What the Hell are you Listening to (2023)?

[EagleFan]

Haven't looked back far enough to see if there is a similar thread but since I've been even more into music lately I figured I would drop one of these threads.

Hope all are well.

This is a judgement free thread.

[EagleFan]

[EagleFan]

[EagleFan]

Best meet and greet every with this group. Saw them at a small venue in AC and we got to enter early and about 15 of us were treated to an acoustic set, then pictures, and mingling with the band. The are great people and they can perform.

[EagleFan]

[EagleFan]

More to come later.

[EagleFan]

Okay... one more...

[EagleFan]

[QuikSand]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvoKjjF6Yf0

Immediate entry into my Mt Rushmore of songs with "Bayou" in the title...

[Ksyrup]

That wasn't too bad. I'm not much for plain rock n' roll these days, but that was somewhat interesting.

I've been in a bit of a lull the past couple of months. I have some stuff piled up in Bandcamp to buy, I just haven't pulled the trigger.

Here are a couple of things I bought a month or two ago.

Einar Solberg - Leprous lead singer with his first solo album. Just an amazing voice.



OK Goodnight - a bit of avant garde prog metal, I guess? The jazzy piano mixed with some metallized chaos is crazy but badass.

[Ksyrup]

I didn't have Metallica's Blackened and Taylor Swift's bassist on my bingo card, but nice to hear this with some bass. And dude needs to start a metal band ASAP!

[EagleFan]

[EagleFan]

[Edward64]

While driving to Kroger, heard a song I hadn't heard in a while. Had to Shazam it ... Billy Squier "Everybody Wants You"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgA8Mi6FZFU&t=108s


Checked his Top-10 and also found "The Stroke"



The Stroke - YouTube

[albionmoonlight]

My kids are now old enough to have gotten me into some of their stuff

I've been listening to some Tally Hall and MGMT and Boy With Uke.

[Ghost Econ]

Had Juvenile's Back That Azz Up and Atlanta Rhythm's Section' So Into You come up back to back. The opening of those songs are the exact same except the tempo is a little off. Now I just want to hear Juvenile rap over ARS.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

My kids are now old enough to have gotten me into some of their stuff

I've been listening to some Tally Hall and MGMT and Boy With Uke.

Tally Hall was such an amazing band. They quickly became a sensation to a bunch of us power pop lovers when Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum came out like almost 20 (?!) years ago. My kids were young and it was the perfect dad and kids music - smart, funny and insanely gifted songwriters who played both sophistication and kids level at the same time. My kids still regularly listen to Two Wuv (about Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) and Banana Man. In fact, on a flight home last week, I listened to an out-takes/demos album they released years after they broke up.

From what I learned after the fact, the band started leaning too heavily into the kids stuff and some of the guys didn't want any part of it. They did some Disney Junior shorts under the name Happy Monster Band in between albums. When the second album came out, they were already having some turmoil - a couple guys wanted to be more serious - and the result is a boring damn album. After that, they broke up. But we still have MMMM.

Rob Cantor is probably the most famous of the members. He went viral for the Shia Leboeuf video and the 29 Celebrity Impressions, 1 Original Song video, which was fake but appeared as those he was singing in a variety of voices in one take. His album Not a Trampoline is excellent and interesting musically but also funny, in the vein of Tally Hall. I think he's gone back to doing some behind the scenes kids-related stuff. Very reminiscent of Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish fame.

This cover is so good and although not an original of course, is a good example of their talent and playfulness:




So I guess my question is... are they back together? Did they somehow get resurrected as a popular band 15 years later?

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Edward64

While driving to Kroger, heard a song I hadn't heard in a while. Had to Shazam it ... Billy Squier "Everybody Wants You"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgA8Mi6FZFU&t=108s


Checked his Top-10 and also found "The Stroke"



The Stroke - YouTube

"In the Dark" is the best Billy Squier song IMO

[Lathum]

Just got tickets to see Fall Out Boy at Madison Square Garden next March. Taking my 10 and 13 year old. Tickets

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

"In the Dark" is the best Billy Squier song IMO

Thanks, I didn't know about this. Added it to my collection.

[Ksyrup]

I always think of everyone around here as being about my age. How old are you, Edward?

[Edward64]

Edward64 gives you a hint. How about yourself?

