With events unfolding in Columbus, Ohio and around the country, we are taking a break from our usual Saturday night programming.
Read MoreTV Party Tonight!: "Under the Gun!" / Paul Stanley vs Steven Van Zandt - by Colin Gawel
Colin Gawel goes down a YouTube rabbit hole exploring a surprising connection between The Starchild and Little Steven!
Read MoreOwen Finally Checks The Hives Off His List - by Colin Gawel
One byproduct of my wife & I both running small businesses is that our son Owen never spent much time in day-care or after-school programs. We had combined flexibility to cover his schedule most of the time. While this is surely a blessing, on occasion it could feel like a curse (i.e. the morning after a gig). Parenting a young child is hard work and requires mental toughness along with physical energy to get through the day.
One of the preferred tools in my parenting toolbox was rock n roll. Starting at a very young age, whether with bootleg KISS VHS tapes playing on the TV or music blasting while we threw baseballs in the yard, music was ALWAYS playing. I capitalized the word always because I’m serious. Ask Owen, I cannot do anything without music playing in the background. Everything goes on pause until the tunes start back up.
The upshot of all this is that Owen became a very knowledgeable rock n roll fan at a very young age. In pre-school, when he wasn’t singing along and the teacher asked him why, he said he didn’t like the song. She asked, “What songs do you like?” He answered, “I like Cheap Trick songs.” Once I told him if he wanted to be a real Aerosmith fan he should be able to name what song was on which album and I started quizzing him. Eventually, I couldn’t stump him: “Critical Mass?” Owen’s answer, Draw the Line.
Owen is just finishing his freshman year of high school so his hardcore rock n roll days are behind him for the time being: Hip Hop/Rap, or what have you, are what the kids are into these days. Sure, some of the songs make me throw up in my mouth a little. Okay, maybe most of the songs have that effect but I understand. I’m pretty sure my parents weren’t too jazzed about the song “Lick It Up” or when I needed a ride at 4 am to wait in line for Iron Maiden tickets. Parents aren’t supposed to like what the kids are listening to. That ruins all the fun.
However, along the way Owen and I managed to catch a bunch of great rock n roll shows:
Cheap Trick x 6
KISS x 3
Aerosmith X 2
Bruce Springsteen X 3
The Who
The Rolling Stones
Foo Fighters
AC/DC
That pretty much covers every band Owen was ever obsessed with for any period of time except for…..The Hives. Unless The Ramones come back from the grave, this is the last big-time band Owen really wants to see. It’s the end of an era.
So, finally…..The Hives are coming to Columbus, Ohio for the Sonic Arts Festival and we are planning on being there. When I asked if he wanted to go, he gave an enthusiastic, “Yeah, I guess that sounds okay.” Which is actually a ringing endorsement coming from a teenager. And to be honest, I dread going to this stupid festival with my computer-activated wristband and $25 parking fee, but I digress. I am truly excited to watch The Hives, one of the greatest rock n roll bands of all time, even if just for a 40 minute set from the bleachers. And sharing it with Owen makes it even better.
Colin Gawel plays rock n roll both solo and in the band Watershed. He wrote this at Colin’s Coffee in Upper Arlington, Ohio. To learn more click Colin tab at the top of the screen.
Concert Review: KISS / The End of The Road / Live in Pittsburgh, March 20, 2019 - by Jeremy Porter
My history with KISS started around the age of 9 years old with KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park and the HBO special. I was all in. Double Platinum and Alive! were my first two KISS albums. I was an Ace guy, but loved Gene, and Paul and Peter after that. I lost interest when Unmasked came out, briefly bought back in for Lick It Up, saw them a couple times in the ‘80s out of sheer convenience, then checked out again until Unplugged aired. Since then the old stuff has again been in regular rotation. I married a girl who grew up on “God of Thunder” and (in) “Detroit Rock City.” I regretted missing the reunion with Ace and Peter, especially the first show in Tiger Stadium, but I didn't lose any sleep over it. I had better things to do with my time and money. As members came and went, money kept coming in, YouTube evidence of Paul's deteriorating voice or his artificial ways of masking it surfaced, and the announcement that this it - THE END OF THE ROAD – was made, I was indifferent, if not mildly annoyed. Still, those early records were in rotation.
Detroit was a huge city for KISS, second only to New York, and maybe even equal. The city embraced them early and often, and it was Alive!, recorded (*cough*) at Detroit's Cobo Hall, that broke them. The morning of the Detroit show my wife was in a funk, tickets pulled up on StubHub, looking for someone to be her partner in crime for the concert. Hell, she was even willing to spring for the tickets. I couldn't go, and her friends didn't exactly rally behind her with Starchild grease paint on, so she missed out. The subject came up again a couple times over the next week & a half as she moped around the house humming classic tracks and asking me which album they were on. Until this past Friday night. An hour earlier it wasn't even on the table, but now we had tickets and a hotel room walking distance from the arena. In the morning we would leave for Pittsburgh. If I'm being honest, I was kinda dragged to the show, but when I clicked “Purchase” on the tickets I made the decision to approach it with an open mind, and regardless of my gripes, have fun. By the time we started pre-gaming I was legitimately pretty excited.
