CHICKENFOOT KICKS ASS

The last planned show of the summer concert season happened this Friday night at the Fillmore Auditorium in downtown Denver. Headlining the show was Chickenfoot, a new hard rock band led by former Van Halen lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. With him are solo artist Joe Satriani (guitar), Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and former Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony. The band released their self-titled debut album, Chickenfoot, on June 5, 2009, this being part of the tour to promote themselves and the album.


Michael Anthony asserts that the bands name originated from initial jam sessions between Hagar, Smith and himself: "there are three talons on a chicken’s foot and there [were] three of us." Later Anthony stated: "it was just supposed to be a bullshit name that we’d used for a while, and then [when] the rumours spread about the band, everybody used that name so we thought, "fuck it, let’s call it Chickenfoot" - it all comes down to the music anyway."


People showed up early for the sold out show, a line snaking around the block, waiting for the doors to open at 7 PM. Those people wanting to purchase alcoholic beverages waited in a second line to get ID'ed and tagged. Not me, as I was serving myself.



Opening for Chickenfoot were Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, a bluesy rock sound that really got the audience going. In June 2009, Joe Satriani described Davy as his "new favourite modern-day bluesman" in a Playlist article in the Sunday Times.

The place really began rocking when Chickenfoot took the stage. Sammy once again proved why he such a great front man with his down to earth style, a true love for what he's doing and his appreciation of the support of his fans. He sounded great and was all over the stage, enjoying every minute of it with his band members. Chad was the crazy man that set the beat. Michael still knows how to lay down the groove and provide backup vocals. Joe is a great guitar player with a sound that really made the songs pop. Watch out Eddie!

I was just a few heads from the edge of the stage with great views of the action. These general admission shows in small venues are the best because its easy to get in real close. Drum sticks were flying through the air into the audience, guitar pics following. Although packed in a crowd up front, there was plenty of room for me to dance to the music (or the people around me moved away from this crazy dude!). By the end of the show I was drenched with sweet from the heat of the crowd and my dancing to their great sound. As always, I was very enthusiastic when it came to cheering the band on. The people around me were probably thinking "WTF!" at my very loud support. I don't feel sorry for the people standing in front of me.

It's always a let down when the band takes its final bow and the lights are turned on. Fortunately I've figured out how much tequila is needed to put me at the edge and safely bring me back before the end of the show. No memory lapse. Getting home was no problem and I was in bed by 1 AM.

Although not the Denver show, here's a sample of what it was like. Download Chickenfoot's August 10, 2009 show in St. Paul Minnesota:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GCQILCNK

A KILLING AT RED ROCKS

Second show of the week as I wind down the summer concert season. Attending with me were my daughter (15 y.o.) and son (12 y.o.), the first enjoying the show, the second having to be forced to attend, probably preferring to stay home and play video games. I suspect he'll appreciate the occasion at a later time in life. I drove home from work, picked them up and we drove west to the foothills where Red Rocks amphitheater is located.

One of the best concert venues available . Seating is located between a pair of cliff walled rock formation jutting up into the sky, a natural amphitheater. The seating faces east overlooking the lights of Denver. Half way through the show the orange moon rose above the eastern skyline.

First up was Broken Wreckords, someone I had never heard of before. An ok warm up to the main act, the sun setting and the sky turning to darkness. But everyone here was waiting in anticipation for the main show. This was a good opportunity to start getting stoked up, the tequila slowly taking effect.

Sean Kennedy writes:

The Killers are synth-pop chameleons. Though possessing their own sound in lead singer Brandon Flowers’ powerful voice, they wear their influences proudly as devotees of the Cars, Morrissey, Bowie, the Beatles, Pet Shop Boys, U2 and Queen. Bowie, in fact, was quoted after seeing them live as “…having just witnessed the history of rock and roll in one show.” A compliment — however, embedded in it may have been a jab at the Killers’ mastery of incorporating influences into their sound.

