The King?

Today is the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.  I can't vouch for the authenticity of this story, but I have been told that when he died in 1977 that my mother was upset that I would never really know Elvis.  Whether that is true or not, it is a correct statement.  I never have really understood Elvis.  That's not to say that I don't like some of his stuff.  I do think he has made some worthwhile contributions to the music world, but I have always found it hard to comprehend the King label.  Maybe it's a generational thing.  I thought Motley Crue did a pretty good cover of Jailhouse Rock.  It's funny how history repeats itself.  Michael Jackson died four days before Ethan was born.  Admittedly I was sad, though by the time he died his reputation had moved way beyond the "King of Pop" into some sort of a weird recluse--at least here in America.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I was always a fan until the day he died.  I guess some of my musical influences did come from my parents.  Even though Elvis didn't rub off on me, I do still listen to plenty of Neil Diamond and Willie Nelson.  As an overall rock fan though, I do plan to make the pilgrimage to Graceland one of these days.

After the big festival in Atlantic City, we took the time and drove to Washington DC.  I hadn't been there before, and I just wanted to see what it was all about.  I knew one day wouldn't be enough to see the city, but it was a nice way to get an overview for any future trips.  We spent the day walking around the mall area and visiting the monuments.  We were able to see quite a bit including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.  There was no water in the reflection pool because they were doing repair work.  We also saw memorials for Martin Luther King, WWII, Vietnam, and the Korean War.  I would very much like to go back to DC and visit some of the museums.  We may be back on the east coast next year for Orion 2013, so we may try to make it a longer trip this time.  I will get some pictures from DC up on Facebook and maybe even add them to this blog in the next day or two.

It's A Long Way To The Top

Disclaimer:  This post was written in four or five sessions over the course of a month.  I apologize if it seems a little disjointed.  The pictures here, along with others are on Facebook for those people who can't get enough.

If I had all of the money that I had spent chasing bands around the world, I could probably retire early.  Of course I would be pretty boring.  What I lack in riches, I make up for in life experience.  That's what I'll be telling myself when I am still going to work at 75.  At the end of last month, Tiffany and I attended the Orion Music and More Festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  This is a brand new two day event that was hosted by one of our favorite bands, Metallica.  We arrived in AC that Friday night.  After checking in at the Trump Taj Mahal, we walked over to the House of Blues for some food and to check out a couple of bands playing that night.  The first was Cage the Elephant, who I didn't care for much.  The second was a band from Jersey called The Gaslight Anthem.  I had never heard of these guys before we made plans for this festival, but in that short time I have become a fan.  All of their music is great.  They actually have a new CD out this week.  Not only did I have a good time, but the crowd seemed to love these guys as well.  We met a couple of guys from Canada who were apparently superfans.  They were sleeping in their car, and they smuggled their alcohol into the bar in plastic bags.  It's actually kind of genius.


Before I go much further, let me say that Atlantic City is not a place that I would spend much time.  Our hotel was nice, and the Boardwalk has a certain appeal.  I was asked by a coworker to check around and see if the property values were in line with their ranking on a Monopoly board.  From what we saw, almost all of it was scary, though Baltic Avenue may have been a little worse than others.  Maybe I'm being overly critical.  I didn't actually see every street.

Saturday and Sunday were spent mostly at the festival.  The event was held at Bader Field, which is an abandoned airstrip.  The weather was in the mid 80s the whole weekend, which is much cooler than it was here in Texas when we got back.  The number of people there varies wildly from source to source, but my best educated guess is that there was between 30,000 and 40,000 people each day.  Since Metallica was the host for the weekend, many of the things at the festival reflected different aspects of the band and its individual members.  Each of the four stages were named after their songs.  Different band members introduced many of the other acts that played.  In the Metallica Club area, there were Q & A sessions held with various people associated with the band.  We were able to attend the one with Toby, the guy in charge of all Metallica merchandise, and Dan, the guy who runs the website.  We also sat in on one with Tony Squindo who does some of the artwork for the band.  Beforehand, I wouldn't have thought these would be interesting, but we were able to gain a lot of insight and hear stories of the band from an insider's perspective.  Each band member also had there own lifestyle activities set up.  Among these were a custom car show, a film tent, a collection of horror memorabilia, and skating and surfing events. 

In addition to all of this, there were over 30 bands that played at this event.  Though there isn't any real way to see every one of them, it is fun to walk from stage to stage and discover new bands.  I did a little bit of homework and bought a collection of CDs (yes, actual CDs) to listen to beforehand.  Some of it was good, some of it I didn't care for.  I'm not going to list all of the bands, but you can check out the website here if you are so inclined.  In addition to the previously mentioned Gaslight Anthem, the highlights for me were Volbeat, Avenged Sevenfold, and comedian Jim Breuer.  Metallica closed both nights with full sets.  Saturday night included the Ride the Lightning album in it's entirety, including one song that had never been played live before.  Sunday night's setlist was similar to the recent European dates and included the entire "Black" album.  We also had snakepit tickets on Sunday, so we were actually standing inside part of the stage.  Both nights were amazing, and I think the band sounds better than they have in years.  For those who are hard of hearing, Metallica even had an interpreter for the deaf.  Nothing is cooler than watching someone use sign language to translate a rock song.  There was something for everyone at this festival, and I believe a good time was had by all.  We met people from all over the world. Metallica really is a global sensation, and I think they have some of the greatest and loyal fans in the world.  One of the Metallica Club members collected flags from people coming to this event, sewed them together, and hung it up for people to sign. We sent him the Texas flag.  They also have a few celebrity fans.  I know Bradley Cooper was in the snakepit on Saturday night, and on Sunday we stood next to famous skater Tony Alva.  As I am typing this, Metallica is in the middle of an 8 night sold out run in Mexico City. Not many bands could pull that off.  There is already some discussion about Orion 2013.  If they decide to do it again, I feel like it is something we would try to work out.  I wish they would move it out of Jersey though.

I have been a little ADD about this blog, and for the first time in the history of my blog I have been trying to go back and make sure I haven't forgotten things.  I have done a little editing.  Generally I just type it and go.  I'm sure there are things that didn't make the cut.  It has been over a month, and my memory just isn't what it used to be.  In the case of this particular post, I have a few more things to post, which hopefully will be in a few days.  I have much of it already written, but I have decided to cut it off here for thematic continuity.  Stay tuned.