Journal Entrees:

07/17/08 - Live Albums
07/10/08 - Atlanta GA
04/02/08 - What's Up
02/15/08 - 2008 Update

2006-2007 Entries

Thursday, July 17, 2008 - Live Albums and Bootlegs

I just had to get on here and comment on some late breaking news; well at least it is late breaking to me. I was sitting on the sofa with the wife last night enjoying a Red Stripe and Tommy on VH1 Classic when I saw a commercial for a new CD from the master himself, David Bowie. I was floored to see that EMI was FINALLY releasing the Santa Monica 1972 live Ziggy show, in it’s entirety…raw and unedited. I was giddy, like “waking up on Christmas morning” giddy (a little Tommy for you there). I can’t believe that after all these years EMI has decided to acknowledge this historical recording. It’s a bootleg, one of the best ever mind you. This was recorded during a great era for Bowie. He was touring the US for the first time in support of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars and had amazing material from Hunky Dory to vary the set. It’s rough and imperfect but all along true to form. Real music minus ProTools and all that digital crap that has, as Roger Daltrey recently commented, ruined music. I remember a section in the Beatles Anthology series where George comments how most of the music he listens to is scratchy and imperfect. What ever happened to that concept? Some bands still have a hold on this. The White Stripes album Get Behind Me Satan is a good example. Unprocessed and truly raw, recorded with one single mic! Imagine that Andy Wallace! Music isn’t always polished and easily consumed, some times the listener has to force it down and actually connect to understand and appreciate it. So this got me thinking about some of my favorite bootlegs and/or live albums. Here’s a quick run down (according to me) of what should not me missed.

The Beatles – Star Club Tapes

This bootleg is essential for Beatles Fans. Recorded in December of 1962 while in residency at The Star Club in Hamburg Germany, these tapes include over thirty tracks of pre-Beatlemania magic. What you are essentially listening to are the Beatles live in a small club, sans thousands of screaming girls with all the in-between song banter and great early Beatles music. Yes, the sound is very rough and at times hard to listen to but what this offers is a rare glimpse of the band. I feel lucky when I listen to this music. By all means it should not even exist but thankfully it has survived after all these years. Misterclaudel recently release a two disc unedited version that provides much more of the original tapes and better quality than in previous releases. If you don’t have this CD then find a copy! If you can’t find a copy, email me and I will make you one. It’s truly an amazing piece of history that shouldn’t be missed. Who knows, maybe EMI will get off their ass and officially release the Star Club tapes as well…but I’m not holding my breath.

Iggy and The Stooges – Metallic KO

I fell into The Stooges via David Bowie and his Iggy Pop collaborations in Berlin. I bought this CD many years ago and at first discarded it, I wasn’t ready I guess. The show is totally out of control. You can hear the biker packed audience screaming at the band, beer bottles being thrown towards the guys on stage, it’s really amazing. During the show you can hear Iggy say “All right” as he stops right in the middle of a song, “you assholes want to hear ‘Louie Louie,’ we’ll give you ‘Louie Louie.’” The band then goes into a forty-five minute version of “Louie Louie” with improvised lyrics consisting of “You can suck my ass / You biker faggot sissies.” The hatred in the room grows, Iggy singles out one heckler who has been particularly abusive: "Listen, asshole, you heckle me one more time and I'm gonna come down there and kick your ass." "Fuck you, you little punk," responds the biker. So Iggy jumps off the stage, runs through the middle of the crowd, and the guy beats the shit out of him, ending the evening's musical festivities by sending the lead singer back to his motel room and a doctor. Supposedly, the next day the bike gang, who call themselves the Scorpions, phoned WABX-FM and promise to kill Iggy and the Stooges if they play the Michigan Palace on Thursday night. They did play and nobody got killed. Recorded 1973~74, this is another bootleg gone official release.

The Who – Live at Leeds

Now this one was never really a bootleg but rather the bands weapon in combating bootleggers after the success of Tommy. The Who Live at Leeds is hands down the greatest live album of all time. Recorded at Leeds University on February 14, 1970, the show captures Roger, Pete, John and Moonie at their best. Explosive is the only way to describe it. The recent Deluxe Edition is great as it shows almost the entire night of music with song introductions and all. You can hear Keith scream “Good morning wankers” in “Tommy’s Holiday Camp,” love it! The show stopper however is “A Quick One, While He’s Away.” You can’t really talk about it, you just gotta listen to it for yourself. This is another must own.

