Much to my surprise, Pearl Jam’s latest album, Backspacer, arrived in my work mailbox yesterday. After listening to it practically non-stop since I picked it up nearly 24 hours ago, I’m ready to critique it…I think.

Overall, I like the album. There are some songs that were complete misses for me, but most of the songs were good to simply awesome. I’m not going to break it down song-by-song, necessarily, because I’m not deep enough into it really be fair in that approach, but the easiest way to summarize this album is that it’s probably the most refreshing dose of Pearl Jam since Yield.

Unlike the masses, I’ve enjoyed all of Pearl Jam’s albums over the last 10 years, but this album has such a rejuvenated vibe to it. Maybe it’s a lack of political overtones that littered many of the songs from the last couple of albums, leaving room for Ed & Co. to write songs focusing on the introspective storytelling that helped build their early albums. Maybe I should write to Obama thanking him for winning the election, so we could have a freshly-focused PJ album.

Anyway, I’ve heard a lot about the first 3 songs being one the most in-your-face starts they’ve ever thrown at the listener…I’m not sure I agree with that, but it’s a very catchy, fast-paced introduction to get the listener to continue through the experience. Got Some and The Fixer will satisfy the mainstream immediately. Gonna See My Friend – which opens the album is a solid rocker, but I would place it below nearly every previous album opener they’ve put out, fast-paced or slow. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad song by any means, and it definitely gives you a good idea of what you’re in for over the next 36-and-a-half minutes, but it’s not going to blow you away.

I’m not really into Johnny Guitar, but maybe because it’s sandwiched between the easy-to-enjoy The Fixer and the first song that blew me away on the album, Just Breathe. Just Breathe has Into the Wild all over it, but I’m glad it made it’s way onto this album, or any album. It’s a simple love song…and simply beautiful.

Then you enter this heavy-reverbed and grand chorus-soaked two-song set of Amongst the Waves and Unthought Known, which are nice and reminiscent of Yield-era PJ. Easy to enjoy, and impossible to hate, but I’m still trying to figure out if they’re going to leave a mark.

One pleasant surprise for me was how much I liked Supersonic after not really “getting it” when I saw it live in Chicago. Part of it was unfamiliarity, and part of it was it not seeming tight, but on the CD, I absolutely love it. It’s like a mini tribute to the Ramones, with an awesome groove breakdown in the middle. One of my favorite songs on the albums, and I can guarantee a lot of people are going to be getting pulled over for speeding while listening to this one.

Speed of Sound is the biggest miss on the record for me. The demo that Pearl Jam released seemed so much more fitting for the lyrics. For those who didn’t get the demo, this might seem okay, but my liking for this song was sucked out the minute the faster tempo drums kicked in. Too forced and entirely out of place. It sort of kicks off the downside of the album for me, as Force of Nature and The End – both lauded in the PJ community – haven’t resonated with me at that level. Good, but nothing amazing. Maybe they’ll grow on me…

In the end, while this album won’t touch my top 10 all-time, it was definitely worth the money, and the enjoyable parts definitely outweigh the few parts that I could’ve done without. It’s challenging enough that you’ll want to listen to it more than once to get acquainted with, but it’s also easy to digest. Like wine…it’s good and easy to drink, but better when you get deeper into it…unfortunately, most people don’t have that much dedication.

7/10

In the 3+ years that I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, I’ve never gone to a “Skyblast” night at PNC Park. Skyblast is basically where the Pirates have crazy fireworks and some musical act play post-Pirates loss (or win…). Call me weird, but I’m just not into fireworks…and DEFINITELY not into them as much as your average Pittsburgher. Regardless, it was pretty cool.

The fireworks were 10 times better than the crappy 4th of July show, with fireworks going off on the Clemente Bridge, Highmark building, the outfield, etc. It was definitely a more impressive display than your simple barge-in-the-water thing last month.

For the musical guest, the Pirates brought in O.A.R., which was actually a nice change from the typical, washed-up-but-still-adored-in-Pittsburgh bands like Styx that are practically Gods here. Like Dimar said, “I know you think those bands suck, but there are a lot of people in Pittsburgh that think those bands are awesome”. Sorry, Styx…I forgot that Renegade will keep you paid for eternity thanks to Steeler fans inherited acceptance of it being thought of as an “awesome” song.

