Thursday, May 8, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Guitar Players Cry
This pen of mine doens't write anymore. It's used up all it's ink. The papers on my desk don't fill up like they used to. My mind is so blank and i'll never know why. Those words I wrote were the last ones, my life, my body, my blood. What I used to say doesn't work anymore and it's not that I want to stop. But when you've reached your breaking point, you fall down from the top.
And it's creeping back to me these chords that I don't want to see. They don't fit these words anymore and they never will. It's like i've lost my ability to speak, and it's never coming back. My words are gone and this pen stays dry and i'm just a lonely guitar player and this is my cry.
My guitar sits in the shadows now it's not a piece of me. It's when I look back that my mind still wonders to those 6 little blunders, the A, the B, The C, The D, the E, the F or the G. I'm tired, i'm lonely and i'm feeling so low, and these notes aren't helping so i wish they'd just go. Over the top i'm just a musical flop and a sell out to corporate flair. I'm not what I seem i'm cool but not clean these eyes are meant to stare.
And it's creeping back to me these chords that I don't want to see. They don't fit these words anymore and they never will. It's like i've lost my ability to speak, and it's never coming back. My words are gone and this pen stays dry and i'm just a lonely guitar player and this is my cry.
Something i wrote about losing your inspiration. I haven't had any new ideas flow into me for a while. And I apologize for that.
J-moose
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
A Friendship For The Ages
Lately i've been thinking about someone who rarely crosses my mind anymore. An old friend, that i've unfortunately lost touch with. It's sad, because the friendship that we had shaped me to become the person you have all come to know, so it was difficult to realise that I could no longer turn to this person in my times of need.
Let me begin from the top....a few weeks before my 10th birthday, my family informed us that we would be going skiing with the family of one of my mothers co-workers. They had been planning this out for a while now, and to my dismay I had to be social, because the other family had a son my age. The real kicker for me, was that this trip was happening on my birthday so again, another reason for me to not like this kid, or his family. A week prior to the trip the other family came over for coffee and dessert, which served as a chance for the kids to fraternize and get to know one another. If I remember correctly, my first impression of Nick Jeffrey was that he was an annonying little brat, who was completely oblivious to video games, cartoons, and all the fun things a 1o year old enjoyed. I made the most of the night and figured this kid to be decent enough to play with on the trip. One week later we shipped off to the Jeffrey's cabin and began our weekend long adventure. To me, it wasn't all that fun, but then again, when have I ever been known to have fun at any social event.
Alright, lets skip ahead a few months. So finally Nick got a gameboy and the very first pokemon game, Pokemon Blue. Being the kid he was, he'd never as much as touched a gameboy muchless played a video game. So he should he call to ask how to get past all the dangers of the pokemon world...Me. At age 10 I prided myself in being better than others so whenever I got the oppurtunity to show off I took it. We began conversing over the phone, me explaining what a pokemon was, and how to play, and him gasping in excitement. Not to say I didn't enjoy showing him up, but it got pretty annonying after a while. Skip ahead another month or so. Me and Nick had scarcely seen one another, and in the times we did hang out, I pretty much bored him to death by not wanting to do anything that involved physical activity. Oddly enough, I began to trust Nick a bit more, and eventually we began chilling almost every weekend. A few years down the road, probably at age 12 0r 13, Nick had a problem with his heart. He needed surgery to correct it, and when i found out i was pretty upset. The operation was a success but it changed Nick into a completely different person. It was like a complete 360 for the guy. Now instead of me being the leader in our duo, Nick began to take charge. He began losing weight, and playing waterpolo, which I eventually got drafted into as well. It was weird seeing him like this because I was so used to having the old Nick. Then again, the new Nick was just the kind of kid I needed to hang around with.
Nick became one of the most popular guys at his high school and pretty much knew any and everyone in all the grades. Of course I was intrigued in hearing about his tales of how was getting invited to all these different social events and how he made out with this girl in this grade. Usually those thoughts didn't cross my mind, but when Nick talked about them, it was like nothing else seemed to matter. Of course out of the two of us, Nick was the one who began going out on dates with some of the most attractive girls i've ever met, so my jealousy levels were at their max. It was odd, because despite the fact that he had all these new found friends, he still managed to call me up at least twice a week just to chat. Even the popular guys need their advice and I was happy enough to give it.
It's been almost half a year since I last saw Nick, and i'm saddened that our friendship came to such an abrubt halt, but at least I know he's doing good. My mom occassionally talks to his mom, so i'll usually be able to find out how he's doing. I've been thinking about him a lot lately so that's why I choose to write about our friendship. Everything we did is only a memory now, and here I thought i'd had the best man for my wedding already. It's weird thinking about the friends that we once had. It's even weirder since next year i'm starting the friend making process all over again, since i'll only have one friend at BT and that will only help me so much. Until next time..which will be soon, I promise!
