Dream Lineup

This past week I was able to make my way to Cincinnati for another Social Distortion show. Social D is my all time favorite band.

This started me thinking, what would be the ultimate concert lineup for me?

Social Distortion would be the headliner with an hour to an hour and a half show. But who would open and lead up to the main act?

I thought I would want a variety. But I would want a variety of bands that work well together to create an energy of excitement leading to Social D. For instance, Pink Floyd is a great band that I would love to see again but their show and vibe wouldn't mix with these others at all.

But these bands would need to be among my favorites. They would also need to be excellent live acts since this is live. Quality in the studio doesn't automatically get you in my lineup.

So I thought I would start with A Tribe Called Quest. They would open the show with a laid back vibe to get you started with a smooth groove. Q-Tip and Phife Dog would lay some lyrics and rhyme down as you begin your first drink and bob your head.

Then, Fun Lovin' Criminals would enter the stage and continue the schmooth flow. They would maintain a nice mellow vibe with a couple of jazzy, bluesy songs but also begin a transition to a rock vibe.

Next, things would begin to intensify a bit and move more into a rock mode as Muse would take stage and contribute their epic art rock vibe. While not exactly a hard sound, they would take the music to a more rock genre and lend some strong, loud sound to the show.

The next contributor would be Weezer. Their plethora of familiar songs to draw from would get the crowd even more into it and continue the bridge from the early bands to the last two juggernauts.

At this point, we are four deep already and I would be eager to see the headliner. Just one more addition is needed. In order to take it to another level in the world of rock and intensity, I would have The Bronx come out and kick some ass. They would blow the roof off of the place and allow Social D to come in with the crowd in a frenzy.

Finally, the headliner would come out guns a blazin' and play a set that never slows. Pure rock 'n Roll. Classic stuff from Mommy's Little Monster, my favorite album from them, and rock on through to their new stuff that I also enjoy. Mike Ness would lend his intro to the songs like he always does. The crowd would heave plastic cups of beer on stage. We would sing along and point in the air to the beat.

It would be an epic night.

Best rock show ever.......for me.

Huey's All Time Favorite Bands: Installment #3

And we are back to the countdown of my favorite bands of all time. To those of you new to this little ditty, I have compiled my all my favorite, most listened to CDs and sorted them out by bands. Through the process I picked out whom I liked best overall and ranked them in order. I started a couple weeks ago listing them in descending order a la VH-1 in groups of 5.

Reminder: This is NOT an attempt at objectivity. This is my personal opinion. I already wrote the disclaimer here. Feel free to add your opinion. Discussion is my goal!

Recap:
25) Public Enemy
24) Nine Inch Nails
23) Huey Lewis and the News
22) Hanzel Und Gretyl
21) Nirvana
20) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
19) The Who
18) Sublime
17) Outkast
16) Pink Floyd

And with no further ado:

15) Jane's Addiction....This one surprised even me. I always liked listening to this band. I had roommates or friends who would play them in college but slowly, over time they grew more and more favorable to me. As I began to get past "Been Caught Stealing" and "Jane Says" which started to bore me and spent more time listening to songs like "Stop" off Ritual de lo Habitual. Then from Strays, I fell in love with "True Nature" and "Just Because." Why do I have them so high? All I can say is I am just feeling them right now.


14) Muse...I first heard Muse in 2004 on CD101 here in Columbus, Ohio, by far one of my favorite radio stations of all time. (I also loved 92.3 Channel X in Cleveland back in the mid 90s, but it's garbage now) They had this song called "Time is Running Out" and it fit my life experience at that time perfectly. The feel of that song and the art rock, epic sound of their other stuff that I dove into after that pulled me in. "Knights of Cydonia" is powerful song. The sound of galloping horses with choir or opera like singing opening the song is awesome. And the video is pretty cool too. I only have two of their albums, Absolutionn and Black Holes and Revelations but they are so good.


13) The Cars...The Cars? What? Yeah, I have a soft spot for the Cars. Growing up I loved "You Might Think." I remember the video for that song vividly. As time went on I never realized how many songs by the Cars I enjoyed. Much that was said with Huey Lewis can be said here. I like more of Huey Lewis' songs but in the end, I think The Cars are just cooler. Their sound is cooler. I just enjoy it overall more then that of Huey. "Shake It Up," "Just What I Needed," "Let's Go" and "Magic" are my favorites. There are more songs that I enjoy as well like "Tonight She Comes" or "My Best Friend's Girl."


12) The Hollies...To think a simple song my Dad and brother would play in the basement when we had friends over hanging out playing ping pong or beer pong or cooking out would turn out to be such an important song to me. Just this memory alone makes "Bus Stop" one of my all time favorite songs. But I later utilized my family's talents with this song to turn it into a wedding gift to my wife. I took a page out of every cheesy morning radio show and rewrote the lyrics to the song to fit my hopelessly romantic story of how I met my wife. I tried to give it some credibility by performing it in front of our friends and family at our wedding celebration with my Dad and brother. Regardless of how low the quality of my voice may have been, I loved every minute of it and it felt awesome. It meant a lot to me to do that for her. So this band holds a place dear to my heart for this reason alone. I also realized that The Hollies are a cool band that has numerous songs I have always liked but never paid enough attention to over the years. Through my search for "Bus Stop" I discovered how much I like "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," The Air That I Breathe," "Just One Look" and "He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother."

This was the sound I was gunning for at my wedding celebration:


11) Audioslave...What do you get when you take a lead singer of a group I never really liked but heard more than my share of on the radio and the members of another band that annoyed the crap out of me after awhile? A pretty darn good, rockin' band that I love!! That's what! Chris Cornell fit perfectly with the guys from Rage Against the Machine. The great songs from the two albums I own just don't stop coming. There are way too many to list my favorites. The first self-titled CD is great hard rock 'n roll top to bottom. I love to blare the sound out the windows of my car and sing along. It is so strong. Cornell's voice pierces the speakers and the guitars rhythms are sweet. Sadly, last I heard they are breaking up. Oh well.


Hope you are enjoying this. Again, feel free to add your opinions. For instance, are you noticing a trend? I don't seem to get into bands until long after they start. The true fans of these bands would hate people like me for countdowns like this. Well, forget them. Music snobs!