So without further ado, here is the list from last year along with some notes. It is listed with song name then artist.

1. Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor – Kenny Ball
2. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
3. Halloween – Dave Matthews Band
4. Halloween – Dead Kennedys
5. Ghostbusters Movie Main Title Theme – Elmer Bernstein
6. Surprise! You’re Dead! – Faith No More (Great vampire themed song)
7. Mars Attacks – Aesop Rock (This guy is amazing)
8. Tales From The Crypt Theme – Danny Elfman
9. Feed My Frankenstein – Alice Cooper (If you ever get the chance, see Alice Cooper live. It is a rock theater production!)
10. The Phantom of the Opera – Andrew Lloyd Webber
11. Addams Family Theme – Vic Mizzy
12. October – Athenaeum (might have been when the band was Collapsis)
13. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
14. Bark At The Moon – Ozzy Osbourne
15. Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon
16. Helter Skelter – The Beatles
17. I Put A Spell On You – Creedence Clearwater Revival (originally by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
18. Phantom Manor Ride Theme – Disneyland Paris (It has Vincent Price as the Ghost Host. Vincent Price is Halloween)
19. A Nightmare On My Street – DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince (Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box with your Halloween setlist)
20. Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
21. Vampires – Godsmack
22. Every Day Is Halloween – Ministry
23. Halloween Movie Theme 2007 – Tyler Bates
24. Shout At The Devil – Mötley Crüe
25. Doctor Who Theme – (The updated version)
26. Monster Mash – Bobby “Boris” Pickett
27. Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
28. The Time Warp – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
29. Thriller – Michael Jackson (more Vincent Price goodness)
30. The Morning After – Faith No More (Songs about zombies are always a plus)
31. Twilight Zone Theme – Marius Constant
32. Vampires In Love – Marvelous 3 (Can’t go wrong with a little Marvelous 3)
33. The Thing That Should Not Be – Metallica
34. Superstition – Stevie Wonder
35. Monster Mash Metal Version – Misfits
36. Scooby Doo Theme – Hoyt Curtin
37. Halloween – The Misfits
38. Sweet Transvestite – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
39. Overture – The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack
40. Who Wants To Live Forever – Queen (Dont’ forget that Queen penned songs for the Highlander movie)
41. Call of the Zombie – Rob Zombie
42. Ghostbusters (Who You Gonna Call) – Ray Parker, Jr.
43. Munsters Theme Metal Style – (not sure who did this version since I found it on YouTube)
44. More Human Than Human – White Zombie
45. Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult
46. I’m Your Boogie Man – Rob Zombie (Originally by KC and the Sunshine Band)
47. In the Hall of the Mountain King – Edvard Grieg
48. Living Dead Girl – Rob Zombie
49. Of Wolf and Man – Metallica (I’m a sucker for anything Werewolf related)
50. Munsters Theme (TV Show Version) – Jack Marshall
51. Transylvanian Transmissions, Pt. 1 – Rob Zombie
52. Monster Squad Rap – Bruce Broughton (The Monster Squad was an awesome cheesy horror flick from my youth. The rap at the end rocks)
53. Zombie – The Cranberries
54. Halloween II – The Misfits
55. Halloween – Helloween (You know a band named Helloween must have a song about Halloween)

Of course the real goal that my good friend Horst and I have always had was to put a band together that could perform a Halloween themed set list live. It still hasn’t happened but I am holding out hope. Maybe when Horst comes back from his adventures in New Zealand we can make it happen. Plus it would be a good excuse for me to learn the entire Thriller dance (I just need to get this shirt for my cheat sheet).

If you have any favorite Halloween songs that I didn’t use, please post them in the comments.

How To Master Spinning Drumsticks

So I just have to wonder, is a full book (and DVD) really needed to learn how to spin drumsticks. Maybe there are secret techniques I’m unaware of. Could it be that the art of spinning drumsticks is like Chinese Kung Fu and can only be passed down from a Master to a Student under strict supervision? If so is this author of this book risking his life by divulging the ancient secrets of this black art? If we hear of a drummer being killed by drumstick impalation (is that even a word?), then we will know the answer.