The PPG Arena is your standard, modern hockey arena I suppose. Long lines to get in, but a pretty smooth operation. If you put the work in you can find a decent whiskey in a plastic Penguins cup, and there's no shortage of merch-booths and food for every palette. We walked down to our seats, about 12 rows back on the Gene-side. Tickets said 7:30 pm. We'd heard about a painter who did a short bit to open the show, but the ushers were talking about a 30-minute film that would start at 7:45, then KISS at 8:30. There was no painter and no film, just a looping 2-minute video commercial for the KISS KRUISE. At 8:45, 75 minutes after the advertised show time, the lights went down. Mildly annoyed that we could have used that hour-fifteen in a few other ways, we stood up to “YOU WANTED THE BEST YOU GOT THE BEST!” This was it.
They went into “Detroit Rock City” and it was pretty clear from the start that this wasn't your average concert. We could feel the heat from the pyrotechnics and the band was clearly fired up too. I quickly took out my ear plugs and realized that it wasn't that loud at all and sounded better without. We were loving the set-list as we got “Shout it Out Loud” and “Deuce,” but the stinker “Say Yeah” four songs in was the perfect opportunity to get a drink. I made it back for most of “I Love it Loud” and stayed put for the rest of the set. Highlights for me were “100,000 Years,” “Dr. Love,” and “Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll.” The encore included an unnecessary “Beth,” with Eric Singer playing a sequined piano that would have made Liberace blush, followed by an unexpected “Do You Love Me?” before they wrapped it up with “Rock and Roll All Night.”
It was possibly the least boring show I've ever seen: an explosion here, a laser show there, platforms elevating and Paul flying out to the second stage for “Love Gun” and “I Was Made for Loving You,” not to mention the blood-spitting, fire-breathing, tongue-wagging antics of The Demon. The guitar solo (mostly stolen from Ace's Alive II “Shock Me” solo) and the drum solo (largely lifted from Peter's Alive! “100,000 Years” solo) were a bit cliche, but whaddya expect? Somehow we survived into the next tunes.
There's a lot you can say about and against KISS, and in my book it's mostly valid, but you can't say these guys are phoning it in. They came out on their game and didn't stop until it was over. At 67 years old, Paul Stanley is as good a front-man as there is, and even though his raspy, hoarse, between-song banter didn't exactly match the healthy, vibrant signing we heard through the mains, he deserves a nod for the work he put in. Gene was great - I've said for years that he's an under-rated bassist and singer. And other than the fact that they're hired guns wearing the makeup of members long belittled and forgotten by the bosses, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer are top-notch musicians who not only held their own, but added some youth and excitement onstage.
It was nearly midnight by the time we got out of there. As we walked back up Liberty Street toward our hotel I had to admit that it was a damn good time and I was really glad I went. It was everything KISS said it would be, and it was nothing they said it wouldn't. No political rants, not even any cussing from the stage, just a super high-energy show, a whole bunch of great songs, a celebration of one hell of a run, and an arena full of satisfied customers. I might just have to go back for the next Farewell tour.
Pittsburgh Set List:
Detroit Rock City
Shout It Out Loud
Deuce
Say Yeah
I Love It Loud
Heaven's on Fire
War Machine (Gene breathes fire)
Lick It Up
Calling Dr. Love
100,000 Years (with drum solo)
Cold Gin (with Tommy Thayer guitar solo )
God of Thunder (with bass solo)
Psycho Circus
Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll
Love Gun
I Was Made for Lovin' You
Black Diamond
Encore:
Beth
Do You Love Me
Rock and Roll All Nite
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos - www.thetucos.com
Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit -
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic
Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive | www.rockandrollrestrooms.com
I'm Playing High Stakes Poker with a Demon - by Colin Gawel
Or put another way, how can KISS tickets be this expensive?
I last saw KISS in Dayton three years ago. There were maybe 5,000 people at the show. Paul sang OK, but it wasn’t great. When they recently announced their latest 140 date “Farewell Tour” my first two thoughts were: 1. No way Paul can sing that many shows and 2. No way they are going to be able to fill all those arenas.
