Rock Candy: November 2006 Archives

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Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 23:39:39

The Mind of Matt: Aerosmith in Arizona

Matt Smith got to see a very kick-ass rock group on his recent extended trip out west.

Aerosmith in Arizona was a great time. This tour featured the largest video screen ever used for a rock concert tour. This screen featured 6 high definition cameras to project band and crowd shots on to the HDTV screen. I first saw this set up on the “Have A nice Day” Bon Jovi tour in early 2006. Bon Jovi used the screen throughout the North American leg of
that tour. I think Jon Bon used it best in Oklahoma City and Nashville.

The use of the screen by Jovi @ the Gaylord center in Nashville gave the
show more of an impact – visually- than Nine Inch Nails had in Tennessee.
Hey, I’m not a Bon Jovi fan – but the screen rocks.

The Motley Crue/Aerosmith tour gives us great music to go with the great view.

Toys in The Attic opened the gig, and Walk The Dog, Eat The Rich and Cryin
followed in full force. The weather was perfect this evening in
Phoenix. The boys in Aerosmith loved it. Please Don’t Go was up next, and
included a little banter between Steven and the crowd. The singer then took one
of his very frequent breaks. While Tyler was out for a powder, Mick Mars
joined Joe Perry on stage for Messin’ Around. This was spectacular and the
first time they have played together on the tour. The audience loved it.
Mick Mars added a serious Motley touch to the song. He plays faster and
harder than Perry. The guitar riffs really bumped up the song, and it
was my favorite rendition of the tune from this tour. After heaped on
praise from the audience, Mick left the stage and Tyler returned. Joe and
Steven went to the end of the cat walk and sat down to play a little of On The
Track, then the fake snow began to fall for Seasons. Dream On was up next
with a great video montage.

Joe Perry returned to the main stage and Steven Tyler stayed on the walk way alone for Devils Got A New Disguise. This is the new song from Aerosmiths latest album. The entire band got together in front of the drum kit for Rag Doll, then flew right into Sweet Emotion. During Emotion, Steven Tyler returned to the catwalk and pulled a young lady out of the
crowd. She looked to be maybe seventeen years old. When she got up on stage, the fear hit. She just froze and couldn’t move. This girl was totally star struck! As the song wound down, she returned to the floor and Tyler ran back down the stage. Joe Perry cut up his solo rif, and used a keyboard set up just as Nikki Sixx has done on his solo time during the tour.

Draw The Line kicked off with the singer still back stage. Steven sang about half the
song from beside the amps stand – and this appeared to irritate Joe Perry. When the lead man returned to the front, Perry ran down the catwalk, ripped up another solo on the guitar and threw down his shirt.

The video cartoon began to play, and the theme of the Route Of All Evil tour ran through. After a brief break, the encore as always, was Walk This Way. The house rocked for this one, with audience members throwing adidas
tennis shoes on the stage. This was another great show by a classic
rock band. To check out Aerosmith information and tour dates hit up
www.aerosmith.com.

The backstage antics for this show actually took place on the busses
and tour trailers. The dressing rooms at this venue were extremely small.
I noticed signs posted telling the crew to watch out for scorpions, since they were in the desert. The venue provided RV type travel trailers for
use by the bands. We arrived early in the day and stayed back stage until
show time. This show had a great caterer and the weather cooperated nicely.
Joe Perry came in early on his big green bus. There isn’t anything on the
bus to give him away. He travels anomalously. Perry does ride the bus to
all of his gigs with his family. He has the kids on most legs of this tour.
Steven Tyler will fly to all of the concerts. No bus travel for Mr. Tyler.
Joe Perry actually came outside to sunbath and get a massage early in
the afternoon. Mick Mars emerged from his bus about 3:00pm and joined
Perry on stage for a little practice and sound check. This was very unusual, but
later in the evening I found out why. Mick has stayed on his bus until show time for the past two and a half years. He looks better now, and must be feeling much better. Nikki Sixx was nowhere to be seen. No one got off the bus, no one got on. Later in the evening, during the Aerosmith part of the show, Carmen Elektra was backstage with Nikki. She must have been on the bus! But, this was kept quiet. Other people of note that were hanging out back stage included Billy Ray Cyrus and Dierks Bentley.

