They called it

During the Pezcore album show in London in September of 2007, Less Than Jake singer, Chris, said "Blink 182 will be back next summer."

He was only off by a year.

My belief was that they'd be back as soon as the money ran out and whether or not that's actually the case, they are back and they stand to make boatloads of money.

I used to be a Blink fan. Unfortunately, the addition of Travis Barker kinda ruined them for me. They turned away from being a straight-up skate-punk band to a prog-rock band just by putting a studio-quality drummer behind the kit. BLAH.

LTJ

(apologies for the crappy cell-phone photos)

Mikey's post on meeting LTJ is appropriate, as I saw them in San Francisco on April 1.

It had been nearly nine years since I last saw LTJ and before that, it was 12 times from 1997-2000.

It's been four albums and one b-sides comp since I last saw them play.

So, as one of the sole representatives of the 30-and-over crowd, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

"Just standing in this crowded room still makes me feel alive"

-- This One's Going to Leave a Bruise
Less than Jake -- GNV FLA

I felt so alive. An LTJ show has to be experienced for its energy and fun. It really is all about having the fun - singing along to every word, hearing the band members talk crap about each other.

I felt like I was 20 again. We got to the Warfield probably, right after LTJ started off with "Happyman" and I went straight to the front of the stage.

I was just overcome with the memories of having seen them way-back-when and fought my way to a dancing spot where I could jump along with the crowd and sing every word.

I looked around and saw a crowd of people who must have looked as young as me at my first LTJ show in 1997. There were still some as old as me, who had stuck by the band over the years.

And yes, knowing that I first saw Less Than Jake when Losing Streak was their current record - 12 years ago - makes me feel considerably old.

I met LTJ that night. They were opening for Guttermouth at the Rave Bar in Milwaukee. It was the lineup that included Jessica Mills and the interview included her telling Pete that after every question, he had to remove an article of clothing.

I got the entire band to sign my Pezcore CD cover, which will remain an artifact, because that lineup ceased to exist later in 97 when Jessica left or was fired or whatever. Derron left following the Hello Rockview tour.

I met LTJ so many times in '97 and '98 that it lost its lustre. I watched as members of the band became less accessible or friendly towards their fans. But I felt for them and their privacy, too.

In the end, I feel that I'll always be an LTJ fan. I don't care about their individual lives or personalities. I care about the music, which has improved with every single record.

Meeting Less Than Jake-circa 1998

And now, one of the oldest stories I have to share with meeting a band. On a warm day in my freshmen year in High School, I was asked my my older brother if I'd like to go to The Exclusive Company in Brookfield to meet some members of Less Than Jake. I was thrilled and off we went driving to one of the better places to buy albums and cds. Hello Rockview was their most recent release so the store was packed. It was actually an "after school" style with snacks, Capri Suns and a slew of good treats on the tables plus plenty of stickers. I think I still have one sticker in a folder. Not all of Less Than Jake were there, but Buddy, Pete, Vinnie and Derron were walking around the store. It was an honor to meet some of the members of the most influential band of my lifetime. They were all super nice and fun to talk to. They signed a very old, stained and vintage Less Than Jake shirt. It's absolutely a mess, and barely survived a flood in my closet back at my old house in Wales. That day was by far one of my favourite moments meeting a group. Even with a major crowd of people, it was a blast.

And now, another story I'll never forget...

This story gets told quite often. In fact, my wife was just telling her Dad about it over the weekend in Illinois. While I still 'worked' for the Carroll College newspaper The New Perspective, I had set up an interview with punk rockers No Use For A Name at The Rave in Milwaukee. My wife and my brother came with. I was supposed to meet the group, do the interview on the tour bus, then go to the show right after. Simple. I called the tour manager and he said meet outside the tour bus. Waited. No one came out. Eventually Matt Riddle, the bassist came out. I asked him if I was interviewing him and the rest of the guys...He said "well you can interview me, let's go inside the club". Okay. So we went backstage. He offered me a beer and we did the interview. It was a great lengthy interview, and then he pointed to these mysterious doors. He said they busted the lock on them after sound check and explored a little bit, then asked if we wanted to come with him and the guitar techs to go explore some more. So of course we went. So me, my wife and my brother got to see the famous "haunted" pool that rarely anyone gets to see unless you perform there and can break the lock. They had said a girl haunts it who drowned some many years ago. There was graffiti everywhere from previous explorers. It had that awesome old smell to it. Some don't know that The Eagles Club used to be a gentleman's club with the ballroom on top, a ring for boxing and a pool with lockers. We crawled all over the place. The creepiest thing we saw was a chair and keg in the corner of a barely lit area. No ghosts, but it was an awesome experience. After that, I said thanks for the interview and we headed inside. After the show, I was fortunate to catch singer/guitarist Tony Sly outside where I got him to sign my copy of Keep Them Confused. I probably should have had Matt sign the album booklet too. Oh well.

