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Monday, 24 September 2007
SHANKS
Last weekend, Marcel Marceau died. For thoze who didn't grow up in the 70's, he waz the Elvis of the mime world. He waz huge, a superstar that waz constantly on tv, alwayz trying to get out of that damned invisible box and walking against the wind. Mimez were nuthin' til he came along and made it mainstream. Plus he kicked Shields and Yarnell's asses.
Still, mime'z don't get no respect. They're kinda like the creepier cousin of clownz, and we all know clownz are pretty creepy themselvez, Mimez were doubly so cuz they used imaginary props, not the loudly colored onez that clownz used. Nope, thier balloonz waz only suggested by the mime'z gestures and exaggerated movements. The only thing creepier than a mime is a ventriloquist, cuz let'z face it-grown men having full on conversationz with old man looking dolls iz just plain wierd. Plus we've all seen that Twilight Zone
Anywayz, Marcel Marceau will alwayz be remembered for being the Uber-Mime. To most...
but I'll alwayz remember him from one of the strangest moviez ever. The 1974 film called "Shanks" episode... 
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want no dead person cuttin' out a slice of cake for me, especially when they lose a finger or two in the process.
Anywhoodle, thingz are all fun and cames when children and mimez play with dead thingz until, from out of nowhere a biker gang crashes into the home and get all wild n' crazy like biker gangs do. The biker gang, who look like the heavy metal band Judas Priest during thier "British Steel" era, get all frisky with the teenage girl, toss a classical record on the turntable and get thier mits on the remote control for dead people and make the dead landlord breakdance. Suddenly, I guess we're supposed to think of the bikers az the evil characters, tho, I'm having a hard time rooting for Shanks and his Jan Brady looking girlfriend. Everybody in this movie reeks of creepiness... 
Thingz eventually just get all out out of control. The bikerz kill the teenage girl, Shanks reanimates the old scientist,the landlord and his wife and attacks the bikers and beats them all, and then uses the remote control to raise his dead girlfriend up from the ground and she givez him a big ol' deathgrip like hug.
Then,we're left with Shanks putting on a puppetshow with puppets that look like the landlord,the scientist and the landlord's wife giving thier final curtain call bows as the 13 year old girl works behind the scenes on the puppetshow.
Was it all just a puppet play or has he used the reanimated dead girl to help entertain the kiddies? My guess it'z the former, but I like to think it waz the latter, cuz I'm twisted like that.
Regardless, "Shanks" iz a weird flick, not only cuz of the total disrespect for the dead by the main characters, but because it stars Marcel Marceau who doesn't speak a word in it. It playz like a fairy tale wrapped in a silent movie, like something Lon Chaney would've done.
It'z hard to get ahold of, I caught it on The Sci-Fi Channel late at night in the late 90'z.
If I waz Shields & Yarnell, I would get ahold of that remote control and reanimate Marceau and well...
use your imagination. I'm twisted like that.
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 12:01 AM PDT
Saturday, 4 August 2007
GUNS N' ROSES "APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION"
20 yearz.
Sheesh, haz it really been that long? Yep, last month marked the 20th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest rock albumz of all time.
Why should I bring it up? Well, there'z only neen a hand full of rock albumz that are considered rock classics to actually have any significance to ME. Most of the onez I find important aren't really all that important to the rest of the world. but Guns N' Roses' "Appetite For Destruction" meant a whole hell of alot to me, my friendz and the rest of the rock world back in 1987.
It'z one of thoze recordz that you remember exactly what you were doing when you first heard it. Kinda like when you remember what waz going on in your life when John Lennon waz killed, or when man first landed on the moon, or when Elvis died. That iz, if your an old fuck like me. I wonder, will kidz feel the same twenty yearz from now when they first heard that Fall Out Boy
I'm not gonna go on and on about how this record changed rock n' roll in the late 80'z. That'z all been said. Everyone alwayz sayz shit like that when a hit record comez out. They said it about "Pet Sounds" and "SGT.Pepper" and "Thriller" and "Nevermind" and "The Life Of Chris Gaines". In the end it doesn't matter what the record meant to the world, it'z how it affected you.
In 1987 I waz amongst the many shaggy haired twiddlerz that waz eyeing that almighty rock n' roll brass ring, along with my fellow twangerz in a lil' hometown band. Like everyone else, we were emulating our rock god heroes, hoping to be discovered and make it to the big time so we would never have to grow up and get real jobz. Kerrang magazine waz our bible. But in late 1986 I waz exposed to the mp3?GnR thru RIP magazine in a little article about this new band and thier e.p. "Live Like A Suicide" which I quickly nabbed up from the local record shop. Sure, it waz raw and gritty, and I dug it, but it didn't stand out that much from what else waz going on. And hell, I waz a sucker for any band that ratted the hair up and sported glam rawk smarminess. We read more about GnR az the monthz went by, and there waz a buzz about them even in Flint, Michigan...far from where they were ripping up the Sunset Strip nightly.
I remember the day when "Appetite" came out. My bass player and partner in crime Shawn and I tooled on down to Rock-A-Rolla Records to pick up a few slabz o' new releases. We decided to split up our change and pick up the three major releases that we figured we'd need. They were Poison's "Look What The Cat Dragged In' and "Faster Pussycat's" self titled debut. Shawn decided to take a chance and nabbed "Appetite" on cassette. We headed home and a few hourz later reunited for a band practice. The first thing Shawn said when he dropped in waz-"You gotta hear this, it'z the most brutal and intense album I've heard in a long time. And the singer soundz like three different guys!"
I slapped the cassette in the player and instantly our musical direction changed. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. Little did we know that every other band out there waz being affected the exact same way. Suddenly we were all trying to be tougher, meaner, more vicious in our songz. We all thought we were sleazier, dirtier and badder. Yeah right. But that record set it all straight. It seemed like we all had to write songz that used the F word in it. And we all used the bitch word alot more. Playtime waz over, now it waz time to get serious.
And it wazn't like GnR waz doing anything that hadn't been done before. David Lee Roth wore bandanas before Axl came along. Alice wore top hats. Punk rock spit and sneered. Hanoi Rocks sleazed it five yearz before. KISS and The Beatles had thier members with thier seperate and unique visual personalities. And well, stoned and drugged out and drunked up rockers filled the stages for 30 some yearz before. But what GnR did right waz mix it all up and spit it out cranked thru a Les paul all at the time when we needed it most. They took Nazareth's "Hair Of The Dog" and beat the crap out of it and punched us in the face with it'z carcass and woke us all up. Rock and roll izn't supposed to be pretty.