With all this talk of live albums and what not I guess it’s time to officially announce the upcoming release of my own, Live in Wilmington. This one was recorded during the end of my summer outing while at Port City Java in downtown Wilmington NC on the night of August 26, 2006. It was a very rare night that yielded an intimate acoustic performance of old and new. Included on the eight song EP will be the first official release of three old numbers. “Breaking The Blues” was written around 2000 and has been hanging around ever since. The song was introduced to the guys in ROTD during the formation of the band but never made it to a set list or album. The second track finally seeing the light of day is “Carry My Load.” Another one that fell through the cracks; written around December 2003. The last ‘new’ song has been around for years, back into the 90s possibly. “A Small Southern Town” has been a staple of my live performances for quite a while now. It has garnered a cult following with my father. Haha! Needless to say it’s a standard whenever he is around and a guitar is in hand. I’ve attempted to record the song many times but never had much luck until now. Check out the track list:

1. New York City Ghosts
2. Stare
3. The Cold
4. Temporary
5. Breaking The Blues
6. November
7. Carry My Load
8. A Small Southern Town

Release date and all will be announced soon so keep checking back for more info. In the meantime dust off your favorite live LP, or MP3 these days, and enjoy some good raw music as god intended.

Cheers!
Andy

Thursday, July 10, 2008 - Atlanta GA and More

For the past few months I’ve been doing some basic tracking; spending most of my time recording a song called “Rochester” that will likely be on the next album. The piano, drum, and additional key tracks have been recorded and now it’s on to an acoustic guitar track. I attempted to record a bass line but just ended up proving how inept I am at playing bass. I might give it another go. For this song I’ve been keeping the Scottish band Travis in mind. I’m not trying to emulate their sound but rather just be inspired by the way their songs are put together. Electric guitar might also be added but we will just have to see. The next song that I plan on tracking will more than likely be “Riverboat Joe.”

On the song writing front, I wrote a song called “Want” one the piano in early June. It’s a pretty silly song but who knows what might happen with it. Also, a guitar number called “Tracks” was thrown together just a few days ago. I recorded a quick acoustic guitar demo with Doumbek, shakers, and Mbira accompaniment. It’s pretty crude but acts as a good recording map for the future of the song. Again, not really album worthy material but still worth mentioning.

April was spent at our home in Mooresville; cooking out, eating, and drinking. Melissa and I did make another trip down to The Handlebar in Greenville to see Kevin Max perform. A band called Civil Twilight opened up the night and they were bloody amazing. Their music was so tight and energetic. I never really expect much from openers but this band took me by surprise. Kevin Max followed joined only be an acoustic guitar player and iMac. It was a small crowd, around seventy-five people or so I’d guess. Melissa had gotten me into Kevin’s music last year when we downloaded The Imposter album. It has been a staple on my iPod ever since. The man’s voice is really mind blowing; so powerful and truly unique. The highlight of the performance for me was “Stay”, wonderful song. We stuck around after the encore so we could meet Kevin and get a pic. While waiting around a teenager commented on my Hard Days Night t-shirt. He said that is was an underrated album, Beatles talk quickly ensued. He really knew his Beatles (even the bootleg material) which left me with hope for the future of music. We got a picture, autograph, and back to Charlotte. Sleep.

In May we went back down to Greenville for Mother’s day. We did the downtown Greenville thing, drinks at Blue Ridge Brewery and then dinner at one of the many downtown restaurants. This time it was Barley’s Taproom, a great pizza pub with a huge selection of beers. A glass followed me home. For Memorial Day weekend I surprised Melissa with a weekend trip down to our favorite getaway, Disney World! You can call me a nerd for enjoying this place so much, that’s fine with me. We always have such a great time in the Disney bubble. On our first night, after Epcot closed, we did get to watch some of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the ESPN club at Disney’s Boardwalk resort. It was like being at the freaking game. There were so many Red Wing fans there I was really amazed. It was great! Congrats Red Wings!

