Let us introduce you to 94WYSP's Rock God, Bill Hollis! Check out his blogs below as he keeps us up to date on his experiences throughout the year!
09.26.09 Alice Cooper- click for pics! As soon as Chris told me I was getting these tickets, I started sharpening my eye-liner pencil…you all KNOW that your Rock God LOVES him some Alice! This music is the oatmeal I fed my Rock Monster when I was growing up… I never stopped feeding my Frankenstein, either! His music has naturally evolved, as he has. Well, hell, as we all have.
When Alice started out, in High School, his Dad went to talk to Alice’s (well, then he was Vincent Furnier) English teacher, concerned about this noise his son and friends, a band that called themselves the Spiders, were making. The teacher said—get this—that he should relax, it’s just a ‘phase’. True story. How do I know? I coached the English Teacher’s grandson last year, in baseball. Documentable stuff, gang…
Alice started out as your average, run-of-the-mill alcohol-guzzling Glam rock star, stumbling through life and daring the world to stop the behemoth that he and his band became. During the Christmas leg of his Billion Dollar babies tour, a journalist who was along for the ride to document the circus would dress as Santa, and at the end of the show, would come onstage, flashing the peace sign to the crowd, only to be beaten by the band (Philly apparently LOVED this).
Well, nowadays, Alice is a family man, with 3 kids (one of whom is usually the Nurse Rozetta character who kills Alice nightly), a restaurant, and a new book about his newest addiction, Alice Cooper: Golf Monster. All of this maturity hasn’t taken the edge off of his music; his latest album, Along Came A Spider, documents the story of a serial killer/stalker, who calls himself Spider (hmm, full circle?), killing, taunting the authorities,…ah, the comfort of an Alice set!
We got to the House of Blues early---there is no way in HELL I’m missing any of this show! Now, by listening to our favorite (face it, the BEST) Philadelphia rock station, I knew that Alice had a 28-song set (thanx, Jennifer Reed, for a GREAT interview!), and I was not gonna miss a thing!...As it turns out, there was an opening act…a group called the 5th Avenue Vampires. Original Alice Cooper band member Dennis Dunaway, was the bassist… and that is all I will say. OK, no it’s not. THIS is all I will say: I always liked Dennis---he deserves MUCH better than this band.
That having been said, the roadies doing the set-up for our intrepid hero (or anti-hero, depending on which way you lean on this) spread a full-size curtain over the stage, blocking the set-up itself from prying eyes. Alice’s sets are always elaborate, and this one was no disappointment: hanging letters, spelling out “alice”, dangled from the rafters, and the big screen behind the band had a close-up of Alice’s eyes.
The show opened with an unmistakable guitar riff from Keri Kelli & Damon Johnson ,…it’s –no, wait, it CAN’T be, that’s always Alice’s encore—but it is! Alice OPENED with School’s Out! Man, if that’s the case, this is gonna be an EPIC show! The man they called “Boss” LONG before that guy from my home state comes struttin’ out onto the stage, twirling his walking stick, arrogant in his old school ‘Killer’ tour makeup scheme (dammit, I wore the NEW scheme!). He goes straight into Department of Youth, and the crowd is already so into it, most of them are singing along already. You can smell the adrenaline in the room, and it’s NOT all me! Classic after classic rolls out—I’m Eighteen slides right into Ballad of Dwight Fry, which gives us our first death of the evening—Alice, by guillotine. A very odd moment, when Alice lifts his own head out of the basket, as he goes into Wicked Young Man. Then Alice brought some biscuits back from ’75, his first ‘solo’ LP, Welcome to My Nightmare, stuff I haven’t seen live in a long time—Guilty, and then, from his next album, Go To Hell. After this, he flipped back to the title tune of Welcome to My Nightmare, and stayed with that collection for Cold Ethyl, serenading a ragdoll imitation of Nurse Rozetta (played this tour by Tiffany Lowe, whom we met after the show—more later). We were then treated to the second death of Alice, after Poison—Tiffany comes out of the wings with a LARGE hypodermic, and shoots our boy full of the stuff. The next death, however, is Nurse Rozetta herself, strangled by Alice, with her own stocking (I guess the lesson here is, don’t tease a psycho with a striptease!) Alice is struck with remorse, though, and has a sort of psychotic break…he removes the Nurse’s wig and hat, and, wearing them himself, wanders off to the gallows, singing Only Women Bleed and I Never Cry. As he loops the noose round his neck, though, we find that our intrepid Nurse, previously thought to be dead, is not…and kicks out the trash can Alice is standing on, and bingo, there we have another death…by hanging this time. As the gallows are wheeled off the stage, the rest of the band breaks into a jam featuring riffs from Black Widow, and a killer drum solo by Jimmy DeGrasso.
Alice is brought back to the stage on a 15-foot-tall staircase, with a great jacket that has spider legs attached , as he breaks back into his role as Spider, the title character from his newest album of music, and sings Vengeance Is Mine. Then, after Devil’s Food, from the Alice Cooper Goes To Hell collection, he knows it’s time to vamp for the audience—he throws beads for Dirty Diamonds, then breaks out his sword (the very same that was lost for a short time last tour) loaded with bills for Billion Dollar Babies. Then, one of his classics, and one of my personal faves, Killer…This death was novel, new for Alice---Tiffany (should I be calling her Nurse Rozetta?) and the hooded stage hands stuff our boy into a modern-style device which hearkens to the magician’s trunk—you know, the one they use to skewer an assistant with swords. This one is rigged with a pincushion of blades, reminding this chef of a meat tenderizer. As the song winds down (or up, depending on how one sees it), Nurse pushes the blades into Alice, impaling him for yet another death. As Alice is again wheeled off to magically recoup, the band rips into an excerpt of I Love the Dead, with bassist Chuck Garric leading the crowd in a sing-along. To wrap up the show, they played two more classics, No More Mr. Nice Guy, and Under My Wheels. As the band leaves the stage, you’d have to be insensate if you didn’t notice that they were not the only ones sweating. The rest of the crowd loved it just as much (almost) as I did.
