Metallica!

Death Magnetic is RIDICULOUS, where the hell have these guys been? Stunning! moshmoshmoshmoshMOSHMOSHMOSH!

The Police at Dodger Stadium

Seeing the Foo Fighters open for the Police in concert at Dodger Stadium should have been a highlight of the year, and a great way to kick-off the summer, but that unfortunately turned into an evening that began with the absolute worst traffic experience I personally have ever experienced, trying to enter the parking lot at Dodger Stadium. While we were trapped in the traffic hell of going less than 10 blocks in 2 hours, the Chinese food we had for dinner staged a violent overthrow of Natalie's stomach, leaving her writhing in gastrointestinal distress in the front seat of the car with no way out.

Despite the fact that the stadium has been there more then 50 years, they seem not to have figured out how to park people for an event just yet. There's no way to embellish the mundane fact that it took more than 1 hour to park the car AFTER we got into the parking lot, despite the fact that we were armed with a disabled parking placard. At 9pm the parking lot attendants finally resorted to parking people in the middle of the aisles, and I lucked into a spot just outside our entrance. The stadium lights were up, and it seemed that somehow we were in time to catch the Foos. We found our seats, 5 minutes later the lights went down, and...the Police belted out Message in a Bottle.



Now this was a moment of real ambivalence--I was watching the legendary Police performing live!--but this meant that I had completely missed the Foo Fighters, which I was probably looking forward to more than the Police. I was still less than 10 minutes out of the car, and that morass (quagmire!) of traffic that had seriously sucked most of the will to live from me, and as good as Sting and the boys sounded, there was this gnawing emptiness in my head where the Foos were supposed to be playing. Nat, wary of the perils of a women's restroom in a venue such as this, was still in considerable discomfort, wincing in her seat next to me, her recently broken foot now swollen as a side effect of sitting in the car for so long. Put off by the considerable lines, as well as the $12 price tag, I was beer-less as well. This was not quite what I had envisioned the concert was going to be like...

Still, this was the Police, in front of 55,000 people on a beautiful Summer night. Nat eventually found relief, and the show was way too good not to get into.

The Orange County Register gave it a favorable review, but I sure do wish we had made it for the Foo Fighters...

The Police Setlist for Dodger Stadium (6/23/07)
"Message In A Bottle"
"Synchronicity II"
"Walking on the Moon"
"Voices Inside My Head"
"When the World is Running Down"
"Don't Stand So Close To Me"
"Driven to Tears"
"The Bed's Too Big Without You"
"Truth Hits Everybody"
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
"Wrapped Around Your Finger"
"De Do Do Do De Da Da Da"
"Invisible Sun"
"Walking In Your Footsteps"
"Can't Stand Losing You/Regatta De Blanc"
"Roxanne"
"King of Pain"
"So Lonely"
"Every Breath You Take"
"Next To You"

I'm Designer

I'm Designer by Queens of the Stone Age



My generation’s for sale
Beats a steady job—how much have you got?
My generation don’t trust no one
It’s hard to blame—not even ourselves
The thing that’s real for us is fortune and fame
All the rest seems like work
It’s just like diamonds—in shit

I’m high class, I’m a whore
Actually both—basically I’m a pro
We’ve all got our own style and baggage
Why hump it yourself?
You’ve made me an offer that I can refuse
Cause either the way I get screwed
Counter proposal- I go home and jerk off

It’s truly a lie, I counterfeit myself
It’s truly a lie, I counterfeit myself
You don’t own
You don’t own
You don’t own
You don’t own
You don’t know what none can buy
You don’t own
You don’t own— NEITHER DO I

High and mighty you say selling out is a shame. Is that the name of your book?
Push a silver spoon in your ass. No more holding us down
dog. down mutt. Nice mutt

You’re insulted—you can’t be bought or sold.
TRANSLATION: offer too low
You don’t know what you’re worth—It isn’t much
My piano’s for sale.
How many times must I sell myself
before my pieces are gone?
I’m one of a kind!!!
I’m designer!

Never again will I repeat myself
Enough is never enough
Never again will I repeat myself

It used to be the plan was: SCREWING THE MAN
Now its HAVE SEX WITH A MAN (after he buys you dot-com for sale at a low, low price)

It’s truly a lie, I counterfeit myself
It’s truly a lie, I counterfeit myself
You don’t own
You don’t own
You don’t own me
You don’t own what none can buy
You don’t own
You don’t own what none can buy—NEITHER DO I

New Music Update

The Silversun Pickups are without a doubt the freshest sound I have heard in at least 10 years, if not longer. They have a very lush "wall of noise" vibe going on, and a sort of dreamy, ethereal sound layered over surprisingly punchy guitar riffs. I'm no ready to label them the next "Nirvana", but at this point they are like a lone voice in the wilderness, calling out to a nation lost in the wasteland of American Idol pop, and the corporate dreck-rock that defines our current time as the "Nickelback Era." Uggh.

Other new music I'm listening to these days: TV On The Radio, Peter, Bjorn and John (fun!), Lily Allen, and I've finally gotten around to Beck's "The Information".

Favorite Songs of the Year 2006

In no particular order, just as I think of them and get them posted:

Banquest, Bloc Party
Vicarious, Tool
Anna Molly, Incubus
Meds, Placebo
Juicebox, The Strokes
The Pot, Tool
Skin and Bones, Foo Fighters
Le Disco, Shiny Toy Guns
The Boys Wanna Be Her, Peaches
Stalk U, Los Abandoned

Viscera Eyes, The Mars Volta

Tear You Apart, She Wants Revenge
Red Flags and Long Nights, She Wants Revenge
Soul Meets Body, Death Cab For Cutie
(Oh) Snow, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Knights of Cydonia, Muse