Scaccia Dead

Unfortunately Mike Scaccia died the other night after a Fort Worth show at The Rail Club with Rigor Mortis. After performing Saturday night Scaccia apparently had a seizure onstage which lead to his death. Sad news for the holidays. Mike was also a guitarist for Ministrhy-see The Music's Over at your left for more.

Final Post of The Year

Barring any major music events that is....

This is also an update from Last Year's Final Post.....

• Where the hell are The Stone Roses?
• Jack White misses The White Stripes.
• Is friggin' Justin Bieber still around?
• I did attend shows at Starplex this year, however I don't think I made it to Nokia Theater.
• The Ridglea Theater finally reopened-and three acts promptly cancelled their booked shows and headed to other venues in Big D.
• Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys are coming about 10 days apart-and I have tickets to both shows.
• Queensryche are still fighting, but L.A. Guns aren't-basically because there is only one version now.
• The rumors are out-but I expect Nirvana to get back together about as much as I expect Zeppelin to tour again.
• Levon Helm, Adam Yauch & Jon Lord left us this year, among others. See below for a few others passing on to the next plane. Levon Helm was a tough one because I never got to see him play live, including when The Midnight Ramble made it's only(?) appearance in the DFW area a few years ago. 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND A 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

Classic Rock Updates

• Thin Lizzy will change their band in preparation for their forthcoming album. The currently version of Thin Lizzy has not released any new material since reforming and only played songs from Lizzy's back catalogue in honor of Phil Lynott. Holding true to form with the release of the new album their name will be changed and touring under the name Thin Lizzy will cease. Expect announcement(s) on Christmas Day.
• Meatloaf is embarking on what he is calling his last goodbye with a UK tour. Included in the set list is the entire Bat Out of Hell album (one of the greatest albums of all time). I hope this is his final goodbye for the UK and he can make one more last US run. His health may prohibit this....

It's A Bad Brains Christmas, Charlie Brown from Tad Was Here on Vimeo.

Winter Wonderland by kapann

Finally an update

• I once said it is a matter of opinion of what is put on this blog as far as updates. It is also a matter of time.....
• Rush and Heart will be nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These are two of the bands on Eddie Trunks Hall of Shame list. Unfortunately Deep Purple, included on the first ever fan poll,  didn't make the cut. I suppose this will somewhat sooth Eddie's feelings but until KISS is in.......
• Dave Grohl has vowed a return of Them Crooked Vultures-who inexplicably did not make a DFW stop on their world tour.
• Speaking of Dave Grohl-did you ever think when you saw him playing drums for Nirvana that he would have the musical impact he has had since their demise? QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, Probot-I am sure I am missing something here.
• Speaking of Dave Grohl and Nirvana, they will perform tonight on the 12 12 12 concert, which will be broadcast on just about every TV station in existence, with Sir Paul fronting the band.
• I am working on the last post of the year, which may the next update post as well.
• And below you will find my favorite photo from Spins 30 Best Live Photos of 2012. The band featured is Ceremony-impact of the photo, which to me depicts the impact of music on people, is friggin awesome.

CEREMONY

• The Jimi Hendrix estate is releasing 12 previously unreleased recordings of Hendrix studio material. I remember back when (80's?) there seemed to be all kinds of "unreleased" Hendrix music on the shelves. 
• Today Jimi would have been 70 years old.
• Glenn Drover has quit Tate's version of Queensryche. Geoff actually assembled a strange blend of musicians for his version, including Rudy Sarzo and Blotzer. I only say strange because the three gentlemen mentioned really don't fit that genre of music-as well as the two other collaborating members, Randy Gane and Kelly Gray. Not that is really matters what genre you like it's all music.
• Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys are schedule to hit HOB in February-about 10 days apart. If these two ever do a double bill......

 

 

I missed this

One of the fallacies of not listening to FM radio is I missed this promotion event sponsored by local radio station 92.5...

Not that I would have made to Dallas on that day anyways if I had known beforehand.

Pandora vs. The Musicians

Apparently there is a battle brewing between musicians, in accord with the musicFIRST coalition and Pandora, satellite radio, cable TV services etc & even FM radio.

The main point of contention at this point is the amount of royalties paid to musicians by Pandora. Currently Pandora (according to their finances) pay over 50% in royalties when an artists' song is played on their internet "radio" while entities such as Sirius/XM pay less than 10%. Other entities such as cable services pay even less and FM radio pays zilch.

