Thnks Fr Nthn Spcl

Jay Z opens Fall Out Boy's latest Infinity on High with a triumph dedicated to all the critics who said this album couldn't happen. Who is he talking to? If Jay Z is your boss, then aren't you guaranteed to put out an album and be in EVERYONE's faces no matter if you're welcome or not? So, why the triumph? Why bother? I think it's to make the public think that there is some revolutionary countercultural thing about this body of work; that by listening to this album you're part of some special group telling someone to fuck off. Whatever. This album isn't bad, I happen to really like "I've Got This Ring…" and "Me & You", but as a complete body of work it's the farthest thing from unique or identifiable that I've come across in a while. If anything, this album proves to me that Fall Out Boy are suffering from an identity crisis by trying to reach too many people.
Infinity on High fuses drum tracks, keyboards, machine gun guitars, the whole "voice sounding like a vacuum" thing, a drum corps, and oh, Jay Z. Dear god- can you try to reach more people? And what's with sounding so much like Panic! At The Disco. The first album wasn't like this, was it? I realize their on your label, guys, but I was shocked how similar the vocals on "Hum Hallelujah," "Golden," and "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" were. Y'all, what's the deal? You look like you're trying to ride the Panic! wave and that's not a good thing. Panic! can do Panic! You can't and shouldn't. You're not androgynous or pretty enough to pull that kind of thing off!
J and I once had a discussion back when Fall Out Boy broke with "Sugar, We're Going Down" that this is not a band starting a trend; they're one that incorporates and perpetuates everything that is "now". Just take the track titles, for example. You've got the annoyingly long emo-like titles that are 25 words long, attempts at clever titles, then the one that I refer to above in text message-ese. Forget the titles, now. How is this cd going to guarantee a place in the annals of rock? Or, maybe who cares because they're laughing all the way to the bank? Tell you what, in my opinion, the band should thank their lucky stars every day Patrick Stump doesn't leave for something better. His vocals are the only thing keeping this band truly noteworthy these days.
Guys, stop being a pop culture's bitch. I expected more based on the media publicity train this album was on, no doubt thanks to whom you've been associated with in the business. However, in the end all I can say is that I don't hate it. It's good pop, but it's nothing to be proud of. -K

In My Humble Opinion

As you can see we finally got some snow in the Lou.

Okay, I half-watched the Grammys as I worked Sunday night. I just went to their website to look over the list of winners. I must make a few comments.

The Dixie Chicks won too many awards and Gnarls Barkley didn’t win enough. Don't take that as Chick-bashing, the album was okay.

I am surprised that Dani California won an award.

I love that Wolfmother won in the Hard Rock category.

I was moved by Mary J. Blige’s performance. It was truly her night.

Both Christina Aguilera and Beyonce’s performances were unnecessary.

Glad to see The Police on stage all smiles, ready to announce the world tour. --J

OUCH! DAYUMM YEW!

I was in my friend C's office Friday afternoon and the conversation turned to what we might do on Saturday night. We're two people that always talk about getting out at night together, but then never do. For some reason, this Saturday evening was special. I walked into my favorite Lebanese restaurant down in The Loop and was welcomed by C yelling my name from behind me. We hugged tightly. This would be a special occasion indeed.

We had been throwing around the idea of heading down to a tattoo shop down the road after dinner. C had an idea, but was not quite ready. I knew exactly what I wanted and produced the image from my purse. Our waiter, who had just shown us his brand new Russian prison tattoo, gave us the receipt for the dinner and we headed out into the cold, cold night.

When we walked into the studio, I signed up and waited for my name to be called. The overhead speaker was blasting The Who's "Teenage Wasteland" followed by "Pinball Wizard". C and I had a funny moment when while silently killing time looking at the stock selections we both sang "SURE PLAYED A MEAN PINBALL" in unison.

When my artist called me back and was ready to go he asked "are you nervous, little flower?" I dismissed the question, but dear god, yes I was. The real estate for the tattoo was in the small of my back and above my existing tattoo where my spine is super sensitive. I knew this was going to be a bitch to sit through. I still had no idea.

C sat in front of me and I grabbed her hand like I was giving birth the natural way. With every outline of every curve I grimaced and squeezed for dear life. C tried to talk to me, but I couldn't converse. I was too busy grinding my teeth. Also, why was the pretty girl next to us getting, of all things, an anchor tattooed on her stomach? I listened to C's stories of past conferences and tried my best to lose myself in her thoughts so that I could abandon my own physical pain, but it was futile. Finally, the artist stopped and said "ok, look- every time you wiggle I might screw this up. So, stop wiggling." I glanced at C and swallowed. This has to be perfect. So, I focused and stopped wiggling.