Oh, and notice the top of the book.. Once you master these techniques, you will be a certified master of…….Spinology. Now that is rock and roll!! Spin On!

I just saw this from Butch Walker’s MySpace Blog and this news article from MTV http://www.mtv.ca/news/article.jhtml?id=5523:

From his blog:

“hey all. i just want to say thanks for anyone and everyone who sent their wishes to me about the fire (yeah our house burned down in the california wildfires last week). it’s pretty crazy to lose everything you owned. but note that i said “owned” not “had”. there is a big difference. you can be sad about losing everything you worked hard to buy, and everything you inherited from late relatives, etc… but you have to be happy that you didn’t lose anyBODY. i am very thankful, in a screwed up sorta way, that i get to start anew and begin a new chapter in my life. i’m not gonna write some long-ass diatribe here about becoming spiritual and realizing what’s important because, trust me, if this happens to you then you will already feel the same way i am now… i’m just going to say “thank you”. friendship was always underestimated in my book… until now.

i’m gonna play a little show in LA at the Hotel Cafe with a bunch of friends on Dec. the 17th at 8pm sharp. we are going to raise some money to pay for some of the things that MY FRIENDS lost in the fire at my house. i want them to at least get back the things that they let me borrow, use, or just may have left over there when they were too drunk to remember to take it with them on the way home.. tickets will go on sale tonight on the Hotel Cafe website at

www.hotelcafe.com/tickets

so come out and have some fun for a good cause.

happy holidays….

Butch”

From the article:

“In a tragic turn of events, it has come to light that the rental home owned by Flea that burned in the Malibu, California, wildfires over the weekend was being occupied by Avril Lavigne producer Butch Walker – and he lost everything in the blaze.

Walker was touring New York at the time of the incident, and “had just consolidated my entire recording studio and house from Atlanta into the one house in Malibu,” the songwriter/producer, who has also worked with Pink, Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is…, Tommy Lee and others, said in a press release. “I lost everything I’ve ever owned. Every master of every song I’ve ever recorded, every piece of recording equipment, guitars, drums and things I’ve collected over the years, cars, motorcycles, every family memorial, heirloom, picture, and document we ever had. … Gone. I feel like I finally know the difference between ‘going back’ and ‘going home.’ ”

Over the weekend, Flea said in a text message obtained by the Los Angeles Times that his $4.8 million home in Corral Canyon was “burnt to a crisp” by the fires on Saturday morning. According to TMZ.com, a second, $10 million Malibu home owned by Flea – the one in which he currently resides – did not burn. The one that did was a $4.8 million house that the bassist had been renting – most recently to Walker – and currently has up for sale, the site reports.

Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose also had a close call when the fires burned his roof and singed some of his property. According to a report on KCAL-TV, Rose’s assistant said the rocker “was with the hose everywhere” on his property, fighting to save his home.

The fires, which have largely been contained, were the worst in Malibu in years, according to the Times. In late October, another series of fires forced evacuations in the area but hit the San Diego area much harder. ”

—————-

Sadly this reminds me of many of my friends’ experiences after Hurricane Katrina. Be strong Butch.

Normally opening bands are very hit or miss at shows, but these guys put on a great performance. Their songs have a great rock feel with some infectiously catchy melodies and beats. Joe Stark demonstrated that in addition to singing well, he is a very talented guitar player. Not overly flashy but able to deliver just what a song needs.

Prior to forming Sons of William, Joe released albums and toured as a solo artist and had been offered gigs playing guitar with very talented musicians such as Marc Broussard, Will Hoge, Rock Star INXS and even one of my favorites Butch Walker.

After their set I was able to chat with Joe at the upstairs bar for a bit while he ordered (and paid for, no freebies from HOB for the performers it seems) drinks for himself and the rest of the band. He was a super nice guy and very excited about all the shows they have been playing recently and the things they have scheduled in the future. He mentioned that they will be starting a residency soon at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, MS in the Hard Rock Cafe. A residency is a string of gigs at the casino that are free to the public. I guess it is kind of like being the house band but getting to play your own original stuff.