The band comes back to the stage, and, once again, rips into School’s Out,…Alice retakes the stage, with a head-to-toe mirrored tuxedo, hat included. This thing is so shiny, it lets the shuttle astronauts know where the tour is!
So, after the show, we’re on the floor, and who do we meet, but Tiffany Rowe, the girl who replaced Calico Cooper, Alice’s daughter, as Nurse Rozetta. We get the scoop: Calico is in LA, pursuing an acting career (I’m sure you all join me in wishing her well), so Tiffany, being her BFF, AND doing the same kinda thing with other groups, was happy to substitute for her for this tour. After some pictures and autographs for us (and other fans—Tiffany proved to be a very gracious girl—very nice, very professional!), we are headed home with our makeup slightly weathered, completely happy.
As I look back on the show, I can think of 2 things at once…one, I REALLY hope that Dennis Dunaway gets a REAL band—SOON!, and two, I am SO happy that Alice is still doing the things he has done for decades—putting on a show that has the crowd screaming for hours, and talking for months. He has learned over the years to surround himself with amazing talent and skilled craftsmen—none other than Rob Roth, Broadway choreographer (Beauty & the Beast among his credits), did the staging work for this mobile masterpiece. Hell, way back in the day, it was master illusionist The Amazing Randi who taught Alice (and oversaw the trick in person on tour) the gallows. During my reign as Rock God, I have seen guys who would be getting ready to retire in normal jobs (Alice, and Sammy Hagar among them), just blow up audiences as if they were 30 years younger…and I hope they keep it up---because I have absolutely NO intention of going quietly into that night myself!
I am off to slip a CD into the stereo,…man, this latest album from Alice is just as addictive as his old stuff! Until my next blog, y’all…keep on rockin’!!
09.19.09 ZZ Top
I can’t tell you guys how much I looked forward to this show….now, yeah, it ain’t HARD rock---matter of fact, it’s downright bluesy--- but when these Tres Hombres from Tejas come to town, you can rest assured that the music will jog memories, get toes to tappin’, heads to noddin’, and voices singin’ along !
Obviously, it’s not the first time I’ve seen these guys… far from it. I must say, though, when I hear that coyote howl, and the lights come up, it’s an exciting set of music I cannot tell you about . This show is something you have to experience at least once in your life.
These musicians set the crowd up nicely for this show—the opening act was southern rock in nature, and the piped-in set as the roadies set up was filled with tasty blues,-- Jelly Roll, and the Fabulous T-Birds. You get a glance at the fierce pumpin’ that will emanate from the stage when you see Frank Beard’s drum kit—all tricked out with skulls, and HUGE…this fella has been the drive behind ZZ Top’s sound for their entire time together. That’s right, the SAME three guys, together for over 3 decades… Dusty Hill on bass, Billy Gibbons on guitars, and Frank Beard (who chooses to wear his beard in his name, as opposed to his face) bangin’ on the drums.
We all recall the videos from the LPs cut by ZZ Top in the 80s—starring Frank’s car (and YES, I replaced my long-ago worn out ZZ keychain!), and a lot of attractive women. I guarantee you all, these three can reproduce every sound from all their albums of songs, without any help from any backup singers or additional musicians. And, in this show, they went WAAAAY back in their catalogue of hits—this was not all just a rewarmed set of stuff made popular by MTV. They also spoke of—and played –music by a man they met ‘back in the early days’, who took them ‘around the world’, Jimi Hendrix. I was absolutely sated by the time they were done,… folks around us were all singing along at one time or another—one girl even pulled out some “big black frames” when the band broke into ‘Cheap Sunglasses’ --- and there were smiles everywhere as concertgoers were washed over with some of the Texas-bluest rock we grew up with… we may have stood in A.C.,…but our heads were in Mississippi (ZZ fans all know what I mean here)!
Other than the real nice feeling we left with, I wanted to impart one more tidbit of info with y’all,…I’m one of the people who hang out after the show, trying to get any little tidbits of paraphernalia I can from the crew taking the stage down,…picks, sticks, or a playlist. I went on up (didn’t really have far to go---we were close enough that, given enough time, I could have counted the hairs in Dusty Hill’s beard!), and asked a dude for the playlist. He looked at me as if I had 3 heads. “These guys don’t use playlists, man!” …Think about that. A set of short little ditties, lasting over an hour by quite a bit, and these guys didn’t even need to look down onto a paper taped to the stage, OR talk to each other between songs, to know what came next. Smooth as silk, this show was, too---a testament to how tight these guys are. Next up on the blogsite, another of my personal faves—all you folks who paid attention to the contest I won to get this gig from the outset will know who I’m talkin’ about, when I say that I consider the next show to be by a guy whose music I consider to be my personal “oatmeal”,…I truly grew up with this guy’s stuff, and ate it all up with a spoon! So, until next week—Love, peace, and Cheesesteak grease! –Oh, and do drop by the Adelphia, in Deptford NJ this coming Friday, if you can’t be in AC with me for the aforementioned show, to see Danny Bonaduce and his crew (which includes one of the hardest-working guys at WYSP—I mean, he’s everywhere!--- Metro!), when they conduct the next Neighborhood Hotties Contest. I was there this past Friday, when Metro & a couple of Extreme Teamers found six tasty girls to be in the contest. Hope you make it to one venue or the other--- rock yer weekend with WYSP!
