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Alice
Cooper
Rolling into South Florida with his band,
Alice Cooper the creator of ghoul-rock transformed the Pompano
Beach Amphitheatre stage into a rock n’ roll carnival.
With a fixation for whips, swords, and canes Alice twirled
them around like a circus ringleader / samurai warrior. Simulating
a lynching on a blonde doll, Alice groaned to ‘No More
Mr. Nice Guy’ the doll (played by his daughter ) came
back to life and danced around him. Despite deep facial wrinkles
and dripping mascara, the crowed was transfixed the leather
clad Alice grunted and groaned out many of his hits. ‘Schools
Out’, ‘18’ and my favorite ‘Poison.’ When
asked about his next album The Eyes of Alice Cooper , Alice
said, “ Its going to be very basic Detroit garage based
rock”. For those who remember, Detroit is Alice’s
home town. Ohh and Alice also just received his star # 2,243
on Hollywood’s walk of fame. Congats!
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Radio Head
 A
hybrid of rock & electropop Radiohead music has
proved that it’s cash money. Despite their lack of
radio presence and the fact that they despise being labeled
celebrities they still managed to sell out the Sound Advice
Amphitheatre. 17,500 mostly ‘Emo’ type fans
swayed back and forth to the RH’s harmonic and synthesized
tunes. One 16 year old boy in the lawn looked as if he
had been hypnotized, grinning and singing along with Sit
Down, Stand Up . Things got more bizarre the moment I realized
that everyone else had the same transfixed expression on
their faces, some even had drool coming out of their mouths.
When they kicked into Karma Police an older fan said this
feels like a Pink Floyd show.
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 Uncle Cracker
It’s
comes as no surprise that last years SUNFEST runaway performance
goes to Uncle Kracker and its those
kind of performances that has helped him truly become America’s
favorite Uncle. This is evident in the fact that his latest
single “Drift Away” from the RIAA Gold certified
No Stranger To Shame album has held the #1 spot on the
Adult Contemporary mainstream Radio Chart for a record
breaking 22 weeks, beating out Celine Dion’s record
of 21 weeks at #1 on the chart for song “ A New Day
Has Home”. Meanwhile The Detroit native’s rendition
of the 1973 pop-soul classic “Drift Away,” featuring
the original vocalist Dobie Gray, is holding at top 40
radio. UK first gained notoriety as the DJ for Kid Rock’s
Twisted Brown Trucker Band. When he went solo his first
album “Double Wide,” featured the crossover
hit Follow Me went on to #1 on the Hot AC chart while the
album reached #10 on the BillBoard TOP 200. UK is on the
road supporting No Stranger To Shame.
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Rocks
Revival by A. Mortimer
There’s a rock n’ roll renaissance
going on and though it’s still a slightly underground
sort of thing I, do believe it shall, within the next 5 years,
slowly rise to the surface of our mainstream media and help
surplant all the shiny glitzy and overexposed hip-hop, rock-hop
and corporate pop now commanding the airwaves. Rock n’ roll,
thank God is resurfacing. That joyful All-American inspiring
music is taking back its rightful place in the radio and
music television that has been for so long dominated by anger,
depression, materialistic showing off, and processed glamour.
The faithful people holding fast to their Led Zeppellin and
Rolling Stones CD’s do indeed deserve something fresh
and new to hear and get excited about. I’m talking
about that contagiously energetic lovely funny lively spunky
music that makes you smile and shake and want to have a good
time al over again. That music is rock n’ roll and
it needs to come back to the forefront in its current happening
right now revitalized we’ve been waiting along time
for form. So lets the renaissance begin !
Current rumblings of the rock n’ roll rebirth : The
STROKES, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Kings of LEON. If you
like the invigorating transfer of energy that goes sraight
from the speaker to you, that’s the hallmark of all
that’s best in rock n’ roll, you should be satisfied
with the new releases from these three bands. It is music
with oomph. If you listen to it long enough it will make
you want to MOVE rather than want to be rich. And that is
a God send we could all you use more of. Hail Hail Rock & Roll |
 OZZFEST
It
was hot & steamy as is usually the
case for a Summer Festival, but for the 17,000 fans who endured
the 14 hour metalfest it was well worth the heat. With the
gates opening at 9AM the first of the diehard metal heads
arrived to catch some of the lesser known acts. As the day
progressed the madness only escalated. Going on late afternoon
was Marilyn Manson who put on the most provocative performance
of the day. While jamming “Beautiful People” lead
singer Brian Warner, performed a pelvic thrust from behind
a bent over dancer in a specially designed body suit and
sadistically inserted his microphone into the rear-end of
the suit. The dancer while on her knees simulated the love
making position known as “Doggy Style” rocking
back and forth as Warner bellowed into the inserted mic.
This sent the crowed into a screaming frenzy.
When
KORN took the stage the crowed began thrashing to “Freak
on a Leash”, hundreds of lawn seated muddy fans, began
tossing large chunks of soggy turf into the air and onto
the dry-seated folks below creating a mudfest. DISTURBED
put on the tightest performance, and shredded through their
set with hits like “Stupified.” Singer David
Draiman hit every note crisp and clear and his snarled
facial expressions during “Sickness” had many female fans cooing. The antithesis
to Draiman’s voice was OZZFEST founder OZZY Osbourne.
