10:27 a.m. - September 21, 2007
Music Non Stop!
(Most all of this was written yesterday � but my stupid internet tubes in my apartment aren�t working. And now, my bluetooth mouse has given up. Oh, fer cry-ay-ay!)
For a music geek, this here city is the place to be.
I am geeked about seeing Ted Leo & The Pharmacists and the Hold Steady, and now I find that the Electric Six will be in town as well. (No, the Electric Six won�t be playing at the GAY BAR, but I bet there will be nuclear war on the dance floor and evil boys eating evil hamburgers and fries.)
Some Louisiana ex-pat would probably like to know that Seether will be in town for an acoustic show. I just wonder if she still reads! (Yes, this is a test�HEH!)
The City Pages are full of ads for shows, both national and local, and everywhere there seems to be a lot of new, original music being crafted here in the Twin Cities.
But sometimes you just wonder about bands called �Tender Meat�, �You Gonna Be The Wormface�, �Toaster Fork�, �Rock Fist�, �Vocal Shrapnel�, �Dingus�, �The Ugly Fat Kids�, �Minnesota Barking Ducks� or �Wookiefoot�.
Out in the burbs there are a lot of venues as well. Sure some of the stuff out there is strictly cover band land, but hey, live music is live music, you know. And sometimes you just need to listen to a band attempt �Flirtin� With Disaster� or �Gimme Three Steps� at � of the tempo and just slightly off key enough to be kinda sorta there.
So imagine my surprise when some of the ads in the paper were for Tribute Bands.
Ok, I�m not surprised.
Back in the primordial ooze of Smed�s Corner I wrote about tribute bands (it was the very first posting)
But lo and behold, here in a music mecca, tribute bands gather as well.
In this week�s paper, these tribute bands were featured in ads:
� Luther Vandross and Jimi Hendrix tributes � not bands per se, but no doubt the versions of the songs will be pretty darn close to the recorded versions.
� Zed Leppelin and Rattle & Hum (no doubt U2) share a bill.
� TNT plays the same night. They�re an AC/DC tribute. Wow, how hard can it be to be the Malcolm Young or the Cliff Williams of that band?
� Aultimate Ozzy plays next week. Better check the waistline � will it be the coked-out skinny Ozzy or the bloated, alcoholic fat Ozzy?
� Steeling Dan was is in town tonight (ok, last night � thanks internet) and from the photo, they need a 13-piece band to pull it off. Wow!
� Van Halen Army � If they do Sammy Hagar�s songs, I�ll go AWOL.
� Rubber Soul � which is I think is the shop steward of Beatles� Tribute Band Local 329.
� Def Repplica � OK, for one. Def Leppard just played the State Fair. For two, do the guitarists in this band drink themselves to death, too? (Ooh�SNAP!) For three, it�s not a real Def Leppard tribute unless the drummer cuts off HIS arm, too. (SNAP TWO!) (I�m bad�)
Anyway, you get the idea. Plenty of tunes here for one and all. But I still say that you don�t have to DRESS UP like a band to do a crappy version of �Bringin� On The Heartbreak�, and if you do, it doesn�t help. Does it?
(Now back to my internet, if Ted Stevens says it � it must be true. I�ve been clogging my own tubes. I need some internet Drano.)