09.05.09 Motorhead
Well, now, listeners, this was a bit of a conundrum, the Station gave me: tickets to Motorhead, AND tickets to Alice In Chains, both on Saturday night. How do you choose here? I was given the Motorhead tix a while ago, and was tasting the lyrics for a while. Then, AIC tix showed up in a pile (yeah—a PILE … it’s good to be the Rock God!) given me more recently by the benevolent Chris Johnson Jr—Promo Director of WYSP. So, as the date looms ever closer, I ask my significant other if she’d have a ‘druther’ (as in “ Ah druther go see them there folks!”),…she gives me that answer ALL men love to hear---“It’s up to you” – a double–edged sword for a later discussion.
So, I stood, tickets in hand,…deciding. Decision made, I called a friend. A friend from right here in South Philly, who helped me immeasurably in the contest, AND got me all wired into the RollerGirls of Philly. I asked that friend if she’d like tickets, she said yes, and I, being a benevolent Rock God, delivered…I gave my bud Val the Alice In Chains tickets. Valerie, I hope you had a great time, and a wonderful break from the boys!
Now, before you AIC fans go all apoplectic, and rave about a Rock God who’s lost his Godly marbles, let me explain my choice. It was simple, when I came right down to it….I stood, wondering how I would make the choice, when Image Spot Guy for the station gave me the answer, right outta my speakers…”….94WYSP—the Rock You GREW UP WITH!” I like both bands, a LOT. But grew up with? Narrowed at once to Lemmy and the lads.
So, it was off to Atlantic City! Now, last time we were here, it was the most wonderful of experiences…swept right in, no purse checks or patdowns, for Chickenfoot. As we got to the door guy this time, however, he decided to go all crazy on us---I can’t have a chain attached to my wallet. …WHAT? He explains that it’s a SAFETY concern. Yep—while I was allowed to go into the same room for another band just a little bit earlier in the season, it was suddenly as if I would wield my wallet chain as some sort of a weapon….Of course…of course! While It was OK to have a wallet chain while listening to ‘Down the Drain’, I may have a psychotic break if I wear the same wallet while hearing ‘Killed By Death’…. Needless to say, the Rock God was not deterred….just met up with one of the vendors, and slipped him my wallet chain. I got it back once I was inside. Take THAT!!
Well, once I calmed down and procured a cold beverage, I was about to experience something new (for me anyway) at the HOB…an upstairs seat. I had no clue where the heck I was goin’---I don’t go upstairs, I go to the lip of the stage!--- so a nice usher guy the size of the left side of Marty Mornhinweg’s O Line showed us our seats. We arrived a bit too late for the opening band, but did catch some of the rockabilly stylings of Rev. Horton Heat. It was interesting, to hear a rockabilly band that, by their own admission, wrote songs ‘inspired by Motorhead’…nice stuff.
Then it was time to reveal the Coat of Arms that is Motorhead’s, and bring on Lemmy! The crowd was MORE than ready---moshing broke out, and crowd surfing kept Security pretty busy (I could not tell whether wallet chains were used)…one enterprising individual waited until the guy covering stage left flank was distracted by a mosh fight in front of him to casually trot up and mount the stage. It took four intrepid Security folks to wrestle him off, and Lemmy watched, entertained, but did not break stride or song. ON this concertgoer, I’m fairly certain I DID see a wallet with a chain…wow, ol’ Doorman was right---wallet chains lead to bad behavior at Motorhead shows. Who knew…
I personally, however, refrained from acting badly…when an inconsiderate dude in front of us decided that all of us behind him spent money to come to Atlantic City to see his BACK by standing for the duration of the show, I did not act as my first instinct (wallet chain-driven?) screamed, and punch him in the back of the head. I moved my seat, and met a charming fella named Javier, from California. He had gone to great pains to hand draw a flag with the dragon portion of the coat of arms, --and had evacuated the fire-ravaged California, to come to Jersey to see Lemmy. Smart move, if ya ask me.
Well, when all is said and done, did I feel as if I made a bad decision? No, heck no--- Phil (Campbell, the guitarist) was stellar as always, and Mikkey Dee’s drum solo was a thing of beauty. Lemmy was – well, Lemmy! I wear my Motorhead shirt proudly. But I did have a flashback to a train of thought I recall having way back when…maybe it was the fact that one of the opener was called Nashville Pussy, but I remember, back in the day, mentioning to one of my buds (hey, Butch, I know you’re out there somewhere!) ,…I wonder, was Lemmy inspired by Ted Nugent in his youth? I can hear strains of ‘Stranglehold’, and ‘Yank Me, Crank Me’, in some of Motorhead’s work….give it a listen—I think you’ll hear it, too, next time you crank Lemmy up. Make it soon, y’all—this is, after all, the Rock we grew up with! I’ll prove it, by leaving a sample here, of my 9-year-old’s fave song by Motorhead…. Until next time, loyal fans---Love, Peace, and Cheesesteak grease!
