On The Run

Ok i couldn't help but post this hilarious story. After wrapping up his Sunday night encore spot at the 2008 Coachella Festival, Roger Waters, who played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, reported that his stage prop pig was missing.
For those of you unaware, this Pig has been touring with Roger Waters since the Pink Floyd days. During each show, Waters' crew flys the Pig over the crowd.
What I thought to be most funny is that this Pig has a $10,000 reward, in addition to 4 Coachella Festival tickets each year, for life. But its not as though this is some little Pig. It stands 2 stories tall and is said to be bigger than a school bus. How does something that big and valuable go missing like that?
So when my dad called me today, he said he was out in the valley and I gave him the heads up to look for any suspicious pig like item.

Oh and on a side note, the Pig got inked up before the gig with a new Obama tattoo, if you will. Maybe a Hilary supporter got mad and kidnapped the thing. Who knows any more in this crazy society we live in.

Here's a link to one article: http://pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=10049

Before These Crowded Streets (10th Anniversary)- Dave Matthews Band

It's been 10 years today since the Dave Matthews Band has put out an album of as high of quality as the Big three (UTTAD, Crash, and BTCS). Every single song on the CD is deeply meaningful and just all around good jams. Even though there are some versions of songs that I'm not a big fan of the studio version (cough Halloween cough), they manage to put forth great live versions. With the exception of Panta Nagala Pampa, an intro of sorts to Rapunzel, each song is atleast 5 minutes in length, which might be long for most bands, but DMB fills the time with awesome solos. There's never really a lull.

So in honor of 10 great years of Before These Crowded Streets, I asked around the some ants (antsmarching.org members) what they thought their favorite live version of each song is. Below is a mix of my personal list and theirs. The difference is that mine will have a little blurb about why posted with it.

Panta Nagala Pampa->Rapunzel Live in Chicago disc

The Last Stop Central Park Bonus disc

Don't Drink the Water 08-07-07 Tweeter Center -> My first DMB show (with great seats thanks to my buddy Jordan! and they brought out Xavier Rudd on stage to play the digereedo and he wailed on that thing for a good three minutes.

Stay (Wasting Time) They all pretty much sound the same, so I'll go once again with 08-07-07 Tweeter Center, being that it was my first show and it was meaningful, i guess.

Halloween The Gorge or MSG 05

The Stone Live Trax Volume 8 at Alpine Valley

Dreaming Tree Although I always enjoy the full band version, the Farm Aid 07 Dave+Tim Version just sounds so neat to me personally

Pig I love the Fenway opener of this but the ants consensus seemed to be the Giants Stadium with Big Voice Jack and Bela Fleck

Spoon Everyone pretty much went with the Central Park Bonus disc version. Never heard it live before so i'll go with that

I had an awesome time spinning this album on the 10th anniversary with all the ants that joined in.

Concert Review: Rolling Stones 10/10/2005

I know this was awhile ago, but I'm finally getting around to reviewing it.

My first concert ever was this show. My dad went down around 2 pm to the Wachovia Center to scalp tickets. He ended up getting five. So me, my buddy Erick, his mom, my mom and my dad went down for the show. The seats weren't together, but we ended up sitting together. However our seats were limited view of the stage. The limited view really didn't have that big of an effect though, because of the set-up the Stones had. It was a little tough though to see the opener, John Mayer Trio. They were alright, but not as good as solo John Mayer, imo. When the Stones took the stage, everyone came in and just rocked out. Highlights included, for me, the Get Up, Stand Up Bob Marley cover (with Mick and Marley Brothers pics in the background), Sympathy for the Devil, Jumpin Jack Flash, and the timeless classic Satisfaction. The setlist went as followed:

1. Start Me Up/ Mick and the band came running onto the stage, going almost as crazy as the fans
2. You Got Me Rocking
3. She’s So Cold
4. Tumbling Dice
5. Oh No, Not You Again
6. Angie
7. Rain Fall Down
8. Rock Off
9. Get Up, Stand Up/ tribute to Bob Marley
10. The Worst
11. Infamy
12. Miss You/ stage moved to the opposite side of the floor
13. Rough Justice
14. Get Off My Cloud
15. Honkey Tonk Woman
16. Out of Control
17. Sympathy of the Devil/ staged moved back
18. Brown Sugar
19. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
20. Can’t Always Get What You Want
21. Satisfaction / Went for about 10 minutes, great way to end an amazing show, everyone in the crowd was in on this one

