ Three Days Grace, Fuel and more 5/23/10 Camden, NJ

What a day leading into an insane night... onSunday, in the 28^th edition of The Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series, we debuted the third annual Summer Concert Series section of the little thing we have going on here. Out to the Susquehanna Bank Center for the MMR(93.3FM) BBQ in Camden, NJ for Stone Temple Pilots & Alice In Chains with Three Days Grace, Fuel, Skillet, Dive and Automatic Fire.. Doors open at 12 and the first band (Automatic Fire) set to hit the stage at 1:30PM... I had a few questions coming into this show. For one thing, 1:30PM? So then how late exactly will this run, will we be exiting at 8:30 or something? Another thing, this is the first time the Jay Porks Experience has made its way to this venue, the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ.. We had no idea what to expect besides being told that it was “just like PNC”, referring to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Homdel, NJ.. So lets check it out shall we?

About an hour and a half ride from my house in Staten Island, we rolled into the parking lot before 2PM, and the scene is one for the ages. For all the non-New Yorkers out there reading this a quick back story.. frequenting shows in New York City-We wait on lines to be squeeze into 800 person capacity venues-going from freezing on a city street to sweating in an oversold rock venue within seconds only to spend money on $7 beers and $13 shots for anyone to get their “buzz” on before their favorite band hits the stage.. Even at PNC in Homdel, NJ-due to an altercation that occurred during a 2007 Ozzfest show-you cannot tailgate in the parking lot. That means NO pregaming what so ever. So believe it that when Pam and I rolled into this parking lot and saw, what was basically one big party, we were pumped as ever.. reached into the cooler and cracked open some beers-at Supermarket discount prices...

Everyone is just having a great time.. there are some older people a few spots to the left of us, and a 'Smart Car' on our right.. So we're just hanging there, figuring we're going to head in when everyone else starts heading in (or at least until we each get through a six pack).. the row in adjacent to ours we're looking at has a few chicks dancing on the back of a pick up truck with others tossing a beach ball around and all the way to the right of us is a few other girls standing on top of vans-everyone screaming in joy with music blasting from their cars.. a few guys in the older group to the left of us started screaming to this moderately attractive girl with a hat on-sort of like a top hat.. they start screaming “SHOW US YOUR TITS!!”.. Finally I'm next to some people that I can hang with.. So when I reached into the car for another beer, a roar from the surrounding crowd begins-she flashed everyone, and I MISSED IT! Damn. A dude from the older group to our left went over and handed her a beer, she was resistant to take it since she was drinking what appeared to be that Mikes hard Lemonade stuff-the thing we all drank before we choose the crappy taste of normal beer over days of acid indigestion.. Continuing on, one of the women in the older group to our left is being asked to “show us your tits” by the girl who just flashed everyone and her surrounding group.. that's when this women, who honestly was not an eye sore at all, answers them by screaming “You don't want to see them trust me-I've been through child birth!”.. a few minutes later, she's next to the younger chick who flashed everyone( but me) before with a couple of surrounding dudes and chicks looking on and I said “Wait a second!” and ran over there to get in good view and said “I can't miss this”.. the two girls standing next to each other- the top hatted party girl and the early 40's looking woman who claimed we didn't “want to see these” with hands at the bottom of their shirts ready to go with about 10 of us looking on from the close up.. and then they whipped em' out.. Great stuff... and the woman who said we didn't want to see them-lets just say we enjoyed her's more than the top hat party girl chick.. a few minutes after this it was already past 4 o clock believe it or not and we headed inside after the groups around us had already done so..

The parking stub said things like “Cameras”, “Illegal Drugs” and “Sharp objects” are prohibited.. yet somehow after I was patted down and forced to open my cigarette pack to show insider contents, somehow I'm walking into the venue with all of the above... Pam and I grabbed a couple of those frozen alcoholic flavored beverages in a yard glass for $11.. looking over at the tee shirt prices of $35 and $45 listed, I didn't even get myself on that line-I can't exactly take out a loan for a tee shirt.. we sat in the concessions area with everyone else who was standing around people trying to hit the target on one of those dunk tanks-a few moderately attractive girls were taking turns on the hot seat... as this is going on, Pam says “I guess we missed Shimmer”, referring to Fuel being on stage at the moment.. they played from 4:20 to about a quarter after 5pm.... we then decided to head to the lawn section of the venue, which surrounds the area behind the 7000 seat weather-proof section with a 'Pit' section in front of that, which standing room and closest to the stage...

I bought two lawn tickets and Pam had two 'Pit' tickets, and since it was just the two of us we were going to take full advantage of both sections of this venue.. we went to the lawn first to sit on the grass for a little bit while Three Days Grace was on-this is in the 6 o clock hour.. all I kept saying was “Come on play those two or three good songs you guys have”.. I heard them playing “I hate everything about you” and I was like “Yea! That's what I'm talking about!”.. then as we started into some recreational use of Marijuana, I turned to the various people around me and asked who wanted to engage-about six people did, and we were all chatting it up sitting on the grass not being annoyed by event staff or anything enjoying a show.. it was cool for that moment.. then we realized in a little while, this crazy day would turn into an even crazier night.. the plan is to move down to the “Pit” after Three Days Grace finishes their set at about 6:55 PM, and that's when we set the plan and motion-and headed towards the 'Pit' for the main events of the affair...

At about 7:25pm, Alice In Chains hit the stage an emphatically put their stamp on the evenings proceedings about two songs in-kicking it off with “Them Bones” and “Dam That River”-Alice In Chains probably the heaviest band I've ever seen live-we were deafened immediately.. They were doing it-like they never skipped a beat... William DuVall isn't imitating Layne Staley-that's just the way he actually sings, which is what makes it so eerie...And he and Jerry can trade leads when he's playing guitar on songs... Now Jerry Cantrell-there is a guitar player. It's a shame that he spent years inactive on the shelf without a band-his playing is on such a level that it's a travesty it was absent from society all these years... I mean when they start playing “Angry Chair” then lead that into “Man In The Box” you don't hear the message board junkies screaming “it's not the same without Layne!”.. all you have is all of us, some younger and some older than others-you have this crowd rocking to one of the greatest bands of our lifetimes.. I'm going to get in trouble for saying this, but: Layne who? Come on-'Black Gives Way to Blue' was a great record (#3 on the Jay Porks top 10 of 2009).. the two hit singles off the record they played mid-set: “Your Decision” and “Check My Brain” were amazing live with DuVall strumming the opening chords on an acoustic then sticking with the electric the rest of the song.. it was brilliant all around.. Alice In Chains(This was known to me already but was announced by the band during the set) is embarking on the biggest tour they've ever been on..with Layne, they hardly were able to tour due to his(and probably other band members at times) drug issues.. now, on the “BlackDiamondSkye” tour, with the Deftones and Mastodon, they are set to headline Madison Square Garden on September 24^th of this year-that's going to by far be the biggest Alice In Chains show in history-they are back. This is NOT a reunion tour.. when they played “We Die Young”-there was nobody there including ourselves who thought this was anything but slightly beneath heaven what was being experienced... the epic set continued with hard hitting song after hard hitting song til about 8:40PM when they played a kick ass version of “Rooster” and exited into the night-freakin epic.... consider us and everyone else around completely blown away... WOW... gotta get BlackDiamondSkye tickets.....

