Lizzy Borden – 30 Years of American Metal Tour 2013

I got to go back in time somewhat this week. The setting could have been 1985. On Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California hanging out in the famed bars and clubs of the strip such as The Rainbow Bar & Grill (alas no Lemmy) and Whisky a Go Go. These were the epicentre of LA metal back in the day.

Outside the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood

I had come to see Lizzy Borden celebrating 30 years of American Metal. This band was formed in Hollywood way back in 1983 and they were part of the LA “Glam Metal” scene. In 2013 they are more a “shock rock” type of metal band with gothic and gory undertones and had come home to celebrate in style with a great performance. 

30 years of American Metal

Lizzy Borden back in the day (1986)

Lizzy was ably supported by 5 opening acts – Black Mourning, Fall of Man, Chemical Burn, Faded Sun and White Wizzard. This was all for under $25! You can’t beat that especially in such a famous place.

On this tour the show involved lots of fake blood, stage props, numerous masks, costumes, great heavy metal and even go go dancers! Got to love LA metal!

Ready to rock the Whisky a Go Go

Lizzy Borden

Great stage show

Metal and dancers!

The setlist played by Lizzy included the following songs:

Red Rum

Eyes of a Stranger

Rebel Yell (Billy Idol cover)

Master of Disguise

Me Against The World

American Metal

Give Em’ The Axe

Lizzy

You want blood?

You got it!

In a great metal moment I got splashed across the face with fake blood from a bloody rose that Lizzy threw into the crowd! It was dripping down my face and I looked a mess. I doubt I will ever get to say that again (wish I had taken a photo)! Loved it, what a night!

Here come the bloody roses!

30 years of American Metal

Rock on \m/(>.<)\m/

Batman and The Joker – 1989 style

The following pictures of Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker from a publicity photo shoot for the 1989 Tim Burton Batman movie recently surfaced on the internet. This is one of my favourite movies and the photos are a lot of fun!

A Slice Of Americana IV: Hooters Restaurants

Hooters restaurants……love them or hate them, they are a lot of fun and do make great Buffalo Wings!

Who could resist? Hooters – Santa Monica

Boneless Buffalo Wings – Hooters Santa Monica

Fun times! Hooters – Santa Monica

Hooters Casino – Las Vegas

Hooters Nascar – Las Vegas

Windy our Hooters server at the Las Vegas casino

This amused us greatly! Thanks Windy!

More Buffalo Wings!

More classic Hooters comedy from Windy! She was a crackup!

Raack N Roll review at Hooters Casino Los Vegas

A Slice Of Americana II: The Force Van – Star Wars hits the highway

Wandering around the streets of Pioneer Square in Seattle in the Winter of 2012 I spotted something from a galaxy far, far away…….possibly the greatest van I have ever seen….the “Force Van“!

The Force Van

A true Star Wars van

Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2

One persons love of Star Wars knows no bounds!

Darth Vader

Cantina Band, Hand Solo, Chewbacca

George Lucas approved? I don’t think so!

Go ahead Walking Dead yourself!

I woke up feeling a bit ill this morning…….

This was a bit of fun I came across online:  www.deadyourself.com. Yes thats me all zombified!

Rick Grimes

The Walking Dead is a great (and grisly) AMC TV series about survival in a world taken over by zombies. The show premiered in 2010 and is now in it’s third season (it will soon return on air). The TV series was inspired by the even better monthly black and white comic book series.

The comics were first issued in 2003 and over 100 issues later are still going strong. They are written by Robert Kirkman. The original artist was Tony Moore for the first 6 issues and then Charlie Adlard  and Richard Adler took over the artwork. It’s amazing how similar yet so different the two mediums are (just don’t get too attached to the characters)!  Either way I can’t wait for the next episode!

The Walking Dead: Comics vs TV Show (source: whatculture.com)

The key is never get bitten!

Rick Grimes

In the Middle of Middle Earth

Reblogged from Deano Around The World:

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When it comes to movie making in New Zealand, Wellington is ground zero. The capital is the home base of Peter Jackson, Weta and many other production houses; and when it comes to the tales from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, Wellington truly is smack bang in the middle of it! The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit…

Read more… 563 more words

If you like J.R.R. Tolkien and his tales from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings you are going to love this :-)

Mad Max 4: Fury Road – Update

“New” Mad Max V8 Interceptor in Namibia 2012

Hi All,

I have updated my blog Mad Max…..time to hit the Fury Road! from 2011 with new information on the latest Mad Max movie Fury Road (currently in production) as well as adding more photos from my experiences at Mad Max related events and filming locations of the original movies (Mad Max, Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome).

Enjoy

Shonen Knife – Still the most adorable Punk Pop band in the world! \m/(>.<)\m/

Shonen Knife (Naoko - lead vocals and guitar, Ritsuko - bass & Emi on the drums) hail from Osaka, Japan (Rock City Number One!) and as always are a busy band. Since their last visit to Seattle 9 months ago they have released a Christmas Album plus their latest “Pop Tune” album and are touring again (during their show on August 8th, 2012 they joked it has been a long time)!

L-R: Emi, Naoko & Ritsuko

They perform an incredibly happy form of punk pop and you just can’t help but smile along with them as they play. They are also really funny with stories of their tour etc. Naoko flew to Seattle from Fargo, North Dakota and had kept busy on a day off playing arcade games down on the Seattle Waterfront and with much pride stated she had traded the tokens she won for a bottle of water! Better than the usual plastic comb you can win I guess? The others took a tiring 30 hour drive!

