Last Week–A Review
Last week I had the opportunity to check off a couple blocks on the bucket list. First up, game 6 of the World Series. Serendipitously, I got to attend the title clinching game, so that made the experience feel much more significant. I, however, didn’t have a dog in the fight, as I hate the Yankees and am indifferent toward the Phillies. I wasn’t about to actively root against the Yanks in Yankee Stadium for fear of death. Given it was the Yankees in a brand new Yankee Stadium, the atmosphere was not as electric as I thought it would be. Exciting, yes. Electric? I don’t know…although I’m guessing a Yankee fan would say certainly. To me, alot of the noise (inside the stadium; outside was another story) was inorganic. The final out was met with a loud cheer, but seemed short-lived. It wasn’t long before Sinatra’s “New York, New York” was pushed through the PA. Seeing Mariano Rivera come out for the save to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” was pretty cool though (the Yankee players come out to self-chosen music–e.g., Derek Jeter’s at bats start with that Jay-Z/Alicia Keys New York song). I guess I was just surprised at the lack of goosebump/chickenskin-inducing crowd noise. I’ve seen nearly comparable crowd craziness at regular season Cubs games. I’m sure there’s an essay in there somewhere about New Yorkers’ sense of expectation/ego/entitlement, but I’m not going to explore that here. A good time nonetheless.
The field at the new Yankee Stadium looks alot like the old one (similar dimensions, feel, look, etc.). The change is in the corporate-style amenities. I did enjoy the sausage, and, ironically, a tasty cheesesteak.
As if the World Series wasn’t enough, I capped off the week at the KISS Alive 35 tour. KISS and I go back quite a long time. The concert/crowd/etc. was what you’d think it would be: musically light, performance heavy, crowd dressed in full KISS regalia (even saw kids as young as about 7–parents certainly not candidates for mother/father of the year). Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have great energy for 60 year olds. Gene did the whole blood-spitting, fire-breathing demon thing. Paul swung over and into the crowd during the encore. Ace Frehley and Peter Criss weren’t there, replaced by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer respectively. The songs everyone knows (Detroit Rock City, Rock and Roll All Night, Shout It Out Loud, etc.) were the most fun, but honestly, they probably could’ve played one song for two hours straight and most people wouldn’t notice a difference. The originality definitely lies in the face paint and not in the songwriting. It was, however, very entertaining.
Buckcherry opened for KISS. Buckcherry could definitely take the DeLorean back to 1986 and, with the right haircut (or lack thereof) fit right in with Tesla, Great White, Poison, Cinderella, etc. My favorite part was the drummer, in overalls and no t-shirt, banging away while a hidden fan continuously kept his hair blowing in the wind. High comedy.
And I’m not sure if you guys remember Jim Breuer doing Gunner Olsen on SNL, but both Paul Stanley and Buckcherry’s lead singer had the rock and roll “conversational” voice going full throttle. “Awwwwwwriiiiigghht! Are you ready to rock????????” Makes you wonder how they talk to their kids at home. “Did you do your homework? I said, did you dooooooooooooo your hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomewoooooooooooork baby? Yeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhhhh! Awwwwwwwwwwwwriiiigghht!” Classic.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I remember Rob telling me once that during the 20th anniversary woodstock concert, the crowds chanting “Buck Cherry!” (hard to imagine crowds doing that now…) confused a most likely severely inebriated Wavy Gravy, who thought they were shouting “Fuck Jerry!”
Yankees experience most definitely indicative of Yankee privilege (“Ho Hum, another pennant”). Not like its headline news, but I read that the difference between the Yankees and Phillies salaries is more than the salaries of most other ball clubs. I guess success breeds success or something like that.
I don’t know that I’d write off parents taking their kids to see a KISS concert, though, Dave. I mean in their day of course KISS was exhibit A in teenage rebellion, but when Gene Simmons is doing Dr. Pepper commercials and produces a cartoon “My Dad the Rock Star,” you have to admit he’s lost a little of that evil luster.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Sounds like a good week. That’s cool, it’s been relatively quiet at the site recently.
I don’t know if you knew this but I’m getting into glam metal and shred so it’s kind of weird all of those bands you mention. I remember buckcherry being pretty crappy. I’ll have to listen to some of their latest stuff to see if its really metal.
did kiss shred at all?
November 9th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I forgot to ask what the occasion was for the kiss concert? you just felt like it?
November 9th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
zach, i understand your point–hell, i had every kiss LP up until they unmasked. but alot of these kids looked very young. at least some parents had the foresight to put them in the earmuffs you’d see at a rifle range. it was probably the loudest concert i’ve ever been to, with the amps cranked and the pyrotechnics blasting. without the filter of TV, i could see how gene simmons convulsing and spitting up blood might be disturbing for kids. and while not kiss-specific, i have to wonder how the conversation turns when some prepubescent kid asks his dad to explain the meaning of the lyrics to buckcherry’s ‘crazy bitch.’ the show was adult content only.
mark, a friend of mine had tickets and asked me if i wanted to go. simple as that. and i think shred is a strong word. they sounded like they always sound. they all had extended solo bits, with thayer and singer focusing on the music, gene simmons focusing on the spectacle, and paul stanley working the crowd. if you weren’t already aware, it was made clear their talent certainly lies in the marketing, not the music. when i think of shred i think of anthrax or rammstein or something. kiss and buckcherry were definitely not that. glam? yeah. heavy metal-lite, if that makes sense.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Dave, there’s finally something we agree on – I too hate the New York Yankees.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Just for the record, Vai does a similar thing with a fan