I'm gonna keep this one short because it's pretty irrelevant now:
Maximum Hedrum: They kinda sucked. The bass player acted like he was in-between bands and the two vocalists were old men having a midlife crisis.
Capital Cities: They were way better than expected. They've literally made me reconsider genres that I had never really given a chance before. They're a combination of Disco and House mix (party music lovers, correct me if I'm wrong about that). If you get a chance to see them, I recommend it.
New Politics: They were very good! The singer was about as acrobatic as he is in the music videos. They have a good live sound on just about all of their songs. If you get the chance to see New Politcs, don't pass it up.
Twenty One Pilots: I'm not a fan of Twenty One Pilots but their live show was pretty sick. They get involved with the audience: standing on the hands of audience members and putting platforms for the audience to hold as they pound on bass drums. Very energetic.
Also, I got to pat the lead singer on the back as he ran into the crowd that he parted. I probably made my friend who is a huge fan of Twenty One Pilots pretty jealous.
Cold War Kids: I didn't see them because we left the side stage early to go see the main stage.:
Atlas Genius: Atlas Genius was very melodic and played mostly slower songs. I almost fell asleep in my seat listening to them. That doesn't mean the music was bad though.
Silversun Pickups: Contrary to the word on the street, Silversun Pickups was a really great live show. The singer got a little off in Bloody Mary but Panic Switch was flawless.
AWOLNATION: Very high energy show. The singer got tired of screaming in the middle of the show though. He picked it back up at the end. However, screaming constantly for 45 minutes is about as hard as it sounds. I don't blame him.
Bush and Yeah Yeah Yeahs: We left early due to lack of interest.
Overall, it was a good festival. It wasn't the kind of fest I would typically go to but I'm glad I went.
Playing Catch-up: Kashmir
Based on the name, many people could figure out that the band Kashmir is a Led Zeppelin cover band.
Kashmir does not fall short when playing this role.
The members dress and grow their hair/wear wigs to look like the Led Zeppelin of the 70s. They also sound just like the band. Just about to a tee.
At some barbecue fest in La Grange (yeah, I don't know what the hell I was at), the Jimmy Page look alike used his wireless relay to its full potential as he would often make his way into the crowd.
The audience was mostly over 40 years of age. I didn't mind too much. At least there was no one calling the cops for noise complaints.
Kashmir is actual a real treat for those middle aged folks. You could tell that everyone was having a good time. They were all dancing and having a tame good time. I think that Kashmir makes them all feel twenty again, which, I think that's pretty cool. Kashmir knows their audience and they deliver.
Not to mention, they played a long-ass set. I'll be honest, I didn't even stay to see all of it. They were already at two and a half hours and still kickin'. Kashmir is pretty damn legit. If you like Led Zeppelin, Kashmir is a real treat.
Kashmir does not fall short when playing this role.
The members dress and grow their hair/wear wigs to look like the Led Zeppelin of the 70s. They also sound just like the band. Just about to a tee.
At some barbecue fest in La Grange (yeah, I don't know what the hell I was at), the Jimmy Page look alike used his wireless relay to its full potential as he would often make his way into the crowd.
The audience was mostly over 40 years of age. I didn't mind too much. At least there was no one calling the cops for noise complaints.
Kashmir is actual a real treat for those middle aged folks. You could tell that everyone was having a good time. They were all dancing and having a tame good time. I think that Kashmir makes them all feel twenty again, which, I think that's pretty cool. Kashmir knows their audience and they deliver.
Not to mention, they played a long-ass set. I'll be honest, I didn't even stay to see all of it. They were already at two and a half hours and still kickin'. Kashmir is pretty damn legit. If you like Led Zeppelin, Kashmir is a real treat.
Playing Catch-up: Dennis Deyoung at the Arcada Theater
Back in March I saw Dennis Deyoung and his supporting group perform at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, IL. Basically, if you really enjoy the band Styx, this is the group you want to see. You don't want to see the band that calls itself "Styx."
For those of you that don't know, Dennis Deyoung was the lead singer and keyboardist for the band Styx. He was also the only original member left of the band. That is, until Dennis Deyoung fell ill and the rest of the band decided to find another singer/keyboardist and leave him behind. I don't know if this is true or not. This is just what I've heard. So don't quote me on it.