We had some time off at Holden Beach with my parents in June. They had rented a condo and invited ‘the kids’ to come down for the week. My brother joined them for the first part of the week while Melissa and I stayed for the second half. On Wednesday night, however, everyone was there together. It had been a long time since I had really hung out with my brother and just had a good time, it was really great. Matt’s goal was to clear out all the beer from the fridge so yes, we did a lot of drinking followed by walking on the beach, jumping in the pool with all our clothing on, and eating cold Hawaiian pizza. The night ended very late on the porch, watching the waves and the full moon. Melissa and I spent to rest of the week consuming as much seafood as humanly possible. We went crabbing one day and had ok results, four crabs total. When added to some fresh muscles and shrimp from a local seafood market, it made for a really great meal. The next day we put the middle man back in and bought a dozen live blue-crabs from a market on the waterway, $10 for 12 crabs ain’t bad at all. Melissa and I tried to play it off like we had caught them but that joke didn’t last long once my parents saw how many we had…and how big they were.

If you know my parents then you know how they will talk to ANYBODY! It’s comes from years at the bar of Blue Ridge Brewery. Well they had befriended our next door condo mates and as it turns out, the lone male next door was a folk musician from Winston. On our last night we ended up talking, one thing lead to another and before I knew it his nylon stringed classical guitar was outside on the porch among the beer and people consuming it. So we passed the guitar between the two of us, sharing songs one at a time. I was very rusty on that guitar. I have been so piano driven for over a year now that my guitar skills are, well, dormant. I played “Stare,” “The Prince of Washington Square,” and “Piece of Mind.” It was a fun night and it was great to play again, kind of makes me want to arrange a show.

A few days after getting back from the beach we drove down to Atlanta GA; we had tickets for Eddie Izzard at the Cobb Performing Arts Center. Now Melissa has been virtually in love with Eddie for quite a while now. We had seen all his standup DVDs, we’re huge fans of the Riches on FX, and (as Melissa would say) just think that Eddie is fabulous. We saw that he was going to be in New York a few months back and seriously considered getting tickets and a flight just to see the show, but we didn’t. Then one day is get a frantic call from Melissa at work that Eddie is coming to Atlanta, fan presale has begun, get tickets!!! So we snagged a pair of fifth row seats and planned for a quick trip down to Atlanta in June.

Along the way we started watching Top Chef. I guess you could say that Melissa and I are want-a-bee foodies. We are big Anthony Bourdain fans (place picture of Melissa with Bourdain here!).

Melissa will post this picture at the shear mention of Bourdain. We were able to see him speak at Charlotte Shout a few years back…we then stalked him into a dark alley (and you think I’m kidding.) We also very much enjoy Gordon Ramsey, have not stalked him at time of posting. Anyway, so we had been watching Top Chef and instantly were intrigued by Richard Blais. He really seemed to be miles ahead of everyone else in my opinion. We knew that Richard had set up camp in Atlanta but didn’t think much about it until we were watching the reunion special and he mentioned the restaurant he is currently head chef at, Home. We instantly got online and booked dinner for two before the show. Excitement level elevated!

So we made the long drive to Atlanta. I think the last time we were in Atlanta was for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame R.E.M. show, or maybe it was to see The Who? Not really sure. I have very fond memories of Atlanta; it was always the “show” city. Growing up in the small town of Liberty South Carolina, entertainment was extremely lacking and good live music was even harder to come by. So Atlanta was always there for great live shows; Tool at the Tabernacle, R.E.M. at Phillips Arena, Train at Smith’s Olde Bar, Placebo at The Roxy, Radiohead at Stone Mountain Park, Matchbox Twenty at Phillips…the list goes on. So when I think about Atlanta I think of great shows and day trips to the city. Our reservations weren’t until 5:30 but we got into Atlanta pretty early so we decided to go pick up our tickets at will call and then made our way to Home. I’m pretty sure we were the first people in the restaurant. We told the hostess that we were really early and were going to the bar for a drink. After fifteen to thirty minutes other people started showing up so we decided to have a seat and begin our dinning experience.