This past week I ordered and received their album What Hides Inside,

and it did not disappoint. If you like a nice variety of rock and roll then you should really check it out. If I had to sub-genre it I would say Southern Rock, but it is definitely more Will Hoge than Lynyrd Skynyrd. There are rocking guitar driven tracks, some piano driven tracks that are very soulful, 2 and 3 part harmonies, and really great backing vocals from bass player Jen Janet. All in all a great album from this talented group. I will definitely be ordering their EP and self-titled first album to get some more tunes from these guys.

I look forward to catching them in Biloxi at the Hard Rock and here in Mobile next time they pass through. Give them a listen at their myspace page or pick up the album, and let me know what you think.

Updated to add youtube videos:

Performing Independence Day at Monsoon’s in Mobile, AL

Performing Breaking My Back

Performing Easy To Love (youtube won’t allow this one to be embedded)

This was highlighted last April when Casey, Teddy, and I went up to Atlanta to see the Butch Walker show at The Tabernacle. The show was great, around 3 1/2 hours of entertainment from 3 different bands. Butch Walker put on an amazing show (as always), but the sound was way too loud (and not a great mix either for us in the balcony, but I have heard since that this is pretty common at the Tabernacle). After we left, everyone had ringing ears (medically known as tinnitis). The ears of the two kids (Casey and Teddy) were fine by lunchtime the next day. For me, the ringing did not go away until the afternoon of the day after the day after. So 12 hours to recover for the kids, 36 hours for grandpa (me).

In addition to my steady string of concert experiences, I have also been playing with some friends in a loud rock band once a month. With all of these potential assaults on my ears, you can see how I might start getting a bit more concerned with my longterm hearing.

Now when it comes to hearing protection for use at concerts there are usually two options that people turn to. There are the squishy, disposable foam earplugs and the reusable latex earplugs.

The foam earplugs are handy because they are super cheap (purchased in bulk they can be as little as $0.06 per pair) and are disposable. So you use them, toss them, grab another set. The average foam earplug will reduce the volume by 20-30 decibels which is fantastic and fits well with loud rocks shows. The problem with these in regard to music is that they cut much more drastically the higher frequencies than the lower ones. So you could put in your foam earplugs and then no longer be able to hear the singer or the blazing guitar solos.

Reusable earplugs (such as the Etymotic ER-20′s pictured here)

much more faithfully maintain the frequency response by evenly reducing the overall volume (usually around 20 decibels). The downside is that they are more expensive ($12/pair when bought in low quantities, but as low as $6.50/pair in quantities of twenty-five or more), and you must remember not to lose or misplace them. But if you take a look at the frequency response curve you can see they are much more well suited than foam for use when listening to loud music at concerts.

If you attend very many concerts a year or are frequently in a loud setting, I highly recommend picking up the Etymotic ER-20′s. I can vouch first hand that they do a great job and make the concert experience much more enjoyable. They even make a smaller size (the baby blues) for use in smaller ears. Remember, once you have lost hearing it never comes back, so prevention is the only answer.

If you see me out at a show, I will probably have a little baggy filled with foam earplugs (since they are cheap) that I am always glad to share, just ask. But remember it will hinder your concert going experience slightly (because of them cutting out too much of the high frequencies). I would love to keep a stock of the reusable earplugs on hand to give away, but the higher cost prevents this.

It is much more preferable to have earplugs and not need them than to need them and not have them.

Which begs the question, why don’t the music venues provide or make available hearing protection at low or no cost? With the low cost of the foam earplugs, it is inexcusable for a venue to not have a quantity on hand for patrons (and a big sign letting everyone know they are there). Even if they didn’t give them away but sold them for $1/pair at least people would have the option. Now those that want the best of both worlds would really prefer the reusable over the foam earplugs, so whey not have a venue also sell the reusable ones too (only $6.50/pair when bought in large quantities). Maybe sell them for $7/pair. A smaller number of patrons would purchase them, but at least they would have the option. I also wonder if a reason for not having them available is that providing earplugs opens the venue up to potential lawsuits related to the volume of their shows (your honor, why would the venue provide earplugs unless they knew beforehand that the show was being performed at an unsafe volume, etc., etc.).

