So it's finally here. I don't know what to do now. Anticlimactic huh? Not much has happened, aside from me finishing school, going to be a freshman in August, life just you know, happening. I talked to our local teen librarian and got a book list published on books I think guys should read over the summer if they haven't already. I took maybe four of the list, just to give to people. I guess now I can kind of say I got published in a library.
I'm waiting to start summer of golf until tomorrow because today the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black is on, and it's supposed to rain. It doesn't look like much golf is going to happen today. I could be wrong of course, wouldn't be the first time that happened.
I promised a TBTR (track by track review) of Big Whiskey, but that's probably not going happen. As a huge Dave fan, I can definitely tell you one thing, it was a great CD. Probably my second favorite CD by them, first being either Under The Table and Dreaming or Before These Crowded Streets. It was solid, had some catchy tunes, and was great for a casual listener or a diehard. I think probably the best song on the Cd was "Why I Am" the horn-filled song about Leroi Moore. I think that this is probably going up into one of the best albums they've ever made, and it definitely deserves the spot. I was content with the Live Trax that I got with it too. I have one problem though. They do the exact same fake now. There's a little medley on disc two that goes Anyone Seen The Bridge>Too Much (fake)-> Halloween>Water Into Wine. I know that's intense, when it happened, I would have been astounded if I was at the concert, but now they are doing that everytime they play Anyone Seen The Bridge. Look at the concert they played at the Beacon, it was ASTB>TM(fake)>Ants. It's becoming a predictable build up. I mean, you never know what Dave is going to do, but I keep seeing ASTB>TM Fake on setlists. I just think they could be a little more creative. I love both CD's, and with summer here, they will be in heavy rotation nontheless.
That's all for now,
Signing out,
Andrew.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Summer Of Golf
So here's something I forgot to mention. I'm playing golf. Lots of golf. And there's a reason. I want to make my high school golf team. Badly. And in order to do that, I'm going to play everyday possible, whenever I can (except Mondays, the course is always closed on Mondays) to get as good as I can in order to make the team next year. I'm going to be a freshman for those who don't know, and I'm pretty stoked to be getting out of middle school. We have three more weeks of school left (same with lacrosse), then summer begins, and I get to relax, play golf, crank up the tunes and zone out.
So here's how I'm going to try and run my summer:
1)Wake up
2)Swim team (I participate in a club swim team every summer. Last year I made it to states and came in first for the fifty freestyle against kids nearly two years older than me)
3)18 holes of golf
4)Tennis (I also play tennis, but not competitively, though that may change)
5)Swim for fun
6)Sleep repeat.
I also plan to finally finish the Dark Tower (I'm on book four), but I'm also reading Battle Royale, a Japanese thriller by Koshun Takami, about junior high students forced to kill each other until one is left standing (hey I couldn't resist), and some Star Trek: Deep Space Nine book that I picked up because I needed to start somewhere, but now I fear it was the wrong read for me. Oh well.
So long for now,
Andrew
So here's how I'm going to try and run my summer:
1)Wake up
2)Swim team (I participate in a club swim team every summer. Last year I made it to states and came in first for the fifty freestyle against kids nearly two years older than me)
3)18 holes of golf
4)Tennis (I also play tennis, but not competitively, though that may change)
5)Swim for fun
6)Sleep repeat.
I also plan to finally finish the Dark Tower (I'm on book four), but I'm also reading Battle Royale, a Japanese thriller by Koshun Takami, about junior high students forced to kill each other until one is left standing (hey I couldn't resist), and some Star Trek: Deep Space Nine book that I picked up because I needed to start somewhere, but now I fear it was the wrong read for me. Oh well.
So long for now,
Andrew
Dave, Dave, and did I mention Dave?
So if you are a massive Dave Matthews Band fan like I am, you know that this coming week will totally kick ass. It begins tomorrow, on Fuse (for my friends in Wilton, channel 56 on Cablevision), at 9pm (or if you prefer, I believe the broadcast will be on Hulu (why watch on Hulu when you can watch in HD?)) with a live broadcast of DMB playing a concert at the Becaon Theatre. I believe there will be a mix of Big Whiskey (for non-DMBer's or just those slow on the wave, the new CD) and some old hits. I just hope they play Dancing Nancies and Two Step. I know Two Step is one of those songs like O.A.R's Crazy Game of Poker, but it still rocks. Also on Fuse this week will be "The Road To Big Whiskey" (by the way for those who are slow, the full name is Big Whiskey and The GrooGrux King, GrooGrux being the nickname for LeRoi Moore) a feature showing the stress and redemption the band went through with the latest CD. Should be good. Then the big day, June 2nd, when Big Whiskey will be released. I've heard some songs off the CD, and you can hear the whole CD at http://www.pandora.com/davematthewsband, but I'm supposed to be writing a paper on the aftermath of world war two, and I can't multitask very well. I think my favorite song so far is Shake Me Like A Monkey, or Why I Am. I'll have a full review of the actual CD and Live Trax 15: Alpine Valley when I get 'em. I love DMB, and while I can't catch 'em this summer due to ticket costs (unemployed father=no summer shows), I'll get the torrents, and I'm sure DMB will be in heavy rotation this summer. For those of my friends who are reading my blog, and now want to get into Dave, drop me a line, I'll send some your way. For those who aren't my friends, pick up The Central Park Concert, it is probably one of the best live shows I've ever heard (and trust me I've heard a lot).
