Oh My G.O.D.

When I was a kid, you had one genre of music that you liked and you stuck with it.  In my case it was rock music.  Back in those days if you dared listen to anything else...such as country, or (gasp) disco, your friends would turn their backs on you, you would be stripped of your coolness credibility and publicly shunned.  So you can imagine what a hypocrite I was when at the age of 15, I got pissed off at my mother (who was a country/western fan) because she wouldn't even give the music I listened to a chance.  How dare she judge and call great fucking music (The Rolling Stones, ACDC, April Wine, BTO, Pink Floyd and oh so many more) noise without the benefit of sitting down and actually listening to it!

Hypocrite or not, I was pissed off enough that I swore that when I had kids, I would not judge the music they listened to.  At the very least I would sit down and listen to it with an open mind.  It must have stuck with me, because as my four boys grew (they range in age now from 18 to 26) I most definitely gave the music they liked a listen.  As they were drawn to different kinds of music they shared their interests with me, opening my world to hip hop, rap, punk, metal, and yes even death metal!   I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed an awful lot it.  I gave my sons exposure to greats like Queen, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendricks, Janis Joplin, Beatles, Led Zepplin, Aerosmith (and oh so many more) and in return they introduced me to The Game, Kid Rock (his early stuff) -fuck, I still "wanna be a cowboy, baaaby", Eminem, Kottonmouth Kings, ICP, Mudvayne, Hell Yeah, Korn, Disturbed, Slipknot (and oh so many more).  In fact the curiosity of my kids actually exposed me to older music as well.  Namely the punk that I had overlooked in my youth because I was too engrossed in my hard rock music to listen to anything else.  Artists such as The Ramones and The Misfits.

Now I'm not putting down any kind of music but I am thankful for one thing...though I probably would have given Britney Spears, Hillary Duff, Mylie Syrus, the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber a chance had one of my kids been into this kind of pop music, I'm a little fucking happy I didn't have to!

Because I've been able to keep an open mind, I have not yet fallen into the time trap that many of my friends have.  I still seek out new artists to listen to.  Social media sites such as Facebook,  twitter, ReverbNation, myspace etc are great places to find new music.  In fact it was through my twitter account that I first heard about and took a listen to Arizona Punk/Metal band, Gift of Destiny.

I need to apologize in advance...when I get excited I say fuck a lot! Hmmmm.  Excited.  Fuck.  I can't imagine why I would link the two......

Oh My fucking G.O.D....this band is fucking amazing.  I took advantage of their free download "Raise Some Hell" on their website http://www.giftofdestiny.com/ and within the first 10 seconds of listening I was fucking hooked!  I listened to the song a second time and then returned to their webpage to buy the album.  No Fuck.  These guys definitely have a tight sound...and I'm going to assume from the fact that they recorded their debut CD, Throttle, in just 5 days and came out with such a fucking amazing product that the personal chemistry of the band is spot on as well.  

Fuck, I have to tell you about Throttle!  From one song to the next, I was fucking blown away.  In fact, I think I may now be one of Gift of Destiny's biggest fans!   I've only been a fan of Metal for about 4 or 5 years but I've been listening to great music long enough to know fucking talent when I hear it.  Gift of Destiny reeks of musical talent.  I don't know what these boys were doing before they were Gift of Destiny but I'm pretty sure it fucking rocked - because not only do these guys reek of talent, they also reek of experience.

As I listened and fell more in love with these guys by the minute, I was reminded of some of my other favorite artists.  Mudvayne, Hell Yeah, Korn and yes, The Ramones as well.  That being said...Gift of Destiny has a sound and style that belongs to them and to them alone.

Not only are they fucking musically sound, they are fucking lyrically sound as well.  I'm going through some personal shit (probably why I've been drawn to Metal music lately), and I could very much relate to songs such as "The Reason", "Far Away", "You Don't Know Me" and "Waiting".  Want to know what kind of fucking shit I'm going through?...buy the album and listen to the songs...I'll bet you"ll fucking guess!

Regardless of my own pain and anger, listening to Gift of Destiny makes me feel better...happy even.  It's no wonder, boys, that women call your name in their most pleasurable intimate moments....ah, ahh, ahhhh, YES, OH G.O.D., YES!!!!    Los, Mikey, B-Low and Jake...thank you for the music!  I look forward to one day seeing you live...oh, and just to give you fair warning, hehe....I already have the bottle of tequila.....; )

Check out Gift of Destiny at any of the following links
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/giftofdestiny
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/throttle/id427404755
http://www.amazon.com/Throttle-Explicit/dp/B004T6COL4/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300770853&sr=301-1
http://music.napster.com/artist.htm?id=13596792
http://www.giftofdestiny.com/
http://www.myspace.com/giftofdestiny
http://www.facebook.com/Giftofdestiny?v=wall

The Summer of Rock

I dubbed the summer of 2011 "The Summer of Rock".  I decided to make live music and supporting musicians a priority in the summer of 2011 for a couple of reasons:

• First and most importantly, I had heard a music manager say (and this was heard by me second hand so I won't use his name, let's just refer to him as asshole) that he wasn't interested in listening to any new rock bands because rock music wasn't marketable!  - really?  What the fuck?  Weren't fans supporting rock music enough? - Was I supporting rock music enough?

