The Beastie Boys are counting on you to rock the vote this year.
This is the first time the Beasties have even come close touring in Cleveland since 1998. I saw them last year and even got to interview them at the Virgin Mobile Tour. I have to saw they are still awesome. My interview was not much of an interview as much as us just shooting the you know what… I really need to post that on here one day. Their live show was incredible. It was my third time seeing them live.
So now I am trying to figure out if I should go… I have so much going on late October. Decisions decisions… Pre-sale starts tomorrow at 10am. Password is VOTE. Go to their website for more info.
California punk rockers Unwritten Law have recently released their second live DVD for your visual and listening pleasure. This time around the band has teamed up with Suburban Noize Records to release Live & Lawless, a CD/DVD release that is more of a celebration of their success as a modern punk rock band rather then just another live show.
Recorded in March of 2008 at the historic Key Club on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, the band consisting of singer Scott Russo, guitarist Steve Morris, bassist Pat “PK” Kim, and temporary stand-in drummer Dylan Howard, make a point to play their hearts out to their hardcore fans.
Unwritten Law
Formed in the early nineties, Unwritten Law first started out as a speedier punk band but throughout the years they took different approaches to making music, and soon matured into more of a hard rock act. 1998’s self titled album had a couple of tracks that were put into heavy rotation on the radio but nothing more than that. In 2002, the band came out with Elva and their song “Seeing Red” became a chart topping hit.
Just one year later, the band was approached accidentally by VH1 (they meant to call Jimmy Eat World) to see if they would play some acoustic tracks. The result was Music In High Places, a part studio part live acoustic album that coincided with a separately released DVD called Live In Yellowstone.
Live & Lawless is the band’s first start-to-finish live DVD. This release also comes with a CD full of the tracks the band played that night in Hollywood. The CD has seventeen tracks plus a bonus track. The DVD covers the twenty-two song set and also contains some bonus footage.
The show starts with the band on stage in full force playing “Underground”. One of the first things I notice is that there are no bouncers in front of the stage and to me that is a nice thing to see. This show is strictly the band facing the fans. Hit songs “Teenage Suicide” and “Calin” were played to approving fans as they sang along as loud as they possibly could
The acoustic version of “Rest Of My Life” featured just Scott Russo and the crowd. His voice was on point throughout and did not crackle or show any signs of being tired even though sweat was dripping off his forehead. The rest of the band slowly snuck on stage where they smoothly depart into “She Says”. The crowd erupted as soon as they sang the refrain to the song.
“Before I Go” is a bonus treat to the crowd as the band starts a mini acoustic session with the entire band playing their acoustic instruments. I love the way this song sounds. They continue with “Elva” and surprisingly “Shallow”, a real old track by the band.
This was the first time I had heard the old school song performed acoustically and Scott Russo even admitted to the crowd that is was a special song they were going to play. I must say the song brought back some memories. Hearing the band slow the track down a bit and play it unplugged just made it that much more enjoyable. The only sad thing about this song is that I would guess two thirds of the crowd may never have heard this before. Arms waving and smiles were among the many but when it came time to sing along there was not as much partaking.
Before engaging in “Save Me” front man Scott Russo took a moment to spread some love to all the sardine packed fans in the front row. He asked everyone for some crowd participation before starting the song and just about everyone complied. With big thank yous it was clear that the concert was coming to an end.
Making this show even more memorable to myself, the very first song the band ever wrote, and one of my personal favorites, “CPH” closed out the show. Nothing like an oldie to wrap things up, especially when it was one of the first songs I heard as a teenager that caused me to become an Unwritten Law fan.
DVD bonus features included the music video for “Shoulda Know Better” as well as a intimate interview session with questions coming from the fans who were actually at the DVD shoot that evening. Hearing the story from Pennywise about Fletcher jumping a van into someone’s backyard was amusing. The band answered questions individually, shared their influences, decisions to change up their style, and even some more personal stories. The answer to how would Pat “PK” Kim look if he were bald had me laughing out loud as the bassist drew up a picture of himself.
There was not a dull moment throughout the entire live show. This DVD is pure evidence what a punk rock show should be. Seems like only yesterday a young punk rock me was in the crowd checking out Unwritten Law singing all of the songs they sang at the top of my lungs. Over ten years later, they still have it and show no signs of tiring out one bit.
Here’s a couple of clips from the DVD just for a small taste:
Wow. She still is looking fiiiiine. Of course this is an old pic to the left, but I am sure you have seen her recent photos.
Seriously now, why do I know this? Well because Fox 8 News kept playing her songs on their show this morning and they keep wishing her a happy birthday. So I guess I will too.
I am not a fan of Gwen Stefani when it comes to her solo career.
I much prefer No Doubt. Sure, she has not damaged her image too much by going solo but by doing so she has attracted a whole new fan base. In fact she is quite the popular one. I myself though can not stand much of her hip hop-ish pop powerful songs. I find the songs too much for me to handle.
I prefer the classics, you know, when it was pop ska punk. Does that make sense? She was cute, innocent, and did not wear bling.
Gwen Stefani left No Doubt to work on her solo project which was supposed to be a new wave sound but to me sounds a little different from that.
Having married Gavin Rossdale, former front man of Bush, the couple now has two children and pretty much successfully manage to stay out of the blood thirsty paparazzi grasp. They to me are the smart couple and just keep to themselves for the sake of family. No point in mixing work and him right?
Now Gavin Rossdale tried his own luck and released his own solo attempt Wanderlust earlier this year that in my opinion was not that good. I wrote a review about it and I must say there were a couple of winners on the disc but for the most part it was not that good. It could have just been me of course.
Rumor has it the remaining members of No Doubt have been writing new material and are waiting for Gwen Stefani to return although she may be taking her time as just just gave birth to her second child over the summer.
When she returns is up to the birthday girl and I hope it is soon.
Here’s a Gewn Stefani time line for ya:
And now for some solo material… (also when she went a little gangsta)
I cringe when I hear this…
And this… (even worse)
She is still pleasing to the eyes though…and certainly does not look 39. Let’s hope with age she becomes a little wiser and calls up the boys from No Doubt to start recoding some new material.
