LeRoi Moore: 1961-2008

Today marked the one year anniversary of the death of Dave Matthews Band saxophone player LeRoi Moore. We'll always love and miss you LeRoi. Forever dancing with the Groogrux King...

Brett Favre is a Fucking Choad

Fuck Brett Favre. Now that he has decided once again that he cannot take being out of the spotlight, I'm going to have to endure weeks and weeks of ESPN's bullshit coverage on the legendary "gunslinger". I'm sure Chris Mortensen and John Clayton collectively came in their pants upon news of Favre's return, to the Minnesota Vikings no less. I clearly do not share the sentiment of excitement. What I really want to know is this: What makes Favre any better than somebody like T.O.? He is incredibly selfish and inconsiderate of his future teammates as well as disrespectful to the fans that supported him over the years. He is clearly harboring a grudge against Packers GM Ted Thompson for not letting him come back to Green Bay (It was after you already retired, you fucking idiot!). I just think that we've reached a point where he is actually affecting his legacy negatively at this point. A whole new generation of football fans will mostly remember Favre as a a declining player who didn't know when to quit. By deciding to play for the Vikings he has also essentially ruined any good will he had left with the Packers organization and their fans. It's really a shame that it has come to this.

As terrible as it is to wish this, I hope a karmic injury is in store for Brett this year so I never have to hear about his nonsensical behavior again. Either that or I would like him to suffer through a 4-12 year with 29 interceptions. That's how deep my disdain runs for him at this point. I would bet my life that if Brett Favre was a black man with a DUI or two he would not only not get the media attention he's getting now, but no team would even debate signing him. Despite the fact that he's a selfish asshole who was addicted to pain pills, he's treated as some sort of football demigod by the media and many football viewers. The most unfortunate thing is that the media and us as the viewers often feed the beast by even paying attention to some of these things. If we just ignored the Brett Favre's of the world, we would side step the annoyingly speculative reporting and the painful waffling that has come out of this situation. All I can do now is voice my displeasure and express my condolences to Sage Rosenfels. Unfortunately, it just seems like being an NFL starter is not in the cards for you buddy. I don't quite know what to make of this whole situation at this point, but I know what teams I will be rooting for in the NFC North this year and I can tell you this: They won't be wearing purple.

Album Review: 3eb - "Ursa Major"

It's been 6 long years since Third Eye Blind's last album, Out of the Vein, hit store shelves. That excruciatingly long wait finally concluded today when the band put out their 4th album entitled Ursa Major. A collection of tunes that have been played on the road for the last 3-5 years, U.M. showcases a number of great and well developed songs, as well as some numbers that probably should have remained out on the road. With the band's new generation of feverish fans comes a high level of expectations, and this album for the most part delivers the goods. However, despite being a very good record overall, little moments of Stephen Jenkins douchery sprinkled throughout the album prevent it from being great. On to the song-by-song analysis...

1. Can You Take Me - One of my favorite tracks on the album, this tune brings back the raging angst you get when you listen to such classics as Graduate and 1000 Julys. It's got a solid riff from guitarist Tony Ferdinelli and features Jenkins really singing out with some edge. A perfect example of 3eb's ability to write powerful, punchy rock anthems, Can You Take Me is the perfect choice to open the disc and is essentially a "welcome back" from the band. 9/10

2. Don't Believe A Word - The album's first single is yet another very upbeat song. Buoyed by a strong "The Who"-like intro, the song setles into an almost punk like groove with Jenkins spitting out lyrics in his signature rap/sing style. The lyrics are cheekily political and at times a bit cheesy, but you can't help put want to punch something (in a good way) when Jenkins snarls, "Gimme back my photos will you, You fucking whore I'll kill you!" 8/10

3. Bonfire - Having heard this song twice in concert, I had a feeling that this would be a special track. My favorite on the album, Bonfire has all the elements of a classic 3eb song. A wonderfully melodic guitar lick is supplemented with a catchy chant throughout as the song settles into a bouncy groove that eventually folds into a classic alt-rock chorus. It's just a breezy tune that is perfect for a summer night when you're reminiscing about the days of yore. Jenkins keeps returning to the refrain line "Everything's changing now...", which is a wonderfully relatable line for any person at any time in their life. Wonderful song. 10/10

