Phoenixville, PA — The End debuted to a maximum capacity crowd at Steel City.
The End is newly formed band from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Their sound takes American rock music into the future. They are currently in the studio working on their first two albums.
For last evenings gig, they played an acoustic set with vocals, guitar, jimbei and piano. The show featured the songs “The End Of The End” and “A Million Things”.
by Mudman
Blacksburg, VA — Sometimes, a band totally flops. The artists are not into the concert, and consequently, neither are the fans. These shows can be painful to sit through no matter how much you love the band. On the other hand, sometimes you see a band that is totally into the show. Their passion fuels the audience. Then, the audience’s enthusiasm enrages the bands desire. Suddenly, you have the type of concert that you will remember forever:
August 28th, 2009, Soja performs for Virginia Polytechnic Institutes’s Gobblerfest. It was one of the more epic shows that I have ever seen, and one of the only where I lost my hearing from the audience’s cheers rather than the blaring speakers (which in this case were cranked up to 11). Soja is a reggae/rock band which has recently started to get some attention. This was my first time hearing their music. The first thing I did following the concert was run out to but two CD’s. There is something about the way these seven people carried themselves that just created an out-of-this-world stage presence (trumpet, sax, bass, drums, bongos, guitar, lead singer). By far, the highlight of the concert was “Can’t Tell Me”. Listening to the lead singer lilt, “You can’t tell me who I am. Cause I’m working on that to,” made my night. They have a very unique sound comparable, only slightly, to the Expendables. I give them an 8 out of 10… they blew me away for an up-and-coming band.
by Mudman
Blacksburg, VA — Tucker Max: sexist, womanizer, masochist, or just a funny asshole? For several years now, I have been following the… er, a… interesting tales of a man named Tucker Max. He has a detailed website with most of his stories online (www.tuckermax.com) for free, but the full stories are only available by purchasing his book, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell”. Max claims that all of the stories are true accounts of his life. He even makes the point to say at the beginning of his book — if he is untruthful in recounting his stories , that he could be held accountable for libel and now even slander after a few interviews.
Mudman with Tucker Max at Virginia Tech
Max claims he is but one thing, and that is an asshole. He takes pride in getting drunk at the wrong times, saying the wrong things, and sleeping with the wrong girls.
When asked how many girls he has slept with Max answered, “… I’ve lost count.”
The questioner responded, “Triple digits?”
Max laughed manically, “What am I, 21?”
Reading his book was one of the funniest experiences I’ve ever had. Every chapter contained some gut busting material that stunned and amazed me. His stories are too crazy to make up, such as, “The Austin Road Trip”. “The Austin Road Trip” is the story used as the premise for his new movie which is based on the book. The book is a series of short stories and the movie puts these into an order and gives them a quasi-plot. The movie is being premiered in several cities before its release next month (September 25th). Max has chosen to produce the movie himself and is doing it the way he wants; to quote Max, “Fuck Hollywood.” Last night the movie was shown in Blacksburg, Virginia right outside the Virginia Tech campus. Max’s crowd is mostly, but certainly not limited to, college age students. His stories relate to everyone… well, everyone who doesn’t have a stick up their butt.
With the exception of the Kansas showing, every premier is sold out. If you aren’t fortunate enough to see the premier, the movie will be released nationwide. Because Tucker himself oversaw the movies making, it’s guaranteed to be a good laugh, as well as, teaching a good lesson thrown in there… somewhere… I think. Honestly, this movie is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. For the old folks, it’ll bring back memories from your past. For the younger crowd, it’ll help you remember last night before you passed out. It is a MUST see, so get off your ass you lazy fuck and go see the goddamn movie next month. Support of this movie will lead to a sexual sequel, which Tucker already has planned. Following the movie there was a Q and A and a meet-and-greet. Then there was an after party at one of the local bars which is where Tucker gets a lot of his new material.
The movies story is centered around Tucker and his two friends, Codenames: Slingblade and El Bingeroso. El Bingeroso is engaged to the b-e-a-utiful Kristy, and their wedding is scheduled for the end of the week. Tucker, always the trouble maker, plans a crazy bachelor party that will take them several hundred miles away from the “wedding planning” to a strip club. After getting excessively drunk and committing multiple illegal acts, El Bingeroso’s marriage is put to the test as his cognitively impaired brain tries desperately to keep him alive through the night. You had better bring a surgeon to this film because god knows your abdominals will be killing you from laughing so hard. Several times the screen became blurry from the lack of oxygen getting to my brain as I erupted in laughter.
WARNING: This movie is not for the weak of heart; socially prude; disgruntled bitches; or any other people who can’t take a joke.
Now, go buy the book, and brush up on your badassness (yes, it’s a word). Let me leave you with one final piece of mind, as you go throughout your days remember to ask yourself, “WWTD?” What, would Tucker Do?