J-moose
Let me begin from the top....a few weeks before my 10th birthday, my family informed us that we would be going skiing with the family of one of my mothers co-workers. They had been planning this out for a while now, and to my dismay I had to be social, because the other family had a son my age. The real kicker for me, was that this trip was happening on my birthday so again, another reason for me to not like this kid, or his family. A week prior to the trip the other family came over for coffee and dessert, which served as a chance for the kids to fraternize and get to know one another. If I remember correctly, my first impression of Nick Jeffrey was that he was an annonying little brat, who was completely oblivious to video games, cartoons, and all the fun things a 1o year old enjoyed. I made the most of the night and figured this kid to be decent enough to play with on the trip. One week later we shipped off to the Jeffrey's cabin and began our weekend long adventure. To me, it wasn't all that fun, but then again, when have I ever been known to have fun at any social event.
Alright, lets skip ahead a few months. So finally Nick got a gameboy and the very first pokemon game, Pokemon Blue. Being the kid he was, he'd never as much as touched a gameboy muchless played a video game. So he should he call to ask how to get past all the dangers of the pokemon world...Me. At age 10 I prided myself in being better than others so whenever I got the oppurtunity to show off I took it. We began conversing over the phone, me explaining what a pokemon was, and how to play, and him gasping in excitement. Not to say I didn't enjoy showing him up, but it got pretty annonying after a while. Skip ahead another month or so. Me and Nick had scarcely seen one another, and in the times we did hang out, I pretty much bored him to death by not wanting to do anything that involved physical activity. Oddly enough, I began to trust Nick a bit more, and eventually we began chilling almost every weekend. A few years down the road, probably at age 12 0r 13, Nick had a problem with his heart. He needed surgery to correct it, and when i found out i was pretty upset. The operation was a success but it changed Nick into a completely different person. It was like a complete 360 for the guy. Now instead of me being the leader in our duo, Nick began to take charge. He began losing weight, and playing waterpolo, which I eventually got drafted into as well. It was weird seeing him like this because I was so used to having the old Nick. Then again, the new Nick was just the kind of kid I needed to hang around with.
Nick became one of the most popular guys at his high school and pretty much knew any and everyone in all the grades. Of course I was intrigued in hearing about his tales of how was getting invited to all these different social events and how he made out with this girl in this grade. Usually those thoughts didn't cross my mind, but when Nick talked about them, it was like nothing else seemed to matter. Of course out of the two of us, Nick was the one who began going out on dates with some of the most attractive girls i've ever met, so my jealousy levels were at their max. It was odd, because despite the fact that he had all these new found friends, he still managed to call me up at least twice a week just to chat. Even the popular guys need their advice and I was happy enough to give it.
It's been almost half a year since I last saw Nick, and i'm saddened that our friendship came to such an abrubt halt, but at least I know he's doing good. My mom occassionally talks to his mom, so i'll usually be able to find out how he's doing. I've been thinking about him a lot lately so that's why I choose to write about our friendship. Everything we did is only a memory now, and here I thought i'd had the best man for my wedding already. It's weird thinking about the friends that we once had. It's even weirder since next year i'm starting the friend making process all over again, since i'll only have one friend at BT and that will only help me so much. Until next time..which will be soon, I promise!
J-moose
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Oh Music Lovers
I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Serisouly though, I apologize for the 2 week hiatus. I've had some things come up, and on top of that no inspiration. But with all this music making its way to the world, I figured it was time to get a new blog going. Let me begin by saying that i'm pretty sure this summer is going to be big music wise.
For starters you have Weezer!! Yes the loveable dorks make their triumphant return after much speculation that they were done after Make Believe (2006 album). They've been updating their site as frequently as possible with how the recording is going, what producer their using and so fourth and so on. Here's the scoop:
Album Title: Weezer. The third self titled album from these guys, but as weezer fans know, the album will have a background colour to it, and from whats being said, it'll be red. So Technically it will actually be called the red album.
First Single: Pork and Beans...Even I think they've gone a little loopy with the title for this one. Then again, the last album with a colour name, eg the blue and green albums, were pretty good, so who I am to judge without hearing it. An official release date for the song is currently unknown.
My View: All they really had to do for this one is make it better than Make Believe. If they did that, then I believe weezer fans everywhere will rejoice.
