Jack White
Roseland Ballroom
May 21st

Gone is Meg and her boobs, so are the good, but not that crazy good side project band pals (Raconteurs, Dead Weather, whatever that Rome thing was).  What remains is rock n roll’s savior, Jack White, who’s looking more and more like Robert Smith these days, but still sounding a lot like a junior Robert Plant.  Jack never really needed anybody.  He’s a enuff of a musician to equal the talent of 1,00000,9022002,29 musicians.  It’s true.  Now he’s fully at the center of attention, and anyone who pays attention to whatever Jack White does (which should be everyone), is paying attention to how super duper his first official solo album Blunderbuss is be.  It’s basically a White Stripes album, with less of an edge, but with a fuller sound, and that also describes what one of his current concerts is like.  Somehow we didn’t get the pleasure of his bouncy babes backing band, but his male band did a solid enuff of a supporting job to keep the focus on Jack and his shipmanshow.  The new songs sounded newlicious, and the old ones, like we said, had less of an edge, but had a fuller sound with the help of that backing band.  But the thing about the new ones is be that they already feel like the old ones, which means they epic classic awesomesss!!!  Which means the show was epic classic awesomessss!!!!

Set List - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground / Missing Pieces / Sixteen Saltines / Hypocritical Kiss / I Cut Like A Buffalo / Trash Tongue Talker / Top Yourself / Two Against One / Black Math / Hello Operator / Weep Themselves to Sleep / You Know That I Know / Blunderbuss / Ball and Biscuit // Freedom at 21 / Steady, As She Goes / Take Me With You When You Go / Catch Hell Blues / Seven Nation Army (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Peace The Forks Out

to

Robin Hugh

‘Every Night Fever‘

Gibb

December 22, 1949 – May 20, 2012

&

LaDonna Adrian Gainese 

‘Endless‘

Donna Summer

December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012

+

the Duck is DUNN

some twice Oscar nominated actress

he got game

that asshole who hated plans and Lockerbie

2 Faas 2 Furious

he laughed-out

bus hero

some car guy

&

vital Vidal

The Beach Boys
Beacon Theatre
May 9th

They do it-ed!  Again!  Just like the song says!  They old, but they no moldy.  They the Beach Boys, the ultimate American band, and if you think otherwise, we’re gonna get the House Un-American Activities Committee to come ittee to your house and make your activities nothing but American!!  Carl & Dennis Wilson are gone and surely missed, but the Boys of Beach didn’t miss a beat.  Sure, they aint those golden haired boys catching waves no more (although Dennis was the only surfer in the band), but these gray haired gentlemen were true to their school and their roots and to their fans and even to John Stamos who made like 2188282 cameos

We had seen Brian twice and the Mike Lovely version of the BBs at Coney two years ago, but not together, WITH AL JARDINE’S FACE, since the 80s, when wees was a child and they seemed to play DC’s 4th of July thing year after year. Now we old(er) and appreciate them more, and happy they put their greedy differences behind them and reunited to tour and roar, and roar they did.  Sure, a lot of the hactual music work is supplied by Brian’s usual and brilliant touring band, with them falsetto spots hit up by long time associate Jeff Foskett, but who cares, as long as a Beach Boys concert sounds like a Beach Boy concert, no?  Well, it did, and it sounded flawless!  Honestly, when all the Boys pass on (which we hope is never), we’d pay to see Brian’s backing band in concert.  They’re already pretty much the greatest Beach Boys cover band going!

They played 44 songs(!!!!!) and outside of ‘Disney Girls’ (it’s fine and all, but the one song you can use to take a pee break during) and ‘Kokomo’ (sure, it blows-a-mo, but we understand why it needs to be included), the tracks they choose were solid choices from a catalog that offers too munch goodness to choose from, and choosy moms choose JIF AND THE BEACH BOYS!!!!

First Set - Do It Again / Catch a Wave / Hawaii / Don’t Back Down / Surfin’ Safari / Surfer Girl / Please Let Me Wonder / You’re So Good to Me / Wendy / Then I Kissed Her / The Little Girl I Once Knew / Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers cover) / When I Grow Up (to Be a Man) / Cotton Fields (Lead Belly cover) / Disney Girls / Don’t Worry Baby / Little Honda / Be True to Your School / Little Deuce Coupe / 409 / Shut Down / I Get Around

Second Set - California Dreamin’ (Mamas & the Papas cover) / Sloop John B / Wouldn’t It Be Nice / Forever / Sail On, Sailor / Heroes and Villains / In My Room / All This Is That / This Whole World / I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times / God Only Knows / That’s Why God Made the Radio / California Girls / All Summer Long / Help Me, Rhonda / Rock and Roll Music (Chuck Berry cover) / Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman cover) / Barbara Ann (The Regents cover) / Surfin’ USA

Encore  –  Kokomo / Good Vibrations / Fun, Fun, Fun

if you have ears and eyes, it is your American civic/cervix duty to see these Boys on tour this summer

Peace The Forks Out

to

Adam Nathaniel

‘MCA‘

Yauch

August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012

I could never begin to explain what Adam Yauch and his fellow Boys of Beastie meant to me and my life.  sure, I sorta skipped the License To Ill pill in elementary school, and somehow never even entered Paul’s Boutique, but these amateur hour mistakes were soon to be corrected

like most kids, I wanted to be cool and I discovered the ultimate coolness in the form of their third album Check Your Head. it was a game changer for them (they played actual instruments, and it rocked) and a life changer for me (if these Jews could ooze cool and write the book on it, well, maybe this Jew could endlessly re-read that book and plagiarize it in the real world, by look and attitude.  luckily for everyone, I never embarked on a hip-hop career)

anything they touched was gold to me and that was a gold standard on which everything else would be judged.  my early high school bestie and I were so infatuated by the band that we actually fancied ourselves the unofficial 4th and 5th Beastie Boys

as I entered college, I sorta left the Boys behind, but they never left me as a person.  for without them (and the movie Fletch), there would probably be no Thigh Master or Thighs Wide Shut.  it’s true.  in fact, the very first website I ever visited (in 1995) was the Beastie Boys’ site.  my first Yahoo! search?  the meaning behind all the references dropped in Paul’s Boutique.  they pointed me to the web and here we are now, but really we’re nowhere without Adam Yauch living and breathing on this planet

I feel sorry for those who never got to see Adam, Mike and Adam shake their rumps live in the flesh, as every show I saw become a memory that would never be forgotten (lost one of my favorite hats, a Grand Royal one, natch, crowd surfing at their show at The Patriot Center in Virginia)

The Beasties Boys as we know it are over, but they never will be over.  that’s the most beautiful thing about music – it lives forever.  goodbye Mr Yauch.  you had so much to give, but you already gave us so much.  much love.  Beasties Boys 999999999999999999999ever

Deltron 3030 album cover

is no future!  is past!!!

visitors marching from the Trylon into the Perisphere to inspect Democracity – The City of Tomorrow, where they will stand on revolving galleries to look down on a panorama of the future for an admission of 25 cents, at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.  photo by David E Scherman

btw, the ’39 World’s Fair opened on this very day!!!