Anyway, I’m not an O.A.R. fan, but it was cool to at least see a band that was still somewhat relevant playing at PNC Park. I was actually impressed with them for the most part. Here’s a band that has 2 decently popular radio hits, both which are major departures from their normal sound, and they opted to save those songs for the end. Instead they played their reggae-inspired jam stuff for most of their hour-and-fifteen-minute set. Of course, they sort of HAD to jam a lot…

Why?

Well, because the lead singer lost his voice about 3 lines into the first song…maybe less. When the band first started, the sound was awful, but unlike John Legend’s sound guy, O.A.R. fixed the sound before the end of the first verse. Too bad he couldn’t restore the lead singer’s vocal cords. Picture Dicky Barrett from the Bosstones singing Crazy Game of Poker, and you’ve got what we heard. I was highly impressed with the band’s ability to jam in an attempt to carry the show without vocals. At one point, the keyboard player decided to give the words a shot, and he did a good enough job to get the crowd back into it, but it was still a tough scene to witness.

Regardless, the show was solid, and I’d rather see that 10 times over than the Zac Brown band. They’re a good group of musicians – nothing spectacular – but talented enough to hold my interest with their simple jams. The fact that they carried on says a lot about their fortitude, and the courage of Marc – the lead singer – to come back and sing anyway to finish the night was impressive. There aren’t a lot of bands that could continue on without a singer. I mean…what the hell would Pearl Jam do if Vedder lost his voice? Have Stone sing? Not a promising thought in the least. So, even with the human malfunction, I will say that O.A.R. put on a good show. All poppy, chart-climbing songs aside, they’re not bad and actually sound really good live. I sort of hope they get a chance to come back and redeem themselves soon…unlike the Pirates…who AGAIN were completely outplayed, outclassed, and shown what real baseball is in a 5-2 beat-down courtesy of the Cardinals.

Sound quality can make or break a performance…as demonstrated by the John Legend show last night at the Palace Theater in Greensburg.

When he came walking down one of the aisles singing Bob Marley’s Redemption Song, I was excited. Not giddy wannabe groupie excited, but optimistic that this show was going to be really intimate and truly highlight his voice – similar to the Vedder show we had seen recently. Unfortunately, the sound laid down to begin the show disappeared quickly as the full band joined in and Legend made his way to the stage.

Once the band started playing, the mix quality became something that I just couldn’t ignore. Here we were, trying to listen to an artist who’s voice is the focal point of his music, and we could barely hear him. While I’m sure the band was filled with phenomenal musicians, you would barely be able to tell with the way the audio was mixed. The vocals were drowned out by the bass drum level, the guitar player might as well have been playing air guitar since you couldn’t hear his solos, and the drummer’s solo was more fun to watch than listen to with the bass drowning out every nuance.

The few songs that Legend did solo with just the piano were really good, and I’m sure all of the songs on the stage monitors were awesome…just not what was delivered to the audience. I know it’s not the sound quality at the Palace, because I’ve seen Buddy Guy and Social Distortion there and those shows were really good. If I ever see John Legend again, I hope he has a new soundboard guy…otherwise, it won’t be worth the price of admission…despite his great stage presence, crowd interaction, and talent.

I finally got to sit in the Lexus Club seats at PNC Park last night thanks to Meadows’ auction victory a few months back. We’ve been discussing getting tickets in that section for a long time, but considering how poor the Pirates have been for the most part, and the fact that tickets in the Lexus Club are $160-210/ticket (for individual game prices), it just never made sense.

Regardless, the Lexus Club experience was fun. The indoor club section is really nice, with a delicious complimentary buffet, comfortable furniture, a nice bar, etc…you know…all the things you would expect for a ticket going for nearly $200 at PNC Park. While the food was pretty good, it wasn’t anything that I’m going to be craving in the future, and I didn’t eat nearly enough at the buffet to justify the cost.

Above: Pork tenderloin on top of sausage gumbo, with caesar salad, red & yellow tomato caprese salad, and a scalloped potato casserole…

After crushing a few plates of grub, we walked down the long hallway, past the low-lit jerseys hanging on the walls, through the glass door and took our seats. I feel like I’ve sat in nearly every section of PNC Park for a game, except for right behind home plate. While the proximity to the action was definitely pretty cool, I don’t think it’s worth the money. Especially when there are seats right next to the Lexus Club – same distance from the field – for $35/ticket. Plus, those seats don’t have a net in their way. Of course, I tried to make up some more of the ticket price by eating and drinking complimentary ballpark favorites – hot dogs, water, soda, pretzels, etc. delivered to your seat – but I still didn’t do the damage I would’ve liked. At least the free hot dogs are all beef and delicious, which is a drastic departure from the $1 dog night version that Meadows and I housed during our hot dog eating contest.

