Love ya, Butch!
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Butch Walker: London Calling!
Guess Butch could no longer ignore the calls from London! He'll be playing The Borderline there on August 7. Hmmm....is this a lead up to the announcement of US dates? Hope so! Bibi is SO pumped!
Hope there's follow-up news soon.
Love ya, Butch!
Love ya, Butch!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Bibi gets some web-press!
I'm so thrilled that I got mentioned on acdc.com--and in a good way!
For a unique perspective on AC/DC's stop at O2 Arena in London, check out the recent piece in the Telegraph by journalist/TV host/car enthusiast/Acca Dacca fan James "Captain Slow" May (thanks for the heads up, helen13!). Here's an excerpt: "AC/DC are a band for jumping up and down to. Something about the AC/DC rock pump reduces the complex and troubled human condition to a simple desire to jump up and down. Other bands were good for this but have now gone, and newer bands may be good for it, too, but they don't have the authority that only age and endurance can bestow. AC/DC are the best, and have an uninterrupted history of being AC/DC. Jumping up and down to AC/DC, like going to a pub and the pox, is a great leveller. Prejudice, class and other trifling differences are swept aside as all peoples become united in a common conviction of an intensity that faith leaders and politicians can only dream of. Jumping! Up and down!"
Well said, James. Next up for AC/DC is five dates across Germany, so get those sneakers out and get ready to jump up and down once more.
Of course, those of you who follow this blog already read the entire article, but validation feels so good! Just under six weeks now before the trip...I'll take the positive mention as a good omen. Have all the Paris guidebooks/maps now; thinking about an Amsterdam guidebook--already have a recent map. Since I have such a guidebook jones--just love reading them, I've had to limit myself to only those that I've bought the flight tickets for--but will probably end up buying one for Bruges/Ghent. Fingers crossed that the H1N1 thing is losing strength and won't be an issue for anyone much longer!
Saw I Love You, Man tonight. (I give it a B+.) Had some really funny moments and Paul Rudd is so adorable. The movie has an extended reference to Rush. I'm not saying this just because I love AC/DC, but AC/DC could have done the concert bit in the movie easily and the music that the characters play could very easily have been AC/DC riffs instead of Rush.
For a unique perspective on AC/DC's stop at O2 Arena in London, check out the recent piece in the Telegraph by journalist/TV host/car enthusiast/Acca Dacca fan James "Captain Slow" May (thanks for the heads up, helen13!). Here's an excerpt: "AC/DC are a band for jumping up and down to. Something about the AC/DC rock pump reduces the complex and troubled human condition to a simple desire to jump up and down. Other bands were good for this but have now gone, and newer bands may be good for it, too, but they don't have the authority that only age and endurance can bestow. AC/DC are the best, and have an uninterrupted history of being AC/DC. Jumping up and down to AC/DC, like going to a pub and the pox, is a great leveller. Prejudice, class and other trifling differences are swept aside as all peoples become united in a common conviction of an intensity that faith leaders and politicians can only dream of. Jumping! Up and down!"
Well said, James. Next up for AC/DC is five dates across Germany, so get those sneakers out and get ready to jump up and down once more.
Of course, those of you who follow this blog already read the entire article, but validation feels so good! Just under six weeks now before the trip...I'll take the positive mention as a good omen. Have all the Paris guidebooks/maps now; thinking about an Amsterdam guidebook--already have a recent map. Since I have such a guidebook jones--just love reading them, I've had to limit myself to only those that I've bought the flight tickets for--but will probably end up buying one for Bruges/Ghent. Fingers crossed that the H1N1 thing is losing strength and won't be an issue for anyone much longer!
Saw I Love You, Man tonight. (I give it a B+.) Had some really funny moments and Paul Rudd is so adorable. The movie has an extended reference to Rush. I'm not saying this just because I love AC/DC, but AC/DC could have done the concert bit in the movie easily and the music that the characters play could very easily have been AC/DC riffs instead of Rush.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Recent article about the London 02 show
I liked the jumping up and down theory of feeling good. Of course, AC/DC would engender this good feeling.
Rock and Rolls
Metal messiahs AC/DC are still going strong – and the singer drives a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
By James May Last Updated: 11:16AM BST 27 Apr 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Last week, for the first time since 1982, I think, I went to see AC/DC. As a Rolls-Royce enthusiast, this was all very timely. I've always liked AC/DC. They are good, but more importantly are a good laugh and don't take themselves too seriously. I admit to spending a lot of time listening to Bach and Chopin and even Messiaen, and pontificating about them, but this simply heightens my appreciation of the DC.