And although some here may doubt it, I'm a mentally sharp 40 year old

The 80's & 90's are really my music decades, but I do enjoy the 70's quite a bit.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Just got tickets to see Fall Out Boy at Madison Square Garden next March. Taking my 10 and 13 year old. Tickets

I just can't. When we were searching for things to do on our anniversary trip, I discovered Depeche Mode was playing at State Farm Arena that weekend. I love Depeche Mode so much and had never seen them in person. Super excited, I went search for tickets. Pfffffttttt. To get in the building and sit in the highest corner behind the stage would have been $250 for the pair. For seats that I would begin to be interested to sit in was $500. There is just no way. Like $150-200 for the pair? Maybe. I just will never get a chance to see another decent concert.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I just can't. When we were searching for things to do on our anniversary trip, I discovered Depeche Mode was playing at State Farm Arena that weekend. I love Depeche Mode so much and had never seen them in person. Super excited, I went search for tickets. Pfffffttttt. To get in the building and sit in the highest corner behind the stage would have been $250 for the pair. For seats that I would begin to be interested to sit in was $500. There is just no way. Like $150-200 for the pair? Maybe. I just will never get a chance to see another decent concert.

Weird. It cut off the rest of my post where I was saying tickets weee expensive. We got chase prefered for $150 in the second deck. Not terrible but pretty far back. At least it’s on the end of the aisle. The ones in the front of the second deck were 3-400. Crazy. My kids will be excited and weee gonna stay overnight in the city. Maybe do a matinee of a Broadway show the next day.

[thesloppy]

Yeah the economics of arena concerts sure seems unsustainable, and then you here the artists complain about how touring's barely profitable from their end, and you wonder where all that money goes.


For better or worse I am already strongly opposed to arena shows for a litany of other reasons, but $200 tickets certainly isn't helping.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Edward64 gives you a hint. How about yourself?

And although some here may doubt it, I'm a mentally sharp 40 year old

The 80's & 90's are really my music decades, but I do enjoy the 70's quite a bit.

Ah. Just curious given you apparently hadn't heard one of Billy Squier's most famous songs. You're about 7 years older than me so he would have been most popular when you were 17-23ish.

I always find it surprising when people don't know certain popular things from when they were younger. Like my wife - we are 5 months apart but she never saw a single one of what I would consider iconic 80s comedies. We didn't meet until we were 19/20 years old - had I known she was a big New Kids fan in HS, we probably would never have dated.

[Ksyrup]

New Amigo the Devil! New album coming, this is the first song. Seems to be in peak form, honesty about his troubles with a dash of his trademark humor. Excited for the new album.

[Ksyrup]

In this article is an Instagram or TikTok or some crap I don't use with B-52s Rock Lobster done in the style of System of a Down. Spot on!

This System of a Down Version of The B-52s' "Rock Lobster" is Equal Parts Cursed and Great | MetalSucks

[molson]

Saw Guns N' Roses last night - an Idaho GNR show has to be the world epicenter for middle aged loose women. What a scene. And it looks like they're doing almost all stadium shows so it was kind of fun that they were at a a random arena outside Boise whose biggest annual event is the rodeo.

I've never been a huge music guy or concert goer but just in the last 12 months or so I've been to a ton of random stuff, usually as a tagalong with friends. I guess that's how it works - once you go to a few, you're thought of as a "concert guy" and invited to all that stuff. I like to know what to expect, what songs I'll know, and to pace myself booze- and as energy-wise, so I check out online set lists, notice the little deviations from show to show, it's like a whole new world I've discovered in middle age.

[Ksyrup]

They were in Lexington about a month or so ago, too. Never crossed my mind to go. There are a few retro acts I would consider spending money on (I definitely want to see Judas Priest at least one more time), but GnR is not on that list.

[GrantDawg]

Meanwhile, I guess I am the anti-concert guy. When my wife and I were doing our anniversary weekend, I had a chance to get Depche Mode tickets reasonably cheap. I offered buy them and my wife said no. The concert started too late and we would likely be too tired from going to the Falcons game that afternoon. That might be my last opportunity at any concert, because if she is not willing to go when we both have the next day off and staying at a hotel 3 miles from the venue, then I can't imagine a situation where we will.

