Asides

I stood 30 feet away from Robert Plant

Robert Plant and Band of Joy – Ramble On from chip on Vimeo.

It was VERY cool seeing Robert Plant – can’t believe I’ve lived almost 40 years and have never seen one of my favorite singers. But, in a way, I’m sort of glad I didn’t see the “Heaven Knows”, “Little By Little”, “Tall Cool One”-era Robert Plant because while I like those songs (actually, quite a bit), that feels more like Plant’s attempt and becoming a pop-rock (maybe pop’s not the right word, maybe “radio-friendly” is what I’m looking for) star. He seems to be in his element now as he’s gone back to his earliest blues/country/folk roots.

Of course, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want him to just, for one song, completely bust out and do an over-the-top full-on rock version of a Zeppelin song, but I’m more than satisfied (WAY more than satisfied) with what I saw last night. A great band (even though they look more like my uncles than rock stars) and it was cool that he shares the spotlight with them rather than owning the stage for the entire performance.

Check out the setlist from the 6/13/11 Columbus, Ohio show.

Bro Jovi? More like Bro Pantera!

I fell for it – first time I saw Bro Jovi’s name I assumed they were a Bon Jovi cover band (and, truth be told, that wouldn’t have been too upsetting). But one listen to the Cleveland band’s debut, Songs to Crush Beers To, Vol. 1, shows that these tough guys are no poodle-haired ’80s throwback. They do sound suspiciously like Pantera (I ain’t complaining). Check out this brand new video for “I Am Eternal”.

Holy classic metal supergroup!

This is BAD-ASS!

Two parts Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Jon Lord), one part Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi), one part Metallica (Jason Newsted), one part Iron Maiden (Nicko McBrain) and one part HIM (Linde Linstrom) = WhoCares, a classic metal supergroup assembled to raise some money for a good cause – rebuilding and helping the music school in Gyumari, Armenia.

Unfortunately, the group only recorded two songs – “Out of My Mind” and “Holy Water” – but those two tracks, along with a 30-minute documentary showing Gillan and Iommi’s involvement with Armenia will be available later this month. More info on the release can be found here.