      After we grabbed drinks and pit stops at the bathrooms, we headed back towards the 'Pit' area and I saw written on a piece of paper that STP hits the stage at 9:15.. much to my surprise, they came out around 9:20, which isn't so bad if we're going by Scott Wieland time. They kicked it off with “Vasoline”, with the screen behind them getting lit up with weird visuals in tune with the light show and song.. Alice In Chains had some slight stuff going on this screen but STP had a whole schpeel going.. it was cool I guess.. and here's the thing that STP does best of bands I see live-they play all those songs you want to hear.. they have a new record coming out-they played like 4 songs off it tops, and they kicked it til about 10:45.. kick ass versions of “Sour Girl”, “Interstate Love Song”, “Big Empty”.. Dean Deleo kicking ass over there and for some reason reminding me of Joe Perry-maybe the hair style.. then we got Robbie Deleo on Bass and he's got the 'Joe Cool' look going-big sunglasses-leaning over conveniently towards people holding up cameras.. I got them doing “Between the Lines”, which if you listen to the bridge part of the song it's an exact copy of the bridge part of Nirvana's “Stay Away”-but that's what STP is known for.. doing what others do best.. Scott looked like he's clean I guess-one can never quite tell.. he had the megaphone going in full effect all night.. “Crackerman”, “Creep”, “Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart” all serious crowd pleasers.. they played “Tumble in the Rough”-thats a song I happen to like but Scott said they hardly do it live, and the two previous times I've seen them they didn't play it.. but STP was upstaged in the highlight of their set, when they invited Jerry Cantrell out on stage to play “Sex Type Thing” with them.. That was beyond epic.. imagine “Sex Type Thing” with that Alice In Chains sounding riff that Jerry provides.. I have it on video of course...Jerry and Dean facing each other and playing viciously-then trading solos.. this is the definition of tearing the house down... After that Jerry left stage but no one forgot-they played “Dead and Bloated” before ending the night at 10:45 after the aforementioned 'trippin on a hole'... great set... amazing night... I can't believe Jerry Cantrell totally blew them off stage by himself.. brilliance....

Seriously-what more can be said? Just go to the Jay Porks Experience YouTube Channel-link is in the side bar somewhere over there and take a look at all the videos I got from the show... Until then check back here for late editions to the concert calender and chances to get free tickets to shows-LATE...

Local H- Hands on the Bible, NYC 5/18/10

LOCAL H, Blender Theater at Gramercy 5/18/10 NYC

Here we are on this rainy New York City night for the twenty seventh edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series.. Tonight we are headed to the Blender Theater at Gramercy, 127 East 23rd street to see the legendary hard  rock duo from Illinois- LOCAL H..

Interesting subplot to this evenings show: Earlier in the week a story broke that the Stone Temple Pilots were trying to squeeze Local H out of the room for tonight's event- or should I say LiveNation  tried to push Local H out so STP can play a 'Midnight Showcase' for  their latest record effort.. Rumblings earlier this week on fansites finally  led to an announcement on the offical STP site that tickets for a show at Gramercy Theater for May 18th, today. I was a bit puzzled.. So  Livenation sends me an email titled "event information" and I immediately panicked... Opened the email to read that "Doors will open at 7PM.. Show will start 7:15 and end promptly at 9:30... I was pissed that my second time seeing Local H may be abbreviated – just like the first time I saw them at Webster Hall in November of 2008.. I wanted to organize a protest outside the venue after the show- but that idea seems to have been rained out.. Oh and by the way, the sign says for tonights event: An Evening with the Stone Temple Pilots..

Local H is currently on their "Six Angry Records" tour, where in every city before each set they will be picking a random album of theirs out  of a hat and playing it in it's entirety.. The albums in the hat are  "Ham Fisted", "As Good As Dead", " Here comes the Zoo", "Pack up the  Cats", " What ever happened to PJ Soles?" and "12 Angry Months"....  

Never a huge fan of the bands playing entire albums thing, because I'd rather hear a varied collection of a bands work rather than a single time frame- but it can be good depending on what band, which album and what kind of feeling is in the air that night..

Got in about 7:15.. Kinch was ready to come on.. I walked up to the merch line where Scott Lucas was at his normal post selling his band's tee shirts and CDs.. So I'm on line thinking what am I going to say to this guy when I get there- I probably have enough time for one question  so I better make it worth it. Like that one pick up line everyone has  for that one showstopping chick that walks by when you only have one  swing at the plate.. I had to think quick, so I got ready. The question was going to be : "Whats your favorite record to play live?".. The line dissipates slowly, and I'm finally face to face with the man of the hour, lead singer/ Guitar player of the band we all came to see, Local H..  So I step up, and open my mouth to speak- and as soon as I did, thats  when Kinch hit the first chord of their set.. No words were heard- didn't even finish the question. So now he's awaiting me to make a purchase,  so I chose this cool looking shirt that said "Local H 2010" in an extra large. I usually try and go for the tour shirts just so I can always say I was there, and there it was. So with loud guitars in the backdrop Scott pauses as he's looking at a list he's making tracking  sales, he looks around confused, so I smoothly said "You just got ripped off didn't you?" and he said "Yea.. I did" and that when I slipped him the money along with my ticket, a pen and my fan-boy stare.. I gave him the "can you sign my ticket?" line.. He scribbled his autograph on the ticket and I thanked him and walked away. Once I got away from the line I realized that I just got ripped off.... Scott Lucas stole my pen!  

