Category Archives: Alt Rock

Babble Blog: Ben Folds Han Solo

Today started out like any other day – I woke up.  I barely opened my eyes and absorbed the NPR that cancelled out the strange dream I was having and just zoned out until I got the guts to face this Friday.

Today is different than most days.  I have been thinking about going back to college.  It has only been 12 years or so since I last took classes and the time has come to finish up.  I made some poor choices in life when I was younger and never finished school like most right minded poeple do.  I was thinking of going to Kent State and majoring in Being Awesome.  What to do what to do…

In other news Ben Folds is playing the House Of Blues in Cleveland on April 15th.  Advance tickets are $35 and went on sale this morning. 

I actually had an extra $40 to spend today.  I was either going to use it on my application fee or use it to see Ben Folds make love to his piano.

Any normal person would not think twice about what is right but I for a moment there thought about delaying the admission process…

Let’s see, education and further my life or see one hell of a show?  An education lasts a lifetime and I am sure Ben Folds will come by again right?  Still sucks I could not do both.

I did the right thing and applied over the internets to KSU and dropped $40 on an application fee.  I was highly bummed out about this because some of me fought to use that money to get a Ben Folds ticket.  I better get accepted dammit.

After hitting the “submit” button cancelling out any hope of seeing Ben Folds I get an email:

You and I are going to Ben Folds. I just bought a pair of tickets. All you have to do is beat up Rad-am for me.

Seems fair.  I have great friends.  I will assault one friend to appease the other and in return will get to see Ben Folds after all.  Today is a good day.  Mr. Addicted To Vinyl made my day.

Thanks Matt and sorry Rad-am.

Where Does Rock Live? Columbus Apparently…

Ok so that is not entirely true.  Rock lives everywhere.  Rock is where the heart is?  Ok, I will stop.

Now you can buy rock in Columbus, not that I know that personally or anything, but you can also rock out hardcore for a weekend thanks to Rock On The Range returning to the Columbus Crew Stadium on May 22nd and 23rd.  This will be the festival’s fourth run in the center city of Ohio and the lineup caught my attention more so this year than any other year before.

When I see that Coheed & Cambria, The Deftones, Helmet, Rise Against, Mastodon, and Killswitch Engage are all playing over one weekend I immediately want to go.

Other bands appearing at the festival are Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Three Days Grace, Limp Bizkit, Seether, Slash, Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch, Bullet For My Valentine, Theory of a Deadman, Puddle of Mudd, Sevendust, Drowning Pool, Skillet, Apocalyptica, Halestorm, Airbourne, Mushroomhead, Adelitas Way, Escape the Fate, Cold, Anberlin, Nonpoint, 2Cents, Violent Soho, Janus, Shaman’s Harvest, Year Long Disaster, Taddy Porter, Like A Storm, and Noise Auction

I can tolerate some of the acts but others I just can not stand and I fear if I go I am going to be punished…

Couple other personal comments in regards to the line up:

  • Who the hell are half of these bands?
  • Cold is still together?  So is Puddle Of Mudd?
  • Five Finger Death punch is still the stupidest band name I have ever heard next to The Prisoners.
  • Matt from Addicted To Vinyl (also a ROTR veteran) pointed out there is a possibility that Mushroomhead may play a bigger stage than Helmet.  If that is true I will be a sad panda.
  • Why no Jimmie’s Chicken Shack?  While I am at it, why no Monster Voodoo Machine and are they still a band?
  • Is it worth the $120 for the field general admission tickets???
  • Furthermore is anyone else planning on going?

I’ll be thinking about this heavily over the next few weeks.  I would hate to miss the opportunity of seeing a couple of my favorite bands but I do not know if I have it in me to sit though the whole weekend.  We shall see.

If you are interested in the festival head over to Rock On The Range’s website for ticket information as well as other info in regards to the weekend rock-out.

Bonnaroo 2010 Or Bust

Today was like a musical draft for one of the biggest festivals in the US.  I speak of the 4 day festival Bonnaroo and today’s announcement has been a day long event as the initial line-up was introduced to all who were curious throughout the day via Twitter and MySpace.  This was the first time Bonnaroo has done something like there where they utilize other sites to slowly leak out fetival details.

The way that Bonnaroo chose to dish out the artists was annoying to me.  It was a novel idea but if you are like me you want to know everything at once and not have to wait over 12 hours for a line-up.  I hope next year they just go back to routine and hand everything out at once.

