Rock Candy: February 2007 Archives

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 15:32:56

The Man of Matt: Revisiting Bob Seger

Matt Smith doesn't just get back stage with Motley Crue, Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil, Supernova and the like. He found himself hanging out with the Silver Bullet Band recently when Bob Seger came to town:

Still playing catch up on the blog now. We got back in from Ohio in time to see Bob Seger at Alltel arena. The crowd was huge for a classic rock show, you could tell by the hunger in the crowd that Bob had been missed.
It has been many years since Seger was out on tour, and longer still since he’s made a visit to the natural state. I heard that the show was only 54
tickets from a complete sell out. This was the typical old school rock
concert with the Silver Bullet Band playing the big hits from through out Seger’s long and storied career.

There were a few songs mixed in from the new album and they got a positive response. The entire band did an excellent job, but you could tell that this was an oldies rock show. I enjoyed the concert, and I’m glad I got to see Bob. I had never seen him in concert before. Seger is in the same age group as the Rolling Stones and Sammy Hagar, but unlike them – he shows his age. The Rolling Stones totally and completely dominate an arena and put on a massive non-stop performance. Sammy Hagar does not stop moving, singing, or drinking during a gig. Seger did his bit, but not like them. The stage presence of the group reminded me of the last time the original members of Black Sabbath went out on the road. They played the old songs – but didn’t get to active on stage. The one big exception to this was the lead guitar player – he ripped through out the entire concert. I am anxious to see how THE WHO will perform at Altell on March 22.

The after party backstage at Bob Seger was extremely low key. You can tell theses guys are AARP members. Nothing loud, nothing crazy, mostly the consumption of bottled water and some polite photos with fans. The back stage guests actually drank the beer!

This was a laid back show for me – but, I’m grateful I was able to attend.
Bob Seger may never go back on tour – this round is probably the last chance to catch him on stage.

Hit his spot for a video and some songs – www.myspace.com/bobseger

Next up – the Goo Goo Dolls and Augustana -- Matt Smith

Posted by at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments [2]

Monday, February 26, 2007 - 17:49:01

Report: Heath must win out or he's out

Stan Heath must get his Hogs to win the SEC tournament and make the NCAA Tournament, or he's not going to be coaching the Arkansas basketball program at the end of this season, according to a report by KNWA in Fayetteville and be reported locally on KARK's website.

Posted by at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Academy Awards aftermath

Hey, as Renee Shapiro said on KATV this morning, at the end of the day, we have to realize that the Oscars are simply a popularity contest, like when the popular people in high school were deciding if they were going to let you into their clique.

That was obvious last night in the Kodak Theatre among all present when Marty Scorcese finally won his Oscar for best director. Was "The Departed" his best film? Not by a longshot. Was it a good film? Yes, in a B-film giving a guilded touch by great direction and an ensemble of our best actors of today. But did it deserve "Best Picture"? I don't think so, but the plurality of voting members of the Academy thought otherwise. My choice: "Little Miss Sunshine." It ultimately may have been too small and indie for the Academy masses, or maybe the Scorcese Love filtered over into Best Picture as well. I don't think Best Director and Best Picture are synonymous awards, contrary to some in the movie debate. There are other areas outside the director's control, such as the STORY. And, again, this as a B-movie style story that had a wonderful sheen applied to make it an entertaining if unsettling film experience around the holiday season. And, thank you Marty for exposing more casual film fans to the wonderful actress Vera Farmiga. Among all that testosterone, Farmiga was more than simply eye candy, but what eye candy!

My top six picks were, best pic "Little Miss Sunshine"; best actor: Forest Whitaker; best actress: Helen Mirren (seriously, do you think she got 90 or 95 percent of the vote?); best supporting actor: Alan Arkin (well deserved, and at least proving that "Little Miss Sunshine" did get seen by plenty of Academy voters/actors, and Arkin was a sentimental favorite, while Eddie Murphy was not -- is it because he's so rich, or because he did "Norbit"); supporting actress: Cate Blanchett (I'm just a huge fan, and I failed to get on the "Dreamgirls" bandwagon as soon as everyone else, I guess). So, 4 or 6. Not Shapiro numbers (5 of 6, she missed on Arkin, which surprises me in that I thought she had said earlier she'd pick him).