And of course, another album that many rock fans will rejoice over is the new one from The Offspring. Yes, the guys who brough you the classics such as, Self Esteem, Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), Hit that, and many others will return this summer with a new album.
First single: Apparently it's going to be called Hammerhead. The guys have played it at a few shows so fans have of course uploaded video feed to youtube for our viewing/listening pleasure. From what i've seen from most fans reaction, it's a step back into the original offspring sound, so hopefully it'll be good. Then again, the quality on these videos isn't that great, nor is the audio, so it's still up in the air at this point. As for an album name, there isn't one at this point, so again, it'll probably be announced in the near future.
For those of you who can bask in Jack White's musical greatness, then your in for a treat. Actually, the treat has been served in a fine packaging called Consolers of The Lonely. Yup, you guessed it, The Raconteurs return with their second studio album. I've gotta hand it to them, they know how to make a entrance. After a year of Jack doing his thing with The White Stripes, the band decided to record the new album. Now, in Jack Whites mind, recording should only take up two weeks of ones time, and writing shouldn't take that much longer. So keeping with tradition, the album was written and recorded in February and was finished only 3 weeks before it's release date. Here's the fun part....the guys did no promotion with this album what so ever. The album was announced on the 18th of march, and released a week after. My hat is off to you Jack White, not only do you continue to make kick ass music, but you've got a damn fine way of doing it.
First Single: Salute Your Salution. Well it's exactly what we've come to expect from Jack. It's a fairly fast paced song, with a catchy beat. Always a plus when it's catchy.
Finally, it's time for some Canadians!!!! So I said it before but i'll say it again, TOKYO POLICE CLUB!!!! Ok so if you remember a few blogs back I mentioned that their new single hadn't come out yet. Well it's now out there in all it's glory, and i'm thoroughly pumped for it. If you don't remember from before it's called Tessellate and it's from their first album, Elephant Shell due out at the end of the month.
Thats everything musical i'm digging at the moment, but always the side panel for anything else i'm liking. I'll post another blog soon, I promise.
J-moose
Serisouly though, I apologize for the 2 week hiatus. I've had some things come up, and on top of that no inspiration. But with all this music making its way to the world, I figured it was time to get a new blog going. Let me begin by saying that i'm pretty sure this summer is going to be big music wise.
For starters you have Weezer!! Yes the loveable dorks make their triumphant return after much speculation that they were done after Make Believe (2006 album). They've been updating their site as frequently as possible with how the recording is going, what producer their using and so fourth and so on. Here's the scoop:
Album Title: Weezer. The third self titled album from these guys, but as weezer fans know, the album will have a background colour to it, and from whats being said, it'll be red. So Technically it will actually be called the red album.
First Single: Pork and Beans...Even I think they've gone a little loopy with the title for this one. Then again, the last album with a colour name, eg the blue and green albums, were pretty good, so who I am to judge without hearing it. An official release date for the song is currently unknown.
My View: All they really had to do for this one is make it better than Make Believe. If they did that, then I believe weezer fans everywhere will rejoice.
And of course, another album that many rock fans will rejoice over is the new one from The Offspring. Yes, the guys who brough you the classics such as, Self Esteem, Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), Hit that, and many others will return this summer with a new album.
First single: Apparently it's going to be called Hammerhead. The guys have played it at a few shows so fans have of course uploaded video feed to youtube for our viewing/listening pleasure. From what i've seen from most fans reaction, it's a step back into the original offspring sound, so hopefully it'll be good. Then again, the quality on these videos isn't that great, nor is the audio, so it's still up in the air at this point. As for an album name, there isn't one at this point, so again, it'll probably be announced in the near future.
For those of you who can bask in Jack White's musical greatness, then your in for a treat. Actually, the treat has been served in a fine packaging called Consolers of The Lonely. Yup, you guessed it, The Raconteurs return with their second studio album. I've gotta hand it to them, they know how to make a entrance. After a year of Jack doing his thing with The White Stripes, the band decided to record the new album. Now, in Jack Whites mind, recording should only take up two weeks of ones time, and writing shouldn't take that much longer. So keeping with tradition, the album was written and recorded in February and was finished only 3 weeks before it's release date. Here's the fun part....the guys did no promotion with this album what so ever. The album was announced on the 18th of march, and released a week after. My hat is off to you Jack White, not only do you continue to make kick ass music, but you've got a damn fine way of doing it.
First Single: Salute Your Salution. Well it's exactly what we've come to expect from Jack. It's a fairly fast paced song, with a catchy beat. Always a plus when it's catchy.
