The Who

I just watched The Who at Kilburn 1977 dvd and I can tell you that it is unsurpassed. Amazing. What starts off as a shaky "Can't Explain" (the band hadn't performed in over a year together) turns into a monster of a show. Shot with multiple 35mm cameras and remastered in digital surround it almost blew up my simple 27" TV. Pete seems rather pissed off at something and turns his anger into a performance unlike one I've ever seen from him. He looks like he just finished the Empty Glass cover shoot and wandered over to Kilburn eager to keep up with the punks. Which he does in spades. Roger paces in circles. Pete mocks him. Entwistle is surely The Ox. Moon holds the whole thing together. Pundits harp about how out of shape Keith is but I don't buy it. He's a mongrel, canine. He plays with such ferociousness, especially on "My Wife," and the closing moments of "Won't Get Fooled Again" are so cool that I watched it over and over again.

The second disc, with the band playing at the London Coliseum in 1969, is like finding the Holy Grail under the seat of a taxi. It's a monster set featuring the earliest recorded performance on film of a complete performance of Tommy. An amazing and brilliant piece of film.


Thanks to Paul Crowder et al., for bringing this and his Grammy nominated Who doc The Amazing Journey to an eager public in 2008.

For those living in Los Angeles, Paul is playing with Jim Wirt and Brian Coffman (Fools Face) at O'brien's pub in Santa Monica on January 23. They will be performing Tommy and it's a show not to be missed




ap-2009

Shake, Rattle, and more shakes.

Jerry Garcia and I only have one thing in common. Even from the grave a dead person can still have something in common with another person. It's true. I've done the research. Julie Andrews may have the same flat feet as Harpo Marx. Paul Weller might have, say, the same love of hangnails as Ernest Hemingway. Paris Hilton could be walking around with the same unsightly tongue mole that plagued Audrey Hepburn. It happens. Does that make the living doppelgangers for the dead? Maybe. Does my chocolate shake addiction, the thing I have in common with Jerry Garcia, make me likelier to wear black T-shirts as a force of habit and grow a groovy beard? No. But the addiction may kill me. Not as slow-fast-slow as heroin but it may give me the betes and no one wants that.

The Queen City Roller staff was sent out across the region to recon various shake making establishments and to report back with their findings. Your humble editor graciously agreed to accompany staff on their trips to various chocolate shake making huts to provide an unbiased second opinion. Here are the results. Remember, only chocolate shakes were served because that's all Jerry Garcia liked. And the editor too.

Steak n' Shake - With an "n" in your name, how can you not suck? Yuck. Yuck Yuck. Steak n' Shake shakes are awful. They have the taste of really cheap chocolate syrup, like government cheese chocolate syrup and sometimes, malt gets mixed in with the shake. The worst part about Steak n' Shake shakes besides the taste is the terrible value of their to-go cups. For just under $4 you get a plastic cup that tapers just under the lip making it just a few ounces bigger than a small. One time, in desperation, I ordered a large shake. The soda jerk made me a small. "I ordered a large," I said. He then took the small and poured it into a large cup! Can you believe it? Jerk.

All fast food shakes - suck. The value is bad and they're all made too fast to care. Only Hardee's uses the hand dipped method but their size to value ratio is the pits. And, all the shakes taste the same. Shitty. Oh, and don't skimp on shaky goodness by letting them top the things off with whipped cream. It's a trick used by the big coffee chains to rip you off. I mean, you want more frappy coffee goodness, not whipped fucking cream. If you were to get a Slurpee you wouldn't stop before the top and then add a bunch of white stuff? No! You would fill it up so even the dome was packed. That's the way you do it.

Andy's - tastes like a Wendy's Frosty and it's $4 more. Bad deal. Buy the Frosty and don't call it a shake. I will add that I bet Andy's uses better ingredients.

Braum's = awesome! 4.9 stars out of 5. Braum's shakes are huge, no tapered cups, no whipped cream. These shakes are brimming with cool goodness and the staff, who see you drive up every day, have the courage to call you by your first name. You're a regular. You're their hero. Braum's uses hormone free milk and ice cream that they make themselves in Oklahoma. It's Okiefied and it's full of natural goodness. The only reason Braum's is a 4.9 and not a 5 is because it's not...

Casper's - That's right! Tommy makes the best shake in town. Tall. Good. Wonderful. Casper's might even use the cheap stuff but it's the way it's presented, over flowing like the burgers and chili, that makes the chocolate shake at Casper's top shelf. Their chocolate shakes are addictive, like heroin, and that's why Jerry Garcia, were he alive today and living in The Queen City, would be sipping a tall cool one while coming off a nod, at Casper's.

ap - 2008

Dog People - Fools Face shows to brighten the holiday corners!

I'm back! Too long a holiday off the blog. Michelle says that it isn't a blog if you don't update the thing so it's about damn time.

