CoA 2019

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Horrible SItuation

Speaking of going through horrible situations in life, the video below came to my attention at a Shinedown concert in February 2013 at the Shinedown / Three Days Grace / P.O.D. concert in Moline, IL.

Roughly 6 months passed before I I attended the Carnival of Madness: Shinedown / Skillet / Papa Roach / In This Moment / We As Human concert in Cedar Rapids, IA, USA on Sunday, August 25, 2013. I wrote a concert review for Dailyvault.com and mentioned Amanda Todd's suicide in October 2012. In that review, I also included a link to the video below but that link is broken so I did a search on youtube.com and found the video below.

Before you watch it, know that it has been flagged on youtube.com with the following warning:

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The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as inappropriate or offensive to some audiences.
Viewer discretion is advised

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Thus, watch at your own risk.

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Halestorm and ITM and 2 Others

I think I'm getting old.

When I first looked at the concert announcement below, of the 4 bands listed, only Halestorm was interesting to me. At a Five Finger Death Punch concert (I think it was that one), I saw In This Moment as a warm-up band and while I enjoyed the theatrics and the "Blood" tune that Rock 108 used to play a lot, I don't feel compelled to watch them again. I was unfamiliar with Palaye Royale and Beasto Blanco (not Reasto Rianco like it says in the words directly above "Thursday, May 9th in the screenshot below) until I looked up the videos below.

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As I mentioned, I used the words on the poster to find the 4th band because when I used the words, I had "No results found for "Reasto Rianco" when I used Google.com to locate information about the band.

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I'm breaking my standard for youtube.com videos and only including the link to the first tune I listened to by this band. It was called Death Rattle and I was going to embed it on this post. However, after I had embedded the video, I decided I didn't like the preview image. Don't get me wrong - I like the tune as much, if not more, than the Grind tune above. You can (and should) listen to it by clicking here: Beasto Blanco's "Death Rattle".

Editor's Note: Are you trying to put me out of a job? 

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Pleading Ignorance

First, I don't know who Alex Jones is. I really don't. If he walked up to me and said, "Hi, I'm Alex Jones!" I would likely say, "Do you like Volbeat because the Des Moines Register reviewer wrote only a single sentence in his review - that it was a "forgettable set" - and I thought it was better than that.

Second, I guess he is not really popular with Chelsea Clinton (and others) for what he says, according to Chelsea Clinton Attacks Megyn Kelly for Interviewing Alex Jones, even though Megyn Kelly's "interview with Jones has not aired yet" on TV.

Third, the reason any of this is relevant is because it's just stupid and it reminds me of an editorial I have taped within one of my private journals. The letter to the editorial is from a long time ago, though I can't specify the exact date. I can say it was prior to June 15, 1994. The reason I know that is because I can still recall how, in the letter, the writer complains and condemns "The Lion King," which hadn't been released. The letter writer was complaining about something she had not seen.

I find that as repulsive then as I do now with this Alex Jones interview. Chelsea Clinton has not seen the interview but has already condemned it. I realize Clinton is not alone in doing so - many other liberals are jumping on the "anti-Alex Jones" bandwagon, trying to discredit Jones' words.

And, as I said, maybe Jones' words should be discredited - I'm not saying they should not be discredited. What I'm saying is this and it's really simple. If I want to review a book or a movie or a theater production or a concert or a CD, I need to spend time with what I'm reviewing so that I may write intelligent prose about it. I can't condemn an In This Moment  concert, for example, if I didn't actually attend an In This Moment concert. I can push my impression of what the concert would be like - let your imagination run wild - but I would have no credibility. Rather, I should have no credibility. Chelsea Clinton should have no credibility for her attack on Megyn Kelly's interview with Alex Jones because the interview hasn't aired on TV - Clinton hasn't seen it! I find it insane that Chelsea Clinton's opinion is getting cyberspace. Again, I wouldn't know Alex Jones if he came up and introduced himself. Perhaps I shouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt. But I also do not want to be like that letter writer from all those years ago, condemning a movie I have not seen.