Finally, it's time for some Canadians!!!! So I said it before but i'll say it again, TOKYO POLICE CLUB!!!! Ok so if you remember a few blogs back I mentioned that their new single hadn't come out yet. Well it's now out there in all it's glory, and i'm thoroughly pumped for it. If you don't remember from before it's called Tessellate and it's from their first album, Elephant Shell due out at the end of the month.
Thats everything musical i'm digging at the moment, but always the side panel for anything else i'm liking. I'll post another blog soon, I promise.
J-moose
Monday, March 24, 2008
I Really Need To Make More Friends
....i'm in tears right now because I missed this on saturday.
"On a typical Saturday Night at the Air Canada Centre you'd find roughly 18,000 people wearing Leafs jerseys and chanting "Go Leafs Go!" but this past Saturday was slightly different. The Foo Fighters made their way into town to a sold out crowd of 20,000 plus and instead of seeing Leafs merchandise you saw Foo Fighters T-shirts and chants of "Foos Foos Foos".
Opening for the Foo Fighters were Against Me!. Having listened to their recent album New Wave for a couple of months, I was excited to see how they were live. Normally an opening band won't fill up the seats, but these guys had a huge following and filled up more than what I expected. They played for a good 45 minutes to an hour. They played a number of tracks from New Wave including Stop!, New Wave, Thrash Unreal, Borne On The FM Waves and more! Overall I thought they played a good show.
While waiting for the Foos to come on stage I noticed a long catwalk that connected the main stage to an unknown circular area. We all had no idea what that was for until later on in the show. Once the Foos hit the stage everyone and I mean everyone was standing! They opened the show with Let It Die from their latest album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Then they followed it up with their smash The Pretender. Then Dave Grohl asked the crowd if they have been to a Foo Fighters concert, and a loud roar responded. Then he asked the crowd if this was their first Foo Fighters concert and another loud roar responded. Dave decided that the crowd was split 50-50 of newcomers and old-timers. He then assured us that this was going to be a special show. What was going to make this show special? Well for one the Toronto show has been the biggest the Foo Fighters have played in Canada, that they had some special guests, they were going to play some old shit, some new shit and some acoustic shit! From then on I knew it was going to be a great show!
They followed up Dave's speech with hit after hit including 'Times Like These, Break Out, This is A Call, Stacked Actors, Breakout, and Cheer Up Boys'. I guess Dave was right by playing older, heavier, foo fighters tracks.
After that set of tracks Dave, Nate, and Chris walked off stage leaving Taylor Hawkins to do his drum solo. After a couple of minutes of his drum solo Taylor introduces special guests of the night - Rush! RUSH! Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush joined Taylor Hawkins on stage and jammed to Rush's hit YYZ. Once they fished jamming Dave comes on stage and yells 'RUSH! RUSH!' Mr. Grohl indeed came through with his promise of the show being a special one, and he wasn't done either!
As the crowd was going nuts because Rush were on stage I noticed that they started to uncover the circular area at the end of the catwalk. Still not know what it was the band started walking down the catwalk. As they are walking a second, smaller, stage emerges from the rafters! It's time for the Foos to play some acoustic shit!
They kicked off the acoustic set with Skin And Bones followed by Marigold. During the acoustic set Dave introduced everyone on stage and gave solo's to violinist Jessie Green and to percussionist Drew Hester who ended up performing a triangle solo! Then came My Hero. I am positive that every single body in that place was singing this song. It came to a point where Dave Grohl didn't have to sing, he encouraged all to sing and the crowd ended up taking over the vocals for the song. It was great! After that sing-a-long I knew that this was the best show I've been to and they were only half way through their entire set! Then came Taylor's turn to take lead vocals on Cold Day In The Sun, followed by But, Honestly and closing the acoustic set with Everlong. Another song that Mr. Grohl really didn't have to sing. He went to each of the mics on the second stage and sang to each side of the crowd! This guy knows how to work a crowd! Towards the end of the song it went from acoustic to electric and Dave ran along the catwalk and jumped back onto the main stage and rocked out to finish off the track!
Asking the crowd if they were done they ripped into Monkey Wrench followed by All My Life to finish up the concert. During the encore break the screens showed the band backstage with the set list, focused in on Dave putting yup a finger to indicate a single song encore. The crowd got loud when he put up two fingers and the crowd went crazy when Taylor stepped in the put up all ten fingers. Storming onto the stage to perform their encore Dave Grohl told us a story about his first trip in Toronto when he got to play drums for Iggy Pop as a 19 year old. Finishing off his story they started the encore with the 1996 hit Big Me followed by Long Road To Ruin and 'Best Of You' which were both huge singalongs!
If you were at the show, let me know what you thought of it.
