Hair Band Friday - 8/30/24

1.  "One in a Million" by Trixter

2.  "Big City Nights" (live) by Scorpions

3.  "To Be With You" (reggae version) by Mr. Big

4.  "Fire and Water" by XYZ

5.  "Keep On Giving Me Love" by Whitesnake

6.  "Lost in Paradise" by Giant

7.  "Magdalaine" by L.A. Guns

8.  "Love in Stereo" by Warrant

9.  "One Man Woman" by Twisted Sister

10.  "Dirty Little Mind" by Jackyl

Retro Video of the Week: "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam

Tonight I'll be seeing Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field, so this week's Retro Video of the Week is the video for "Even Flow," which is obviously one of the band's most iconic songs.  It was the band's second single released off of their debut album Ten -- and two days ago was the 32nd anniversary of the release of the album.  The band had filmed a previous version of a video for the song, but they didn't like how it turned out, so they scrapped it and decided to do a concert footage video instead.  

Filmed at Moore Theatre in Seattle in January 1992, the uncensored version starts out with Eddie Vedder telling the director of the video Josh Taft (who was also a friend of the band), "This is not a TV studio, Josh! Turn those lights out, it's a fucking rock concert!"  The footage in the video itself is not just from the band's performance of "Even Flow" that night, as you can see from guys in the band playing different guitars and Vedder wearing a hat at one point and not during others.  But that matters not.  The exposure on MTV helped break the band, and by the end of May 1992, Ten was in the Top 10 on the Billboard album chart, helping usher in the grunge era.  Enjoy the footage of a band on the precipice of stardom.

Hair Band Friday - 8/23/24

1.  "Breaking Up a Heart of Stone" by Bang Tango

2.  "Nice Boys" (live) by Guns N' Roses

3.  "Grinder" by Judas Priest

4.  "The Sun Also Rises in Hell" by XYZ

5.  "How Many Lies" by Wildside

6.  "Nice on Ice" by Kix

7.  "Breakout" by Bon Jovi

8.  "She's Got Everything" by White Lion

9.  "Shadow Rider" by King Kobra

10.  "On With the Show" by Mötley Crüe

Retro Video of the Week: "The Warrior" by Scandal

Forty years ago today, American rock/pop band Scandal released their debut (and final) full-length album, Warrior.  The band formed in New York in 1981, and they had released an eponymous EP in 1982 that featured the delectable new wave ditty "Goodbye to You" -- which got decent rotation on MTV despite not being a major hit (#65 on the Billboard Hot 100).  Interesting rock and roll history tidbit:  Jon Bon Jovi briefly played guitar in the band in 1983 before deciding to do his own thing with his own band.

Anyway, Warrior was a pretty big success, reaching #17 on the Billboard album chart and eventually going platinum in the U.S.  Much of that success can be attributed to the title track, a catchy rock song with an earworm chorus.  It was written by two veteran songwriters, Nick Gilder and Holly Knight.  Gilder had topped the Canadian charts in 1976 with his glam rock band Sweeney Todd, before going solo and hitting #1 in the U.S. and Canada with "Hot Child in the City" in 1978.  Prior to "The Warrior," he had written songs for Pat Benetar, Bette Midler, Toni Basil, and Kix.  Knight, who is now in the Songwriting Hall of Fame, had already written such hits as "Love is a Battlefield" for Pat Benatar and "Better Be Good to Me" by Tina Turner, both of which won Grammys, as well as "Obsession," which was a hit for Animotion.  She would go onto write "Rag Doll" by Aerosmith, "The Best" by Bonnie Tyler and later Tina Turner, "Never" by Heart, and many other songs for artists including Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Cheap Trick, KISS, among many others.

So it was no surprise that "The Warrior" was a big hit.  It went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Canadian pop chart, and #6 in Australia.  By topping the pop chart in Canada, it gave Nick Gilder the distinction of being the first Canadian artist who had a #1 song on the Canadian charts as the lead singer of a band, as a solo artist, and as a songwriter for another performer.

