Category Archives: music

music, TV

Thought: David Cook, the Idol winner is fantastic!

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I hardily ever like any of the singers on American Idol in the past, but David Cook is actually really great. He is a good choice for a winner. He’s got a good range and perfect voice for rock music. Since I didn’t watch this year’s Idol, I’ve been in youtbe watching David Cook’s performances. I think I’m sold to this guy, he’s pretty impressive. Watch out Chris Daughtry, Cook could be the next big rock star. Finally, Idol picked a good choice!

Check out a few videos below.

P.S. In the “Baba O’ Reilly” video is that David Cook using one of Eddie Van Halen’s customized amps? 🙂

Kev

Cook performing U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

Cook performing Beatles “Day Tripper” on the electric guitar

Cook performing the Guess Who’s “All Right Now”

Cook performing the Who’s “Baba O’ Reilly”

 

music, Videogame news

Report: “Guitar Hero” competes with “Rock Band” videogame…

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Since the “Rock Band” videogames are starting to get more popular, “Guitar Hero” franchise is coming out with a fifth “Guitar Hero” game titled, “Guitar Hero World Tour” as a way to compete with “Rock Band”. In “Guitar Hero World Tour” will give you the ability to play bass, drums, guitar and mic all at once, just like the “Rock Band” game. It will also give you the ability to compose and write your own original music, also it will let you play online for two groups of four people each.

“Guitar Hero World Tour” is slated to release this fall. Yes, this the 5th Guitar Hero game with “Aerosmith: Guitar Hero” being the 4th”, “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” being the third.

Activision truly is trying to compete with Rock Band by taking their fans and Activision company even said that in this article. Their goal is to be more popular than “Rock Band”. They don’t want “Rock Band” being more popular than “Guitar Hero”.

More on the story here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080522/tc_nm/activision_dc

I’ll definitely buy “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” when that comes out this summer, but I won’t be buying this one. “Guitar Hero World Tour” sounds pretty lame and silly, I think it will fail.

Kev

 

music, TV

Report: David Cook wins American Idol this year…

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The singer that once performed Chris Cornell’s version of Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, David Cook is the winner of this year’s American Idol.

David Cook is the first “rock” singer who plays real instruments to win the competition. Most of the winners over the years were pop singers and country singers. All the male rock artists never won American Idol although they tried.

The Associated Press reports:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iwXD4BoO2HF6nbttn2FU7Cw_ZtowD90QSJIO0

Wow! I hate American Idol but I’m shocked that they gave a rock artist a chance! Holy shit!

Over the years of American Idol, most viewers would vote on talent over the good looks and totally ignore the talent.

I guess America wants artists with real talent who play instruments and sing for real. Now it makes me wish I watched A.I. this year. It’s about time that American Idol is about to change with people that wanting to play real instruments, instead of Idol’s typical karaoke thing.

Idol sounds decent this year.

Kev

 

movies, music

Report: Scorsese out, Jonathan Demme in for Bob Marley documentary…

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Legendary director Martin Scorsese dropped out of filming the Bob Marley documentary due to busy scheduling conflicts, director Jonathan Demme immediately took over Scorsese’s place. Demme does have experience in directing music documentary films to such music artists as the Talking Heads, Robyn Hitchcock and Neil Young. Demme’s other movies include “Philadelphia” starring Tom Hanks, “The Manchurian Candidate” and more.

Variety Reports:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117986278.html?categoryid=13

I am kind of shocked that Scorsese pulled out. He seems too committed to this project until now. I guess Scorsese has too many upcoming films to make on his hands.

Kev

 

music

BREAKING NEWS: The Red Hot Chilli Peppers breaks up…

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The longtime Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman, Anthony Kiedis revealed that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers have just broken up. They didn’t break up for good, but for a long while at least. They have no grudges against each other, they just want to move on. Kiedis says he’s about to have a new son and wants do more surfing. Flea wants to learn more things on his bass guitar. Chad had joined a jazz band and moved to Japan. John wants to do more of his solo career and do other side projects.