Now I don’t make a habit of reviewing meals and explaining every detail but on this occasion I feel obligated; the food was AMAZING. The meal began with two freshly made biscuits served with cream and spiced preserves. I was surprised and impressed with the first bite; the combination of spice with the fruity preserves was very different and it worked well. It really woke my taste buds. For our “Snack” we ordered the Deviled Eggs Duck Confit. We had been looking forward to this snack since we read the menu online, wow! The Duck Confit was so buttery and melted in your mouth; the pairing with deviled eggs was brilliant. Two courses in and we were already floored, how could it get better? For our starter we tried the Chicken Fried Sweetbread with Sausage Gravy, Apple, and Rocket Salad. Now I am aware of what sweetbread is but once I tasted it all reservations were out the window. Holy Shit! This was the best stuff I had ever out in my mouth, it just melted and the flavors were amazing. Melissa commented that she could have easily had another. Again the course had raised the bar. For the main course Melissa chose the Crispy Fried Chicken with Cauliflower Mac-N-Cheese and a hot pepper and honey vinegar dipping sauce. The best part of Melissa’s dish was the vinegar sauce on the fried chicken. It was nice and spicy while also being sweet. I had never seen fried chicken presented that way and it was definitely a hit. I’m still thinking about this dish and it’s been what, a few weeks. For my main course I tried the Slow Cooked Pork “Short Rib” with Collard Greens, Local Peaches, and Coffee BBQ. Now this is Home’s play on “short ribs,” the dish is actually a braised pork belly. This is something I had always wanted to try but had never gotten the chance to. It was mouth watering! The pork belly was so tender and had a nice thin layer of skin on the bottom providing a great crunch with each bite. Paired with the fresh peaches, light BBQ sauce, and collards it was spectacular. Melissa thought I was amazing as well; we traded bites all dinner long. For dessert was shared the Moon Pie Coca-Cola Float, very “Richard.” The moon pie was homemade and the soda had something different in it, a little spice of something. The meal set us back a little over $100 but it was well worth it. Melissa and I would happily drive five hours just to eat here again, we are actually planning to!


So after dinner at Home we drove to Cobb Performing Arts center, quickly parked the car and made our way to the great seats we had. My aunt and uncle had actually bought tickets as well so we spoke to them for a while and waited for the show to begin. The lights went down and “Let Me Entertain You” by Robbie Williams started playing. Now Melissa loves Robbie so combine that with the fact that Eddie Izzard walked out just a few moments later, it was almost too much for her to handle. It’s always a little surreal seeing someone like this so close after you have been watching them on TV for so long. It’s one of those, “I never thought this would happen” moments. But it did and Eddie was great. Funny as hell! I am really hoping that he filmed this tour for DVD release sometime in the future.

After the show we hit the merch table up and noticed a small crowd of people gathering near a portal. I wasn’t sure what was up so I told Melissa to go wait over there to see if he was coming out. I made my way through the line and met up with Melissa. Shortly thereafter Eddie comes out and does a ten or so minute Q&A with the crowd. It was great, we were like just a few feet away from him. Some people ask such stupid questions, well…not really ask. It usually begins with, “I just want to say that I am a huge fan…blah blah blah.” No, really? You’re a huge fan? I would have never guessed with your Cake or Death T-shirt and your tickets to a sold out show!? What idiots. Anyway, what a great day…the best I have had in a long time. We tried to make it all the way home to Charlotte but I have a bad habit of getting drowsy at the wheel so instead we stopped in Greenville at my parents place. What a day.


On Saturday we went to see The Newsboys play at Knight’s Stadium in Fort Mill SC. We have been big fans for quite a while and saw this as a chance to get real close to the band. We bought the $5 general admission tickets for the infield and ended up right again the front barriers. Melissa has been perfecting her photography skills and got some amazing pictures at the show. The music was great as always, uplifting and original. They played a new song, well new to me, the was really great. I can’t remember the name of the song right now but I’m sure it will be on an upcoming album.

So wow, now that my novel is almost complete! I hope to have some new music out there soon, maybe even a show or two in the fall. We will just have to see how it all shakes out. Alex Quaranta who played in Remains of the Day with me will be visiting the states this September. We are planning on doing some recording for sure, maybe even a show together. I’ll be releasing a live EP this fall that was recorded in Wilmington NC during 2006; more official news on this later. See ya.