08.22.09 Chickenfoot
Man, I’ve been waiting all summer for this show (ask anyone who watched us plan our vacation…),--yeah, it’s the THIRD time I’ve seen this group in a very short time, so what’s the big deal? The big deal is, this group hasn’t been around very long—as a group. Their pedigree, however, is a long and stellar one,… the drumbeat behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chad Smith; the thunderous bassline of Van Halen, Michael Anthony; a guitarist & front man par excellence, founding father of Montrose, and the guy who also founded (and later sold) Cabo Wabo Tequila, Sammy Hagar; and last, but not least, a guitar GENIUS, a virtuoso—instructor to Steve Vai, and Surfer with Aliens, Joe Satriani. Together, over a poker game one night, they decided to jam together, and the glorious result was an album of songs that are catchy, fun, and instantly a great live show, when put together.
This band is doing things differently, right from the get-go,-- there was no big press release, no ads pushing the music down our throats... so the whole groundswell of fanatic following (yes, both my gf & I are ‘Chickenheads’, …shirt-wearing Fan Club members) has been word-of-mouth. Well, yeah, they DO have a clever website, where they talk about the way they came together, and the way the songs were written---they even have the amazing Capt “Sully” Sullenberger (the pilot who did the water landing in the Hudson, you’ll recall) throwing up a thumbs-up and yelling ‘Oh! Yeah!’ in the vid for the song of the same name. I’m sure that somewhere out there, there is some Chickenhead who bought a Smart car (the FourTwo), because they use one incessantly in their vids and such (go to chickenfoot.us, and you’ll see what I mean—these guys are having some genuine FUN!!). But it amazes me, as someone who’s followed music for as long as I have, the way these guys can PACK a house full of fans, and in RAPID fashion. If you didn’t get tickets QUICKLY, you don’t get ‘em …PERIOD. (…Right, Jen?)
At any rate, these guys have been a band for LESS than a year. I am in the minority, having enjoyed them live three times (once in the Fillmore in NYC, the very next night right here at the TLA, and, of course, Aug 22, in AC, at the House of Blues.) When Chris Johnson, the poor guy at the station who has to tolerate me for a WHOLE year, gave me these tickets, I immediately called my gf: it was time to AGAIN redo our vacation itinerary (we camp a lot, and originally were gonna go thru Cleveland, ‘cause the ‘Foot gave a FREE show, at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame—we later found that the ducats would be given first to the Chickenheads of Ohio ,…so we changed the plans.) ! Chris passed off the tix, I called my girl,…and we made sure that we were home for the show on the 22d. AND, we wanted to get there early, to make sure that we were up front. Having seen them twice, we knew where we wanted to stand.
Now, yes, there was an opening act—the act in NYC and at the TLA was a one-man affair, a nice enough fella who played guitar and sang. Met him, spoke to him,…can’t recall his name. Not important here, because here, at the HOB, the opener was Davey Knowles, who brings a band…and a really nice sound. For a youngster, Knowles can wail…a very promising young guitarist. If you get a chance, see him. You will not be disappointed.
While we didn’t get to AC as early as we wanted to (here’s a tip: if you get there early enough to eat first, go to the House of Blues Restaurant. No reservations needed: go there, eat, and ask the server for a ‘Skip-The-Line’ pass…you get a pass, where you can go to the head of the line upstairs. Cool, or what? Who loves ya, y’all---the Rock God , that’s who!) , it didn’t really matter—we met the couple we wanted to meet up with (someone who went to the TLA show—AND is also an alum of my HS back in NJ!), and went up immediately. The line was not TOO big yet---and, when the doors opened, there was none of that stop & search crapola you always get …nope, we were all just let right in. So, after staking out our ‘turf’—a spot just left of center stage, where we knew Satch & Sammy would spend a lot of time, we got our beverages, and waited. Speculation was rife: having seen them twice, and knowing that they had only played the Chickenfoot stuff—no VH, RHCP, …Aliens had not surfed the first two shows. But, we thought, that was during their abbreviated “Getting our Chicken Shit Together” tour, as they called it--would the second leg prove different? After Davey Knowles and his guys wowed us, we’d know.
The lights went down as the opening strains of Avenida Revolution began to blare…well, the opener is the same…as is the one thing we were counting on to be the same—Joe was dead in front of us, and, if you look at the pix, you’ll understand how I SWEAR that he looked dead at me, SEVERAL times, from behind those ever-present shades of his. He and Sammy are both big on shades, it seems—never take ‘em off. I could care less—doesn’t affect the music. And OH, the MUSIC!! Now, I read a review in the NY Post, after the show they did just before AC, in the Beacon Theater in NYC. The reviewer was out on this tangent where he griped that these guys were not producing any CLASSIC, ICONIC music—that the tunes would be forgotten. If he’d taken a moment to look around him, he’d have realized that the fans attending were there for the same reason the band was: to have a FUN night, with kickass rock music done right. These four aren’t in this for money—hell, Sammy made , like, 80 MILLION when he sold the tequila company…they do this because they have FUN. And as for the music not being remembered---when we marry, my gf & I are making a CD of ‘our songs’..and ‘Learning to Fall’ is one of those. Before you ask, YES. I did write a rebuttal to the reviewer’s article—and I was NOT alone in my disdain for the reviewer’s opinion!
