Posts Tagged ‘texas’
Maybe you’ll get a replacement, there’s plenty like me to be found…
Today I am ecstatic. I just learned that Elton John is coming to Austin @ The Frank Erwin Center on April 10, 2010. Tickets are $45-$125, 
which is pretty cheap all things considered. I’m definitely going. Sure, it’s a greatest hits tour, but many of those hits came from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road which has been a lifelong favorite of mine and I’m sure to hear several from that record. Like seeing Iron Maiden the first time, I’m sure this will be a memorable show.
As I have stated before, my older brother Robert was a big influence on me musically when I was a kid. he got me into KISS, Alice Cooper, RUSH, Judas Priest, Uriah Heep and yes, Elton John. Similar to what I wrote about in the Alice Cooper blog a while back, this album takes me back to far simpler times. Either living in Camelot (yes, that was the name of our neighborhood) or on the farm, this album was listened to a lot by my brother and me. It always takes me back to those good times. It still amazes me how music can connect like that. Even siting here just thinking about the intro to Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding I have goosebumps and am even getting a little choked up. How un-metal of me! But facts are facts. Music gets me emotional…or rather I get myself emotional to music. However one wants to look at it.
His collaborations with Bernie Taupin have been phenomenal. On top of that, Elton is a great performer. Flamboyant, funny, talented.
Seeing Elton live will close my concert circle a little more…you know…that list of bands that you always wanted to see but never got to. Elton is one of them. What’s even nicer is that I’ll be able to walk to the show…5 blocks!
Paul Di’Anno – Concert Review – 2/10/10
So Paul Di’Anno played last night at the Red Eyed Fly in Austin, TX. I had expectations but they weren’t set too high as I 
know of enough about Dianno these days to not expect miracles.
A few weeks back I went to the Red Eyed Fly to get an advanced ticket. When I asked the booking guy for the club about it, he said they weren’t on sale yet and he didn’t know the price. So he created his ticket list and I just handed him $20 and said let me know if it’s more or less. The guy knows me so he had no worries of me paying if it ended up being more than $20. Ultimately it was $12. $12!
There really wasn’t that much buzz around town about the show but I tried telling everyone as much as I could. I’m moving in a block away from the venue so after taking a load of stuff to the new place, I decided to walk over to the venue and see if they were hanging out. Icarus Witch was the opening act and they also served as Paul’s backup band. Paul was back at the hotel. Jason McMaster and I hung around for a bit and watched the soundcheck. Jason and Paul’s tour manager are old pals so they got to catch up for a bit. We left to grab a bite to eat and came back right before Icarus Witch was about to take the stage.
Now…I think the club had only sold about 15 pre-sale tickets and I didn’t think many more would show up. i think they ended up with about 100 or so which was cool.
Icarus Witch hit the stage and while I am not a fan of theirs, they are competent players. I think they would be better served with 2 guitar players but that’s just my opinion. They were tight and did a good set.
About 30 minutes after the IW set, the lights dim a little and the music for the Godfather starts playing. Paul is led through the crowd. He was in pretty bad shape as apparently he fell on the ice a few times in the last few days, not to mention that he’s always been a bit stiff and gimpy. To be honest he looked like hell. He looked old and beaten. It actually saddened me a bit.
The band opened with Wrathchild and Paul’s voice was obviously worn out from the rigorous touring schedule and from his still very apparent rock and roll lifestyle. Hey, good on ‘im if he can still do it! I had seen the setlist a few days earlier so I knew what to expect. I was happy that one Battlezone song was in there as I really loved the first 2 albums. I was also surprised when he played Alex Harvey’s Faith Healer. I forgot that he covered that on the Murder One album. It was a cool version. I didn’t know any of the other songs but Marshall Lockjaw was pretty damned good.
His voice improved a bit throughout the night but he was very open about his voice sounding “like bullocks”. I didn’t think it was that bad in general. He sounded better on his solo stuff than he did on the Maiden songs, all of which were played waaaaaay too fast.
After the show most of the crowd left and there were a few of us left who wanted to meet Paul. They were letting people in 2 at a time to meet Paul and get stuff signed. All of my CDs were still packed up and I didn’t feel like digging out the Maiden and Battlezone ones. So I brought “the book”. Paul signed it in the Battlezone section instead of maiden at my request. Don’t get me wrong, those 2 Maiden records are some of the greatest records ever, but those 2 Battlezone albums are pretty special to me as well. I mentioned seeing him with Obsession back in 87 in Norfolk, VA and his face lit up…”Oh wow, Vescera and I are still good pals and talk often.” Then I mentioned seeing the Murder One tour in Va Beach, VA with Solitude Aeturnus and he remember the show well…”More people here tonight than showed up there at the beach, eh?” I mentioned that we hung out and shot pool together for a few hours and how grateful I was for that experience.
Paul seemed pretty humble throughout the night. It was a bit tough seeing one of the “originals” sketching by on a low-dough tour but I’m glad I got to see it. Paul is still all about the party and I am sure he is doing his share of it on the road again. He mentioned since he can get a visa with no problem now that he wanted to tour again next year. I’d surely go.
