#3 Kid Rock & Foreigner: Countdown To 100

8/27 Thursday Night, Irvine Meadows.
Let's be real, Foreigner was pretty sweet, and I bailed early on Kid Rock. Why did I bail on Kid Rock? I don't know. I was there with my buddy who wasn't into him and I am not really into him. He's got a few hits that I do like but I was tired and knew I worked the next morning. Leaving early just sounded better.

Here I go again, talking about a band that gave birth to all their classic songs before I was even born. Since their self titled debut album Foreigner (1977), Foreigner has submitted some of rock's greatest hit's and the performance was a representation of that. "Double Vision", "Cold As Ice", "Head Games". "Dirty White Boy", "Feels Like The First Time". The weird thing about Foreigner was the fact that we got 5 songs in before the first original member of Foreigner made their way to the stage. Mick Jones played through the second half of the set. But remove Mick Jones and your basically looking at a Foreigner cover band. I can't deny that they sounded good though. Everyone really put their heart and soul into these massive Foreigner hits. "Urgent", "Juke Box Hero", "I Want To Know What Love Is", and last but not least "Hot Blooded". You almost forgot how many great songs Foreigner was responsible for but due to the fact that Foreigner is basically a lie, they opened for Kid Rock.

Foreigner should never open for Kid Rock and they never would have if they weren't an incomplete band. What an interesting divide to put in between the audience too. Foreigner and Kid Rock don't really exist on the same plane musically. You have an old band coming out of the 70s, and then Kid Rock who has been throwing hits at us since the 90s. He's definitely had chart toppers like "All Summer Long", "Picture", "Bawitdaba". Again I only got about 4 songs into Kid Rocks set, but from the start I knew it wasn't going to be nearly as good as the Foreigner set. Or at least I wasn't going to personally enjoy it as much as Foreigner. After sitting down to hit after hit, sitting through an unfamiliar body of work from Kid Rock just didn't seem exciting at all.

Oh, there's one thing that I think was supposed to come off as cool  but it was just a marketing ploy. The tour was called First Kiss: Cheap Date Tour. Kid Rock's newest album is titled First Kiss, but all the tickets were in the $20 range but ultimately ended up on resale sites for as low as $4 a ticket. So Kid rock knew he couldn't fill places like Verizon so he got Foreigner on board and charged nothing for tickets. Looks like a kind gesture from artist to fans but let's be real. That's just good marketing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very excited to announce that I am on the cusps of reaching a long time goal.
100 concerts.
Kid Rock and Foreigner were concert number #98.
Tim McGraw will be #99 (Show was canceled updated: 9/23/15)
and
The Who will be #100.(Show was postponed updated: 9/23/15) Then we come around full circle from the start of this blog when I first announced that I would be seeing AC/DC for a second time. As long as I keep going to concerts I'll keep writing about them. So "for those about to rock, we salute you!"

Shania Twain And That Gavin Guy

8/20/2015
I am typing this up on a nice day off after just seeing my first dose of Shania Twain last night Wednesday 19th. This is a two part concert bonanza. Saw Shania last night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Tonight I'll be seeing her at the Staples Center. I'm quite possibly more excited to see her again tonight than I was last night. A large band, flames, and moving platforms. This show was a very larger than life experience. Whether Shania is being lifted center stage or flying on a bull around the audience, she took her moments to speak with the audience, and she brought a lot of the Vegas magic with her on her world tour. You can read about that in my Dan Goes To Concerts In Las Vegas post. I will say that you can't go see her on tour and expect it to be as good as her Vegas show. It cant' be compared, but her tour is still full of Shania Twain superstar magic. Unfortunately I missed Gavin DeGraw last night, however I will be getting to Staples Center on time to see both performances. I did see him come out to duet with Shania on Party For Two, according to her it is the first time they took this fun tune on tour.


