REVIEW: BOSTON, THE DOOBIE BROTHERS, & PAT SIMMONS JR. - 8/6/2014
Gweedo

It’s always great to knock a band off your bucket list. August 6th was the day I was able to cross Boston off that list. Unfortunately, I was unable to do it before the passing of Brad Delp. Also in attendance that day was The Doobie Brothers and Pat Simmons Jr.. Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre hosted the event after receiving a slight facelift at the entrances and the concession stands. A perk to the show is that I was able to find the free parking at the venue. Keep a look out for it next time you go. With parking and excess convenience charges, any financial relief is welcome. The evening started with rain for a while, but like clockwork, it stopped right before the show began. This rain caused flooding in the front couple rows that had staff members frantically cleaning up. There were a couple merch booths with shirts and CD’s. People were walking around selling Boston’s Greatest Hits CD for $10 to be entered into a drawing for a Tom Scholtz signed guitar. All proceeds went to charity. The rain helped the evening by cooling everything off. As the trickles stopped, the people trickled in.

REVIEW: MOTLEY CRUE & ALICE COOPER THE FINAL TOUR - 8/2/2014
Gweedo

I’ve been dreading yet looking forward to this day, The Final Tour. If you live in a cave, get out! Motley Crue announced, after 33 years, they are calling it quits and with that came their final tour. August 2nd was the day this last performance came to Denver at the Pepsi Center. Motley Crue made their final trek with Alice Cooper and The Raskins. Unfortunately, the Pepsi Center was slow in setting up the seating which caused about an hour delay getting in. This delay made the organizers have to cut The Raskins. I bet they were probably pretty decent to be invited on this tour. The other unfortunate thing was that there were no cameras allow at this concert. That made it so all the photos coming out were from camera phones. So, forgive me for the poor picture quality. I’m certain this is because a DVD of this tour will be coming out for the people that couldn’t make it and for the ones that want to relive it (me). Once the doors opened, it was surprising how quickly the masses were processed and sent inside. Both entrances were loaded with fans in their 80’s garb. There were merch booths everywhere for Motley Crue and Alice Cooper. Outside had a small tent and a lady walking around with a small selection. Inside had at least three booths and the same lady walking around before the concert. There needed to be more women’s shirts, but I think that’s the case for every concert. They did have quite a few different shirts, posters, cups, flags, hats, etc. though.

REVIEW: THE BASTARD SUNS, SPRED THE DUB, SUSPECTS, NO BUENO, PORT AUTHORITY, & FEAR THE CALM - 3/22/2014
Gweedo

This evening marked my first event at the Roxy Theatre. They were hosting The Bastard Suns, Spred The Dub, Suspects, No Bueno, Port Authority, and Fear The Calm. All this music was at a steal! It was $10 for an advanced ticket. I was able to get in for free for being part of the Denver Street Team and running around town putting up flyers. A task I was more than willing to do for one of my favorite bands, The Bastard Suns. There is great parking across the street from the venue that is free and well lit. Also a LightRail stop is right across the street. Inside the Roxy Theatre is a small active bar with a narrow long open floor. The bar was at the back of the venue. I liked the venue because there seemed to be a good place for each kind of concert goer to hang out. There wasn’t much of a backstage so most of the instruments were out and off to the side. Most of the bands had little merch areas set up. There were very few people at the start of the show.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 4 - 1/29/2014
Gweedo

For whatever reason all good things come to an end, ShipRocked being no exception. After four days of fun you finally start getting into the swing of things and submit you could stay on this boat forever. Four days of being unplugged was quite refreshing. This day started out a little tedious with three long Meet & Greets. This was a little annoying to stand in lines half the day. It would have been nice to move at least one to a prior day. Maybe try having two Meet & Greets on one of the beach days. But anyway it is what it is and Meet & Greet one had Five Finger Death Punch, Sevendust, In This Moment, Young Guns, and Mistress Juliya. This was another event that had zero planning. The line was snaked all through the boat and for whatever reason looped back on itself in the same hallway giving people no way to use that hall for any other use. Then they took the end of that line and merged it with the front which was extremely frustrating since people in the front had been waiting at least an hour. Like I said, poor organizing. This was a pretty decent Meet & Greet, the only things I’ll say about it is that Five Finger Death Punch didn’t really seem to care. You lined up with some other random fans behind them for the picture while they sat. They didn’t say hey or anything just talked amongst themselves, snapped a photo, and continued talking to each other. My greetings were ignored and it was a very rude situation. Bassist Chris Kael at least shouted a bye as I walked on to the next band. The other odd encounter was with In This Moment. There was a girl that told you where you could stand before you entered into the picture and she wouldn’t let you set any of your stuff down that you were carrying. Also there was a bulky guy standing behind Maria Brink creepily. Turns out he was back there to make sure you didn’t grab her ass. It was a very awkward situation. The band didn’t seem like they wanted to be there at all and Chris Howorth was complaining about having to do it afterwards. In their defense I will say they had played the night before so the planners should have placed them in one of the later Meet & Greets so that they didn’t have to get up early and prep for this.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 3 - 1/28/2014
Gweedo