A few articles about it:

Here:

http://www.ndtvmusic.com/story.asp?id=ENTEN20080050423

And here:

http://www.nme.com/news/red-hot-chili-peppers/36802

As a huge fan of the Chilli Peppers, I’m sad to see these guys go, but they’ll be back, I promise. This wasn’t the first time Anthony, Flea, Chad and John broke up and came back later, they’ll do it again.

While “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” is still the best album they’ve ever recorded, I would think their album “By The Way” is close behind it. “Californication” and “Stadium Arcadium” were both okay, I love “Blood Sugar” and “By the Way” way more though.

They’ll be back, so don’t be sad.

Kev

 

music

Report: Charges reduced on Trey Anastasio…

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The former frontman and guitarist for the iconic jam band Phish, Trey Anastasio has been doing well in drug treatment here in the Capital District area. Judge McKeighan has been pretty impressed with how Trey is doing in drug treatment and he is improving, and getting cleaner.

Trey Anastasio was pulled over in Whitehall, N.Y. caught with all kinds of drugs back in 2006. A legendary rock star being pulled over in our area, yes where I live in, had created a lot of controversy in the area left people wondering what the hell was Trey doing in Upstate, N.Y.

The judge dropped felony drug charges down to a misdemeanor, which is great news for him. Anastasio actually enjoys being in the drug treatment program and had some positive things to say about it as well. He just want to get clean with drugs and live a better life. While Trey is on a 3 year probation, the charges could get shorter if he continues to improve.

Trey has been living right here in Saratoga Springs ever since he was caught in 2006 because he’s not allowed to be out of the area during his probation.

WNYT Reports:

http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S452141.shtml?cat=300

Once Trey finishes probation or the court lets him walk free if he improves, don’t expect Trey to live in Saratoga Springs any longer. He’ll probably wind up moving back to New York City where he was living before he was forced to move here.

Trey still makes appearances at local concerts playing guitar with greats such as Dave Matthews at Spac and Phil Lesh at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

While Trey is in the area, don’t expect him to play a gig at Valentine’s or Northern Lights because he’s too famous for those venues. It would be nice if he does play a solo gig at a small intimate venue though, he has a lot of New York fans. He’ll probably do it down the road, I’m sure. Maybe the Egg in Albany will book him, who knows.

Kev

 

music

Report: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith checks into rehab…

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Steven Tyler the longtime frontman for the legendary Aerosmith just checked himself into drug rehab at the Las Encinas Hospital drug rehab clinic, the same place where celebrity doctor and psychiatrist Dr. Drew Pinsky works and where the TV show “Celebrity Rehab” was filmed.

The singer is getting treatment for substance abuse.

TMZ reports:

http://www.tmz.com/2008/05/21/dude-looks-like-a-rehab/

Steven’s doing a good thing. Drugs are bad.

Kev

 

Celebrity news, music, True Crime

Report: Lou Pearlman, boy band creator off to prison for 25 years…

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The man responsible for creating and forming the Backstreet Boys and N’ Sync, Lou Pearlman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on two counts of conspiracy, money laundering, and using false statements in a bankruptcy proceeding. The Judge said he would reduce the sentence if Pearlman would pay back the $1 million he stole from by one month.

Billboard Reports:

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003806061

Good riddance! No more boy bands to make money off of now, douche!

As N’ Sync would say, bye bye bye.

Kev

 

Celebrity news, music, True Crime

Report: R. Kelly child porn tape shown in trial…

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R&B icon R. Kelly is finally in trial being accused of making a sex tape with an underage girl. The sex tape was actually shown “uncensored” and shown to the jurors in it’s entirety. The tape was about 27 minutes long and it shows a black man having sex with a young female who is an underage minor. Prosecutors say that the man in the video is R. Kelly and the girl in the tape is just as young as 13.