Too true!

Shonen Knife

The show was great with a mix of old tunes, some Ramones covers and a couple of new tracks of “Pop Tune“. The songs are always happy and include topics such as food (BBQ Party), toys and just fun stuff. Banana Chips is the first song I ever heard from Shonen Knife and it highlights the fun approach they have to music and of course they played it! 

Heavy \m/

The girls always wear matching outfits (designed by Atsuko, Naoko’s sister who used to be the drummer in the band - she was there selling merch) and when they do the duelling heavy guitars with long hair flailing its brilliant. They are smiling all the time! When they show the devil horns the crowd follows and cheers aloud! Great fun!

Show the horns!

After the show the girls are always happy to say hi, sign some merch and be in a photo. Too adorable for punk!

Thankyou Shonen Knife!

L-R: Naoko, Emi, Ritsuko & Me!

Too cute!

Scream for me Seattle!!! Iron Maiden’s Gonna Get You! \m/(>.<)\m/

I have loved the music of Iron Maiden since I was a teenager – soaring lyrics, powerful guitar riffs and beating drums are a call to arms for all Maiden fans. They led the charge of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM)  in the 1980′s and Iron Maiden are still going as strong as ever!

I have seen them perform a couple of times in Australia and got to see them again recently on their Maiden England North American Tour 2012 at the Whiteriver Amphitheatre on July 30th, 2012 (near Seattle). Every show I have seen has been brilliant and their stage presence along with the sets that represent past albums and songs are always impressive.

This current tour is predominately based around their concept album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son from 1988. The majority of the songs from that album are performed during their set along with other classics and a few rarities. They changed the set list slightly for this show too which was a surprise.

L-R: Adrian Smith (guitars), Dave Murray (guitars), Bruce Dickinson (lead vocals), Steve Harris (bass), Janick Gers (guitars) and Nicko McBrain (drums)

The intro music was Doctor Doctor  a UFO song, then the boys let fly with:

1. Moonchild - great way to kick off the show from  SSOFASS!
2. Can I Play With Madness - a classic sing along also from SSOFASS.
3. The Prisoner - “I am not a number, I am a free man!”
4. 2 Minutes to Midnight
5. Afraid to Shoot Strangers  – not a normal song on their set list.
6. The Trooper - one of my all time fav’s!
7. The Number of the Beast - one of the songs that got me into Maiden all those years ago.
8. Phantom of the Opera
9. Run to the Hills - the song that got me into Maiden.
10. Wasted Years
11. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son  – The stage set was a recreation fo the album cover including an animatronic embryo (the from SSOFASS of course!)
12. The Clairvoyant - from SSOFASS, the set was fantastic for this song with a large Clairvoyant “Evil Eddie” statue.
13. Fear of the Dark
14. Iron Maiden - another huge sing along \m/

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

The Clairvoyant

Evil “General Custer” Eddie

Encore:

Churchill’s Speech:

“We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight over the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,we shall fight on the hills; we shall never surrender!” – Winston Churchill June 4th, 1940

1. Aces High - another favourite of mine (being a plane geek and all).
2. The Evil That Men Do - yes evil lives on and on (from SSOFASS)
3. Running Free - a huge crowd favourite and great song to finish on.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python) is the musical interlude played to finish the show.

Aces High

Oh and happy birthday to lead singer Bruce Dickinson who just turned 54 (born August 7th,  1958).

Bruce Dickinson

MAIDEN RULES!!!!! \m/(>.<)\m/

Problem Child – For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)!

It has been a while since I last saw  AC/DC tribute band Problem Child (click the link for some of their live video), so I was really looking forward to getting my “Acca Dacca” fix at the Tractor Tavern on saturday night. Problem Child pay tribute to both the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson eras of AC/DC. Once again the boys put on a high voltage show for the capacity crowd that did not disappoint!

Problem Child – Bon Scott Era

Problem Child – Brian Johnson Era

For this gig they had a guest “Brian”, David Jaynes who normally performs with Back N Black in Atlanta, Georgia (which is one of the biggest tribute bands going around). His performance as Brian with that famous gravelly voice was fantastic, and accompanied with Spencer singing so much like Bon Scott and Ryan shredding the guitar as Angus Young (school boy antics included!) all backed brilliantly by the rest of the band: Malcolm – Malcolm Young, Chris – Cliff Williams and Phil – Phil Rudd you had an awesome night of Rock N’ Roll AC/DC style!

David Jaynes – “Brian Johnson”

Problem Child played plenty of big tracks like “T.N.T.” (video from this July 28th show – thanks Don E!), ”Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap“,  ”High Voltage“, “Highway To Hell“, “Back In Black“,  ”Hells Bells“, “You Shook Me All Night Long“, “Shoot to Thrill“  (video from this July 28th show), ”Thunderstruck” and the finale of “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” which had the crowd well and truly rocking along. They also performed some tracks that are rare to hear live – “Girls Got Rhythm“, “Givin The Dog A Bone“, “Have A Drink On Me” and ”What Do You Do For Money Honey?“. Classic songs and a great night out with friends, what more could you ask for? Check Problem Child out if you get a chance!

High Voltage Rock N’ Roll!