Showing posts with label rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rock. Show all posts

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Jingle Bell Idol


About 7 years ago I saw Billy Idol at a festival in Baltimore. I had never seen anyone rock quite like the Idol even though by then I had seen quite a few shows.  Therefore my Christmas Music tribute wouldn't be quite the same without him.  Here's Billy

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

PSA: Wild Flag

Have you ever found a new band and want to tell everyone how awesome they are?  Well, this is Wild Flag, a chick "supergroup" that has an awesome debut album of the same name.  Tell your friends, tell the children that this band is great.


Friday, November 11, 2011

Foo Fighters Friday

Kelli's "Instagram" of the concert Friday night.
Kelli, Chris and I attended the Foo Fighters Concert at the Verizon Center tonight.  Two opening bands and the Foo still played for almost 3 hours.


Thursday, September 22, 2011

REM?


Really, I'm not all that bummed REM called it quits yesterday.  I like the band, and it's a part of my child/adolescence, but they haven't put out a decent record in years.  Frankly, I think they should've said their goodbyes a decade or more ago.  That being said, it's still a little bittersweet that REM is no more.  

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Golden God and Friends plus Mississippi!


Occasionally I'll find myself really looking forward to something. When that happens, I often find myself disappointed. The movie, album, or concert just doesn't live up to my expectations. However, occasionally I find something that exceeds my lofty expectations and it makes those expectations worth it.
Last week, I attended a Robert Plant + Friends concert which defied expectations. Seriously great show.
The show started with "The North Mississippi All-Stars" opening. They were spectacular. I haven't seen an opening act that good in several years. By their last couple of numbers, all of Constitution Hall was quiet which is a rarity in opening acts.

Then, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy performed. They opened up with "Houses of the Holy" and it was amazing. Plant sounded great, Buddy Miller tore it up on lead guitar and Patti Griffin sounded great as backup vocals. The show proceeded with a couple of numbers from everyone, then each of the band members would perform a cover of a song. Patti Griffin sounds even better live than on her album (you can't say that of that many singers), Buddy Miller is just great and Darrell Scott amazed us all with his incredible voice. Then there's Robert Plant. His voice is still incredible and somehow he's retained his sex appeal. We were all swooning over Plant.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Rock and Roll Dream

Every once in a while a rock musician shows up in my dreams. I've had several dreams with Dylan making an appearance. We never talk, he just smiles at me. Then there was my favorite rock dream-sitting in an empty theater watching Jerry Garcia play. I woke up after dreaming of Jerry happy, until I realized that I just dreamed of a guy who had been dead for over 10 years. I'm a little superstitious when it comes to dreaming about the dead.
Anyway, last night was a first. I dreamt of a fictional (I think) 60's band called "Wolf." Think Beatles with more blues. Their lead singer was named Wolfie and had perfect hippie hair. My dream was like VH1 Behind the Music and was long. So long that I woke up at least once and went back to dreaming about Wolfie and the gang. Anyway, sometimes dreams rock!

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

The White Stripes Paint me Blue


I like the White Stripes. A lot. In fact, they are one of my top two favorite bands. So when I heard today that Jack and Meg White called it quits, I feel like someone kicked my puppy. If I had a puppy. Anyway, it's not like they died, and we still have Jack White's many, many projects. But I still feel like it's the definite end of an era, and that makes me blue.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Happy Birthday!

Today would be Elvis Presley's 76th birthday. I thought about writing a schmoopy tribute to "The King" but really, that's been done a million times. Instead, let me share a karaoke version of "Can't Help Falling In Love." The absurdity of this video cracked me up, and hopefully will make you smile a bit too. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday Elvis Aaron wherever you may be!


Tuesday, December 07, 2010

the positive

Today I thought about Pearl Harbor, pondered about the life that Elizabeth Edward's kids would have without their mom and then was reminded that it's Tom Wait's birthday. Here's some Tom for you to enjoy.