AC/DC have been keeping us entertained with rollicking good tunes since 1973 and generate an unmistakable and inimitable sound. The basic sonic signature is rich, robust and warm, like a stew that's been simmering over a fire for many years. To this, Angus Young's guitar solos add spice and piquancy; an acidic high note, if you like, and I can't help noticing that the word "acidic" is AC/DC with two "i"s missing, which could be the basis of a Paul McCartney Isn't Wearing Any Shoes-type of conspiracy theory.
That they're still doing this is amazing. That they can still be bothered after selling more than 200 million albums equally so. The other Young, Rudd and Williams are at the back, steadfast, strong – the engine room of this great rocking leviathan. Frontman Brian Johnson camps about a bit, goading the crowd, and Angus is still headbanging across the stage and in danger of losing his bus pass. It shook me all night long.
My only regret was that I was in a seat, at the side of what would be the auditorium if this had been an opera, when really I would have liked to be where I would have been in 1982, which was in the bear pit in front of the stage with the bad boys and girls, jumping up and down.
AC/DC are a band for jumping up and down to. Something about the AC/DC rock pump reduces the complex and troubled human condition to a simple desire to jump up and down. Other bands were good for this but have now gone, and newer bands may be good for it, too, but they don't have the authority that only age and endurance can bestow.
AC/DC are the best, and have an uninterrupted history of being AC/DC.
Jumping up and down to AC/DC, like going to a pub and the pox, is a great leveller. Prejudice, class and other trifling differences are swept aside as all peoples become united in a common conviction of an intensity that faith leaders and politicians can only dream of. Jumping! Up and down!
Jumping up and down is a life-affirming activity, like seeing the sun come up or smelling blossom. It's a free and natural high bestowed by the gods on everyone. There is a sensory node somewhere in the base of the spine that can release an ecstatic shot to the whole system, that can be mildly aroused at 6,000rpm in an air-cooled Porsche, but which is fully stimulated only by jumping up and down. Try it now. It feels good and is good for you. If AC/DC are playing you can jump up and down for two hours without realising how hard you're working. So why spend good money on an exercise bike? You can get a copy of the band's High Voltage album for a fiver.
I sometimes wonder if the world would be a better and more peaceful place if AC/DC could stride on to a giant cosmic stage and say "Good evening Earth". Then the mood that infused the O2 arena last week could inhabit all hearts and put an end to war and suffering and famine. For what is religion? What is territory? What is mineral wealth, culture, race and the conceit of kings compared with the visceral and spiritual satisfaction of jumping up and down? The girl's got rhythm, according to AC/DC. The whole planet could have it.
After the show, I met Mr Johnson himself. Following a discussion on the postmodern irony implicit in Hell's Bells, I asked him what he drove, and he drives a Rolls-Royce Phantom: not because he's a wealthy man, but because he genuinely loves it. He drives it himself, not into a swimming pool, and claims that no member of the band has ever been sick in it.
This is as it should be. Supercars and giant SUVs are fine for pretenders to the throne, but the frontman of AC/DC should have a Royce. He is a messiah in waiting, and we should see his coming.
Let there be rock. And let there be Rolls.
Rock and Rolls
Metal messiahs AC/DC are still going strong – and the singer drives a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
By James May Last Updated: 11:16AM BST 27 Apr 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Last week, for the first time since 1982, I think, I went to see AC/DC. As a Rolls-Royce enthusiast, this was all very timely. I've always liked AC/DC. They are good, but more importantly are a good laugh and don't take themselves too seriously. I admit to spending a lot of time listening to Bach and Chopin and even Messiaen, and pontificating about them, but this simply heightens my appreciation of the DC.
AC/DC have been keeping us entertained with rollicking good tunes since 1973 and generate an unmistakable and inimitable sound. The basic sonic signature is rich, robust and warm, like a stew that's been simmering over a fire for many years. To this, Angus Young's guitar solos add spice and piquancy; an acidic high note, if you like, and I can't help noticing that the word "acidic" is AC/DC with two "i"s missing, which could be the basis of a Paul McCartney Isn't Wearing Any Shoes-type of conspiracy theory.
That they're still doing this is amazing. That they can still be bothered after selling more than 200 million albums equally so. The other Young, Rudd and Williams are at the back, steadfast, strong – the engine room of this great rocking leviathan. Frontman Brian Johnson camps about a bit, goading the crowd, and Angus is still headbanging across the stage and in danger of losing his bus pass. It shook me all night long.