Kinch was a pretty cool band at times, and not so much my flavor at times.. think of Death Cab meets Silversun Pickups without that annoying squeal that the dude from Silversun Pickups has... sounds wise any.. They're from Phoenix.. They came out and played about 6 or 7 songs and "promptly" went off at 7:48... I survey the room at this time and notice a slight crowding and cheers getting louder as the room continues to pack in...behind the standing

room area, is auditorium like seating set up above us.. That must be for the

STP set later, because those seats remained vacant for the nights proceedings. I also noticed that I'm leaning on a barricade about 6 feet from the  stage- this being my first time at the Blender Theater, I'm not sure  if this barricade is here on a regular basis or just here because the  establishment, big business rock and roll will be taking over later in  the evening.... 8pm is approaching quickly, and here comes Brian St.  Clair for drum check.. Now Scott lining up his pedal boards we're finally at the main event.. Ladies and Gents, the one, the only- LOCAL  H!!

After the meet at the merch table with Scott, I noticed some prime real estate on the barricade on the most left you can go.. I'm in a corner- Nobody in front of me, directly in front of the drum kit.. this is where I'm going to be getting killer footage all night long.. Didn't know how close I really was til Brian slammed that first snare.. This is going to get really LOUD really fast.. Scott grabs the microphone and says "This is kinda weird... sort of feels like we're opening for the Stone Temple Pilots....we're not, but it does got that feel". He then explains the pulling the record out of the hat as fans scream out their favorite Local H records, he asks a girl in the front what she wants to hear, she says "Pack Up The Cats".. Then the hand goes in the hat- here it is, the moment of truth, what we've all been waiting three months to know: which one of their albums will they pull out? Okay hand inside the hat.. Here it comes....

"Ham Fisted"......

Not that I'm upset, because I'm just happy to be here witnessing this great band- but as one member of the crowd screamed " DO OVER!", to which Scott told us after Ham Fisted was through, that: "We've toyed with the idea of rigging the hat, but you can't rig the hat... It's a slippery slope. First your rigging the hat.. next you're fucking babies.. you know you don't know where it's going to end-you need to draw the line somewhere "..

First song they got into is "Feed", and when they started it I thought to myself 'okay, this is gonna rock harder than I thought' because thanks to a 32 gig iPod touch- I have Local H's entire discography on there- so I am unknowingly familiar with most of these songs- even though it's their first record, and maybe a lesser known one. Tracks like"Manipulater" and "Grrlfriend" were crowd pleasers, and the latter, Scott played solo using Kinch's keyboard that was left on stage.. and The two guitar players from Kinch were on stage a couple of time throughout the evening, providing backing guitar or lyrics or keyboards when needed., The entire night, I'm next to someone who obviously wants to hear a song called “F*ck Yeah, That Wide”, as he is screaming it all night and is an unwanted guest speaker on my videos I was taking.. I got some of the greatest video I ever got tonight-sound and view and not being harassed by event staff all night.. they had a film crew on hand and were filming right in front of me.. Watching the video as I give the final touches to this review at my house, these guys know how to ROCK-on some real deal type stuff... Why isn't Local H a bigger band then they are? Why don't people know them? Scott is playing a guitar and a bass at once! It has bass picks built in, with two chords leading out-one to the guitar amp, and one to the bass amp... and to be that loud.. it's just mega awesome.... Ham Fisted was done around 9, maybe a little before-then they kicked it into overdrive...

They hit us with “All the Kids are Right” and quickly followed it with “All Right, Oh Yeah”. The intensity of the band seemed to have risen, as now the unpredictable can occur.. the audience got more recklessly into it, because now we all don't know what's coming next-this is feeling like a two part rock concert somehow and they never went off stage... Members of Kinch running on and off stage when they hear the first opening chords to whatever song it was .. the entire night the band was having a good time, which was good considering the facts at hand-we must clear out by 9:30.. but I look over and it's like five past nine, so I'm camera in hand ready to rock for these next 25 minutes.. We got a sweet version of “California Songs”, with “Weezer” replacing “California Dreaming” in the lyric “The message is the same-it's getting pretty lame/ California Dreaming's on the radio”.. I just got my Weezer tickets, so take that Scott! When “Fritz's Corner” came on, I went frickin' bonkers.. probably the only video I have where I could not restrain from singing along. This is like the 10^th time at least I've noticed during this set that this is incredible! I'm not getting cheated at all, as I thought I would be going in... Local H is killing it.. Brian is over there kicking the shit out of his drum kit in Grohlian fashion..  Scott comes off stage and steps onto the barricade and leans into the crowd while playing, it's a really cool scene.. he looks down and takes a swig of the drink that one lucky girl happened to be holding... I got a great shot of it...The light show is even cool.. Scott also explained that “If it wasn't for STP this show would have been canceled-I'm fucking serious”.. So if you read between the lines(no pun intended), this was the doing of LiveNation, and not STP.. Livenation looked around, and chose to try and fuck Local H, but, according to Scott “STP made this show happen”, so for that I am grateful.. because this is still going... here comes “Hands on the Bible” with one dude from Kinch on keys and another backing on guitar and this is just HEAVY.. . “Bound for the Floor” (casual fans think it's called Copacetic), and they snuck in a "Rainbow in the Dark", a cover of the late Ronnie James Dio mid song- then coming back to Bound to the Floor to end it.... Check my YouTube page-link somewhere in the sidebar-if anyone can confirm it for me that'd be awesome... then I knew it was over, I couldn't believe they were going to play something after their biggest hit to date.. but they did.. “Wolf Like Me”!!! a TV on the Radio cover... a few weeks ago I really got into both bands versions of the song and I was dying to hear this one life... I screamed, honestly..I screamed with unbridled enthusiasm! Totally pumped trying to keep the camera straight while swinging my head back and forth and turning my head so I can try and scream the lyrics without being heard on the footage... it was unbelievable-rocked it for about 7 and a half minutes- and said goodnight.. and honestly, there was nothing more to be played as Scott put his guitar down and stepped over the barricade into the crowd and disappeared into that rainy city night as we were all being forced out due to time constraints..

LOCAL H delivers BIGTIME! What a show. You joking? They pulled out the album I would have last choose to be played and in returned they showed me a thing or two about what's it's like to be blown away-I'm blown... I don't even know what just occurred...But on my way out I did see the dude with the envious pony tail; dude we ran into at the Hole show at Terminal 5 the first night, he was waiting in line to see STP... Small world...

