The Other Violet
Dave Grohl with his daughter Violet
Such a sweet pic.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
A Nirvana Renewal
Kurt Cobain
Fuse ran a night of Nirvana programming last Tuesday night. While I was never a HUGE Nirvana fan, I was (and still am) a fan. I didn’t realize until last night what it was that I liked about them. (These days I’m all about Dave Grohl’s sense of humor, but I knew nothing of it then.) Anyhooo, I had a nice hard listen to Kurt Cobain and came to the conclusion that his aura of displacement and that “lost” quality in his personality really showed through in his music and lyrics. There’s always been a heartbreaking sort of honesty in his writing and singing that attracted me. For this reason, I’ve decided that all the hype Kurt’s been given over the years has been well deserved.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
MTV EMA Awards
Last night I watched the MTV EMA awards. I was pleased to note that it was a much better program than we usually get from the U.S. MTV awards. Snoop Dogg was the MC of the program and did a nice job. I know that the audience appreciated him.
Snoop Dogg
Dave Grohl was wonderful. He was in charge of filler spots with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. They have a great sense of humor and that’s critical in filler spots. The Foo Fighters opened the show with “The Pretender”. It was an inspiring performance and the crowd was ready to go.
Dave Grohl
Avril Lavigne performed very well with her hit “Hot”. She was truly on her game. It’s not the style of song I usually like, but she performed it so well and it is a catchy song. I’ll have to give her this one.
Avril Lavigne
Then the highlight of the evening for me…30 Seconds to Mars won the “Rock Out” award. Jared Leto accepted this exhibiting his usual charm.
Jared Leto
My Chemical Romance performed “Teenagers”. They always do so well live and this was no exception. They completed the feel of the song with a stage full of surly teens and cheerleaders in gas masks. I have to wonder, does Gerard Way ever have an off day? (I apologize unreservedly for that unfortunate yet unintentional rhyme).
My Chemical Romance
Jon Heder presented the award for “Solo Artist” and it’s obvious that Munich loves him as much as I do. He showed us all once again why he is and always will be Napoleon Dynamite (and was reminded by several women in the crowd who were screaming, “We love you, Napoleon Dynamite!”)
Jon Heder
One of my new favorites, Muse, got the award for “Best Headline”. I’m not sure what that means but I like them and I’m glad they won it (whatever it is).
Muse
And the icing on the cake for me was discovering a band I had heard nothing from. I had heard of them, but nothing by them. Tokio Hotel received the award for “International Act” (beating my beloved 30STM) but they also performed for the last song of the show. They did “Monsoon” which I thought was a really good song. You can see the performance here. Lead singer, Bill Kaulitz, has a wonderful silky smooth voice (at least in this song) and while the instrumentation was simple, it was very moody. The rainfall toward the end of the song was a nice touch and completed the mood of the song. I will definitely have to look into more Tokio Hotel. I guess if 30STM had to lose to someone, it may as well be these guys.
Tokio Hotel
I’d love to write more about the program because it was a lot better than what we usually do here in the U.S. I’m sorry to say it but it’s true. However, my mentally challenged pooch is in the catbox again and I can’t go on….
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Wouldn’t You Love to Know…
Dave Grohl
Considering the heavy grunge scene which “spawned” Dave Grohl, it amazes me what a ludicrous sense of humor he has. I’ll grant you that he’s made some more serious videos like “My Hero”, “Best of You”, and their latest, “The Pretender”. But then there’s “Learn to Fly” and “Monkey Wrench” which show a side of the band and Dave that I love to see. I’ve seen Mr. Grohl in a few interviews and he always strikes me as someone I would love to hang with for awhile. He’s done work with friends and you may even recognize him playing drums with a few artists out there and even as Satan in the Tenacious D video for “Tribute”. (Dave also played drums on that album…lucky Jack Black and Kyle Gass). On the humanitarian side, Dave’s no slouch. In May 2006, when Australian miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell were trapped almost a kilometre underground, they listened to country music and Foo Fighters. They even asked for an IPOD loaded with their faves. Dave Grohl heard of their plight and promised to get them tickets and a beer when they got out safely. He made good on that offer. When they couldn’t come to the U.S. (though Dave would pay for everything), Dave went to Australia. It’s reported that one of the miners took him up on the offer. What was the other thinking? Who knows. Maybe he was ill that day or something. Dave supports other organizations. In my research I’ve noticed no particular favorite but he seems to help out where he’s needed for whichever organizations he can. He seems like a very cool guy and wicked sense of humor is a very desireable quality.