Ok, so I lied. Here I am ranting about how it changed rock and roll.
But it really did, and it changed us who were knee deep in it. Suddenly we weren't dangerous enough for our girlfriendz, we weren't sweaty enough for the big time and well, dammit, guess we gotta get some tattoos and learn how to down a bottle of Black Death vodka to stay in this game.
But we were fine with that, cuz it made it all the more exciting. 
The first time I saw Guns N' Roses live waz May 6, 1988 at The Saginaw Civic Center in Michigan. They played smack dab in the center of a bill they shared with Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction and UDO, the toady frontman from the German not yet realized by the metal crowd of how homosexual they were,Judas Priest wannabeez Accept. It waz a tense night, cuz all us guyz that were going waz pretty much sure they were gonna lose thier girlfriendz to Axl Rose, but we hadda see if this band waz really az real az they say they wanna be.
I gotta say I waz pretty impressed by Zodiac Mindwarp and I waz in doubt GnR could follow that bikerrawkin' slab o' rock. But when they hit the stage it waz obvious that they were the big gunz. The one everyone really came to see. The band that couldn't be touched. Oh sure, afterwardz everyone waz trying to be cool and they'd say stuff like "Boy,they sure waz sloppy" or "What the hell waz with that song that Axl whistled thru?", but we knew. Yeah, we knew. They were the shit! My buddy Shawn couldn't go to the show that night. He had to work. He worked at a gas station. That night, a small limo pulled up to the gas station and Slash walked out of it, approached Shawn and shyly asked for a pack of Winstons. Shawn replied in his trademarked wit-"So, did Udo get laid tonight?" Slash laughed and shuffled back to his limo with his fresh new pack o' smokes.
Soon after they became legends. Every party you would go to waz blasting "Appetite". Every guitarist waz twiddling "Sweet Child O' Mine" instead of "Stairway To Heaven". The whole world knew who they were. And we pretended we knew what it waz like to live on the streets and fight and we started to come up with what our tattoos we were gonna look like and, tho I couldn't give up the aqua net just yet, there were more and more dayz when I would actually leave the house with flat hair and a bandana wrapped around my head. The girlz eventually would leave for the badder boyz, and then grunge came along and took everything that GNR made exciting and dissed it and made rock and roll boring again.
GNR got bloated and lost thier street fightin' wayz. Axl dumped the band like the girlz dumped us. And it seemed like it waz all a drug drenched dream. We woke up, broke up and parted wayz with each other just like Slash and Duff and Gilby and Puff and Ziggy and Wiggy and all the rest of the bloated beast they became.
Yearz later I'm living in Las Vegas and seein' Slash and his Snakepits play at a small bar for fifteen bux, I get my doctor's prescriptions from the same pharmacist that Steven Adler doez. In fact, I've ran into Steven a few times at the bars. Hell, what a strange trip it'z been. Here I am now, still thinking about what an impact this record made on us and it still never leaves the cd player.
And we've caught the new Guns and the new Revolvers, and tho they may give us a taste of what we want, but it just doesn't quench our "Appetite For Destruction".
Ewww.did I really just type that?
Now...about that Chris Gaines record....
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 12:01 AM PDT
Sunday, 6 May 2007
ALICE COOPER-GOLF MONSTER
I waz reluctant to pick this up.Being a HUGE Alice fan,there'z not much I already haven't known about his rize to rock legend that hazn't been told in bookz,magazinez and interviewz before.Plus,well,I really have no interest in golf at all.But,being a little under the weather and lazy today,I trekked out to the nearest bookstore and picked it up anywayz,figured it would give me a good read while laying on the couch to nurse my headache since I knew I wazn't about to get much else done today. And,that waz a good idea,cuz I zipped thru this book pretty quickly.Even thru the golf parts,which really iz a small portion of what "Golf Monster" iz made up of. Alice givez us an interestiing view into his life,many stories that I waz well aware of,but a few,like the thought that went thru his head az he pointed a gun at Elvis Presley's face,his friendships with Salvidor Dali & Groucho Marx and the making of one of my fave Alice albums' "From The Inside",added new insight at what drawz me to The Coop even after all theze yearz.Yeah,Alice likez to give himself alot of credit for thingz,but really,he DID do alot to change the face of rock and roll,and frankly,he doesn't get near enough credit. He takez us on a great decedant rocknroll history tour,from the beginningz scaring the hippies of the 60'z,to his drunken adventures with John Lennon and his fellow Hollywood Vampires,to his born again dualities with religion,golf and his taking control of Alice the villian of the present. Still,I get the feeling he'z still got some skeletonz in his closets he chose not to share,he scimz over some momentz without really elaborating on it az much az I'd like,but he doez at other timez reveal some truths that even he has recently become aware of,such az the infamous "throwing the chicken into the crowd" legend. Alice iz a very lucky guy,cuz without his manager Shep and other loyal people in hiz life,thingz coulda turned out quite differently for him.And it'z not hard to love The Coop.He'z one hellava nice guy. Still,I wish to hell I could nab me a copy of his biography "Me,Alice"that he put out in the 70'z.I've heard that it'z full of "made up"eventz to shock and titilate,but I'm guessing it would be a little more insight into Alice' younger,twisted way of thinking,and may just reveal what he waz really like in the 70'z without the descretion he may have applied to the new book. 
Or maybe there'z that young kid in me that wishes some of the "rumours"where true.Cuz,really,we like our rockstars to be somewhat deranged.Especially the onez that hang themselves onstage and like to creep people out. I'm glad you're still with us,tho,Mr.Alice,cuz even today his music and his live showz never dissapoint. I still don't care much for golf tho... Ragz Rates It A:7.75
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 9:42 PM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 6 May 2007 9:45 PM PDT
Sunday, 29 April 2007
GRINDHOUSE
I'm a huge fan of the exploitation filmz of yesteryear,hell,I went to the drive-inz scattered across Flint,Michigan az a teen many a night to see thingz like this-oh yeah!Course I don't think my parents were thrilled with me forcing them to take me to see thingz such az "The Corpse Grinders" and "Frogs",but when I gotz old enuff to go on my own we'd see anything,such as "Make Them Die Slowly" and all thoze other crazy filmz.Now I've amassed quite a collection of old 70'z splattericious schlock and I couldn't miss this.Every movie experience should be like "Grindhouse".A double bill of two movies,cool trailers,consession stand adverts and all,man,I miss going to the movies and making it an event.Rodriguez do it pretty much justice.I prefer "Planet Terror" over "Death Proof",the former being a zombie movie and really,how can ya screw up a zombie movie anywayz.But Kurt Russell's Stunt Man Mike character in Tarentino's "Death Proof" iz pretty freeking cool and hilarious,just wish he woulda offed the chicks in the movie a whole lot sooner.Sheesh,Tarention's trademark "SpeecheDialogue" goez on waaay too freeekin' long.Especially for characters that really all aren't that entertaining to begin with,but once the action starts it kicks in full throttle!I also get the feeling that Tarentino waz trying to pull off that "two movies that were edited to make one movie" schtick that many 70 schlocksters were known to do,but "Death Proof" really coulda been trimmed down even more.Oddly enough,"Death Proof" sticks with you regardless.Maybe it'z some kinda deep recognition with Stunt Man Mike,an old school sport against the modern women that hath stolen his thunder.Hmmm,just don't get me pissed while I cruise on thru the streets....The trailers between the features waz really the best part in alot of wayz,especially Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving".Frikkin' hilarious!The rest of the trailerz ain't to bad either!I give it one and 1/2 bitten off thumbs up!
