Pearl Jam Live In Charlottesville, VA

A couple months ago, I entered a contest through Pearl Jam's fan club.  They had a list of all of the dates on Pearl Jam's US tour.  You could choose the shows that you would most likely be able to attend, and be entered for the contest for a chance to go to those shows.  I clicked on Charlottesville, VA, because it was the closest one to home.  I didn't expect to actually win tickets to that show, but, low and behold, I won two tickets to see Pearl Jam on October 29, 2013 in Charlottesville, VA.

I've been a huge Pearl Jam fan since 1991, back when music was good.  I had to find someone who was as big a Pearl Jam fan as I am to go with me.  The obvious choice was my buddy, Seth, from the band Curmudgeon.

The show started at 7:00.  We had a six-hour drive ahead of us, so we left around 11:30 on the morning of October 29.  We made it to the John Paul Jones Arena a little after 5.  There was a big, red merchandise tent set up near the entrance, and we could hear Pearl Jam inside rehearsing such songs as Smile, Daughter, and Even Flow.  We sat around, and talked to some of the other fans for a while, and the gates finally opened at 6:30.

The band walked out on stage around 8:15.

Pendulum

Release

In My Tree

Corduroy

Go

Why Go

Lightning Bolt

Mind Your Manners

I Am Mine

 Swallowed Whole

 Faithful

Wishlist

Sirens

Jeremy

Grievance

Glorified G

The Fixer

Down --  Two guys in the front row started fighting when this song first started.  Eddie Vedder stopped the show, and made security break them up.  He said, "That was just a little speed bump.  Life is full of speed bumps.  That's all that was, just a speed bump."  Then, they started the song over.

Rearviewmirror

Then, the band took a little break, and came back for their first encore -- with acoustic guitars!  They did the following acoustic set:

The End

Thumbing My Way

Sleight Of Hand

Footsteps

Future Days

Mother -- Pink Floyd cover song!

They went back electric for these songs:

Given To Fly

Whipping

Big Wave

Sad

Porch

Then, they took another break, and came back for a second encore:

Breath

State Of Love And Trust

Alive

Baba O'Riley -- The Who cover

Little Wing -- Jimi Hendrix cover

This was my twelfth concert, and the best one yet!

TCB!!!

Donny Edwards, the best Elvis impersonator in the whole world!!!

Shocka-Con 2013

This is my 500th post on Blogger!  Wow!  To celebrate, I'm posting more of the same crap...

I met some big-time celebrities at Shocka-Con in Charleston, WV on September 20.  Well...  Maybe not so big-time...  "Big Tiny" and the Governor's daughter, from The Walking Dead.

Our New KFC Ad...

Thousand Foot Krutch Concert

I'd never heard of Thousand Foot Krutch, until I heard them on Sirius Octane.  Turns out they've been around since around 2001.  They have some pretty good songs!  They had a free concert in Paintsville, KY on August 10, so I had to go check them out!  The drummer's plane was late getting there, because of the heavy rain.  They finally took the stage around 10:00, and played for about an hour.  Good times!

This was my eleventh concert.  Here are a few crappy pictures that I took with my crappy cell phone:

Breaking News!!!

We're getting reports of Sue The Prostitute being pregnant!!!  If this is true, the 70+year old could be giving "Mousey" a baby brother, or sister.  Stay tuned for more details...

Down In The Water

Awakening Radio Hootenanny!

Here is the reason for my latest streak of inactivity.  It's a little off-topic, but my "side project" is investigating UFOs.

Check me out on the radio tonight!
10pm EDT at paramaniaradio.com

My UFO Side Project

Check me out on the radio!  I'm a celebrity!

Live on Stage!

Ruby Molasses!!!

Check it out!
There's a brand new band under the Cruel Music roof!
Ruby Molasses.
Their debut album, "Dead," was released today.
The first 700,000 copies ordered will be signed by the band!
Order now, before it's too late!

Slow day at work...

Happy (Belated) New Year!