Editor's Note: J.P. Morgan Stands With Alex Jones. Company Opposes Funding Any Journalist Who Might Question Jones

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Editor's Note - the video in question was removed from youtube.com

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Editor's Note - the video in question was removed from youtube.com

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Unequal Pay is Good ... Sometimes

A professional wrestler in the WWE, Ryback, wrote a blog post about how WWE stars should receive equal pay, whether the wrestler is booked to win or lose. It's an interesting essay and, while there are clumsy phrases throughout, I concluded that Ryback is an intelligent man. I have the link below for your reading enjoyment. Ryback makes the case that there should be more equal pay for professional wrestlers in the WWE.

I know this may be a stretch in the logic Ryback uses, but I am taking his argument and applying it to the fictional situation where I am the booking agent for a music festival. Should I pay the 8 bands I'm going to book the same, meaning the very first band that plays should be paid the same as the headliner. Uh, no. Never. Look at this fictional dream lineup of a day-long music festival I would love to book at Kinnick Stadium. Here's the schedule:

12:00 Doors Open
02:10-02:45 From Ashes to New

03:00-03:40 We As Human

04:05-04:45 In This Moment

05:15-06:00 Pop Evil

06:30-07:15 Breaking Benjamin

07:45-09:00 Shinedown

09:30-11:00 Metallica
Editor's Note: Schedule was revised on 5/13/2016 to use the Rock'n Derby main stage schedule as a template. See below the link to Ryback's post for the bands that are playing at that festival.

Regardless of the amount of time a specific band was playing, there is a higher demand for Metallica than From Ashes to New, the same as there is more demand for Cena or The Rock than for Golddust or R Truth. That's the way it is. The only way a band like From Ashes to New or We As Human can move into the Metallica slot is to keep churning away, playing gigs upon gigs until, eventually, they headline their own tour. A great example is Shinedown. They were not in a good slot the first time I saw them at Memphis in May in 2003. While their single "45" was starting to run up the charts, they still played around 2 PM, which is not the best slot. When I saw them in 2008, Shinedown were sandwiched between Buck Cherry & Saving Abel. When I saw them twice in 2013, Shinedown was headlining their own tour with Three Days Grace & POD opening in February and then headlining the "Carnival of Madness" tour with Skillet & Papa Roach & In This Moment & We As Human opening.

So when Ryback says, "Why not pay the talent equally? The winners have more MERCH as it is or are supposed to anyways so they get that extra perk," he has answered his own question. MERCH is not a perk - it's a clear, tangible, & measurable way to determine whether the talent should be headlining a PPV or in the pre-show. Is it fair? Of course not. The WWE Universe is finnicky. It's hard to imagine this, but there was a time when The Rock was booed and was unpopular. Sometimes things work slowly. For example, The New Day started out as heels and the stable looked like it was going to be a bust. They were unpopular and booed often. Since their debut, they have found a way to connect with the crowd to the extent that on the May 2, 2016, episode of Monday Night Raw, they were faces and teamed up with Cass, another face. Sometimes things don't work at all. The League of Nations (Rusev, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, and Wade Barrett) never caught on as a stable. When they turned on each other a couple of weeks ago, I certainly didn't shed a tear.

Read Ryback's post here

SATURDAY, MAY 21

A DAY TO REMEMBER 9:30 --- 11:00PM

HALESTORM 7:45 --- 9:00PM

HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD 6:30 --- 7:15PM

STATE CHAMPS 5:15 --- 6:00PM

WE CAME AS ROMANS 4:05 --- 4:45PM

MEMPHIS MAY FIRE 3:00 --- 3:40PM

MISS MAY I 2:10 --- 2:45PM 

Visual Evidence

Prior to their concert in Cedar Rapids, as the underpublicized opener playing before In This Moment / Papa Roach / Five Finger Death Punch, I was a fan of this band. I wish their music was more widely supported across the nation. Their new album came out this past Friday (2/26) so maybe that will help them achieve the acclaim I believe they rightly deserve. Without a shadow of a doubt, they deserve more recognition than In This Moment.

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Softening

Over 20 years ago, the Cedar Rapids Gazette hired Diana Nollen to write concert reviews. I only remember because she panned the "Clash of the Titans" concert in the summer of 1991 and I don't believe it was the first concert review she had published. Routinely, she would trash bands that I liked in her concert reviews. Sometimes, I questioned whether we had attended the same concert. Aside from her out-of-left-field comment that In This Moment should be a headliner, I think her review of 5FDP / Papa Roach / In This Moment / From Ashes to New is fair and accurate. Read the article.