The video is a classic, with various weird beings dancing and kind of maybe fighting in a post-apocalyptic dock yard.  I have to assume Double Dragon was directly influenced by this video.

Tuesday Top Ten: Lollapalooza 2024 Edition

Though it's a couple weeks later than I usually like to post my Lolla recap, it's never too late to talk about the best music fest around.  I spent most of the first four days of August in Grant Park for my 19th Lollapalooza, and it was another wonderful time.

This was definitely the hottest Lolla front to back that we've had in a while.  It was in the 80s to low 90s and humid most of the weekend, but it only drizzled a little bit Thursday night.  Otherwise, any rain was overnight or in the mornings, but thankfully it wasn't so much that the fields became too sloppy.

All four days, there were bands or artists I wanted to see early, so I was in Grant Park by 12:30 p.m. each day.  I once again skipped the aftershows this year because the only ones I would have wanted to see were at venues far enough away from me that it would have meant I probably would have gotten home close to 3 a.m.  You can't be doing that shit when you're in your mid 40s and need to get up early enough to make it back down to Grant Park by lunchtime.

We had a good crew of Lolla regulars, as well as a friend from college, his wife, and their teenage daughter, who were all first timers.  Jester and I took the kids on Friday because the girls wanted to see SZA.  And of course, just like every year, I randomly ran into people I knew every day and made new "festival friends" at shows or in cocktail lounges throughout the weekend, including a group of Kiwis in their late 40s/early 50s who were eating mushroom paste from a ziplock bag (psilocybin, not porcini) and dumbfounded that they couldn't easily score coke at the festival.  They also had VIP wristbands and thought the regular cocktail lounge was a VIP lounge.  I'm just sorry I didn't ask them about the Toothbrush Fence.

Thursday was definitely the most crowded I've ever seen Lolla on a Thursday, which was apparently due to Chappell Roan, who played on the south end at the T-Mobile stage from 5-6 p.m. that day.  It was apparently the largest crowd for a non-headliner in Lolla history.  The overhead shots are crazy.  We walked down that way because we were going to see some of Kesha's set (she was playing right after on the other stage on the south field), but the crowds were so massive that we turned right around and avoided the south end the rest of the day.

Overall, I thought the lineup was decent, but not great.  As I did last year, I made a Spotify playlist with three songs from each non-EDM artist and listened to that for the week or so before Lolla.  That at least helped me figure out where the rock and roll was -- and it was, for the most part, earlier in the day.  Hence, my early arrivals every day.  There was an overabundance of solo singer-songwriter types, and I'm not sure why.  I have nothing against it, but it's just not always great "festival music."  There wasn't enough rock, plain and simple.  And then Sunday, a few bands must have had to cancel or something because the schedule got shifted.  For someone who prints out the daily lineups and highlights who he wants to see -- which is really the best way to get a global view of how your day is going to go -- this could have been a disaster.  Thankfully, the information tent had a pen I could use to write in new set times and put arrows on the sheet for bands switching stages.

I again very much enjoyed the cocktail lounges, which are always a nice 21-and-over respite from the masses.  They added one next to the BMI stage (which is usually my favorite stage anyway) that used to be a GA+ lounge.  It had karaoke, which was a nice bonus.  Another great addition to the cocktail lounges this year:  hot dog carts.  Fucking brilliant.

The Cutwater canned margarita continues to be the best bang for your buck, even at $16 a pop, as it's basically the alcohol equivalent of a double at $11 less than what a double cocktail will cost you.  Plus, you can still bring cans outside of the cocktail lounges, but not the cups with the mixed cocktails -- though you can just pour those into a water bottle and the fuzz is none the wiser.  

For the third year in a row, I was severely disappointed with the craft beer garden.  They moved it to a new location, near the Perry's stage (i.e., the EDM stage), as if suburban teenagers vaping and tripping on Molly care about craft beer.  And the beer selection was once again piss poor, with the same beers they've had the last few years and only a couple options that weren't available at the "regular" bar tents all over the grounds.  I will say that the addition of Hoop Tea -- a hard iced tea -- to the standard bar menu across the fest was a pleasant surprise, especially with the heat.  Quite refreshing.