Having already been to Bonnaroo twice (2006 & 2009) I can tell you that the line-ups are generally full of an array of artists for everyone.  This year is without exception and I really am thinking hard about going again.  I had a great time last year and really could go for a road trip with friends again.  This time though I am going to go and enjoy it and not worry about covering it.  I missed out on a few good sets because I made promises of coverage on a site I could barely keep but I still kept to my word and was submitting nightly reviews as the sun was rising the next day.

The artist line-up is listed below and I am sure a few other acts will sneak in over the upcoming weeks.  Anyone else interested in attending?  I know it will be a good time as always – just look at all the bands and artists!

Artists confirmed for


* Dave Matthews Band
* Kings of Leon
* Stevie Wonder
* Jay-Z
* Tenacious D
* Weezer
* The Dead Weather
* Damian Marley and Nas
* Phoenix
* Norah Jones
* Michael Franti and Spearhead
* John Fogerty
* Regina Spektor
* Jimmy Cliff
* LCD Soundsystem
* The Avett Brothers
* Thievery Corporation
* Rise Against
* Tori Amos
* The National
* Zac Brown Band
* Les Claypool
* John Prine
* The Black Keys
* Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers
* Jeff Beck
* Dropkick Murphys
* She & Him
* Against Me!
* The Disco Biscuits
* Daryl Hall & Chromeo
* Jamey Johnson
* Clutch
* Bassnectar
* Kid Cudi
* Baaba Maal
* Kris Kristofferson
* Medeski Martin & Wood
* The xx
* GWAR
* Dan Deacon Ensemble
* Tinariwen
* Wale
* Deadmau5
* The Melvins
* The Gaslight Anthem
* Miike Snow
* The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
* Dr. Dog
* They Might Be Giants
* Punch Brothers
* Isis
* Blitzen Trapper
* Blues Traveler
* Miranda Lambert
* Calexico
* OK Go
* Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
* Martin Sexton
* Lotus
* Dave Rawlings Machine
* Mayer Hawthorne and the County
* Japandroids
* Jay Electronica
* Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
* Ingrid Michaelson
* The Dodos
* Manchester Orchestra
* The Temper Trap
* Cross Canadian Ragweed
* Big Sam’s Funky Nation
* Carolina Chocolate Drops
* NEEDTOBREATHE
* Tokyo Police Club
* The Entrance Band
* Local Natives
* Brandi Carlile
* Mumford & Sons
* Rebelution
* Diane Birch
* Monte Montgomery
* Julia Nunes
* The Postelles
* Lucero
* Here We Go Magic
* Hot Rize
* Neon Indian
* B.O.B
* More Artists to Be Announced! (Subject To Change As Well)

Rumors earlier in the month pointed to Roger Waters possibly playing the festival but I am sure that is a no go now.  Also word on the streets was that Mastodon was going to make an appearance as well.  One could only hope.

I’ll be posting stuff here and there through out the next few months.  Still have not fully committed but highly considering it…

Tickets are on sale now and at this time are $234.50 but that price will not last forever and they will jump to $249.50.  They also are going to have the payment plan again this year – 5 payments of $50.  Not too shabby!

A Whole Lotta F’s (Fun Fun Fun Fest)

Reason 576 why Austin, TX is a cool city… Fun Fun Fun Fest. I am jealous I was not there. Really jealous…  Seriously look at this line up!

I’ve been to festivals that had good line ups in my time but it seems as if Fun Fun Fun Fest takes the cake.  They have some special means of attracting some of the more obscure bands for a weekend of awesome and I only wish something like this could happen in my area.

I took a few moments tonight to look for some fan shot footage.  Here is what I found:

Face To Face was there. They told everyone they were back…

The Jesus Lizard proved that age does not matter…and that chubby is sexy (to some)…

Then there was the Pharcyde

Danzig.  Need I say more???

Then there was Yeasayer

All of the previous bands I would have loved to have seen but nothing would have made me happier than seeing the Gorilla Biscuits live…

Yeah, I am jealous.  I know there was a ton more awesome shows there but I need to stop watching online videos before I sink into a musical depression.

Maybe next year I will hit up Fun Fun Fun Fest.  Just maybe.

Mike Doughty – Sad Man, Happy Man – CD Review

(*Editor’s Note – Thanks to my reliable laptop crashing this was postponed for quite sometime.)