Never Washing It Again

At some point at the Five Finger Death Punch / Papa Roach / In This Moment / From Ashes to New concert last night, I decided that I wasn't going to hover over Alex and Austin. Instead, from my comfy chair in the second balcony, perpendicular with the drummers of all four bands, I watched the entire concert. In short, From Ashes to New impressed me with their tunes that are blatantly influenced by Linkin Park, In This Moment was my least favorite as the band didn't make as sincere of a connection with the audience as they went through their 6 tunes (with a costume change after each which slowed any momentum they could have built), Papa Roach played enthusiastically and played my favorite ("Scars") acoustically on a small stage by the soundboard (which is where Alex and Austin were during the concert), and Five Finger Death Punch nailed the intensity with their ferocious tunes and vulgarity-laced commentary between songs. That's the short version of a concert review of what I saw. One other highly notable event was that when Papa Roach played "Scars" on that small stage by the soundboard, Alex was able to reach out and touch the lead singer. The joke was that Alex was never going to wash that hand again, but since he has a shift at Fareway,  he took a shower.

Not Topping the Past

It's kind of interesting to look at the number of blog posts at the month level. Rather, it's interesting to me. For example, in July 2014, I posted 50 times. Compared to the month that ended yesterday, I posted 38 times or 76% of last year. Why? I can't explain it.

Rather, I'll focus on the present, which is that it is now August 2015! August will be a very busy life in our lives. First up is Karen and I reaching our 22nd wedding anniversary. We will not sleep together on our wedding anniversary and I only mention it because it will be our first wedding anniversary that we are apart from each other. The plans are for Megan, Karen, and Megan's friend to be coming up to Elkader on that day while Alex and I will be traveling to Davenport's Adler Theater to see Shinedown. This was a prearranged concert - Karen could decide whether I took Alex to see Godsmack / Papa Roach / In This Moment on Tuesday, May 19, or to Shinedown on Friday, August 7. She chose 8/7 and, upon deciding that, the plans were made for it to be a "girl's weekend" in Elkader.

Moving on, the following Friday is Megan's 19th birthday and the current plan is for her to have some friends over for a bonfire. Then, on Monday, we move her to UNI. It's hard to believe, sitting here in the Jayco camper in Elkader, that in 17 short days, Karen, Alex, and I will take Megan to Cedar Falls to begin her new career as a college student. I knew that time wasn't going to stand still for me, no matter how much I would wish for it to do so. Megan is growing up and I am very proud and hopeful for her as a person (and of course as my daughter) that she will begin the rest of her life when she gets to UNI.

As of now, we will spend the final two weekends of August up here in Elkader. It will be different to be here with Megan off to college. Of course, I will miss her being around so, therefore, I'm not going to write about her being away until she actually is,  you know, away.

Yay! A Concert I *could* Attend

Following the disappointment that we did not attend the Godsmack / Papa Roach / In This Moment concert in Moline, IL, last night, Alex's spirits were raised significantly when it was revealed to him that Five Finger Death Punch / Papa Roach / In This Moment / From Ashes to New are playing on Friday, October 2, in Cedar Rapids.

Wow.

Of course, ever the diligent father, before I told him, I checked the Iowa City West High football schedule to see if there was a football game that he would need to march in.

Nope.

So, of all the Friday nights in the middle of marching band season that are free, that's the night of the concert.

Joy joy joy!

Even more joy when I heard From Ashes to New!

Applying Pressure

Here's the situation - Alex wants me to go to see Godsmack, Papa Roach, and In This Moment in Moline, IL, on Tuesday, May 20, 2015. He keeps talking about buying his own ticket and 1/2 of mine in order to convince me we should go. As always, there are two sides to the idea of attending.

Reasons to Go to the Concert

1. My son is showing
2. Godsmack sound excellent in concert, both during the drum solo and in the embedded below.
3. I like Godsmack and have seen them several times live - this

Reasons to Not Go to the Concert

1. It's on a Tuesday night, which means we won't get home until midnight on a school night and, like it or not, I have to be up for work on Wednesday AM at 6 while Alex has to be up for school at 6:30. That's a short night.
2. Megan graduates from high school on Saturday, May 23. This concert is a few short days before that. We will probably be doing various household tasks to prepare for family visiting. How much will be done on a Tuesday night? Maybe a lot, maybe not a lot.
3. Not a big In This Moment fan.

