The Year in Review

Hello my friends, I wish you a hardy "How ya doin'?". Tonight's blog entry is basically a recap and a listing of the best and worst shows and artists seen this year. I immediately preface that this blog is again strictly of my own opinions, and void of emotional feelings. These concert reviews are not influenced by the company kept by me at these events. Alright, now with the political disclaimer out of the way, lets get to the nitty-gritty.

First catagory is going to be best bass players. I saw quite a bit of talent this year on the bass, and heres my top five.
5. Ross Valory (Journey)
4. Justin Street (Airbourne)
3. Lemmy (Motorhead)
2. Geddy Lee (Rush)
And the winner should be no shock, as I went to see this band mainly to hear him.
1. Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. Steve was phenominal, and is one of the tightest and melodic bass players you'll hear in rock.

Next catagory is worst opening act. There were some good ones and some real bad ones seen this summer.
3. Testament (Metal Masters Tour) They weren't that bad but had a major miscue on stage.
2. Lauren Harris (Iron Maiden opener) She is the daughter of Steve Harris. She wasn't that bad but seemed confused and scared. Her backing band sucked
1. Endeverafter (Airbourne) These guys were just plain bad, from ripped off guitar licks, and acting like guitar hero wanna-be's, I had little patience for these guys.

To Follow up, here are the three best opening acts seen.
3. Testament (Metal Masters Tour) I know I listed them as third worse, but they weren't bad except for the onstage missed entrance and actually showing frustration over it.
2. Stone Riders (Airbourne) These guys pretty cool and seemed kind of original
1. In This Moment (Ozzy Osborne, Rob Zombie) This band has the most hardcore chick you'll ever see on stage. I know they have been touring with Ozzfest and stuff, but really, these guys tore it up. Probably the most professionally sounding opening band I've heard.

Next up is best drummer.
5. Mike Bordin (Ozzy Osborne) He really showed he was listening when he was adjusting tempi to keep with Ozzy who was having monitor issues
4. Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
3. Mikkey Dee (Motorhead)
2. Deen Castronovo (Journey)
1. Neil Peart (Rush) Neal is a drumming God. I can't describe what it was like to watch him and hear him play. Hes a percussive symphony orchestra.

So the next category is what I call "The Most Bang for your Buck". This is what concerts I considered the best bargains.
5. Rob Zombie/Ozzy Osborne, $39 (before fees). The seats we had were just off the floor, towards the back, and rocked hard, considering they had the best opener, and amazing multimedia presence of Rob Zombie, then Ozzy with Zakk Wylde. The caliber of talent in the building was amazing for that amount of dough.
4. Rush, $29 lawn seat. Rush was probably the most sound and solid band I heard this summer, with amazing virtuosity. $29 for a lawn seat and two full sets of Rush. Couldn't ask for much more.
3. Metal Masters Tour, $17.50 lawn seat. Testament, Motorhead, Heaven and Hell (Which just about completed my Black Sabbath fun pack), and Judas Priest. Amazing, long, tight show from four veterans of the metal universe.
2. Airbourne, $10 general admission. $10 to see and rock out to the next AC/DC. These guys rocked hard. Their antics and stage presence looked like these guys had been doing it for twenty years.
1. Cheap Trick, Heart, and Journey, $25 lawn. Every one of these bands made you theirs. All of them tight, fresh, and inspiring. What a good time this show was.

Next catagory is the best lead guitarists heard this summer
5. Nancy Wilson (Heart)
4. Tony Iommi (Heaven and Hell)
3. Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
2. Neal Schon (Journey)
1. Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osborne) This guy is just bad ass, and his bluegrass banjo upbringing brings a level of technical skill never seen on electric guitar.

Up next is what I call the achievers category. These are the bands or members that I gained the most respect for after seeing them live.
3. Motorhead - I had heard Ace of Spades before of course, but after seeing their act live, I really found I enjoyed their other works too
2. Neal Schon - Journey never really had a prominent guitar voice in their mixing, but after their new album and seeing them live, Neal Schon can definitely shred. I understand now why his parent slet him drop out of high school to play with Carlos Santana
1. Rush - I was mainly going to this concert as a gift for my friend Steve. I mean I had recently come to respect their style, and interesting voicing. But seeing them live and hearing the intricacies of songs like Tom Sawyer, Limelight, and YYZ, I consider myself a major fan of Rush.

The next category up is best set construction.
5. Judas Priest - Nice retro, Flash Gordon looking two tiered stage
4. Heaven and Hell - Smoke, Trees with Gargoyles, and insane lighting
3. Rush - Simple flat stage, but amazing video clips tying into the music to complete the sensation
2. Rob Zombie - B movie clips, dancing girls, drumming robots and a giant alien attack Zombie himself.
1. Iron Maiden - There was pyro, there was changing backgrounds for album covers of songs, two-tiered stage with plenty of room for Bruce to run around. Bruce donning costumes, and top it all off, a 30 ft tall Eddie with glowing eyes.