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 4:59 PM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 29 April 2007 6:22 PM PDT
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Az a kid we create monsters to deal with the harsh realities we don't understand or like.The monsters are alwayz elaborate,larger than life and bizarre.Even us kids who's livez are pretty good have the need to create strange beingz to help us make it thru the day,but usually we don't look much deeper into the characterz than that they're hideous and grotesque and that they can beat up your friend'z monsters.But,without us realizing it,thoze critters of fairytale landz and imagination are a reflection of what iz really going on deep inside our psyche.They're the visualization of our dissatisfaction with the world we've been brought into.And,maybe,they're the real truth,a creation by us to battle the creations of others.But az we grow older we tend to accept the realities that our parents,teachers,religious leaders,presidents,bosses and other authority figures have all collaberated on,taking it all in,believing it to be the truth,and we give ourselves over to them,then eventually becoming them. We no longer question the world.We become the monsters. "Pan's Labyrinth" tackles all that,in a grim and gritty world forced down upon a small young Ofelia,thrown into a life of true ugliness and pain.Her only escape is to imagine a world just az ugly and repulsive,but one where SHE makes the decisions.She doesn't even follow the rulez in her imaginary life,rejecting blind obediance,and tho it just makes her existance more heartbreaking and difficult,she ultimatly findz her way,maybe not in this world,but in herz. It'z a beautiful film,even in it'z brutal ugliness,and boy doez it get brutal.This one,tho a story more parents should share with thier children,iz not for the kiddies.It'z harsh reality makez you want to look away,it makez ya squirm and it makes you shudder. But it makes ya think,at least thoze who haven't completely given themselvez over to this so called reality.And,maybe,just maybe it can inspire ya to step outside the boundaries of life once in a while and chose your own illusion. Who'z to say yourz isn't the real one.Let'z face it,humanz created everything we believe to be real-time,the names of colors,the words and concepts of up and down,love and hate,right and wrong. We already live in a made up reality,why not live in one you enjoy? Ragz Ratez It A:9.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 6:22 PM PST
Friday, 17 November 2006
PAUL STANLEY @ THE PALMS,LAS VEGAS 11/15/06
Last Wednesday we took in the Paul Stanley show at the Palms.The Palms is about the worst place in Vegas to see a show.It'z not really set up for rock showz,it's actually one of thoze hideous trendy dance clubs that are all the rage in Vegas where all the beautiful people go to wiggle thier buts to horrid Fergie dance mixes and hope to get on "Wild On E" tv showz,but every once in awhile they'll have way overpriced shows there,cuz i gather whoever owns or runz the place iz buddies with various rockstarz so they pay 'em alot to play for the hipsterz.
The last time I waz there waz to see KISS a few yearz ago,and tho it waz one of the best KISS showz I've ever seen,it took all we had to survive the experience.
This time around,the place wazn't near az packed or az hot,so it made the night easier to deal with.And it waz mostly true die hard KISS freaks there,so it wazn't a bunch of zipperheadz,barbie dolls and beautifulpeople more interested in being seen and yappin' on thier cell phones gettin' in the way of my rockin'.
The Palms waz invaded by fat,overweight,nerdy KISS Army loyalists in thie 30'z and 40'z,which to many may be horrid in itself,but at least it'z not phoney.Creepy,yes,but phoney.no.
Like a Star Trek convention,everyone tries to outnerd each other,but I enjoyed the juxtoposition of it all,especially in contrast to the non-concert goin' people smokin' cigars and adjusting thier implants(both the genders doin' both)having to be in the same ultrafakeswanky casino.
And me?Well,I fall into the KISS Army Circus-O-Stunted Growth crowd,but I tend to just stick to keeping my mouth shut and immersed in my own personal space bubble with The Rockitqeen away from them too cuz I have no desire to spew my KISS knowledge to the already converted.In fact,I'm gettin' to the point where I find myself second guessing if I wanna go to a show cuz I frankly just hate standing in line waiting to get into theze placez,then standing around for another hour waiting for the bandz to hit the stage.I don't drink,I don't care much for large crowdz and I just wanna sit down til the bandz come on but there'z no such thing az seats at rockshows so I just stand there hating every minute til the bandz come on.I really wish they would show cartoons or movie trailers or something before the bands come on.
But once the bandz finally do start,I'm all eyez and earz in search of a grand ol' rawknrollin' time and I have no reservationz about showing my fist throwing appretiation to the twangerz on stage,that iz,if they do indeed rawk.If they don't,then I save my energy for the onez I came to see.
In this case,New York's Slunt opened the show.i pretty knew what to expect,cuz I picked up thier cd a year or so ago,and live they weren't that much different.They're a foursome made up of two girlz and two guyz,and tho I can't say much for the guyz,the two chickiez are pretty damn hot,but the music izn't.It triez,I give 'em that,but they look and sound like some made for tv band,lacking any real sleaziness(tho they think they are,with all thier cock rock moves and party it up dialogue),Slunt almost tries too hard,without even coming close.The singer's voice iz way to cutesy for the drop D tuning songz,and not whiskey induced like it should be for the AC/DC type songs.In fact,she looks like she coulda been one of the contestants for last summers' "Rockstar:Supernova" show.They DO,do a pretty good cover version of Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" tho,but the rest of the songz written by the band are pretty forgettable.
And really,it waz hard for me to really concentrate on what they were doing,cuz I waz distracted between drooling over the singers' packed tightly in her tiny bandana shirt heaving breasts and her shiney absolutely beautiful purple Gibson Les Paul.Very nice indeed.