8/21/2015
I've made it through my first back to back concert performance. It was interesting. I saw a lot of things I would not have if I hadn't seen it twice. Makes me wonder if there is always so many extra things that can differ from one performance over the other. For example: apparently a generator blew up nearby the Staples Center at another building and it led to Staples Center experiencing some sort of power surge/power outage which resulted in a very awkward 10 minutes when about 45 seconds into 'That Don't Impress Me Much' where the sound died and the house lights came up. Shania Twain made her way off stage as well as the rest of the band. Then the music kicked back up and Shania was back on stage, only to now have a microphone that's not working. Shania took the opportunity to have some face time with the audience. She pointed out an actual rocket scientist that was brought to her attention in the very front. (Which is a quote in the song.) So once again they re started the song, she came through and they finished off the show. Knowing how complex those systems are it's actually a miracle they recovered as fast as they did.

Aside from the power issues the rest of the show was spot on, there were a number of differences from last night vs. the night before. For example at Honda, as I had mentioned we got Shania flying over the audience on a mechanical bull. She also was raised on a rising platform at the beginning of the first night, that the second night never saw. Everything seemed to be tweaked differently, even the song arrangement. Due to the curfew difference between Orange County and Los Angeles, the Staples show was condensed. Back to back really let me get a feel for the differences in venues. The Staples Center is outrageously better than Honda Center. The seats were like night and day, also the sound quality of the performance was more fine tuned at Staples Center. I'm excited that I'll be seeing The Who at Staples next month as apposed to Honda. Heck based on seats alone. But then there's also the LA traffic and LA homeless that are the price to pay for the nicer venue. I also assume Staples natively has more lasers. There seemed to be a lot more lasers for the second night, and who doesn't like lots of lasers? Crazy People!!! and maybe people who have epileptic seizures.

Once again, I showed up a little later to the show, but I did see the last two Gavin DeGraw songs. He's pretty cool, I can't get much of an assessment from just two songs. But he sounded great. Seems like a good opener for Shania. It was also a good idea to use him for the Party For Two duet. I really enjoyed seeing Shania Twain back to back. This is supposed to be her last tour ever, so I'm glad to say I've seen her three times before she hangs up her boots. Who knows if she'll actually call it quits after this, that's what every artist says but if it truly is the end, I'm glad I got to witness the County superstar in action.

Photos from Orange County Register and LA times.

Dan Goes To Ozzy Osbourne Concerts

 Well how do I begin this? The second sentence in and I'm just scratching the surface on this one. People who know me really know what I'm talking about. I'm clearly a music fanatic, I mean... you're reading this… on my blog… about going to concerts… but let me just say, there is just one artist that makes the fan boy in me squeal like a little girl.

Mr. Ozzy Osbourne. The madman of metal, the prince of darkness, father of 6. He's done more drugs than his music idols The Beatles all combined and then some. He's been evaluated by science as a genetic mutant through the use of his genome in the human genome project. He fronted the band Black Sabbath only to be kicked out and continue on to have one of the most successful solo careers of all time. There's Ozzy then there's his guitarist, whether he is being fronted by the beloved and missed Randy Rhoads, the blazing fast Jake E. Lee or the tried and true Zakk Wylde, also the newcomer Gus G. In the past 11 albums the guitarist no doubt outline the albums. But Ozzy is the front man, shocking and coloring in the lines, and making headlines since 1972. You're probably all familiar with the exhausted stories of biting the head off of a dove, or more famously a bat, pissing on the Alamo wearing Sharon’s wedding dress, or shooting down all of the cats in his house. He even died and came back to life when he had his ATV accident. So he’s basically a real life zombie. Heyyy Heyyy do the Zombie Stomp! (Ozzy song, which I shouldn’t have to clarify to you non believers!!!)
Regardless of what he is to you, he sits high up top the music constant that I so appreciate. When there is so much inconsistency in the world, you can always turn on a record and let the music take you away. There is no more ideal sound that makes it way through my ears and into my brain like the screaming guitar and biting vocals of Ozzy Osborne. Sabbath years, solo. You name it, I love it. My father instilled a love for Ozzy in me at a very young age. I remember not being able to tell Ozzy solo and Ozzy in Black Sabbath, but I knew Ozzy’s voice, and I knew I loved it. Let me put into perspective my early obsession towards the Ozzy. Picture me in 6^th grade, wearing an Ozzy shirt, walking around with a binder full of, what? School work? No, of course not, pictures of Ozzy! I also remember when the Osbournes came out, it upset me in so many ways. Suddenly there were people making fun of the dude that rocked my brain the hardest. People didn’t even know that Ozzy was a singer >.< blasphemy. I even had a nickname in Jr. High. Yep… “Ozzy”.

