Rick Springfield and Richard Marx

To the Review….

I wanted to yell to her, “Yes, he is going to play “Jessie’s Girl,” now will you please, you and your friend, shut up and enjoy the rest of the show, even if you don’t know the songs.”

I didn’t.

I also didn’t move my feet for about an hour and a half. They were firmly planted on the ground no matter how much said girl kept pushing her way into my space. My wife saw how she kept bumping into me and suggested I move closer to her (my wife), but I told her, “If I give this drunk girl any space, I’ll never get it back.”

Richard Marx in concert at RaviniaAnd so it was on a rocking, freezing night at Ravinia Festival near Chicago for the double bill of, as Richard Marx put it, “Two Dicks.” Yup, Richard Marx and Rick Springfield on a night when you would have thought it was the middle of October instead of mid-June.

None of that mattered, though, all that really mattered was the music, the hits, new stuff, and a great time through the mist and cold.

Richard Marx had the opening slot. Kind of a bummer for him with the weather because the pavilion was sparsely populated at this point. The weather wasn’t helping walk-up sales, and a lot of the crowd was there for the other Rick. That’s not to say the folks who were there didn’t have a great time with Dick #1, I mean, his initial call to the top of the charts was around the same high school years as that of Mr. Springfield.

Richard Marx in concert at Ravinia, Highland Park, ILThe interesting thing with Richard Marx, however, is that a lot of his more recent success has come in the shadows, as the songwriter and producer of tons of artists, many of whom you have heard of. Yup, remember “This I Promise You” from NSYNC? He was a part of that. Remember Luther Vandross’ “Dance With My Father?” A part of that, too. Keith Urban’s “Long Hot Summer?” Not just Keith, but Richard, too.

And the list goes on.

Richard Marx in concert - Ravinia in Highland Park, ILAnywho, Richard Marx’s set consisted of many of the hits you might remember from those 80’s, “Angelina” and “Hold On to the Nights” to name a couple. The crowd loved him, sang along as they should have, and appreciated his song “When You Loved Me” which he recorded with his sons as his “band” on video. He did a fantastic set, including stories of the songs he worked on with the other artists. His NSYNC story was pretty funny, and seeing a young Justin Timberlake in the picture he flashed was, well, actually just made me feel old.

Richard was fun. The crowd had fun. It’s Two Thumbs Up for Richard Marx. It is too bad he moved to the west coast, Chicago lost a favorite son, but with the weather we’ve been having, holy crap I understand the move!

Rick Springfield in concert, Ravinia, HIghland Park, ILA quick set change brought a video montage of Rick Springfield’s successes, but really, the crowd didn’t need a refresher, well, except maybe that intoxicated girl next to me. Out came Rick to the raucous “Light This Party Up,” and the crowd began to party.

Now, it’s been almost 20 years since I last song Rick Springfield in concert. Yes, I admit, it’s been way too long, especially for me who loves his music. Back then it was at a venue called “Joe’s Bar” in Chicago, on a cold, November night, and crap, it was nearly as cold this night in June.

Rick Springfield in concert at Ravinia, Highland Park, ILRick blew through a set consisting of the songs people wanted to hear and a few more recent ones the girl next to me didn’t want to hear. She was definitely in the minority.

You might remember the songs, like “I’ve Done Everything for You,” “Affair of the Heart,” and “Love is Alright Tonight.” He even did a great rendition of “World Start Turning,” explaining his ever-present demon of depression, but I’ll tell you what, if you miss rockin’ these days, and haven’t checked out Rick’s later offerings, may I suggest you give a listen to “The Snake King” from 2018. “Little Demon” kicked ass, and he even got crowd participation on a newer song, not the easiest of things to do, on “The Voodoo House,” a bluesy, rocker.