There are two big shows after Christmas is done and the misery is lifted in the Queen City.

Friday, the 26 The Dog People will be at The Outland Ballroom.

The Dog People have been playing together for about 25 years. Traditionally the Dog People have been called upon to entertain the masses around the holidays while playing absolutely NO holiday music. None. They'll play for hours because that's what you do with cover songs, you play the shit out of them. They'll play Traffic, Small Faces, soul nuggets, Stones, Stones, Stones, to a packed house that shows up expecting to get exactly what the Dog People deliver. The goods? Damn right.

The Dog People consist of Nashville good time man and Ozark Mountain Daredevil Supe Granda on bass. Supe's got some original material that he's thrown to the Dogs and it gets played rather well. On drums is Tommy Whitlock resident Oscar winner. His drumming finesse usually takes my breath away. On guitar, flying in from Los Angeles, is Terry Wilson. In the 1980s Terry was in The Rave-Ups. They used to be Molly Ringwald's favorite band. Now, it's just really cool when they come around on the iPod. Lead vocals are filled by Wunderle. Seeing Wunderle on stage when I was young was what made me want to get up there too. Not Mick, not Patti, not The Clash. It was Wunderle then and it still is now. He's the best front man this town has ever known. I mean, remember The Symptoms? Seriously.

Saturday, the 27, Fools Face , will be downstairs at The Highlife Live.

This incarnation of the legendary Power Pop band will consist of Jimmy Frink, Brian Coffman, Jim Wirt, and Chris Coffman on the drums. For those who need to be in the know, there was a time when Fools Face were the toppermost of the poppermost in Springfield and the whole damn Midwest. Infectious. Stunning. Brilliant. They resurfaced in the late 90s and put on a trio of powerhouse shows at the Outland to record a live album in the early 2000s. I can't say enough about how incredible there albums are or how much they meant too so many people in the Queen City. Their first three albums and some other live material can be downloaded from this killer site put up by a friend of theirs in Texas. Here's the TrouserPress entry for this formidable and amazing band. Tickets are on sale @ Kaleidoscope for $10.

The Broken West

Jason whipped I Can't Go On, I'll Go On by The Broken West my way last spring. I love it. This is wonderful, pure, Power Pop sent from the clouds. The Broken West, out of sunny LA, open the album with one of the best tunes of the last five years, "On the Bubble." This track makes any brilliant pop cassette even better. It gives a striking opening punch to any comp you put together. The rest of the album is just amazing and as much as I repeat "On The Bubble," "You Can Build An Island" is my favorite track. There's great guitar work here, brilliant harmonies, and this is such a strong, kick ass debut, that I'm going to stand in the street and scream about it.

Their sophomore effort, Now Or Heaven, has just been released. I haven't heard it yet but that's going to be part of my life's work for the next few days.

Just get the damn thing.

ap -2008

Power Pop Heaven

Download this stuff now!
These songs will save you in times of trouble.

The absolutely coolest thing on the webbernets is this, people; http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/search?q=ultimate+powerpop+guide

Here's an abstract from Angelo, the man responsible for taking us to Power Pop Heaven.
Thanks, Angelo.

If you're blogging around, now you know there's a list of the 200 most essential power pop recordings of the last +35 years. John M.Borack has put together the list for the excellent "Shake Some Action" book published by Bruce Brodeen and Not Lame. John Borack is one of the preeminent writers/reviewers covering the power pop/pure pop musical style we all know and love. You may or may not agree with the list (IMHO i do agree mostly with that list, even though mine would have been different) but i guess it would be interesting to post a complete "Best" of the ultimate power pop guide. So, i picked one song from each album selected by John Borack. My picks were totally subjective, so you won't get any "September Gurls", Rock'n'Roll Girl"', "Tomorrow Night" or other all-time classics. I tried (but not always) to not chose the songs you could already find on some famous power pop compilations ("Yellow Pills", "Poptopia" or the Rhino "DIY Series" and many others...).

ap - 2008

It's a Holiday!

Recent readers, contributors, artists, hooligans and roustabouts, The Queen City Roller is going on a short holiday. A week. Grin and bear it. They'll be stories and action to report. Bears. Things of that sort. Tiny museums will be explored and rocks overturned. Cars may be set on fire. Kitties washed.

In the meantime, listen to The Psychedelic Solution on Compound Radio. Compound Radio is actually in a damn compound. It's true. Neck tattoos, broken bottles, a kitchen. Things that one normally finds in a compound. Sometimes, there is a radio. Jim Jones had one at his compound. And shows? Hell, there are so many shows on there that it will blow your damn mind. Or your friend's mind!

The Psychedelic Solution airs Monday nights at 8pm Pacific. That's 10pm for all you Okies and Bleeding Kansans. When the QCR gets back from holiday, well, you just watch out mister!