Well, much to our surprise, they did shuffle the order of the songs played, so we wondered: would the end be the same—an encore that included a cover of Deep Purple’s ‘Highway Star’, and the band’s rendition of the first song Sammy ever wrote, for Montrose, ‘Bad Motor Scooter’? As the show ended, it seemed that this would be the case; Sammy came out to the lip of the stage, and sat down, and played (for, like, the second time the whole show he actually touched his axe) Bad Motor Scooter. As the crowd showed their love & appreciation, the band suddenly broke into riffs of ‘My Generation’, by The Who…wow! To finish the show, Chad proceeded to trash his drum kit, a la Keith Moon. Chad had one helluva night, tossing more drumstix to a crowd than I have ever witnessed---and I’ve seen Corky Laing, with Leslie West, make a living at it! …Yep, I got one. Not a rare thing this evening, but very nice icing on the cake.
If you’re gonna be stupid enough to get into a conversation with me, you will eventually hear me go on about Chickenfoot…and if there were EVER a must-see show---if EVER you wanna go see a show and enjoy the music, and just have a BLAST – get to a Foot show. The joy that these guys have, playing with one another for an appreciative crowd,..ya gotta wonder: who’s winning the card games? Listen to some Chickenfoot… I can nearly guarantee you’ll be happy, even if you’ve never heard them before!...Oh, and tell the guys at 'YSP you wanna have some access here—so you can get to give me some feedback of your own—you know, spread yer own brand of Cheesesteak grease! …Hope y’all will drop by again! Peace…
07.19.09 Crue Fest 2
As everyone in the area knows, yesterday was the day for CrueFest 2, the long-awaited, heavily-hyped show at the Susquehanna Bank Center, over in my Home State of NJ!! A big, fat ticket, with a boatload of bands. Well, we had to wait for the sitter for Nick, our youngest, who didn’t want to go (what did he know?....Hmm…)
We arrived a bit after 6, and immediately found WYSP’s own Jennifer Reed, and some of the staff & Extreme Teamers (See, Justin? You get mentioned!) in the parking lot. After some light banter, we went inside, because the real meat of the show was coming to the stage, and we’d already missed enough! Of course, once inside, we stopped at the facilities, where the station had a booth set up, and we ran into Spike …Yeah, well, imagine Spike missing a show like this---doesn’t happen!
Our seats were on the lawn, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way, for a show this long…a chance to stretch out and relax between the acts, y’know?
Well, the act on stage when we arrived was Theory of a Dead Man (didn’t know dead folks had anything on their minds!). I gotta say, these guys sounded really good—the lead singer had a rapport with the crowd, and a witty repartee. Their last song got the people around us up…then, as they left the stage, the PA erupted with the theme song from Golden Girls. I don’t know what it says about the crowd, that they danced to this, too...
Next up was Godsmack, and in order to not miss any of it, I headed down for beverages and a bathroom break. Ran into Jen again, this time in the company of her boyfriend Randall (Jen called him her ‘arm candy’—a very cool dude, no matter what). I invited them to join us on the blanket, and as we made our way to the lawn, we run into a family of loyal listeners who had been with Jennifer in the parking lot. I’m introduced to them and the conversation begins. They are Leslie & Erica, and they have their kids with them…kids who, like ours, know the groups, AND the words to the songs! The discussion goes on, and it becomes known that I am an ordained minister. Well, that’s all Erica needs to hear—she’d LOVE to repeat her vows, with WYSP’s Rock God officiating! …So, with their friend acting as best man (you’ll see him in the fotos—he’s the one holding bunneh ears over Erica’s head!), I give them an impromptu wedding, with promises to love, honor, and ROCK !!
Back to the review of the talent onstage—Godsmack had a very fine show—pyro in all the right places, a nice tight set, and the crowd in the palms of their hands. I am so glad these guys were on the card!! I know I’m not the only one who will be saying this today---Godsmack made the whole show!
I like shows like these, because as you look around you, you can see the generations joining in the fun—we had a guy next to us on the lawn, with 2 young boys, diggin’ the music and rasslin’ between the acts…shows like this are real family fun, especially when the young ones can see live, the acts who play the tunes they listen to with their folks.
Which brings us to the headliners, the Crue themselves. This particular tour celebrates the anniversary of the release of one of their best-selling LPs, Dr. Feelgood. To commemorate this, the band played the whole album, start to finish, in order. Like many LPs of the day, there was, uh,…some turkey served up with the rest of the meat, if ya know what I’m sayin’…we had to hear ALL of it, good or bad. Of course, this WAS a Motley Crue show, so there were scantily-clad women to help the audience stomach the less palatable tunes.
The album over, the lights went down…and the band remains on stage. Huh. Then, a long repetitive bass drum resonates in the speakers. Again, and again. …And again. Again. …You get the idea. Now, gang, I have been nothing if not honest in my reportings thus far…and staunch fans may put this down to ‘first show of the tour’ kinks that need to be worked out… but I’ve seen about enough. I look to my gf, and she says the words that prove we are truly meant to be together—the exact words I was thinking--- “You wanna get outta here?” I did indeed, and we do. We join the THRONG. And, my friends, I MEAN throng—we were not the only rock-and-roll fans who’d seen enough. I truly feel that even if they’d let beer sales continue throughout, people woulda left. There just woulda been a bigger line at the bathrooms on the way.