But at the end of the day, no matter how many nits I had and no matter how much it felt like someone hit me in the lower back with a 2x4 when I woke up Monday morning, I had a fantastic time.  As always, I added many bands and artists to my list of "followed" bands on Facebook, so that I know when they might be coming back to town.  And even with the strangely overrepresented signer-songwriters at this year's Lolla, there was also rock, pop, hip hop, rap, punk, disco, soul, metal, alt rock, alt pop, folk, comedy rock, glam, country, R&B, indie rock, and everything in between.  Only after compiling the list below am I realizing how much I packed into four days.

Here are the bands and artists for which I saw two or more songs over the course of the weekend:

Thursday:  Been Stellar, quannnic, Chance Emerson, Fleshwater, Blondshell, Goldie Boutilier, Riovaz, brenn!, d4vd, Wolves of Glendale, Gioli & Assia, Walter the Producer, adan diaz, Hozier

Friday:  The Stews, sundial, Geese, Militarie Gun, Wilderado, McKenna Grace, Tiny Habits, Sexyy Red, The National Parks, Kevin Abstract, SZA

Saturday:  Brigitte Calls Me Baby, Friko, Hayes Warner, Infinity Song, Happy Landing, Destroy Boys, Quarters of Change, Natalie Jane, TV Girl, Tommy Newport, Sam Nelson, Killer Mike, Hippo Campus, The Killers

Sunday:  Kyle Dion, Scarlet Demore, Hanabie., Good Kid, Post Sex Nachos, Huddy, Nico Vega, Carmen DeLeon, Vince Staples, The Last Dinner Party, Conan Gray, Pierce the Veil, Two Door Cinema Club, blink-182

Here are my top ten shows that I saw over the course of the weekend (in chronological order):

Honorable Mention:  quannic, The Stews, Militarie Gun, Destroy Boys, Killer Mike, Kyle Dion, Nico Vega

1.  Been Stellar (Thursday, IHG Hotels and Resorts stage)

The weekend started off with a rocking bang, with New York's Been Stellar playing early Thursday afternoon.  I'd describe them as '90s alt-rock-influenced, and they brought energy to those of us sweating in the shadeless Grant Park sun.

2.  Wolves of Glendale (Thursday, BMI stage)

Comedy rockers Wolves of Glendale were highly entertaining.  On first listen on the Spotify playlist leading up to Lolla, I wasn't really paying attention to the lyrics, but I thought the songs were good.  Then I actually noticed that they had a song called "Vapin' in Vegas," which I thought was strange, and I figured out that they're funny.  A highlight of the Lolla set was when they asked the crowd for suggestions of a song by one band and the name of another band.  The song someone shouted was "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba, and the band someone else shouted was blink-182.  The band then improvised a version of "Tubthumping" in the style of blink-182. 

3.  Hozier (Thursday, Bud Light stage)

I have never seen Hozier before, and he's an artist who I don't really follow, but when I hear his songs, I generally like them.  My friend and I wanted from the cocktail lounge at the end of the field that faces the stage because we secured some chairs under a tree that shielded us from the rain.  Hozier gave a soulful, rocking performance that we enjoyed, even from several hundred feet away.

4.  Brigitte Calls Me Baby (Saturday, IHG Hotels and Resorts stage)

This was another early afternoon slot (12:30) that I made sure to get downtown early to see, based on what I had heard on my Spotify playlist.  Plus, they're from Chicago, so it's always good to see a local band on stage at Lolla.  I'd describe their music as influenced by The Cure and the more uptempo Smiths songs, with a little 50s rock thrown in.  The lead singer could crush a Roy Orbison song at karaoke.  And apparently "Brigitte" is pronounced "Bridget."