The jury is still out on question one, but according to the online markets, KISS is suddenly as popular as Fleetwood Mac or Elton John. Right now I am looking at ticket prices 36 hours out from some roadie screaming “YOU WANTED THE BEST…..” and Ticketmaster is still showing a sell-out, as has been the case since the day tickets went on sale. That alone seemed suspicious. I was guesting at CD102.5 that same day and Program Director Mase (and fellow KISS fan ) said, “No way that show sold out. That’s bullshit. That’s a Groupon show for sure.” I agreed. Yet here we are, the show is sold out and.….resale markets are showing that even the worst seats in the upper deck are going for $200.
Who are all these people that are suddenly so jacked to see Kiss? I own a coffee shop and I haven’t met ONE person who has KISS tickets. And these are the sort of people that go see Cher or The Eagles just because it's the thing to do. I asked my younger, hip co-worker if KISS was suddenly cool again and she answered “Anyone I know, who actually know KISS, hates KISS.”
Even among my personal KISS super-fan circle, (mainly comprised of people who attended the KISS convention last year on Mother’s Day in Indianapolis), only half of us have tickets. I mean, if we don’t even all have tickets who are the other 18,000 folks paying top dollar to hear “Heaven’s on Fire” and “War Machine” one final time? And did I mention KISS is playing the very next night in Cleveland and then later in Cincinnati? So it’s not like they are only playing a handful of dates on the “End of the Road” tour.
Anyway, I have no answers. My brain cannot figure it out. I’ve told myself there is NO WAY i’m paying $200 to sit in the back of an arena to see a declining KISS for yet another time.
But…. my inner nine-year old knows better. KISS Alive is the reason I started playing guitar. When other guys would get grounded for sneaking out and meeting girls in high school, I got grounded for sneaking out and road-tripping to see KISS in Cincy on the Asylum tour. Instead of kissing a girl at midnight, I spent New Year’s Eve my senior year seeing KISS at Hara Arena in Dayton on the....gulp.....Crazy Nights tour. It was a terrible show but I loved it anyway. (Click here for the setlist) So the idea of me sitting home this Saturday night knowing full well that I’d be skipping my final chance to hear “100,000 Years” would be a bitter pill indeed.
I suspect that somewhere Gene Simmons knows this. He is calling my bluff. If an election can be rigged through Facebook, I’m sure some troll factory shared the fact I’m constantly hijacking threads with KISS-related debates and shared that info with Stubhub. I mean, just google the words: Kiss Pencilstorm and see how many stories pop up. I just did; it’s pages and pages. Even worse than my incriminating paper trail of KISS fanaticism is the actual super-powers KISS possess as seen in the acclaimed documentary KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. Starchild can use his magic star-eye to see into my soul and say “Demon, don’t lower prices, he will ending paying whatever we tell him to pay.” The Demon would respond “RRrrrrrrrrr.”
Ugh. Why does loving KISS always have to be so damn hard? - Colin G.
Colin Gawel founded Pencilstorm and wrote this at Colin’s Coffee. He really likes the KISS record Monster but doesn’t care for Sonic Boom. Click on his Pencilstorm tab to hear his bands.
This Is Not the Way Rock & Roll Was Supposed To Turn Out - by Ricki C.
(editor’s note: It’s not exactly a state secret around the Pencilstorm offices that Ricki C. occasionally goes off the deep end about his beloved “rock & roll.” The phrase “Ricki’s in a mood” is often bandied about as a whispered warning among writers & staffers, as an alert that all is not well. I believe this piece is going to reflect Ricki’s more SNL Drunk Uncle leanings than his usual more careful, controlled, measured prose leanings. It’s gonna be long, it’s gonna be scattered, and there’s gonna be profanity. Proceed at your own risk and keep the kiddies away from the blog.)
This is not the way rock & roll was supposed to turn out. I’m 66 years old. I’ve been listening to and loving rock & roll since I was 5 years old, sitting in the backseat of my sainted Italian father’s 1952 Oldsmobile, drinking in the sounds of “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly or “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters as my much-older sister & brother punched the dial of the radio in the front seat. (Actually, it’s more likely I was STANDING UP on the back seat listening, because I was too little to see over the front seat otherwise, and I wanted to see where we were going. Car seats for the little ones? I don’t THINK SO, mister. Not in 1957 Columbus, Ohio, America, anyway. We had one car that had an oscillating fan with no cover over the blades ON THE DASHBOARD. Forget just hitting your head on the metal dash in case of a sudden stop – and this was YEARS before seat belts became mandatory, or even common, in cars – in the case of that car your FACE was gonna literally hit the fan.)
But I digress………
Colin asked me a coupla weeks ago to write a blog about the umpteenth “reunion” tour by The Who, who will be performing with (God help us) symphony orchestras on their upcoming Spring tour. That topic – along with Nick Jezierney’s KISS Tacoma Dome blog, JCE’s Glorious Sons piece, and Colin’s Bohemian Rhapsody post – have kinda conspired to put me train-round-the bend about rock & roll in 2019.