Monday, October 11, 2010

Robbie Williams Duet

While in Europe, Steven and I got acquainted with German MTV while we got ready for the day. One of our highlights of the day was this video, a duet between Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow with some obvious brokeback references. Because I'm from the US, I'm not a Robbie Williams fan, but this video cracked me up. Enjoy.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Suspiciously Indeed

Memphis 2010

While we were in Memphis, we headed over to the Rock and Roll and Soul Museum. Although weโ€™ve had three days (really, is three enough) of Mr. Presley, this little exhibit inspired Kelli. Suspicious about the inspiration of these fuzzy photos? An Elvis jumpsuit and the organ that was used on โ€œSuspicious Minds.โ€


Elvis!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Memphis

Thursday afternoon, a micro-burst (I can't believe it wasn't a tornado) went through Alexandria and an estimated 7k trees went down. Our power was out, (didn't come back until Saturday morning) major roads and the metro lines were shut down so it took me 2+hours to get home. Needless to say, we were lucky. In our neighborhood, there were trees down in every yard and at least one house on every block of every street had a tree through their roof or down on their car. Well, we were slated to go to Memphis. After packing with the lights out for the trip and getting 2 hours of sleep because my lungs wouldn't settle down and let me sleep---we were off for a 6:40 am flight, I was starting to think Memphis was a great idea. Our power went back on Saturday morning. I already took our trash out, turned off the AC and opened all the windows. When we got back on Monday, our apartment was surprisingly smell-free but I lost several plants and almost everything in our fridge and freezer except for a few condiments and some produce.
All in all, we had a great time in Memphis, but I'm exhausted. I'll blog later about the trip (which was awesome) but I'm trying to live by Elvis's motto:


......That's "Taking Care of Business....In a Flash.." For those unintiated to Graceland, Elvis came up with this in the late sixties/early seventies and it's on his plane, decorated in his television room in Graceland etc.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Afraid of Everyone

I've never been a big fan of "The National." The lead's singer voice is an acquired taste that I haven't bothered to get. However, when I heard the first single off their new album, "High Violet," I was floored. After several listens of "Afraid of Everyone," I decided to try the album and you know? Not bad. Not bad at all.


Oh, and that's Sufjan Stevens providing back-up vocals.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Physical

I'm not sure how I missed the video for Olivia Newton John's song, "Physical." However, here it is so we can share this monumental 80's video together.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Thank You Internets

I'm not sure what this speaks of the band that posted this or me who watched a minute of the video below, but wow. The video below isn't bad, just mighty anticlimatic. Entertain me Internet!! Or at least educate me.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Happy Birthday Elvis

In celebration of Elvis Presley's 75th Birthday, I:

  • Spent 4 hours in a Doctor's Office
  • Bought a pair of work pants for $15 at the Gap
  • Got my hair cut and styled
  • Watched Top Gear

Oh, and the celebration continues. Tonight I plan to eat Afghani food in commeration with 30 friends.

Happy Birthday King!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

On the 7th Day of Christmas, X-Mas Joy Shared with you her Favorite X-Mas Songs

Like most people; Christian or Jew, atheist or Hindu, I like Christmas songs. Even "Joy to the World" which I have a love-hate relationship with. Even though "Joy to the World was my second-least favorite nickname off of my first name, I still think it's a gorgeous song. Here's a list of 4 of my favorite Christmas songs, or the one's I'm thinking of right now, in no particular order really.

4) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
Ms. Judy Garland's introduction of this song to the world is still my favorite version of the song. "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was introduced in the film,"State Fair" in 1944-towards the end of World War 2.


3) Joni Mitchell's "River" Still has the power to stop me in my tracks whether I hear it in a store, on TV or my ipod. While not strictly a Christmas song, "River" tells the story of a broken relationship near the Christmas season.



Lyrics to "River" by Joni Mitchell.
It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
But it don't snow here
It stays pretty green
I'm going to make a lot of money
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I made my baby cry

He tried hard to help me
You know, he put me at ease
And he loved me so naughty
Made me weak in the knees
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I'm so hard to handle
I'm selfish and I'm sad
Now I've gone and lost the best baby
That I ever had
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I made my baby say goodbye

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on

2) "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
Many people associate Christmas Elvis with "Blue Christmas." Me, my favorite Elvis Christmas standard is possibly "I'll be Home for Christmas."



1) "Silent Night" I would be disowned if I didn't include the Mo Tab. No, I really do like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir a lot even if my mom would turn it up loud on Sunday mornings to wake me up. Here's Walter Cronkite telling the WWI Silent Night Story as an introduction to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.






Now, this list of X-mas songs is by no means conclusive. I haven't even got to Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Bing, Harry Connick, Rosemary Clooney, The Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, The Muppets, or many others. What's some of your favorite Christmas songs?