       Well holy snap Dan, the guy who goes to concerts, certainly you must have a good story or two about this guy. Who... Ozzy? You're goddamn right I do. There's already been a big bite taken out of this legacy when I wrote my blog post Dan Goes To Black Sabbath Concerts. Indeed that outlines my Dio and Ozzy fronted Sabbath experiences. But what about the Ozz Man? The man I've worshiped since I was in elementary school. Well let's start here...

...Freefest: that was the name of Ozzfest that particular year. Nestled in the hills of Devore, CA. Sharon and Ozzy decided that it was time to give back to the metal fans. They orchestrated an entirely free Ozzfest for people to be able to attend. Unfortunately this show was the beginning of a quick and ultimate demise of Ozzfest and truly there were no bands that I cared too much about. There were a handful of recognizable names to come out before Ozzy. Bands like Lamb Of God, Lordi, Static X, Behemoth, Nile. The rest of the artist lineup was a sea of acts lesser known to me. This wasn't an issue for me, because this was going to be my first time seeing Ozzy and truly that's all I cared about. It was a good time regardless, I remember falling down in the mosh pit which scared the crap out of me. And that was my first set of concert boobies that I saw. 

Ramping up the audience and bringing me to tears of joy (legit). Bark at the moon, already I'm just dying. It's almost hard to re live that performance. It was a cacophony of emotion and sound. Again, the fact that I was brought to tears of joy for the first time ever, should really outline my general feelings. It was epic, it was the Ozzman. I had watched the show clips and DVDs and I was taken in by the Ozzman as so many have been before. You'll never know the power of a front man until you're riding in the passenger seat of Ozzy's crazy train. The only downside to the whole thing was the fact that it took 2 hours to exit the parking lot. But I was tipsy from the excitement, so I just kicked back and waited.

Well... that's it folks.

No... stop... of course that's not it. I'm just getting started.

How about the time I shook Ozzy's hand?

Fuck you Dan, no you didn't! Yeah... I DID!

I Am Ozzy was the name of Ozzy's newest book, and I came across the discovery of a book signing that was going to take place in Huntington Beach. So me and my friend James Lane got in his car and took off to get ourselves there. We got our books, and I kid you not we waited for hours and hours and hours to get that book signed. But it was cool waiting in a line full of people anxious to get their book signed by Ozzy. The only thing I wasn't a fan of, was the fact that it was so rushed. It was crowded and rushed. I couldn't have had more than 15 seconds face to face with Ozzy. And I was so damn star struck I was walking away before I regained consciousness. I just know that I shook his hand said thanks for all the music and got mumbled at by him!

Yeah, that was the FIRST time I shook his hand! Aw... hell what?