If you are Rick Springfield and have lots of hits people want to hear, what do you do so the concert isn’t a marathon? Why not a medley? So he did, with songs like “Bop ’Til You Drop,” the always fun to hear “Bruce,” “Don’t Walk Away,” “Rock of Life,” and “What Kind of Fool Am I?” in a mid-show medley.

Rick Springfield in concert at Ravinia, Highland Park, IL“Don’t Talk to Strangers” brought true crowd participation as Rick tossed a microphone into the audience for people to sing into, and “Human Touch” got Rick into the crowd, coming down the aisle, across the seats, and back up to the stage. Funny, or maybe sad, how the song, with lyrics like “Everybody’s talking to computers” and “I’m so scared and isolated in the modern world,” actually has more meaning, some 36 years after it was originally released.

With the evening wrapping up, and the girl next to me still blabbering for “Jessie’s Girl,” she would have to wait a few more songs as Dick #2 brought Dick #1 back to the stage for some duetting to each other’s tunes, with Richard Marx handling “Don’t Mean Nothin’” and Rick leading “Love Somebody.”

Yes, finally drunk girl got her wish. Yup, it was “Jessie’s Girl” time, as if Mr. Springfield wasn’t going to play it?

Sure, the weather completely sucked, but Richard and Rick brought a good time to everyone who braved the elements. There was reminiscing about the old songs, enjoying the new songs and Rick even had a sing-along of “Happy Birthday” for himself as his 70th birthday is approaching. Quick side note, as Rick was “questioning” the crowd how old they thought he was, the drunk girl next to me pegged him at late 50’s. When I told her he was 69 she seemed shocked, but then said something similar to “I’d still sleep with him.”

I do have to say that following the concert I felt a little down about myself. I mean, there he is, approaching 70 year’s old, coming off the flu, and bouncing around the stage with the energy that I, well, I don’t think I had that energy when I was in my 20’s. I have got to give the guy credit for continuing to put on a fantastic show and not just resting on his old hits but also making some great, new music.

It’s Two, Giant Thumbs Up for Rick Springfield. Go ahead, see him to relive the 80’s but enjoy the new stuff, too! All I know is one of these times I have to get real photo clearance for his show so I can get better pictures of the man. I just probably shouldn’t wait another 20 years to see him.

That’s it for this one! L8R!!

Fleetwood Mac

To the Review….

Excitement of a concert experience can come from a variety of ways. You can engross yourself in the people-watching, with your pre-show critiquing of concert-going attire and wondering if someone is a rebel or an ass for wearing a “No F%^#s Given” t-shirt (with the %^# being the actual “uck”). You also might notice a younger woman, in a sea of elders, sitting by herself, in a chair on the floor section, and wonder, “Why is she here by herself?” Don’t forget the groping couple, seemingly to never separate for two-plus hours, and you also might find yourself sometimes distracted by the drunk guy who can’t seem to understand the security folks simply trying to explain to him that his seats are on the other side of the floor, eventually resulting in his flipping-off said security folks, and the subsequent ending to his night as they lead him away.

Gosh, and don’t forget the concert, itself, as Fleetwood Mac filled the United Center in Chicago with hits everyone knew, some songs that had many wondering, “Is this a Fleetwood Mac song?”, and a touching tribute to Tom Petty.

Yup, just another evening at a concert!

Continue reading Fleetwood Mac

Rick Springfield

To the Review….