Last but not least was Vince Neil. Vince has his motorcycle on this tour and he rode it around the venue just after lunch. Neil also has a brand new multimillion-dollar tour bus. The bus was provided by Tres Rios tequila. Vince has a new wine project called Vince Vineyards in a partnership with the tequila brand. They have provided the bus as part of the
deal. You can’t miss it! There is no way for Neil to hide while he is on tour. The bus stands out. This tour with Aerosmith ends in a couple of weeks, and they never played Arkansas. I don’t know the Tyler/Perry plans for the New Year, but Vince is throwing the Motley Cruise. I will be there, and it will be a blast! You can go; there is still room on the
ship. Check it out www.motleycruise.org The CAT 12 suites are Vince Neil’s rooms, and I got one! But, hey come on! It will be a serious party with a concert and other events in the Bahamas. You don’t want to miss this one!

I will have a review of Skid Row at the Rev Room in Little Rock up next.-- Matt Smith

Posted by at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - 17:10:28

Saliva coming on Dec. 14

Hadn't heard about this until today when the PR firm called about Saliva, but the great Memphis power rock group will be playing the Clear Channel Metroplex on Thursday, Dec. 14. Big show. We'll be there.

We'll get more details in a few. Give 219-5000 a call if you want ticket info now.

Saliva was going to play a gig earlier this year but had to postpone when the lead singer was injured in a car wreck, so we're guessing this is that anticipated makeup date.

Posted by at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Poor Snoop: Perform on Leno, get arrested

Just musing here: This is weird, seeing Snoop Dogg on Leno last night at the guest performer, the reading today that he was arrested outside the studio after the show for various law infractions.

We only caught a moment of Snoop (mug at left, from www.thesmokinggun.com) anyway, as we'd been over the dial to Letterman to catch The Decembrists, a pretty good act we first heard on a Paste magazine CD. Lot more our type of music compared with anything Snoop does. The good thing is, there is a usually a couple of minutes of lag between the acts on Letterman and the finish of the acts on Leno.

Such as Monday night, when a pretty interesting country-sounding group called The Wreckers, fronted by a couple of pretty girls, were performing on Leno. They too had a sound we'd take over Snoop Dogg.

Leno's show would have been even better if they could have included Snoop's arrest at the end.

By the way, talk about great music guests on late-night TV, you missed a real treat if you didn't catch Tom Waits on "The Daily Show." Amazing stuff. Waits was the music guest on Letterman on Monday night. Again, that lag time that seems to be worked in between the shows helped to see all of the great Waits and still catch some of the tasty Wreckers.

Posted by at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Broyles Award finalists include UA's Herring

Reggie Herring, Arkansas's defensive coordinator, is one of the five finalists for the Broyles Award, given each year to the nation's top assistant football coach. The award was created by David Bazzel and several top former head coaches in honor of UA athletic director Frank Broyles, whose legacy was sending more than 50 assistants on to head coaching jobs in college and pro football. But, outside of Keith Burns in 1998, no Arkansas assistant coach has been a finalist until Herring.

Assistants are nominated by their head coach. The nominees are then screened and pared to five by a panel of elite former head football coaches.

Other finalists are Joe Daniels, offensive coordinator for Ohio State and position coach for Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith; Louisville offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables and Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Foster is a four-time finalist for the award, which was started in 1997.

If you're looking for the odds-on favorite to win this award when it's presented at a Rotary Club of Little Rock meeting in January, Daniels is a great story, if it doesn't finally go to Foster. During the summer, Daniels suffered a heart attack and then was diagnosed with kidney cancer, yet he's been with Ohio State and Smith all season as the Buckeyes have rolled to a perfect record and the No. 1 ranking in the BCS poll. Ohio State will likely play either Southern Cal or Michigan in the championship game Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

Posted by at 01:17 AM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 00:56:40

The Mind of Matt: Crue in Arizona

Now, we know the truth: Matt Smith wasn't just traipsing around Arizona for the dry air, the NHL and the woeful football Cardinals. Yes, he went to see the Cr

Motley Crue crashed in to Phoenix for the Route Of All Evil Tour. The tour is why I happen to be in Arizona. This show features some crazy antics on the buses and backstage, but more on that later. Right now, it’s time to talk about the concert. This is also a show that has been set to play outdoors at another amphitheater. The pattern continues on this leg of the tour, much as it did with Carnival Of Sins. But, with “Evil” the Crue issupporting Aerosmith and on “Sins” they were the entire show. “Sins” gave us three hours of Motley, the “Evil” show boasts about ninety minutes. These are the exact same venues courtesy of Live Nation. They book theshows, and I wish “Nation” knew that Alltel arena in Little Rock exists!

Anyway, hit them up @ www.livenation.com for tour and venue information.