Something Different

At this moment in time, I am unsure whether I will see Godsmack in Moline, IL, on Tuesday, May 16, 2015. If I had to put percentages on it, I'd go with 40% likely / 60% unlikely. If I were to go, it wouldn't be the first tune I've seen them. I have seen them live:

1. in Moline in 2004 as an opening act for Metallica
2. in Moline in 2006 as a headliner with Breaking Benjamin and Hour Cast
3. in Memphis at Memphis in May 2007 as a headliner on Saturday night

Of course, Alex really wants to go. The opening bands - Papa Roach & In This Moment - are bands I've seen live as well. For Papa Roach:

1. in Memphis at Memphis in May 2004
2. in Cedar Rapids in 2013 with Shine Down, Skillet, In This Moment, and We As Human

For newcomer In This Moment, it would be the second time seeing them.

My two all-time favorite Godsmack songs are "Something Different" and "ReAlign" live. I'm fairly confident they will play "Something Different" because it is a new song from their most recent release, "1000 HP", and it has already been included in their most recent setlist, per setlist.fm. However, the news is not as good for "ReAlign" which seems to have fallen out of the rotation, also per setlist.fm.

Here's "Something Different" live:


Here's "ReAlign" live:

Schedule

I am really excited about this weekend. Lou's Classic Ride plays on Saturday from 2-4, then 5:30 Mass in Riverside, then Euchre night at St. Thomas More.

On Sunday, I think I'm playing drums with the youth group at 11, then heading up to Cedar Rapids for the show, which has this schedule:

Doors: 4:00pm

5:00 – 5:20pm We As Human

5:40pm - 6:15pm In This Moment

6:40pm – 7:35pm Papa Roach

8:05pm – 9:00pm Skillet

9:30pm – 11:00pm Shinedown

Excitement Builds!

The Return to Greatness

When I was growing up in Cedar Rapids, the Five Seasons Center / US Cellular Center on First Avenue was the hub for concerts. So many great bands came through town (in no specific order):

• KISS / Great White / Trixter
• Pantera / White Zombie / EYEHATEGOD / Morbid Angel
• the Clash of the Titans tour with Alice in Chains / Anthrax / Slayer / Megadeth (I didn't see this show, but damn, I should have!)
• Sevendust / other bands - was too drunk to remember thanks to drinking at Kurtz before the show and not eating - thanks to Travis B for driving me home!
• Metallica / the Cult (when I met Scott Golden)
• Metallica (1991)
• Def Leppard / Dokken
• Motley Crue / Cheap Trick
• Mötley Crüe / Whitesnake
• Quiet Riot / Whitesnake
• Loverboy / Dokken

So many great memories.

Now, the opportunity to create another presents itself with a concert on Sunday, August 25, 2013. 
From: http://www.concertboom.com/carnival-of-madness/tour-dates/:
Founded in 2010, Carnival of Madness is a concert tour performed by alternative and gothic rock bands.This year’s Carnival of Madness tour will feature

• Shine Down
• Papa Roach
• Skillet
• In This Moment
• We as Human

I'm SOOOO in!

Someday . . .

Every year, they hold Rock Fest in Cadott, WI, in mid-July.

Every year, awesome bands, including some of my favorite bands, play at this festival.

Every year, I sigh and wish I was there.

Someday, I will be there.

It would be awesome if it was this year, since from Thursday to Sunday, a lot of my favorite bands play:

• Thursday
• Seether
• Halestorm
• All That Remains
• Friday
• The Offspring
• Theory of a Deadman
• In This Moment
• Saturday
• KISS
• Megadeth
• Stone Sour
• Hellyeah
• Warrant
•  Sunday
• Mötley Crüe!!!!!!
• Whitesnake <== Tommy Aldridge (a drum hero of mine) is playing with them on this tour!!!
• Skillet!!!!!

The fact that Mötley Crüe, the 'bad boys of rock,' headline a show where Skillet, a Christian rock band, plays just a few hours earlier, makes this year awesome.

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