Saturday nights in the '90s meant one thing for me: Flicking between MTV's "Headbangers Ball" and "Howard Stern" on WWOR Channel 9 out of New Jersey. I'd listen to both at hushed volumes, because if my mother in the neighboring room heard the Satanic blasts from Armored Saint or Stern asking a woman how much kielbasa she could swallow, she'd anoint me with holy water (she had a bottle of it in the kitchen).
 
It was exciting to watch the glimmer of the TV beaming me Anthrax's "Belly of the Beast," Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss" and occasionally stuff that scared me, like King Diamond. When he came on, I'd switch to Stern or "Up All Night" on USA.
 
As a fan of Primus, Rush and Helmet, I didn't realize how groundbreaking -- and short-lived -- of a thing it was to have an outlet that played some prog, some thrash and alternative rock. "Headbangers Ball" introduced me to Ministry, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. I didn't know what grunge was -- I just knew those bands were heavy, and I knew I liked them.
 
Sometimes when a song on the show was just too good to be played quietly, I'd tiptoe into the living room and watch it there. This backfired once when I was watching "Holy Wars" by Megadeth. My mom heard the ruckus and came to check it out. I think she thought she had a little Satanist on her hands, but what can you do? It's like the time she let me buy "Master of Puppets," complete with white crosses on the cover, on the way home from church.
 
For old time's sake, here's "Holy Wars (The Punishment Due)" from Megadeth's best album, "Rust In Peace," a CD I bought twice and lost twice. I'll find it someday.
 
www.youtube.com/watch
 

Years ago, to find out what the Grateful Dead played the night before, you’d have to wait for a fan newsletter, visit your local head shop which might kindly post the setlist or call a hotline. Now, 40-plus years into the band — and fans’ — career, there’s Twittering of in-progress setlists, cell-phone video on YouTube and full-show recordings available online almost instantly.

On one hand, all of this information takes away some of the excitement, mystery and exclusivity of being there. On the other hand, it improves the fan experience, gears you up for future shows and allows you to, in a way, experience the entire tour.

For a band that accidentally spearheaded file sharing way back in the ’70s when it allowed audience members to tape and trade their shows, it should come as no surprise that The Dead have further embraced social networking. The band announced its reunion via YouTube videos. It updates its Web site, www.dead.net, each night with setlists and photos. Fans can add photos, videos and comments, too. Space cadet/drummer Mickey Hart is even posting daily sounds to synch up with astronomy photos. 

Here’s a few ways to follow The Dead’s spring tour. Of course, the best way to experience live music is to be in the arena when the band hits the stage.

Audience recordings
www.archive.org/details/TheDead

Tour updates
www.dead.net/dead09

Dead Twitter
twitter.com/grateful__dead

Rehearsal videos
www.dead.net/video09/

Buy soundboard recordings
deadnetstore.com

Weekender interview with Bill Kreutzmann
www.theweekender.com/music/Much_life_left_in_The_Dead_04-14-2009.html

 

On Jan. 17, 2008, I sat at TGI Friday’s, nervously eating and looking out the window at the driving snow. Would people come out to this thing? Would the bands make it down Interstate 81?

They did. And so we had our first installment in the Fixture music series. And The Moneynotes, the Orner Brothers and a packed house at Fuse on snowy night in Wilkes-Barre assured that we’d at least last long enough to do this again. And we did. Fourteen more times actually.

We moved the location to The Bog in Scranton when we learned Fuse was about to be sold. But that worked out too. We kept things low key and didn’t pat ourselves on the back publicly, but now that the series has come to an end, reflection is appropriate.

You can say it was a dumb idea, you can say it wasn’t right for NEPA and you can say it wasn’t any fun. I would disagree on all counts.

But what you can’t argue is facts. Illinois, Hoots and Hellmouth, Oxford Collapse, Fooling April, The Swimmers, These United States and Cotton Jones never played this market until we brought them here. Local band The Underground Saints never played an all-original set until we had them last year at Fuse.

Artists on some of the premier indie labels in the world like Sub Pop, Park the Van and Suicide Squeeze passed through territory that is, 99.9 percent of the time, no man’s land for up-and-coming bands looking to play in front of receptive crowds. College towns and big cities is where they play. Well, they played NEPA, too. And if it wasn’t for this series — and the people that booked, promoted and organized it, Bill Orner and myself — these bands wouldn’t have come here. That’s not said to impress anyone, but it is said with a sense of pride. We put Scranton on the map in the minds of a few bands, and each and every one had a great time and said they’d be back.