In my opinion (and people could argue with me about this all day), I think that Dennis Deyoung was one of the best rock singers from the eighties. With that being said, you can see why I would rather see Dennis Deyoung by himself than the rest of Styx without Dennis Deyoung.
What's interesting about this too is that, the backup musicians for Dennis Deyoung were fucking phenomenal.
The two guitar players sounded just like James Young and Tommy Shaw from Styx, vocally and guitar-wise. There were times where I forgot that I wasn't actually watching Styx. They were that good. I would not hesitate to see this band again. No doubt about it. If you like Styx at all, do not let an opportunity to see Dennis Deyoung in concert pass you up.
For those of you that don't know, Dennis Deyoung was the lead singer and keyboardist for the band Styx. He was also the only original member left of the band. That is, until Dennis Deyoung fell ill and the rest of the band decided to find another singer/keyboardist and leave him behind. I don't know if this is true or not. This is just what I've heard. So don't quote me on it.
In my opinion (and people could argue with me about this all day), I think that Dennis Deyoung was one of the best rock singers from the eighties. With that being said, you can see why I would rather see Dennis Deyoung by himself than the rest of Styx without Dennis Deyoung.
What's interesting about this too is that, the backup musicians for Dennis Deyoung were fucking phenomenal.
The two guitar players sounded just like James Young and Tommy Shaw from Styx, vocally and guitar-wise. There were times where I forgot that I wasn't actually watching Styx. They were that good. I would not hesitate to see this band again. No doubt about it. If you like Styx at all, do not let an opportunity to see Dennis Deyoung in concert pass you up.
Playing Catch-up: Weezer at Woodfield: Weezer Good, Microsoft has Issues Beyond Xbox One
Three Fridays ago, my friend and I went to stand in line for free Weezer tickets at Woodfield Mall. When we found out that we were one of the first 200 in line, we were ecstatic. Why? Because the first 200 got an additional ticket to give to someone and a meet and greet pass. This all sounds fantastic right?
Well, it got fucked up, majorly.
The flag quartered with orange, yellow, green, and blue was on the scene! Weezer was performing at Woodfield Mall as a part of a promotion for a Microsoft store opening there.
Let me put it to you this way, no one was there for the Microsoft store opening. They wanted to see Weezer!
Well, the concert was supposed to start that Saturday at 7pm. My friend and I were there at 9 the night before to get these meet and greet passes that were being handed out. We got our passes and proceeded to wait in line.
Actually, at first, it wasn't so bad. They had us waiting in the parking garage. It was quiet. We ended up next to some cool kids that were mildly entertaining. The time actually kind of flew by. That is until, at about 6am, this cunt (and yes, I use the word cunt because this bitch was, indeed, a cunt) shouted at us on a megaphone and no one could understand what she was saying. After some deciphering and muttering amongst companions, we figured out that we were being brought into the mall.
At first, this seemed great! Sitting on the ground in the parking garage was getting pretty old pretty fast. The cunt told us that there would be chairs for us to sit in and a free breakfast.
However, there were no chairs, no stools, no stair steps to sit on. There was no breakfast, no pieces of bread, no crumbs as far as the eye could see.
In fact, the conditions worsened ever faster. Upon being brought in, we were forced into a series of short and narrow (too narrow to lie down in I might add) queues where we were subjected to non stop commercials and sales pitches. Oh, and on top of that, they decided to play really shitty music at us too.
I mean, really shitty.
Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga. And then they taunted us with shitty remixes of alternative bands like Of Monsters and Men. All they had to do was play Weezer music. Instead they annoyed us with music we didn't even like. This left us daydreaming of the days that we were sprawled in the parking garage.
The sales pitches, the commercials, the shitty music. This went on for five hours.
The only good part was that they had give aways. They gave away some Weezer signed guitars.
Yes, Microsoft did get something right that day. The other giveaways seemed like stuff that they had lying around in a warehouse somewhere that they couldn't get rid of. Some shitty bluetooth speakers, Xbox 360 bundles, the Xbox One...
Eventually they did the store opening ceremony. At this point, my friend was on the ground in agony. He had his hands over his ears and head and he was tearing his hair out. The ribbon cutting ceremony lasted about fifteen minutes but it was all really fucking annoying since people that we didn't care about kept giving speeches.