It was an amazing night that neither my wife or my brother will ever forget.

And now a story...

I'm a story teller. I love to share stories no matter what the subject: work, music, how I proposed...etc For the next few posts, I'm going to share some great stories on how I got the pictured autographs. Today's story is the day I met Chicago punk rockers Alkaline Trio. My brother Andy, sister Cheryl and I belong to their Blood Pact, a fan club that allows fans to get first dibs of tickets and a possible chance to meet the group at their sound check. So driving to Milwaukee's Eagles Club with Hell Yes EP and drum stick in hand, I headed to meet them. We got into the sound check as "Back to Hell" was playing. After a few more songs, they came out to talk. I got Derek Grant to sign my drum stick and had Dan and Matt sign my Hell Yes vinyl EP. While I was talking to Derek, I asked if he'd like to do an interview. He said if he had time after the show he would. I decided to ask Matt Skiba. He said he'd be happy to. Good thing I had my tape recorder with me. So after the show, I waited for Matt to talk to his avid fans. He spotted me and we got to do a 25 minute interview. After the interview I walked to my car behind The Rave, and found police tape around it. I dropped my jaw. The policeman told me my car was involved in a hit and run. I was thinking "whattt?" then he said "oh I'm just kidding. Apparently a taxi was hijacked up the road and crashed into The Rave (the backside). What a way to end a day.

Is there an age limit to music success?

Every once in a while I'll visit my family. When I have some off time from working and art, it's good to catch up on things and overall, relax with them. My lil bro subscribes to Alternative Press magazine. Most of the magazine features the same garbage and columns with whatever the flavor of the week is. They always seem to have their fingers on whatever Fall Out Boy is doing or whatever Myspace sensation is tearing up the web. Well anyways, I came upon an article/poll about musicians and bands being too old to play...Is there an age to success in the music world? This could be a toss-up. If you're 43 years old, still dressing up like you're 18 playing the same music aimed towards teens, you'll look like a desperate wanker. But if you're playing what you love, how can one condemn that? AC/DC has been around for a very long time and continue to play what they love. The fans dig it and no one is unhappy.
But then again, they're iconic. They're classic. You can't match up groups like AC/DC with Cobra Starship or any of those groups that are painful to hear.
But then there are those groups like Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. These guys don't look like they're having the fun they did when they climbed the ladder to stardom. Sometimes it's good to step away gracefully, then to stretch out your career into complete and udder desperation.

Covering the covers

I've recently received a bit of stick from a very close friend of mine because of a perceptible contempt I have with covers bands.

I don't totally hate these bands. Especially the ones that do their covers while adding their own spin to these songs. I saw a band at Banana Joe's in downtown MPLS nine years ago that did amazing Prince covers. And of course, there's Me First & The Gimme Gimmes who are the world's greatest covers band.



So, in honor of my dear friend who loves covers and the bands that play them, here are my all-time greatest covers:

Blue Meanies - "Stone Cold Crazy" (Queen)

Guttermouth - "Happy Loving Couples" (Joe Jackson)

The Hanson Brothers - "Get It Right Back" (Maxine Nightingale)

The Hippos - "Our Lips are Sealed" (GoGos)

Less Than Jake - "I Think I Love You" (Partridge Family)

Limp - "Holiday Road" (Lindsey Buckingham)

No Use For a Name with Cynder Block - "Fairytale of New York" (The Pogues)

Mustard Plug - "The Freshman" (Verve Pipe)

The Queers - "Don't Back Down" (The Beach Boys)

Ted Leo - "Since U Been Gone" (Kelly Clarkson)