My only regret was that I was in a seat, at the side of what would be the auditorium if this had been an opera, when really I would have liked to be where I would have been in 1982, which was in the bear pit in front of the stage with the bad boys and girls, jumping up and down.
AC/DC are a band for jumping up and down to. Something about the AC/DC rock pump reduces the complex and troubled human condition to a simple desire to jump up and down. Other bands were good for this but have now gone, and newer bands may be good for it, too, but they don't have the authority that only age and endurance can bestow.
AC/DC are the best, and have an uninterrupted history of being AC/DC.
Jumping up and down to AC/DC, like going to a pub and the pox, is a great leveller. Prejudice, class and other trifling differences are swept aside as all peoples become united in a common conviction of an intensity that faith leaders and politicians can only dream of. Jumping! Up and down!
Jumping up and down is a life-affirming activity, like seeing the sun come up or smelling blossom. It's a free and natural high bestowed by the gods on everyone. There is a sensory node somewhere in the base of the spine that can release an ecstatic shot to the whole system, that can be mildly aroused at 6,000rpm in an air-cooled Porsche, but which is fully stimulated only by jumping up and down. Try it now. It feels good and is good for you. If AC/DC are playing you can jump up and down for two hours without realising how hard you're working. So why spend good money on an exercise bike? You can get a copy of the band's High Voltage album for a fiver.
I sometimes wonder if the world would be a better and more peaceful place if AC/DC could stride on to a giant cosmic stage and say "Good evening Earth". Then the mood that infused the O2 arena last week could inhabit all hearts and put an end to war and suffering and famine. For what is religion? What is territory? What is mineral wealth, culture, race and the conceit of kings compared with the visceral and spiritual satisfaction of jumping up and down? The girl's got rhythm, according to AC/DC. The whole planet could have it.
After the show, I met Mr Johnson himself. Following a discussion on the postmodern irony implicit in Hell's Bells, I asked him what he drove, and he drives a Rolls-Royce Phantom: not because he's a wealthy man, but because he genuinely loves it. He drives it himself, not into a swimming pool, and claims that no member of the band has ever been sick in it.
This is as it should be. Supercars and giant SUVs are fine for pretenders to the throne, but the frontman of AC/DC should have a Royce. He is a messiah in waiting, and we should see his coming.
Let there be rock. And let there be Rolls.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Response to London Financial Times Review
I read a really negative review of the London shows--what's wrong with people?--and here's a letter that a fan wrote in response to the review in the London Financial Times:
Thunderstruck by rock's schoolboys
Published: April 21 2009 03:00 Last updated: April 21 2009 03:00
From Mr Anthony Kennaway.
Sir, Far be it from me to counter an arts correspondent but I was gravely disappointed by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney's review of the AC/DC concert at the O2 ("Heavy metal's eternal schoolboys", April 17). I was lucky enough to get a brace of tickets in the few hours before the whole concert was sold out. (They have then added another date at Wembley which sold out in a similar fashion) and could not see things more differently.On the night, Brian Johnson's phrase, "We've got some old songs and some new songs for you" was some of the best news I've heard this year and what followed was a rip-snorting two hours (non stop - take note Minogue, U2 et al) of barn storming guitar, great lyrics and 30,000 (or perhaps 29,999!) people reliving their youth. Johnson's voice can no longer hit all the notes that it once could but we are all older. I went with a lieutenant-colonel and met my European chief operating officer there. Yet none of us could resist reaching for the air-guitar during the foot stomping classics and as the lyrics all came flooding back.Mr Hunter-Tilney is misguided if he expected anything less than "priapic lyrics", manga cartoons of trains out of control and a 50-foot busty Rosie - it's what the rest of us were baying for. He's also missing out if he did not appreciate the "demented glissandi and convulsive arpeggios" - I bet Angus Young's solo blew Jimmy Page's socks off. [Jimmy Page was spotted at the concert.] No, AC/DC put on a great, great show. A blast from the past maybe. But even from where I sat, the rearmost seat of the top tier - they rocked the house, and more.
Anthony Kennaway, Acton, London
Anthony Kennaway got it so right! Great to see that the fans don't leave these things unanswered.
Thunderstruck by rock's schoolboys
Published: April 21 2009 03:00 Last updated: April 21 2009 03:00
From Mr Anthony Kennaway.