After they finally cut the ribbon, they started letting us into the store. They were handing out the tickets in the back of the store of course. On our way to the back, we had to be subjected to not one, not two, not three, not four, but five different salesmen and five different sales pitches for preordering the Xbox One. After getting our tickets, we were subjected to three more sales pitches for preordering the Xbox One.
For the last time Microsoft, I don't want your self-destruction of a console franchise!
At this point, it's about 11:30. My friend ran as far as possible from Woodfield Mall to escape the horror that lay within.
We came back at about 4pm because that's when doors opened for getting into the Weezer show. Some chick from Microsoft tried giving me a towel with Microsoft's logo. I refused. I got pissed off enough looking at the t-shirt I got earlier in the day. To no avail, most of the freebie towels ended up on the ground during the Weezer show. Trampled to dust.
When they started letting us into the "premiere viewing area," they took the picture of every single person they were letting in. Why? I don't know. It was stupid. No one wanted their damn picture taken. It was just slowing down the process of letting us in. When we got to the stage, there was a DJ blasting the same shitty music that was being blasted in the mall. I couldn't believe it! I wanted to slash my wrists!
They finally turned that shit off and Weezer performed. Weezer was a very good live show. They played all of the songs I wanted to hear except for the "Good Life" from Pinkerton. However, I can't complain. They played half of the blue album with "My Name is Jonas," "Buddy Holly," "Undone," "Surf Wax America," and "Say it Ain't So." They also played "El Scorcho," "Photograph," "Hash Pipe," "Island in the Sun," "Dope Nose," "Perfect Situation," "We are All on Drugs," "Keep Fishin'," "Beverly Hills," "Troublemaker," "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived," "Pork and Beans," and "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To." The show was excellent!
After the show was over, it was time to get in line for the meet and greet. I went back to the car to get my blue album so I could get it signed. This line actually went a little faster. When we finally got up there, the cunt from before took my blue album away and said that Weezer wasn't doing autographs.
WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!
This was after experiencing more sales pitches for preordering the Xbox One. When she took my album away, my friend, my other friend who got a meet and greet pass from his friend (yeah, wrap your mind around that), and I got thrown into a section of the store in the back where we found ourselves in front of Weezer. Weezer snuck in a greeting. Five seconds later, we found ourselves getting our picture taken (a picture that no one was ready for), and then we were given the boot to move along. I got my blue album returned - no signature to be seen. They gave us presigned posters. That was it.
Upon returning home, I checked out the picture of us on Microsoft's Facebook page. The picture really just says it all:
The majority of those in the picture have awkward poses. Pat Wilson also has his eyes closed. The funny thing too is that this is probably one of the best pictures taken that day. The other ones are even shittier than this one. You can check those out on Facebook here.
Overall, this whole thing is just a disaster for Microsoft. They spend a ton of money on Weezer just so they can piss off a bunch of Weezer fans by making them suffer through commercialism at its worst. I steadfastly refuse to buy apple products but god damn, it's like Microsoft was trying to lose me as a customer. If Microsoft never considered offering torture services to Guantanamo Bay, they definitely should!
Well, it got fucked up, majorly.
The flag quartered with orange, yellow, green, and blue was on the scene! Weezer was performing at Woodfield Mall as a part of a promotion for a Microsoft store opening there.
Let me put it to you this way, no one was there for the Microsoft store opening. They wanted to see Weezer!
Well, the concert was supposed to start that Saturday at 7pm. My friend and I were there at 9 the night before to get these meet and greet passes that were being handed out. We got our passes and proceeded to wait in line.
Actually, at first, it wasn't so bad. They had us waiting in the parking garage. It was quiet. We ended up next to some cool kids that were mildly entertaining. The time actually kind of flew by. That is until, at about 6am, this cunt (and yes, I use the word cunt because this bitch was, indeed, a cunt) shouted at us on a megaphone and no one could understand what she was saying. After some deciphering and muttering amongst companions, we figured out that we were being brought into the mall.
At first, this seemed great! Sitting on the ground in the parking garage was getting pretty old pretty fast. The cunt told us that there would be chairs for us to sit in and a free breakfast.
