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July 14 - The King of 80s Metal is drafting an army... Well, dark times have fallen over the Kingdom and the company that owns the host radio station (Flash 103.9) has sold it to another company, who plans to convert it to a Spanish format. On the bright side, the soon-to-be-reformatted host radio station is owned by a company that owns one other frequency on the Sacramento dial. They've also agreed to let listeners vote as to which station should remain. You can choose a station that plays songs at random with no specific format, or you can choose a station that will continue to broadcast the mighty Chicks Who Rock, which can be heard online as well. I guess you can see where I'm going with this... Staci Anderson, the super-cool longtime host of Chicks Who Rock, needs our help. I'd like to ask my readers in the Sacramento area to visit www.saveourstation.com and vote for Flash. You are allowed to vote one time each day, and I'd like to make sure that you all do. I'm also inviting the rest of you all to use my headquarters in Sacramento as your residence. Even though Chicks Who Rock is featured online, contest rules specify that only Sacramento-area listeners will have their votes counted. So I'm inviting everyone to use any of the ZIP codes that I used in Sacramento to ensure that even online listeners will have the opportunity to make their votes count. When you visit the Save Our Station website and vote, you will be asked to provide a name, email address, age, and ZIP code. Make sure that ZIP codes 95825, 95821, 95758, 95842, and 95630 are all represented. I've lived or worked in each of them, and they all deserve their rock n roll. I don't ask for much from my readers - but if you're here, it's most likely because you're a fan of good hard rock. And if you are, it's important for us to keep it alive and make sure that outlets remain for our favorite artists to continue to receive airplay, support, and publicity. As such, I need your help - ALL of you need to visit www.saveourstation.com and VOTE FOR FLASH. We CAN make a difference. Spread the word, and ROCK the vote - the contest ends July 27. For more details, visit Chicks Who Rock's SOS. |July 9 - Spitting in the eye... How about official FJ.com Hurricane Survival gear, available in the Gift Shop? The official "No Place For Wimps" t shirt is in stock now! You can also pick up postcards to send to your friends who fear living in God's crosshairs, a BBQ apron (you'll need it when you're using the grill to make coffee), a journal, and even a wall clock (don't worry - it's battery operated). Here's a close up sample of the graphic:  So head on over to the gift shop and stock up! Enter the code "LOLSAV" at the end of your order (placed before July 14), and take $3 off of all apparel too! You can't lose! Well, unless you find yourself living somewhere within the cone of uncertainty ... Hey we might be stubborn in demanding a tropical paradise for the other 8 months of the year, but you know what? WE'RE NOT WIMPS! |July 8 - Heavy metal "Tale of Two Cities" I walk away from this show with some mixed feelings - though I'm always happy to see my favorite bands live, it's kind of sad to see them touring as a VH1 Classic-sponsored nostalgia package. I mean, FireHouse actually released a damn good cd last year. CJ Snare's voice hasn't lost any of it's power, range, or muscle. Bill Leverty is STILL one of the most criminally-underrated players in the business. Michael Foster is both flashy and technically skilled. But a 35 minute set of greatest hits (only one song off of the new cd was included) just barely makes a dent in the hunger for a musical meal. Kudos to the band for putting on an energetic show and giving 110% even though the crowd had yet to arrive. I've said it before and I'll say it again - FireHouse is an incredible live act. Grade - A Next up was Quiet Riot. I tire of explaining why, even though only Kevin DuBrow and Frankie Banali are the only ones left who appeared in any of the MTV videos from the Metal Health album, this lineup is still acceptable. But I'll briefly state that Chuck Wright has worked with the band for decades, so his return to the bass player's slot is still ok... Anyhow, they changed the setlist a bit from the last time I saw them. Do your homework and check out the QR3 album for a live rarity... Quiet Riot has been consistent since 1998 - if you liked them when they were huge, you'll still love them. If you didn't, well, they're probably not gonna change your mind. I'm one of the lucky ones - I've dug 'em for over 20 years now. I imagine that I'll be enjoying them for another 20. Grade - B+ Ratt struck me as a bit odd... I'll first say that Warren DeMartini is one of my all-time favorite guitarists. I've still got a picture of him hanging in my music room. And he hasn't lost any of his chops over the years. But now that Ratt is down to two original members... it might be time to consider changing things up a bit. Jizzy Pearl has a very similar voice to Stephen Pearcy, and he's also 10 times the frontman (and 20 times the writer). With talent like that in the band, why stick to an hour of just the MTV hits? The hits sounded fine, but I can't help but wonder if it's good for the genre as a whole to just go through the motions and focus on the past, especially when only two people from that past are still present. Grade - B- I've seen Cinderella a bunch of times, and have always had a love/hate relationship with them. I love their music and live show, but they were also the only band to ever have security smash my camera. They were responsible for me only bringing disposables to shows - thank them for my crappy concert galleries. That being said, I always believed that they were painted into a hair-band corner when their music (like Tesla) owes more to classic rock. I couldn't help but think that Tom Keifer was feeling a bit under the weather - his performance just wasn't as inspired as other times I've seen them. He's never been big on between-song banter, but in this case it was almost awkward. Furthermore, Jeff and Eric have been keeping busy with a new band (Naked Beggars), whose representatives were handing out promo cds on the way out. It just makes me wonder if anyone in the Cinderella camp is happy anymore. They still deliver the goods, put on a credible live show, and sound like you remember. But having been on a reunion tour for over 6 years with no new material released (or even on the horizon), you realize that things need a little, um, shake up. I say go check 'em out while you still have the chance because like the song says, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. Grade - B- All in all, it was the best of times and the worst of times, because seeing these bands in an outdoor theater setting on a warm summer night was a rare treat (well, not for me...) and a great sign. Seeing 3000 people show up on a Thursday for some good 80s metal is a great sign. But it was the worst of times because I'm afraid that the bands will find themselves on the wrong side of the nostalgia 8-ball. I implore all of the aforementioned bands to take a cue from Tesla - stay on the road just long enough to keep in the public's memory, then get to work on a new project. Remember the words of the band that started the ball rolling for commercial metal in America - "It's better to burn out than fade away". Now go support your favorite bands! |July 7 - Gone surfin' So while I wait for a potential weather-related smackdown and prepare to make another heavy metal pilgrimage, I'm gonna kill some time at the beach. Some things never change. | |
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