The Internet Radio Fairness Act is intended to level the paying fields in this regards reducing the amount of royalties paid out by Pandora and others of the like.

I understand both points of views, and I am a heavy user of both Pandora and XM radio-in fact besides my own personal music collection probably 95% of the music I listen to is from these sources.

The artists on the other hand, especially in this day and age, need to bring in whatever income they can to keep making music as a main source of income. I will still argue that artists make more money on touring and merchandise than record sales but at the same time everyone can't be KISS.

Their are several links below to come to you own opinion in the matter:

Pollstar Article

Artists Open Letter

Internet Fairness Radio Act on Pandora

Check out @ScionAV's Corrosion of Conformity - Megalodon on scionav.com!

Check out @ScionAV's Corrosion of Conformity - Megalodon on scionav.com!

Paul McCartney Helicopter Ride

Apparently Paul McCartney and wife were 2 feet from death earlier this year. Currently under investigation the incident took place earlier this year during some torrid weather. Excerpt from The Guardian:

"The incident happened when McCartney and Nancy Shevell were returning to their estate in East Sussex in May. Amid "low cloudbase, poor visibility and rain", their 55-year-old pilot apparently lost sight of the helipad and brought the helicopter as close as two feet from tree tops. A transport department report states that the Sikorsky S-76C chopper only narrowly missed the woods, pulling away as the pilot "executed a go-around". The aircraft landed at a nearby airport."

I am not sure why this information is just coming out but my suspicions are that the helicopter actually crashed and Paul was replaced with a lookalike.....

Friday Concert Movie Updates

• There will be a final showing of Celebration Day on the 13th of November. Keep checking Fathom Events for more upcoming shows. 
• The Doors '68 concert at the Hollywood Bowl was released for one day only earlier this week. Unfortunately I was in no condition to attend or update this blog concerning. If you ain't got your health....
• The Rolling Stones unreleased 1965 film Charlie Is My Darling is set to be released in select theaters very soon as well.
• And the Hendrix Live at Woodstock set will be hitting theaters later this year as well.....

Jones Beach

I know there are much more serious issues there right now, but this is still a shame....

Go to the five minute mark.

 

Tidbits

• Green Day has canceled/postponed all upcoming tour dates due to Billy Joe's stint in rehab...
• Jimmy page is supposedly holed up in a studio remastering all Led Zeppelin albums. This didn't excite me at first until I heard it is possible that outtakes and alternate versions may be included. Each album will supposedly be released as  a box set as well.  
• Meanwhile the deluxe version of Celebration Day is scheduled to arrive at my door the day of release.....
• While T&N's album is scheduled for an upcoming release Don Dokken took a potshot at George Lynch....
• The Ridglea Theater had it's Grand Re-opening recently-unfortunately three acts rescheduled their shows to other venues due to low ticket sales.

Celebration Day Update

You've got one more shot to see this on Nov. 1 at the Spring Valley Movie Grill this week:

Vote for the President...

 

 President of Heavy Metal

Paperless Ticketing

The state of New Jersey is proposing a bill to prohibit restrictive paperless ticketing and protect the consumers right to resell or gift their ticket.

Let's start of with the fact that when you buy a ticket from one of the monopolistic ticket corporations, you get the shittiest choice of ticket to begin with. Most of the tickets are distributed to other sources  (see previous article below) including the actual artist performing possibly reselling them themselves at a above market value.

Restrictive paperless ticketing then in turn requires you to show at the venue to pick up your tickets-including the people you may have bought tickets for as well-because they can't pick them up themselves. Then if you can't make the show or decide not to go, whatever the reason, you can't do NOTHING with them. You  can't resell, you can't give away, you can't donate etc.

Paperless ticketing is basically an attempt by the "music industry" to control the secondary market of ticket sales, because it is obviously not enough to control the initial market of ticket sales to begin with, and prohibit the public from owning what the actually buy.

New Jersey is proposing a bill to prohibit restrictive paperless ticketing and also touch on some of the subject regarding initial sales as well:

From the article:

"Lesniak’s bill would also ban the use of bot software, require venues and promoters to disclose any fees associated with a ticket price and require them to advertise the number of tickets available to the public in each tier of a show.

Under the law, venues or promoters that hold back tickets for direct sale on the secondary market would presumably get dinged with a violation of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act, which can include minimum fines of $10,000."