The best thing (OTHER than Godsmack’s performance) of the whole night happened on our way out. We had parked in a lot adjacent to the center, at the end of the River Line’s tracks. When we first arrived, there was a sign that said ‘PARKING--$20’. While we did see a guy with the prerequisite agency’s shirt on, he didn’t bother to take our cash—and, as we left, there was noone to take it, either…cha-ching!! Man, I love NJ!!
Now, guys, the next show I’ll be seeing is on Wednesday the 22d,…Queensryche, in Wilmington, DE. If this show is anything like the one we recently saw at the HOB in AC, I’ll be happy with live music again. Until then, y’all…love, peace, and good ol’ PHILADELPHIA cheesesteak grease!!
07.11.09 The Cult
I’ve been looking forward to this how for quite a while…since I got the tickets from Chris (Johnson, of the station), in fact. I had never seen the Cult, and was thrilled to see them back together.
Now, there has always been a bit of tension between the lead singer, Ian Astbury, and the lead guitarist Billy Duffy, and I wanted to see it played out---they’ve played together before while angry—had they resolved anything? Well, we’ll see.
When we arrived, we were kinda surprised by the sparse crowd. Maybe it’d fill up before the Cult hit the stage? Ha!—that doesn’t matter to me—gives me time to get a beer, and find a good place to stand! We camped in the center, not far from the stage…the only drawback I saw was a rather tall fella, snapping photos….might wind up eating his elbow. My gf comes back from the facilities, and tells me she saw Jennifer Reed…of course, I have to say hello! (For those who have never had the pleasure, she truly is that—a pleasure!) I sauntered over, and said hi to her, and her boyfriend, Randall. We chat about the Cult, both saying we really want to see this group, and what will happen, if anything…so, I let them go their way, and make my way back to my own girlfriend: it’s showtime, and questions will be answered.
The rest of the band makes the stage before Ian: I guess he’s gotta make an ‘entrance’. Here he comes, with a swagger, and sunglasses…looks are cast aside quickly for me, because I hear the opening strains of Lil Devil, from the Electric LP, which, in my opinion, was their best effort. I’m immediately swept up in the music, and reminded of the ELBOW….! Geez, he almost took my head off right there in the outset…this guy musta shot, like, 50 pix in the first song ALONE!! The crowd is immediately pumped, and the electricity is palpable in the room. The band goes straight into Electric Ocean, and I’m reminded of Ian’s feverish tambourine work. He really does beat the CRAP out of the thing! …Matter of fact, later in the show, he turns toward the back of the stage, and flips the tambourine out into the crowd. When he starts in with another, I actually SAW pieces of the thing go flying…he abuses them!!
They bring out a few of their earliest, too---Spirit Walker, the Phoenix, Dirty Little Rockstar. But, happily (for me, anyway!), they wrap up with Wildflower and my all-time Cult fave, Love Removal Machine. As the band leaves the stage, and we wait for the encore, I strike up a chat with a young lady (hiya, Stacy!) who says she’s seen Ian thinner (OK, he’s got a bit of a paunch, but for those of you who know me, who am I to talk?) She also says, that the band, when she saw them 2 years back, seemed to be more ‘into it’. Well, the music is tight, in my opinion, but there were those ‘moments’…I think I was looking for them…moments where it seemed that Ian and Billy took pains to not look at one another, or even occupy space near one another. But, as one who likes this band’s records, I was pleased by the sound.
They did indeed return to the stage, and I’m wondering what they will do, --there’s a lot of good stuff still on the table, and, as they did on the aforementioned Electric LP, they have covered other bands. Will they do so?
The whole crowd gets really loud, as the first notes of She Sells Sanctuary waft through the air. This can be an excellent encore! We exhort them on, and for all my money, it looks for a second as if they will kick it out,…
but we are left wanting, as they play just the one song. Well, it’s actually kinda OK for me…they played a lot of the things I remembered fondly, and—sorry, Stacy—they sounded just fine. It was a LOOONG day for us as it was—we had just spent the previous week at Brigantine (for those who don’t know, a small island town just next to AC), but had to leave early on the day of the show. So, we left the AC area in the AM, only to go home to Philly, unpack, and head BACK to AC the same evening! Lotsa miles on the ol’ family car, not to mention the Rock God!! Well, it’s all good, as I really wanted to see this group—and, I walked away with a playlist. I met another fan who had one, and we determined that she had Billy’s (based on the marks on it), and I have Ian’s (based on where it came from on the stage). That’s 2 so far (also got one of Lonesome George Thorogood’s) for my year…they’ll add to the displays we plan on making to commemorate my year as your friendly Neighborhood Rock God !
Next stop for the Rock God, Crue Fest 2 ! Can’t wait! Talk to you all then…Take‘er easy!
04.02.09 Friday the 13th- Return of Carcass!
Thanks to the people who voted at WYSP, I was honored to be present to witness the return to the States by Carcass. This kickoff of the tour had quite a lineup, including a group from Switzerland I am really excited about! But let’s do this in order…
The “Exhumed to Consume II” show opened with Southern Cane, a band that seemed comfortable on the Troc stage (local?), and served well as a warmup.The second group on the card, Psykroptic, got the crowd up quickly as well. The locals know these guys, and I was taken by the title tune for their new album.