It was supposed to just be a Rick Springfield evening. I would go to his concert on Friday night, write the review, maybe listen to “Karma” (his latest CD) again, and be done with it. But the whole weekend I couldn’t get away from him. Saturday comes, I’m at Bed, Bath & Beyond, (hey, no jokes, I needed some supplies for the dude-pad) when over the speakers I hear “Prayer,” one of the songs from “Karma,” as part of the piped-in music. “Hmm, that’s a little coincidental, don’t you think?” I thought to myself. But I let it go. Then, that evening, I’m channel surfing and stumble across “Martial Law.” That’s not special, but I rarely channel surf to the local stations on a Saturday night because there’s usually nothing I like on. Then I notice something and mumble to myself “That’s Rick Springfield. He’s getting hand-cuffed to a tree!” I was beginning to have Rick Springfield overload. He was everywhere. Thank goodness Saturday was over. No more Rick Springfield! But then Sunday came. I’m watching VH-1, it’s “The List,” they’re listing best bands of the 70’s, and there he was, again, Rick Springfield. I was beginning to go out of my mind and figured I had better write this review soon because if I didn’t I might have pages and pages of Rick Springfield experiences instead of just a concert review. So let’s get to it before somehow Rick Springfield ends up on “King of the Hill.”

When I told Stu I was going to see Rick Springfield he asked where Rick was playing. I told him “Some bar called ‘Joe’s,” to which Stu replied “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” I told him that Rick sold out three shows and little did I know about Joe’s. After getting there I realized Rick hadn’t fallen at all.

Driving to Joe’s I recalled seeing Meat Loaf in a bar. It was small, cramped, I think Meat sweat on me, and as cool as it was to see him so up close and personal it was a little sad that he was stuck playing such a small place. I was getting close to Joe’s and those same feelings came back – it would be cool to see Rick Springfield in a bar, but he should really be playing larger venues. I walked into Joe’s, it seemed kinda small, more a restaurant than a bar, but no stage. Then I noticed people walking to another room. I followed. So much for a small bar as the place opened up into a large room with people already packed around a real stage. There was no photo pit, I was stuck on a stairway near the back, and my dreams of Rick sweating on me all but disappeared. Alright, the place is no United Center, but a bouncer-dude told me they sold around 1200 tickets per night, bodies, mostly of the dudette persuasion, were packed from front to back, and Rick put on an hour and a half show that had the dudettes screaming while their boyfriend dudes tried to be too cool for Rick Springfield even though I could see them singing along.

It’s 11:30 PM, an hour and a half later than the concert was listed, Rick came out, screams reminiscent of a Backstreet Boys concert filled the air, and suddenly I’m remembering things that I figured were long forgotten, things like the words to “I’ve Done Everything for You,” like the words to “Human Touch,” like the words to “Kristina,” and, well, you get the idea. And you know what, Rick rocked. Yea, that’s right, I said “Rick rocked.” I never knew.

Opening with “His Last Words” and “It’salwayssomething” from “Karma (with one of my new favoritist lyric lines in “Down one, home run, your dog steals the ball”), Rick, dressed in leather pants that looked like they were painted on, led the crowd through sing-a-longs, destroyed dozens of roses as he used them as guitar picks, hiked a guitar to a member of his crew, used cameras as guitar slides, and played lots of songs most people knew and a few songs from his new CD that some people knew. It was all good.

Highlights, there were many, and none of them for me revolved around “Jessie’s Girl.” Even though I like the song, it’s not my favorite (“Inside Sylvia” actually tops that list), but Rick showed that he can play with the best of them doing a great surf riff into, happily for me, “Inside Sylvia,” could turn forgetting lyrics into crowd pleasing, worked a stage like a master, and even tried to fill audience requests. He did it all and looked like he was having so much fun. That’s what it’s all about.

What else can I say about Rick Springfield except that the man puts on one hell of a show. The old songs sounded as fresh as when they were new, and the new songs show that Rick still has it, although you can tell he has grown a little in their messages. He led the crowd through “Free,” his latest single (which sounds to me like it belongs in a movie, in the scene where the dude and dudette realize they love each other and wind up in bed – it’s way romantic), had dudettes screaming at him like they were teenagers and he was 25, and showed that you don’t have to get any slower with age.

Some people seemed a little grumpy that Rick started late, and I was a little grumpy too, but that grumpiness went away once he hit the stage. He impressed me with his guitar work, had dudettes screaming at him, made me remember songs I had long forgotten, and showed to me that he is still mighty, has not fallen, and just plain knows how to rock. It’s TWO “STILL MIGHTY AND NOT FALLEN” THUMBS UP for Rick Springfield.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!



