A recent combination of two of my favorite things, music and the internet, recently went into “public preview” mode. Haystack.com is a social networking site for music lovers. There are only 600 or so artists on the site currently, but I’m sure that number will be climbing high very quickly. In the end, the hope is that users can easily find new music that appeals to my tastes very quickly, while the artists can share the advertising revenue generated by their content.

This sounds like a great idea in theory, I’m excited to see how it all works out. Check it out for yourself, here is my personal page.

I met up with a group of friends at Davey’s Uptown last night for the Steve Poltz show. A guy by the name of Billy Harvey opened the show and was very similar in style and sound to Poltz. I heard that he is (was?) the guitarist for Bob Schneider. I would try to confirm that, but both of their websites are extremely difficult to navigate. Sure they may look good and are fun to play with, but it shouldn’t be hard to find the info that many people will want.

Anyway, the show was great, as usual. Billy Harvey put on a short but sweet set and later shared the stage with Poltz on a few songs. I’ve seen Steve Poltz a few times before and I’ve always left the shows in a great mood. He is one of the most entertaining performers I have seen and that was definitely true last night. At one point he sang an impromptu song about one of the individuals in the small crowd, KCTV5’s Sophia Wharton, after finding out that she was a local news anchor. The rest of the night was full of requests from everyone in the room, almost all of which were played. It’s nice to see a small and intimate show from time to time, and luckily for me Steve Poltz shines in this environment.

Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe were in town last night and I was there. I don’t think I would have went without free tickets from a friend, especially after realizing the cheapest ticket was almost $60 with all the fees. However, lots of others must have paid for the tickets because the show was packed. Last I heard the attendance was estimated at almost 15,000!

Growing up I was a big fan of Mötley Crüe. A friend of mine (who lived next door) listened to a lot of heavy metal and thus it wasn’t long until I was introduced to their music. I can recall many hours spent listening to all of their albums from that moment on. Despite my longtime interest in the band, I had never seen them perform live until last night.

Mötley Crüe opened up the show and played an hour and a half set, almost on the dot. We were a little late getting inside the venue and missed the “Dr. Feelgood” opener. I’m still a little upset by that but I heard the remainder of their set. The vocals left a little to be desired, but the instrumentation was great! It appears that the years may have gotten the best of Vince Neil. Their show comes complete with fireworks, flames, and even a motorcycle for the classic “Girls, Girls, Girls” sing-along. At times it was a little much and the fog became so thick it was almost impossible to see anyone on the stage. Overall it was still nice to finally see them live.

Aerosmith played next after a 30 minute set change. Both acts had quite the stage setup. The opening of their performance consisted of a video projected on the stage curtains highlighting their long career. Once the film was complete the band took the stage playing “Toys In The Attic.” From there the moved through a wide variety of songs which included my personal highlights “Eat the Rich”, “Cryin’,” and “Dream On.” Steven Tyler performed much better than Vince Neil and actually shows very little of his age. And as good as Mötley Crüe musicians were, Joe Perry was amazing on guitar.

With that said, I found it pretty weak that they only played for what some are saying was 75 minutes. I though it was barely over an hour, to be honest, after taking into account the two times they played extended videos. The videos were before they started and in the encore break. For me, the videos just reminded me of all of the songs that they could have played. We did get to hear “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way” toward the end of the show, but I would have loved to hear some of the other big hits.

I’m glad that I didn’t pay for the show because if I had I would feel even more ripped off, especially for the prices that some people were paying. The best seats of the night sold for $200 face value!

Another review: Back To Rockville

I went to my first show since the Gorge last night, that’s over a month between shows! I guess it’s been a slow month around these parts, or I’ve been busy with other things. The performers of the night were Marc Broussard, Sara Bareilles, and Tanner Walle, but in the opposite order.

I hadn’t seen Tanner in a long time, so it was good to see him play even if we missed the beginning of his set. He opened the show quite nicely and is leaving on Sunday for his first real tour. Hopefully the road treats him well, I think it will. Sara Bareilles was next and I knew absolutely nothing about her. By the end of the first song I was amazed. She plays keys and had a guy accompanying her on guitar and backup vocals. Her voice is excellent and the music wasn’t shabby either. Think Norah Jones or Tori Amos. We bought a sample CD of hers for five bucks, so maybe I’ll get a song of the moment up here next week.

Broussard took the stage last with a couple friends of his that I’ve seen play with him numerous times before, Calvin Turner and Chad Gilmore. The last time I saw Marc was over a year ago, but little has changed. There are numerous new songs, but the show is just as rocking as I remember. I was a little worried that it wouldn’t be as good of a show without a lead guitar player, but I hardly noticed as the sound was very full. I taped most of the night, so be on the lookout for that early next week!

I’ve been waiting for this for years, an official live album from the Virginia Coalition. I’ve often said that VACO is one of the best live acts around, and this album should help to prove that. However I still believe that you have to see and hear the show in person to fully appreciate it. Anyway, Live At The 9:30 Club is a two disc set recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. It includes many old favorite songs in addition to a few previously unreleased songs, one of which is “Gates Of Wisdom.” After downloading this track be sure to purchase the entire album either online or in a local store! You can also hear more of the album on their myspace.com page. Enjoy!

