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Local live music is where it is at. If you have never ventured out to see a local band in your area you have no idea what you are missing. Take it from me, there are bands that came out of this state that I never got to see live before they made it big. Shinedown and Yellowcard are both bands that came out of Jacksonville, Fl and I never made it up there to see them before they went big. One band that is just hitting the mainstream big is Another Black Day, these guys I have seen a few times and they are something not to be missed. Now with that being said here are some local and not so local acts I have seen come through on tour.

The first band I am going to talk about tonight is Lo Mass Republic. This 5 piece rock band hails from Los Angeles and consists of Jesse Glick; vocals and rhythm guitar, Steve Cordre; bass, Corbin Long; keyboards, Jason Degorse; lead guitar and Andy Bonura; drums. I had the pleasure of seeing and meeting these guys when they came through here on tour with Live last year. I was simply blown away with their lyrics and instrumental accords. If you live in this area or anywhere near it be sure to keep a close eye on these guys. Keep up with all their happening here: http://www.myspace.com/ellamar.
The next band I would like to tell you about is Say When. This rock band hails from Boston, Mass and consists of Maxwell Latif; vocals, Zack Starikov; guitars, John Zaremba; guitars, Mike Marvuglio; bass and Mark McCarthy; drums. These guys came through Florida on tour by themselves and are still touring. They are currently doing a Midwest – west tour. Be sure to look out for them in your town. Their stage presence is one you need to see to believe and off the stage they are very approachable. Check out where they will be next at: www.myspace.com/saywhenmusic.

Broken Image is another band that will come through Florida at least once a year. This 5 piece metal band hails from Englewood, Colorado and consist of Dusty Trujillo; vocals, Zach Teresi; guitar, Preston Smith; bass, Hector Parra; drums and Teddy Sanchez; guitar. From their high energy performance to the way they all mesh together well on and off the stage these guys are an experience to be had. Be sure to catch these guys if you are in the vicinity of either state. Keep up with them at: www.myspace.com/brokenimagerock.
Head Snap is a Spartanburg, South Carolina alternative/metal band that made their way to Florida recently. This 6 piece band consists of Ricky Shuler; vocals, Mark Frey; guitar, Joey Cowan; guitar, Josh Stokes; bass, Adam Patterson; percussion and backing vocals and Lee Hudgins; drums. I never knew that bongos and congas along with a jimbay could be utilized in metal they way that they did it. They showed us Floridians how much South Carolina could kicked down the door. They have had the opportunity to open for many national acts and should be watched carefully. Keep up with these boys at: www.headsnap.com.
Now onto a local act, (un)SAID has to be one of the most well put together bands I have seen in a long time. This 5 piece hard rock/ heavy metal band originated in Colorado and moved here to Florida 2 years ago. I have to say I am glad they did. This band consist of 5 members Jeremy Hyson; vocals, Danny Lee; lead guitar, Nick Cirullo; bass, Steve Ruoff; guitar and Don Cadman; drums. From Jeremy’s soaring vocals to Don’s hard hitting drum beats you have to see this band in action. They just released their CD after a long awaited 2yr battle to get it done and are talking about embarking on a tour this coming summer. Be on the lookout for these guys when they roll through your town. Until then keep an eye on them here: www.myspace.com/unsaidmusic.
Like I said in the beginning of this article you never know what is coming out of your town. For years I had no ideal how much talent actually came from this state and then I started listening carefully and have found some great musicians. Watch out because you never know what is coming through and developing right in your own backyard.

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Posted By: musiclover - Category: Reviews, Lists, Criticism, Ramblings

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Rock N' Roll Reality Isn't Real

September 19th 2006 10:37

Much has been said about "Reality" TV, but it's biggest failing is that the name is extremely misleading. Reality shows, after all, do not actually represent reality in the slightest. After all, suppose you and 10 other people found yourself stranded on an island, for example, would you decide to split up into two tribes and play a series of inane games against each other, before progressively reducing the number of people there to help you by voting them off? If "Survivor" is anything to go by, then this is the appropriate course of action.

Right at the bottom of Reality TV's cesspit of shows, lie shows such as "ROCKSTAR" or "SUPERGROUP". Now before I continue, I must admit to never having actually watched more than 2 minutes of these shows,because I refuse to compromise my enjoyment for the sake of research. You don't really need to watch any of it though, to understand the general point of these shows....it's either an Idol-esque vote-a-thon to determine the new lead singer of a washed up band, or just an Osbornes-esque mind-numbingly uninteresting journey through the lives of some washed up band. How original!

I suppose "The Osbournes" started this worryin trend, in the process ruining any hopes Ozzy Osbourne ever had of being considered a legend ( quite an achievement, considering his previous "achievements " ) . After all, watching an almost incapacitated Ozzy scream " SHUT THE FUCK UP!" gets boring after, well, the first time. More recently, the "Rockstar" series began, first trying to find a lead singer for INXS, and then Supernova. So let me see if I understand: INXS, an always mediocre band, who somehow seem to continually get worse in their attempt to "keep with the times", decide to replace their lead singer who , whether on purpose or by accident, strangled himself, NINE YEARS AGO, by making as much money as possible from a bland and unoriginal TV show? Classy. Not to be outdone on the ridiculousness front, VH1 came up with "Supergroup", a band made up of the following rock n' roll superpowers:
-Sebastian Bach, the extremely annoying ex-frontman of Skid Row.
- Scott Ian , Anthrax' guitarist with the comical red goatee/beard.