However, there were no chairs, no stools, no stair steps to sit on. There was no breakfast, no pieces of bread, no crumbs as far as the eye could see.
In fact, the conditions worsened ever faster. Upon being brought in, we were forced into a series of short and narrow (too narrow to lie down in I might add) queues where we were subjected to non stop commercials and sales pitches. Oh, and on top of that, they decided to play really shitty music at us too.
I mean, really shitty.
Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga. And then they taunted us with shitty remixes of alternative bands like Of Monsters and Men. All they had to do was play Weezer music. Instead they annoyed us with music we didn't even like. This left us daydreaming of the days that we were sprawled in the parking garage.
The sales pitches, the commercials, the shitty music. This went on for five hours.
The only good part was that they had give aways. They gave away some Weezer signed guitars.
Yes, Microsoft did get something right that day. The other giveaways seemed like stuff that they had lying around in a warehouse somewhere that they couldn't get rid of. Some shitty bluetooth speakers, Xbox 360 bundles, the Xbox One...
Eventually they did the store opening ceremony. At this point, my friend was on the ground in agony. He had his hands over his ears and head and he was tearing his hair out. The ribbon cutting ceremony lasted about fifteen minutes but it was all really fucking annoying since people that we didn't care about kept giving speeches.
After they finally cut the ribbon, they started letting us into the store. They were handing out the tickets in the back of the store of course. On our way to the back, we had to be subjected to not one, not two, not three, not four, but five different salesmen and five different sales pitches for preordering the Xbox One. After getting our tickets, we were subjected to three more sales pitches for preordering the Xbox One.
For the last time Microsoft, I don't want your self-destruction of a console franchise!
At this point, it's about 11:30. My friend ran as far as possible from Woodfield Mall to escape the horror that lay within.
We came back at about 4pm because that's when doors opened for getting into the Weezer show. Some chick from Microsoft tried giving me a towel with Microsoft's logo. I refused. I got pissed off enough looking at the t-shirt I got earlier in the day. To no avail, most of the freebie towels ended up on the ground during the Weezer show. Trampled to dust.
When they started letting us into the "premiere viewing area," they took the picture of every single person they were letting in. Why? I don't know. It was stupid. No one wanted their damn picture taken. It was just slowing down the process of letting us in. When we got to the stage, there was a DJ blasting the same shitty music that was being blasted in the mall. I couldn't believe it! I wanted to slash my wrists!
They finally turned that shit off and Weezer performed. Weezer was a very good live show. They played all of the songs I wanted to hear except for the "Good Life" from Pinkerton. However, I can't complain. They played half of the blue album with "My Name is Jonas," "Buddy Holly," "Undone," "Surf Wax America," and "Say it Ain't So." They also played "El Scorcho," "Photograph," "Hash Pipe," "Island in the Sun," "Dope Nose," "Perfect Situation," "We are All on Drugs," "Keep Fishin'," "Beverly Hills," "Troublemaker," "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived," "Pork and Beans," and "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To." The show was excellent!
After the show was over, it was time to get in line for the meet and greet. I went back to the car to get my blue album so I could get it signed. This line actually went a little faster. When we finally got up there, the cunt from before took my blue album away and said that Weezer wasn't doing autographs.
WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!
This was after experiencing more sales pitches for preordering the Xbox One. When she took my album away, my friend, my other friend who got a meet and greet pass from his friend (yeah, wrap your mind around that), and I got thrown into a section of the store in the back where we found ourselves in front of Weezer. Weezer snuck in a greeting. Five seconds later, we found ourselves getting our picture taken (a picture that no one was ready for), and then we were given the boot to move along. I got my blue album returned - no signature to be seen. They gave us presigned posters. That was it.
Upon returning home, I checked out the picture of us on Microsoft's Facebook page. The picture really just says it all:
 |
| My friend on the right. His expression literally says, "Really, this is a meet and greet?" |
Overall, this whole thing is just a disaster for Microsoft. They spend a ton of money on Weezer just so they can piss off a bunch of Weezer fans by making them suffer through commercialism at its worst. I steadfastly refuse to buy apple products but god damn, it's like Microsoft was trying to lose me as a customer. If Microsoft never considered offering torture services to Guantanamo Bay, they definitely should!
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