Maybe sometime soon someone will follow in our footsteps and do something similar. I hope they do. I’ll be the first one in line at the door.

Until then, thanks to all the musicians and music lovers that came out time and time again. We had a lot of repeat customers, and I’d like to think we made some new friends along the way.

Don’t consider these CD reviews. These are just my first-listen impressions of some new albums that are out now or will be out soon. Check back in our Music section for more CD reviews in the future, including some more fleshed-out opinions about the following albums. I’ll be interested to see how my opinions and impressions develop as I give these a few more listens.

Pete Doherty
“Grace/Wastelands”
(Out now)

Leave it to a notorious heroin addict who reportedly taught his cat to smoke crack to create a peaceful, pastoral folk album. Anglophiles fans of Blur, Britpop and The Kinks should check this out, whether or not they like Doherty’s Libertines or Babyshambles. It’s remarkably revealing, very British and has the feel of rolling suburban hills, not tying off in a London bathroom stall. The lead track, “Arcadie,” is a standout.


Handsome Furs
“Face Control”
(Out now)

The primary members of Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug, have a slew of side projects now, including Swan Lake, but the most prominent is Handsome Furs, Boeckner’s duo with his wife Alexei Perry. The tunes of “Face Control,” a very electronic rock album, hew close to the Wolf Parade template, especially WP’s remarkable 2008 effort “At Zoomer Mountain” (a “zoomer” is a psychedelic mushroom, FYI). But despite the heavy use of synths and drum machines, the Handsome Furs album in some ways more organic than “Zoomer,” with Boeckner’s voice pushed in new directions, sometimes leading to a slight rasp or skip. His guitar work is also rawer and, for lack of a better word, more “rock” than on some of the WP stuff. Some nice pop moments, too.

Iggy Pop
“Les Fuellies Mortes”
(Out June 2)

It’s a bit premature to write about this one, as it’s not out in the U.S. until June 2. But I have heard this album, and I owe it an apology. When I saw the French title and the note that it is “score music” for a film, I thought “uhh….pass.” Big mistake! Iggy croons a la Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen, backed by cocktail-hour strings, he sings in French, he sings in English, and he does his best Alice Cooper in “Nice to be Dead.” I still haven’t listened to the whole thing, but this is going to be a keeper.

 

It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a good cover band, so I was happy to hear The Tom Petty Appreciation Band was to play The Bog in Scranton on Parade Day a few weeks ago. It was much better than I had even expected. Yes, the band played what you’d predict, songs like “American Girl” and “You Wreck Me” but I gained a new appreciation for the difficulty of songs like “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and “You Got Lucky.” Pat Finnerty (And The Moneynotes) was spot-on on lead vocals and guitars, as was Pat Flynn (The Underground Saints) on the lead guitar parts. Bassist Mark Kiesinger (The Underground Saints) and drummer Bill Orner (the Orner Brothers) locked in on the rhythms, and Kevin Williams (The Minor White) did an admirable job adding keyboards and synths.

While it’s understandable why these guys won’t play together very much — a focus on their respective original material — here’s hoping they do this here and there moving forward.

I HEARD A SONG, AND I HATED IT

Stupid Katy Perry is the most annoying vocalist since Alanis Morissette. This is going to sound sexist, but her only redeemable talent is having large breasts. The way she sings the word “night” in the chorus of “Thinking of You” really gets under my skin, and the most frustrating part is I can’t imitate it. It’s like she has some foreign accent and method of phrasing that only she uses. You win, Katy!

NEW DISCS!

Everyone knows about the new U2 album, but there’s a lot of other interesting new releases out there, or soon to be out there. I’m really fond of “The Hazards of Love,” the new Decemberists concept album. I think Mastodon’s “Crack the Skye” is going to grow on me, too, and did you know Bob Dylan has a new one out next month? That sly old dog! 
 

About the Author

Education
Penn State University, University Park
Bachelors degree: Journalism, English minor
Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia
Masters of arts degree: Writing studies
Manchester University, Manchester, England
Communications

Selected Publications
The Weekender, LexisNexis Securities Litigation, ESPN.com, The Associated Press, Philadelphia Daily News, Philly Edge, Universitywire.com, The Daily Collegian

From
Pittston

Resides
Scranton

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