During the peak of the pain "Squeeze Box" played. The artist started singing along with "in and out and in and out". This was followed by C and me, practically nose to nose, singing with our best falsettos "squeeze me, come on and squeeze me/ Come on and tease me like you do/ I'm so in love with you." It helped. Singing this lyric truly helped.

Then it was over and the pain was gone. No endorphins kicked in during this session. Oh no. That would have been too easy. The pain was over when the session was over. Despite my "wiggling" the artist managed to create a perfect image. C and I looked at it, hugged each other and then burst into crazy laughter.

When it came time to call an end to the lovely evening, I smiled and really meant it. I had finally taken the next step and gotten that symbol that brings together two of my favorite things: love and metal. -K

Whew! I Almost Fell Out, Boy!

Last night Fall Out Boy performed "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" on Letterman. Though the guitars drowned him out slightly, I was amazed at Patrick's impressive vocals. Maybe I'm getting soft, but I didn't recoil when I saw them. In fact, I texted J to make sure she knew they would be on and she herself responded that she might watch. No matter how much I criticize, FOB will always be part of the Warped summer of 2005 for me. I can honestly admit that there was a time when they almost had me. 2007 is still young. Maybe this new album will sway me once again. -K

Prince Rocks the Half-Time Show

Prince proved that all you need for a good half-time show is a talented musician, a couple of backup dancers, and a marching band. I loved the fact that we weren’t subjected to an endless parade of so-so talents in the space of twelve minutes like we usually are. Less is more in that respect. Prince treated the audience to his Purple Rain-era hits like Let’s Go Crazy, Baby I’m a Star, Purple Rain, and also threw in Proud Mary, All Along the Watchtower, and Foo Fighter’s Best of You. --J

Kings of Leon Single

Hurry over to the Kings of Leon MySpace page to listen to On Call, their new single released yesterday. I love it, I love it, I love it. So far the only U.S. tour date announced is Coachella. --J

What the hell?

What the hell, MCR! No St. Louis date on the Black Parade tour? -K

Save this Show!

ABC's The Knights of Prosperity is not getting the ratings it needs to survive. We must save a show with a premise built on robbing Mick Jagger! I love this show. Every week there is some musical reference that cracks me up. In the third episode, Donal Logue, the leader of the crime organization, decides they must have a theme song. Check out the clip before it gets pulled from YouTube. --J

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1D46vJIVwo

Hip Hop With A Little Too Much Flavor

Last Friday afternoon, J and I were packing up to head down to the Loop to purchase some tickets for an upcoming Scissor Sisters show. My coworker, A, handed me her iPod and asked me to listen to Akon's I Wanna Love You. I told her that I knew the song, that I liked the song and that I heard it on MTV2 every morning. She kind of chuckled and then explained that when she made the decision to download it she chose the explicit version because "who cares about a few curse words, right?" Totally. However, she said that once she started playing the song in her car she immediately felt like she had made a huge mistake. I smugly hit play on the iPod thinking to myself "this can't be that bad". Uh, right. Basically, for the next few minutes I went from shocked to nervous giggling while A looked at me with an "now do you see what I'm saying?" expression. I think Akon singing "I wanna fuck you" rather than "I wanna love you" definitely changes things a little bit, don't you? And, to hear every unbleeped "pussy" and "dick" Snoop throws down just makes me blink a lot. Listening to the explicit version of that song was like once foolishly ordering a 3-star curry when the palate really and truly is used to a 1-star. I had the same reaction: "GOOD GOD!" -K

[Akon, Clean]
I see you windin n grindin up on that pole,
I know u see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna love you, you already know
I wanna love you, you already know

[Explicit]
I see you windin n grindin up on that pole,
I know u see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna fuck you, you already know
I wanna fuck you, you already know

[Snoop Dogg, Clean]
If u pick me then I'ma pick on you
d-o-double g and I'm here to put this [bleep] on you
I'm stuck on [bleep] and yours is right
Rip ridin' them poles and them doors is tight
And I'ma get me a shot for the end of the night
Cuz {bleep] is [bleep] and baby your [bleep] for life.

[Explicit] [I bleepin miss the bleeps]
If you pick me then I’ma pick on you
d-o-double g and I’m here to put this dick on you
I'm stuck on pussy and yours is right
Rip ridin’ the poles and them doors is tight
And I’ma get me a shot ‘fo the end of the night
Cuz pussy is pussy and baby your pussy for life.