4. Sharp Knife - Yet another great song, this tune rounds out a great 4 song run to start the album. A brooding guitar intro from Ferdinelli drives the song until a typically explosive and catchy 3eb chorus where Jenkins sings about escaping from all time lows. This song is the Wounded of Ursa Major and without a doubt a top 3 track on the album. Lyrically it is very strong (aside from a bizarre reference to an mp3 being out of juice)and musically it shines in showcasing a more moody and melodic side of the band. Another classic tune. 10/10

5. One in Ten - This is where the album takes a bizarre turn. One in Ten really has no place on this album or in music in general. A short acoustic-y number, here we see Jenkins lamenting the fact that the girl he wants is a lesbian. Filled with cringe inducing lyrics such as "What's the difference when it goes down?/If it's a girl or a guy, can't you just close your eyes?" Awful. After 6 years there had to be something better than this to put on here. 2/10

6. About to Break - Alright now we are back to good music. This song starts off slow and features a somewhat political message before bursting into an anthem-like chorus. Overall just a very strong tune with some great lead guitar work, About to Break is a very nice bounce back from One in Ten. There is however another puzzling lyric from Jenkins about lesbians that actually detracts from the song unfortunately. 7/10

7. Summer Town - Sigh. This song represents the biggest missed opportunity on Ursa Major. The main portion of the song is great. It has a great rhythm, an insanely catchy chorus, and strong lyrics about lamenting winter time in a summer town. Unfortunately, Jenkins felt it necessary to add a short unrelated intro, and an unforgivably aimless "rap" for the last minute and a half that brings the song down. This is a perfect example of Jenkins over thinking things and just being generally cheesy. Frankly I'd be embarrassed to play the end part of this song for my friends. Luckily there are programs like Audacity that make it easy to edit the intro and outro right out of the song. Middle part: 8/10 Overall song: 4/10

8. Why Can't You Be - Not much different than the Red Star EP version, Why Can't You Be is another strong acoustic based tune on this album. There are definitely some questionable lyrics about masturbating with a water massager and blowjobs, but it is still a very solid song overall. 7/10

9. Water Landing - Definitely the hidden gem of this album, Water Landing features some fantastic lyrics from Jenkins. He ingenuously compares the end of a relationship to surviving a plane crash with a string of fantastic metaphors and wonderful imagery. The line "She uses boys like bandages, but the wounds remain the same" may be my favorite on the album. Musically and lyrically it is a great 3eb song and it fits in wonderfully with the better material in their catalog. 9/10

10. Dao of St. Paul - This is another great song, but marks a point where the album begins to feel a bit repetitive. There are too many songs that begin with Jenkins singing over a basic acoustic guitar progression. Nevertheless, the melody is top notch and this song builds to an amazingly powerful ending with a choir repeatedly chanting "Evermore, rejoice". It is yet another very strong track and the lyrics are once again very strong. 8/10

11. Monotov's Private Opera - Another acoustic-y song?!? Yes, but it is another good one. This is a quieter tune but again features the choir at the end. This song sort of lulls you to sleep in a good way, and is a strong close to the album. It remains one of the more unchanged numbers that the band had played on the road, and I'm sure hardcore's will be pleased with the way that it turned out. 7/10

12. Carnival Barker (Instrumental) - This track is pointless. Having heard the full 7 minute version demo, putting 1:30 of the song on here seems unnecessary and it isn't even a good part of the song. Allegedly this will be the first track of Ursa Minor, lyrics and all. We shall see...

Overall I really enjoy this album. Although it is probably Jenkin's worst album lyrically, the music is great and he puts forth a great effort in some songs. I would say that it rivals Out of the Vein as the band's third best album (Self Titled and Blue are untouchable). Although it might not be their best album, it is a very strong effort and honestly somewhat better than I expected with all the delays it went through over the last 6 years. Here's to hoping that we won't have to wait another half decade for a new album from this great band.

Picture of the Day 8/18: Bullshit!

Apparently this bull got a little too excited. Chalk a victory up to the guy in the pink pants.

Concert Review: Incubus 8/2/09

I've been slacking pretty hardcore on this blog so I'm going to try and get it going again with some regularity. What better way to start things back off than with a review of me and my friend's awesome night at Mohegan Sun a little over a week ago? Thanks to my awesome mother, me and the guys in the band (sans Stephan) got hooked up with tickets to the Sunday Incubus concert at Mohegan Sun, as well as 2 connecting hotel rooms for the occasion. You couldn't have asked for a better set up going in, and the night did not disappoint.