Wrathchild
Prowler
Marshall Lockjaw
Murders In The Rue Morgue
The Beast Arises
Children Of Madness (Battlezone)
Faith Healer (Alex Harvey Band)
A Song For You
The Ides Of March
Killers
Phantom of the Opera
Running Free
Encore:
Transylvania
Iron Maiden
He had been closing with the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop…I’m so glad we didn’t get to see/hear that.
Here’s the vid for Wrathchild that I shot. I’ll try and get Children of Madness and Faith Healer posted soon. I’m using a new camera and am not figuring out how to get really good shots with it yet.
Paul Dianno is coming back the the USA?!
According to published reports, Paul got his visa cleared to do a US tour. I guess I will try to go since he will be playng a few blocks from my apartment.
My history with seeing Paul live is pretty interesting, well to me it is.
The first time was Battlezone/Obsession in 1987 at the Boathouse in Norfolk, VA. I loved the Battlezone records and got stoked on seeing 2 bands that I loved. The whole time Battlezone was on stage, we were hanging out with Obsession and I never really got to check them out. Pity.
The second time was in 1993. The bill was Paul Dianno’s Killers and Solitude Aeturnus at the original Peppermint Beach Club in Virginia Beach, VA. At this point, I was a HUGE Solitude fan and was more stoked on seeing them than seeing Paul. I thought his Killers stuff was terrible. I get to the venue early that afternoon as I was always prone to do to get some stuff signed and Solitude was inside hanging out. I had them sign both of my cassettes(!!!). Super cool guys. Shortly thereafter Paul and his band came in and I had him sign my Battlezone LPs, Iron Maiden’s Live +1 (Greek pressing) and a compilation called The Best of British Rock which featured Dianno’s first post-Maiden band “Dianno” doing Antigua which was a great song. That album also had Persian Risk on it which featured some of the guys that were in Battlezone/Killers. Paul called his bandmates over and they all signed it and we hung out for a while. Paul asked me if I played pool and drank beer. Yes! We shot pool together and drank a few pitchers of beer and just talked about stuff. I never talked about Maiden with him other than to say that I was a big fan. He was pretty cool. Now, if you’ve read his book “Beast”, you’d see the other side of Paul that it seems most people saw and I got to see later than evening.
After Solitude Aeturnus played to a crowd of a whopping 30 people or so, I helped them get their gear offstage and ended up hanging out backstage with them during Dianno’s set, missing him play one more time. About ¾ through the set we hear the music stop suddenly and one of the Solitude guys opens the backstage door. On stage you see Graham Bath holding his jaw and Dianno says, “We’ll start playing again as soon as my guitar player stops playing like a c*nt!” I remember looking at John Perez of Solitude and thinking WTF? John said it was a common occurrence. Paul talks about his habit of fighting people over stupid stuff quite a bit in his book. I feel lucky to have survived my few hours with him unscathed!
So…2 times I’ve gone to see Paul play and missed him both time. Hopefully in February I’ll actually get to see him play.
Colin Hay – Concert Review – 101409 – Austin, TX
As noted before, I’m a huge Men At Work fan. I found out the day of this show that Colin was playing at the tiny little Cactus Cafe on the campus of UT. This place is typically a first come, first served so I got there early. Being the dork that I am, I brought my CD covers (previously signed by Greg Hamm) for the only 3 Men At Work albums. I used to have some of Colin’s solo CDs but his solo work never did much for me.
I was one of the first few people there and ended up meeting a guy who had also just found out about the show. Super nice guy, screenwriter. We talked for quite a while before they let us in and then sat together. The cactus only holds about 50 people and this show didn’t sell out. Criminal!!!
Colin got on stage and instantly just started telling stories, very funny stories. Intermingled with his storytelling he also played some music. Truthfully I think he may have only played 8 or 9 songs, but it didn’t matter. His stories were very engaging and absolutely hilarious, even if a bit embellished here and there.
The only Men At Work songs that he played were Down Under, Who Can It Be Now and the closer Overkill. I admit to getting a little choked up when he played that song. It’s always been one of those songs from one of those eras, ya know? I would like to have heard a few others that I think would have done well acoustically, but hey, it’s not my show.
He played practically flawlessly and his voice was still powerful and stayed crisp the whole night. He’s a solid player on guitar. I was impressed.
After the show he said he’d come out and do a quick meet and greet. Of course I stuck around (groupie!). Only about 10-15 people stuck around to say hi and I just waited at the end of the line. When he got to me, he looked at my stack of CD covers and I think it was pretty blatant that I wasn’t a fan of his almost 10 albums of solo works. He asked who had previously signed them and I told him about the show in Virginia Beach in 1999. He recalled the show as “Upstairs venue? Hot as hell?” He nailed it. He was very amiable and I just thanked him and told him how much those 3 albums meant to me as a kid and even now as an adult. He thanked me, shook my hand and looked at my shirt and said, “Black Sabbath, eh? Good on ya, mate.” We snapped a quick foto and I shook his hand one mroe time and left.
It was very special for me. I’d certainly go see him again. His comedy routine is worth the price alone. Add in his music and it’s a double bonus night!
The Metal Files 
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