Happy Fat Tuesday! Tomorrow is Lent! I am giving up dessert! UGH! Man, I can't believe it's nearly the end of February and there's no snow ANYWHERE! No freezing temperatures! No WINTER! This is completely insane and we will probably pay for it with tons of spring rain and a brutally hot summer. But then again, there's no global warming that's causing this anyway, right????…..Big news out of the Bamboozle 2012 Camp today! More bands have been added! The line up is now Foo Fighters, Incubus, Blink 182, Skrillex, Volbeat, Buckcherry, Jimmy Eat World, Datsik (who I'm sure will do a song or two with Skrillex), a re-formed Dramarama (loved their song “Anything”!), Less Than Jake, Andrew Dice Clay, T. MIlls, All American Rejects, Bouncing Souls, Bayside and a bunch more! Over 100 acts for the 3 day event May 18-20. They've also added late night beach bonfire events with acoustic performances, after parties at various Asbury Park venues like the Convention Hall, Stone Pony, Paramount Theater and Wonder Bar. I am bummed it's the same weekend as Rock on the Range because we can't be in two places at once, now, can we? For more on the festival: www.thebamboozle.com….Speaking of the Foos, frontman Dave Grohl has “clarified” comments he made while accepting the band's Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance two Sundays ago (Feb 12th) during the 54th annual Grammys ceremony. In his speech, Grohl took the music industry to task for producing too much music on computers instead of real, live instruments, saying: “The human element of making music is what's most important. Singing into a microphone and learn to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do. It's not about being perfect. It's not about sounding absolutely correct. It's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here (head) and it's about what goes on in here (heart).” But now Grohl has “clarified” his remarks after his band came under fire for seeming like hypocrites by participating in a tribute to electronic music later in the broadcast. Grohl said in a statement posted online and issued by his publicist that he did not wish to criticize electronic music or the use of computers in making music, but rather the dehumanizing potential of technology. He stated in part, “I love music. Electronic or acoustic, it doesn't matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician's personality to the next is what makes music so exciting . . . That's exactly what I was referring to. The 'human element.' That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became 'bad' things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily 'fixed.' The end result? (In) my humble opinion…a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.” He continued, “I try really f***ing hard so that I don't have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song. I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that's what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real.” Grohl concluded, “So, don't give me two Crown Royals and then ask me to make a speech at your wedding, because I might just bust into the advantages of recording to two-inch tape.” (Thanks Pulse of Radio)…. Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell reportedly got into the middle of an altercation between two men who were arguing about President Obama, according to The New York Post. Cornell was sitting in the Alaska Airlines lounge at the airport in Seattle when he heard one man in business attire called the other man a “queer” after the other man made a comment in favor of the president.Cornell stepped in at that moment, telling the businessman, “You're a (bleep). You deliberately called him a queer to make him feel uncomfortable in front of a lot of people.” Security was called and the man who used the slur was asked to leave the lounge. Reps for the airline and the man who was called a “queer” thanked Cornell for standing up to the offender. (Pulse of Radio)…..Oh man, this news is a bummer. It started to sour when Bill Ward's contract was not satisfactory to him, forcing him to pull out of the recording sessions and planned tour. Now comes news Black Sabbath has essentially canceled all its announced tour dates save one due to guitarist Tony Iommi's ongoing treatment for lymphoma. According to a press release, Iommi will still join fellow original Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler at the U.K.'s Download Festival on June 10th. But the rest of the band's scheduled European summer shows will be replaced by “Ozzy And Friends,” at which the singer will be joined by Butler, former Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde and other special guests, including Slash on selected dates. Just when we got our hopes up for this long, long, long awaited reunion. 🙁 …..And on this date in 1958, the first Flying V guitar was shipped from Gibson's plant in Kalamazoo, MI. And it made Michael Schenker very happy. (Doh!) Have a great day, I gotta run to catch up with Halestorm! I gotta bring breakfast! More tomorrow!
