Moondance Jam Kicks Off Tonight

Now in its 22nd year, Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota kicks off this year's festivities tonight, Wednesday, July 17 with the "Pre Jam Party" featuring cover band Hairball, The Fabulous Armadillos, and Transit Authority. Moondance Jam has always focused on classic rock bands, and I've always appreciated how they always seem to book some fantastic, lesser-known bands from the 70s, and all bands get long sets (there's two hours scheduled between every band). This year is no exception with the inclusion of Minneapolis' cult legends Cain, Shooting Star, and Sweet. I'd love see to most of the bands playing, but this style of festival show has several things that I hate: (1) it's an outdoor show, (2) the location is far from civilization, and (3) I don't want to camp or stay in a crappy motel. In addition to the main stage bands listed below, there are four side stages that feature additional acts. If you're a classic rock fan and you have three or four days to commit, Moondance Jam is well worth your time.

Click on the photo to see more pictures of Cain performing at their first reunion show on September 17, 2010 at their induction into the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame (27).

Moondance Jam Main Stage Schedule:

Thursday, July 18
3:00 Cain
5:00 Shooting Star
7:00 Buckcherry
9:00 Cheap Trick
11:00 Mötley Crue

Friday, July 19
3:00 Sweet
5:00 Johnny Rivers
7:00 Blue Öyster Cult
9:00 Bachman & Turner
11:00 Slash

Saturday, July 20
3:00 The Atomic Punks
5:00 Head East
7:00 Halestorm
9:00 Theory Of A Deadman
11:00 The Offspring

GUNS N' ROSES Archive Story

Slash is bringing his solo band to the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina tonight, Thursday, September 23, and I had to use this as an excuse to tell a story about a Guns N' Roses show in Iowa City, Iowa back in 1993 on the Use Your Illusion tour. Here's a scan of the flyer for the show and my backstage pass.

I was helping out with the production company, and was initially supposed to be an usher for the concert. When I got to the arena in the early afternoon, the caterer needed an extra hand so I quickly volunteered. This had to be more interesting than standing around on some stairs all night. This turned into one of the most bizarre concert experiences I've had. Basically, I did all the crap work for the caterer that was brought in from Chicago - I washed dishes, set up meals for the band and crew, and dashed around doing odd errands.

Things quickly turned funny when I had to help set up the band's dressing rooms. Carver Hawkeye Arena served as a hub for athletics at the University of Iowa, and I first saw the band's crew ripping down every athletics picture, plaque, and lettering off the walls. It was later reported that at least $10,000 in damage was done to the backstage area. Cases of beer were stacked floor to ceiling along the entire wall in the dressing rooms but apparently this wasn't enough. Since I was the only local person there, several hundred dollars were stuffed into my hands and I was given a list of hard liquor to buy. The caterer whispered to me to also buy some porno mags, so of course I got the most nasty, sick ones I could find and set them prominently out on the band's tables! After we finished setting up the dressing rooms, the highlight of the night was spotting Queen guitarist Brian May as he entered the building and getting to briefly chat with him, axe in hand.

I never did see any member of G N' R in the backstage areas, but at least I was given a cool crew tour T-shirt. The only break I had was being allowed to watch about 30 minutes of the show from the soundboard area, but I was too exhausted to care at that point. More dishes had to be washed! I vaguely remember finally leaving the venue around 2 or 3 in the morning, completely drained and physically sore. I think the caterer did give me a wad of extra cash at the end of the night, but it's the memories from this that live on!

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Album Review Recap

There's a few bands coming to town yet in September whose latest albums I've previously reviewed. In case you missed them, here's a short recap. Click on the links to read the full reviews.

Revocation - Existence Is Futile (Relapse) - 9/10

Misery Index - Heirs To Thievery (Relapse) - 9/10

Revocation and Misery Index perform tonight, Thursday, September 16 at Station 4 in St. Paul as support to Despised Icon.

Swallow The Sun - New Moon (Spinefarm) - 9/10

Swallow The Sun's last performance in St. Paul with Finntroll and Moonsorrow on April 17, 2010 was reviewed here.

Swallow The Sun performs this Saturday, September 18 at Station 4 in St. Paul as direct support to Katatonia with Orphaned Land and Cold Colours.

Slash - Slash (EMI) - 7/10

Slash performs Thursday, September 23 at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina.

Alation - Demo (Self-released) - 9/10 (updated here)

Alation's performance in Minneapolis with Echoterra on May 21, 2010 was reviewed here.