The next group was interesting from the get-go-- a set of keyboards set up in conjunction with the drumkit. Hard to describe until the group itself came on. This foursome was a powerplant …if you were in the bathroom when they got there, you didn’t miss a thing: this is the HEAVIEST bass line I have ever witnessed. Had to be—when the drummer was busy with the keyboards, the bass carried the song. There were moments in the arrangement that, were you not were by witnessing it, you would not have missed the drums at all. Man, they were so hot--and this savvy crowd knew it—as soon as I got home, I went straight to their Facebook page. The name is Samael-- don’t misspell it! Love their shirts, too….right now, they have a deal on a shirt, and a CD on sale…I have already ordered mine!
The next band was a 5- man outfit, Suicide Silence. The crowd REALLY knew them, and was up circle kickin’ hard! These guys had a presence on stage, doin’ their Dethklok hair spin, and even tossing in a ZZ Top-like choreography on the edge of the stage.their drummer, I decided, must have, like, Popeye arms up close, ‘cause, man, he was FAST, and didn’t miss a trick! OK, the lyrix were not the tuffest, but these guys, to quote their own song, ‘pulled the trigger, B****’!
Now,to the main chunk o’ meat in this abbatoir. Carcass hits the stage in the United States for the first time in 17 years! Man, just looking back in their history makes you thrilled to be in Philly, and in their company! When they open with classics, you get a chill (well, I did!)…grindrock like it oughta be! Takes me back to the first time I saw these guys,…they opened for Maiden back last century. Ya know, except for the extra space in the waist, these guys were tight as hell. Now, they did do a coupla festivals in the UK before coming here, but they had mid-tour gusto. They did take time to pay respects and tribute to one original member who, according to singer/bassist Jeff Walker, “was in a much better place…England”,-- drummer Ken Owen, who, for health reasons, wasn’t traveling. Very ably replaced by Daniel Erlandsson—the beat goes on for these guys, as they have been confirmed for Bloodstock, in August, following a North American tour.
Now, I gotta go out and replace my old Carcass gear (it don’t fit anymore, wiseasses!),…I hope they get some staying power behind them…Y’all keep your rockin’ shoes on, March ain’t over yet! Until next time,…!
03.12.09 One Night With Queen
So, the station has given me tickets to a show in Sewell, NJ, to see One Night with Queen, a tribute band from the UK, aka Gary Mullen, and The Works. Now, my 9-year-old future stepson, Nick, happens to really dig Queen—his fave band! So, we take advantage of the station’s great two-fer one offer, and take the boys along.
Now, I’m from Central, NJ, so I don’t know South Jersey, so we used the GPS. The thing takes us over into Jersey, and says,’you have arrived’... and we’re at a High School. Looks kinda odd, I mean, a BIG campus, for a high school but, it turns out that the Commerce Bank Arts Center is, indeed, in the school. I guess it's true what they say that you learn something new every day.
Very nice! It's a very large theater, for a High school (sorry, I’ll stop sayin’ that). Our seats are good (again, thx, WYSP, and Jim, one of the employees at the CBAC, who found a pair of seats for the boys right near us!), and the sound system is booming with the music of Queen.
The band hits the stage ON TIME (somebody’s gotta talk to them, yeah?), and sure enough, Gary Mullen has the look; his hair is short, the moustache is there, and he has the costume, the pomp, the strut…and the pipes. My goodness, the pipes! This man can sing his ASS off…but it seems, as he channels Freddie Mercury’s cheek, that he’d rather shake it lasciviously at the audience.
Now, the Works—they are a tight group, have the sound there…but, as with all tribute bands, one is almost instantly making mental comparisons. Any variation in sound, arrangements, etc., is going to alter or edit one’s opinion. The minute I detected a difference in an arrangement, I was trying to force myself to relax, enjoy the show, and consider the talent on their own merits. Let’s just say that that happened early on.
The band did well, once I did that relax thing…the music was Queen, done well. How well? I asked the family afterward for their opinions—more on that later.
It was a joy to hear the music of Queen performed live again, by a group that took it somewhat seriously. Certain problems, however, kept me from taking them seriously. In the middle of Bohemian Rhapsody, for example, the group ALL left the stage during the vocal medley (‘Will you let me go?’ ‘Miss Mill-AH!’…),…what we heard, was the original recording of the song, until such time as the medley was at an end, and the group reassembled at their instruments. An homage? Maybe so, but, good as they were, I saw it as surrender to a sound they knew they could not even come close to reproducing. My Night with Queen was basically a live karaoke band, with a very good lead singer.
So, as I was sayin’ before…I asked my future son Nick how he liked the show, and what our own resident Queen fan had to say? He ws straightforward. “It was OK…they played a lot of the songs that were popular, but not what the fans wanted to hear.” I was intrigued. “Like which songs?”, I asked . His response: “Well, like ‘Bicycle Race’, or ‘You’re My Best Friend’. …Huh. So there ya have it, Philly. My son says,…”Eh…” I say, I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’ll be back at the Troc for Friday the 13th, to see the opening night of the first tour for CARCASS in 17 years!! Can’t wait! So, til then, y’all, Love peace, and cheesesteak grease!
03.13.09 Bleeding Through at the Troc
Well it’s an evening of firsts: my first show as Rock God! and my first show at the Trocadero. I don’t know what to expect, except that it will be a small venue, and, according to the info I had on the headliners, Bleeding Through will be hard & heavy!
My guest this evening was also my ride…my “sister”, a good friend from NJ, and we arrived a few ticks late. Well, a few more than a few-- first, we read the tix wrong for the address (I should bring my readers!), then there was a parking issue. These resolved, we walked in the front door to a virtual wall of sound and 2 guys from the station, John & Bill. They told me about the bands I missed---one from NJ, who was ‘OK’, and a local group (I swear I’ll get better at the names of the groups, OK?), that John said sounded ‘really good—no stage presence, but if ya turned around, they SOUNDED great!'
