12 Great Bands Plus 3 More

This is a list of 12 great bands. None of the 12 bands listed below are new to this blog - there was an existing label for each and every one of them so I have included an appropriate link in the list. I think it's interesting that Motley Crue and Guns-n-Roses have so many pages.

1. Quiet Riot (15)
2. Bon Jovi (9)
3. Motley Crue (62)
4. Cinderella (8)
5. Twisted Sister (11)
6. Poison (19)
7. Europe (4)
8. Guns-n-Roses (35)
9. Dokken (34)
10. Winger (4)
11. Ratt (18)
12. Warrant (9)

In contrast, when asked, I often will say that Metallica, Bayside, and Count the Stars are my 3 favorite bands. Here's how many labels for each of those bands exist on my blog:

• Metallica (1154)
• Bayside (241)
• Count the Stars (19)

 

Skipping Iowa

Sadly, this tour is skipping Iowa as it goes from CO to MO to IN to MO to MI to OH to IL to OH and then to the east coast.

Sigh.

For the record, I have never seen any of these bands in concert.

Foreigner, Kansas and Europe Announce American Tour

1. Thurs July 9, 2020 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
2. Fri, July 10, 2020 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion
3. Sat, July 11, 2020 - Chula Vista, CA - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
4. *Mon, July 13, 2020 - Irvine, CA - FivePoint Amphitheatre
5. Tues, July 14, 2020 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
6. Wed, July 15, 2020 - Wheatland, CA - Toyota Amphitheatre
7. *Fri, July 17, 2020 - Portland, OR - Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
8. Sat, July 18, 2020 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre
9. Tues, July 21, 2020 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre
10. Wed, July 22, 2020 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
11. Fri, July 24, 2020 - Kansas City, MO - Providence Medical Center Amphitheater
12. Sat, July 25, 2020 - Indianapolis, IN - Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
13. Sun, July 26, 2020 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
14. Tues, July 28, 2020 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
15. Wed, July 29, 2020 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
16. Fri, July 31, 2020 - Chicago, IL - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
17. Sat, August 1, 2020 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
18. Sun, August 2, 2020 - Pittsburgh, PA - S&T Bank Music Park
19. Tues, August 4, 2020 - Boston, MA - Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
20. Wed, August 5, 2020 - Syracuse, NY - St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
21. Fri, August 7, 2020 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Amphitheater
22. Sat, August 8, 2020 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
23. Sun, August 9, 2020 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
24. Fri, August 21, 2020 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
25. Sat, August 22, 2020 - Holmdel, NY - PNC Bank Arts Center
26. Sun, August 23, 2020 - Wantagh, NY - Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
27. Tues, August 25, 2020 - Camden, NJ - BB&T Pavilion
28. Wed, August 26, 2020 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
29. Fri, August 28, 2020 - Raleigh, NC - Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
30. Sat, August 29, 2020 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
31. Sun, August 30, 2020 - Birmingham, AL - Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
32. Tues, Sep 1, 2020 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
33. *Fri, Sep 4, 2020 - Jacksonville, FL - Daily's Place
34. Sat, Sep 5, 2020 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
35. Sun, Sep 6, 2020 - West Palm Beach, FL - Coral Sky Amphitheatre
36. Tues, Sep 8, 2020 - Nashville, TN - Ascend Amphitheater
37. Wed, Sep 9, 2020 - Southaven, MS - BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove
38. Fri, Sep 11, 2020 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion
39. Sat, Sep 12, 2020 - Houston, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
40. Sun, Sep 13, 2020 - Austin, TX - Germania Insurance Amphitheater

Trying Not to Cry

I'm not going to dwell about what happened yesterday because I don't have time to break down and bawl like I really want to so I'll keep this short. There was an asshole who drove a semi into a crowd of pedestrians in Nice, France. I admit that I didn't know where that was until Karen showed me that this apparent terrorist attack took place in a town that is 5 hours away from where my son is RIGHT NOW! On Fox News, a talking head stated that he had heard rumblings that there could be another terrorist attack in Germany. Alex flies out of Germany on Monday!

As I said, I'm not going to dwell much about this. I've been on my knees as I prayed for his safe return. This really is mind-numbing and I'm somewhat glad I have a due date for something at work so I can attempt to focus on that instead of the fact that my son is in Europe and there are bad things happening.

I do not mean to sound selfish when I write about Alex and wanting his safe return. There are ~300 kids from Iowa on the trip with him and, of course, the death count at this moment is 80. Of course, I want all of the kids on the IAM trip to return safely and of course I feel sympathy for the victims and their families. It came across earlier today that there were two Americans among the 80 killed - a father and a son.

Fucking terrorist bastards...

Editor's Note: No apology forthcoming for the use of the f-word above - judged appropriate for the situation. Additionally, while the world will come together and mourn for the lives lost in Orlando, San Bernardino, and Nice, it will not come together to mourn for the lives lost in the abortion clinics. Nearly 1 Million Babies Killed By Planned Parenthood Last Year According to Abortion Giant has the horrific details.

Awful Booking!

Europe - you know, "The Final Countdown" band - has just announced a tour set to begin in January 2016. Here are the announced tour dates with my annotations:
1/19/2016 - San Jose, CA @ Rockbar Theater
1/20/2016 - Anaheim, CA @ The Grove
1/22/2016 - Los Angeles, CA @ Saban Theater
1/23/2016 - Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Live
1/24/2016 - San Diego, CA @ Music Box Theater
1/25/2016 - Chandler, AZ @ Wild Horse Pass Casino
Up to here, no issues. Geographically, these concerts are reasonably near each other. The travel from LA to Vegas and then back to San Diego is a little questionable, but, eh, it's not as awful as what's about to come.
1/27/2016 - Lawrence, KS @ The Granada Theater
1/28/2016 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Badlands Pawn
1/29/2016 - Shawnee, OK @ The Grand Events Ctr
These three dates in this sequence make absolutely NO sense. You're starting in the middle (KS), going north (SD), then past the first concert of the three and going even further south. They should start with SD, then go to KS, then go to OK. However, the reason they didn't do that (probably) is that they are coming to this trio of dates with only a single day of travel allowed (1/26). I know that Chandler to Sioux Falls is a longer trip than Chandler to Lawrence. It doesn't make it any more dumb, though, to go middle, north, backtrack, then south.
1/30/2016 - Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
1/31/2016 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues
The two TX dates are fine.