So how sure am I that the message about hearing protection needs to be screamed from the highest mountain tops? So sure that I try to spread the word to anyone that will listen and so sure that I am gathering information to make a case with my local Mobile, AL music venues and try to convince them to make one or both types of earplugs available free or very cheaply to their patrons.

Unfortunately after their second album did not match the sales of their first album that came from being included on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack, they split up. Most of the guys continued working on various projects in the New Orleans area.

So it was with great pleasure that I noticed them on the lineup for House of Blues this Saturday on July 28, 2007. They also have a Myspace page up with some additional info here: Deadeye Dick Myspace page. From their page I found out they actually wrote and recorded, but never released a third album called “In Effect Groovy” that can be purchased from their Myspace page (the Myspace song purchasing interface is terrible, but if you persevere you can eventually buy it). It has a great sound that fits their traditional rock and roll type feel. I recommend checking it out. And if you were a fan from the old days, head over to New Orleans and catch the show. Tickets are $13.50 available through Evil Ticketmaster (which probably means they are about $20 after junk fees). Here is the direct link.

Hope to see you there.

Update:
Ticket Price: $13.50
Convenience Charge: $6.65 (doesn’t feel very convenient to me)
Building Facility Charge: $1.50
Order Processing Charge: $1.67

So, the grand total for a $13.50 ticket is $23.32 or to put it differently, a 72% markup!!

I hate you TicketMaster

Back when tickets went on sale months ago, we were poised on the Evil Ticketmaster site clicking refresh repeatedly waiting for tickets to go on sale and trying to get the best seats possible. Even with two of us at work simultaneously trying to get tickets the best we could manage was row N (which is not a bad seat but we were hoping for maybe second row). We wondered how one got those good seats up front and we found out tonight at the show. The new director of the Saenger mentioned that by contributing $100 to their foundation (Centre for the Living Arts you get to purchase tickets one week early. I will be joining their foundation shortly, so let me know if you want me to try and get you tickets for any upcoming shows that have not gone on sale yet.

The opening band for B.B. was the Wes Jeans Band led by Wes Jeans who hails out of Marshall, TX. This 26 year old really wails on the guitar. He put on a great show and really got the crowd good and warmed up. I look foward to catching him solo some time in the future and picking up his latest album. He and his trio of musicians played a great 30 minute set.

Next up was the B.B. King Orchestra to prepare us for the King’s entrance. They are a great band and play super tight. You can tell these guys have been together for a long time and really know each other’s playing styles. They played around 20 minutes to get us ready and once the King came out the real magic began. His performance is a mixture of songs interspersed with stories about growing up in Mississippi and adventures he has had in his life. He played an hour and a half and had the crowd eating out of hand by the end of it. His skill and performance would be impressive for someone in their 30′s but at 81 what B.B. King does is absolutely unbelievable. I pray I still have the dexterity in my hands and a booming voice like his when I reach that age. All in all an amazing show. You must go check him out if you get the chance.

The only downer of the night had to do with some seating issues. For about the first 30 minutes of B.B. King’s performance the entire row in front of us was empty. Unusual since these were $70 seats and it was a sold out show, but nonetheless it was what it was (and it gave us a great unobstructed view from our row). About that time a guy and his girlfriend decide to upgrade their seats to that row. This fella decides that his unoccupied, unpurchased, unassigned seat of choice is the one right in front of me. This would not normally bother me, but this guy had a seriously gargantuan head. As he sat down, stage right disappeared entirely. Now obviously these were not their seats, but since B.B. was off center towards stage left, I figured I would not worry. Then the girl went off to fetch another of their friends (another sign these were not their seats, in addition to her constant nervous looking around).

Well anyone that has shared seats in a venue knows that everyone comes up with a placement of their head and then leaves it there so the person behind them can see in between people’s heads. Well after a while, Mr. Caveman head decided to slowly lean to his left obscuring my view of the King. Now I thought about fetching the usher but at this point I figured we had about 20 minutes left in the show so I would try and be mellow. So to let Mr. Potato Head know what was up, I decided to start lightly kicking his seat. He turned around to ask me to stop (you know, disturbing his enjoyment of his $40 upgraded to $70 seat) so I felt compelled to ask if those were his assigned seats and if he had a ticket that could prove it. He of course claimed they were so I left it at that since he straightened his head and body up restoring my view of the great one and his guitar Lucille.