MIKA's Grace Kelly

It's dreary and uninspiring in this city. The weather man says that the temperature was actually going the wrong way this morning, getting colder rather than warmer. Wonderful. Well, MIKA's Grace Kelly can fix all that. I don't know anything about him, but this song is a fantastic foil to our January blues! There are obvious similarities to Freddie Mercury, but I don't care. Nothing wrong with that when you can do it well. Click here for the official website.-K

Fall Out Boy Releases a Catchy Tune

I’m going to admit it here. Because of the lead vocals, the new Fall Out Boy single, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” has grown on me. The video is clever and proves that they can laugh at themselves. I can’t wait to read their press as they release their new album because I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed Patrick Stump’s weight gain. Here's an old pic with Patrick third from the left:


And here is a more recent pic. Patrick is to the left, looking like he feels the same why I do about Pete Wentz:




No disrespect, it just makes me wonder if this will ever be mentioned in any of the press because you know if it was a female singer, the press would be all over it. Hello Heart’s Ann Wilson!

Speaking of fitness, while the New Year’s resolutions fall away, here’s a playlist to keep you moving. --J

Song 2 – Blur
Los Angeles – X
Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio
MakeDamnSure – Taking Back Sunday
This is How I Disappear – My Chemical Romance
I Bet that You look Good on the Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys
Woman - Wolfmother
I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News) – Eagles of Death Metal
Do What You Want – Ok Go
Soft – Kings of Leon

Mississippi Nights 1979-2007

I must have been living in a cave because I just found out that Mississippi Nights is closing its doors. According to what I've read, the building will be demolished and replaced by a parking lot for Pinnacle Casino, the same company that operated the venue's lease. The owners hope to reopen the venue in a midtown location.

Since 1979, Mississippi Nights had featured a variety of acts that included Willie Nelson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, X, B.B. King, The Killers, and recently Wolfmother. It was the first place I ever saw a concert in St. Louis. Despite constantly looking over my shoulder as I walked out onto the cobblestone streets of LaClede's Landing, the venue was an attraction because it had some of the best acoustics a small place could offer. And, no matter where you stood you could see the stage (very important!). It will certainly be missed.

The venue's final concert was last night and was billed as a jam session for the best St. Louis bands of the last 30 years. -K

Gnarls Barkley is H.O.T.

Unless I'm actually at a show to see the opening band, the most enthusiasm I can muster is a Celine Dion-esque forearm clap while I hold my drink in my other hand. Not the case last Monday night when I found myself whooping for Gnarls Barkley, who opened for Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Scottrade Center.

The band came out in flightsuits and opened with Bowie's Space Oddity. Along with the Bowie cover, the setlist included a rundown of the tracks from their album St. Elsewhere. Highlights included Smiley Faces, cover Gone Daddy Gone, and Feng Shui.

With a little bit of that southern soul that is dear to Judakris, the band made you feel like you were experiencing a religious awakening rather than an opening act. It was so completely unexpected, and despite the fact that St. Louis had once again become arctic and powerless, from our perspective it felt like the warmest place on earth.

I would suggest running, not walking to see them. -K

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scottrade Center

Bear with me, this may be long...

I have seen them twice before and enjoyed both shows. Going to the show with someone who had never seen them before is kind of like inviting someone to your house so you can show them one of your favorite movies. You’re kind of half watching the show and then half worrying about if the other person is enjoying it.

On a lark back in 2003, I entered a radio contest and won a meet and greet with Anthony Kiedis before their St. Louis show. My friend M babysat that night so I could attend the show and when I came home he asked me how it was meeting Anthony. My response was, “He has beautiful olive skin”. The next day at work M laughingly repeated this quote a number of times. Sometimes it takes someone quoting you back to yourself to realize what an ass you sound like.

High up in the arena Monday night, some fans held up a sign that said, “Show us your socks!” Wow, it was hard to believe that this was the same band that used to perform in tube socks. It was a way more mature set and this time around, all band members had more clothes on than I have ever seen them wear during a performance.

Thinking back about the setlist, all of the songs performed were songs from albums that John Frusciante played on. I wonder if that was intentional.

