OUR LADY PEACE WAS AMAZING!

7/29/09 Well! Well! Well! As anticipated, Our Lady Peace was AMAZING last night!! What an outstanding show they put on at the Troubadour, complete with Raine Maida doing his best Bono impersonation by climbing the club's rafters to get to the balcony during their song "All You Did Was Save My Life" from their new album, Burn Burn.

My thanks to Raine for our excellent conversation before the show, and to the band for putting on a kickass rock concert. Seriously…….GO SEE THESE GUYS LIVE!!!!

7/27/09 Last night I once again had the pleasure of seeing my friend George Thorogood at the gorgeous Greek Theatre. As always, GT kicked ass on stage, and we shared great conversation backstage after the show. It was also very cool to run into several old friends, including Jim Ladd and Cynthia Fox from KLOS, Roxane Requio, KLOS promotions guruess extraordinaire, and her husband.
And as an added bonus, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with another former Hawthorne High School alum: Susan Smeltzer. Susan accepted a very last-minute invite from me to join me for the show. We shared a fantastic show, killer seats, and lots of interesting conversation.

Tomorrow night it's Our Lady Peace at the Troubadour. I can't wait to speak with my old friend, lead singer Raine Maida, before the show, and I'm so looking forward to seeing them live again.

GEORGE THOROGOOD and JONNY LANG

7/25/09 Following my amazing night Tuesday at the spectacular Greek Theatre with the Counting Crows, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and Augustana, and tonight's show with The Rescues at the world famous Troubadour, I'll be right back at the Greek Theatre this Sunday for a night with one of my favorite people – and guitar players – George Thorogood. along with his special guest Jonny Lang. GT & the Destroyers' new album, the oh-so aptly titled The Dirty Dozen (don't tell anyone, but George is a HUGE Lee Marvin fan!), is in stores this Tuesday, July 28, and this sucker is packed with more hits (6) than Mike Tyson's fists, and more rarities (6) than a Chicago Cubs World Series win. And I can say that because I'm a lifelong, therefore, long suffering, Cubs fan. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with George to talk about The Dirty Dozen for my online series called Current Classics Conversations. Listen to our chat here. (Link coming soon!) And I'll see you at the Greek!!!

HEELING HAND: SORUM STEERS STILETTOS TO STARDOM!

7/17/09 Former Guns N' Roses, The Cult, and now current Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum has well, dug his heels into a new rock and roll side project dubbed the Darling Stilettos, a four member group of gorgeous girls who sing, dance, shimmy, and shake their way through a series of classic rock covers. The group performed last night at Cinespace in Hollywood, on Hollywood Blvd, in front of what could be described as a stack of women jealous of these girls' voices, bodies, and moves, and a pack of men jealous of Sorum for being such a lucky bastard! All in all, the entire crowd enjoyed what they heard, saw, and experienced. Here's my review:

HEELING HAND: SORUM STEERS STILETTOS TO STARDOM!
Studly Matt Sorum, former Guns N' Roses and The Cult drummer, and current stickman for Velvet Revolver, obviously knows a thing or two – or a thousand – about women and rock and roll. He's combined those two passions in his latest side project, the Darling Stilettos, a four female act that combines rock, raunch, dance and danger, much to the delight of men and woman alike. With Sorum on drums, Ace, Gina, Lindsey, and Allie strutted their stuff last night at Cinespace on Hollywood Blvd, wearing skin-tight black leather pants and barely there tops, and, as to be expected, stilettos, while singing classic rock anthems made so by bands such as Queen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, T. Rex, David Bowie, The Clash, and the Sex Pistols, just to name a few. Historically, male rockers are said to have swagger; these sexy and sassy singers have an abundance of swagger with the added well, attraction of being able to shimmy and shake while belting a tune. As Sorum himself put it, while walking down the red carpet prior to the show, "This is Rock and Roll A-Go-Go." If you're into sex, pumps and rock and roll, the Darling Stilettos are a perfect fit!

VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Video 1 - Video 2 - Video 3

(AT THE KEY CLUB '08)

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD

7/15/09 If you've yet to experience the spiritual, tribal, communal feeling of seeing Michael Franti & Spearhead live in concert, do yourself a favor and catch him this Tuesday, July 21, at the equally spiritual, tribal, communal – and beautiful – Greek Theatre in the hills overlooking Los Angeles. Michael will be opening for the Counting Crows, so you'll get two incredible bands for the price of one. In fact, Augustana is also on the bill, so make it three! Only at the Greek!! Click here to hear a great conversation I had with Michael Franti earlier this year. And finally, pick up Michael Franti & Spearhead's current All Rebel Rockers album. If "Say Hey (I Love You)" doesn't immediately get you up and dancing, you need to check your pulse! See you at the Greek this Tuesday!!

KEATON SIMONS AT THE OPIUM LOUNGE

6/29/09 Singer-songwriter Keaton Simons tonight played a brief acoustic set at the Opium Lounge in Crustacean Restaurant in Beverly Hills. I'd never been to this venue before, and based on conversations I had with a few folks in attendance, it seemed like this may have been the first night ever music had been performed there. The setup in the room was a bit strange, with a mix of folks there for dinner, waiting for their tables, and those of us there strictly for the performance. Despite the unique surroundings, Keaton soldiered on, and delivered heartfelt performances of several songs found on his current Can You Hear Me (an appropriate title for tonight's performance, for sure) album. Standout songs from the CD, and tonight's performance, include "Without Your Skin," "Good Things Get Better," "Misfits," and the title track. Catch Keaton's cuts at www.keatonsimons.com. Thanks to my friend, April, for joining me tonight, and a special hello to my new friend, Lisa Hughes, whom I met this evening. It was a pleasure.

WARPED TOUR '09

6/28/09 Man, did Aly and I catch a break on the weather today at the Warped Tour stop in Ventura. This is the 3^rd or 4^th year Aly and I have covered and enjoyed the Ventura show, and each year it's been HOT!! VERY HOT!! Today, the ocean breeze was keeping the temperature down considerably. My thanks to Aly for videotaping my backstage interviews with Saosin, TV/TV, and Alexisonfire. I'm hoping I'll be able to share some of the footage here soon. Or I'll put it up on my website, www.currentclassics.com. All of these guys were very cool, and I enjoyed each of my brief conversations with them. For me, easily, the standout performance of the day was TV/TV. They have an excellent pop rock sensibility, and therefore are obviously much more melodic than most bands on the Warped Tour. And because this year's lineup didn't really include a real big name Aly and I wanted to see as a headliner, we left early, got lunch in downtown Ventura, and headed home. People, I was in bed by 10!!!!!! Next up: Keaton Simons tomorrow night.