Now I wouldn’t bring him and this experience up except that after the show was over, as everyone was leaving, he decides to turn around and give me the evil stare down the whole way as he exits. Now I ask what kind of stupid, macho guy attitude makes you stare down the person that decided not to report you to the usher and get you kicked from your usurped seats? He should have been very thankful that I didn’t, and he got to enjoy a great view (while inconveniencing others in the process) but somewhere in his head he felt like he had been wronged by me calling him on it. I’ve seen this before and this is a huge problem with the youth these days not thinking or taking responsibility for their actions. Always someone else picking on them. (Yeah, don’t I sound like the mean old man yelling at the kids in his yard). Oh well next time, I’ll just report them straight away if they annoy me.

This kind of thing happened to Casey and I when we saw Three Doors Down and Lynyrd Skynyrd in Biloxi last year. We had a guy upgrade his seat to right in front of us and he smelled absolutely awful. It was really repulsive and unbearable. I had to tap him on the shoulder and tell him he had to move or I was going to fetch the usher. He persisted in wanting to know why I wouldn’t let him stay and I had to let him know that his B.O. was about to make my girlfriend sick. But instead of getting kicked by the usher he decided to move on his own. Much happier ending than my interaction with this Cro-Magnon loser.

Dwyer, Ryan, and I were planning on attending the Foghat / Blue Oyster Cult concert this past Saturday night. While not a tremendous fan of either groups I do appreciate their contribution to rock and roll and enjoy quite a few of their hits. So that in mind, I was really looking forward to the show.

Dwyer, Ryan, and I had some dinner down at Heroes Sports Bar and were planning on walking over to the venue to enjoy the show. As we were walking over, we noticed there really weren’t many people downtown like one would expect for a show. As we approached the venue it seemed strange that it would be completely dark with no people going in or out. Sure enough we walked up to the door and saw that the show had been canceled. Bummer.

Now, where my gripe with Ticketmaster comes in is that they did not send any kind of e-mail notification that the concert had been canceled. Apparently it was announced two days prior that it was canceled but we did not hear about it on the radio or TV.

Now if you have purchased any tickets from Ticketmaster you know the drill:

* Confirmation E-mail after you purchase them.
* Follow up e-mail telling you the tickets have been printed and are on their way.
* Then numerous marketing type e-mails trying to alert you to upcoming shows and convince you to buy more tickets.

But a canceled show (which was posted as canceled on their site Saturday night), no messages whatsoever. Where the evil comes in is that I’m sure the reason they do not send out notification of cancellation is that they are hoping someone will lose their original tickets and then be denied a refund. Now that is just bad customer service all the way around. But from Ticketmaster that is their normal way of doing business.

Remember if you have the option of buying tickets through any other mechanism than Ticketmaster, do it. They consistently sell out their customers to make themselves more money. Yep, Ticketmaster is Still Evil, but unfortunately they have cornered the ticket market so completely that often it is the only option.

3.1Gb of music. 739 mp3′s in all. You can download it here:
SXSW 2007 Showcasing Artists Torrent

It goes pretty fast too. I was getting around 350kb/s on the download. You will need a bitTorrent client to download it. I recommend uTorrent.

Enjoy.

I had never heard of YMSB but a friend mentioned that they were coming down and I decided to check it out. Being a bootleg friendly band, I was able to pull down some of their live performances to check out their sound. Here is a link to their page at the free music archive: http://www.archive.org/details/YonderMountainStringBand and here is a link to a zip file of mp3′s of their New Year’s Eve performance at the House of Blues

Now never having been to a bluegrass show I had a certain expectation about the kind of crowd that would be there. Mostly I was expecting guys that look like my dad and a fair amount of overalls and cowboy hats. Much to my amazement as we walked up to buy tickets we had to wade through a sea of tie-dye and dreadlocks. I’ll repeat, tie-dye and dreadlocks!! Apparently unbeknownst to me, Bluegrass = Stoners. Who Knew?

