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Maroon 5

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Blacksburg, VA — I guess you could say I was surprised by Maroon 5’s performance last night (11/10/09). At the same time, it was more or less what I expected. Never before have my feelings towards a band changed so many times in one concert. I went to the show with an open mind, ready to get past the female obsessive boy-band stereotype… if they could prove themselves. This was especially true because my father had seen them at Live 8 a few years ago and said they were actually pretty good.

Their first songs were pure bad-assness. The lead singer, Adam Levine, had tattoos on his arms and was making sexually crude jokes most of the time. They topped off the middle of their set with a two minute long epic drum solo. While the drummer, Ryan Dusick, wailed away the band took a knee and watched as he left the audience in awe. I’ve seen my fair share of awesome drum solos done by great drummers (ex: Travis Barker and Mike Portnoy) and this was on par with their work. While he didn’t lift off the stage in a godlike manor, or have a multi-kit drum set, he did an impressive job.

Unfortunately, the solo left Dursick tired. So, while he was backstage recuperating, the band did some of their songs acoustically. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of acoustical guitar songs. Regardless, this is the scheduled intermission in their set, a point made obvious when they started to cover Alisha Keys’ Beautiful. My ears bled for the duration of the song and left me distracted for the remainder of the acoustical songs.

Fortunately, they were able to redeem themselves. Following the acoustical portion of the show, Levine brought up a female audience member to give her his stool (stage prop). When she sat down on the stool, he proceeded to offer her a lap dance. The crowd was roaring with laughter. After singing to her, he gave her a kiss on the cheek which drew an, “Aww,” from the audience.

There were probably two or three girls for every boy which actually surprised me. I thought there would be way less guys at the show. That didn’t stop the girls from creating an ear shattering wail when they were begging for an encore. My ears received more damage in those three minutes between the original set and the encore than they have from all the concerts I’ve ever been to. Considering how often I’ve been standing in front of the speakers at those concerts, that is an impressive feet. I actually had to cover my ears it was so intolerable.

Of course, the band came back out. What I found unusual was that they only performed one song. Granted it was a long and impressive song. The outro sequence was intense and left a great last impression on me.
For a guy looking for rocking songs I’d have to recommend another band, as a general statement. My recommendation would be to download select songs (particularly not the Alisha Keys cover.) The live versions of the song have more solos and are all around more focused on the rock aspect of music where the album version’s will focus more on the romantic hip-hop aspect.

Maroon 5 Setlist And Pictures

Soja At Virginia Polytechnic Institutes’s Gobblerfest

Monday, August 31st, 2009

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.

Tucker Max Serves Up Beer In Hell

Friday, August 28th, 2009

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

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

Tucker Max Autograph