Love,
Andy

What I’m Listening To:
Vampire Weekend

When I left everyone last time, Melissa and I were on our way down to Charleston to get away. It had been around ten or more years since I had last visited the city. We were just going for one night so I got a room at the Francis Marion Hotel on King Street right across from Marion Park. The drive down early Saturday was nice and we arrived to find the park bustling and the street full of people. Turns out some wildlife convention was going on and Marion Park was hosting some of the outdoor events. So we valet the car and checked in. The hotel was great, classic Southern charm. Our room was facing the park so we could people watch from the window, what a wonderful view. There were musicians busking on the sidewalk and a lot of people with their dogs in the park.

The hunger was beginning to kick in so we decided to check out the food in the park. Many of the local restaurants had set up booths around the perimeter of the park. We tried some She Crab soup, Melissa thought it was too buttery and she was actually right. We’ve become such food snobs from watching too much Anthony Bourdain. Speaking of Anthony, he was actually in Charleston not too long ago so we had considered checking out some of the places he ate. We then read that the place in downtown that he ate was a tourist trap and not actually that good. Anyway, beer followed at a very reasonable price I might add. The weather was awesome and walking around the park made me want to take my shoes off. We grabbed some more food, I tired some pork tenderloin with a side of greens and a cheese biscuit. Now yes, I was born in the south but I was raised and feed by a Yankee mother (love you mom). Southern cuisine was all but foreign to me until I met Melissa over ten years ago. She took me into her family and I learned a lot about great southern cooking. One dish I had steered clear from had been collard greens. They just didn’t seem very appetizing, wow was I wrong. I loved them, freaking great! We sat on a bench, ate our food and drank our beer while watching people walk by and play with their dogs. I could have stayed there all day, it was beautiful.

The rest of the night was spent walking around downtown Charleston, checking out the shops and hitting up a few bars like Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub. We made reservations at a restaurant on the water and walked there later that night, cutting through on of Charleston’s many long alley ways. Even the alley’s here are nice! The food was good, it had gotten cold and the crowd there had turned into that annoying “I’m 30 something, think I’m hot shit but have accomplished nothing in my life.” Sorry about that but that’s how I saw it. So we got out of the madness and walked back to our hotel room to call it a night. I kept the blinds open for a while so I could look out over the park. A church steeple could be seen above the trees and the bridge behind that. We watched “Say Anything” on TV while we fell asleep, it was a great day.

The next morning we had breakfast in bed. Sunday was spent sight seeing around town, visiting the battery and walking around the city. We stayed until the afternoon before we made the drive back to Charlotte. I loved going to Charleston with Melissa. We had never been together and it made for a really romantic weekend.

So what else has been going on? Well we went to see a couple of shows last week. On Monday we caught The Meat Puppets at the Neighborhood Theater in Charlotte. This one was a long time coming and I’m still in awe that I actually got to see the Meat Puppets perform together. It was a reunion of sorts, brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood are finally back together minus the original drummer Derrick Bostrom. My introduction to the band happened around the same time as most teenagers of the 90s, when they performed with Nirvana on their Unplugged. Shortly following I bought Too High To Die and began to dig deeper into their music. I have very vivid memories of being with my mother at our dentist in Clemson SC. After my time in the seat I would walk down the hill to Manifest Disc and Tapes and buy Meat Puppet albums (among others); back when CDs still came in long boxes, hell back when there were independent record stores! My favorite that I purchased there so many years ago was the 1987 album Huevos, it’s still a staple on the iPod fourteen years after I first picked it up.

On Monday, March 10, after many years of listening, I finally got to see The Meat Puppets play live. Strangely enough they were to opening band for Built To Spill, OPENING! But that was fine with me, it was a Monday night and I did need my beauty rest. We got there early enough to be close to the front of the queue. I had never been to The Neighborhood Theater before so it was nice to finally check out the venue. I could tell that a lot of the people were there to see The Meat Puppets, a few Nirvana T-shirts lingered among the line. We got in a went straight to the front of the stage, the only proper place to see a show. A band for Seattle opened, not my cup of tea. Finally, after a stage flip, The Meat Puppets walked out on stage without any fanfare. I was in awe to finally see them, after so many years of listening it was finally time to experience a live show. They opened with the tongue twisting “Sam” from the Forbidden Places album, I hadn’t listened to this song in years but it was good to hear it again. They played the staples: “Lake of Fire,” “Plateau,” and “Backwater.”