All I'm saying is that there is a time and a place for the establishment rock and roll to show up and be all "big time".. and that time is going to be this Sunday, where the Jay Porks Experience will roll into Camden,  New Jersey for a huge outdoor show to kick off the 3rd annual Jay Porks Summer Concert Series with the aforementioned Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, Three Days Grace, Fuel and more... So that's where you'll find me.. until then, thanks for taking the time.. LATE.....

Sublime w/ Rome Roseland Ballroom NYC 5/02/10

That place was jumping! If I have ever seen a bunch of people that into it, it hasn't been for a while..Jay Porks back with another Jay Porks Experience- tonight coming to you from Roseland Ballroom, were  

the twenty sixth edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series takes us to see Sublime w/ Rome..The plan was that Pam had the tickets and we were meeting our friend Ray there with a friend of his.. but the nights events got better, as I bumped into my friend Chris with Nolan and they were also headed out to the show..Now, six of us combined.. I think you can call us a posse... Roseland here we come!

Got there a tad after 7 o clock got Pam and the corner and got on the line for wristbands so we can get wasted when we get in, and we tried.. I was two beers in before 8 o clock and that's a rush for me.. but then again, there's no cool roof top deck to hang out on and take it slow... this place was getting packed out way too early, how are we going to get all the way up front to rock out.. Nolan know this place like the back of his hand, so around the time Dirty heads came on were were right near the 'Rose Bar', which is sort of behind the stage, sitting on the side of the stage that I'll explain throughout these next few paragraphs...

7:50 is when Del Mar went off stage.. Pretty cool, they played from about 7:20ish they were very excited to be here.. they're on tour with Sublime and Dirty Heads for this whole little touring swing- so they've been staring at people(like us) going crazy, getting wasted creating pits at 7:30 waiting for an awesome night to begin.. no one seemed, how can I put this-nobody seemed pessimistic about tonight's event. I don't know how much that had to do with this being the second of a back to back gig at Roseland or just the sheer excitement of getting to see a great band, one third reincarnated, that none of us ever thought we would ever see..

Dirty Heads rocked out beginning 8:25 .. they got some soul.. I was enjoying this when we got by the aforementioned Rose Bar section which is on the left side of the stage.- the tunes were literally keeping me moving almost the whole time, and I've got no rhythm whatsoever. .. Let's use the word groovy here. Anyone who was there would probably agree.. This was a smooth moving set ..at 8:41 a fan was removed from the crowd for reasons unknown.. then at 8:44 they played a fucking funky ass version of the Stones "Paint it Black"... Now I'm starting to see how frigging cool this is about to be.. I'm enjoying myself during an opening act.. Nice.... Towards the middle of their set I spotted someone wearing a Badfish tee shirt- role reversal? Anyway, they went off about 9:06...now we await Sublime to which I'm projecting a 9:30 hit to the stage..

The crowd during the Dirty Heads got into complete pandemonium; losing themselves with reckless, yet friendly fun abandonment - moshes are over rated, but I can dig watching a little crowd surfing especially when you see someone hit the deck really hard.. I mean I see these cute little innocent looking chicks frail as a feather being tossed around in a crowd surf by shirtless drunk sweaty moshing dudes.. then when anus rises above the head, you know she's going down.. and she did, along with the chick who was in the pink.. I liked the set up right by my side of the stage where when the crowd surfers make it to the barricades in the front, the event staff kindly placed them down and directed them towards a space where they were shuffling them back to the crowd-not sending them to prison or throwing them out... it was really awesome to see thing not so corporate like you come to see from these venues nowadays..

9:30 on the dot here come the headliners-the band we all came to see tonight.. SUBLIME(w/Rome) From song one all of us (crowd and band) are feeling it-the vibes in the room all being passed around like the two joints the song mentions.. By that time we were halfway through joint number one between the us.. The spot we're at is priceless; left side of the stage along the wall standing on the bench thing they had- not front left but full left- as you can probably tell by the pictures and video..perfect spot to be.. Rome, of course is no Bradley, but he has a chance to be like William DuVall is to Alice In Chains- socially accepted amongst circles of listeners(real fans) of the music.. I would love to show it off in my video, but everyone in the building was singing along and that's exactly what it sounds like on the video I have.. But I'm telling you it's real-and you can ask anyone who was there.. Also there was this wall this kind of blocking Rome from being seen in my view when he steps all the way up to the mic.. this allowed for our small group to forget that it wasn't Nowell out there playing... They played “Wrong Way” a little earlier than I expected which got me in the mood to glance down and notice all the pretty girls passing me by, a younger crowd than expected.. I saw people there who were born in the 90's.. Wow.. I noticed I got that “Date Rape” recorded.. Imagine it for a second, because if you notice I'm in a spot where Rome is almost out of the picture at times, sitting at a Sublime show for a second-I know the purists will give me shit for it.. but they were doing it-all of it.. there was not one aspect beside the absence of Nowell that was making me think that this wasn't the real McCoy.. I they were tight too, damn were they tight.. most of the songs sounded almost like they do on record, and these guys if you think about never really have played these songs live so the way it sounded like they never took a break at all was what really impressed me.. Impressive is a word prevalent when describing this.. I mean, I was totally floored when they tried to go off with “Doin Time” at like 10:40... after which a sea of lighters emerged throughout the audience .. I think I have a good picture of it, with Chris adding his lighter to the mix.. I was dealing with matches so I was not much use to this operation.. They came back out fairly quickly and graced us with four (or five, or three.. too many great vibes in the air to not be in a somewhat mildly altered state) more amazing tunes.. Before they went into “What I Got”, they introduced this big dude (name is either Steve or Cheese) to play the acoustic parts the song requires.. man was that something else.. I think that was the point where on the inside I turned from pseudo journalist to prissy little fan boy.. I closed my eyes right there for a second and cherished that moment for just that, a moment, and that's the time where I was sold on this.. too bad it was almost over... and of course we all know what ended the night.. one of the greatest songs ever in life (seriously) “Santeria”.... wow.. as if everyone wasn't already singing along to the lyrics but by now everybody is screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs in unison.. I love a rocking crowd, and a rocking crowd can't happen without an amazing show-and tonight there is no doubt that this was one of the best shows I've ever attended, one of the best shows ANY of us have attended...

