Who Has Two Thumbs and Just Got Back From Vacation?

*sticks thumbs at self*
This Guy.

OK... for those who don't follow my world (you ought to be ashamed.. I'VE GOT A FAN CLUB) I've been out visiting family at Port Aransas, Texas for the last few days. It was a great time, thanks for asking.

So,What was the soundtrack to my vacation?
AKA.. what did I listen to you ask?
Well...

Darrell Scott - The Invisible Man

Released on Tuesday June 27, 2006, this is the 6th album for the uncomparable Darrell Scott. You simply have to get this one. Now. His Aloha From Nashville is one of my two "desert island" albums (I always thought that was a funny thing too... where would you play these great albums on a desert island?).

Sandra Boynton - Dog Train

When you've got a 2 year old... and want to hear some great music... Sandra Boynton stuff is amazing. Usually it's just her and a wacky cast of folks singing... but on this one she has artists like John Popper, The Spin Doctors, Weird Al, Allison Krauss... the list goes on. I actually prefer her earlier CD/Book release The Philidelphia Chicken to this one, but there's no stopping the Dog Train.

Autumn - Sugarcane

When we arrived home, Autumn Bouakadakis' Sugarcane was in my mailbox, so I can't really say it was part of the soundtrack to my vacation, but while I was listening to it on the way to dropping off my daughter to daycare this morning (kind of odd feeling...since Autumn was actually on the radio at the same time doing her part in the JB & Sandy Morning show... so I listened to Autumn sing instead of talk in essence) my little girl said "I like this song daddy" to #4 on the disk... a slow song called "When It Don't Come Easy." She told me I liked it too... and she's right.


Oh... also the July issue of INsite hits stands tomorrow. Pick one up... We've got Jennifer Aniston on the cover and a whole lot of gooey goodness inside.



INsite – Always Entertaining Under The Covers.

The Unholy Alliance Tour - Recap

Went to The Unholy Alliance Tour last night in San Antonio at the Joe and Harry Freeman Coliseum... My ears are still ringing... and I am at ease with my soul.

Here's a little recap:
First.. we got seats.. not General Admission. We were a little unhappy since the music bounces off the ceiling and back walls and really doesn't sound very solid from the seats (GA folks got some great sound though..but they had nowhere to sit). Anyhow... we were treated really well by the folks at Freeman though so it was all good.

Thine Eyes Bleed - noiser than fantastic but a good show starter... No crowd surfing... it was about 5:30 so people were trickling in.

Children of Bodom - Gotta love those keyboard-influences metal bands! It takes real balls to make a synthesizer look cool.
Still no crowd surfing. a little pit opened up... maybe 6 dudes in it.. none of whome got the idea of the "circle"

Mastodon - One of the few "new" metal bands that still "gets it" good set. Two pits opened up.. but it still seemed nobody really engineered the concept of moshing in a circle...maybe 2 crowd surfers... I started losing faith in San Antonio.... but it was early...

Lamb of God - I took my picture with guitarist Willy Adler at the Sam Ash in-store earlier in the day.. cool dude. I also interviewed bassist John Campbell in 2004 (Read it here). Lamb of God can headline tours all on their own... thay are freaking amazing. Chris Adler slays on the drums... Randy Blythe is a maniac on vocals....
A huge pit emerges in the crowd... circle pit... NICE. I get hit by a ladies shoe (cute one too) as I was snapping pictures (I had a photo pass BTW)... Crowd surfers emerge... Yeah.. this is more like it.

Slayer - Um... they are Slayer. What can you say. Kerry King is like an anti-god up there on stage pounding on the guitar... (you can see one of my Kerry King photos in July's INsite by the way..which will be on stands on June 30) Tom Araya walks out like the Godfather of metal (which he rightly is) and takes his place at the pulpit.

Pits... yeah... surfers...yeah...
Thank God I didn't have a general admission ticket and I had a seat... I'd have probably broke a rib.

Oh.. my new MySpace photo is me with Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hanneman... My buddy brought my 1 year old Goddaughter out to Sam Ash and I took their photo together. Yeah.. grow your own Slayer fans.

For a limited time (the rest of this month) if you pick up a June issue of INsite you can read my Slayer interview ( http://www.insiteaustin.com ) ... You can also pick up my Q&A with Tom Araya in the June issue (cover story) of The Edge ( http://www.theedgemagazine.com ).

Starting in July, you can read my Slayer Q&A in the International Arts Magazine Iungo ( http://www.goiungo.com ) along with a few of my photos from last nights show.

It was a good night for metal music.

Live Music Photo Update

It's about time for a photo update from my files. This is about the last 30 days of my shooting... hope you enjoy.
If you click on any of the photos it will link to my "Live Music Photography" page and there you can visit the "photo album" of the night with many more pictures.

6/9/06 @ Stubb's - Nooner, Full Service, 21 Down (pictured below), The Artillary


6/9/06 @ Antone's - Maceo Parker


6/9/06 @ Gibson Guitar Showroom - Hellapeño CD release party


6/2/06 @ Dirty Dog Bar - "Iron" Meyvn plays a metal cover-song set


5/23/06 @ La Zona Rosa - Hank Williams III



Enjoy!

Happy 6/6/06

Welcome to 6-6-06

It has been called the International Day of Slayer and the most evil of days. The Omen is released today.
Here are some helpful 6-6-06 links to get you on your way… please add ones you’ve been sent today so we can have a big-ass 6-6-06 list here.

Thanks.

6/6/06 A marketers wet dream: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060601/bs_usatoday/marketershope666willbetheirluckynumber

The “official” National Day of Slayer page:
http://www.nationaldayofslayer.org/

A family listens to Slayer: http://familylistenstoslayer.ytmnd.com/

Party in Hell tonight! Hell, Michigan that is: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/03/hell.party.ap/index.html


Haters Online thinks this should be a day to celebrate something different… National Emo Kid Beatdown Day: http://www.hatersonline.com

Everyone loves a good conspiracy (OK… I didn’t read it I just saw it was from Austin and I thought I’d add it to the list.
http://www.conspiracyworld.com/index0129.htm

Astrology anyone?
http://www.aquariuspapers.com/astrology/2006/05/what_will_happe.html

Expectant mothers expecting Damien?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2158015,00.html

Oh, and by the way, if you Google 6/6/6 you get this: (6 / 6) / 6 = 0.166666667

Oooh…. If you round up that means 0.17 is the answer to the EVIL equation.

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Don't forget to read my interviews with Tom Araya of Slayer in June's INsite Magazine and The Edge Magazine. The INsite interview is more of an overview and The Edge gets more in depth. They work well together so you should read both.

Hope your Tuesday ROCKS LIKE SLAYER!