Blog Post

Hundreds of five and six-year olds clutch stiff clean Barbie, Justice League, Spider-Man, and Princess backpacks with sharpened pencils, glue sticks, and tissues this week. Kindergartners across the country are excited, boisterous when walking to their new classroom. Their teachers calm the fear in parents' eyes, assuring them "everything will be fine." The class of 2017 is ready.Metallica was ready Sunday night, August 22, 2004, at the Mark in Moline, IL. As the band took the stage with "Blackened," it was obvious on stage is where Metallica belongs. James Hetfield looked refreshed and smiled. Kirk Hammett concentrated on his intricate…

Just over one year (380 days, to be exact) after the city of Toronto was thoroughly rocked by the unholy trinity of New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Motörhead, Dio, and Iron Maiden), a second wave of metal legends had arrived to the Molson Amphitheatre. This time, it was thrash pioneers Slayer, and the legendary Judas Priest, reunited with their original vocalist, the charismatic, awe-inspiring Rob Halford.Naturally, I could barely contain my glee when I heard the news. I couldn't contain my glee when I got my ticket. After a short wait outside the gates, the hordes of metalheads were…

I couldn't do it. Walking around with a small notebook and taking notes while bands entertained thousands of people throughout the weekend, playing their songs with energetic style, just didn't seem like the right thing to do. Instead, I spent my five days in Memphis drawn to the accommodating people that I met and talked to, both inside and outside of the festival. Everywhere we went, very quick service, always with a smile, or an obnoxious waitress, like the one that served us our delicious cheeseburgers at the Hard Rock Café for our Saturday lunch downtown. While the weather often…

"I wish all our first concerts in a town were this good."Journalistic neutrality be damned, I'm going to be a shameless fanboy here. If you don't like it, well...you have my apologies.After six years of waiting, I finally got to see Great Big Sea live this last week, and it was, in a word, incredible. Simply put, the concert was incandescent in its energy, enthusiasm, and talent, and the band proved that no matter how good they are on CD, they're even better in person.GBS is currently doing a US tour in support of their latest CD, Something Beautiful. The…

What better place than an old gymnasium to showcase an enormously hyped trio from New York that specializes in playing heavily-influenced '70s garage punk? The Yeah Yeah Yeahs could not have come at a better or worse time in the music world. The females who trailblazed the alternative movement of the '90s have mostly settled into maturity, so lead singer Karen O is providing some much-needed young blood to the alternative/college rock scene. However, the band is in danger of slipping under the radar (much to the delight of YYY fans) in the mainstream because of listeners burning out on…

Hearing the name of a legendary '70s hard rock band like Montrose mentioned in the present tense is bound to generate two emotions among its audience: hope, and fear. Hope, that it means what fans have been waiting for all these years - the chance to hear all those early classics, the ones that basically ignited the heavy metal flame in America, played again for the first time in a quarter century. Fear, that it may be what we've seen far too much of in the past few years from other '70s bands -- a quickie milk-the-audience reunion that draws…