[thesloppy]

I still go to quite a few concerts, going to The Armed tonight as a matter of fact....that being said, it gets a little harder to hype myself up for a Monday night show every time & perhaps opposite of everybody else, I have no desire to go to an arena show of any kind.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I still go to quite a few concerts, going to The Armed tonight as a matter of fact....that being said, it gets a little harder to hype myself up for a Monday night show every time & perhaps opposite of everybody else, I have no desire to go to an arena show of any kind.

The older I get, the easier arena shows become. I'm not a sit down during a show guy -- I actively avoid "table venues", I'm just not a dinner theater kinda guy & that's what those feel like to me -- but it's also kinda nice to sit down before/between sets at this point in my life.

Club shows are getting tougher & tougher on my back and my knees, really noticeable for the past year+.

[molson]

The whole standing/sitting dynamic at a concert is kind of interesting.

For GNR, everyone stood for the first 3 songs, and for the big hits. But then there'd be kind of a gradual momentum for people to sit. Section by section. Like it took some brave people to start it, and then the people behind them would sit, and so on. But some entire sections didn't have anyone willing to break the ice, so they'd stand for longer. And a 3 hour show for a concert with a older average age was probably a bit much for most.

The other fun concert experience I had lately was the annual Albertson's Open Golf tournament shows, $30, 3 blocks from my house. We wandered over on consecutive nights and saw Weezer, Joan Jett, and Sheryl Crow - even though you could hear it decently from our front yard.

[Ghost Econ]

We went to an arena concert s couple of weekends ago. One of the shittier concerts we've been to... and that includes a concert 15 years ago when I had a panic attack and then spent almost the entire show taking an actual shit.

For this one we had 3rd row in the seating outside the bowl and the people in front of us stood the whole time, so we had no choice but to stand. The bands had no energy and it was only night 2 of their tour.

The largest sing along was when the opening band covered Lit's My Own Worst Enemy. If the most energy from the crowd is the opening act playing a cover neither of you wrote, you put on a terrible show.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

The whole standing/sitting dynamic at a concert is kind of interesting.

I just kinda lean back to the old adage about "can't kick no ass sitting down".
And if the band on stage isn't kicking my ass, I'm at the wrong fn show to begin with.

(yes, I realize the metaphor is a little mixed, work with me here people cause you know what I'm trying to say)

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The older I get, the easier arena shows become. I'm not a sit down during a show guy -- I actively avoid "table venues", I'm just not a dinner theater kinda guy & that's what those feel like to me -- but it's also kinda nice to sit down before/between sets at this point in my life.

Club shows are getting tougher & tougher on my back and my knees, really noticeable for the past year+.

Yeah, I'm not that far behind you. For all my shit talking about arena shows every so often I will end up in a club or theater that has actual seating and I will remark to myself "Oh, this is nice"...but it's a fine line between available seating and a show during which you can eat stadium nachos.

I ended up at a venue a couple weeks ago that is an old high-school, and they use the auditorium for shows & will either leave the seats in or pull them all out, depending on the act...but the floor is sloped for those seats, so if they pull them out then everybody is standing on sloped concrete for fucking hours....that was the first time I ever experienced that, and it suuuuuuucked. My ankles were mush afterwards.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

... everybody is standing on sloped concrete for fucking hours....that was the first time I ever experienced that, and it suuuuuuucked. My ankles were mush afterwards.

There's at least a couple of those around ATL and, yeah, my most recent trip to one took me a couple of days for my back to recover.

[Ksyrup]

I have only attended actual arena shows that didn't involve something for my kids (I actually sat through a High School Musical "concert" 15+ years ago) very sparsely in the past 30 years. Off the top of my head, I can recall going to see Slayer on their final tour in November or December of 2019 and Paul McCartney in 2014. Saw Ben Folds in a theater setting in the early 2000s. I'm sure there was maybe 1 or 2 others...maybe...but none that come to mind. I don't think I can count John Waite last November because that was a small, small theater - a hundred+ people, tops.

I've actually attended more shows in the past 5 years (putting aside about 18 months of Covid) then during the time my kids were born and living in the house, and they've all been bars/clubs. But that's because no one I listen to could possibly play arenas outside of big name old-timer acts. I don't really have an issue standing. A few of the places I've been to have a balcony where I could sit, but nah. My biggest issue is constantly going to shows on my own. I dragged my wife to see Clutch and Amigo the Devil and she's just not into that scene. I flew to Atlanta to see King's X with an old HS buddy of mine, and I drove to Nashville by myself to go see Leprous.