They quickly got off the stage,and more waiting waz instore.Luckily we weren't waiting for an Axl Rose show,so the wait wazn't long,and the Starchild himself hit the stage.Say what ya want about the guy,he may be the Tom Jones of Metal,but Paul Stanley iz one hellava performer.And a fun guy to watch too.He whipped out numberz from his new solo album of cheesy self empowering numbers "Live To Win",stuff from his 1970 KISS solo album and the usual KISS classics,but he also catered to the die hard fanz by doing stuff we have never seen KISS do live,such az "Million To One","Magic Touch" and "Got To Choose."He sounded and looked great,joked with the crowd,the funniest being when a girl in the audience yelled for him to take his shirt off.He replied by saying "I can see it 20 yearz from now when I do this again,and someone screams "Take your shirt off"and I'll say "I'm not wearing a shirt".
He was genuinely appreciative of his audience,and like his shows with KISS,he doesn't let up,propelling the crowd into a frenzy without giving us a moment to catch our breaths.A true showman.And the true musical heart of KISS.He'z not interested in selling ya the coffins and the condoms and the lunchboxes,he's all about being the star we expect from our performers.Take note,kiddies.
And his band,oddly enough,the house band from the previously mentioned "Rockstar:Supernova" show carried most of the musical chops,especially of note waz the bassist Sasha who really filled out the songz with some awesome playing without being too flashy.He played "Detroit Rock City" the way Gene used to play it,with awesome punch and groove.Sure,he'z no blood spitting demon,but this time the show waz about the music which never gets the respect it deserves.And it shines,cuz KISS doez have some great tunes no matter what the disbelievers may claim.
By the end of the night we were pretty tuckered out.Paul kicked our asses.the night ended and us nerds were left satisfied. 
Hey,at least I'm not one of thoze nerdz that sit in front of Best Buy waiting a week for the Playstation 3 to come out.
I ain't got no patience for that,
I hadta drive all around town to find a copy of this 
Ragz Rates Slunt a:6.45 Ragz Rates Paul Stanley a:9.25 Ragz Rates Strangers With Candy a:7.0 Ragz Rates The Palms:4.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 9:15 PM PST
Sunday, 22 October 2006
VAN HELSING'S CURSE @ THE JOINT 10/21/2006
I never thought I'd hear the wordz "A Druid caught the bouquet"
But I did tonight,uttered by my Rockitqeen,after Dee Snider and his wife Suzanne renewed thier wedding vowz tonight after a performance of his Halloween Tribute band Van Helsing's Curse,az she thru the bouquet of black roses to the druids.
No,it'z true,really.
After the performance of Snider's answer to The Transiberian Orchestra,Dee and his wife invited us all to stay and witness them renew thier wedding vows.The bride wearing black walked down the aisle of the Hard Rocks' Joint to Tubilar Bells.Penn Jillete presided over the vows.
I never thought I would ever be at a Dee Snider wedding.Yet another great reason why Las Vegas iz one freekin' unique place.
Az for Van Helsing's Curse,well,it waz pretty cool.Cheesy and melodramatic,but Halloween iz supposed to be,and the band waz pretty darn awesome az they crunched out heavy versions of classic orchestral horror themes,my fave being the song "Cry Little Sister"which Dee sang(he mostly narrates thru-out the show)and thier version of The Munsters Theme.
Everyone in the band iz hot and decked out in horror gear-from zombie like bass players to raunchy goth kitten geeatr twangerz.There'z a little s & m girl half naked strapped to a cross as a sacrifice to the band bit,creepy glares from the band and Eddie Van Halenesque geetar solos done on a flying V violin.It'z sexy,loud and baudy,and downright silly,and ya can't help gettin' sucked up in it.
Unfortunatly for the rest of yooz,the only showz they're doing this year were the two nightz in Vegas,but I'm guessing it'll be back next year for thoze who missed out.
After the past few crappy weeks it waz nice to actually have some Halloweenie Roktober fun.
Ragz Rates It A:7.55
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 9:48 PM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 22 October 2006 9:49 PM PDT
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
SATAN'S LITTLE HELPER
It'z been a long time since someone haz made a new classic.Something fresh,something that didn't have 80'z written all over it.Sure,there'z been a few that've come close,like "Cemetary Man" or "Shaun Of The Dead",but thoze are almost too well made to stand alongside of cheeky schlock-o-vision mainstayz such az "Trick Or Treat" or "Basket Case".
Well,tho it came out in 2004,I just caught "Satan's Little Helper" a few weeks ago,and within' the first 10 minutes of the movie I waz under it'z evil little spell.
The movie iz a series of wacky misadventures of little Dougie,who'z obsession with finding Satan leads him to the front porch of,well,Satan.I guess,it never really explains who the guy in the demon mask iz, it could be some neighborhood arsonist,but the connection iz never truly made,so I assume it really iz Satan,who likez to collect victims for his front porch Halloween display.
The movie cleverly doesn't miss a beat-everything ya need in a good schlockfest iz here-stupid teenagers,twisted humor,dialogue just beggin' to be sampled by Rob Zombie,boobies-ah yes....boobies.... It waz directed by Jeff Lieberman,who waz responsible for another schlock classic-"Squirm"(a movie that waz once upon a time the basis for an epic musical written by yourz truly and his musical partner Pluto J.Funk in the mid 80's called "The Squirm Trilogy",featuring a song called "There's A Worm In My Eggcream",gotta dig it up one of theze dayz and post it),Lieberman doez it again with "Satan's Little Helper",but even better.
It'z a laugh riot,trust me,but I'm a sick little puppy... Ragz Rates It A:9.50
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 10:08 PM PDT
Updated: Tuesday, 19 September 2006 10:10 PM PDT
Saturday, 19 August 2006
DIR EN GREY @THE JOINT LAS VEGAS 8/12/06
Gots me a free entrance into the Dir enGrey/Korn show at The Joint tonight.I went mainly to see the Japanese band Dir en Grey,but had to suffer thru the opening band Deadsy which sucked major crapulence.Sheesh,there wazn't a single thing remotely interesting about Deadsy.Thier stage presence waz nill,thier songz lacked any energy,the guitar sound waz so downtooneded that they sounded like they were playing with rubber bandz instead of guitar stringz and the singer sounded so bored that I think he waz snoring instead of singing.Then they had to end the set with a horrid "nu-metal"version of Rush's "Tom Sawyer".Yuck.As if Rush doesn't suck enuff,then some lazy noisehufferz had to do a cover of one of thier toonz.