So as we waited for the band to begin, I noticed a sign that made me think I actually might get to go home without reeking of smoke (and already made me like the band).

I had very high hopes that the staff would enforce this rule, but unfortunately the crowd only followed the rules for the band’s first set and the facility staff didn’t really seem to care.

The band came on and from the beginning they were amazing. Their sound was incredible. Their stage presence and crowd interaction really got the audience riled up and into the show. The reaction the band was getting actually caught them off guard. There were probably somewhere between 300-500 people attending the show. Here’s a peek at part of the crowd.

This was the band’s first trip to Mobile and they were worried that a Tuesday night show would have them playing to only the bartenders and doormen. They spent the entire night thanking everyone for coming out. I think we will see them coming through again real soon after the reception they received.

The band’s lineup is Jeff Austin on Mandolin and primary vocals, Ben Kaufmann on upright bass, Dave Johnston on banjo, and Adam Aijala on guitar. I can’t say enough about the talent and musicianship of these guys. Their mastery of their instruments is incredible. Jeff plays amazingly fast runs on his mandolin while also using it as a means to add a percussive effect to their sound.

Ben really rocks his upright bass.

He spent much of the show laying low providing support to the rest of the band, but towards the end he really let go with some amazing solo work. He even broke out the bow at one point and played one of the first songs he ever wrote. Dave on the banjo blew me away. I’m pretty much always in amazement with banjo players. Their ability to pluck the strings so precisely and rapidly always has my jaw hitting the floor (considering I’m a picker on my guitar, no fingerstyle for me). And last but not least Adam on the guitar. All I can say is WOW. He played the acoustic like it was an electric. The incredibly fast solo lead style riffs he pulled off on the acoustic had me scratching my head in amazement. I can’t believe he is able to play that fast. I’ve really got some practicing to do to get to that level.

Now while the band was awesome, the crowd at times left something to be desired. Like I said earlier, the crowd was mostly stoners (and me and Brian looking a wee bit out of place). So for much of the night my view of the person in front of me looked like this:

Nasty, nasty dreadlocks (oh and some tie-dye too, imagine that). Must really cut the time it takes her to get ready in the mornings but definitely not for me. Here’s another shot where you can see another set of nasty dreads in the lower left of the shot.

What is wild is that many of the attendees with their nappy hair and full beards bore a striking resemblance to the GEICO caveman in their latest round of commercials. GEICO should hire these guys. They would save a fortune in make-up since these guys wouldn’t need any. Another thing Brian and I noticed about our nappy-headed friends is that Bluegrass + Stoners = Guys Being Really, Really Affectionate To Each Other. Something about the music (and probably lots of illegal substances) moved these guys to spend a lot of time in tender embraces with their comrades.

This leads to two gripes about the facility and their security. Their appeared to be alot of individuals in the crowd smoking pot in plain sight. So while the smell of cigarette smoke was not there, the horrible smell of marijuana was. Not a pleasant smell for us non-stoners. The security really should have done a better (or any) job of taking care of this. The other gripe was that of the many shows I have been to at the Soul Kitchen, this was the first one in which a fight broke out. But this fight was different. It was between a bartender and a customer. Not sure what he did, but the bartender was not pleased, nor was security when they came over. So metal band GWAR doesn’t incite violence in the crowd, but the happy bluegrass music mixed with mellow, peace-loving stoners equals violence. Again, who knew?

The band peformed a first set for 1 hour and then took a 30 minute break. After they came back they played for another hour and a half giving us a total of 2 1/2 hours of music for the bargain price of $18. I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance. And notice my pictures turned out much better this time. I was closer and changed some of the settings on the cam and the results came out much better. Of course the band also had a better light show than most of the bands I’ve seen there which probably didn’t hurt.

I also got some videos of their performance for your listening enjoyment, but first a video of my favorite stoner. This guy danced the entire show. That is 2 1/2 hours of non-stop dancing. Lots of calories burned I imagine.

(Link To Video)

And here are the clips of the band rocking out. No bass drum so the sound came out much better.

(Link To Video)

(Link To Video)

(Link To Video)