I have been semi-obsessed with John Frusciante since he cleaned up. He is a fascinating individual who seems to live and breathe music and I think his guitar playing is amazing. I mean the man put out something like seven solo albums in a year. I was reading an article that described his daily routine which consisted mostly of listening to records of whatever band he was fascinated by and learning all of the guitar parts for all of their songs. I think he must be going through a disco or a brothers Gibb phase because at the beginning of this tour, for his little solo song during the set he was doing the Bee Gees “How Deep is Your Love”. As K mentioned, this time he did Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing”, which sounded awesome (I have a place in my heart for the Brothers Gibb). In our cluster of fans I think K and I were the only ones singing along to that cover.

Tuesday I went online to look for the setlist and found it posted on a French fan site. Isn’t that funny that a setlist for a show in St. Louis, Missouri would be posted there? Here it is:

Intro Jam

Can't Stop

Dani California

Otherside

Charlie

Fortune Faded
ReadyMade

Get On Top

Nobody Weird Like Me

Don’t Forget Me

Shadow Dancing (John Solo)

Snow (Hey Oh)
....

C'mon Girl

Californication

London Calling Intro / Right On Time

Hey

By The Way

Encore:

I Could Have Lied

Give It Away

Final Jam

The encore was puzzling. “Give it Away” was the highlight, but “I Could Have Lied”? Come on, that is not an encore kind of a song. It’s more of a we just played five fast songs in a row and we’re gonna throw this in to give everyone a moment to breathe kind of a song. To end with an instrumental jam as Anthony walked off the stage makes one wonder if there are problems in the band or if he was not feeling well.

Especially after reading Kiedis’ autobiography, when I listen to their music, I sometimes think how awesome of a band they would be without him. We got a taste of that from the instrumental jams performed in between songs as well as at the beginning and end of the show. Because of this “what if” thought of mine, I enjoyed the jamming where usually that kind of thing totally gets on my nerves.

Songs I would have loved to have heard that they didn’t play were:

Wet Sand
Around the World
Parallel Universe
Breaking the Girl (my brother S hates this song)
Dosed
Minor Thing

The Chili Peppers never talk much in between songs and Monday was no exception. Towards the end of the show, Flea thanked the fans for their support over the years and said that we had their “love and gratitude”. Is this a farewell tour? It kind of felt that way.

--J

Red Hot Chili Peppers Fail to Give Much Away at Scottrade Center

The first time I heard of or saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers I was 14 and reading the latest issue of Bravo, a German teeny bopper magazine. Inside there was a small picture of some naked idiots onstage during their German tour wearing socks on their cocks. That was around 1988. 3 years later in 1991, my schoolmates and I were in our Europa Hotel room in The Hague and through a cloud of smoke we watched as "Give It Away" debuted on MTV Europe. I remember that one of my girlfriends instantly fell in love with Anthony Kiedis and would later claim from looking at the band's 1992 Rolling Stone cover that she could tell, based on the look of his torso, that he was "really tall". Right.

Despite never having been my favorite band, RHCP have been a constant peripheral presence in my life. In high school, you chose between Nirvana or Pearl Jam, but you always liked RHCP. If you didn't like them, you never admitted it. I did like them a lot, but for whatever reason I didn't love them. Perhaps that's why it has taken me over 15 years to finally see them live which I did at the Scottrade Center last Monday night. Like my feelings for the band, I liked the show a lot, but I didn't love it.

A seemingly apathetic Anthony wasn't on stage as much as I would have expected. Flea, a short-haired John Frusciante, and Chad Smith kept things going by peppering the set with instrumental jams that also opened and closed the show. I hate to say it, but Anthony came across as an aging rockstar trying to keep his signature energetic stage presence alive. Flea addressed the crowd a few times, but otherwise there wasn't much going on between the band and the audience- though I have to say the audience seemed to have a great time nonetheless.

Speaking of the audience, there was a lovely mix of 30-somethings, young kids, and periodic puffs of smoke. I guess I wasn't surprised that at some point instead of cell phones lighting the arena, a number of lighters provided the glow. I also wasn't really surprised that despite having wolfed down fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn before the show, towards the end I was fantasizing about the french fries stashed in my freezer waiting to be baked. Mmm-mmm, good!

The stage through a pinhole. This picture could not be smaller.

Along with my favorites such as Get On Top and Can't Stop, you heard a cover of The Stooges' I Wanna Be Your Dog and Andy Gibb's Shadow Dancing. I was surprised to not hear Under the Bridge, though I am as over that song as anyone could be. I would have loved to hear Soul to Squeeze and Scar Tissue. Give It Away was unmistakably the crowd favorite.

Although J and I had tons of fun hanging out Monday night, I have to give the show itself an Unmoving. While it was awesome to finally see the boys in person, the show wasn't as amazing as it could have been. -K