Dir en Grey waz pretty darn entertaining tho,sure it'z alot of screaming and wanking going on-kinda like if Queensryche got angry.The singer,a short little skinny angry Japanese version of Marylin Manson,got the crowdz attention quickly and won them over big time.Course he hadda cut himself up and punch himself in the face a few timez,but it'z all fer the rockshow I guess.By the end of the set the guy waz covered in blood and looked like he went a few roundz with King Ghidorah.Musically,they were intense,loud and furious,but also sprinkled in some brutal melodisism,like I said,kinda Queensrychey.
Queensrychy...je he...that'z a funny word.
I didn't stick around for Korn cuz,well,I couldn't care less,and instead Lady Dandelion & I munched down on some meat at The Rainbow.
I'm guessin' if the rest of the tour goez like this,Korn will be upstaged and the kiddies will be traiding in the Addidas for some Samurai Rawk.
Turn it up! Ragz Rates Deadsy A:2.0 Ragz Rates Dir En Grey A:7.25
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 8:48 PM PDT
Saturday, 5 August 2006
I LUV HALLOWEEN #1
It'z a twisted story of a group of kidz causing death and mayhem in search of decent Halloween candy and thier misadventures along the way.The goth kidz will love this,cuz,tho it may appear to be for the kiddies,it'z pretty grizzly.We see a little girl dressed up az a tooth fairy that actually collects teeth from dead corpses and unlucky neighborhood boyz and big fat old ladies confined to the bed due to thier obesity,we get to see an adult character take a big nasty bite of an apple loaded with razor blades,and we see one eyed dogs,a kid beaten to death with a rock to the eye and a trampy teenager on the lil' kidz trail in hopez of gettin' her stolen bra back from them.It'z gonna be huge,how much ya wanna bet?As soon az Hot Topic gets a whiff of it,"I Luv Halloween" will share shelf space with the Johnny The Homicidle Maniacs,Lenore's and The Happy Tree Friends.
I liked it,somethin'different for us sickies that like this kinda stuff.
It remined me a little of an old skit that we had back in the 80's when I waz part of a comedy troup,where we had a character named Sticky(who has remarkably alot like South Parks' Butters)that becomez the unwhilling victim for a bunch of kids afternoon stint of "playing doctor".
I'll haveta post it on SCHLOCK RADIO one of theze dayz.
"I Luv Halloween" iz pretty darn nifty.Pick it up,read it to yer chillinz,and fuck thier world up good.
Ragz Rates It A:7.25
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 10:24 PM PDT
Updated: Saturday, 5 August 2006 10:25 PM PDT
Saturday, 3 June 2006
VH1 ROCK HONORS
Make sure ya catch the VH1 Rock Honors on VH1,cuz let me tell you-it'll rawk ya!Rockitqeen & I saw the show last Thursday at the Mandalay Bay and it waz awesome.KISS,Queen,Judas Priest and Def Leppard were honored by other such rawkin' bandz such az Godsmack,Rob Zombie,Foo Fighters,Slash,Gilby Clark,Scott Ian,Tommy Lee and more.
Course there waz some toonz not shown on the program such as Queen doing "Under Pressure",Judas Priest doin' "Green Manalishi",Def Leppards' extended version of "Rockit" and two awesome KISS performances-"Deuce" & "Makin' Love",but hopefully they'll put out a dvd of the show and include thoze performances.
And THE ACE waz there,jumping up onstage and crankin' out "God Of Thunder" with Zombie and his all star band.
Jaime Pressley hosted,and at one point she donned an Angus Young outfit,which waz pretty darn tootin' hot!
That'z just one of the cool ass thingz about living in Las Vegas.I get to see one of a kind kinda showz like this.It rawked.And where else do ya get to see The Demon standing next to The Metal God?
Ragz Ratez It A:10.00
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 12:54 AM PDT
Sunday, 30 April 2006
SILENT HILL
It'z based on a video game so it kinda playz out like one,but for someone like me who digz the games,but doezn't have the patience nor the thumb skillz to get past the first level on thoze gamez,the movie doez all the button pushing for ya.Even still,after throwing cluez and cuez at ya from every corner of the screen,it doezn't quite spell it all out for ya either,leaving alot up to your own conclusions and/or open for the sequel.It may throw some people off of it,but I like my horror open to interpatation.
And it'z visually awesome,even if ya don't care for the "Hellraiser meets Ring" mishmash of ideas,you can't help but really get sucked into the killer sets and atmospheric city that waz once Silent Hill.It makez one killer music video.
Yeah,if anything,if you don't go see it at the theater,wait for it to come out on dvd,then slap it into the dvd player,mute the volume and crank up some old school Goth toonz and you'll have a pretty killer sensory overload.Or maybe if they come out with a soundtrack to it,that would work too,cuz the music in the film iz very strange.Kinda industrial,yet moody-quite different,cuz it works more like a sound effects record to enhance the movie than any kind of actual music,but it workz excellently.They shoulda used it to drown out some of the dialogue tho,cuz you could make a drinking game out of how many timez the lead character sayz "don't worry,everything is going to be alright" in the film.Add two shots everytime she screams "Sharon" too.The first 20 minutes of the filmz' dialogue could be straight out of an Ozzy Osbourne yelpfest from MTV's "The Osbournes".
But ya ferget all that once the evil dead girlz,twisted zombiez,pyramid wearin' giant slalpel weilders and creepycritterjitter nurses start poppin' up.And when the wallz start melting upwardz yer in for a wild ride.
Oh,and I'm usually not disturbed by death scenes in horror filmz,cuz most of the time they're so over the top that it doezn't smack of too much realizm,but there'z a scene where a major character getz roasted alive,and it came off pretty uncomfortable for me,cuz,in most cases when witches were burned at the stake,they died of asphyxiation.And someone in the driverz seat of this scene took that into consideration.Pretty grim stuff,but in straight up horror,very few filmz today have the guts(he he)to go for the ickyicky in the realistic way.After yearz of seeing clawed corpses cracking jokes before sending someone to thier outrageous doom,it'z quite unsettling.Course it'z not more than a few minutez later it goez for the throat with outrageosnezz galore-barbed wire tentacles.
Oh well,can't win 'em all,but for the most part "Silent Hill" iz slightly above most of today'z modern horror filmz,and I dug it.
Just wonderin' how they're gonna pull off the killer stuffed bunny for the sequelz.
Ragz Rates it a:8.75
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 8:56 PM PDT
Friday, 17 March 2006
STARZ BACK IN ACTION LIVE 2003
There'z some who say that rock and roll is for the youth.