A wonderful cover of “Tomorrow Never Knows” was thrown into the mix as well. There were a few songs that I had really hoped to hear, the first came with a nine minute version of “Up On The Sun” and finally a song from the Huevos album, “Look At The Rain.” The moment the guitar kicked in I knew what it was. I screamed, clapped my hands, and beat the stage whilst singing along. It was a great show, one of those that I thought would never happen. Even Melissa enjoyed herself, I think.

Five days later, Saturday, March 15, we were in Greenville, SC to see Emerson Hart at The Handlebar. Late last year we caught our first solo Emerson show here in Charlotte and we fell in love with his music. The album Cigarettes & Gasoline is beautifully put together and Emerson’s live shows are very intimate. It’s like watching someone play in your living room. There’ s no clear separation between audience and performer and I love that. People would request songs and he’d do his best to perform them. Some drunken ass requested “Friend To A Stranger,” the guy was annoying but had good taste as this is one of the best tracks on the album. At first he said he couldn’t play it but then agreed to give it a try all by himself. He said he had never played it live before and you could tell that he was unsure of the chords at points. It made for a truly great moment; just Emerson, a guitar, and a great song.

After the show Melissa and I hung out to meet him once again. I think Melissa told him something about how one of his songs sounds like a Lindsey Buckingham song. We quickly retired to my parents town house only a few minutes away where I ate some Irish Stew and Soda bread. I love my Irish heritage!

Anyway…this is getting really long and I guess I should actually be working at work?

Love,
Andy

What I’m Listening To:
Counting Crows Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

Friday, February 15, 2008 - 2008 Update

So I guess you could say it’s been a while since my last update. I trust everyone has been doing well. Here’s what has been going on.

I spent all 2007 trying to being a normal person only to realize that I already was. It was my first year without a live performance of some kind. I’ve had to repeatedly tell myself that was okay. Don’t freak, it’s not a big deal. You’ve only been doing this for thirteen years now. My God! In all seriousness it was a little weird. I constantly struggle with this inner drive to produce or have a project of some sort. I guess you could say that I spent 2007 in creative rehab. The best part is that it really changed my entire writing process. I no longer sit at the piano and go, “I’ve got to write two more songs for this album so I can get it out by X date.” I now just sit down and play, if a song comes out then great and if not then oh well. From this philosophy I’ve garnered around 25 new songs. 90% written on the piano. Looking back at the lyrics I’ve written over the past year I’ve begun to see a pattern. All the songs are about or for people I know. In the past I’ve always been very introspective with my writing but recently that has changed. I think it actually started to shift during the Scattered sessions with songs like “The Prince of Washington Square” and “We Always Do What’s Right”. I’ve always loved to create stories and have made a few feeble attempts at writing screenplays however I don’t have the patience for the writing process. I just recently realized that I can still create these stories in the more compact form of a song.

I’ve been listening to a lot of The Who recently; Sell Out is now in my top ten greatest albums of all time. Amazing music, I still can’t get over how cool that album is.


In December Melissa and I took my parents down to Disney World for a few days and it was a blast. We stayed at The Beach Club resort for the first time and it was really cool. It's so close to Epcot that we could walk right to it every night. Epcot's back door leads right into the UK Pavilion; home of tall pints of Guinness, great fish and chips, and a Beatles tribute band called the British Invasion. In other words we had a wonderful time. Our NY friend Angie (the Queen of Corona) stayed with us all week as well, we love that girl!