5.  Infinity Song (Saturday, Bud Light stage)

Infinity Song is a band from New York comprised of four siblings, and they're generally R&B and soul, at least on tape.  Live, they were full of energy and rocked out, ripping off a full on jam at one point.  They're song "Hater's Anthem" is great, and their live rendition was even better.

6.  The Killers (Saturday, T-Mobile stage)

I've only seen The Killers before at Lolla (including at the first one in Grant Park in 2005), but they have always put on a great show, and this was no exception.  They were energetic, their stage presence was great, and they proved again that they are truly worthy of a Lolla headlining slot.

7.  Scarlet Demore (Sunday, Bacardi stage)

Another Chicago band in an early afternoon slot, Scarlet Demore helped kick off the last day of Lolla with some grungey rock and roll on a hot day.

8.  Hanabie. (Sunday, T-Mobile stage)

It wouldn't be a Lolla without a random all-female Japanese metal band.  Last year, it was Band-Maid.  This year it was Hanabie.  I love the juxtaposition between the cartoony, stuffed animal get-ups and the hardcore music.

9.  The Last Dinner Party (Sunday, Tito's stage)

This was one of the bands I was most excited to see.  The chorus to "Nothing Matters" is arguably the best chorus with an f-bomb in it since Cee-Lo.  I've described them as what I would imagine a band would sound like if the backup band in the Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love" and "Simply Irresistible" videos had daughters who formed a band and possibly a coven.  They're an all-female band that plays alt-rock and baroque pop, and there is something ethereal and mesmerizing about their music -- like they might actually be sirens.  And their set at Lolla was great.

10.  blink-182 (Sunday, T-Mobile stage)

blink-182 closed out this year's Lolla, and they did it with their typical irreverent banter and pop punk anthems.  For the week after the show, I couldn't stop thinking with a blink-182 inflection ("I'm saur-ray," "were arr yiauw," etc.).

Retro Video of the Week: "Longview" by Green Day

I realize I owe you fine folks a Lollapalooza Tuesday Top Ten, and I intend to make a good faith effort to provide that to you next week.  But I have been too damn busy with concert going over the last week and a half.  Four days of Lolla the weekend before last, two Metallica shows at Soldier Field this past weekend, and it was topped off by Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas last night at Wrigley Field.

Setting aside that it was an awesome lineup, I didn't realize until last night that Green Day was honoring the 30th anniversary of Dookie and the 20th anniversary of American Idiot by playing both albums in their entirety, along with a couple other hits thrown in.  The show was predictably great.  Green Day never disappoints live.

Anywho, in honor of last night's show, this week's Retro Video of the Week is Green Day's first single off of Dookie, "Longview."  Like many others, this was the first Green Day song I ever heard, and it's a good introduction to the band -- quirky, catchy, and punky, all at the same time.

Hair Band Friday - 8/9/24

1.  "Don't Cry" (live) by Guns N' Roses

2.  "It Could Be You" by Def Leppard

3.  "When the Night Comes Down" by XYZ

4.  "King of the Rock" by Keel

5.  "As Soon as the Good Times Roll" by Scorpions

6.  "Piece of Me" by Skid Row

7.  "Sweet Sister Mercy" by Lynch Mob

8.  "Give Me an Inch" by Hurricane

9.  "Show No Mercy" by W.A.S.P.

10.  "Riverside Drive" by Tora Tora

Retro Video of the Week: "Whiskey In The Jar" by Metallica

Metallica is playing Soldier Field this Friday and Sunday, and I'm going to both shows.  Two completely different sets and different openers both nights (Pantera and Mammoth WVH on Friday and Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills on Sunday).  I'm pretty pumped, especially since I bought the tickets damn near two years ago.

So, in honor of this weekend of metal, this week's Retro Video of the Week is Metallica's cover of Thin Lizzy's version of "Whiskey In The Jar."  Metallica's version is off of Garage, Inc., their multi-platinum 1998 album of all cover songs.  I'm hoping I hear this at some point this weekend!