We arrived at the casino at around 2 pm and went to one of the VIP lounges (also courtesy of my mother) to get started with some drinks. After a few quality beverages (Goose, Tangeray, etc.) we headed off to the casino floor to gamble a bit while we waited for check in to the rooms. I quickly lost $40 in the slots while Sean came close to blowing his whole wad at the roulette tables. That lucky bastard Dan however put one $5 bill into a $5 slot and hit $100. Asshole....good for him. At around 4:30 the room was ready so we got our shit together and god situated in our new digs for the night. We were well stocked with alcohol, having around 20 beers, a fifth of Patron, and a liter of Jack Daniels at our disposal for the night. After filling up our buckets with ice, we were ready to start getting a buzz going. We reorganized the room to make it pong friendly and played a couple of games. Here I got to experience how painful it is being Sean's teammate in this game. Thanks to some margarita mix and the Patron, I overcame the disappointment. While we were pounding the tequila, we were able to get hooked up with a couple of pizza pies from the brand new Frank Pepi's Pizzeria in the casino. Needless to say, it satisfied our appetites. At this point we were feeling pretty good and we decided to head into the show. This was going to be my first time seeing the band so my excitement level was at a fever pitch.

Having greatly enjoyed Incubus's two live DVD's, Alive at Red Rocks and Look Alive!, I had high expectations for this show. Thankfully, the guys did not disappoint. Fitting of a show from a tour promoting their greatest hits (Monuments & Melodies), the setlist was packed and they came out on fire with blistering versions of Pardon Me and Nice To Know You. It's hard to ask for a better 1-2 punch to open a show. They continued strong and uptempo with Anna Molly, Stellar (one of my personal favorites), Megalomaniac, and a kick ass Circles. This opening run was probably the best part of the concert, as the band immediately sucked everybody in the audience into the show. The middle of the show slowed down a bit to showcase some of the band's more melodic material. Following Love Hurts and Just a Phase, they played a short acoustic set that contained the huge hit Drive, Talk Shows on Mute, and a remixed version of the wonderful tune Dig. This group was heavy on the radio songs and the crowd ate it up. They came out swinging after the acoustic portion with a kick ass version of Redefine from the album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (which was poorly represented at this show) with lead singer Brandon Boyd rocking the didgeridoo on the intro. Crowd favorites Warning and Quicksand->A Kiss to Send Us Off followed and both were great, especially Warning. The main set finished with two very "chill" songs but it worked really well. Wish You Were Here is always a crowd and personal favorite so it was nice to hear. I thought it would end there, but then they pulled out the hypnotizing Aqueous Transmission to end the main set. Wow. Great way to close out the show.

The only thing that was somewhat of a disappointment for this show was the encore that followed. The main set was so packed with great songs that it deserved an awesome encore. I was hoping they'd pull out something like Vitamin, Sick Sad Little World, Pistola, A Certain Shade of Green, or The Warmth for the ending, considering they had been playing these songs sporadically this tour. Unfortunately what we did get was slightly underwhelming. It started off with Punch Drunk, a Light Grenades B Side that was also featured on the greatest hits album. While it's a good song, very few people in the crowd knew it and it felt like a time killer in some ways. Then A Crow Left of the Murder came out, which surprised me. It's a good song, but I would've preferred a different one from that album such as Sick Sad Little World. Oh well, the closer will be awesome I though, right?? Eh, not so much. The only cover at this show, Let's Go Crazy by Prince, finished off the show. They do a pretty cool rendition of the song, but again nobody in the crowd knew it and it was a bizarre choice to close such a great show. In the end it didn't greatly detract from the show however. I was very pleased with my first Incubus experience. They performed fantastically and Boyd's voice in a live setting is breath taking. I would definitely see them again and recommend them to anybody looking for a great high energy show.

After the show we met up with Sean's cousin and some of his friends and preceded to gamble and drink the night away. I woke up the next morning with very little recollection of the night post-concert, as I had drank myself into a stupor in which I apparently spit on myself (Way to go bub). In the afternoon we grabbed a kick ass Bobby Flay Burger Palace lunch and then made the trek back to Cheshire. Overall, it was a very memorable day with my good buddies that I'll certainly remember for a long time. Except of course for the spitting.

Set List

Pardon Me
Nice To Know You
Anna Molly
Stellar
Megalomaniac
Circles
Love Hurts
Just A Phase
Drive (acoustic)
Talk Shows on Mute (acoustic)
Dig (Remix)
Redefine
Warning
Quicksand ->
A Kiss to Send Us Off
Wish You Were Here
Aqueous Transmission

Encore:
Punch-Drunk
A Crow Left of the Murder
Let's Go Crazy