On the way home at the Ferry terminal there were a lot of people who were at the show as I over heard more than 4 separate conversations about how hands down phenomenal the last four hours were.. then when I got on the bus ride to my house, there was a kid on the phone in the back of the bus explaining to whoever was on the other line about the amazing time he had.. He was as giddy as Pam or Ray or Me.. here's a quote from this stranger on the S74 bus : "Much more fun than I ever thought I could have.. and I don't mean at a show, I mean like in life.." On that note Porks fans, I hope you took the time to point out all of my spelling errors so I can correct them... that's another way you can earn yourself a tee shirt... thanks for putting up with my non sense for a few minutes..

NEXT UP: GRAMERCY THEATRE TO SEE 'LOCAL H' MAY 18TH... TIL THEN-late...

Hole LIVE @ Terminal 5..04/28/10 (2nd of 2 nights!)

This is not a re-run; although it may read like one... What goes on.. I'm Jay Porks, this is the Jay Porks Experience and The twenty fifth edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series tonight  takes us back to Terminal 5... 610 W 56th street in New York City for another night of Hole... Fresh of their visit to the metapausal women of the View this morning, and the release of the first Hole record in over a decade- let's see if they can pull it off again- can this place rock as hard as last night? For my face value ticket price of $35 dollars I would sure hope so...

 
Got here just as the doors opened a 8PM.. the Love Loves are not the
1st opener tonight, as that void has been filled by the show time
being 915 tonight as oppose to the 815 of last night... I had to come
early to explore the second and third floors of this used-to-be disco.

The left side of the second floor balcony is roped off and the event staff dude said it was VIP.. I saw "Little Fish" written on sheets of paper atop the tables.. Little Fish has VIPs? Who knew.. So I take a seat on one of these couches on the 2nd floor and relax because the TV screens in front of me will allow me to see when there is some action on stage, but for now they just show advertisements for, what else, other "Bowery Presents" sponsored events.. 8:28pm and the sides of the balconies in the back and right side of the second floor are already packed with eager fans.. And here I thought it was going to be an easy night for me, in a chair and all- doesn't appear that way.. Headed up to the 3rd floor..

Third floor is a little packed- I'd still be able to get some room along the side- but I gotta get out to the roof deck and have myself a veggie burger..okay you got me I'm not having a veggie burger, but the simple fact that they are available is just so cool.. The hipsters can stay fed..

Little Fish hit the stage at 9:02.. And I will not even attempt to get back downstairs as I park myself on a couch on front of one of the screens on the third floor.. Freak that- I stood up all night last night i deserve a seag.. It already looks more full than it did last night at the end of Hole's set.. The dude next to me is from Germany and speaks "very little English" and was not to happy when I told him that Hole played for less than an hour last night.. He said he flew into Newark 5 hours ago, picked up the Village voice and saw the show advertised and came here hoping to get a ticket.. And obviously he got one.. Thanks for the beer German dude- and hold on to that Nirvana ticket ( dude told me of a Nirvana show he bought tickets for in 1994.. A show scheduled after April in 94)

Little Fish second night in a row begin to grow on me.. They're a two man(person) ban in the studio and they bring an extra hand or two on tour.. I really wish they'd name one of thier songs so I can pass the title along to you... She might have mentioned a name or two but her accent isn't necessarily speaking the language as much as it chews it up and spits it out( that's a Stewie Griffin line) .. Oh wait there it is, they named a song! "Darling Dear".. Juju says it's about " getting someone into bed".. Whatever you say- the song is cool, sounds like we have an effects pedal in the house.. Little Fish seems to be better received than last night- they played a song called "Am I Crazy" which was pretty cool.. They went off at 933.. 

The video I took from Hole's set last night is currently giving me

problems when I upload it to YouTube.. After I convert the file and
upload it, like 20 second into the video the sound cuts out for that I apologize.... As soon
as I figure out why that is I will fix it, but since that's the case I
don't feel the need to get multiple songs taped- so I'm not sure what
exactly I'll have in terms of pictures..

Is that Hole soundchecking at 9:48? They fooled around a while and the
military style drum roll started, this must be their intro music
because they did the same thing last night- they walk on stage at
exactly 1015.. Opened it up with the "pretty on the inside"/"sympathy
for the devil" intro from last night- but the roar of the crowd is
crazy loud- sounds louder than last night.. "Skinny Little Bitch"
follows.. People on the third floor are standing on furniture right
near the balconies edge... Not the safest lookin thing I've seen...
"Miss World" follows, and I hope we're not headed for the same exact
set list as last night- actually I take that back- they played every
song I wanted to hear last night( with the exception of Jennifers
Body)..... "Violet" starts-i guess I'm not the only one who knows the
words- this place is trembling with 3500 different individuals singing
along.. This place is shaking- Courtney made us promise to still love
her if they "didn't play any old songs".. We agreeed and enjoyed....
Next up was the title track from the latest release- "Nobody's
Daughter".. This song is great- a grinder in my book.. The guitars
grind out throughout the song and seem layered several times although
they are not.. I don't think they played this last night-and if they
did it got past me.. After that song ended Courtney took of the white
button down she had on and had on a black dress thing going on
underneath.. it was hot- they jumped in "Letter To God" next.. This
song is epic- song has a loud- quiet - loud approach to it.. Getting
really quiet and really loud equally.. Larkin taking that guitar to
town with this riff... Next up Love states - " this is a song about
that Malibu place- it's not Malibu that's later, this is PCH" "Pacific
Coast highway" is what she was referring to.. Another brillant song
off the new record.. Where have they been for these years? This rocks!
Looking up at the screen.. On stage looks to be a well tuned
instrument of a band playing- they're hella tight right now.. Bombing
out this tune they shine the stage lights on the crowd- Which was
greeted by cheers of joy...next up "Gold Dust Woman" , a Fleetwood Mac
cover.. Awesome.. I love the way they do this song...it's like
Fleetwood Mac but with that touch of grunge that all genres of music
need... Stevie Nicks would be proud (or would she).. Before the next
number Love says " this is the number one song I iTunes if I'm
correct" as they get into " Someone Elses Bed".. Great song...followed
it with the aforementioned "Malibu", that got everyone up- including
me- who had to get some sort of video to turn into pictures.. I got a
nice shot from the third floor of the stage and some of the standing
fans in the front.. " Celebrity Skin" followed.. So we're almost
following the same set from last night with some minor changes.. They
tried to go off by playing " Samantha"(the only song I recorded all night) and Love said " we'll be back
if you want us"... So we now await the encore a 1104pm.. This is the
same time the set ended last night- encore and all..