Friday, May 8, 2009
State Radio Comes To My Town, O.A.R. Continues Spiraling Downard, and Other Stuff.
So due to a bad grade in science class, I have recently been thrown off the computer for all of the last semester of school. I'm permitted to use it now because well... my dad's not watching. Last week I believe, I posted about O.A.R., and how I hate the whole "All Sides" road they've taken. It turns out that they keep marching down the monetization path, because last week they came out with http://www.liveoar.com/. This website might spell the end of the taping industry that makes O.A.R. awesome. Thanks to taping, I can get any show when I want it, for free thanks to websites like http://www.oarsa.org/ (<--- Totally rules, no questions asked). This website basically did what http://www.umlive.net/ did for another one of my favorite bands, Umphrey's McGee. It takes the taping that everyone loves, and puts it on the website for everyone to pay. Now whatever, you could probably find a sketchy way around it, but for now, taping may as well vanish for a reason I like O.A.R. That wasn't all that happened this week.
So today, State Radio came to my high school in our town. I love Dispatch for those who don't already know, and henceforth, I love State Radio. I was so pumped, but... turns out I had a lacrosse match, so I didn't get to see the guys who I have been waiting to see for a year, and only to have them come to my high school for me to be on the high school turf playing lacrosse. I'll probably find the set list. My sister is at the show right now, and I'm really annoyed. She got to sit in on a panel discussion with the group about their environmental work, and I believe she got to meet Chad, who is totally a guy I look up to in music. She's going because it's there, I would have killed to go because I love it. So, I hope it was a good show, maybe I'll find a taping of the show or something.
We actually ended up losing the game, so that was no fun either. The lights went out on the turf in the middle of the game, and it actually took up about fifteen minutes to get the lights back on so we could play again. Stupid timers. We might have had to forfeit had we not been able to get the lights on. It wouldn't have mattered as much because we were only down by one. By the end of the game of course, we were down by five.
So tonight might not have been that much fun, and this weekend probably won't be either, but I'll live. I've been pressing through the Dark Tower, I'm on book three: The Wastelands, and I'm slowly but surely working my way through. I don't know about wether or not I'm going to Gathering Of The Vibes. I'd kill to go, I'd get to see State Radio, Guster, DSO, and tons of other sweet acts (including moe., who can totally rip).
That's all for now,
Andrew.
So today, State Radio came to my high school in our town. I love Dispatch for those who don't already know, and henceforth, I love State Radio. I was so pumped, but... turns out I had a lacrosse match, so I didn't get to see the guys who I have been waiting to see for a year, and only to have them come to my high school for me to be on the high school turf playing lacrosse. I'll probably find the set list. My sister is at the show right now, and I'm really annoyed. She got to sit in on a panel discussion with the group about their environmental work, and I believe she got to meet Chad, who is totally a guy I look up to in music. She's going because it's there, I would have killed to go because I love it. So, I hope it was a good show, maybe I'll find a taping of the show or something.
We actually ended up losing the game, so that was no fun either. The lights went out on the turf in the middle of the game, and it actually took up about fifteen minutes to get the lights back on so we could play again. Stupid timers. We might have had to forfeit had we not been able to get the lights on. It wouldn't have mattered as much because we were only down by one. By the end of the game of course, we were down by five.
So tonight might not have been that much fun, and this weekend probably won't be either, but I'll live. I've been pressing through the Dark Tower, I'm on book three: The Wastelands, and I'm slowly but surely working my way through. I don't know about wether or not I'm going to Gathering Of The Vibes. I'd kill to go, I'd get to see State Radio, Guster, DSO, and tons of other sweet acts (including moe., who can totally rip).
That's all for now,
Andrew.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Fate Of O.A.R.
O.A.R. are probably one of the bands in my top ten of all time. I have loved them for about three years now. I didn't pick up on them because of their show at Madison Square Garden, or Stories Of A Stranger, but because of Any Time Now. At that time I was in a "musical slump" I guess, and I hated anything that would come on the radio, because I was accostomed to liking whatever pop-garbage was on there. Nowadays I would go back in time and slap myself for liking that crap. Then I got hooked on Any Time Now and Live at Madison Square Garden when it came out (in fact I'm listening to About Mr. Brown from the Garden right now). It was like a godsend, the rhythms being permanently ingrained into my brain, humming them every second of the day. I know every lyric, every vocal twinge on those CD's, including 34th and 8th. When I found out O.A.R. was going to the Meadows up in Hartford I was estatic, and the same way when I found out they were putting out a new CD. That's when it all fell down hill.