New Jersey Ticket Bill 

Infighting Friday Updates

• The Beach Boys are at is again-this band runs like a broken record.......
• The Atari's are infighting as well, I saw the video (you can find it just about anywhere) but most of the comments about the band were the funny part.
• If you are on a tour bus, going through Sierra Blanca, TX-be prepared to get stopped and searched......
• On This Day in Music History, Gene Vincent, John Denver & Ricky Wilson were all killed by death.

Who Actually Gets Tickets....

According to this article the ratio of ticket distribution is shown below for a Justin Bieber show. The article admits this may be skewed by the fact it is Bieber, however it is probably closer to the truth than not.

Now check out this site, Fan Freedom, which takes this issue further by accusing Bieber and other artist of scalping their own tickets which has come up with a few other artists as well.

I have mixed feelings on this subject-first off I don't agree with the artists scalping their own tickets, however we live under a free enterprise system-be warned however, fame is fleeting.

Second off I resell tickets, though mainly for the sports market, through team sponsored resell sites. I have season tickets to two local teams and can't attend all games. My only goal is to break even for what I pay for season tickets.

Thirdly sometimes I like to buy tickets on the secondary market. Sometimes I get them cheaper than market value, sometimes I can get a preferred seat, etc. A lot of shows I attend this is not even an issue-I'll take a decent seat or a GA show at say, House of Blues, and be fine.

Now with that being said this is what sucks-if you are buying seats for a big show on the day they go on sale-you never have a shot at the "good seats", forget about front row-these have already been distributed to some other scalper, fan club, or credit card company etc. 

Tidbits from Zep's NYC Press Conference

We Got Queensryche News

• The TryRyche Corporation, basically the non Tate version of Queensryche, has told Geoff Tate to stop using the name "Queensryche"....
• If you have been able to watch any of this years That Metal Show, both Geoff Tate and L.A. Guns got their say so.
• Jake E. Lee is back in action after nearly a decade of doing nothing. His new project will feature vocals by various leads including Paul Di'anno.
• Got my tickets to Celebration Day-it is only in theaters for two days.....

RRHOF 2013 Fan Poll

You! Yes You! Can make a difference by casting your vote in the 2013 RRHOF Fan Poll. Surely to make Eddie Trunk happy Rush and Deep Purple are leading the way with Chic in last place. I am not sure why Chic is on the list for any Hall of Fame much less the Rock & Roll HOF.

2013 RRHOF Fan Poll

Super Late Updates

• Devin Townsend had his own material pulled from YouTube recently, apparently infringing on his own copyrights.
• ICP is suing the FBI.
• Luckily I did not buy tickets for last Fridays Fort Worth Music Fest. I understand Saturdays lineups were moved inside due to rain. I am not sure what happened with Fridays lineups, including Reverend Horton Heat, it looked like it may have cleared up enough for them to play. Check that-I just found a revue and they did play.
•  Andy Williams died last week. You will be hearing Mr. Christmas's music in the upcoming holiday season somewhere or another.
• Once again in a rare occurrence I have no tickets to any upcoming shows....

Billie Joe Freaks Out....

Classic Rock is giving us 10 Reasons Why Led Zeppelin Will Never Reunite

According to the interview questions from the Friday press conference concerning the Celebration Day release....

10 Reasons

Click the link above for the video and or full transcript as well. I will give you reasons #1-10 of why Zep won't reunite:

1. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
2. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
3. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
4. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
5. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
6. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
7. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
8. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
9. Robert Plant doesn't want to.
10. Robert Plant doesn't want to.

And I really don't have a problem with that. If he ain't into it I don't want to see it. If the Page & Plant tours were as close as I get that is fine with me.

Double A Friday

•  LED ZEPPELIN ARE REUNITING.....today in London for the launch of the Celebration Day DVD/theater release.
• Black Country Communion's one off possible farewell show has been canceled. The bands future appears to be in doubt at this point. Most "supergroups" never last to long but they have had quite a run.
• Ian Anderson, scheduled locally, is a supporter of Christian church-even though he is not a christian. For some reason I thought he was an atheist?
• Down have pulled out of their scheduled show at the revamped Ridglea Theater. The grand re-opening gala is scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 20th and they have several acts booked.
• Adam Ant is tonight at the Granada-and it is sold out.....