Out for the encore, Love changed into the same heavenly white dress
as last night .." Play with Fire" seems to be a song they are getting
into the habit of playing on tour.... Didn't know Courtney was such a
devoted Stones- head.. Maybe they're just easy to play.. They said
they cut it short last night because Micko's wrist is messed up- she
called him a pussy too.. "Doll Parts" next- everyone is having a hell
of a time right now- everyone is smiling- singing and being drunk
enjoying great music... Forgot how much I love this damn song....
Thought the night would end the same as last, with " Northern
Lights"... But I was surprised when " Never Go Hungry" started
playing.. Love repeated that " he is in alot of pain" referring to
Micko's wrist, which is hurt and we don't know why.. Never go hungry
people are walking out because they know it's the last song.. It a
song that sounds like it was written after a week of listening to
Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly records.. Great song, almost like
a slave song in a way- sounds like it was sang out in the fields...
They ended that song and their set at 11:23.. Bout 20 minutes later
than last night...

Another jammed packed show.. Gold Dust Woman is my personal
highlight.. After catching that cover on YouTube I never thought I'd
have the privilege of hearing it live... Total awesomeness.. Words
cannot describe( even tho I just spent the whole night describing it)
the insanity of seeing Hole live... It really does feel like the 90's
all over again- except I'm not in Junior High School...

Our 90's theme will continue on May 2nd, as Roseland Ballroom braces
itself for the Jay Pork Experience to roll through for the Sublime
(with Rome) show.. That should kick as much ass as these two nights
did- in it's own way.. As for me, well I wrote this review while at
the show, so right now I'm in a cab on the West Side Highway("With
your gun in my hands") headed to the ferry- this will be up soon as I
get home.. Thanks for putting up with my non-sense for a few minutes
of your day- catch everyone May 2nd.......LATE

Hole LIVE @ Terminal 5.. 04/27/10 (1st of 2 nights!)

So what exactly is there to do on a Tuesday night in the city with the wind almost knocking people over Oh wait, I know what we can do-WE CAN GO SEE HOLE ON THE DAY OF THEIR RECORD RELEASE!!! So what goes on people; welcome, and buckle yourselves into the twenty forth edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series... Tonight takes us to 610 West 56^th Street a venue known as “Terminal 5”.. The crew is: Pam, Renee, Megan and Me (Jay Porks)... and we were all to meet at the venue around showtime..I was early as usual but met up with Pam around 8:05 and headed towards the show.. Here we go...

Before I start, let me state for the record first and foremost that there was a dude outside giving away free tickets-he had THIRTY of them! When asked how he got them, he said “I can't really say where I got them..but lets just say I work for a company that gave them to me and told me I can give them away”.. I don't see why someone would be giving away fake free tickets, but too bad I didn't need an extra... damn... So we (Me and Pam)walk in around 8:30ish, leave the other two tickets (for Megan and Renee) at will call-get our tickets scanned by some fine young ladies; to one I ask: “Are we gonna be able to like, go back to to smoke cigarettes?”, because for some reason at rock concerts all I care about is that last smoke before the headliner comes on.. you don't find conversation like that anywhere.. she says, and I quote “The roof deck is open above the third floor”... Sounds good to me... We walk down a hallway past a line of like 200 people- with all the 101.9 RXP signs I saw, I thought it was the line to get autographs from Matt Pinfield or something.. But no, it was the line for merch! You crazy? I'm coming back tomorrow anyway, let me check these opening bands out before I spend most of my night waiting for a $40 tee shirt.. So I took a pass on that..

Walked into the main room, and the band that was currently on, 'The Love Loves”, were in between songs and the lead singer said “Okay this is our last song”.. I was thinking okay, this night's moving quickly.. grab myself a beer for six bucks as Megan and Renee show up, and now all four of us are in the Jay Porks Experience tee shirts, and we are in FULL effect.. some dude with a long ass pony tail, a pony tail that even I envy, came up to us wearing a suit talking asking about the shirts jokingly saying “so My favorite band sucks?” and I didn't even need to speak up, Megan hit him with an blunt “Yes”.. he mentions 'The Who' and Meg's like “Nah, they suck” just completely shitting on this guy.. she told him “I never really got into the Stones”.. true or not, saying that to anyone with a shred of gray hair takes a pair of balls that I do not own.. That was awesome.. But this guy had to be some sort of writer or something because he pulled out a 3 month(hand written) concert calender sort of thing and there were shows like every night this dude is going to be at... I pointed to tomorrow's space on the calender and said “I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow night as well”... he seemed to be schmoozin' with everyone so I moved on...

The back line to all this is “Little Fish” have hit the stage (at about 9:10) in the midst of our conversation, and I don't know why but for some reason I had thought I read somewhere that they were from New Jersey, so I kept asking aloud what's up with the British accent you're from Jersey.. until the lead singer/guitar player, Julia "Juju" Sophie, informed me and the rest of the now filling out crowd that they were from England, and that “You're all welcome anytime you want to come by”.. neither I or anyone I'm with or asked knew who Little Fish were, but they are a duo based band with Juju on vocals and guitar and a dude named Neil Greenaway (Nez) and they are produced by Linda Perry.. Their sound wasn't, for the most part bothering me at all.. Nothing really to write home about, but they weren't bothersome.. sort of different while being the same. http://squidsquad.co.uk/.. you people can check them out later, and tell me what you think... but back to the now-.somewhere along the lines another stranger has stopped in, and is examining the shirts... and looks at the girls and says “Okay, your in his band” turns to me “and you look like a Jay Porks, so these are like your girls”.. not exactly, but I'll take the credit for being with chicks, so then I explained the website to him... then he says “cool, have a business card”... DAMMIT! I'm over here giving anyway tee shirts and I couldn't be smart enough to pick up some business cards.. so I wrote JayPorks.Com on a piece of paper from the pad I was using, which happened to be one of those waiter pads that I got from work and gave it to him as he walked away-another ongoing joke of the night was that pad..