Alation performs Friday, September 24 at the Star Bar & Grill in Columbia Heights with Ugly Beauty and Bloodtrust.

Album Review Recap

There's at least one show on the concert calendar (below right) every night for the rest of May, so I thought it'd be useful to provide handy links to recent album reviews for many of these bands. There's some great bands coming to town, so hopefully you have a chance to catch a couple of these!

Echoterra - In Your Eyes EP, 7/10

Echoterra - The Law Of One, 8/10

Echoterra plays their first headlining show tonight, Friday, May 21 at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis with Alation, Hollowstone, and Dance Of The Mourning Child. The band will also perform Saturday, May 22 at Station 4 in St. Paul as part of the Earl Root Memorial Metal Massacre 2 fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Read the review of Echoterra's first performance (with pictures and video) while supporting Epica with Threat Signal, Blackguard, and Gracepoint

Slash - Slash, 7/10

Slash with Myles Kennedy singing plays tonight, Friday, May 21 at Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minnesota.

Hypocrisy -A Taste Of Extreme Divinity, 8/10

Scar Symmetry -Dark Matter Dimensions, 8/10

Blackguard - Profugus Mortis, 7/10

Hypocrisy, Scar Symmetry, and Blackguard will perform with Hate and Swashbuckle on Sunday, May 23 at Station 4 in St. Paul.

Read the review of Blackguard's recent show (with pictures and video) while supporting Epica with Threat Signal, Echoterra, and Gracepoint.

Arsis - Starve For The Devil, 9/10

Misery Index - Heirs To Thievery, 9/10

Annotations Of An Autopsy - II: The Reign Of Darkness, 4/10

Arsis, Misery Index, and Annotations Of An Autopsy will be supporting Dying Fetus with Demonicon on Monday, May 24 at The Rock in Maplewood.

Read the review of Arsis's recent show (with pictures) while supporting Arch Enemy and Exodus.

Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony, 6/10

Breaking Benjamin will support Nickelback with Shinedown and Sick Puppies at Target Center in Minneapolis on Monday, May 24.

The Crinn - Dreaming Saturn, 9/10

The Crinn headlines the bill on Saturday, May 29 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Dead By Wednesday, We Are Legion, Expyre, This Will Not End Well, and She Fach Dahm.

Read the review of The Crinn's Dreaming Saturn record release show with Ambassador Gun.

Primal Fear - 16.6 - Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, 7/10

Primal Fear plays on Sunday, May 30 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Havok, Avian, and Dawn Of Valor.

Read the review of Primal Fear's show at Minnesota MetalFest last year with Athiest, Novembers Doom, Destroy Destroy Destroy, Gnostic, Avian, and Gracepoint.

Slash Album Review

Slash – Slash

EMI, 2010

7/10

Although former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has released a couple albums under the Slash’s Snakepit moniker, Slash is being regarded as his first true solo album. A revolving door of musicians and singers were employed for the recordings. Each song features a different singer except for Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy, who sings on two of the tracks. Other luminaries present here are a surprisingly diverse group from across the rock and pop world, including Ozzy Osbourne, Kid Rock, Lemmy, and Fergie, among others. Albums full of guest musicians are never as great as their impressive credentials may lead one to believe, usually due to inconsistent styles. Slash succeeds in this regard more than most solo albums of this type. Most of the songs are middle-of-the-road heavy rock that generally do not disappoint unless you are expecting this to sound like Guns N’ Roses, which this does not. The other general impression is that each vocalist is singing to fit the track. That is, it does not seem that each track was written to fit the style of the singer. This really seems to be the reason Slash largely succeeds as a solo album. All of the singers perform admirably, even on “Beautiful Dangerous”, the much-maligned collaboration with Fergie of Black Eyed Peas. The clear highlight is “Nothing To Say”, one of the heaviest songs ever written by Slash that features M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold). Other strong tracks are the acoustic “Saint Is A Sinner Too”, featuring singer Rocco DeLuca, instrumental “Watch This” (Dave Grohl and Duff McKagan), and By The Sword (Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother). The only true stinker here is “I Hold One” with Kid Rock with its annoying chorus of female backup singers. Overall, though, Slash is an artistically satisfying solo album that breaks free of the usual curse when too many musicians and singers are involved with a record. Slash’s abilities as a songwriter and guitarist really shine through without being overshadowed by the impressive list of collaborators. The touring band will feature Myles Kennedy on vocals, so it will be interesting to hear his interpretation of both these songs and the Guns N’ Roses catalog.

Slash will be appearing at Northern Lights Casino in Walker on Friday, May 21.