The Motley Crue stage has grown darker during this stint on the road. There is a slant toward Voodoo in the set decorations. There is an all black format where skulls, crosses, and snakes abound. The huge animatronics cobras spew the fog of dry ice. This thick smoke covers the crowd as the band takes the stage. Dr. Feelgood opens the show, with Nikki Sixx manning a flamethrower on a pile of amplifiers. This crowd in theArizona desert goes crazy. They love it, even though from the looks of things, Aerosmith may be why they are here. The pyrotechnics continue as Shout At The Devil plays. The band is pumped up and looking good. I haven’t seen them in about three weeks, but they are as well rested here as in Indianapolis. Fire, and lots of it continues as the band plays my favorite Crue tune, Wild Side. Then, the lights drop and everything goes black. After some silence, neon lights the stage and Looks That Kill powers up. The dancers come out for the first time during this song, carry the military style guns they use for this show.

Ropes, cages and hooks are lowered on to the stage as Live Wire plays. The girls exist for a costume change and emerge for Same Old Situation in wedding dresses. This is also the time to fire up the bondage video. Some of the older people in the crowd complain about the content of the video. This video is ruff. It does contain a lot of pornography, in addition to the bondage. I have seen this Crue show in about 50 different cities in the last two years. The content of what is on the screen varies greatly. The mass market big cities like Phoenix, Vegas, Chicago, etc… get a different film clip than say Little Rock, Jackson, Des Moines. Tonight’s movie is pretty hardcore.

Things quiet down and we are back to a dark venue, then Tommy starts the piano for Home Sweet Home. Vince invites the crowd to sing, and they do. Everyone know this song. It was the world’s first power ballad. After the song, Vince discusses his love of all things Arizona and then the girls
–
Missy & Josey – return with an acoustic guitar for Don’t Go Away Mad. Vinny takes a break after that one and Tommy leaves the drum kit to talk to the crowd. Tommy hands out a couple of Jager shots to the people in the front row, and then tosses a bottle in to the crowd. The band returns for Louder Than Hell.

One young lady in the first row that has been trying to get Nikki’s attention all night has her wish granted. As Sick Love Song begins toplay, he promptly spits stage blood all over her. She licks it of her face like it’s the nectar of a God. She is dying to go backstage, but just doesn’t quite make it tonight. Primal Scream is fired up and Allen theroadie starts making his way thru the crowd. Some young ladies are given the much coveted backstage hook up, but most don’t seem to qualify. Girls, Girls, Girls, plays next and the strippers join the boys on stage. This has been one of the raunchiest shows I have seen on the entire tour. Mick Mars bleeds Girls straight into a guitar solo. His solo features some Jimi Hendrix and as he plays Nikki begins to throw water on those closest to the stage. He’s screaming “Get Loud People! This isn’t a damn Bon Jovi show!” Mick Mars wraps up his solo and then the band blows out Kick
Start My Heart for the last song. The entire audience had a blast, including the Aerosmith fans. There is more Motley Crue info available @ www.motley.com

Now, since the Arkansas Times is a family newspaper – not everything can appear on this website. So, for more unedited CRUE content, as well as other rock photos and videos check out my spot @www.myspace.com/mattwildside I will have a review of the Aerosmith show posted soon and some more backstage surprises and gossip from both before and after the Phoenix shows.-- Matt

Posted by at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Monday, November 27, 2006 - 15:35:34

JR and Henry: Poor coaching plagues Razorbacks

Poor coaching, yet again.

Arkansas has failed yet again to win the big game. The Razorbacks, sitting at 6^th in the BCS and an outside contender for a spot in the national title game had a chance to take the next step towards a big time goal, the first in Razorback history. No Razorback team in the modern era (read: the introduction of the BCS standings) has gone this late into the season with a legitimate chance to play for a national title. The only time the Razorbacks came close was in 1998 and, as we have come to realize, failed to win when it mattered.

Saturday was yet another loss in a long line of heartbreaking losses. But what makes this loss so heartbreaking is not that it involved a fluke play, a hail mary pass or a botched call by the referees. Nope. This loss was purely a consequence of coaching. Arkansas was out coached and they failed to call the right plays when it mattered most.

Darren McFadden and Felix Jones ran all day on the LSU defense. It was as if we were playing a third-tier team – a Utah State or a Mississippi State. Oh wait, those teams were able to stop the running game. But not LSU, a team with a defense so beloved that many talking heads noted that there was no chance of McFadden getting loose for big yards, much less McFadden AND Jones.