Next is best set list
5. Airbourne - Did everything from their one album, plus an encore track thats only on the import version of the album, not to mention its a cover of AC/DC. Melt your face.
4. Ozzy Osborne - Can't go wrong closing with "Momma I'm Coming Home" and "Paranoid"
3. Journey - great mix of old and new, but why close with "Anyway You Want It"?
2. Heart - The cover of Love Reign O'er Me still rings in my ears, along with the encore of "Crazy On You"
1. Rush - They did all their big songs in a tasteful order, programmed two sets perfectly building to Neil Peart's massive drum solo. Not to mention, no other band I saw has the courage or talent to do so many instrumentals in a set, including ending the encore set with one (YYZ).

Best lead singer witnessed.
5. Arnel Pineda (Journey) - Arnel is the new sound of Journey, that allows them though to keep to their great hits of the 80's. Arnel's voice needs to do a little more maturing and gain a bit more experience, and he will rival Steve Perry one day.
4. Ozzy Osborne - The Prince of Darkness is always going to be on this list.
3. Geddy Lee (Rush) - His unique stylings were initially my criticism of Rush, but after further analysis, I can't hear any other styling of his voice to carry "Tom Sawyer".
2. Ann Wilson (Heart) - A beautiful and powerful voice, that is incredibly versatile. She can charm you into a hypnotized state, or make your toes curl with passion and energy, just with her pipes.
1. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) - Bruce. Wow. I said it before and I'll say it again. He's the Freddie Mercury of Metal. There's nothing this man can't do, and nothing he can't sing. (As a side note, the Cheap Trick Greatest Hits Album I bought yesterday was produced by none other than Bruce)

I am going to refrain from picking a favorite concert, as I enjoyed all of them so much and I saw so much talent, I can't compare and contrast, and rank the entire shows. My final list for the night though will be the top ten songs that need to be witnessed live.
10. Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden)
9. Crazy On You (Heart)
8. YYZ (Rush)
7. Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)
6. Breakin' the Law (Judas Priest)
5. Number of the Beast (Iron Maiden)
4. Stand Up for Rock 'n' Roll (Airbourne)
3. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (Journey)
2. Love Reign O'er Me (Heart)
1. Momma I'm Comin' Home (Ozzy Osborne)

Well my friends, that pretty much covers my personal opinions of the shows I saw this summer. I hope you guys had as much fun as I have had this summer. Thank you readers for being loyal, and thanks to those of you who went to a concert with me this summer. Music is a very intimate part of my life. With me, there are actions, emotions, and music. Thank you for being willing to share something so personal to me as witnessing the creation of music. I hope to continue to write to you about my music life and hope you will keep reading. Good night.

The Chicken Dinner, Rushed

Compatriots, I come to you bearing good news. I hope this news finds you all in good spirits and health. I am writing with a bit of a concert review. This past Saturday, I attended the "Snakes and Arrows Tour 2008 - An Evening with Rush" at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia.

I will first off hit you with some of the fun of going to a concert. I attended with Beth, and my hetero-musical life partner, Steve. We've been musically courting each other officially now for about 3 weeks. Steve and I are very similar in that we want to be early, we don't want to miss a thing, we never head to the parking lot early after the show either. So we got there shortly after the parking lot opened, popped out some hot dogs, chips, and some beer, and we had at the feast with a little Pink Floyd playing in the background. This is where the tee-shirt spotting began.

I like to observe the culture at each concert I go to. The easiest way to do that is simply by the tee-shirts people are wearing. I must say, at this concert, there was no trend really, except people felt there wasn't a need to wear a music oriented shirt. Most shirts were of Rush, which I don't like, for some reason it screams "Pathetic" to me, wearing the shirt of the band you're there to see (the only exception seems to be with Iron Maiden, where its more than acceptable to wear your Iron Maiden shirts). The shirts seemed to reflect though the diversity of what people hear and find in Rush's music. There was a fair share of the "Prog" music fans ( a term Steve and I both don't care for as it is used as a catch all), metal fans (Steve refuses to acknowledge Rush's link to metal) and just general "Happy Go Lucky, its Saturday night, lets party and listen to good music" fans.

So on to the music. I must immediately say, Rush tickles the musicality side of my enjoyment. They are creative, ingenious, and skillful songwriters. The use of poly-meter, syncopation, and harmony is impressive. Add to that, their virtuosity and showmanship and you have one of the best live shows you can imagine. They are the most well balanced rock trio's ever. The sound and complexity that they're capable of is simply amazing. My favorite part is that even with today's music being lyric focused, they were not afraid to do three instrumentals in their set, including YYZ as the end of their encore.

This concert, two sets of all Rush, no opening act, was probably the best rock concert I've attended musically. They played hits like "Tom Sawyer", "Limelight", and "Subdivision", along with some stunning photography and witty video intro's featuring Jerry Stiller. Random, but awesome. The funniest thing is that Geddy (bass, synth's and vocals) has replaced his amps, or "appliances" with large chicken rotisserie's that were being tended to by a roadie dressed like a chef. With smoke, lasers and some tasteful pyro, Rush brought it all and bowled over the crowd. Neil Peart did an incredible solo on his massive drum set, utilizing everything he had available to him, and even crossing genre's by ending his solo with a sweet swing tune. Just amazing. His drum solo was more than just playing fast and demonstrating technique. He put together a composition for the crowd.

Well my good friends and loyal readers. I wish you good night.