Rise and shine, day three of ShipRocked has arrived!! Today brings the dawn of “Washy Washy, Happy Happy, Smiley Smiley, All the tiiime!!!” The cadence of cleanliness that has been ingrained into everyone’s soul. Delivered to the masses at every boarding and before entering the buffet area by the energized and overly enthusiastic crew. I think it was very effective in getting people to remember their hygiene. Everybody on the boat and at this point even off the boat was saying it to each other. As for activities for the day, we were still off the coast of Great Stirrup Cay where we would stay one more day. As the day before, there was another early Meet & Greet this time with Jim Breuer, Nonpoint, Crash Kings, Scorpion Child, & Wilson. As most learn from their mistakes the organization of this event was much better but very rushed. It seemed like the person in front of you had barely cleared the frame before they were snapping your shot. Not sure why the rush since both of these greets didn’t have a lot of people showing up to them. Wandering around there were less artists that came to the island this time. It seemed like they got their fill the day before and were relaxing on the mostly empty boat.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED DAY 2 1/27/2014
Gweedo

SHIPROCKED DAY 2!!! At least that’s how some felt as the sun crept in and they started the next adventure, with some dark sun glasses. Others were more ambitious and attended the T25 workout at 9am. A few others had the call time of 11:30am to be on Great Stirrup Cay for the first Meet & Greet of the voyage. The private island needed to be tendered to which took a little bit because they packed the little boat most of the time before leaving. This day was more relaxing than past ShipRocked ports because there wasn’t much happening on the island so you could just enjoy some sand between the toes. It seemed like a perfect size because there wasn’t much of a crowd to mess with and there were tons of available beach chairs. There were big inflatable platforms you could rent to sit out on the water on. The beach had a little stage next to the water and three bars to partake at. An alright buffet lunch was the only food on the island. Everything was paid for with your cabin card except for little shacks that had souvenirs.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 1 1/26/2014
Gweedo

Finally! After a long wait it was time for ShipRocked 2014. This was a very special year because there were new locations, a new boat, and new dates. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pearl was our new vessel which took us to the private island of Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas for two days. Our port was out of Miami, FL. Due to the new ship and location our trip was from 1/26 to 1/30. This was a much welcomed change. I and others that I talked to were much happier on the Pearl. Even the boarding process was quicker and smoother. My comrade and I got on as soon as we could to partake in some beverages and food. It was nice to get comfortable on the boat before the schedule ran your life.

REVIEW: THE BASTARD SUNS - LONG LIVE SONG 1/22/2014
Gweedo

In December 2013 the world was given the gift of song. Through Kickstarter, The Bastard Suns and fans produced the gem, Long Live Song. I’m honored to have been a part of putting this great CD out. I like the front to back album art depicting a caricature of a dead colonial man in a wooden coffin wielding a violin with two pence over his eyes. Inside, the CD has a custom pence design with the band’s name and the 2004 establishment date of the band. My hat’s off to Clay Heirs with the design and Whitney Carite for the awesome artwork. Also, due to the Kickstarter funding, there is a long list of all the people that helped bring this album to fruition on the inside cover. Long Live Song brings a little bit different sound to the table. The Bastard Suns lost a few of their members and from the marijuana ashes emerged as a stronger, better band. The core of the band remained the same with Clay on vocals, Wes Driscoll on guitar, and Jay Tea Thomas on drums. They added Mongo Peterson to pound out some bass and background vocals and the delightful Whitney to add some new flavor to the lyrics. The biggest changes to this album are including a female vocalist and that it is a little more folky. My favorite album of theirs is still Here Come The Suns because I think the songs are catchier and I like the grove of the album. Long Live Song is a must get album though.

REVIEW: REEL BIG FISH, SUBURBAN LEGENDS, MIGHTY MONGO, & THE MAXIES 1/17/2013
Gweedo

The Gothic Theatre hosted another stellar lineup that was accompanied with a Living Social deal. For $37 you received two beers and admission to Reel Big Fish, Suburban Legends, Mighty Mongo, and The Maxies. All the bands had merchandise out trying to make a buck. Reel Big Fish had some great prices though. They were selling CDs for $5 to $10 with one of those CDs being their latest with the insert autographed by the entire band for $10. That’s an awesome deal in my eyes. Also they had $20 shirts and $40 hoodies, cheapest I’ve seen at a show. Suburban Legends had a decent selection as well that included a skate deck. Even with the deal the show started out pretty empty.

REVIEW: FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH - THE WRONG SIDE OF HEAVEN AND THE RIGHTEOUS SIDE OF HELL, VOL. 2 12/16/2013
Gweedo

Five Finger Death Punch’s The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2 came out just as the effects of Volume 1 were wearing off. Christmas came early with this and was quite a treat. It isn’t my favorite album. Although, I wouldn’t say it is bad at all. The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2 marks their fifth release. This time, there were no special guests, but it does feature the first song that guitarist Zoltan Bathory ever played and a remake of an old song from singer Ivan Moody. To some fans’ rejoice, I believe there are a few songs on this record that harken back to the self-produced debut album, Way Of The Fist, that many fans still think is their best . I will have to respectfully disagree and stand by my previous review that Volume 1 is my favorite.