Dad Rock

You cannot touch a ladybug thats not “perfectly red”, because it will “pee on you”. I didn’t hav ethe heart to tell her it was dead.

Because our home has seemingly been invaded by Peeps and there are bits of fake Easter grass everywhere.

Also our 3 year old daughter explained Easter to us : “Jesus died and then the Easter Bunny brought candy”

Works for me

Well, we were able to do the whole “arrange someone to watch the kids over night” thing. We drove out to a Harley dealership to see a show. That’s right, it is Tennessee… to be fair “The Shed” is a nice concert venue. We headed out to see Hayes Carll. A singer/songwriter/alt-country etc. we discovered when he opened for the Old 97s in Nashville late last year. Hayes writes great songs that he thinks nothing of interupting the middle of for a story. From the funny “One bed, two girls, three bottles of wine” to the beautiful “Hide Me”, Hayes and his very talented Gulf Coast Orchestra did not fail to entertain. He was a great musical discovery.

As was his opener, Shovels and Rope. A duo made up of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent. They have an album together and both have solo work that their performance drew from. They traded off instruments and vocals, playing mainly a guitar, harmonica and what appeared to be what was left of a drum kit. And with this and a ton of talent, these two made a powerful noise. We were blown away by the music, it was one of those moments where I knew I’d be tracking down their music the minute I got home.

They rejoined hayes for his encore, a  rocking tribute to moonshine to close out the night.

One discovery leading to another, its a beautiful thing.

That when my daughter watches Bubble Guppies, I wonder how they can camp, race cars, and have concerts underwater?

For my wife and I to see live music :

Little League game rescheduled twice, then rained out.

Mother in Law’s yard sale NOT rained out.

Negotiations w/sister in law for babysitting,overnight.

Concert moved indoors due to “chilly” weather.

I remember when all we had to do was get tickets…

Why does Little Bear’s father wear a shirt, but no pants? And Little Bear wears nothing at all.

Where are Max and Ruby’s parents?

Why is there NO traffic on Seseme Street?

Cheese,baseball, go, bye-bye.

Marc Marron’s WTF Podcast : Conan O Brien is up now, as always, funny and interesting.

How Did This Get Made Podcast : All About Steve. A terrible movie gets what it deserves

Taxi Driver on Blu Ray :Still gritty, still amazing

I came of “musical age” in the early ‘90’s. I mean the “rock” early ‘90’s. To my 19 year old self Paul Westerberg meant “solo artist” not “The Replacements”. Seattle, as you might imagine, came along at just the right time. Senior year of high school/freshman year of college? Grunge, as it were, was perfectly tuned in to what I was feeling. My friends and I soaked it all in. Nirvana,Alice In Chains, The Singles soundtrack that introduced us to Westerberg,The Screaming Trees and Smashing Pumpkins. Somehow all of that turned into Seven Mary Three and Live, but Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters emerged and everything seemed okay.

The first record was Grohl alone, save for an apperance by Greg Dulli. (All albums btw, should feature Greg Dulli at least once). It was good, heartfelt guitar rock. And I was not prepared for the monster Colour and The Shape album that followed. It featured a full band,Grohl singing and drumming, and the Foo’s sounded like they had been your favorite band for years. They followed with There Is Nothing Left To Lose, they were one of the few bands who appreciated the fun to be had with music videos and all was right with the world.

Look, I hate it when people complain that their favorite bands become “too big”, but the Foo’s became a fun too watch, very successful band pretty quick. One By One, the band admits, was “five good songs” and thats it. They went the route of a double LP, a live acoustic record, hell even the drummer had a band on the side. They were Aerosmith circa 1978. Echos,Silence,blah, blah…had its moments, but it sounded llike a band trying to sound like the Foo Fighters.

But all is not lost. Yes it was recorded in a garage, but Im guessing Grohl’s garage is a lot nicer than yours or mine. Its a”return to basics, etc…”, but Wasting Light rises above the cliches and returns the Foos to “post ..Nothing To Lose” form. There are moments of Queens of The Stone Age here and there, but mostly its Grohl and Co. sounding like they’re having fun again. “Alandria”, “Back and Forth” and “I Should Have Known” are all highlights. My fav is probably “Dear Rosemary”, which features Boub Mould. Bob Mould to me is Sugar, not Husker Du….so the 90’s return, but not with nostalgic plodding, but a lively, fun set of songs. Hopefully the guitars ring loud for the Foo Fighters for a good long while.

Wasting Light is indeed Dad Rock Approved.