In the end, we decided that it’s a better deal to go to Atria’s for dinner and get tickets in nearly any other lower section. You would still be full of comparable food, and since there really isn’t a bad seat in PNC Park, you won’t really care that you’re not right behind home plate…and it would be more affordable.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a great time in our first experience. Meadows and I snapped a ton of photos, the weather was great, and the Pirates – in all of their new prospect-laden glory – beat the lowly Nationals to make it a great night for our little crew. The only thing I was left wondering was who won the pierogi race…we all placed our bets, but I think we got distracted a) by the fact that the Nationals’ Presidents were also in the race, and b) by Potato Pete coming out of nowhere to tackle the President who was in the lead – allowing Sauerkraut Saul to win. I picked Oliver Onion, so I probably own someone a dollar.

When I decided to stop using Davis’ old equipment – after the first night of my first non-PSL league a few years ago – I purchased my bowling balls from Bill’s Pro Shop at Mt. Lebanon’s AMF Lanes. I had been using those same balls since, improving steadily along the way, but heading into a new PSL session, I decided it was time for a fresh start. Unfortunately, Bill had left Mt. Lebanon lanes to open his own bowling alley, so I had to find him. Davis had told me before that it’s tough to find a good pro shop guy who can drill correctly, so I needed to stick with the same person. The brief search led me to Legacy Lanes – Bill’s brand new bowling alley.

Before we even made it down to the pro shop, we were amazed at the facilities. They had completely gutted and rebuilt every aspect of an old dilapidated bowling alley. New lanes, the most modern Brunswick displays and setters, a sweet bar, private lanes, laser tag, etc. It was ridiculous…especially after having only been in the most beat bowling alleys that Pittsburgh has to offer.

Our trip to the pro shop provided us with even more insight. Turns out that Bill typically keeps 4 of the lanes oiled up with one of the sport shots for some of the regulars that come in to practice for tournaments. He even said that you could call ahead, and with a days notice you can get any shot that you want laid down. For those of us not accustomed to such serious bowling accomodations, it was like a bowler heaven. Ha ha.

Bill is also an awesome pro shop guy. He was able to pin-point issues immediately with the drilling of Megan’s old ball just by watching her release. He drilled everyone on the Nine-Dash Heroes’ new balls, and everyone seems happy with the result. With Megan and Sam ditching the plastic for entry-level hook balls, and getting their new balls drilled fingertip, we’re looking to improve our team average by a lot once they get a hang of it.

Anyway, I plan on bowling at Legacy quite a bit now that I know of its existence. I might’ve worked my way up to being a 200+ bowler on Arsenal Lanes’ house shot, but I’m not even close to being able to claim that I’m a good bowler…as evidenced by the poor scores that I’ve put up when trying to roll on my first sport shots. I want to improve, and the only way to do it is to have access to the conditions that Legacy is willing to put out. With my new, more aggressive ball (Rogue Cell), I look forward to working my way back up!

Last night we met up with Barbato & Kromer to check out The Black Keys show at the Three Rivers Arts Festival at the point.

As I stated last August after they played AE’s NAMU festival, I’m just not that impressed…which sucks, because I really like their studio stuff. The Black Keys live, though, is just a sloppy exhibition of noise. Simplicity can be amazing at times, but every song live is basically a run-on sentence filled with distortion and simple drums under an umbrella of ringing cymbal noise. Even the songs that I absolutely love get butchered with sub-par vocal performances and disjointed, overwhelmingly careless guitar playing. They just haven’t done justice to their own music – which is awesome in the studio – the two times that I’ve seen them.

What’s annoying is that while I’m 0-for-2 in the “will The Black Keys impress me?” challenge, a search on youtube will result in some good performances, like the following – which is one of the better performances I’ve seen and one of my favorite songs of theirs:

I love the hard-hitting, in-your-face approach…just not the execution. I’m totally cool with low-fi production, too, but I still need to feel it. For now, I’ll just continue rocking out to their CDs and wait until the next free live show to give them another chance. Third time has to be a charm, right?

Two things had me excited about going to the Kings of Leon show at Duquesne’s AJ Palumbo Center last night. First, they rocked at Lollapalooza a few years ago before My Morning Jacket and Pearl Jam took the stage, so I knew that they could put on a good show. The opportunity to see them in a small venue only added to that appeal. Second, unlike some of the so-called KoL “purists”, I thought their latest album was pretty damn good, so the hopes of hearing a song like “closer” had me really pumped.