Around 9:50, “Little Fish” went off, but a song or two before they did, I decided it's time to check out this rooftop smoking section I was informed about at the door... so I head to the second floor, where I notice people sitting on couches and shit watching the concert on 50 inch TV screens..there's a bar right there too, and you can overlook the railing and see all that's going on live if you feel like standing up.. that looked like a cool spot.. I may park myself there tomorrow night to get some different video angle from the videos I put up tonight on YouTube.. I got a lot of full songs, but from a distance-and Terminal 5 was very cool with the video they didn't bother me at all.. I'll give credit where credit is due... anyway, so I asked some event staff where do I go and they told me “ down the hall, to the left of the bar, downstairs, a left, and then up to the third floor” or something like that leaving me with a “wtf” look on my face.. so I walk around and eventually start smelling some Marijuana in hallways so I know I'm getting closer and finally I open the door and get hit in the face with smoke.. not weed smoke or cigarette smoke.. BBQ smoke.. there is a fucking barbeque on the roof, with yet another full bar and people chillin' all over the place.. that shit was fucking awesome.. the vibes were great up there, I hit the bar and got a shot of cafe petrone with a bud light for a total of 17 bucks then I headed back down after my cig... what a spot.. you could see the surrounding buildings and all that other cool stuff that goes with good vibes... it was cool up there, but the reason this night exists is about to hit the stage I'm assuming, so downstairs I must head...

Got back with the crew raving about the BBQ upstairs a little after Little Fish went off... I noticed it was 9:55 when I began the countdown.. when I started looking towards the stage to see what the roadies are up to and how close we are to this.. sign said Hole- 10:15... lets hope so...

Lost track of time once the Queen of Rock hit stage in a black dress (similar to the one she wore on Letterman the episode that aired tonight, 4/27/10-I'll assume taped today)... did you ever get that feeling? Like, I was seriously pumped for this, and I was in the building for almost two hours knowing that Hole was going to be amazing, but when they strummed that first chord-that first song-it's like “Wow.. this is real.. I am really here right now”.. They kicked off with a short version of “Pretty on the Inside” that led into a cover of the Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil”.. which was really frickin' cool-nice take on that song.. They got into the single next, “Skinny Little Bitch”-during the song Love altered the lyrics that go “ born of sour milk, coke and pills” to “born of sour milk and New York Thrills”.. nice little shout out.. I like it... we also took bets before the set of how many times we'd see her crotch during the night (I had 3 times).. there were none, and she was drinking a bottle of water... Not your old school plane crash of a Hole concert.. she's clean, and she's got a new re vamped rocking version of Hole.. we got Micko Larkin on lead guitar.. he's a beast-not to mention like 20 years old I think he's almost still-while the sounds coming out of his amps are not at all complacent... Stu Fisher is the drummer and holding own the bass is a dude named Shawn Dailey-who has a down toned bass sound similar to Krist Novelselic back in the day.. they hold a very tight rhythm section down.. okay, next they got into “Miss World” a song I was hoping to hear.. love that song.. then, they played “Violet”.. two old school songs back to back the house was a rocking.. this is actually a shot from when they were playing Violet.. Next up some new songs, as Courtney phrased it “You have to hear this new shit because it's not gonna be new for long”... “Letter to God”, “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Someone Else's Bed” are three epic songs off the new record, 'Nobody's Daughter', in stores today.. after those three songs, here's a shocker- “Malibu”! Not a shocker like I wasn't expected to hear it but they were rockin' so hard I didn't even think they'd go there.. I thought they'd play some more new stuff, but then they hit us with “Celebrity Skin” and that's when the roof came off of that place.. That's got to be top ten happiest moments of my life that 3 minutes or however long that song is... to be in the same building with that song live.. words can't begin to explain although I try my hardest.... I didn't get it on video because I was rockin' out at the time... Then “Samantha”, the song they played on Jonathon Ross's show.. that song friggin' rocks too.. the underlying heavy riff that Larkin sustains during this song is some real bad ass sounding stuff.. before the song, Love said “We've been a good date haven't we?”.. and after the song they said goodnight..

Of course that's not the end... They come back out fairly quickly with cigarettes in hand and Love now wearing a white dress... They get into another Stones cover, “Play With Fire”.. then “Doll Parts”, which is still as epic sounding as it was when it was released... and finally on the set list was “Northern Lights”.. a soothing end to an insane show....Oh what a night.. I enjoyed the HOLE thing...

If you read my review of Them Crooked Vultures back in February, then you remember me mentioning a bum with the funnist sign I had ever seen in my life and I regretted not taking a picture.. well, I got one this time!    

Killer set, killer night.. can't wait to do this all again tomorrow night.. Hope the set list varies so I don't have to write the same review, tomorrow night rolling alone-maybe I'll sit upstairs.. Who knows.. Anyway, thanks for putting up with my non sense for a few minutes-hope to catch you all soon-LATE

Them Crooked Vultures LIVE @ Roseland Ballroom 02/08/10

Are we pumped? I know I'm pumped! Tonight the twenty third edition of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series brings us to Roseland Ballroom (239 W 52^nd street- New York City) to see the super-group, although they scoff at the term, THEM CROOKED VULTURES. A side project of legendary proportions, featuring Josh Homme of fame with Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Kyuss(a short stay as guitarist in the Screaming Trees too) on lead guitar and vocals.. handling the bass duties, John Paul Jones- from a little band known as Led Zeppelin.. and on drums we have, after a 16 year absence from making creative and enjoyable music, Dave Grohl is back in his element-behind the kit. Them Crooked Vultures are here in support of their self titled debut record on what they've dubbed as the “Deserve the Future Tour”.. they are joined by second guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes.  

So about 7:30 I finally make it inside this mammoth beast of a venue..I use the word "finally" because it felt like I was on the line for an hour. When I got off the train at 50th street I looked across the street and saw hundreds and hundreds of people flooding the sidewalk... That would be the line- it stretches maybe three blocks. All I know is that the entrance to Roseland is on West 52nd, and I'm standing at the back of the line around the block on 53rd, like right in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater-some bum begging for change was like "Drew Bress was here man..Drew Bress". The way he said Bress the 'S' sort of dragged out-like "Drew Bressssss" I don't know it was weird. And I have to mention this, not sure if it was the same bum.. On the way out after the show there was a guy with a bucket standing in the cold New York night with a sign that said, and I swear it said this "SPARE CHANGE? ANYTHING IS ACCEPTED.. (money for beer, bud, hooker) Hey, at least im honest".. Why would I not take a picture of that it was totally the greatest thing I've ever seen .. Anyway,  I still have these three extra tickets to give away. I give one to this poor looking guy who I thought was heading inside, but when I saw him still asking for tickets, I figured he was probably working for a scalper. Then there was this girl who asked if the show was sold out. I said, "I'm not sure..but I have two extras at will call, you can have them". She took me up on the offer, so I'll be waiting for that Karma train to be making a stop at my house any second now.