R. Kelly’s attorneys defended him by saying the man in the video is not him because he doesn’t have a mole on his back and R. Kelly does. The attorneys showed a photo of R. Kelly’s bareback to prove that he has a mole and that the man in the video doesn’t. The attorney’s also claim that the girl in the video is not the 13 year old they think it is, they think it’s a 23 year old prostitute seen that the man gave the girl money at the end of the video.

The Associated Press reports:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDHEsJvok63RTREnCfLXu2ZvefDgD90Q1G500

R. Kelly has guilty written all over his face.

Now they are going to look into seeing if R. Kelly had surgery with a skin doctor to see if the mole was put on his back after the video was filmed. And R. Kelly could have forced the young girl to pretend to be an older hooker is another way he could get away with this.

It’s going to be hard to prove him guilty on this. One way to prove him guilty quickly if that girl in the video comes forward to prove it’s him herself.

The mole on his back really doesn’t prove anything in my opinion.

Kev

 

music

Report: Kenny Chesney writes open letter to fans on his official website…

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If you go to http://www.kennychesney.com/ , Kenny Chesney the man himself wrote this on his website:

“Dear Friends…

I want to thank each of you personally for your part in this 4th Entertainer of the Year Award… You are not just the reason we do this, you are a lot of what makes us Entertainer of the Year. Beyond even your votes – which were critical – but the way you inspire me and the guys. We are more because you give so much… and I want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you, and how much a part of this you guys are.

Just hearing the sounds from the parking lot when everyone’s out grilling and hanging with their friends makes me wanna get out there and rock. To be part of that kind of a good time is the reason I started going to shows, and it’s absolutely why I live to do this.

Which is part of the confusion over my response to the change in the awards criteria. There’s a lot more to being Entertainer of the Year than what we show you… and that’s because I want the music to just be your music, your songs, your life – the way it was for me. I’ve always been a bit uncomfortable with the amount of information that gets out there about how many trucks, how we do the effects, those sorts of things… because I don’t want it to be about semis, I want what we do to be about that moment when you hear the music and we hear you.

To me, Entertainer of the Year is about the work that goes into it. I don’t ever want you worrying about the work; I want you living the songs… being in the moment of the music… finding your life on the radio, whether it’s something easy like “Summertime” or a song that helps you through a rough time like “I Go Back” or “There Goes My Life.”

That was my point. Let the people who do the work, judge the work part of it… let the fans love what we do for that. And that was what I was being asked about… what a lot of people in the business were talking about… and frankly something an awful lot of artists and business people have told me they not only agree with, but something the entire media room applauded pretty resoundingly after I addressed it Sunday night.

Sure, to make me sound ungrateful is a sexy way to spin this to drive viewers. It’s controversy, and that sells. But realistically – and based on the response in our fan forum – you know how important you are to me, how much I believe in the way we’ve all built this together. You, the fans, are the reason I keep pushing, keep striving, keep wanting to be more and better.

When I stood on the stage and said “this means the world to me,” I meant it… because it means not only am I blessed with the best fans in the world, but you guys were willing to stand up for us and be counted. It’s not the same award… given for the same things… but knowing how much you care, how much you believe in this dream, well, that is everything.

So please know… I love you. I believe in you – and the way you believe in this music, these nights we get to share, the way it all comes together when we’re together. There is nothing like the feeling of being out there with you guys… and I live my whole life just for those moments. Thank you for that, because in the end, that is what matters the most to me.”

Yo Kenny, I think this is a sign that you should drop off major labels and go indie. Trisha Yearwood already did it last year. The national media is all about controversy in the news because it’s what picks up TV ratings and more hits on the websites. They could give a rats ass about the music, people love controversy.

Kenny wasn’t putting down the fans, he’s putting the blame on the media.

Kenny’s comments about this award thing shouldn’t even be news and you can see that Kenny called out on that in his letter here.

As long as you’re a hot music star at the top of your prime, the media will make news on just about anything on you no matter what it is. Thanks for the internet who feeds in on all that.

Kev