Some believe that once ya hit yer 40's it'z time to give it up.
Leave the past behind,and go out while yer on top.
Well,I don't know about any of that,cuz at my age,I'm still rockin',still dressing funny,still sportin' a full head o' hair and still spendin' my dough on recordz,toys and geetarz.
And I'm guessing the memberz of the 70'z band Starz are doin' the same,cuz here we are,20 yearz later since the last time they played together az a band and they've got a new dvd out.And,to us mulletheadz and dirtbagz that cranked up thier recordz after school,it'z a big deal.A really big deal,cuz az far az I know,there izn't any video footage of Starz live in the 70'z,so this iz gonna be az close az it getz fer us.
First off,for thoze not familiar with Starz,they were a band managed by KISS manager Bill Aucoin.So they got that extra exposure,along with KISS and the other Aucoin band-Angel,by being pushed in all the rock magazines.They were plastered all over Circus and Hit Parader,whether it waz the two page poster stapled in the center,the huge ad spaces they filled or thier strange rize up the chartz in the weekly Circus Top 25 hitlists.What us teenagers didn't realize iz that Aucoin waz paying the magz to feature his bandz and to secure them a spot on the Top 25 charts,even tho they weren't really selling that many albums.It waz called Marketing man,and Aucoin new how to do that brilliantly.
And it worked big time on me.I figured if Aucoin had KISS,then Starz and Angel had to be fuckin' awesome too.
And,tho Angel had the prettier outfits,and KISS,well,they were KISS fer keeristsake,Starz had not only the chops but the songz and the image to back it up.Technically,they were musically the better of the three,and really az far az good pop induced rawknrawl goez,they had that nailed down too.
Oh,and like Angel & KISS,they also had one killer logo.
But,for some reason I can't fathom,they never really caught on.They cracked the top 40 maybe twice with "Cherry Baby" and "Sing It Shout It",but they didn't stay there for long and Starz faded away without much notice.
Maybe they were just too ahead of thier time,cuz once the 80'z hit,everyfreekinband in the world waz copping Starz,from Bon Jovi to Motley Crue.
So here we are,now entertain us.It'z 2006 and they've released a new dvd of thier 2003 reunion show.
The slinky jumpsuitz are gone,the original bass player iz dead,the hair iz thin and,especially in the case of lead singer Michael Lee Smith(who iz also the brother of teen scream Rex Smith),the weight haz been packed on.Heck,it doezn't even remotely look like the same guy,but once he startz singin' there iz no mistaking him,cuz the band iz just az amazing az ever.
Playing in a bar,in front of a crowd of Joe Dirtz and Ragz Dandelionz,under the unmistakable yellow logo glowing above them,Starz might az well have never left,cuz they sound,well,they sound freekin' great.No missed chops here.And the songz sound just az fresh az they did way back when That 70's Show waz a reality and not a sitcom.
Ya know,I really hate to see the music from theze guyz continue to go unpraized.Someone,pleaze,if you've got a band,do yerself a favor and learn at least one of thier toonz,rerecord it and make it a hit for the new generation.
Especially "Subway Terror".It can be done!
Please?
Oh,and release it on piss colored vinyl too.
Ragz Ratez It A:8.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 11:47 PM PST
Saturday, 7 January 2006
SHARK ATTACK:MEGALODON
He he,shark movies.They're alwayz a hoot.
Not only are they basically all the same movie,but with each new one the sharks get bigger and bigger!
I just gandered a watchin' of "Shark Attack:Megalodon".I didn't think any movie could top the Samuel Jackson Motivational Speech scene in "Deep Blue Sea",but this one-
takes the cake as THE GREATEST SCENE IN A MOVIE EVER!
Tho,if I waz the guy in charge of this movie I would also make the sharks telepathic and able to fly to up the ante!Oh,and I'd have the sharks lay shark eggs in swimming pools,bathtubs and jacuzzis for more boobiez vs.shark battle for the visual senses action that today's movie goin' public demandz!
They did manage to make the shark growl underwater when it waz about to attack which I've never heard before,so that's a plus.I didn't know they could do that.Then again I didn't know worms could scream until I saw "Squirm",So whatdooIknow?
"Megalodon"iz sooper filmaking at it'z very worstbest!Mucho boobies,heroic heroes that say "SONOFABITCH!" constantly and who'z heroic planz never work cuz the baddies,in this case and in most nature gone wild movies,iz some uber corporate assholes that defy nature by violating it'z precious underwater earth by lining the ocean floor with fiber-optic cables to make global communication easier when really all it doez iz attract giant sharks and make 'em angry for people.Wouldn't it make more sense to use satelittes?Aw,hell,that would just end up attracting giant outer space mosqutos or somethin'.When will money hungry world conquerin' ferget about the little guy madman corporate leaders win?
Wal-Mart,ya better take note!
Oh,gotta go-Christopher Atkins iz fightin' giant cockroaches on the Sci-Fi Channel!
Ragz Rates It A:7.25
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 11:08 PM PST
Sunday, 16 October 2005
THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS
Oh boy.
I've been plannin' on writin' up a lil' review of kickin'new cd'z by Avenged Sevenfold or L.A.Guns,but what do I find myself doing on this misty Sunday night?
Watching what may be considered the most god aweful childrens movie ever.
Yeah,it's one of thoze old "classics"that I,for some reason or another,found a hankerin' to see since it's release in the 80's,but not enuff to actually see it.
Tonight,the horrible dream came true.
No wonder this thing has been out of print for 15 odd yearz,cuz,well,I'm sure the movie studio waz pretty embarassed by it all,but,in a surefire way to battle all the illegal downloaded bootlegz of this morbid curiousity that's popped up over the yearz,MGM opened the long sealed can and released it on dvd a few months ago.
Everyone loved the cards.Hell,they were fun!They were gross!They were despized by parents and religious groups,yet the movie doezn't succeed on any level of lowbrow humor,or capturing any of the cards quirky artwork and zany characters,it's just,well pardon my lack of creative description here,stupid.
The creepy Garbage Pail Kids,the foam rubber wearing midgets that they be,spew snot,vomit,fart,piss,get drunk,drive drunk,eat toes,steal hotdogs,pull switchblades,pull of womens clothes,rape little children...ok,I lied about the last part,but they may as well,cuz when the movie iz over ya feel like ya just left a Marilyn Manson concert-dirty and violated.Just the kinda flick ya want yer already hyperactive disrespectful shithead kids watchin'.It triez to ooze out some bubbles of sentiment and moral about being different and ugly and belonging,but ya get the feeling that waz just squeezed into the plot to give Anthony Newly some reason other than a paycheck to make an appearance in this mess.What a grand career move this waz for him!