Before I even start I would like to publicly kick myself in the ass for not attending last night’s Mike Doughty concert at the Beachland Ballroom (Oct. 10th).  I know I missed a good time and I am the one to blame for missing it.  I just had too much going on and not enough green paper in the wallet so I decided to sit it out and today am regretting it.  I also had the flu of sorts so it just was not happening.

Luckily I got my hands on his new album so at least I have something to listen to and talk about.

I always admire the musicians out there in the world that have overcome hardship and feed off the fan reaction rather than make music for pure financial purposes. One performer in particular that comes to mind when I think about a hard working true music maker is Mike Doughty.  Doughty, as many know, was the lead man of the 90’s alt rock act Soul Coughing.  Sadly the band called it quits thanks to constant battles with drugs and also financial hardship but Doughty kept going on doing his own thing.

He started recording solo material and soon had a cult following who worshiped his every word and sang along with to every song.  I was one of those folk who took a huge liken to him.  I loved seeing Doughty on stage alone with guitar in hand singing folky and rocky songs to an ever loving crowd.

Doughty took his fan’s reaction to his 2008 solo release Golden Delicious and used it to mold his next release titled Sad Man, Happy Man.  Some of the fans loved the rock pop heavy Golden Delicious while others hated it.  Perhaps the dis-likening came from the more upbeat fun styles that were bursting from the tunes over former albums.

Having such a huge step up from his widely known solo material was credited with Doughty’s “dude theory”, an idea of recording music that sounds like a bunch of dudes playing music for the fun of it. The result of his dude music won new fans and also caused some of the more so diehard fans to go so far as calling him a sellout for doing what he did. Not taking the negative reactions personal he used it to his benefit and began a different approach when creating new material.

In fact he used the responses as a fuel of sorts to making something better in his current release and admitted that his previous album sparked an array of feelings by saying:

“…some hated it, some loved it better than Soul Coughing.  I tend to take sharp left turns. Every time I put out a record, the audience seems to like what I did two years ago better. You’d think I could shrug it off because that’s what always happens, but it always gets to me.”

As a fan of everything Doughty has done since the days of Soul Coughing I have to admit that I was one of the fans who liked Golden Delicious. It was a change in his style but still catchy to my ears.  Just check out my review I did on it.  I was happy from start to finish and the album is still played here and there when I am looking for something fun to jam out to.

When I heard that Doughty was going back to his roots when recording Sad Man,Happy Man I was eager for the release.  After hearing listening to it (over and over I might add), it is clear that Doughty reached back to his solo roots as well as the days when he was in the popular 90’s act and pushed aside that poppy feel Golden Delicious had going on.  This time around there is more of a Soul Coughing vibe and less of the more pop rock he achieved previously.

“Nectarine (Part II)” sequel to song on Golden Delicious was acoustic with a brief add of Irresistible Bliss horns. “(I Keep On) Rising Up” continued with Doughty’s signature raspy hypnotizing voice moving through a more personal jam (he wrote it during hardship in a relationship).  Just after a couple of tracks and it was perfectly clear he was stripped down and focused on the acoustic.

“(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified)” was a nice smooth rock song with long time touring pal Andrew “Scrap” Livingston taking bass duties.  I should add that this album is just Doughty and Livingston with Doughty providing not just the singing and guitars but also the drum programming and keyboards as well.

“(I Want To) Burn You (Down)” was a poignant acoustic jam reminiscent to the days when Doughty would play shows and would sell CDs himself from the stage after wards when he was trying to get back on his feet. “Pleasure On Credit” clearly reached back to his witty Soul Coughing days. I don’t think it was possible for me to enjoy this song more so than I did the first time I heard it.

Ending the CD with a Daniel Johnston cover completed this album for me. Hearing Doughty’s take on “Casper The Friendly Ghost” had me smiling.  The version was not nearly as depressing as the original schizophrenic take but still held on to Daniel Johnston’s eerie original.

It’s great to see that Mike Doughty keeps on going and Sad Man, Happy Man shows no form of slowing down.  It sounded throughout the album as if he was just having fun without getting too serious and to me that is what I admire him most for.  With all the hell the man has been though he never seemed to stop having fun doing what he loved – play music, and loving it while doing so.

Not just a musician but also an outspoken blogger.  Check out Mike Doughty’s blog site.  He’s not just a clever song writer you know…


Looks like I missed out on a little Q&A at the Beachland…  The tour was called the Question Jar Tour.  Looks like they took it very literally.  Damn me for getting sick!