From the House of Blues mailing list, via my buddy Mike:

The Dave Matthews Band closed The Gorge Amphitheatre 2006 Summer Concert Series over Labor Day Weekend, drawing 64,468 fans and grossing $3,360,485. The new attendance record eclipsed DMB’s previous Gorge attendance record of 61,337 set during the band’s 2004 performances at The Gorge. Since The Dave Matthews Band’s first headlining appearance at the venue in July 1997, they have performed 24 shows at The Gorge and drawn 488,832 fans to the award-winning venue in Central Washington State. The audience comes from all over North America, with tickets sold to people in all 50 states and most Canadian Provinces.

Said Jeff Trisler, Senior Vice President at House Of Blues Concerts, “Never in the history of the touring business has there been such a perfect match between artist, audience and venue as there is with the epic Dave Matthews Band concerts at The Gorge. To break their own attendance record in their 10th season at The Gorge is a true testament to the depth of the band’s fan base and the remarkable quality of the shows. House Of Blues Concerts is honored to be a part of this great ongoing legacy.”

In 2006 The Gorge Amphitheatre (nine time winner of Pollstar Magazine’s “Best Large Outdoor Venue in North America) hosted 14 concert events that attracted 244,818 paying customers, setting a new average show attendance record of 17,487 for the 22,000 capacity venue.

No mention of O.A.R. but we all know they were the reason for the boost in attendance. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, I know I did. Here’s a summary of what we did while in Washington.

We arrived in Seattle pretty late on Wednesday so we found the hotel and rested up for the next day. Thursday started with a trip up Queen Anne Hill for coffee and views of the city. Both the view and the drinks were great. I only hope that my panorama shot turn out as good as this one.

From there we headed down to the Pike Place Market. It was still pretty early in the morning but the market was already fairly crowded. We didn’t want to spend too much time there and couldn’t really buy anything so we just watched the guys throw some fish around for a few minutes. From there we walked down to the water and bought tickets for a Argosy harbor cruise along with the aquarium. I’m really glad we took the cruise. It provided great information and wonderful photo opportunities.

Later in the evening we walked around Seattle Center and before too long called it a night. All the walking we did and the time change got the best of us. We still managed to see pretty much everything I wanted to see and did it all in one day.

Friday morning we left for the Gorge. The drive there was very scenic as we drove through the Cascades. After a couple of hours we arrived at the campsite. Getty’s Cove sits right on the Columbia River and there is even a bridge you can jump off of into the river. It’s a great place to stay when seeing a show at the Gorge. Speaking of the Gorge, it is everything you expect and more! The view from the seats truly is incredible. The shows were amazing and I’m so glad I can finally say that I’ve been there. When can I return?

Posting for the next couple of days will be sporadic at best. After work today we are heading up to the airport and flying to Seattle. From there we’ll spend tonight and all of tomorrow in downtown Seattle. I’m sure we’ll do all sorts of the touristy things, since neither of us have been to Seattle. Thanks for all of the suggestions before, it is going to help a ton.

Friday morning we are driving with a couple of friends to meet up with even more friends at Getty’s Cove. This will serve as our home for the following three nights as we take in a Dave Matthews Band and O.A.R. concert each night at the glorious Gorge Amphithetre! I’ve been waiting for years for a trip to the Gorge and it is finally here. I cannot wait any longer!

This past Saturday we headed toward the Beaumont Club to see Reel Big Fish along with some other bands play to a rather large crowd. I finally got to see RBF again after taking a three year hiatus (the last time I saw them play was 07.09.2003). They were just as good as the last time I saw them, even though some of the non-core members seem to change each time I see them now. Everyone that came along with our group seemed to enjoy the show as well. I think my friends are finally trusting me when I say to go to a show.

Speaking of RBF, they have a new live album out called “Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album” and so far I would have to agree. My live album never was any good. Seriously though, there are 30 songs between two CDs and there is also a bonus DVD. I haven’t had a chance to watch the DVD yet, but I have listened to the CDs multiple times and I have to say that they alone are worth the $20. Since the band doesn’t allow taping, like so many of the other bands I listen to do, this is really my only chance to have some live versions of my favorite songs. I’ve got an extra copy of the album if you are interested, or you can head over to CD Baby to buy one.

As I mentioned before, I’m going to merge the song of the moments into my blog. I’ve created a new SOTM category that can be used to track all of these songs. If, god forbid, you forget about edpaffjr.com and down the road you want to see all of the songs of the moment, you can use the blog category to do so.

Without further adieu, I give you the first song of the moment in quite some time, Michael Franti & Spearhead – “Yell Fire!”

“Franti has created an inspiring, uplifting new album of original songs titled Yell Fire! 14 new songs inspired by his trip to Iraq, Israel and Occupied Territories of Palestine. Recorded in Kingston, Jamaica and Franti’s hometown of San Francisco, California.”

Obviously this is the title track off of their latest CD and it is also the current single. The rest of the albums is just as good as this track and on the same level as the last CD, Everyone Deserves Music. You can check out more of the music and buy the CD at myspace.com and at spearheadvibrations.com. Be sure to check out the recently announced tour dates and catch a live show if you can. You will NOT be disappointed.