This is Part 2 of a two-part series chronicling my visit to the EMP Museum in Seattle. This Part 2 feature will focus on the current Music-related exhibits at the museum, while Part 1 has been published on sister site, Original Prop Blog, and that photo journal will cover the Movie-related exhibits. The three current music related exhibits are “Nirvana: Taking Punk To The Masses” and “Worn To Be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket”, as well as a photo exhibit for The Rolling Stones. [Read more…]
Last night I had an opportunity to see Styx perform at Thunder Valley Resort and Casino in Lincoln, California. Really quite the performance… it’s rare these days when a band comes onto the stage, sans opening act, and just let’s it rip, and has the audience from the first riff. Given that the band, born in Chicago, has been around since the 70s, they obviously have a stellar catalog of work to choose from, and the set tonight spanned everything from their more anthemic rock to popular hits on the ballad side, showing a real versatility in their musical style as well as an unusually democratic (small “d”) sharing of their various talents, and (quite literally) the spotlight. It is obvious that these guys love to perform, feed off their audience, and seem to play together well, and really appear to enjoy their music and playing it live – together – to an enthusiastic crowd. And given some back and forth, and my interview with Lawrence Gowan leading up to the show, and, well, just looking around within the amphitheater (which at least appeared to be completely sold out), their audience today very much spans many, many generations, with old and new fans alike just soaking in some genuine rock and roll. Styx really delivered, and it was an awesome performance, from beginning to end. [Read more…]
Heart launched their latest U.S. tour this past week, and played the Ironstone Amphitheater at Ironstone Vineyards and Winery last night. They were an absolute force on stage, seamlessly moving from hard rocking songs to ballads, classic songs and newer material, they performed with power, style, emotion, and truly were magnificent. They opened with the title track off their forthcoming Fanatic album, which shows that they still have the passion and ability to produce excellent music that represents their trademark style and incredible music ability. But the most important thing I took away from this show is that this band really needs to be seen live to feel the full power of their music and gifts. Really stellar event. [Read more…]
This past week I had a chance to stop by to see my friends at Julien’s Auctions, and preview their incredible sale of property from the Les Paul Estate. Though I had looked through the hardcopy catalog previously, it was amazing to see so much of the auction material on display in their Beverly Hills gallery. While there, I took some photos to illustrate their showcase of this historic material. [Read more…]
Today is a sad day for the music world, as the news spreads that Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, died today at the young age of 47 after a battle with cancer over several years. There are many fine obituaries published all over the web, just hours after the news broke, so I thought I would just share a few more personal thoughts about the man, his band, and their music. [Read more…]
Omega Auctions has published their online catalogs for two upcoming sale events happening on the same day, Saturday, May 19th – ‘Vinyl, Music & Film Memorabilia’ & ‘The Porl Thompson Collection (The Cure)’. The sales will be held in the United Kingdom.
Julien’s Auctions has published the online catalog for their upcoming sale – “Property from the Estate of Les Paul”, which will be held at their Beverly Hills gallery on Friday, June 8th and Saturday, June 9th.