Sir, Far be it from me to counter an arts correspondent but I was gravely disappointed by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney's review of the AC/DC concert at the O2 ("Heavy metal's eternal schoolboys", April 17). I was lucky enough to get a brace of tickets in the few hours before the whole concert was sold out. (They have then added another date at Wembley which sold out in a similar fashion) and could not see things more differently.On the night, Brian Johnson's phrase, "We've got some old songs and some new songs for you" was some of the best news I've heard this year and what followed was a rip-snorting two hours (non stop - take note Minogue, U2 et al) of barn storming guitar, great lyrics and 30,000 (or perhaps 29,999!) people reliving their youth. Johnson's voice can no longer hit all the notes that it once could but we are all older. I went with a lieutenant-colonel and met my European chief operating officer there. Yet none of us could resist reaching for the air-guitar during the foot stomping classics and as the lyrics all came flooding back.Mr Hunter-Tilney is misguided if he expected anything less than "priapic lyrics", manga cartoons of trains out of control and a 50-foot busty Rosie - it's what the rest of us were baying for. He's also missing out if he did not appreciate the "demented glissandi and convulsive arpeggios" - I bet Angus Young's solo blew Jimmy Page's socks off. [Jimmy Page was spotted at the concert.] No, AC/DC put on a great, great show. A blast from the past maybe. But even from where I sat, the rearmost seat of the top tier - they rocked the house, and more.
Anthony Kennaway, Acton, London
Anthony Kennaway got it so right! Great to see that the fans don't leave these things unanswered.
Friday, April 17, 2009
London, April 14, 2009
Saw a damn with faint praise review of the April 14 concert on the web:
AC/DC’s Hard Rock Rises Above Striptease, Blow-Up Rosie: Review
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- AC/DC is dragging some seriously silly stage props around the world for its latest tour, all straight from the center of a male teenage mind. A demonic, fireball-spewing runaway steam train; cannons; and a fat, inflated comic-book whore -- who puffs up and wobbles during “Whole Lotta Rosie” -- are all present and politically incorrect during the show in London, which continues again tonight at the O2 arena.
Guitarist Angus Young, 54, still sports the school uniform adopted as his trademark stage wear in the early 1970s. He sheds his blazer, shirt and shorts in an onstage striptease, generating plenty of screams from the female contingent of the audience. Most of the 20,000-strong crowd are not there to see Young just in his boxers, with the band’s logo emblazoned across his buttocks. However amusing, such antics are distractions from the real business of hard rock ‘n’ roll, the sort of thing that has shifted more than 200 million albums by the Australian band.
AC/DC fires out 19 classics over the two-hour set, drawing from all phases of its 36-year career. Its rock easily eclipses the stage show. It is a safe bet that the Black Ice tour will continue this way as the band visits Europe and North America.
Each song has a base of cast-iron blues and dirty grind delivered by a tight rhythm section and a stack of Marshall amplifiers. Young chops out riffs as basic as breeze blocks and squeals through the musically superfluous notes of the obligatory virtuosic solos.
Ludicrous Lyrics
Lyrical concerns swagger between the ludicrous and the inappropriately unreconstructed. Robert Johnson reputedly sold his soul for his blues prowess. AC/DC’s vocalist Brian Johnson uses his holler, during the filthy blues of “The Jack,” to ponder sexual disease, pausing only for images of female audience members to be displayed on the giant stage screens.
AC/DC excel at being AC/DC, delivering uncomplicated hard rock. Only the plodding title track from 2008’s “Black Ice” album causes a surge toward the bars.
Innovation would be betrayal: AC/DC is a living part of rock history. As such, AC/DC is tremendous fun and deserves to be seen, and enjoyed, in concert by all music fans. Once will probably be enough though. Rating: ***.
Some people, really! So, I had to email him with my reaction:
Dear Mr. Heller,
While you got a few things right, clearly you are not a real AC/DC fan, as demonstrated by the last line of your review: "[Seeing AC/DC] once will probably be enough." And Angus Young's guitar playing easily rates a significantly higher ranking than the dismissive "chops out riffs as basic as breeze blocks and squeals through the musically superfluos notes of the obligatory virtuosic solos." Angus does some incredible, wonderful, fabulously evocative things with that Gibson SG and remember, it's a rock, guitar band; by definition, guitar solos cannot be superfluous.
AC/DC has never been defensive about their music, including the lyrics, however much you may consider them inappropriately unreconstructed. Their swagger--and humor-- is fully intended, basic elements in classic rock n roll. The distaste you convey makes one wonder if you keep your pinky delicately curled as you drink your tea.