I just don't have a single person within my circle of friends/acquaintances who remotely has the same music tastes as me. It really sucks.

[thesloppy]

95% of the time I am going alone these days as well, though, I much prefer it that way. Every person in your group just seems to make it exponentially tougher to keep everyone/everything wrangled together.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I just don't have a single person within my circle of friends/acquaintances who remotely has the same music tastes as me. It really sucks.

I'm blessed that my child shares nearly all my musical tastes. And honestly, I have a handful of friends still who do also, though probably only a couple that I'd ever do more than just happen to be at the same show with. You know, coincidentally like.

It sort of makes sense that I have some left though, music was a major friend-group culling topic for probably 10-15 years of my life so a lot of people got weeded out a long time ago. Those who remain have higher odds of sharing musical taste by process of elimination.

[Ksyrup]

My buddy from HS is really the only person I could go to a show with, but even he's more stuck in the 80s/90s and too many commercial bands for my tastes these days. I listen to way too much extreme metal and weird shit for him. But he may end up moving to Indy to take care of his parents, and if he does, I'm sure we'll be going to some shows together.

I just can't find any 50+ year old professionals who listen to black and death metal in Kentucky. Go figure.

[molson]

I'll pretty much go to whatever someone invites me to if I can. It's fun to see what other people are passionate about through their eyes. That's how I ended up a Phish Halloween show in Vegas. I'm not going to seek those shows out or anything but it was fun, kind of like traveling somewhere unique and different, I guess a kind of concert tourism.

I wondered if everyone would know I didn't really belong and resent me. Then while waiting in line some old hippie asked me what # phish show this was for me. I think he probably knew the answer was "first", but when I confirmed it he got emotional and gave me a hug, and may have wanted to share his edibles stash.

So I'm happy to be anyone's concert buddy if you're coming through Idaho. I especially want to check out the Gorge Amphitheatre in Central Washington someday. That's a common trip from here.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by molson

So I'm happy to be anyone's concert buddy if you're coming through Idaho. I especially want to check out the Gorge Amphitheatre in Central Washington someday. That's a common trip from here.

The scenery is absolutely beautiful, but the sound sucks, since it's basically open air, at the top of a cliff, with winds swirling everywhere.

[ntndeacon]

Someone who grew up with me at my church has been a professional musician his adult life. His Debut album is Start it! It was a good listen.
Closer Than You Think - YouTube

[thesloppy]

I went to go see these folks last night. Weird vibe. I was at the aforementioned repurposed high school, and they had put in ALL the seats for this show, which I had never seen before, usually they leave at least some unseated space at the front, even for the most placid bands, and this was ostensibly some kind of hardcore show, but I could just walk up the aisle to the front row and have a seat. Also it was fucking cold in there, which is a complaint I never have about shows/venues. So it's Monday, it's cold as hell and everybody is seated, but they lean hard on the fog machine and the strobe lights and halfway through the show the audience picked up all the seats and threw them to the sides in huge piles, it was intense.

[EagleFan]

I see there was some discussion of concerts. It's been a slower year for me (compared to recent years).

Visions of Atlantis (and two others) at an AC venue I never knew about; great show, met the band before the show and they are all great people

The Warning with Plush at the TLA in Philly - those ladies rock

Avatar (and two others) at the TLA in Philly - one of the best live bands out there

The Warning at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park - Got to meet them and their parents before the show, they are so very grounded it's nice to see

Delain with Visions of Atlantis at the smaller venue attached to the Fillmore in Philly - Great show, was very sore from standing the whole time but I love small venues


Have one more on the schedule and that is near the end of the year seeing Gov't Mule at The Met in Philly. No idea what to expect. We were going to see them at the end of last year but as we were drinking in a nearby bar we received word that the show was cancelled for health reasons with one of the band members (less than an hour before the doors were going to open).

[EagleFan]

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

The Warning with Plush at the TLA in Philly - those ladies rock

...

The Warning at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park - Got to meet them and their parents before the show, they are so very grounded it's nice to see

They are fantastic. If they can avoid having the recent success screw 'em up (mentally, basically) they can be really good for a long long time. Super talented, and the amount of work they put into their craft is impossible to miss. Could have easily been reduced to an eye candy push honestly but it takes about five seconds to figure out these are musicians in every good sense of the word.

[AlexB]

One of my favourite new (to me) bands