He's even reduced to playing some Satanic piano piece backwardz to save us all from the googly gang of miscreants,which only leads to his final moments in the film stuffing his lumpy ass into a garbage can.So long any future musical theater for you Mr.Newly!And ferchrissakes-shave those eyebrows!
Anywayz,
After all the shenanigans are done,after the eyeball burning parade of 80's fashions have ended(which reminded me that in the 80's-we could wear ANYTHING and get away with it),after the queereyeforthestraightguy bad guyz who aren't really all that threatening have been defeated,after the slop and doll urine has been mopped up, and the moral of the story has been completely lost to us,we're left to share the same nasty taste in our mouths that the 14 year old main character tastes-Utter disgust,dissapointment and apathy.
And I'm sure he decided to become gay too.
Wanna give yer kids nightmares and bad habits.
Make 'em watch this movie.
If ya wanna get them somethin' to motivate and inspire them?
Get 'em the new L.A.Guns cd.
Ragz Rates It A:3.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 11:36 PM PDT
Thursday, 18 August 2005
BUTCH WALKER @THE JOINT LAS VEGAS 08.13.2005
I took an hour out of my day and went and seen Butch Walker perform at the Joint.He'z really good.It waz bizarre tho,cuz he waz opening up for The Queen Of Punk-Avril Lavigne.So the crowd waz made up of mostly prepubescent girlz and thier momz.That didn't hold Butch back tho,he used dirty wordz,sang songz about sex,licked his guitarists' face,cranked out a furious version of Kelly Clarkson's Since You've Been Gone and grabbed hiz crotch a few timez.And all the little girlz shreeked in approval while thier mom'z looked on terrified,yet strangely twitterpated by the whole ordeal.
Oh yes,the good ol' rockstar gettin' the chickiez worked up.Get the girliez while they're young and the mommies while they're out on the town without thier hubbiez to kill the mood.Funny watchin' it all.
And just a few feet away from me,standing in the crowd,waz the one and only C.C.Deville of Poison fame,being recognized by a few of the momz too.Very surreal.
Butch did a good job tho.Doing his melodic rawk desguised to the lesser educated az Emo method of pulling a fast one over the headz of the crowd,who didn't know any better.Like most showz,the band waz much smarter than the audience that he waz playing to,but hopefully it'll inspire the younginz to pick up a geetar and write decent dittys without that silly Nu-metal whinin' and sampled beat box goop that's so hip to the TRL crowd.Methinx he did,methinx he did.
...But the little girls understand.
Ragz Rates It A:8.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 10:42 PM PDT
Wednesday, 20 July 2005
WAR OF THE WORLDS(2005)
Wow!It'z been an actual good summer for moviez!I dug "Revenge Of The Sith","Batman Begins","Fantastic Four" AND "Land Of The Dead"!
But I haveta say,"War Of The Worlds" has purbly topped them all!!
Now,I've alwayz loved the classic story,in pretty much all it's incarnations-radio play,the original 1954 movie,the 70's Marvel comic,the War Of The Worlds musical.It's pretty much somethin' that would be hard to fuck up.
Course,"Independance Day",which is basically WOTW's,started out promising,then whimped out by becoming one of those blockbuster,hee haww hoopla,America Fuck Yeah kinda movies.I wanted to see the Earth freekin' destroyed,people bein' rounded up and slaughtered and feel some actual fear n' dread,not ultra corny patriotism and "look how tough we are"histrionics.
Spielberg's War Of The Worlds delivers exactly what I wanted!Shit,the first time the Tripods pop out of the ground I'm reminded of the first 10 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan".It's intense!It's brutal and it engulfs you in utter terror and hopelessness.
We see and learn everything that happening thru the characters point of view,so the only information we are given is from the ground level.Not alot of overhead wide angled visuals of aliens invading the earth,or armys battleing the tripods,what we see iz made more intense by what we DON'T see.something that most filmakers have completely forgotten in the realm of horror & sci-fi..
We are smack dab in the middle of the chaos,the despair,the hopelesness,and the worst and best of the human race.Speilberg doesn't wimp out,except for one moment towards the end of the film,which iz my only dissapointment with it.
But it's a freekin' masterpiece,stands up side by side with the original movie that I loved so much.It actually feels like it could be events that are taking place right along side the original,instead of a remake of it.
I didn't want the movie to end.I wanted to see what waz happening in other parts of the destroyed world,how the humans delt with the ramifications of it all,and,I wonder,like after the events of 9/11 if we really learned anything at all about each other.
And,oddly enough,it all comes at the same time az the video game "Destroy All Humans",where you act az the alien,zapping humans and sucking out thier minds.
War Of The Worlds finally showed a film about humans,but humans that ultimately have no such delusions of granduer az thinking they are the chosen masters of this world.
We're just fertilizer til something bigger n' badder,or in this case,smaller and microscopic,comes along.
Let's go zap some humans!!
Ragz Rates It A:9.75
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 12:08 PM PDT
Tuesday, 12 July 2005
JUDAS PRIEST & QUEENSRYCHE @ THE MANDALAY BAY EVENT CENTER 07/09/2005
Yesterday I waz dead.
Dead cuz Judas Priest kicked my ass Saturday night!They were awesome in all thier Spinal Tap glory-from the giant eyeball that shot a laser into the crowd to the Metal God himself-Rob Halford-riding his motorcycle onto the stage for Hellbent For Leather!His voice iz amazing-especially when they did Victim Of Changes,wowzerz!!Tipton & Downing,decked out in thier own style of leather,cranked out the flying V magic in unison headbangin,and it waz just plain great old school British Heavy Metal at it'z finest.Shee-it,they should track down the fuckin' terrorists that recently bombed London and sit them down in front of the Priest stage and let them blow them to pieces with the finest,loudest and nastiest Metal Britain haz ever unleashed to the world.Jihad this,muthafuckaz!!
Halford looked great too,all decked out in his huge leather coats,he looked like a stompin' monster-Cenobite style!And Touch Of Evil ,well,it made the hair stand up on my armz and chillz crept up my spine.
Oddly enough tho,the Mandalay Bay Event Center waz only half full,but the crowd made more noize than most packed houses I've seen in Vegas.Usually the crowdz out here are "too cool" to loze thier fuckin' mindz to the rawk N' rawl,but not Saturday Night.Nope.They gave The Priest all the luv they deserved!