However, as you very correctly state: "AC/DC excel at being AC/DC, delivering uncomplicated hard rock." A bit harsh to say "Innovation would be betrayal" since as you point out, their record sales have not suffered and truly, "AC/DC is a living part of rock history. " Overall, your review **. Advice: lighten up, dude, go to at least one more AC/DC concert and let yourself unreconstructedly enjoy it.
Why do they send negative people to review concerts? Or is he just old? The rock n roll power of the music he got, but how did he miss the infectious exuberance AC/DC displays and engenders? The whole fun feel, the self-mocking attitude of the performances?
AC/DC’s Hard Rock Rises Above Striptease, Blow-Up Rosie: Review
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- AC/DC is dragging some seriously silly stage props around the world for its latest tour, all straight from the center of a male teenage mind. A demonic, fireball-spewing runaway steam train; cannons; and a fat, inflated comic-book whore -- who puffs up and wobbles during “Whole Lotta Rosie” -- are all present and politically incorrect during the show in London, which continues again tonight at the O2 arena.
Guitarist Angus Young, 54, still sports the school uniform adopted as his trademark stage wear in the early 1970s. He sheds his blazer, shirt and shorts in an onstage striptease, generating plenty of screams from the female contingent of the audience. Most of the 20,000-strong crowd are not there to see Young just in his boxers, with the band’s logo emblazoned across his buttocks. However amusing, such antics are distractions from the real business of hard rock ‘n’ roll, the sort of thing that has shifted more than 200 million albums by the Australian band.
AC/DC fires out 19 classics over the two-hour set, drawing from all phases of its 36-year career. Its rock easily eclipses the stage show. It is a safe bet that the Black Ice tour will continue this way as the band visits Europe and North America.
Each song has a base of cast-iron blues and dirty grind delivered by a tight rhythm section and a stack of Marshall amplifiers. Young chops out riffs as basic as breeze blocks and squeals through the musically superfluous notes of the obligatory virtuosic solos.
Ludicrous Lyrics
Lyrical concerns swagger between the ludicrous and the inappropriately unreconstructed. Robert Johnson reputedly sold his soul for his blues prowess. AC/DC’s vocalist Brian Johnson uses his holler, during the filthy blues of “The Jack,” to ponder sexual disease, pausing only for images of female audience members to be displayed on the giant stage screens.
AC/DC excel at being AC/DC, delivering uncomplicated hard rock. Only the plodding title track from 2008’s “Black Ice” album causes a surge toward the bars.
Innovation would be betrayal: AC/DC is a living part of rock history. As such, AC/DC is tremendous fun and deserves to be seen, and enjoyed, in concert by all music fans. Once will probably be enough though. Rating: ***.
Some people, really! So, I had to email him with my reaction:
Dear Mr. Heller,
While you got a few things right, clearly you are not a real AC/DC fan, as demonstrated by the last line of your review: "[Seeing AC/DC] once will probably be enough." And Angus Young's guitar playing easily rates a significantly higher ranking than the dismissive "chops out riffs as basic as breeze blocks and squeals through the musically superfluos notes of the obligatory virtuosic solos." Angus does some incredible, wonderful, fabulously evocative things with that Gibson SG and remember, it's a rock, guitar band; by definition, guitar solos cannot be superfluous.
AC/DC has never been defensive about their music, including the lyrics, however much you may consider them inappropriately unreconstructed. Their swagger--and humor-- is fully intended, basic elements in classic rock n roll. The distaste you convey makes one wonder if you keep your pinky delicately curled as you drink your tea.
However, as you very correctly state: "AC/DC excel at being AC/DC, delivering uncomplicated hard rock." A bit harsh to say "Innovation would be betrayal" since as you point out, their record sales have not suffered and truly, "AC/DC is a living part of rock history. " Overall, your review **. Advice: lighten up, dude, go to at least one more AC/DC concert and let yourself unreconstructedly enjoy it.
Why do they send negative people to review concerts? Or is he just old? The rock n roll power of the music he got, but how did he miss the infectious exuberance AC/DC displays and engenders? The whole fun feel, the self-mocking attitude of the performances?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
AC/DC in London, April 14, 2009
Check out AC/DC Abruzzo's Angus-cam work during Thunderstruck. http://acdc-abruzzo.blogspot.com/2009/04/acdc-thunderstruck-in-london-angus-cam.html
Such lucky guys, Abruzzo are.
Such lucky guys, Abruzzo are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