We got there shortly after the opening band, The Walkmen, took the stage. They weren’t bad, but really didn’t do much to get the crowd going. The singer’s David Grey-esque vocals were solid, but they just didn’t have the energy I’ve come to expect from opening rock bands. Their sound was good…they just need to kill the boring it’s-cool-to-look-and-act-lame-as-hell stage presence.

Kings came out rocking, and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety in their set. Their willingness to stray away from their latest offerings and break out high-energy older stuff was awesome. Only By The Night is a solid album, but it probably couldn’t carry a show on its own legs. By playing fast, raw rockers from their first two albums, the show flew by and brought the perfect energy level for the younger college crowd. The hour-and-a-half setlist that delved into past records probably left newer fans feeling shorted, but the awesome set should have convinced those only listening to “Sex on Fire” on repeat to dig deeper, as some of their best live material comes from their previous albums.

Check ‘em out…

This past weekend was a lot of fun. I never get out of town aside from the random trip to nearby cities like Baltimore, Columbus, or Cleveland, and with all of my friends scattered across the country I never see them. Fortunately, I was able to engineer a little trip to help with both things (with a little planning research from Megan).

College Station
For a whopping $7 more per ticket, we were able to fly direct into the smallest airport I’ve ever seen…in College Station! Davis picked us up and we proceeded to check out what College Station had to offer. We eased into the A&M nightlife by going to a place we actually have in Pittsburgh: The Fox & Hound. After Davis and Kathleen crushed us in some shuffleboard, we hit up a place called Los Cucos Mexican Café for some dinner. While the meal was typical of most “authentic” Mexican joints, the fried chicken fajita stuffed avocado makes it a place that I’ll probably beg Davis to take me next time I’m in the area…even if the place smelled like lime-based cleanser.

We enjoyed the surprisingly lame bar scene for a Thursday (wtf?), but still had a good time. The drinks are really cheap and the girl/guy ratio was actually impressive, and a far cry from Pittsburgh. I can see why Davis wanted to go back to school in a warm climate. One irony that I noticed was how a lot of the girls I saw weren’t overly tan. Why is it that girls in Pittsburgh – a place known for its lack of sunshine – think it’s okay to be ridiculously tan, while girls in a place like Texas just go natural?

Unfortunately, we only had one day in College Station, so Davis took us to Rudy’s Bar-B-Q the next day for lunch and we toured A&M’s campus. It’s a pretty nice campus, but doesn’t win any awards in the architecture category. In a place where everything is already brown and weather-beaten, A&M’s conservative beige buildings just made me shake my head. We did get to see the Aggie Bonfire Memorial, which was really nice…and one of the few areas where the grass was green.

Davis explains the backstory to Megan…

After the tour, we headed back to the airport to pick up our sweet rental car: a Kia Rondooooooooooo. I really hope I never have to drive a car like that again. While it got us to Dallas, it definitely made us look like some dorky family traveling from Florida (the plates on the rental).

Dallas
We arrived around 6:30 in Dallas, where I immediately felt inferior in all aspects of life. First, we get to Chris and Garrett’s house…which was most definitely nicer than any home I’ll ever own…and more impeccably decorated at that. We then proceeded to go to some upscale steakhouse called Nick & Sam’s. While the food was good, I clearly, and predictably, did not come dressed for the occasion. Fortunately, we were still allowed in, but I was definitely the only person in that restaurant sporting an AE hoodie – a necessary article since the weather during our stay was in the 40’s. Thank god Chris paid, because my broke ass couldn’t have even purchased the appetizers. Ha ha.

That was as far as our pretentious journey took us, as the rest of the weekend remained low-key, but fun. We spent a lot of time eating (surprise, right?). I really liked Cyclone Anaya’s. They have really good chili queso…like good enough to crave. The ribs are also really good. I’d recommend both and will be back there the next time I go to Dallas.

Trece Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Lounge was amazing, too. We kept calling it Mexican food’s answer to Piccolo Forno of Italian food. It was really good. I was a little worried walking in there, though, as every car that was parked outside cost a minimum of $125k. It was pretty ridiculous.

After that, I took on a journey completely new to me…we went to a lesbian bar in the “gayborhood”. It was actually a lot of fun as the bar lacked the meatheads and tramps usually crowding your typical straight bars. We just shot pool and downed a fair amount of beer, but had a great time. We were clearly the only straight people there, but it was a blast. It was a totally fun and different experience to be so entrenched in the “alternative” lifestyle. It really magnified how stupid other people’s intolerance is toward the gay community.

