Search Results for: Hold On Tight

Mullets, Chevelles, BMX bikes, muscle cars, cheesy mustaches. The science of guitar solos by White Lion and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt. These are ’80s things bands like Blink-182 like to poke fun at. Damone’s Dave Pino, however, isn’t laughing with them. “That whole mullet thing, American Hi-Fi and Sum 41 can goof on that stuff – the Camaro-driving guy with the mustache. It’s funny and I get it, but it’s offensive to us,” said Pino, the musical mastermind behind Waltham, Massachusetts, rockers Damone. “In this town, we’re stuck in some ’80s suburb,” Pino explained of the working- class Boston ‘burb of… Read more »

When the teen rock band justincase went on the road to promote their self-titled CD on the Maverick label, they took their mother with them. That’s not surprising. The three Tosco siblings – Justin (vocals, guitar), Nick (drums) and Hannahcome from a close-knit family, where music is an important part of their life. “They were exposed to music from the time they were in diapers,” says their father, John Tosco, a guitar teacher who’s prominent on the local music scene. “Music was part of their upbringing.” Around the time Justin was born, John and his wife, Holly, began inviting local… Read more »

“Some bands, when they go away for a while, people start talking bad about you.” said Benji, guitarist for Good Charlotte. “It’s good to come home and see all you kids still supporting us,” said lead singer, Joel, finishing his twin’s comment. Good Charlotte has always been a live band. Both their Self-Titled debut, as well as their sophomore effort, The Young and The Hopeless, tries to capture their spirit – and while some of the fun shines through the recording, nothing can match the energy of their live show. Playing to a packed crowd for their CD Release at… Read more »

Since things went so well during the weekend reunion of the Grateful Dead’s surviving members, the band has decided to go ahead with a fall tour. “All I can say is that the fall tour was set and approved contingent on a good weekend and since it was a far better than good weekend I am certainly confident the shows will go,” said Dennis McNally, the band’s publicist and biographer. McNally said Monday he didn’t know when tickets would go on sale for the 15-show tour of the Midwest and East Coast in November and December. Thousands of Deadheads converged… Read more »

What were you expecting? A wheelchair, some crutches? Just a few months after a car accident involving singer Scott Stapp derailed Creed’s summer tour, the band is back and, seemingly, no worse for the wear. On the fourth date of the resurrected second leg of their Weathered tour, Creed preached to the converted at a nearly sold-out Polaris Amphitheater on a night when all the flames, fireworks and smoke bombs added heat to the already muggy Midwestern night. The nearly two-hour show was a no-frills affair, with Stapp slowly walking the front of the stage as he belted out one… Read more »

Radio remains one of the most powerful marketing tools available to the recording industry, despite skyrocketing costs of gaining access to the airwaves via independent promoters. While word-of-mouth, video and Internet brush fires occasionally catapult unknowns to stardom, radio remains the most reliable and efficient means of enticing listeners to record stores. Yet many fans surfing the airwaves are far from satisfied. The complaint: Consolidation has made radio even more cookie-cutter bland, with narrow, unimaginative playlists. Demographic targeting and audience testing eliminate variety, stifle regionalism and foist the least objectionable music on the public. Failing to recognize that an individual’s… Read more »

Even where she doesn’t speak the native tongue, Mary J. Blige still gets her point across. The queen of hip-hop soul didn’t cut back on her usual motivational speeches and minister-esque lectures during her concert Friday night at Columbiahalle, a converted gym in Berlin’s Tempelhof district. The crowd ate up every word, despite the likelihood that Blige’s rapid-fire chatter and sassy-sista slang baffled even the most advanced English students in the house. But M.J.B. communicates with everything she’s got. At the end of “Children of the Ghetto,” the singer – clad in a black D&G tank top, skintight pants and… Read more »

Paul McCartney has nothing left to prove. He’s a Beatle. He’s a knight. He’s an honorary American. He’s been everywhere, done everything. But in Oakland Monday night, he showed up simply “to rock ‘n’ roll.” And after a 2 1/2-hourlong feast for the eyes and ears, McCartney had done his job. He left a sell-out crowd of 15,000 satisfied. With a non-stop set dominated by Beatles tunes from “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Yesterday” to “The End” and “Getting Better,” which McCartney claimed had never before been performed in concert, he rocked, he rolled, he paid tribute to John Lennon… Read more »

Few bands have a résumé as extensive as the one belonging to They Might Be Giants, so it’s no wonder their music should make perfect fodder for a documentary. In their 20 years together, the quirky duo of John Linnell and John Flansburgh have successfully telemarketed themselves into underground celebrity, composed scores and theme music for television and film, and won a Grammy (for “Boss of Me,” the theme to “Malcolm in the Middle”), while recording seven studio LPs and a slew of EPs, live albums and singles. Flansburgh even found time to moonlight as a video director, helming clips… Read more »

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Michael Stipe asked the crowd soon after R.E.M. took the stage Thursday night at the venerable venue. “Practice,” the crowd blurted in unison. “Well, we didn’t,” Stipe responded. “So if you hear a bum note or something that doesn’t sound right, I urge you to sing louder in your head.” The tour-shy Athens rockers and granola-pop folkie Jewel were among those on hand for an evening of spirited entertainment at “You Gotta Have Friends: Partners in the Fight Against AIDS,” a benefit for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. ( from the event.) Judging… Read more »