Full Setlist:Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn To Fly
Cheer Up Boys
This Is A Call
Stacked Actors
YYZ (f. Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson of Rush)
Skin And Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day In The Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
All My Life
Encore:Big Me
Long Road To Ruin
Best Of You"
Courtesy of www.muchmusic.com
"On a typical Saturday Night at the Air Canada Centre you'd find roughly 18,000 people wearing Leafs jerseys and chanting "Go Leafs Go!" but this past Saturday was slightly different. The Foo Fighters made their way into town to a sold out crowd of 20,000 plus and instead of seeing Leafs merchandise you saw Foo Fighters T-shirts and chants of "Foos Foos Foos".
Opening for the Foo Fighters were Against Me!. Having listened to their recent album New Wave for a couple of months, I was excited to see how they were live. Normally an opening band won't fill up the seats, but these guys had a huge following and filled up more than what I expected. They played for a good 45 minutes to an hour. They played a number of tracks from New Wave including Stop!, New Wave, Thrash Unreal, Borne On The FM Waves and more! Overall I thought they played a good show.
While waiting for the Foos to come on stage I noticed a long catwalk that connected the main stage to an unknown circular area. We all had no idea what that was for until later on in the show. Once the Foos hit the stage everyone and I mean everyone was standing! They opened the show with Let It Die from their latest album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Then they followed it up with their smash The Pretender. Then Dave Grohl asked the crowd if they have been to a Foo Fighters concert, and a loud roar responded. Then he asked the crowd if this was their first Foo Fighters concert and another loud roar responded. Dave decided that the crowd was split 50-50 of newcomers and old-timers. He then assured us that this was going to be a special show. What was going to make this show special? Well for one the Toronto show has been the biggest the Foo Fighters have played in Canada, that they had some special guests, they were going to play some old shit, some new shit and some acoustic shit! From then on I knew it was going to be a great show!
They followed up Dave's speech with hit after hit including 'Times Like These, Break Out, This is A Call, Stacked Actors, Breakout, and Cheer Up Boys'. I guess Dave was right by playing older, heavier, foo fighters tracks.
After that set of tracks Dave, Nate, and Chris walked off stage leaving Taylor Hawkins to do his drum solo. After a couple of minutes of his drum solo Taylor introduces special guests of the night - Rush! RUSH! Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush joined Taylor Hawkins on stage and jammed to Rush's hit YYZ. Once they fished jamming Dave comes on stage and yells 'RUSH! RUSH!' Mr. Grohl indeed came through with his promise of the show being a special one, and he wasn't done either!
As the crowd was going nuts because Rush were on stage I noticed that they started to uncover the circular area at the end of the catwalk. Still not know what it was the band started walking down the catwalk. As they are walking a second, smaller, stage emerges from the rafters! It's time for the Foos to play some acoustic shit!
They kicked off the acoustic set with Skin And Bones followed by Marigold. During the acoustic set Dave introduced everyone on stage and gave solo's to violinist Jessie Green and to percussionist Drew Hester who ended up performing a triangle solo! Then came My Hero. I am positive that every single body in that place was singing this song. It came to a point where Dave Grohl didn't have to sing, he encouraged all to sing and the crowd ended up taking over the vocals for the song. It was great! After that sing-a-long I knew that this was the best show I've been to and they were only half way through their entire set! Then came Taylor's turn to take lead vocals on Cold Day In The Sun, followed by But, Honestly and closing the acoustic set with Everlong. Another song that Mr. Grohl really didn't have to sing. He went to each of the mics on the second stage and sang to each side of the crowd! This guy knows how to work a crowd! Towards the end of the song it went from acoustic to electric and Dave ran along the catwalk and jumped back onto the main stage and rocked out to finish off the track!
Asking the crowd if they were done they ripped into Monkey Wrench followed by All My Life to finish up the concert. During the encore break the screens showed the band backstage with the set list, focused in on Dave putting yup a finger to indicate a single song encore. The crowd got loud when he put up two fingers and the crowd went crazy when Taylor stepped in the put up all ten fingers. Storming onto the stage to perform their encore Dave Grohl told us a story about his first trip in Toronto when he got to play drums for Iggy Pop as a 19 year old. Finishing off his story they started the encore with the 1996 hit Big Me followed by Long Road To Ruin and 'Best Of You' which were both huge singalongs!
If you were at the show, let me know what you thought of it.
Full Setlist:Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn To Fly
Cheer Up Boys
This Is A Call
Stacked Actors
YYZ (f. Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson of Rush)
Skin And Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day In The Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
All My Life
Encore:Big Me
Long Road To Ruin
Best Of You"
Courtesy of www.muchmusic.com
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