As the grandfather of metal moved about the stage from side
to side singing “Crazy Train” he picked up a
water gun and began hosing down the front rows of fans. With
each passing year Ozzy’s voice becomes less decipherable
(perhaps it’s the 40 drugs he was on ). Despite
slurring his way through most of his songs, his diehard
and loyal
fans found this irrelevant. What is relevant to his fans
is that he keeps going, and that in itself is inspiring.
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 White
Stripes
It’s
the one place in Boca that actually gets me driving to that
area. The Mizner Park Amphitheatre is
becoming a must-go-to destination for any South Florida music
aficionado. This was evident when the WHITE STRIPES took to the
stage and 3,000 lucky fans witnessed the genious of Jack White
in all his creative glory. With the backing of Meg White, his
sister (actually an ex-girlfriend) Jack sang and twanged material
from his latest album, ELEPHANT. In The Hardest Button to Button
White grinded his guitar to the simple, yet deep lyrics, stunning
the crowd into submission.In Going to be Friends, he brought
rock & roll back to its most basic roots, 3 chords. Meg got
to sing one song for this show and proved her voice is just a
solid, but she prefers to play Jacks backup and gives a solid
beat to his tunes. |
  Before
going into details on the festival itself, I must first talk
about The PARTY.
Two weeks prior to Lollapalooza’s West Palm show I decided
to organize a pre-party the night before as a way to get the
bands and fans in a festival kind of’ mood. I first had
to run the idea past my friend and Lollapalooza founder Perry
Farrell who after getting briefed by Alex Graham (Lolla’s
Tour DJ) was totally down for it. Once I got the green light
from ‘P’, I had to put all the pieces of the puzzle
together. Having thrown multiple tour party’s before I
knew I was in for a challenge. As the bands rolled into town
and took over the Ritz Carlton in Manalapan, I had to get 100
band members and crew over to FLOW. Silver Limo stepped up and
provided their 45 person limo bus that made two trips running
everyone up to CLEMATIS Street. I hopped into a limo with Perry,
Steve Perkins, Brandon Boyd and some close friends. Some of the
band members thought that it would be a mellow party because
it was a Monday night, but I assured them that it would be off-the-hook.
I had spent days going through my vast rolodex making calls and
sending emails. As we rolled up to FLOW I could tell the club
was packed and that my calls had paid off. When we entered the
club everyone started smiling, I guess because of the density
of beautiful girls. Plowing through the thick wide-eyed crowd,
I led Perry, Steven, Brandon and entourage up to the VIP area.
Safely ensconced everybody could relax and enjoy the night. David,
Rocco and Jean Marc provided the bands with comped bottles and
helped keep the VIP area from overflowing with hotties and gawking
fans intent on meeting the bands. At one VIP table was INCUBUS
at another was AUDIOSLAVE, another was Queens of the Stone Age,
The Donnas, and Jurassic 5. The party was off-the-hook and all
the bands were having a good time mingling with the locals. I
was running around playing host, but I would have to say that
my most memorable moment was reminiscing with Perry and Chris
Cornell about the old school L.A. punk scene and its influence
on today’s rock bands. As the night was winding down Lolla
Producer Adam Schneider told me I had “pulled off a miracle
getting all the bands out at the same time to one spot.” Despite
a few ‘private’ after parties all the bands made
it to the show the next day, which brings me to
THE FESTIVAL: Lollapalooza
 This Lolla lineup was incredible. No other Summer festival came
close to the depth of talent Perry had put together. With world
renowned DJ Alex Graham warming up the crowd before & in-between
all the acts the festival vibe was electric The Distillers with
front woman Brody Armstrong took charge with their hit “City
of Angel.”
INCUBUS played the main stage in the late afternoon with singer
Brandon Boyd belting out “Warning” and “Nice
to know You”, however all the female fans came alive to 
“
I Wish You Were Here.” By the time Queens of the Stone Age
came on the crowd was in full party mode. Singer Josh Hommes vocals
were on the mark with “No One Knows” and “If
Only.”
As darkness enveloped the amphitheater Audioslave took to the stage.
It didn’t take Chris Cornell and Tom Morrello long to find
their groove with “Show Me How To Live” and “GIVE”.
A shirtless Cornell had all the girls woozy. In between sets the
roadies re-built the main-stage with metal bar sculptures and large
stairways. When Jane’s Addiction, emerged they began to shred
chord by chord showing the crowed what a tight band really is.
Kicking into Mountain Song, Perry Farrell’s vocals were as
fresh a daisy’s. When they jammed Jane Say’s, the crowd
sang along in unison. With Steven Perkins, and new base player
Chris Chaney keeping a steady beat it was easy for Dave Navarro
to rip into“Been Caught Stealing.” By the time Perry & Dave
got to Three Days the female fans had been worked into a hormonal
frenzy. Throngs of honeys in the front section began dancing, hugging
and touching each other and fortunately me.
Lollapalooza continues to reign supreme in the world of music festivals,
and as long as Perry does it, we will keep the Lolla torch lit.
After the show we were all wiped out however, the next day Perry,
Alex Graham, INCUBUS and I cruised up to Orlando and surfed Typhoon
Lagoon for 3 hours with no one else around. Till’ next year
Peace. |
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