Having said my hellos, I looked inside, and saw it—the anticipated mayhem of a dancefloor (?) at a metal show. Spastic ninja kicks, flailing arms, linebacker-worthy body blocks. I naturally head up to the bar, instead—I play football on Sundays, thanx.
A shot and a beer later, we settle down to check out the group on stage—a group, I find out later that has done the whole tour with Bleeding Through. They are also from LA, and call themselves When Blood Turns to Black. Interesting theme, if ya think about it. Anyway, my eyes were drawn immediately to the bassist…a SIX-string bass. NOT a Rick Nielsen thing here at all (for those not aware, Nielsen is the lead guitarist of Cheap Trick, known for his 3 and 4-necked axes) …he used ‘em all, and well. The group was tight, and had a nice sound. The guitarist had the ‘Dethklok Hair Swirl’ down to a science! The dancing (?) part of the crowd seemed to dig them too, throwing one another around with renewed vigor.
The next band didn’t move either of us, and my sister stepped out for a smoke. I went to chat with John & Bill, and ran into the singer of the group we liked. He seemed jealous of the fact that we had beer once we were back upstairs. Turns out, that Bleeding Through are Straight Edge, and, in his words, ‘there’s never any money in the hospitality budget for backstage drinks’. I’d have gotten him a beer, too…but he didn’t look like he even shaved yet. More for me.
Finally, the meat of the evening—Bleeding Through hit the stage to a thunderous noise. Now I’m paying strict attention---these maniacs on the dance floor are beating each other to the beat---AND they know the words! I’m rapt…this group is GOOD. Tall, lanky, thrashing through their playlist. A female keyboardist added a gritty backdrop to the scream of the guitars.They were confident, clearly comfortable in the skin of a beloved band. As this, the final leg of a world tour that encompassed Australia and Europe winds down, and they head back to California, one thing is apparent: Bleeding Through takes NO prisoners…just converts. My sister is actively seeking their latest CD. …I may just join her!
Well, there was a bit of an after-party, and both Spike and Gordon showed up, and hung at the bar with us. I wanted to stay longer, but had to bail: A), my ride had to drive back to Jersey, and sobriety was key to her success, and B), I’d snagged an invite for my family to the Philly RollerGirls Roller Derby match vs. Rhode Island on Saturday,…it’s GOOD to be a Rock God! More on the Roller Derby later…for now, ya’ll…Love, Peace, and Cheesesteak grease!
03.11.09 Welcome to the Machine!
As winner of the 94WYSP Rock God contest, I have had this honor/duty bestowed upon me, this blogspace on the HomePage. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to use the first one as kind of an introduction. Your Rock God is Bill Hollis, from South Philly,…a nice neighborhood, if ya ask me. I’m originally from Central NJ, and have come to enjoy this little part of the town—real close to most of the concert venues, which is our main form of entertainment.
I hit town 3 ½ years ago, as a chef…so it was really nice to be close to the Italian Market, ya know? Anyway, nowadays I do most of my cooking out of the house…I’m tryin’ to break into the voiceover biz. My fiancée is a teacher, and we travel in the summer---hard to work in a restaurant, when you always say,”See ya in September!”,---they kinda frown on that sorta crap.
So. Before I begin, or go anywhere with this, really, I want to thank EVERYONE who voted, whether ya voted for me, or not…hey, this was FUN, for everybody (OK, more fun for me than the other 3 finalists)…think of the people you cajoled (harassed!) into voting your way, folks you hadn’t seen, maybe, in a while, y’know? I also wanna thank everyone who voted for ME---these people are probably the HAPPIEST folks in the world. Seein’ as how I won, I will FINALLY shut up!! No second guessing, no buggin’ ‘em (Didja REALLY vote? EVERY day?!)….and, since I’m told that the voting results were close, I’m certain that the rest of the contestants are thankful to their friends and supporters, so, since they don’t have this type of venue, again, thanks to all of you.
Now, for me, the fun begins. I got a phone call from Spike today, and we spoke about Rock Fashion do’s & don’ts. Now, as I get it, my job here, is to enjoy the music available at the local venues, and come here to give an overview and opinion.I hope to do just that---keeping in mind, my opinions are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of WYSP.
Now, gang, it is exactly as I said in my video, and on-air when Danny Bonaduce called me last week…live music is our time out and about, hereabouts, and we take it seriously. Not so serious we don’t have fun,but I hope you’ll come to see the blog opinions herein to be valid enough that you’ll wanna see them.
When does it get real? Funny you should ask---I was down in the Hallowed Halls of our beloved Station on Monday, and received my first SLEW of tickets (I’m so gonna LOVE this gig!!), and the reality starts this Friday, Mar 6, at the Trocadero…the headline group is an outfit called Bleeding Through. Now, I’ve done my homework, so I know what to expect. I hope to actually meet a few of you there…you’ve seen my mug in that video, so don’t be shy! I plan on being a benevolent Rock God, and hope the things I dispense are seen as wisdom. One thing I CAN say is this---I don’t actually know when I’ll be on air next, so if you wanna hear from me, keep yer eyes comin’ back here! I’ll be bloggin’ as review on Saturday. So, until then, Philly---Love, Peace, and Cheesesteak grease!