Tucker Max Autograph
Philadelphia, PA — Collective Soul brought their tour to the Theater Of The Living Arts (TLA) in Center City Philly. For those who have not been, South Street is a world unto its own. Make sure you visit in this lifetime and if you can see a concert it’s an extra bonus.
There are not that many bands that I want to see, yet have not seen. Collective Soul was one of those bands. I am not sure why it never worked out. After I fell in love with “Shine”, they were a band I longed to see on stage. Then, the years past, and I figured it was too late. Even if they came around, they would probably be past their prime?
As destiny would have it, I saw they were playing at a local venue. The beauty of it was they were playing at a small theater. Maybe their decline in popularity would work to my benefit? Wait! Not so fast. I refresh the webpage on my web browser, and it says the show is sold out. What? So, I call the box office. Yes. They tell me the show is sold out. Dag-nab-it! I can not accept this situation and drive down to see with my own two eyes. Indeed, it is sold out. There are a couple guys from 93.3 WMMR there doing a promo. Why not ask them if they can get me a ticket? No dice. How about a scalper? No tickets to be found. While I am standing by the line to get in, a fellow comes over and asks if it is the line for Collective Soul. After verifying that it was, I ask if he might have an extra ticket. YeeHa! He does… but, at what price? Ahhhh… he tells me a reasonable price. He had been stuck with an extra ticket by a friend who backed out. Perfect!
I explained that I was a writer and had wanted to review the show. He was an avid fan and told me how good of a show they put on. I explained how sometimes I interview bands, sometimes I review bands, and sometimes I do not write anything. He said, “because there is nothing to write.” Exactly. Nevertheless, he peeked my interest in how the show would rate. The adrenaline was pumped, now. First, I thought I was going home in disappointment. Next, I was thrilled at getting a pass through the door. Plus, I met a father and son that were just as excited to see the show.
It was with much pleasure that the “warm-up” band turned me on with an instant music fix. Black Stone Cherry rocked the house. Black Stone Cherry rocked my world. (See the
Black Stone Cherry Review and Photo Gallery)
Luckily, the next band, Safety Suit, was not that hot. If they were, I do not know how Collective Soul could have followed them.
When Collective Soul took the stage, the crowd was primed and pumped. It seemed fitting that they started off with “Welcome All Again”. They played a couple more new songs in the middle of the set. Before “You”, Ed Roland related that it was the first song they ever wrote as a band. There was quite a bit of interaction and audience participation throughout the show. Introducing “Gel”, Ed shared that he and his brother/guitarist Dean were the sons of a preacher. “Gel” is about what they grew up with on Sunday mornings:
Color me any color.
Speak to me in tongues and share.
Tell me how you’d love to hate me.
Tell me how you’d love to care.
Well I just want to shake us up.Let’s mingle
And make it well.
Come together now.
Yeah let’s gel.
All in all, the lights, the sound, the audience, the songs and the band added up to a spectacular performance. On the way out the door, the fellow who had sold me the ticket caught up to me and said, “Write something good.” I replied, “Oh, yeah. I will.” For this was one show worth writing about. Make sure they are not always one of those bands you wished you had seen!
THE BAND
Ed Roland – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Dean Roland – rhythm guitar, vocals
Will Turpin – bass guitar, vocals
Joel Kosche – lead guitar
Cheney Brannon – drums, percussion
THE SETLIST
Welcome All Again
Heavy
Listen
Tremble
Why Part 2
Needs
Dig
You
December
Shine
Hollywood
World I Know
Anymore Friends
Gel
Better Now
ENCORE
Staring Down
River Flows
Run
Philadelphia, PA — The Collective Soul tour came to the Theater Of The Living Arts (TLA) in Philly. They brought with them two other bands, Safety Suit and Black Stone Cherry. Safety Suit did nothing for me; however, Black Stone Cherry rocked my world.
Not having heard of Black Stone Cherry before, they were a surprise attack of sound and movement. Black Stone Cherry has a heavy southern rock band sound coming from Edmonton, Kentucky. The band members are:
Chris Robertson — lead vocals, guitar
Ben Wells — guitar, backing vocals
John Lawhon — bass guitar, backing vocals
John Fred Young (son of The Kentucky Headhunters’ rhythm guitarist Richard Young) — drums, backing vocals
Their music is clean and hard. The band’s energy is through the roof with jumping and head banging. They are one of those bands you have to see live as their is no way to capture their sensual stimuli. The set included “Please Come In”, “Soul Creek”, “Lonely Train”, “We Are the Kings”.
Old Pool Farm, Schwenksville, PA — The Philadelphia Folk Festival is an interesting experience. You never know what you will see… or hear. This works both ways — from the audience looking toward the stage or from the stage looking at the audience. It probably has the largest ratio of musicians that are in the audience than any other concert venue.
Thus, my surprise to see Get The Led Out scheduled for the special Thursday evening “Exclusive Camp Concert” that is put on for the overnight campers. What the heck was a band that bills themselves as the American Led Zeppelin doing at the Folk Fest? The must have been intimidating for the band:
1) They play songs that people know, so they have to play flawlessly.