There were some characters around us too, which made my first concert even more enjoyable. The guy next to us had at least 6 beer cups stacked under his current beer (and was visable out of it). for most of the night he thought he was Mick Jagger, so he was attempting to sing and dance lke him, so that was funny. We had a lady who was pist at someone and she randomly got up and started flippin off someone, and almost fell over the edge cause she was wasted. Then she got arrested, which was funnier. There was also a drunk shemale who thought she was Mick Jagger too and attempted to dance like him for about 5 minutes until she fell over and was taken away. Overall, it was a kick-ass night.

Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows

Finally I have the review up! and although its over a month overdue, whatever. So here it goes:

Although it was 6 years since the Counting Crows last CD, it was well worth the wait. Saturday Nights and Sundays Mornings is an all-around quality CD. The one-disc CD is split into two parts; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, as the title suggests. The first half is a rocking upbeat fun night kind of mix, whereas the latter half is comprised of acoustic guitars with some harmonica (my favorite!). It's almost as though it is the story of a weekend of Saturday Nights full of partying, with a Sunday Morning of wondering who's in you bed.

Saturday Night starts of with the electric guitar packed 1492 and Hanging Tree. As the 1st single, 1492 offers a steady beat with a rocking intro, a definite reminder of the 90's Crows that were so popular. Hanging Tree doesn't disappoint either, with a nice guitar solo. Los Angeles slows things down a bit and give funky-haired lead singer Adam Duritz a Jagger-Tyler voice. Sundays has a Stones-esque intro and a slammin chorus, but the verses lack, however, the band pulls it back together for Insignificant, quite possibly my favorite track off the album. Not only was the chorus tight, but also was the verse. It reminds me of a Mr. Jones type song, and it definitely has the chance of being a HUGE song for the band. Saturday Night wraps up with the song Cowboys, another personal favorite. It also goes back to the 90's Crows style and really puts the spotlight on Duritz. My favorite part would have how Duritz breaks out into talking in the middle of the song, much like he did back on Mr. Jones. Cowboys offers a nice segue into Sunday Morning.

The Acoustic-ridden Sunday Morning offers a polar opposite to the 1st half of the album. Washington Square leads things off with a nice trifecta of acoustic guitar, harmonica, and keyboard. On Almost Every Sunday Morning and When I Dream of Michaelangelo are more some of the songs that Crow's fans have been waiting years for. Anyone But You is another 90's Crows song, which incorporates the drums back in with the acoustic guitar. The dual between the keyboards and the guitar in You Can't Count On Me offers up a nice, calm driving song for the spring/summer. The worst song on the album, in my opinion and most likely yours too, is the love song ballad Le Ballet Dor. Nothing about the song sticks out to me as musically wowing. I even gave it a few more spins to make sure there wasn't something I was missing. Right up there with Le Ballet Dor is On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago. The only reason it beats out the prior is because I like the keyboard riff. Despite this minor meltdown, the Crows manage to pull it all back together for the closer Come Around, which offers a nice banjo and acoustic guitar jam, into an electric guitar song. The song, like an upbeat Holiday in Spain goes into a nice 1/2 time jam and then back into the beginning tempo. It really sums up the album well.
Must Hear: Hanging Tree, Insignificant, Cowboys, On Almost Any Sunday Morning, and You Can't Count on Me

For Crow's Fans: When I Dream of Michelangelo, Anyone But You, and Come Around

Skip: Le Ballet Dor and One Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago

Track List
1. 1492
2. Hanging Tree
3. Los Angeles
4. Sundays
5. Insignificant
6. Cowboys
~~~Split~~~
7. Washington Square
8. On Almost Any Sunday Morning
9. When I Dream Of Michaelangelo
10. Anyone But You
11. You Can't Count On Me
12. Le Ballet Dor
13. On a Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago
14. Come Around