Friday Fives – more music edition

1. What album is the first you can remember purchasing yourself

easy, this one   It not only had ALL the hits, but that is very cool album cover.  It was a $59, which to me is cheap on he big internet gigs.er of

1. What concert stands out in your mind as the best you’ve ever seen?

Well, it isn’t what you would think.  See, I have seen everyone live.  I am sure I have told you that, but it’s pertinent.  I have seen folks that simply don’t tour.  Van Morrison, Page & Plant, Tom Waits, Don McClean, Moby, Richie Havens, Jethro Tull, Nirvana, Timothy Leary & G Gordon Liddy, the Police… it goes on and on.  Now, every dip you know will tell you that Pink Floyd was the best show they ever saw.  Of course, I saw them too.  It was boring as well.  Just David Gilmour playing the obvious hits pitch perfect.  BORING.

One of the best shows I saw was recently, within the last year.  It was in a horrible downpour.  The entire power grid went out for hours.  No music, no lights, nothing.  The band could have, and should have, left.  They didn’t, though.  The singer came out by himself and sat at the edge of the stage in the rain and darkness.  He sat there with an acoustic guitar and did a sing along in the dark of ALL his hits.  We all (20,000) sang along.

That band was touring on 3 new albums, along with a double album of broadway hits.  That is what they played with the power.  When it went dark, Billy Joe came out and did ‘time of your life, when sept ends, when I come around, basketcase… etc”.  All great hits from 20 years ago.  He knew we paid and he wasn’t leaving until we got some kind of concert.  That is a g*damn class act.

1. What concert stands out in your mind as the worst you’ve ever seen?

Probably Jethro Tull about 25 years ago.  It kinda wasn’t their fault.  First off, the singers live voice is shot.  it’s really bad, and has been for almost 30 years.  He just can’t sing.  So, there was that disappointment.  Then, apparently, he got sick.  So, he played half a show and they left.  no refunds, no apologies.  No thanks! ******

1. If you could create your dream band, what musicians would you choose? (they can be live or dead, it’s a dream band)

super easy.  Original Guns line up in their day, sometime during or just after Lies and Appetite.  Tried to see them in Phx back then but Axl bailed on four separate concerts day of.  Locked himself in his hotel room and refused to come out and play.  I don’t think they ever made it onstage in Phx, AZ for about five years.  We called them Guns and Noshows.

Axl was SO known for this that when Guns played with Metallica a few years later, promoter Barry Fey was wise to Axl’s bs.  So, when Axl tried to sneak out of Red Rocks that night and ditch their set… Barry Fey pulled a gunn on him and ordered him back on stage.  During that same tour, Axl pulled the same crap in several other cities and called major deadly riots.   See, when you ditch a club with 300 people… no biggie.  Axl did this to stadiums with 25,000 people… a lot.  Not just those venue, but some of those cities were destroyed because of Axl.  Remember, at Woodstock they planned for 5,0000 people.  That is the food and porta potties they had the resources and electricity.  500,000 showed up.  No food, no bathrooms, horrible rainly weather the whole time, dangerous and poisonous acid going aound.  It literally became a Federal emergency.  Everyone lived, and had the time of their lives.  Know now?  No axl

He also, as you may know, still show up to every show at least 3 hours late.  So, you go to see Guns.  It’s a weeknight, mind you.  The opening band plays 8 to 9 pm.  Headliner comes on and 10 pm.  the new Guns won’t come out until at least 1 am .  So, maybe you will get home at 4 am… on your school night.

the worst part is I still LOVE Axl’s early voice, and I regard him as one of the great rock stars of all time.  Appetite for Destruction is the best rock album ever.  Problem is, Axl is the biggest dick in all of rock.  He fired his entire band (the guys who wrote the songs, mind you.  He is a singer, he doesn’t write) and then if he does show up it is 3 to 4 hours late.

 

**** to be fair to Jethro Tull, they have made one of the coolest moments in rock.  So, they get a pass.  In the 70s they were playing Red Rocks.  The show got WAY over sold.  People broke in, and it became a riot.  Helicopters descended on Red Rocks and dropped tear gas.  So, did Jethro Tull run for their lives?  No.  Ian Anderson stayed out there on stage during all of this.  He let everyone know what was happening, and why.  he also promised as soon as they safely cleared some gate crashers out and got rid of the helicopters that they would stay and play a full show.  So, my experience isn’t indicative of them.

The story, one of the most famous in all of rock history, is told pretty well here.  It’s a good and quick read.

