Music Zephyr

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Bad Company & The Doobie Brothers Together On Stage
27 June 2009
Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts, Bethel New York (site of Woodstock 1969)

According to Paul Rodgers (founding member of Bad Co. and lead singer), this dual performance of "Rock & Roll Fantasy" was a first for both groups! The show was indeed wonderful. More pictures and info to follow. Get yourself to Bethel Woods Center if you can; it's a great venue and the Woodstock Museum is worth the trip alone.
Zeph, out

THE FALLEN
Free Download of first single coming Monday 22 June 2009

In a not so subtle reference to the first Evasnescence album (that was just Fallen), Ben Moody along with Rocky Gray and Marty O'Brien and John LeCompt have recruited former American Idol singer Carly Smithson to form THE FALLEN, according to USA TODAY.

Their first single, "Bury Me Alive" will reportedly be available at
wearethefallen.com for free download in a few days, to coinside with a formal newsconference announcing the launch of the band.

My 3 pence-- Carly is a good to excellent singer, settled in with most of the original Evanescence she should blow the roof off the dump!

Zeph, out

FREE COLDPLAY DOWNLOAD

And it's Legal!!!

http://lrlrl.coldplay.com/leftright.html

For a limited time, download the new live Coldplay album. It's got a great version of "Clocks" and "Viva La Vida."

ACT NOW!

Zeph, out

NEIL YOUNG
FORK IN THE ROAD

OK, this one just out comes in a CD only version and for a few dollars/pounds/euros more, you get a DVD as well. The CD is a short, tight, grunged up rockin’ 10 songs by Young and band that are a blessed improvement from the dreadful Living with War CD. And it IS somewhat political. The message of bailouts but not for you and me comes out loud (very loud) and clear. Moreover Neil Young has admitted and apparently learned singing a song will not change the world.

I really like the live in the studio sound and feel of this punchy bangin’ collection, and although raggedly produced does not sound anything less but right on! Although way way way too short at about 38 minutes, it’s a keeper.

Now should you spring for the DVD/CD set? Well, super fans will want the remarkably astute take on A Day In The Life (from the Beatles of course) that appears as a live video by Young and band. Curiously Pegi Young (the Missus of course) appears on a riser, playing the vibes in this track and is vaguely reminiscent of the McCartney Wings set up with Paul at the main mike out front and the late and lovely Linda McCartney similarly perched on keyboards. Young de-strings and appears to attempt destruction on his classic Gibson electric axe at the end of the song, rather artistically to produce wild distorted closing noise (like a drummer does at the end of a long set live) and it works. So this cut makes the video a deal for me. But, note the other more MTVish videos basically are a wretchedly appearing Young up close mouthing the songs; watch once and forget them. And if you are into super high fidelity on DVD, there is a great audio rendering of the entire CD to play on your super system….I’ll stick to my iPod and Tripod phones however. So, oh well, if you are a super fan buy the set, if not borrow the DVD from someone for a spin or at most 2 and save the extra shillings.


SUM 41
ALL THE GOOD SH**

In short I was very late to the Sum 41 party. I picked up this superb best of because of course Avril is married to one of these guys. And I must say it’s a wonderful power pop (or even young grunge pop?) collection; a keeper on CD. Moreover you can get a DVD set here too, and the videos are very clever and worthy of many spins in your favorite home theater. A real keeper.

BOTTOM LINE:
Fork In The Road 4/5 stars (w/ or w/o DVD)
All The Good Sh** 5/5 stars in any format

Zeph, out
PS: on a personal note I can not wait for the new "covers" CD due out by Crosby Stills & Nash! Stay tuned, and thanks for your visit.

AIR SUPPLY IN CONCERT
2 February 2009

Celebrating thirty freakin’ years of Ballads R Us, Graham Russell and Rusell Hitchcock took over the neighborhood performing arts theater in Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA and they did themselves proud. When you think it all began, according to Russell (note the differing spellings to follow who says what!), it all started out with the two men and an acoustic guitar in coffee houses and pizza parlors, eventually exploded into world-wide fame in soft rock and now every moment on stage is icing on the cake.

And what sweet cake it was. Now friends, you know my music tastes vary considerably, and I will be the first one to tell you it’s hard to stomp along with any Air Supply opus, nevertheless the guys, backed by a technically and emotively perfect band (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar and keys, plus Russell’s guitar) may I suggest ROCKED? I mean you cannot deny the long string of hits, and millions of albums, CDs and downloads people plunked down real coin for, and still enjoy!

We were treated to two sets of one hour each, followed by a double-shot encore. About halfway through the show the duo walked calmly through the first floor of the theater and posed for pictures with fans WHILE PLAYING AND SINGING a song. I’ve never seen a more hospitable band. But wait, there was more…

After the show, the entire band stayed late into the evening to meet and greet fans, several hundred of which were willing to wait in a very orderly line. I got a chance to complement the drummer on his expertise. I wish I caught his name. To summarize, the man has to keep an edgy beat in an orgy of light rock ballads, and sound upbeat and keep everyone enthusiastic. He did just that for the entire show. As did the entire troop. And the vocals, virtually all by the original duo with rare augmentation by the backup of the band, were nearly flawless. They sounded incredibly good.

I’ll admit I came into this show with little expectation. I left with a similar feeling I have had seeing among the best…I just wish they had a wee bit of rock and roll in the catalogue. Hey, maybe get AC/DC to write you a few tunes for your next CD????

All joking aside, Graham Russell did do a new song to be out on their next new studio album, called The River and Me. It’s gorgeous; look out for it.


BOTTOM LINE: 4/5 stars (if they had covered Whole Lotta Love, I’d give them a perfect 5 stars!!!).
Zeph, out

ERIN McCARLEY
Love, Save the Empty

Every once in a while I get really jazzed about discovering a new artist. The last time I felt THIS jazzed was meeting the lovely Jennifer Clarke after hearing her live for the first time. I haven’t heard Ms. McCarley live yet , but I hope to soon, because I can’t get her debut CD out of the old CD player. It isn’t stuck, but it might as well be. And for once I’m not overly late to the musical party! This album is a keeper. In the vinyl days, I would be well on the way to buying a second copy in anticipation of the first copy wearing out.

Love, Save the Empty is the most polished, charming and satisfying rock/pop album I have heard in ages. It will be a classic, mark my lyrics ! The CD opens with Pony (It’s OK) which was a freebie iTunes download for a week or so recently. Usually the freebies are not particularly interesting, but I am glad I heard this one. Like the rest of the collection, it’s got a rhythm scheme with among the most imaginative percussion in my iPod. In fact all 11 songs have deceptively busy rhythm tracks that uniquely are not annoying or overbearing (like Andrea Corr’s otherwise way-cool debut solo CD for example). The 5th song is the title track and it is going to appear in the film He’s Just Not That Into You . You will find yourself humming the chorus after the first spin. Check out the video for Love, Save The Empty on Yahoo.

So, here goes: bottom line 5/5 stars, and that is a first for me on a new artist's debut release on it’s way to being considered a masterpiece. Buy it now!

Zeph, out

PS:
You can hear the album streamed on her website.
There are some live acoustic videos of E. McC. at
http://video.universalrepublic.com/?plid=1481452858&v=4660309001&aid=0

PPS: Thanks to David Letterman's Late Show for having Erin McCarley on for her national TV debut in the USA; now please rerun that show ASAP!