KISS was not supposed to still EXIST in 2019, let alone still be touring. Bands like The Glorious Sons who – let’s face facts – are unlikely to EVER get much bigger than playing small clubs on their own, or opening slots for slightly more popular “alternative” bands’ theater shows, will NEVER get the opportunity to develop into the upper ranks of rock & roll because the Dinosaur Relics of the 1970’s are STILL clogging up the arenas in the Upper Echelons of rock & roll. And Queen should not be permitted to just enlist some fuckboy American Idol has-been loser singing lead and some faceless bass player and still CALL THEMSELVES QUEEN AND PLAY ARENAS.
But they will, because – rubes that some of us are – we will still plonk down our hard-earned money to see them. Are we SO HARD UP for entertainment out here in Trump-country that we will get in our cars and drive to the Enormo-Dome to see Queen? I mean come on, this is a band that hasn’t put out an album in DECADES and whose (admittedly genius) lead singer Freddie Mercury hadn’t performed in public since 1986 (33 years ago) and died in 1991 (28 YEARS AGO!).
But that’s kinda the point, really, isn’t it, that ALL we have left is our memories? Our memories of when rock & roll was a thriving, vital force in our lives, not an adjunct – and truthfully not a very LARGE adjunct, compared to pop & rap – of the music business or of – God help us – SHOW BUSINESS.
This is not the way rock & roll was supposed to turn out. Rock was supposed to roll itself over every ten years or so: Buddy Holly & Chuck Berry & Elvis Presley were supposed to give way to The Beatles & The Rolling Stones & The Who, who (pun intended) were supposed to give way to Led Zeppelin & Queen & KISS, who were supposed to turn everything over to The Ramones & The Clash & Elvis Costello; only somewhere in there in the mid-1970’s, rock & roll became lucrative enough an industry to get the attention of the Big Money Men of Show Business. And that was pretty much The Ball Game; my baby boom brethren and the Curse of Classic Rock Radio ruined EVERYTHING.
Rock & roll was never supposed to be show business: Bob Hope & Doris Day & John Wayne & Frank Sinatra & maybe even The Beatles were show business, The Rolling Stones & The Kinks were rock & roll; The Osmond Brothers & Warren Beatty & Ali McGraw were show business, Lou Reed & Bruce Springsteen were rock & roll; Britney Spears & The Dave Matthews Band were show business, The Strokes & The White Stripes were rock & roll. And right there – in the Ricki C. universe – is where rock & roll STOPPED.
I’m now gonna attempt to tie all this up in a pretty little bow, before I hit 1000 words. I have MY memories of rock & roll. Some of them are of Mott The Hoople, whom Queen was supposed to OPEN for at Mershon Auditorium here in Columbus in 1974, but Queen didn’t open, because apparently Brian May contracted hepatitis and they had to blow out part of the tour. Mott The Hoople will be embarking on a “1974 Line-Up” reunion tour in early April. Mott The Hoople was – and IS – one of my five favorite bands of all time but I won’t be going to see them this spring.
Why? Mostly because I’ve seen Ian Hunter – Mott The Hoople’s main songwriter & front-man – as a solo act probably a dozen times since 1976, most recently in 2013 in Kent, Ohio, at Kent Stage, one of my favorite Midwest venues. Hunter consistently records new material, his most recent CD - 2016’s Fingers Crossed - was great and his Rant Band is a killer live assemblage. At the other extreme, the entire rhythm section of the original Mott The Hoople – bassist Overend Watts and drummer Dale “Buffin” Griffin – passed away in 2017 & 2016, respectively, and the two other members – lead guitarist Ariel Bender (Luther Grosvenor) and pianist Morgan Fisher – joined Mott The Hoople in 1973 & 1974, leaving Hunter the only original Mott The Hoople member from the band’s 1969 debut.
Do I begrudge Ian Hunter the cash he’s gonna make from a sold-out Mott The Hoople run? Not on your life, it’s not exactly like Ian became a millionaire from his Hoople association. And the halls Mott The Hoople have sold out on this tour seem to be in the 2000-seat range, they’re hardly Madison Square Garden. It ain’t like Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey of The Who, Don Henley from The Eagles, or Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley from KISS dragging the rotted, bloating corpses of their original bands ‘round The Colonies for one more cash-grab reunion tour.
I have great memories of live Mott The Hoople. And I’m gonna keep ‘em.
This is not the way rock & roll was supposed to turn out. – Ricki C. / March 3rd, 2019
MOTT THE HOOPLE / 1973
MOTT THE HOOPLE / 2018
(He’s one of my five biggest heroes in ALL of rock & roll, he still looks & sounds great, but what the FUCK is Ian Hunter doing with an ACOUSTIC GUITAR at a Mott The Hoople reunion show? Get out the old Gibsons & Guilds, mate.)