A few weeks ago we went to see the triumphant return of Matchbox Twenty at the Cricket Arena here in Charlotte. I should go back a little first. Melissa has always been a diehard MB20 fan; since she was just a kid in high school she has been following them. We were members of their fan club, got to see some amazing shows along the way, even partook in the filming of their live concert film SHOW! Staying after the performance so the camera crew could re shoot some numbers and get a few additional angles that were impossible to capture during the actual performance. At that point we thought that was it, there is no getting closer than that show in Atlanta. We savored the moment. Then the inevitable happen; Rob did a solo album and we were a little worried about the status of our favorite band. Then Adam left the band during their hiatus; Melissa and I lowered the proverbial flag to half-staff that day. A few years went by and we gave up on ever seeing Matchbox Twenty again. Then one day I was messing around online while Melissa was on the phone with her mother. Out of the blue I decided to click over to Rob’s page just to see what he was up to and I read the headline, “Matchbox Twenty Returns – New Album October 2nd!” I couldn’t believe it. Without a word I turned the computer towards Melissa and awaited her reaction. She screamed with excitement and almost dropped the phone. All of a sudden Matchbox was back.

So this past fall Rob and Paul went on a radio promotion tour for the new album and inevitable tour to follow. Our local crap-music station was offering a chance to see them play an acoustic live set for the station, you just had to be caller 10. So for a week Melissa and I sat through hours of shitty music; the 40 minute rational crap that has infested the radio waves like a degenerate cancer. We persistence and impeccable timing, Melissa was caller 10 and we had our ticket to the private performance. It was awesome to see Rob and Paul in a setting like this. We were right in the front, four feet away from them. So after the show and interview we were herded into groups of strangers to speed up the photo process. A quick shake of the hand, a “we love your music” and we were off. But we did wait around out back to see if we could get a real pic. Instead we got the “we might be stalking you” pic and another quick shake before they were off. A few months later they released tour dates and we sprung for a fanclub Gold Package. What did the gold package get you might be asking. Well, some random merch, a T-shirt, poster, preshow VIP party, but most importantly front-freaking-row tickets!!! And not just front row, we were front and center. Needless to say we were excited for January 29, 2008 to roll around.


So now we’re back to where I started. A few weeks ago we went to see the triumphant return of Matchbox Twenty at the Cricket Arena here in Charlotte. We got to the venue late due to traffic but thankfully our VIP coordinator was late as well. So we checked in and went over to Oven’s for the catered pre-show party. We ate and drank and talked; it was really actually very nice. I wasn’t expecting the whole spread but we did take advantage of it. We were then escorted through the back door so we could hit up the merch booth minus the general peasant crowd (yes, I paid good money for my passes and I’m making sure everyone knows it, hahahaha). Anyway, we got to our seats and prepared ourselves for how close we were going to be at a show of the magnitude. Mute Math was the first band and I did really enjoy them. Not going to buy the CD anytime soon but still a good show. Then Alanis Morrissette hit the stage and she was amazing; I was really blown away by her performance. Before long it was time for Matchbox, it had been so long but well worth the wait. As always they blew everyone away. Highlight of the show: “Bright Lights” with a little “She Came in Through The Bathroom Window” thrown into the middle, very nice. So after the show we received a bracelet/USB drive that contained MP3 files of the night’s show. Sometimes you’ve really got to love advancing technology. So we had a great fucking night and I can’t wait to do it again, VIP all the way.

Okay, I really need to wrap this up. Current projects: A live Andy Loflin EP from the 2006 summer solo tour, oh yeah. The long awaited and sadly neglected (until just now) Center of Gravity collection. Here’s a quick taste of The Complete Center of Gravity; a two disc CD/DVD collection featuring EVERYTHING ever recorded, videoed, or photographed by the band. I’ve been working on this for many years now and it’s finally seeing the light of day this Spring.

This weekend Melissa and I are heading down to Charleston, SC to get away and relax. We plan on eating a large amount of seafood while drinking as much beer as possible. I'll be sure to take some pictures while we are down there and share them when I get back. Until then keep listening to music and enjoying life. Email me at Andrewl@cgraphics.com if you'd like to chat. New music is on the way, I promise!

With Love,
Andy

What I’m Listening To:
Big Blue Ball Whole Thing
Paul Simon You're The One
The Beatles It's The Beatles/Royal Variety Show

What I’m Watching:
Long Way Round series DVD
Anthony Bourdain Collection 2 DVD
The Beatles HELP!