• Second, it was summer, I was laid off of work (I am every summer...I know, it's rough right?) so I had the time, unfortunately there was still a problem with cash flow - did I mention I was laid off work?

In any case I decided I was going to take in as many shows as I could.  I started listening to the local radio station with a passion.....Rock106 you're awesome.....winning tickets to a number of the shows I ended up attending.  In all I ended up checking out Jonas and the Massive Attraction, My Darkest Days, Chilliwack, Double Jack, The Chevelles, Hippodrome, Texas Flood, The Sam Roberts Band, Nazareth, Saving Abel and of course Godsmack!  Some of these shows I did pay for and some were free to the public, but just goes to show if you're fucking serious about making something happen then you can fucking make it happen!

Bob Seger was right when he said "you can come back baby, rock 'n roll never forgets." I had a blast at all of these shows, rocking out and soaking up the energy of the crowds.  I went for the music, I wasn't interested in hooking up with anyone or getting drunk or stoned.  - yeah, okay...I was driving....yeah, okay I'm responsible....fuck!

Because this is a blog and not a book the one show I'll focus on is Godsmack in Calgary August 31.  This show wrapped up the "Summer of Rock" and it was the one that was most anticipated by me.  In case you haven't read my previous posts I guess I should mention I have a small obsession with Sully Erna - Godsmack's hot lead singer!   Even as I got ready to go, I selected my prettiest bra and thong to wear....a matching hot pink number, you know...just in case.  I topped it off with skin tight jeans, a pretty tank top from Vegas,  Playboy jean jacket and heels.  I looked hot!

Unfortunately for me my travel time back and forth to the show was 6 hours round trip.  Again,  I took in the show sober as a judge.  No problem, on this night I was so fucking high from the excitement of finally having the chance to experience Godsmack live! 

I took up my usual spot by the soundboards - I  can see the stage perfect, I don't get bloodied and bruised and if a band member does come out into the crowd, he will usually pop out near the soundboards somewhere and then I'm right fucking there!  

Even though I was alone at the show,  I didn't have to stay alone for long.  A very sweet, good looking and very drunk young man thought I looked lonely and invited me to join his group.  When Godsmack took the stage, my new friends moved closer to the stage and I took up my space at the soundboards, getting into the music, raising my arms in the air and moving my hips to the rhythm  as Sully belted out "Cryin' like a Bitch".  I was having a great time dancing and singing and every so often a man would appear at my side, introduce himself and ask me if I was enjoying the show.  I always shook his hand, introduced myself, told him yes and went back to enjoying the show.
  

That is until Fred the lights roadie took his spot beside me.  He asked me if I would like to watch the show side stage.   Are you fucking kidding me????  Yeah!!!!  Sully was now within 5 meters of me, on stage and just out of reach.  Now here is the problem with going to a rock show sober in your 40's.  Fucking maturity takes over.  I thought about rushing the stage...did I?  No.  I was actually worried I might get kicked out and I hadn't heard Voodoo, Touche, or Whiskey Hangover yet.  Then if that wasn't bad enough, Sully came backstage to change a guitar.....did I run over, rip off my shirt, and show him my tits?  Or throw myself at his feet and beg him to let me.....?  No....in fact, this thought literally went through my mind "Leave the man alone, he's trying to work"....what the fuck is that? 

Despite the fact that I let these chances pass me by, I did love the show.  Fred and I left side stage to come out front and watch Sully and Shannon perform their drum battle - two full sets of drums facing each other down and bringing down the house!  Sully and Tony's rendition of "Serenity" blew me away.  It's one of my favorites and Sully sings it so hauntingly beautiful.

I was still on cloud nine when the lights did go up.  I was making my way out when  my new very sweet, young, good looking and very drunk friend found me.  "Hey, it's hot cougar" he shouted "Did you like the show?"  You couldn't have slapped the smile off my face!  

The funny part of being called a cougar is this:  I was only interested in doing one guy there and he is about my age....not really cougar behavior.  Still I enjoyed the sentiment.

I had a great time and it was the perfect end to the summer of rock.  Next time I go to see Godsmack though, I'm getting a room, a cab and a bottle of tequila.  Maturity, responsibility nor respect can survive tequila!  Watch out Sully......

Just an end note:  All the shows I went to see over the summer were not very well attended....lot's of standing room left.  I can't help but think about what asshole supposedly said about rock not being marketable.  I'm going to do what I can as a fan, you know, buy the music, go to the shows...from what I hear  rock stars just want to get ahead...or was that they just want to get head?......oh, and sorry Fred, at the very least I should have showed you my tits  ; )