Brad Paisley – Life Amplified World Tour: Live at WVU


Rated: Not Rated
From: City Drive Films
Available on DVD, CD:  December 23, 2016 | Airing on PBS: January 27, 2017
Get it via : Amazon

Brad PaisleyIn the world of musicians I’d like to see in concert, but just haven’t made the time when they came through the Chicago area, Brad Paisley is one of those guys. I love a great guitarist, I love a guy who writes great songs, and I like seeing country girls at concerts. Brad Paisley has them all, and so does his latest live concert DVD/CD combo, “Life Amplified World Tour: Live at WVU.”

Filmed at, well, West Virginia University, in front of 15,000 folks, Brad Paisley does what he does best, entertain. It’s a DVD/CD filled with performances of his greatest hits, as well as a great rendition of the John Denver classic “Take Me Home Country Roads,” sort of the West Virginia anthem.

Continue reading Brad Paisley – Life Amplified World Tour: Live at WVU

Violent Femmes in Concert

  • When: January 22, 1994
  • Where: Hermann Hall @ Illinois Tech, Chicago, IL
  • More stuff here:
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To the Review….

Violent Femmes in ConcertFirst off, there was the first major concert in the HUB Auditorium in years, and that was, in case you didn’t hear about it, the Violent Femmes. I can’t really say I’m a big, giant, Femmes fan, but I have to admit the show was pretty cool. From the grandiose entrance down the aisle, to the “mosh pit,” to the variety of different musical instruments, I as pretty impressed.

The played, from what I’m told, a good mix of past favorites, and the crowd was rather reserved, just kind of sitting back and enjoying the music – yea right – the crowd was all over the place. Dudes and Dudettes were being hoisted in the air and carried across on a sea of hands (alright, some people crashed into a big wave and dropped to the bottom like a rock), people were slam-dancin’, bouncin’ off the security, and acting like a bunch of rowdy rioters – how cool!

But more about the show. Like I said before, they played what the crowd wanted – “Blister in the Sun, “Add it Up,” and this really cool song titled “Dance, Fucker, Dance.” But that wasn’t all. What really impressed me was the use of strange objects as instruments. From the “wash-basin” drum, to the big long tube/reed, I didn’t know how easy it really must be to find an instrument in the garage. And then, I must say, I’ve never seen anyone play a conch before. It was great.

So, the Violent Femmes get the coveted TWO BIG OL’ THUMBS UP from this reviewer. Everyone had a great time (well, almost everyone), and I’m sure some people felt just how much fun they had in the morning. It was good to see a major act here on campus, and I hope it doesn’t take billions and billions of years to happen again.

Next we hit the opening band for the Femmes, a group of talented buys called Rhodes and Craven. These guys have been at IIT before, and kept the crowd rockin’ in the Bog, but it was just unfortunate the crowd didn’t get into these guys until the end of the show.
Playing a good mix of some covers and originals, the band showed talent, but it’s just too bad they were cut a little short because it was at the end the crowd started really enjoying these guys.
Not too much else on these guys, but they do get TWO THUMBS UP for putting on a great show.
Alright, I’ll mention it even though I hate giving credit to people, but Jud, you did a good job in getting the Femmes here. Just goes to show what a little selfish initiative can do! And now to last Thursday.