Now this inside is standing room only and the room holds about 3000 plus.. This place seems like twice the size Hammerstien... the ceiling looks like it goes up forever and ever. I feel like the stage is half a football field away from me. I got my band tee shirt for 20 bucks when I first stepped in.. That line was insanely long and was more of a free for all than a line... Made my way towards that $6 beer, oh how I've earned it.

It's about 7:47 when I notice that this place is packed almost the capacity.. This is gonna be some long distance video if I manage to get some. Surprised they let me in with my camera, they frisked me at the door as if I was an escaped convict.. While being searched in the oddest of places I start thinking to myself "I'm sure I don't have anything on me right??".... In the distance I spot a second drum kit on stage, is this going to be the opening act? I can't stand when they do this, its one thing that pisses me off. Don't pretend there's no opener and then spring some no name band on us...we would've prepared accordingly. I would've came an hour later. Do us all a favor, I know you probably can't have the opener figured on and printed on the ticket before it gets mailed..but at least list it on the venues website....bad job by Livenation.. And I don't want to hear that crap “Well dude, there's always an opening act” when I've seen the Melvins open for themselves and Dinosaur Jr had a half retarded guy stand on stage for a half hour before they went on...

The surprise opener was 'The Brought Low”... Exactly. I personally have no idea who they are. All I know is they're three dudes who want to be like Jet. Hate to jump on an opener, but th riffs were unimpressive to say the least. Anybody who works in a Guitar Center can play them.. I kept looking at my vacant wrist awaiting for them to end. They played about 7 or 8 songs, they went off at about 8:27....

So they had the stage set up at about 840, which was good because I started to have this pipe dream that maybe they'd head on at 845. Yea right. I'm starting to notice there is no where fr me to move forward or back, I'm stuck here for the remainder of the night.. And people aren't exactly standing in siZe order, so my video clips are full of the back of peoples heads and little people playing instruments.

It became evident that my camera was not going to do me much good from all the way back here, but I still recorded what they kicked off the set with: “Nobody Loves me and Neither Do I”, this one has John used a slide thing on his bass as he stands next to a keyboards, synthesizer and two other bass guitars placed vertically. John Paul Jones is really whaling, seems like he's been doing this a while. You start to wonder why most of these songs are so “Zeppelin-like” powerful.. he's not like The Who being old at the Super Bowl halftime show-this dude is still fresh.. amazing.. They got into “Scumbag Blues”, like the 10 plus minute version, and Josh Homme is just having his guitar erupt with every strum, pulling out his full proverbial arsenal of tricks, what an amazing guitar player. It's sounds like an episode of the mighty morphing power rangers with his strokes.. He and John are bouncing sounds off each other- it's like they're playing catch, with each one trying to top the latter. Where every song seemed to be the “extended version” as I call them, it's actually that most of their songs are of lengthy proportions for traditional rock songs that they seemed to be a little longer than typical. “Dead End Friends” was either 4^th or 5^th in, where I just had an epiphany: I'm in the same room as John Paul fucking Jones! Are you kidding me? He could be up there playing a toothbrush, rock history is happening right now and I'm a part of it. And here's no slouch-Dave Grohl completes what is probably the greatest possible living rhythm section alive. It's been so long since I've heard Grohl play music that was creative and entertaining, it was really a pleasure to see the best rock drummer of at least my generation. A suddenly buff Grohl too, it was like the frickin' gun show back there man-dude hits the gym. With one song into the next, “Reptiles” to “Gunman”,using the term 'beast' would be the understatement of the century to describe the drumming that's going on-I can feel the beating that kit is taking from 60 yards away, that's how epic it is. That is a sound that cannot be manufactured no matter how much you advance technology.. the sound that drum makes when Grohl hits it. It's definitely something I missed. He also has a mic revolving mic stand that is dipping into the area he needs it when his harmony parts come up, I don't know if he was controlling it or if it was a roadie but man I always thought it'd be late or smack him in the face every time it came around. And back to Josh as he was talking in between songs, and he said “We were on Saturday Night Live this past weekend”..*crowd roar*.. “And the people over at NBC censorship didn't catch that I used 'Piss', 'Dick', and 'Shit' all in one song!”..*crowd roars again* “So that's making the world a better place for people who promote public swearing. Fuck those people!”... this guy can work a room, he was full of colorful things to say all night (like when he said “Dave was up til 5:30AM drinking Jägermeister.. I told him not to do it, but he's a fucking alcoholic and thats what alcoholics do"), he really knows how to grab center stage. Good thing he knows how to, because he's offically uped his notch in "Rockstar" status..Josh Homme is now  at least equal if not superior  to the likes of artists like Jack White weather you like it or not, because he is totally bad ass if there ever was a definition. The dude is smoking a cigarette on stage in an indoor venue that doesn't allow lighters-I mean I know he's in the band and everything, but I've never seen anyone do this.. and then he flings it behind his shoulder with total disregard of all things to his rear. Take that society!  He's the main songwriter in any "side" project he touches... he looks over at John and he goes "hey Zeppelin".. Then John Paul Jones comes bust out the 'Key-tar', you know, the thing Edgar Winter says he invented(he might've), the key board hooked up like a guitar sort of thing and Josh puts his guitar down as they get into "Interlude with Ludes", a sort of trippy-hindi-ish song where Josh prances around without guitar duties walking up to everyone else in the band doing silly things.. they really looked like they were all having a good time up there, they got into the most recognizable song, thier first single "New Fang" maybe midway through the set and near the end they hit it with my favorite song of thiers "Mind Eraser, No Chaser".. then before they finish up Josh states that "There is a time where every show must end".. plus, they only have 13 songs anyway-and they played the shit out of all of them. As they took the little bow as they walked off stage I thought to myself, there wasn't one thing that could've been better in the time they went on til the time they went off. Medolic blues driven hard rock molded with an absolute noise fest was a combination of blissful destruction and insane genius. Killer show.. What a night.....

There it is.. yet another Jay Porks Experience.... special thanks to everyone reading at ConcertConfessions.com, keep on truckin' over there... as for the Never Ending Concert Series of mine I have goin on over here.. We're eyeing the Flaming Lips and Local H later this year, along with the however many times the Meat Puppets come to town on their next tour.. For all the latest info you can always check back here at http://www.jayporks.com and in the upper right of the screen in the section that says “Upcoming Jay Porks Events”- we always get our hands on extra tickets and cool stuff like that so stay tuned, and thanks for putting up with my non-sense for a few minutes of your day.. tell your friends to check it out! LATE.....