2013 is starting to look like it's going to be a good year here at Cruel Music.  New collaborations and opportunities are presenting themselves on a regular basis.  I'm not one to spoil surprises for everyone, but I will say that there are *FILM* projects in the works.  Should be interesting...  Also a Cruel Music / Wheelchair Full Of Old Men Records album is about halfway done.  I'm pretty gosh-darn excited about this.  It has been almost 12 years since the first/last collaboartion with Wheelchair.  It's going to be *HUGE.*  I've been working on this album for the last couple months.  Good stuff!  2012 was a lazy time for Cruel Music.  The plan is to get back to having at least one release per month in 2013.  Brandon has been taking time out of his busy schedule to contribute to some recordings, as well:

Merry Christmas!

Daughtry and 3 Doors Down

I went to my tenth concert on Tuesday, November 27, in Pikeville, KY...  Daughtry and 3 Doors Down.  Otherwise was the opening band.  They took the stage at 7:30.  Daughtry was up next.  Now, I'm not a huge Daughtry fan, but I like a few of their songs.  They were borderline country, but they put on a good show.  They played for about an hour and a half, and then 3 Doors Down came out.  This was my second time seeing them.  They did a really good job.  I think they were even better than the first time I saw them.  They played for about an hour and a half, too.  The biggest surprise of the night came when they played a Megadeth cover song, "Symphony of Destruction." The biggest disappointment of the night was that there was no one there!  The Pikeville Expo Center has a capacity of 7,000 people, and there *MIGHT* have been 1,000 there.

Brandon's "Like Song."

Surprise!

After taking nearly a year off, the gears are turning!

Shocka-Con

Caught me an alien at the sci fi convention in S. Charleston, Saturday.

Mothman Festival 2012

On Saturday, September 15th I went on a road trip.  I've always wanted to go to Point Pleasant, WV to check out the hometown of the world-famous Mothman.  So, what better time to go than during the Mothman Festival? 

I met a lot of nice folks in Point Pleasant.  I was a Man In Black, along with four or five other people.

I saw three Ghostbusters there, and the Mothman was there, of course. And there were even two Storm Troopers there! I don't know... I think they were at the wrong festival...

 

I managed to get a picture of the re-built Silver Bridge as I was leaving.  

I only stayed in Point Pleasant for about three or four hours.  I bought some cool books, a T-shirt, and a DVD.  I'll definitely be going back next year.  Good times!

Shopping With Nemo

Brandon pushes Nemo around in his shopping cart every day.  The weird thing is that Nemo will let him do whatever he wants with him.

Brandon's Evil Side

Brandon's Good Side

I don't know...  I seem to be getting lazy.  I'm still writing music, but it's coming along pretty slow.  Have a nice day!

I went to the Mass Chaos tour in Huntington, Saturday night.  Mass Chaos = Brook Royal, Halestorm, Staind, and Godsmack.  I've never heard of Brook Royal before, but they did a good job.  I think I just might have to check out some of their stuff.  Halestorm did a really good job.  I was surprised.  I've heard a few of their songs before, and thought they were okay, but they rocked the house!  It was my second time seeing Staind.  They sounded good, but Aaron Lewis just didn't seem too in to it.  He must have been on one of his bipolar trips, or something.  Poor guy...  Godsmack was awesome!  I was surprised by them, too.  I've heard they put on a really good live show, and I guess I heard right.  Sully Erna was sick.  They did a lot of instrumental stuff, and they didn't play very long, but they were still great.  I didn't know Sully could play drums.  He did a dueling drum solo with Shannon Larkin.  It was very cool!  Anyway, I enjoyed myself at the big rock show.  "It's been a while."

Recording!

As promised, I'm finally getting down to business!  Here's the proof:

Trying to figure out how to transfer the drum beat from my head to an actual drum set for an original song, "Down I Go."

Go!!!

I don't get it...

According to Brandon, this is Dad-da:

Question of the day

Is it just me, or does this buffalo look strikingly similar to Billy Bob Thorton in "Slingblade?"

New Alliance?!