I heard the single basically the day it came out on the website. This Town, catchy enough, but it was missing O.A.R's vibe, not to mention basically no sax, which was what caught my eye in the beginning. Then came What Is Mine, which was equally as terrible. It was a piss-poor attempt to throw back to the days of The Wanderer, and failed. Then All Sides came out, and I was looking for that one redeeming track that would tell me all would be all right. None was there, and I was down on my luck. I knew that this was over-produced poppy garbage, but listened, trying to find a song I liked, and there was none. Then the video for Shattered, a song that was terrible by O.A.R's standards came out, and they exploded.
I feel like now people are going to consider them a one-hit-wonder because of this song. They are by no means a one-hit-wonder, they just weren't that mainstream. I was proud, because now everyone was walking around singing the band that I was obssessed with, but then it started to fade. I saw the Blackberry commercial a couple months later, after my show on 8.09.08, which was incredible, because it was my first. I knew it was the beginning. I mean I had heard of it before, but now I realized it. O.A.R., the band in which I held my taste in music, was becoming a sell out.
They marched along this path, and just held my breath, and waited for them to be all up in arms, realizing their mistake. And now, on their facebook fan page, they announced they would be playing a complementary concert for NASCAR fans. Are you kidding me? I am so pissed off I am nearly at a loss for words. First they desert me and all the other hardcores with their pop garbage, then begin to sell out with a bad song and advertisements, but now... I didn't know they could sink so low.
A couple days ago, I was wearing my O.A.R. hoodie I got for Christmas last year (thanks to my parents, who rule), and a girl walked up to me saying "Oh I love O.A.R!" The conversation went as follows:
"Really?"
"Yeah totally!"
"Name three songs besides Shattered."
"Try Me, War Song, And Dinner Last Night."
"Try a song that isn't on All Sides."
"Don't know any..."
Now we have bandwagon fans. Bandwagon fans? Really? I don't know how many more people there are like that out there, but I am sure that there are. I am sure if I gave them all a copy of The Wanderer and Any Time Now they wouldn't like it, well a little bit sure. Either way, this is a wake up call. I doubt anyone from O.A.R. will ever read this little rant, but seriously if they are, wake the hell up. You guys are becoming a second rate pop act. I don't want any fans going to shows only knowing All Sides and TGOP. I am on the breaking strand with O.A.R. Don't make me cut my ties to the band that got me into music.
Rant Ends Here.
Andrew.
I heard the single basically the day it came out on the website. This Town, catchy enough, but it was missing O.A.R's vibe, not to mention basically no sax, which was what caught my eye in the beginning. Then came What Is Mine, which was equally as terrible. It was a piss-poor attempt to throw back to the days of The Wanderer, and failed. Then All Sides came out, and I was looking for that one redeeming track that would tell me all would be all right. None was there, and I was down on my luck. I knew that this was over-produced poppy garbage, but listened, trying to find a song I liked, and there was none. Then the video for Shattered, a song that was terrible by O.A.R's standards came out, and they exploded.
I feel like now people are going to consider them a one-hit-wonder because of this song. They are by no means a one-hit-wonder, they just weren't that mainstream. I was proud, because now everyone was walking around singing the band that I was obssessed with, but then it started to fade. I saw the Blackberry commercial a couple months later, after my show on 8.09.08, which was incredible, because it was my first. I knew it was the beginning. I mean I had heard of it before, but now I realized it. O.A.R., the band in which I held my taste in music, was becoming a sell out.
They marched along this path, and just held my breath, and waited for them to be all up in arms, realizing their mistake. And now, on their facebook fan page, they announced they would be playing a complementary concert for NASCAR fans. Are you kidding me? I am so pissed off I am nearly at a loss for words. First they desert me and all the other hardcores with their pop garbage, then begin to sell out with a bad song and advertisements, but now... I didn't know they could sink so low.
A couple days ago, I was wearing my O.A.R. hoodie I got for Christmas last year (thanks to my parents, who rule), and a girl walked up to me saying "Oh I love O.A.R!" The conversation went as follows:
"Really?"
"Yeah totally!"
"Name three songs besides Shattered."
"Try Me, War Song, And Dinner Last Night."
"Try a song that isn't on All Sides."
"Don't know any..."
Now we have bandwagon fans. Bandwagon fans? Really? I don't know how many more people there are like that out there, but I am sure that there are. I am sure if I gave them all a copy of The Wanderer and Any Time Now they wouldn't like it, well a little bit sure. Either way, this is a wake up call. I doubt anyone from O.A.R. will ever read this little rant, but seriously if they are, wake the hell up. You guys are becoming a second rate pop act. I don't want any fans going to shows only knowing All Sides and TGOP. I am on the breaking strand with O.A.R. Don't make me cut my ties to the band that got me into music.
Rant Ends Here.
Andrew.
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