Jack's Mannequin in Anaheim

Jacki and I went to see Jack's Mannequin at the Grove Of Anaheim Thursday night. Turkish Rocket opened. Their drummer was a little spastic, and the music, well, let's not talk about their music. We were definitely glad once Jack's Mannequin came on stage.

It doesn't happen often at concerts but I definitely felt old tonight. I think 95% of the people there were still in high school. Jacki and I kind of stuck out like the other handful of older people. You could probably count all of the people over 30 on two hands.

The band sounded great. I had some concerns since the sound at the Dream Theater show in the same venue was so poor a couple of months back. Having appropriately amplified levels for the type of music being performed makes a big difference.


Highlights of course were Bruised, Dark Blue, The Mixed Tape, Into the Airwaves and the closing the main set with You Can Breathe. They pretty much played all of the album Everything In Transit. One track I didn't know and then a couple of covers at the end. They closed the show with a rockin' version of Police's Message in a Bottle. Its good to know the kids like the Police.

The double take of the night occured when I noticed their drummer had the same make and color drum set as me. Oil Satin Blue finish on DW drums, he used a different snare but the bass drum and the toms were the same color as mine. First time I had seen the finish on drums other than the ones I actually own.

The final observation of the night was this band was about as plain looking as they come. Not guys you'd run into on the street and think hey, they're in a rock band. I guess the kids don't need long hair and spandex these days. HA!

Rob Zombie

Darian and I just got back from the Rob Zombie concert at the Wiltern in LA. Lacuna Coil opened the show.

Rob's new lineup that included John 5 on guitar made for a great show. At one point John 5 was playing an EVH guitar circa 1984. Rob was high energy and had stage movements that was a cross between an aerobics instructor and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden. Yes its hard to visualize but if you see Rob, and you see Bruce you will know exactly what I mean.

This was the second of 2 sold out nights. Although the show was crowded they didn't over sell. I've been in GA shows that feel much more crowded than the show tonight.

The only real downer for the night was Rob kept getting frustruated with Wiltern's security. The security was extremely tight, no moshing, no crowd surfing, no shoving, no moving to the floor, or you get kicked out. Personally I appreciated the security but when the band was distracted by security the show lost a little of the momentum. After Rob got on the soap box and said he wasn't happy with the security situation. He finally told them to lay off and then the band went into Thunderkiss. Needless to say a mosh pit formed and surprisingly security layed off. Although the crowd looked entirely out of control it turned out that if you weren't in the path of the pit you were fine.


Good high energy show. However, a little too much ego with the 3 or 4 encores. Just play the songs.

After the show I saw Eric Singer from KISS walking towards the backstage area. I yelled over to him and he walked over close enough so we could shake hands. Yes! My first KISS sighting in LA.

Buckcherry

Another website presale got me an autographed copy of a new cd.

Free Parking in LA

An entire weekend of free parking in LA. Went down to Venice beach, the parking lot ticket machine was out of order. Went to the Promenade and the parking meter machine wasn't working and then headed to Westwood for lunch today and came up to a meter that said FAIL.

3 for 3 for the weekend.

Operation Mindcrime: II

I received an autographed copy of the new Queensryche cd today. They offered an online promotion if you bought directly from their website. I heard the cd a few weeks back so no real anticipation with this release. It has been 3 weeks or so since my last listen so I am finding it a good listen as I type this. Definitely a better disc than their last few, but not quite the return to their glory days. I also picked up a ticket to their show in coming up in October, where they will perform Mindcrime 1 and 2 in their entirety. I've never been disappointed with them live so that should make for a fun evening.

Thank You For Smoking... Mr. Drummond

Jacki, Darian and I went to see Thank You For Smoking at the Nu Wilshire Theater in Santa Monica.

Jacki with her eagle eyes makes yet another celebrity sighting. Turns out Conrad Bain, you know from Diff'rent Strokes as Mr. Drummond, was sitting one row back and across the aisle from us in the theater.

A few weeks back Jacki and Darian were at the nail salon and Mindy Cohn sat right next to Darian.

That makes both a Facts Of Life and Diff'rent Strokes sighting in Santa Monica.