Flowers took a few minutes to catch his breath, exclaiming, “We’ve been spending time at sea level, I’m feeling it up here!” He proceeded to climb a large rock next to the stage to serenade us with “Bling (Confession of a King).” It was easy to forget about how long it took the band to come onstage during “Somebody Told Me” and “Change Your Mind.” Flowers hit his stride, seemingly adjusting to the altitude on “Mr. Brightside.”

He moved like a boxer, sparring between the microphone stand and the keyboards. During “Help Me Out,” with the crowd chanting the lyrics, “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier,” confetti cannons exploded from the stage, glitter showering over the heads of the first 20 rows. At 10:45 they came back for an encore with “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.”

Hot off the Lollapalooza tour, the Killers were at the top of their game at Red Rocks, a venue that grants magic for some and rips away the veil to reveal the mediocrity of others. Watching the orange half-moon rise above the stage halfway through the show, it was clear the Killers were among the former.

Read the full review here, along with some great photos from the show:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2009/09/11/live-review-the-killers-red-rocks-amphitheatre/

The Killers put on a great performance, being disappointed only when the music came to an end after their encore. They are definitely one of my favorite bands of the day!

WEEZER AND BLINK 182 ON THE GREEN

The summer concert season continues, this week being the climax with three concerts planned. The weekend was spent masking doors/windows/gutters and then painting the new siding on the front of the house. It took longer than I anticipated due to the fact I'm burning out on the project and afternoon rain showers always seem to interrupt what I'm doing. In a couple weeks I should have the trim painted, officially ending the summer residing project. I can't wait!

Sunday night was spent with my daughter at Fiddlers Green, an open air amphitheater located in a suburb south of Denver. Four acts were scheduled this evening, the first of which I don't know the name of because they were on for only a half hour while the people streamed into the amphitheater to find their seats. The second act was Taking Back Sunday, an American rock band that originally came out of Long Island, NY. I recognized a few of their songs, but their main purpose was to warm up the audience for the two main acts to follow.

Weezer was up next, the alternative rock band out of California that began their musical career back in 1992. I really like their sound and regretted being too drunk to see their whole show last time they came around years ago. Not this time. Although tequila was available, I made sure to pace myself such that when they hit the stage in their white jump suits, I was primed and dancing in the isles! Although I had a ticketed seat, I spent most of the second half of the show in the aisle where there was ample room to groove to the music. I was loving it!

The last act of this nights concert was Blink 182, another rock/punk band out of California that also formed in 1992. I love their high energy sound, having played it numerous times on the truck stereo during my winter "party on the pass" on nights before a ski day. Their music is one sure fire way of getting pumped up. They also put on a fabulous performance, keeping me dancing for the remainder of the evening. Many enthusiastic fans in the audience. A great show headlining two of my favorite bands.

1995 JACKPOT

A busy two weeks, much of it spent recovering from the flu that effectively took me out last weekend and most of the previous week. The usual chills, weakness, aches and pains. No H1N1 swine flu virus. For that I needed to have chest pains and be vomiting. Better luck next time.

I checked an old website and found out they had posted a bunch of new bootleg recordings from the Sammy Hagar era, most from 1995, a couple from 1993, one from 1988. These are all recordings that are relatively "new" in that they are not listed on the Van Halen bootleg discography website. It was like I hit a gold mine because the 1995 Balance tour shows are some of my favorite. Unfortunately for the band it was a time of doubt (they were being eclipsed by bigger names of the time) and paranoia (Eddie was drinking again, and was very suspicious of Sammy, not unlike what happened to Diamond Dave just before his departure). But you can't tell from the music because they were still performing well as a team.

After spending the week gradually recovering my strength, I was ready for the Friday night show with a new recording that I had downloaded and burned only a few nights earlier. Van Halen at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls (Cleveland), Ohio on July 18, 1995. A very good audience recording of the entire live show. What was different about this show is that they really mixed up the set list, starting off with "Amsterdam" and flipping everything around from that point on. Songs traditionally performed at the end of the show were performed mid-show, some usually performed in the beginning were thrown in at the end. Made for a unusual but very enjoyable performance. Cuyahoga Falls partied that night!

Their petty deceits

Led by greed and arrogance

There are no heros

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BZF03ZR3