Well, well, well. What do you get when you put one original member of White Summer, two guys from a band called Prezence, and some from a band called Innuendo? Quite a surprise! Alright, I really probably shouldn’t have told you all that, but hey, when something kinda good and neat happens, it should be noted. Yep, it was supposed to be White Summer, and kinda was – hell, they played a lot of Zeppelin, but there was more – and the crowd loved it. Things were a little fishy from the start when the lead singer, Todd McGuillary, botched a few lines here and there on some of the Zeppelin tunes, and got more fishy when he started singing “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions” by Queen at the end of the first set and I said to myself, “Self, this guy should be singing in a Queen tribute band instead of a Zeppelin band.” Little did I know. Second set featured some more Queen, and back into Zeppelin. But more should be said about the rest of the band too (I guess with a show like this it’s the individual talents of the members that could pull off an excellent show and have most of the crowd fooled). Anyway, on lead guitar was a guy called Roger Alison, and he would have done Mr. Page pretty proud. He had more guitars than God, and God has a lot of guitars. He even pulled out the bow and sounded great and had some really cool acoustic work. Of course there was Steve Albue on keys and bass. A talent in his own right, he’s no stranger to playing at IIT. Years ago, he was with this really cool Blues Brothers band that played for this crazy “Hermann All Night Long” party upstairs by the DOSL office. So he’s been spanning the globe of musical variety in his career, and now keeps things going in whatever band he’s playing in. But then, then, then, there was this crazy guy. He was going nuts the whole show, and this guy just so happened to be one hell of a drummer. He had a gong, a timpani drum, and a hell of a lot of energy.

So, all in all, a pretty cool evening, even if it wasn’t really what it was supposed to be. I guess I really can’t rate the “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and cause that to ruin their rating since they sort of pulled it off out of nowhere. They tried to give some healthy advice to get along, hoped, as Todd kinda put it, “his advice didn’t bounce off their (the crowds) head like a Whammo Ball,” and even through in a Supertramp song for the hell of it. Well, well, well, I just can’t decide. As a Zeppelin tribute band there were OK (bring Prezence to the Bog), as a Queen band, they were OK (bring Innuendo to the Bog), but as a band kinda thrown together I was really impressed. So, I’m going to flip a coin (the easiest way to solve a tough decision). And the answer is—TWO THUMBS UP! Well, I guess fate decided that!!

Good to see the Bog crowds keeping up even on a slippery night like last Thursday. I just hope the crowds keep coming. So stop on by the Bog this week, have some fun, and just remember to Party Smart. And, as always, Rellim Reeb, Rellim Reeb!!!


A3

Date: November 9, 2000
Venue: The Metro
City: Chicago, IL
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

So you are a fan of “The Sopranos” and every week you hear the opening theme song, “Woke Up This Morning,” and say to yourself “Self, I wonder who does that song?” Maybe even one week you actually watch all of the credits to see if they say who does the song, but sadly, it isn’t listed.

You, however, are not as anal as I am, so you just let it go, as opposed to me who starts doing internet searches up the wazoo and finally finds that the song is by a band from across the pond called Alabama 3, for some legal reason called A3 here in the states, and then the challenge is to hit all of the local stores around me to find their CD because I can’t wait a couple of days for it if I order it over the internet.

I buy the CD for one song and find a band that has such a strange mix of influences that I can’t help but like this band.

With that it was with much anticipation that I made my way to The Metro in Chicago to catch a band with so much sound that I wondered how it would fit on the little Metro stage. It was a tight fit on the stage, but sadly not as tight a fit in the audience, and for a band that was able to draw two dudes all the way from Indianapolis, Indiana at this show, as well as one dude from overseas who says that A3 can fill a place five times the size of The Metro back home, it ended up being an intimate show for not too many people by a band that you could see was slightly disappointed in the audience showing, but still gave the show their all.