Maybe if I grow this ridiculous beard-type thing, people will stop hating me.

- Evan Seinfeld, apparently Biohazard's bassist, but not at all famous, except for sharing a surname with a great comedian and managing to look even uglier by covering his body with childish tattoos.
- Jason Bonham, Foreigner's drummer, but only famous for being the legendary John Bonham's (Led Zeppelin) son and having no talent in comparison.
- Ted Nugent, ok, so he's quite talented.

Not only does the name "Supergroup" conveniently ignore the remarkable lack of skill actually present, but it represents a most unlikely combination of musicians. There are some musical combinations which just don't work , one of which is Glam-Rock & Metal (although, after watching The Mighty Boosh, glam-rock & folk should be encouraged) .

It's no co-incidence that these shows are filled with mediocre musicians who have been completely forgotten.They were forgotten because they were crap, and their participation in these shows makes a mockery of their already limited ability. Rock N' Roll is mostly ignored in modern popular culture, and I would prefer that it stayed that way, rather than have its reputation tarnished by shitty TV shows. All in all, this is a shambolic idea, which just does not belong in the world of rock n' roll.

Instead of watching SUPERGROUP, i listened to the excellent "Surf Rider" by The Lively Ones.

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Posted By: Arjun - Category: Criticism

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Y U SHD, LIEK, H8 "U2", LOL

September 13th 2006 13:36

The first reason, as you might have guessed, is that anyone who spells like that immediately loses all credibility. The sad thing is that they came up with this even before spelling like that was considered cool. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I cannot think of any other band name which could possibly have taken less time to think of. Clearly I hate You Too ( or do they mean it as You Two?), but my hatred of them is exacerbated by the fact that musically, they are actually quite talented. However, they have forever been far more obsessed with their image , than their music....

These guys have cool written all over them, if you're 12.

Naturally any discussion about U2's image must start with Paul David Hewson. Oh, sorry, I used his normal name. I mean BONO. BONO VOX, to be precise. May I ask what was wrong with his original name? It's not as if it bore an unfortunate similarity to some sexual innuendo, for example, which is the common reason for changing one's name. In fact, as far as sexual innuendo goes, Paul's adopted name is far more suggestive. In case you're wondering, "bono vox" actually means "good voice." That's like me renaming myself "AWESOME WRITER" , or "SEXUAL STALLION", none of which are true. And while I'm no singing expert, I've never found Bono's singing to be anything out of the ordinary. I'm going to avoid rambling about Bono's personal "humanitarian work", partly because this is an article about the band as a whole, and partly because it would be far too exhausting and painful to write about. Le me just say this: the less you tell everyone about it, the more people respect that sort of work.

Now, on to David Howell Evans. Oh, sorry, I used his normal name. I meant THE EDGE. If someone told me that there was a famous person named THE EDGE, I would picture a guy in a brightly coloured lycra suit with special powers, probably something to do with cutting people. I certainly wouldn't picture a lead guitarist. THE EDGE is the kind of name you give yourself when you're 8 years old, and playing Superheroes at lunch, but you don't know any big words. The sad thing is the guy is actually not a bad guitarist, which brings me to my next point...

In U2'S early days, they were highly respected for their musical talent and originality, and had built up quite a large core group of fans. But unlike all great bands, they didn't know when to quit. The Beatles stopped getting along, so they quit, ensuring their place at the highest pedestal of rock n' roll. Led Zeppelin quit after their drummer died, knowing they could never achieve the same sound again. They too, cemented a place next to The Beatles. U2, however, decided to keep on going, completely changing their music to fit whatever phase the popular music industry was going through. Take a look at the albums from "Pop" onwards. All of them completely different to one another, but strangely similar to popular rock music of the times. For example , the "Pop" album, released in 1997, boasts tracks such as "Discotheque", "MOFO", and "The Playboy Mansion". Quite a change from their early days. And let's not forget their latest masterpiece "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb", which wins the "Best Title That Tried to Sound Clever but Failed Completely" award. Again, I wouldn't care so much if they had always been such a joke of a band; there are too many of those to worry about. But that the band who produced "Desire", "New Year's Day", and "Where The Streets Have No Name", for example, could reach these lows, is reason enough for me to devote 20 minutes of my life to chastizing them. U2 have more fans than ever before; but none of them were there at the beginning.

To get over U2's shambolic music, I listened to "Go To The Mirror" by The Who.

Image from Wikipedia article "U2"

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Posted By: Arjun - Category: Criticism

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Unfortunately, "JET" are back

September 8th 2006 13:05

As we grow older, we often look back at times gone by, and realize a few mistakes that, if given the chance, we would gladly correct. Unfortunately, I was recently given a painful reminder of band whom I used to like : Jet.

When I first heard Jet, I though, "Hey, not bad, this is similar to the music I like." After a few listens, the sensation that I had heard this all before grew even stronger, before it hit me: it wasn't similar to the music I liked ...it WAS the very same music

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