Archive for November, 2011
Have you ever seen the Mark Wahlberg movie Rock Star? It’s about a guy who is the lead singer for a heavy metal tribute band and then gets picked to be the new lead singer for the actual band. Based on the story of Judas Priest, the premise of this movie would be ridiculous if it wasn’t real. Well, truth really is stranger than fiction and the whole Rock Star thing is happening again thanks to Queen drummer Roger Taylor.
In an effort to celebrate Queen’s 40th anniversary, Taylor is launching a North American talent search that will offer music hopefuls the opportunity to star in the Queen Extravaganza Live Tour – basically a Queen Tribute Band being put together by an actual member of Queen. Taylor, along with a panel of judges, will select the musicians and then the public will vote online.
Auditions began September 19 and Taylor has been searching for musicians for a five-piece band and three vocalists. The tour launches in 2012 and Taylor is taking the role of producer and music director.
The Queen Extravaganza is offering the chance for at least one person to win a place in the live touring band that will take the Queen Extravaganza show across North America in 2012. Musicians can apply to be part of the band by uploading a video audition using the available download tracks at www.queenextravanganza.com.
Open to vocalists, guitarists, drummers, bass players and keyboard players, the audition process is as follows:
Round One: Open Auditions – September 19, 2011 through November 7, 2011 (now closed). A panel of specially selected judges have picked out their favorite 50 or more audition videos to go through to Round Two.
Round Two: Public Vote – November 14, 2011 through November 30, 2011. The Top 10 highest publicly voted videos will go through to the live final. At this stage Taylor also has the ability to activate a “wild card” option.
Round Three: Live Final – December 5, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA. The musicians will perform a range of songs live in a band setting, allowing the judges to assess the blend of each potential band member. The judging panel will select at least one winning musician to join the Queen Extravaganza touring band. The winner(s) will be a fully paid member of the Queen Extravaganza band and will then enter rehearsals for the tour.
So from what I gather this is kind of like a Queen-specific American Idol and I have a feeling that this is either going to end up being very cool or a huge waste of time. What’s interesting is that the web site has made it clear that the Queen Extravaganza is not looking for Queen band member look-a-likes. Instead they just want these people to sound like the band members – fair enough. We’ll see how this goes. Although of course it’s a very cool opportunity for aspiring musicians and Queen fans, it’s going to be difficult to replace/replicate a voice like Freddie Mercury. I’ll be watching on December 5.
Here’s what sucks about Courtney Love’s most recent nutjob antics: Hole is a great band and Courtney Love is a great guitarist. But no one thinks about that and no one cares about that when Love is constantly screaming and stomping around like a little kid. She bitches about everything – Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, the Nirvana legacy, blah blah blah. Shut up and play your guitar – when you want to you be you are a great musician.
The latest of Love’s bullshit started with a video from last week during which she ranted about how her family is in disarray while Grohl steals food off their table. A few quotes from her tirade:
“I wasn’t in Nirvana. However, I do own Nirvana … with my daughter, and because of tax laws I have to give money to his sister, Kim Cobain and [Kurt's mother] Wendy Cobain,” Love said.
She continued, “What I was saying is [that] Dave makes $5 million a [Foo Fighters] show, he doesn’t need the money [from Nirvana] … [so] why the f— then does he have a Nirvana Inc. credit card and I don’t? And last week he bought and Aston Martin on it.”
Wow….have another.
Then last night Love went off on another rant during her performance with Hole at a festival in Brazil. In addition to claiming that she has license to use the word “fags” thanks to her supposed status as a “gay icon,” requesting chapstick for a herpes sore and insisting that she was the inspiration for the Smashing Pumpkins’ hit albums Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the singer launched into another diatribe after spotting a fan carrying a photo of Cobain.
“I don’t need to see a picture of Kurt, asshole and I’m going to have you fucking removed if you keep throwing that up,” she screamed. “I’m not Kurt – I have to live with his shit, his ghost, his kid every day. Throwing that up is stupid and rude and I’ll beat the fuck out of you if you do it again.”
Not sure what her issue is with seeing photos of her late husband or with Grohl but it seems that she has always had one with the latter. Is it because he’s one of the best front men in rock and roll and she can’t manage to get through a show without screaming like a crazy person? Is it because every album his band turns out is successful and she hasn’t had a hit since 1998’s Celebrity Skin?
I think Courtney Love is extremely talented and I love Hole but come on. Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters are so admired and well-respected it’s not event funny. I wonder what Love’s daughter thinks of her mother’s behavior. Frances Bean Cobain is 19-years-old (time flies) and we don’t see her whoring around in the tabloids. Nope. Her 47-year-old mother is taking on that role to a ridiculous degree and no one thinks it’s funny or cool. Whether Love likes it or not she will always be connected to Cobain (and Grohl for that matter) so she needs to stop acting a damn fool. Get a grip Courtney – you’re almost Axl’s age.
For the first time in 14 years Axl Rose did a live interview! In person! Talking with actual people about actual topics! And the interview took place in Miami!
Clad in a collared shirt, black blazer, cowboy boots, lots of silver jewelry, aviator sunglasses and a cowboy hat, Axl appeared on VH1’s That Metal Show on November 11. And he sounded like a normal human! He was talking about the past, the upcoming tour and more specifically about why he is always late for everything. Turns out Axl is funny – he cracks jokes and has a sense of humor which is very good news considering I just dropped some serious money on tickets to see Guns N Roses (Version 2.0) on December 11 in Colorado.
A few of his quotes from the interview:
“A lot of times on the day of a show, things start going wrong. No one knows why…but I think we’re getting better.”
“In 1991 I shouldn’t have been on tour – but I did it because of my manager, Slash and the crew.”
“I lived right behind my school and couldn’t make it to class! I had a job at the grocery store down the street and was running down the block with wet hair trying to tie my tie with a sandwich in one hand!”
If you go on YouTube to check out the interview don’t be surprised that Axl looks and sounds a little older – he will be 50 years old in February. (Resist the urge to feel like a dinosaur).
A lot of people are giving me a hard time about spending my hard earned cash on seeing Guns Version 2.0 but I need to see Axl. I’m such a fan – I have his words tattooed on my ankle for crying out loud – and I’ve seen Slash and Duff McKagan before. But never have I ever seen the notorious Axl live.
So cross your fingers for me on December 11 – hopefully Axl shows up wearing his signature aviators and is as charismatic as he was in his latest interview.