A3 opened with “Woke Up This Morning” and I, at first, was kinda worried. The crowd wasn’t that big in the first place so I figured that having heard the song they wanted to hear, well, the audience might begin to thin as the night went on, especially since it looked like most of the crowd didn’t really know any more of the band’s songs. But you know how I know A3 did their job? Because it didn’t seem like anybody left until the lights came on after “Sinking…”

Me, I knew a good majority of the songs because “Exile on Coldharbour Lane” had been on a high rotation in this dude’s CD playlist. They didn’t disappoint me with the likes of The First Minister of The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine, Dr. D. Wayne Love, leading the crowd through “Hypo Full of Love”, then a rousing “Mao Tse Tung Said”, and later “U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno Anymore” showed some of the country in this band’s mix of country, acid, house music with funky blues mixed in. But this hour and a half show also highlighted much of A3’s new material from “La Peste” which has quickly gone to the top of my “must get” list of CD’s. “Too Sick to Pray” hits that great mix of techno and blues that A3 does so well, a nice tribute to the country side with the Hank Williams cover in “Mansion on the Hill,” and at first I thought, as D. Wayne said “I wanna play one we didn’t write,” and the band went into John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”, and the crowd reacted so well, that “Speed…” should have been the show closer and not “Sinking…”, but as “Sinking…” wrapped up the show, well, it’s just as good a show closer.

Some other highlights included another new song “Wade Into the Water,” which they labeled as REO Speedwagon crossed with Merle Haggard (D. Wayne said he liked REO Speedwagon for their album covers), and I really liked “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife.”

A3 is a band that to me seems hard to market in the radio environment of today, at least here in the United States. You’ve got techno with your traditional looping and house beat. Then you’ve got some classic country mixed in, the inspirations of people like Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. Now add a touch of gospel. And finally take the inspiration of a bunch of blues greats. All together you get A3, a mix of sound that sadly won’t make the dance stations, is tough to add to the rock stations, is almost too alternative for alternative, and you couldn’t put the country sounding songs on a country station today if God said so. But A3 puts on a great live show and if you like “Woke Up This Morning” from “The Sopranos,” well, I highly recommend picking up their latest CD and trying to see them live. Who knows, maybe they’ll make it on the radio anyway.

Let’s wrap up my preaching and just say that A3 preaches just a little bit better than I do, especially this night at The Metro. The crowd stayed, had a good time through songs they didn’t seem to know, and when a band can do that, well, the band is doing their job. It’s TWO “I’m Converted!” THUMBS UP! for A3 and I really hope more people find them because I look forward to their return to Chicago.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Aerosmith

Date: May 23, 1999
Venue: The New World Music Theater
City: Tinley Park, IL
A Review by: The Dude on the Right

I really have only one complaint about attending the Aerosmith concert this kinda cool spring evening in May – it was too cool, as in cold weather. And because of that, well, to sound like a male pig, most of the dudettes wearing tight clothing had on coats. Damn. Anyway, enough ogling, about the show…

Aerosmith – what more needs to be said? Not much, but I’ll say some things anyway, like – it was great to see them cover some Rolling Stones, Joe Perry did a way-cool cover of “The Wanderer,” Steven Tyler missed the start of “Walk This Way” but made a fantastic recovery, and Steven Tyler tried to see down some dudettes pants that he brought on stage to dance with him. Ah, sometimes it’s good to be a rock star!

Opening with “Toys in the Attic,” the boys took the crowd through two hours of just about everything they could want to hear. You had your “Ragdoll,” you had your “Living on the Edge,” you had your “Pink,” and they even pulled “out some old shit” as Tyler called it, that I had no clue but seemed to be about the only one because the crowd sure followed along. And all along, even though the last stop on their current North American tour, the boys of the band know what they had to do to keep their fans happy, and they did that with the best of them.

Different from the last time I saw them, there were some changes in the song selection, not as many youngins (their love of “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” is over), and Tyler’s knee brace was gone. But, similar to the last time I saw them, the opening of the show was the same with the curtains and shadows, the pyrotechnics going off, the rotating drum kit, and Steven Tyler shoving his face in the video camera, pelvic thrusting just about everything, and singing his ass off. And you know, that’s about all the crowd could ask for, a band that rocks, and Aerosmith is that band.