2) They are to perform heavy rock music to a folk crowd.
3) Many in the audience are talented musicians.
4) They followed two talented folk bands, Jill Sobule and Deer Tick.
You would think that they would go over like a lead balloon? No. Le contraire. As soon as they started playing, people began flocking to the stage. Before long, there was standing room only. The crowd joined in and sang every song. Looking at the people standing next to you would cause you to pause. A mother dancing next to her daughter. People of all ages having the time of their life. In fact, it’s the only Folk Fest performance that I can remember hurting my ears.
As the show progressed, it felt like the audience and performers were feeding off each other. The crowd’s energy feeding the band, and in return the band’s energy feeding the audience. Only at the Folk Fest could such a miracle take place.
Philadelphia, PA — Jason Marz played an upbeat and energy filled show to a sold-out crowd at Festival Pier in Penn’s Landing. It turned out to be a beautiful evening with the sun setting behind the stage. At any given moment, you could look to the audience and see everyone dancing and swaying to the music.
Setlist
The Sunshine Song
Traveler
Make It Mine
Coyotes
Anything You Want
Curbside
Man Gave Names To Animals
Live High
Reggaedy / The Remedy
The Dynamo Of Volition
Beautiful Mess
I’m Yours
Encore Part I
Audible Band
Lucky with Alysse Fisher
Audible Duo / Geek In The Pink
Encore Part II
Cop Chase
Fall Through Glass with Bushwalla
Butterfly
The crowd seemed pleased with the song selection knowing all the lyrics and singing with great volume. “The Remedy” was a highlight of the show as it was transformed into a reggae dancefest (retitled Reggaedy); however, the best part was the first encore. Since it was a general admission show, the massive crowd was pushed up against the stage. After the last song of the set, Jason and three other members of his band came out to the sound mixing tent and set-up facing the rear of the audience. There they played three real groove based songs — percussion, a bass box, bass and Jason on guitar. The vocals and backing vocals were wonderful and clear. For the song “Lucky”, they brought out Alysse Fisher to sing the duet. “Geek In The Pink” left Jason alone on stage with Noel “Toca” Rivera on percussion.
You could not ask for anything more pleasing than to be able to fill your senses with this intimate climax.
Philadelphia, PA — K’naan made a surprise appearance on the Festival Pier stage at Penn’s Landing. The Jason Mraz tour was suppose to open with G Love and Special Sauce at 7:00. But, at 6:30, K’naan and his band took the stage.
K’naan was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and spent grew up in Wardhiigleey “The River of Blood” during the Somali Civil War. His aunt, Magool, is a famous Somalian singer. His grandfather, Haji Mohamed, was a poet. Youssou N’Dour saw K’naan give a speech in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and was so moved by the spoken word piece that he asked K’naan to appear on his 2001 album Building Bridges. His touring led him to collaborate with Bob Marley’s youngest son Damian Marley.
The name, K’naan, means “traveler” in the Somali language. He brought his traveling stage show to Philly delighting the unsuspecting crowd.
K’naan’s musical style is hard to put your finger on. It blends reggae and hip-hop with other worldbeat styles, which was perfect for the audience to dance along with on a summer day. K’naan says that he makes “urgent music with a message”, That is how his set started… with a “freedom song”. Next, he went into a song from Troubadour (his latest album) called “Take A Minute”.
How did Mandela get the will to surpass the everyday,
When injustice had him caged and trapped in every way,
How did Gandhi ever withstand the hunger strikes and all,
Didn’t do it to gain power or money if I recall,
It’s to give; I guess I’ll pass it on,
After performing another dancable tune, the band finished with their anthem “Wavin’ Flag”.
So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that’s what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn’t hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.
As soon as they finished, the skies opened up, rain poured and lightening filled the sky — a fitting end to an electrifying concert.
by Mudman
North East, Maryland — Last night, I watched the Ryan Payne Band perform for a crowd of several hundred. It was an enthusiastic crowd for an effervescent band. In between songs, Ryan would crack jokes and revel the emotional stories behind the writing of his songs. Now, the unusually thing about this crowd was the age range. The concert was at a children’s over-night camp with the average age of attendance being somewhere around 14. Even though it wasn’t their usual crowd, the band performed flawlessly. Their stage presence rivaled that of Jet. (A concert I saw only a few weeks ago.) For such a young band to have such stage savvy… well let’s just say I was impressed.
They played mostly original songs. Though I was hearing them for the first time, they were so catchy that I was able to sing along by the end of the second verse. The Ryan Payne Band consists of four members: a drummer, an electrical guitarist, a bassist, and a lead singer who plays both keyboards and acoustic guitar. When they started playing, I was taken aback. After I heard the skillful mix of electric and acoustic guitar, I was blown away. They may be small but I highly recommend checking them out at their website: http://www.ryanpayneband.com/
You can buy their CD on their website.
The Ryan Payne Band