Pens > Stars
Anyway, on Sunday, we got to go to the Pens/Stars game. Of course, that was after a delicious breakfast buffet that included enchiladas and fried cheesecake. Ugh. We drove by the grassy knoll on the way to American Airlines Arena and saw where Kennedy was assassinated. It was kind of eerie to see a place that you’re so familiar with from TV and school. There are two x’s on the ground to represent where the two shots hit Kennedy. Crazy.

Although, maybe not as crazy as the giant Chili’s blimp that floated around the arena before the game…

The game was awesome, though. The arena is really nice, but felt like a shopping mall as you walked around the concourses. The fans were vocal and peaceful, but quickly died off to reveal a rather large contingent of Pens fans after the Penguins took control of the game and skated off with a much-needed 4-1 victory.

Malkin scores the 4th…

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. While there are a ton of places I’d love to find time to visit, I’m totally up for another trip to Texas. Both places were a lot of fun, and it was great to see some old friends while meeting a bunch of new ones. Until next time, y’all…

I can’t believe I never reviewed the movie “30 Days of Night”, but I picked up the King of Leon CD “Only By The Night”, and the first track (“Closer”) is mesmerizing. I think I find it so good because it immediately reminded me of 30 Days of Night, and how tight that movie was. I have no idea if the song was written about that movie, but if it wasn’t, it would’ve been a perfect fit for it. Frickin’ moody and tight as hell. “Closer” started me off on the right foot as I went through the entire album a good 10 times. I think the first half of the album crushes the later songs, but it’s a solid listen all the way through.

Anyway, watch 30 Days of Night, then go pick up the latest KoL CD. The first song will kick your ass when you couple it with the vision of the movie. It’s a solid album and the first 4 songs are worth the purchase alone. The album averages 3.9 stars in my iTunes library…an average that may go up the more I listen to some of the lower-rated songs on there.

With the Steelers and Ravens playing Monday night, Megan grabbed some tickets for the Citizen Cope show, and that became my Sunday night excursion. The show was at the Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall. The quaint 1,022-seat venue was a pretty cool little venue that would be perfect for any solo show – which was what was on the menu for my Sunday – a Citizen Cope acoustic show.

While I’m not a huge Cope fan, I attribute my lack of fandom to not having a lot of his music (not that there’s much). I do have one of his albums, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings, and it’s pretty decent. I absolutely his song, Sideways, but I always thought that a lot of his songs run together and don’t really change pace too much, which tends to give his music that “every song sounds the same” reputation with me. Of course, I’m going to revisit some of it now, after the show because there were definitely some great songs in the mix.

Anyway, the show was decent. He played for about an hour-and-a-half, but it was more than enough for me. As previously stated, a lot of Cope’s songs are pretty slow and simple, which are sometimes fine, but I felt like the show ran at a snails pace at times. He wasn’t really a vibrant performer and didn’t engage the crowd very much. He more or less stood up there with minimal movement, strummed simply structured songs, and sang. While his voice was actually excellent and many of his songs are really good, the idea of him putting on a solo acoustic show should’ve really been reserved for a place like Club Café in the Southside, as he didn’t even sell out the music hall.

While it may sound like I’m bashing the whole thing, Cope just sort of gets a bad grade because the last show that I saw was Eddie Vedder’s solo shows in Chicago and because I’m not really all that into Cope. Granted, Vedder’s been a big time front man for almost two decades and made his reputation from swinging from lighting rigs and being sort of a spaz (albeit 500x less than Iggie Pop), but Cope just didn’t captivate the crowd. He was as stiff as a board, and while the music was excellent, he just made me feel like he didn’t want to be up there, or that he was uncomfortable. Of course, in watching him online with his band, he’s really not much more of an entertainer, but at least with a band there’s more interest going on. Despite some quality songwriting and great voice, his minimalist skills on guitar, his lack of energy in both song and body language, and his nearly non-existent crowd interactions just made me feel like doing solo acoustic gigs aren’t his thing. Again, this is a highly skewed viewpoint thanks to Mr. Eddie Vedder’s captivating performances a month before. I think I just had high expectations of walking away a bigger fan than when I walked into the show – similar to how I felt after I saw G. Love and Special Sauce at Lollapalooza two years ago.

Regardless, I don’t think I would rush to see another solo acoustic Citizen Cope show any time soon. I’d definitely give his whole band a shot, though, and I’m going to pick up the rest of his music because there are definitely some gems in the mix.