**** ppsss > another band I failed to mention both this week and last week as an AMAZING live band.  I swear you won’t believe me unless you have seen them, but I swear it’s true.  This band was better than Page and Plant.  Better than BB King.  Hell, these guys were better than all of them – the Canadian pop band Barenaked Ladies.  Fact!

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Friday Fives – the change edition

1. What is something that has changed that is now better?

everything.  Too broad?  Telephones.  My telephone does everything on earth for me.  Ironically, the one thing i almost never use my telephone for is to telephone people.

2. What is something that has changed that was made worse?

telephone design.  Remember how you could fit a phone on your neck?  Maybe if you are under 30 you don’t.  Go ahead and try and pinch your phone between your shoulder and neck and make a call hands free.

3. What is something you are going to change about yourself in the future?

much less arson.  I would say 30 to 35% less arson going forward

4. If you reach into the the past and change one thing, what would that be?

help Axl Rose to join the 27 club, so we could romanticuize how Guns would have been the greatest rock band in history… bigger than Zeppelin!  There were poised to, I feel.  Then, the singer fired the whole band, including the guys who wrote all the songs.  then, took the band name and sat on it for 17 years.

5.  What is something that someone close to you needs to change, right now!

I have to pee something fierce, but wanted to finish my thoughts here.  Change must come from within!  Wanna hear a funny story about corporate policy, change, and bathroom problems?  Some time ago, I was stuck on a very long conference call that was going on endlessly.  We were discussing things in which I was a primary ‘stakeholder’, meaning changes discussed had a profound effect on my group.  We got to a decision I was violently against.  I knew challenging it would be another 30 minutes on the phone.  I was also pretty sure the powers that be had their minds made up on it.  Most importantly, I really really had to poo.  So, I let it lie just to get off the phone to go poo.

So, if you are ever wondering how the in world companies made silly decisions… like New Coke > odds are the dude just had to poo really bad so he just agreed to make the meeting end quicker.  I am not proud of this, but it is kinda funny in retrospect.

Friday Fives – cell phone edition

 

1. When did you get your first cell phone?

1997, believe it or not.  It was big.  It was called ‘the Lingo’.  It was a revolutionary device, the first to combine a cell phone and a walkie talkie.  here is a pic, go ahead and laugh away

1. Do you have any special ring tones, if so what are they?
   

only one, for the wifey.  When she calls, Guns & Roses ‘You’re Crazy’ plays.  She doesn’t know this, so don’t tell her.  She doesn’t read this, does she?  Not just any version, but the extraordinary acoustic version from Lies.  Listen here.

Go ahead, listen again.  It shows you why Guns and Roses were amazing, and could have been the best of all time.  Axl’s vocal control and range in this performance is stunning.  Slash’s work with an acoustic will melt your face.  You should really buy this disc, it’s phenomenal.  This is the one with ‘Patience’ on it, as well at the super controversial ‘One and a Million’.

Can I tell you about that Patience?  I remember the first time we met.  I was getting a ride to high school in a buddy’s pick up truck.  We all knew G&R from their hits, and ‘Lies’ had just come out.  He plays this song on cassette and tells me it is Guns and Roses.  I wouldn’t believe him until he took the cassette out and proved it to me.  There is so much range and talent in this band that comes through on this disc.  It is just a gross injustice what Axl did to the band.

Hey… weren’t we talking about cell phones?  Let’s stay focused here.

1. Does your phone have a camera?
   

of course, and I love it.  It is all I use, camera wise.  For example, last week we were in San Diego for that historic Broncos game.  The wife asked if we should bring our digital camera.  I said “Why?”  It is the same or just barely more megapixels, and then I would have to upload or get developed… I couldn’t share pics in real time with friends, or easily upload to facebook and such.  I love my cell phone camera, and am consistently impressed with how good the photos are considering this is a telephone.

1. What kind of phone do you have now?
   

an Iphone.  I finally did it.  I finally said “why have a faster, nicer, bigger, and considerably cheaper phone?  Why get a phone for 99 cents when I can instead pay $600?  I just got it very recently, and it was a long struggle between that and Android.  The final decision came down to iTunes.  For years I have carried my iPod and my cell phone with me everywhere.  We are mac at home, and the wifey has an iPhone… so we are all integrated now.  I am mostly very pleased with the iPhone.   EXCEPT – i want a back button.  Don’t give me that apologist bullshit about how in most apps there is a soft back button on the screen.  No, I want a back button hard wired into the phone that does nothing else.  Also, my last phone had a search button on the phone… as hardware.  Loved that, too.

1. What carrier do you use?

Sprint.  They are the best.  Best prices, best network, best customer service, and best employees (like me)