There were lots of extended guitar jams, Steven Tyler utilized every inch of the stage, some of the lyrics got changed a little (i.e. “all those late night promises, I guess they don’t mean shit”) and yes, they did play “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” after Tyler instructed the audience “If you love somebody, turn around and give them a big kiss,” which made me kind of weepy, there all alone, and I don’t think the boyfriend of the girl behind me would have appreciated my advances on his girl. So, I just sang along.

Anyway, the show rocked, and that’s all I really wanted, and that’s all the crowd really wanted, and that means “TWO ROCKIN’ THUMBS UP!!!” It’s Aerosmith dammit, and if I didn’t give them a good review the dude sitting next to me who asked what paper I was with and if I liked the band would probably hunt me down and kick my ass (he was a pretty big dude).

That’s it for this one, I’m The Dude on the Right!!! L8R!!

AC/DC

Date: February, 1991
Venue: The Rosemont Horizon
City: Rosemont, IL
A Review by: The Dude on the Right & The Dude on the Left

The Dude on the Right

Well, it’s finally happened – Bog nights have returned. Finally, instead of having to traipse far and wide to hear a live band, we get to experience the music right here on the safety of our own campus. Last week brought the return of Rude Mood, a Stevie Ray/ZZ Top/George Thorogood type of band.

The mood of the evening was like it always seems to be for the first Bog night, that being everybody just wanting to hang around, renew old friendships, and find our what every one else did over their break. Not really the best audience for a band, but Rude Mood did an O.K. job of entertaining the crowd. Starting the evening in the same manner as their last appearance, “I Drink Alone” by Lonesome George got the show on its feet. The show steadily turned into a lets start this song, throw in an extended guitar solo, and then go back and finish the song. It got a little tedious and just a little boring after a while. Not saying the guitar solos were bad or anything, but it seems like the musical talent could be shown a little better by throwing a few more songs into their set list and laying off the guitar solos a bit.

Well, to rap this up, I’m going to give Rude Mood ONE THUMB UP! Not the greatest start for the semester, but and OK start. It’s not that I didn’t like them, it was just that the show tended to drag on a bit. Oh well!

Once again, the Unknown Reviewers took the streets, and this time our travels took us to the wonderful acoustics of the Rosemont Horizon. The event – AC/DC. Angus and the boys showed up in full force, at full volume, and to such an extent that the echo off the back wall didn’t even make a difference. The evening began with us taking our seats in the Front Row, being told by the big, burly security dudes that we could jump up and down all we wanted, but if we even thought of moving toward the stage, immense quantities of pain would be inflicted upon us, and then we would be thrown out. I guess these guys meant business, seeing as they threw out some guy in the third row no more than two words into the first screaming words of Brian Johnson. Needless to say, we stayed in our respective places. The show highlighted much of AC/DC’s career, spanning the hits like Hell’s Bells, Back in Black, Highway to Hell, and current hits like Thunderstruck and Money Talks. It was obvious who the leader of the show was, with Angus running up ramps to platforms over two ominous gun turrets, and even retreating to a rising platform situated about fifty rows back of us, throwing in the guitar solos as only he can do so well. The show ended with a rousing version of For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), in which the gun turrets brought a deafening roar to the Horizon. All in all, it was a great show, and finally I was able to say “I must be in the Front Row!” I’m going to give AC/DC TWO THUMBS UP!!!!! Yep, there back.

That’s it for this dude’s edition of Reviews, but…… there was one main problem with the Bog show last Thursday, and that has to do with the wonderful Bog light show. I know the wheels are in motion for some new lights, but with the wonderful new addition, I wonder how hard it would be to at move the old lights to where the new stage is. It was a shame Rude Mood had to start with the only lighting being from the moving of light bulbs in the ceiling, and then to no lights when this turned out to be too bright. It’s kinda really hard to get into the feeling of a band when you really can’t see them. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved soon! B.B.M. N.M.B. And , as always, Rellim Reeb, Rellim Reeb!!!