Queensryche opened up for them and sounded awesome too!So it waz a double dose of ear damage!
Needless to say,if ya wouldn't enjoy this over the top monolithic metal then either your too young,too old or just plain lacking a sense of humor.
Lighten up Muthaz and raize yer fists n' yell!
Ragz Rates The Priest:9.0
Ragz Rates Queensryche:7.75
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 11:11 PM PDT
Updated: Tuesday, 12 July 2005 11:13 PM PDT
Wednesday, 29 June 2005
LAND OF THE DEAD
A George Romera zombie movie iz like an episode of South Park.It'z fun to figure out who and what the characterz reprezent and what messeges are being made using bizarre situationz to mask them.And I'm guessin' the average movie goer seez the blood n' gutz and explosions,but misses what it'z sayin' under all that noize.But if your one of thoze zombiez who shutz off yer brainstemz and gaze at the flashy fireworkz instead of looking for commentaries on our own land of the dead,LAND OF THE DEAD will work for ya too.
To some,the symbolizm iz blindly obvious,and that makez it work also.And it doezn't come off az preachy cuz it workz on both levelz.It'z entertaining AND thought provoking.Course,I'm sure there'z fanz on both sides of the thought processes that could bicker about it too no end cuz that'z what uz geekzterz do.Romero,who iz the Godfather of the zombie film-hell,he'z the freekin' KING of the zombies,so hiz fanz take hiz zombie moviez mighty seriously!
Zombie moviez have alwayz been a fave of mine,but I'm not really sure why.I'm not what ya'd call a gorehound,in fact I like my horror to be more moody,subtle and serious-which Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead" iz,which,az a kid,waz creeped out when seeing still photos of it in issues of Famous Monsters Of Filmland,cuz,well,it looked so damn real with it'z black and white documentary look."Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" quickly became one of my all time favorites after seeing it on some Saturday afternoon creature feature show.It waz just so atmospheric and wacky with it'z gay ass hippies and low budget.In fact,it seems like zombie moviez alwayz work better in low budget.
Course,over the yearz I caught the other Romero filmz and various other zombie movies-movies where zombiez vs.sharks,wear Nazi helmets and walk around with thier head in thier handz.
The mid 80's "Return Of The Living Dead" waz the one that really won me over.God,I loved that movie!Perfect soundtrack,kick ass black dripping zombies that cried out for brains,and a hectic nervous cast of characters that seemed very real to me.
Nowdayz,zombies are runnin' and drooling messes of decayed madness,making them even more frightening."28 Days Later" waz ok,but the remake of "Dawn Of The Dead"easily made it to my second fave zombie movie of all time cuz the first 10 minutes waz fuckin' intense!!
I'm pretty happy with the new Romero flicky.The zombies are slow and shufflin',but they're gettin' smarter.and we see a modern day struggle of Cro-Magnon Man vs.Neanderthal Man wrapped tightly in a post 9-11 viewpoint.
A few problemz,like the ending,which shoulda ended 5 minutes earlier,and my confusion of why money actually could have any worth whatsoever after the death of modern society,knocked it down a few notches,but I liked all the parables and nods to the former Romero filmz and it waz cool seein' zombies slowly emerging from the water,only this time without the Nazi helmets.
Not az good z the Dawn Of The Dead remake,but almost.
And that'z good enough for me!
Git down wit' da sickniss!
Ragz Rates It A:8.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 12:41 AM PDT
Updated: Wednesday, 29 June 2005 12:49 AM PDT
Saturday, 25 June 2005
THE ROCK NEVER STOPS@THE JOINT,LAS VEGAS 06.24.05
Last night I dug out the hairspray,mascara n' attitude and saw the Las Vegas stop of the 2005 Rock Never Stops tour,featuring Firehouse,Quiet Riot,Ratt & Cinderella.Everyone can say what they will about "hair metal","butt rock","cock rock",whatever,but we all know you love it,everyone haz at least one album by one of these guyz and,if the attendance and response of the crowd iz any indication,people still wanna have nuthin' but a good time.And the guyz last night didn't dissapoint.They delivered.Big time.
Firehouse opened the show with thier brand of light weight rock.No fancy outfits or anything remotetly threatening,the guys did just what they do-play rock n' roll.I waz never a fan,or particularly informed about them.I recognized only about 2 toonz,thier big hits,but they did what they do well-warming up the crowd for the more sleazier bandz to follow.
Quiet Riot waz next.I've ran into vocalist Kevin Dubrow many timez over the yearz,but never actually saw the band play live,so it waz a suprize to hear that they delve more into classic 70's British rock than thier contemporaries.Dubrow doez a pretty good Rod Stewart imitation,even down to the leapord skin suit he wore.His voice waz powerful and much bluesier than I expected.They owe more to The Faces & Free than Kiss & Van Halen or Aerosmith,which most of the other 80's bandz copped from.Quiet Riot waz a pleasent suprize.
Ratt,on the other hand,I've seen live,in it'z many incarnations,many timez.Thier set waz fast and right to the point.Warren DiMartini iz an excellent guitarist.Jizzy Pearl,who basically singz for every band ever when thier original singer izn't available,handled Stephen Pearcy's vocal parts well,but I'm kind of sick of seeing him.Like I said,I see him at least 4 or 5 timez a year here in Vegas singing for some band or another.Just kinda burned out on him.
But the main reason I waz there waz to see Cinderella,who I wazn't that big of a fan of til I saw them a few yearz ago with Poison,and they blew me away.And last night waz no exception.For a band that gets together every three or four yearz for a tour,they got thier shit together!Like Kevin Dubrow,Cinderella's singer Tom Keifer wearz hiz influences openly on hiz sleeve.Aerosmith and AC/DC quickly spring to mind,but I get the feeling that Cinderella iz capable of making music that could go way outside the lines of 80's metal.There'z a flavoring of cajun blues,country and more in thier approach.I wish they'd get together and do a new album without the restraints of hard rock,cuz I get the feeling they could really put out something special.And for a song that'z your basic 80's power ballad-"Nobody's Fool",the performance of the song waz intense and emotional az hell!It made the hair on my armz stand up.Fucking excellent.
So,here waz a night of four bandz that prove that the kidz still wanna rock.The screamo and nu-metal bandz of today should pay attention.I doubt they'll have the following and dedication from the fans that theze bands had last night,20 yearz from now.They should only be so lucky.
Ragz Rates Firehouse a:5.0
Ragz Rates Quiet Riot:7.80
Ragz Rates Ratt:7.0
Ragz Rates Cinderella:8.50
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 3:42 PM PDT
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