We had a lot of fun, at last through the first 90 minutes watching the Oscars with the Movierogoer. He summed up the night in a running blog you can still read here, plus other recent movie news of interests to local readers.

Highlights for me were: Ellen Degeneres' calm and confident hosting of the show, I look for her to be back soon; the shadow dancers, as their images were done quickly; the intro of the show, the way the Best Pic clips were handled, with voiceover of the stars or directors; Jack and Dianne giving the Best Pic award; Steven, Francis and George Lucas giving the director's award; the classy acceptance speeches of Thelma Spoonuker (editing "The Departed") and Mirren, and the gracious and fun speech of Scorcese; the Clint Eastwood losing his place on the teleprompter. Lowlights: putting Ennio Morricone earlier in the show would have helped, and putting more of the music earlier with the awards we don't care about anyway would have helped. It's funny how they stretch out about 3 1/2 hours of time wasting and commercials, then reel off four big awards at the end with no break. They always do something head-scratchingly stupid in the awards show, but they they are there for the Academy (including its FX people) and not for us, and I didn't mind the Special Effects Choir as much as the rest of our watching party group. I have no idea what Will Smith was going on and on about, nor what it was he introduced and why it had to be shown in the last third of the show, and whatever it was Ben Affleck was out there to introduce also wasn't absorbed. Not sure what the love affair with Cameron Diaz being a presenter is anymore. Really disappointed "Cars" didn't beat out the critically lambasted "Happy Feet." Seems the fix was in there. Eddie Murphy also bolted after he didn't win supporting actor; guess he probably wishes it had been the first award given, in the traditional spot, instead of moved to the middle of the show, so he could get to partying sooner.

Posted by at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 19:36:31

Oscars live blogging

Join us on the Moviegoer's blog on www.arktimes.com for live blogging with the Moviegoer, me and a few others watching tonight's Academy Awards.

Posted by at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Friday, February 23, 2007 - 15:27:40

Highway Five makes the Showcase final

Country band Highway Five out of Sherwood edged past singer-songwriter Sean Rock and the Toltecs in Thursday night's fifth and last semifinal of the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase at Sticky Fingerz.

Highway Five, made up of 19 and 20 year olds, joins Damn Bullets, Cooper's Orbit, Jeff Coleman and the Feeders and the Dean Agus Band on Friday, March 2, for the finals at the Revolution Music Room, 300 President Clinton Ave.

Despite a bass player pulling out on them at the last minute and their drummer getting sick, Sean Rock and the Toltecs managed a strong enough set to come within five points of Highway Five, which had a rollicking 30-minutes of Nashville style country with a front man who had the stage presence of Kenny Chesney or Brad Paisley.

The Global Test and Calcabrina also were within 25 points of the winning act in last night's close judging. The Global Test was a modern rock-jam act from Little Rock that had a creative, likeable sound. The heavy rock Calcabrina entertained with such songs as "Cheerleader Tank" with the lyrics "Proudly Wave Your Chinese-Made American Flag," but eventually it felt like the band had found 11 on the volume control and things got very loud.

All in all, it was a solid finish to the semifinals, but the best five bands in the contest did all advance to the final round.

We'll have more in the finals next week, plus video from Thursday night's performances and more highlights. Be watching here on the Little Rocking blog.

Posted by at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 17:21:47

Houston Nutt's saga becomes fodder for SI

Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel delves into the soap opera that is Arkansas athletics, and specifically the football problems, though he could have made a four-pager become six by mentioning the disaster that is Hog basketball.

A fiasco gets national spotlight. Isn't that nice. And the hits just keep on coming.

Posted by at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Former NBA star Dennis Johnson, dies suddenly

Dennis Johnson, the former NBA star for Boston and Seattle, who was coaching the Austin Toros of the NBA's Developmental League (which also includes the Arkansas RimRockers), died suddenly today during the team's practice in Austin. Here's a report.

I'm stunned and saddened. Johnson was a personal hero of this blogger when he helped lead the Celtics to championships in the 1980s. Johnson was 52.

Posted by at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]