But that’s exactly what happened. McFadden and Jones, time after time, broke through the LSU front seven for critical yards. With Arkansas backed into a corner, it was McFadden who stepped up with an 80+ yard touchdown run to bring the Razorbacks within striking distance with several minutes to play.

If anyone had any doubts who the best player is in college football, they shouldn’t after Friday’s game with LSU. McFadden won’t win the Heisman this year, and it’s hard to fault voters who give the edge for that award to Troy Smith, the excellent senior quarterback at Ohio State, who has had a great year and led his team to an undefeated regular season. But he’s no McFadden. Just ask yourself this question, if you’re picking a team, who do you take with the first pick? You take Number 5.

But despite McFadden’s greatness, Arkansas blew it. First it was the kickoff return for a touchdown, a mental error no doubt. One has to wonder how Arkansas gives up a kickoff return at that moment to a team that hasn’t returned a kick for a touchdown in almost a decade.

But even with the kick return, Arkansas marched back down the field to score with 4:53 remaining thanks to a Felix Jones touchdown (after an impressive Felix Jones kick return). With 2:04 to play and Arkansas on its own 27 yard line, Houston Nutt decides that rather than get the ball to the two guys that have taken him this far (at this point in the game, Casey Dick had thrown 13 passes, only 3 complete, for a total of 29 yards. Darren McFadden, interestingly, was 2-2 for 33 yards in the air) he decides to let Dick air it out. Four pass plays resulted in four incompletions. The game was over.

Look, we can understand the first down deep pass play call. Had the second down been a play for McFadden, it would have made perfect sense. But instead, it was atrocious play calling, so bad it’s hard to describe it as play calling at all. It was, “go deep and hope.” Sure, that worked in 2002. But it had to then because Arkansas only had 30 seconds to work with. Not so this time. Running plays could have been called, should have been called, but weren’t. And poor playcalling is something that has plagued the Arkansas Razorbacks for the duration of Nutt’s tenure.

But those last drive calls don’t hold a candle to the inexplicable decision to call a rollout pass to Marcus Monk on 4^th and a short 3 deep in LSU territory at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Once again, your running game was dominant all day. Your identity is running the ball, and you have quarterback who has struggled. Nutt has a tendency to try to be too cute in his playcalls, trying to trick his opponents when just a simple play would work as well. It’s like watching a flashy basketball point guard try for the behind the back spectacular play when a simple bounce pass would get the job done. And what happens? Monk is double covered, Dick gets sacked, and another promising drive is turned away.

Don’t analyze this game any more than is necessary. Arkansas had a chance to win and it failed. It failed because the plays called in from the sidelines in the fourth quarter, especially in the in the final two minutes, were awful. They were low percentage plays which, in order to work, demanded precision from a quarterback who was anything but precise on Saturday.

What makes this even more remarkable is that Arkansas had already wrapped up an SEC title. History, not something to be taken lightly, was staring the coaching staff in the face. Surely the coaching staff, including coach Nutt who has insisted that every play runs through him, was aware that Darren McFadden was the only player to rush for more than 100 yards against LSU this season. Surely the coaches, including coach Nutt, were aware that the probability of Casey Dick making any of those throws was remote. Surely, someone spoke up and suggested that another quarterback come into the game? Unfortunately, none of that happened, and if it did, we’ll never know about it. What we do know is that it was the guys not in uniform on the sidelines, and not the players on the field, who had the ultimate impact on the outcome of the game.

As a result, Arkansas’ national title hopes, as distant as they may have been, disappeared. The Hogs may win the SEC championship game on Saturday against Florida and play in the Sugar Bowl. That will be great. But what we will always wonder is what could have been had Darren McFadden, Mitch Mustain, or Felix Jones gotten a chance to contribute on that final series.

Sadly, we’ll never know.

* * *

A quick note about Stan Heath’s Arkansas Basketball team. Congratulations on winning a the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. The basketball team showed guts, heart, great free throw shooting, and, at long last, some basketball IQ in beating Southern Illinois, Marist, and West Virginia in a four day stretch. For the first time in too long, it’s fun to watch Arkansas basketball again.

JR and Henry blog their column here twice a week.

Posted by at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Saturday, November 25, 2006 - 15:54:57

LSU writer asks the big question of Nutt

Why try a pass on fourth-and-3 to a double-covered Marcus Monk, against a tiring LSU defense? D-G got in the question, too, but buried, and Nutt of course took it as second-guessing. When you are calling it before the play, it's not second-guessing, coach. Anyway check out Glenn Guilbeau's column here.

Posted by at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments [3]