Rolling Stone Reader Poll

According to Rolling Stone readers these are the Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time:

1) Master Of Puppets - METALLICA
2) Paranoid - BLACK SABBATH
3) Black Sabbath - BLACK SABBATH
4) The Number Of The Beast - IRON MAIDEN
5) ...And Justice For All - METALLICA
6) Reign In Blood - SLAYER
7) Appetite For Destruction - GUNS N' ROSES
8) Metallica - METALLICA
9) Led Zeppelin II - LED ZEPPELIN
10) Ride The Lightning - METALLICA 

Not that I disagree with any of the albums on the list, well except for Justice, but there are far too many excluded, including two of The Big Four, Megadeth & Anthrax. With that being said I am not sure any Anthrax album would made the Top 10 list, but Megadeth could have an inclusion. I am glad to see Maiden and Slayer made the list as well.  A few others of note that could have been included: Judas Priest, Motorhead, Pantera, Ozzy, AC/DC, System of a Down-I could go on.....

HOWEVER-I found a much more inclusive list below at Metal Rules. Check these guys out-looks like they do most of there work for the love of metal!

The Top 10

#1. Metallica - Master of Puppets

#2. Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast

#3. Metallica - Ride the Lightning

#4. AC/DC - Back in Black

#5. Slayer - Reign in Blood

#6. Iron Maiden - Powerslave

#7. Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind

#8. Dio - Holy Diver

#9. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss

#10. Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance
 

#11.		Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
#12.		Judas Priest - Painkiller
#13.		Guns n' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
#14.		Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
#15.		Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith
#16.		Megadeth - Rust in Peace
#17.		Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
#18.		AC/DC - Highway To Hell
#19.		Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
#20.		Metallica - Kill 'Em All
#21.		Judas Priest - British Steel
#22.		W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.
#23.		Slayer - South of Heaven
#24.		Black Sabbath - Paranoid
#25.		Megadeth - Peace Sells�But Who's Buying?
#26.		Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
#27.		Dio - Last in Line
#28.		Helloween - Keeper of the 7 Keys Pt. II
#29.		Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather (AKA Killing Machine)
#30.		Van Halen - Van Halen
#31.		Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love
#32.		Accept - Balls to the Wall
#33.		Iron Maiden - Killers
#34.		Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
#35		Slayer - Show No Mercy
#36.		Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
#37.		Motorhead - Ace of Spades
#38.		Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
#39.		Judas Priest - Stained Class
#40.		Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
#41.		Anthrax - Among the Living
#42.		Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry
#43.		Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell
#44.		Helloween - Keeper of the 7 Keys Pt. I
#45.		W.A.S.P. - The Last Command
#46.		Rainbow - Long Live Rock and Roll
#47.		Def Leppard - Pyromania
#48.		Skid Row - Slave to the Grind
#49.		Megadeth - So Far, So Good...So What!
#50.		Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction
#51.		Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
#52.		King Diamond - Abigail
#53.		Dismember - Massive Killing Capacity
#54.		Halford - Resurrection
#55.		Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
#56.		Testament - Practice What You Preach
#57		Led Zeppelin - IV
#58.		Death - Symbolic
#59.		Mercyful Fate - Melissa
#60.		Sepultura - Beneath The Remains
#61.		Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth
#62.		Deep Purple - Machine Head
#63.		Scorpions - Blackout
#64.		Van Halen - 1984
#65.		Slayer - Hell Awaits
#66.		Venom - Black Metal
#67.		Ratt - Out of the Cellar
#68.		Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
#69.		Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes
#70.		Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle Earth
#71.		AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
#72.		Metallica - And Justice For All...
#73.		King Diamond - Them
#74.		Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side
#75.		HammerFall - Glory To The Brave
#76.		Van Halen - Van Halen II
#77.		Overkill - The Years of Decay
#78.		Kiss - Destroyer
#79.		In Flames - The Jester Race
#80.		Exodus - Bonded by Blood
#81.		Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
#82.		Skid Row - Skid Row
#83.		Megadeth - Killing is My Business...and Business is Good
#84.		Testament - The Legacy
#85.		Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
#86.		Venom - Welcome To Hell
#87.		Twisted Sister - Under the Blade
#88.		Dokken - Tooth & Nail
#89.		Accept - Restless & Wild
#90.		AC/DC - Let There Be Rock
#91.		HammerFall - Legacy of Kings
#92.		Saxon - Wheels of Steel
#93.		Manowar - Kings of Metal
#94.		Twisted Sister - You Can't Stop Rock & Roll
#95.		Scorpions - Love At First Sting
#96.		Van Halen - Fair Warning
#97.		Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
#98.		W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol
#99.		Kreator - Pleasure To Kill
#100.		Death - Individual Thought Patterns