The Dude on the Left

Ahhh, now that’s MUCH more like it. I was beginning to miss those wonderful Friday morning headaches, the dry mouth, the painful lectures! Good thing that the bands are back in the Bog so that my petty little needs can be satisfied. Seriously, the Bog bands are finally back and not a second too soon. The First week? Rude Mood. The Music? A combination of ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. they started out with a rousing rendition of I Drink Alone by George Thorogood and like my partner said, one guitar solo after another. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great guitar solo as much as the next guy, but if I want to see a billion and one guitar solos, at least they could be a little different. How bout adding a slide? So acoustic? SOMETHING???? They played their usual bog type songs that always get good reactions. “Cheap Sunglasses” the quintessential ZZ Top song, and some Stevie Ray, more Stevie Ray, and even more music that sounded like Stevie Ray rounded out the First Set.

The second set opened with a decent rendition of Foxy Lady, followed by Lagrange by ZZ Top. they played some bluesy jam followed by some More Stevie then some Lonesome George. I was kinda disappointed to learn that they don’t know any Steve Miller. How can any band not know ANY Steve Miller? The third set was one straight from the Rude Mood formula… Some Hendrix, some Stevie, and for good measure “Moby Dick” by Led Zep (to highlight the drummer instead of the guitar I guess). The closing song was “Roadhouse Blues” by the Lizard King and the Boys (the Doors).

All in all, it was a pretty decent evening, and if you don’t count the light show and having to walk a zillion miles to relieve myself.. I had a pretty good time. I think I’ll give the bogs first band of the semester hmmm…. ONE THUMB UP!! This gives ’em TWO BIG MOMBO THUMBS UP!! Not bad guys.. Learn “the Joker” by Steve Miller.. and you’ll be set!

Yes, and once again we hit the road to bring the best and the brightest new stars to you, our dedicated readers so that you’ll not be ignorant of things that happen off this wonderful campus. Last Friday, we found ourselves at the beautiful Rosemont Horizon in the Front Row. AC/DC was the band and loud was the volume. I won’t really bore you with the gory details, like my partner did, but I’d like to say that the Front Row is THE place to be. Even if my UNGRATEFUL partner said we were too close… “We didn’t get any money” (ala the video), “We didn’t get crushed against the stage…” and other such complaints were all that I heard for the next few days… Well THPPPPPPPPT! !! It really was a great show thought. I was deaf for a coupla days. And I even though I felt some of Angus’ drool hit me as he flailed about! What a great night. I hate to sound repetitive, but I’ll give AC/DC TWO HUGE THUMBS UP! (They’re professionals what do you expect … less that FOUR THUMBS UP???)

And as a special treat for all you folks that think we’re a coupla beer swilling, uncultured boobs… well THPPPPPT! to you too. This week I hit the road on my own… To the Auditorium Theatre to see Phantom of the Opera. It’s about this guy whos face looks like someone smashed him with a frying pan so he wears this mask (just like Jason is Friday the 13th). Well, he falls in love with this chick that sings in the opera. Now, she thinks he’s butt ugly, but is fascinated by his music. So, he tries to arrange it so that she can sing the lead in this Opera (there’s even a fat chick singing soprano!). Well, she doesn’t , so he drops a chandelier on her head (he missed, otherwise it would have been a short musical). He finally writes an opera for her.. they perform it… he kidnaps her… takes her to the tunnels under the city(just like where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live). Her dude comes to rescue her.. the Phantom puts a noose around his neck.. She screams, cries, begs… and he gives in. He gets all sad at being rejected and disappears. The End.

Well, that brings to the end another fabulous week of fun and culture brought to you by the gracious people at Miller and Tech News. Tune in next week for another exciting episode of the Unknown Reviewers.. and be sure to check out Dear Dudes, our cool advice column. So until next week, C.U.Next Thursday so we can pack the bog to the walls.