Yeah, the second occasion was much sexier. So here's the scoop; me and again my buddy James along with a couple other guys headed to Hollywood to wait outside of the Amoeba records to get the opportunity to fetch Ozzy's newest album Scream. We got there early too because it was a limited engagement, only a few hundred people were given the opportunity to receive the album two days before release and get it signed. Again it was very rushed, very crowded, and I got mumbled at again. But I got to once again absorb some drugs through Ozzy's hand. I'm sure there was some sort of contact high! Yeah, but that's only part of this cool venture. You see not only were we given a free signed CD two days before release. We were also given a ticket to see Ozzy that same evening perform at the House of Blues. Again... For free. And that venue is like radical to see someone like Ozzy. House of Blues Sunset Strip is a hole in the wall compared to some of the venues Ozzy fills. The evening started with Sharon walking out and introducing the album which we got to listen too from start to finish until finally Ozzy came out and did an entire set. A set! for free! House of Blues! Any Ozzy fan might be fed up with this awesomeness by now. But theres a day two to this situation. You see I knew Ozzy was going to be performing on Lopez Tonight the next day. So once again, back in LA me and my buddies sat in on the audience. Sharon did the interview part, and Ozzy came out and performed like 3 songs. Oh, and we got another copy of Scream. So then I was in possession of two copies of an album not yet released. BALLER!!!

That wraps up my Ozzy experiences. Solo anyways. Because he's been fronting Sabbath for a few years now. That's nothing I can complain about, I enjoyed those shows a lot. But I really hope Ozzy busts out another solo album and tours solo again soon. I love Sabbath, but I'm also a HUGE fan of Ozzy's solo efforts.

Hootie Hold The Blowfish: Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker, A Thousand Horses, Brett Eldredge, and Brothers Osbourne.That was the lineup, however we did not land in our seats until time to see Brett Eldredge. Only one album into his career, Brett Eldredge already has Country fans wrapped around his finger. Well, maybe not my gal pal, and of course my "whatever" attitude towards to country in general. But hey!!! it's better than my previous notion towards country which was "ewww get away!!!" I am always surprised by how many songs I recognize at these country shows. Brett Eldredge is not your typical cowboy, wearing a stripped sweater and black skinny jeans but he's got the hits, and the girls want to scream out his name, so he's doing something right. 

Then there's Hootie, or rather, Darius Rucker; the black guy in Country music. Totally not a race driven remark. I mean, he's pretty much the only black guy on Country radio. It's a breath of fresh air. Now Darius Rucker isn't a household name, but Hootie and The Blowfish were back in the day. Darius has found his nitch on the Country charts, and with the amount of radio play he's getting right now, he clearly jumped head first into the genre he truly belongs in. With his deep southern style voice. He's from South Carolina, so it's no surprise he'd fit in as a Country singer. Football player for the NFL, turned Rock singer, turned R&B singer, turned Country singer. 

And that brings us to Saturday night (August 1st). Irvine Meadows, Irvine CA. packed with stone washed jeans, big boots, and short shorts. And of course the red white and blue murica'. Darius Rucker sounded great and sang his heart out, and his band sounded terrific. The show was as visually nice to experience as it was to hear. With a few extra display screens panning between shots of the band and other visuals. Darius glistened with sweat as he poured what he had into the songs. You could tell he really enjoyed himself, you could feel the energy from the audience bouncing off of him. I must say that on a Saturday night, I'm not sure how many people were there to sit and enjoy the show VS. how many people were there to just drink as much beer as they could. Everyone was having a good time, and that's all that matters. There was the obligatory LOUD ASS GIRL behind me, who at one point thought that it was cool to put her foot on my chair and into my back. And oddly enough, I've never had more people shuffle by me in my row than this concert. Beer run after beer run. I'd like to see the statistics, I'm pretty sure beer sales go up a touch for these Country shows. 

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to be seeing Jason Aldean and Kenney Chesney. That show fell through for me because of a work conflict. However a review of that show should be coming soon from someone who did go. 

In other news, purchase tickets to see The Who last night. YEAH!

So Dan, that lovely rating system you started using for Van Halen.
Right!
I give this show
1 Hootie out of 0 Blowfish
10 out of 10 for Darius backing band, taking the wind out of the Blowfish. I wasn't going to say blow.
3 out of 10 sneakers.
10 out of 10 cowboy boots. and for the feminists cowgirl boots!
oh and a Yee out of a Haw.

-photos courtesy of OCRegister