Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition XIII

If it were not for Limp Bizkit’s fifth attempt at being relevant again, Fall Out Boy may have been the most unwanted comeback of the past year. Even worse is they called their album Save Rock and Roll (so when you look at the album, you will see Fall Our Boy Save Rock n Roll) even though they along with their whiney contemporaries destroyed the genre (good riddance My Chemical Romance, the world will not be anticipating your inevitable reunion at Coachella 2020). Apparently the band did not watch the Grammy’s this year which featured Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Jack White, and Fun., four critically and commercially successful rock albums, all fight for Best Album.

But I am not a Fall Out Boy hater, a couple of their songs made my Best of the Year lists. Despite the first single My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light em Up) and its pretentious long title the band is known for, Save Rock n Roll is the band’s grown up album. Besides Light em Up, the rest of the album has “normal” titles and less tongue in cheek lyrics (Courtney Love spoken word diatribe on Rat a Tat notwithstanding). This album reminds me a lot of Blink-182’s “grown up” albums, they may have been musically better, but their songs where they would make prank phone calls about sodomy were more entertaining. Same for Save Rock n Roll where the album may sound better, but the most entertaining song is the one that sound most like their older work.

Save Rock n Roll gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


Taylor Swift set up the template for country cross-over success. Hook in that country crowd then slowly creep closer and closer to pop music with every subsequent album until you are making crappy dubstep songs with Max Martin. It look like The Band Perry is copying that blueprint to a T. Much like Taylor did with Teardrops on My Guitar, Kimberly and her brother released a “Pop Remix” of If I Die Young to pop and adult contemporary stations. And that turn to the mass center continues on their sophomore album Pioneer which dips one toe into the country pool and the other in the pop world. The album starts off with their best song to date, the banjo infused Better Dig Two which is as much pop-rock as it is country. They continue to go back and forth and combine the two for the rest of the album, but none of it is very memorable. Maybe the true key to Taylor Swift's successes is dating and writing about douchebags when they inevitably break her heart.

Pioneer gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


Last year I became obsessed with who the record companies would try to pass off as the “Next Adele.” First out the box was internet lightning rod Lana del Ray who was maybe the most prepackaged “indie” act ever with her devil may care attitude, thin voice, pretentious lyrics that wanted you to think they were much more important than they are, and music that borrows as much from retro sounds as it does modern day hip-hop. Though we never did get a Next Adele (at least until Emili Sandi manages to break out here stateside) you could call Jessie Ware the Next Lana Del Rey but Jessie comes off much less pretentious, less annoying and has a slightly better singing voice. The music is still draped in as many rap references while it borrows from music from the sixties (Wildest Moments is the best here which will grow on you with every new listen) but most songs come off as a little too sleepy and boring. But that is what makes her debut Devotion a great bedtime album, whether that is a good or bad thing may depend on how much Ambient you take on a monthly basis.

Devotion gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television: 4/25/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Fire We Make – Alicia Keys featuring Maxwell


When did Alicia Keys turn into Whitley Gilbert? At any rate, this is going straight into my Baby Making playlist.


Cups – Anna Kendrick


Anna Kendrick has to be the surprise hit of 2013, who would have guessed that a song from an a capella movie by one of the amateur actresses would rise up the Billboard charts. And it became such a big hit, it warranted a music video, complete with a “pop remix” that does not even to tie into the movie. And just when you almost had a grasp on how to do the cup thing yourself, now you have to figure out how they got an entire restaurant to do an entire routine in one take.


Still into You - Paramore


Who knew Paramore could have fun? I am just not sure what is up with the yellow paint dripping down the leg is supposed to symbolize.


Young Volcanoes – Fall Out Boys


So apparently the weird torture music videos from the new Fall Out Boy album is trilogy. Although we still do not know how the band gets into the back of the van or how 2 Chainz ties into the last two videos, so there may be more. Ugg.

I Want My Music Television: 4/2/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Sacrilege - Yeah Yeah Yeahs


A couple weeks ago on Community, Chang Kevin revealed some Memento-style tattoos which made me wonder why the show never did a full Memento homage, telling a story backwards. Really no one has tried the telling a story in reverse until the Yeah Yeah Yeahs latest music video. You would think it would be more popular type of storytelling than it is. On a side note, Lily Cole should be a bigger star than she is.


The Phoenix - Fall Out Boy


When watching their comeback video, I was thinking to myself, I really wonder how Fall Out Boy got in the back of that van, well now I know. Okay, I did not really care. And how do you do a prequel without 2 Chainz?


Soothe My Soul - Depeche Mode


Are we sure that Depeche Mode did not make the exact same video in 1992 and are just recycling it?


Let Me Back In – Rilo Kiley


Rilo Kiley recently went on hiatus, possibly a permanent one depending on which member you ask and when you ask it, but if this is the end, the band is cleaning out their vaults for a album full of rarities including this catchy track which is good enough that it could have made one of their proper albums.

I Want My Music Television - 2/19/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Stubborn Love - The Lumineers


This seems like a combination of R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts (minus the subtitles) mixed with Wax’s California (minus the burning man) but I wished there were more of The Lumineers in it.


My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up) - Fall Out Boy


I am not sure anyone was clamoring for a Fall Out Boy reunion but here it is (it is more welcome than the second or third Limp Bizkit reunions). Laughably they are titling their upcoming album Save Rock n Roll as in, Fall Out Boy Save Rock n Roll. Um, apparently they missed the memo that the genre was already saved but The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and Jack White (I guess they skipped the Grammy’s). In fact they, and all the horrible whiny emo boy bands that followed were the reason rock n roll needed saving. And despite only sporting a singular chain, I am told that is 2 Chains in the video. Too bad George Michael beat Fall Out Boy to the burning memorabilia on film by twenty-five years.


Two Black Cadillacs - Carrie Underwood


Carrie Underwood is quite attractive, maybe even more than the good girl version.


Now - Paramore


What happened to the eyebrows of the chick from Paramore? That look is just freaking me the frack out.

Nobody Wants to Hear You Sing About Tragedy

Just when you thought emo was dead and buried, Kanye West of all people made an album that rivals anything My Chemical Romance did in terms of whiney nonsense. Aside from Kanye’s lovelorn 808’s and Heartbreak the only other big emo albums released this year are by band that really are not that emo other than their penchant for eyeliner and tight leather pants.

Yeah Fall Out Boy started the trend of absurdly long song title that seem to go away in between Meatloaf albums and features more punctuation than daytime PBS shows. But there songs tend to be chipper especially compared to other bands that broke on the Warped Tour over the past decade. The Boys would like you to think they don’t care (as heard on the first single off Folie à Deux) but their problem is they care too much.

This is most evident on the opening song, Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes, song that could have been up their with othe rwannabe The Who rock anthems but they end up ruining by trying to hard to add too much too the song, specifically for the song with the silly chanting of “Detox just to retox” at the end of the song. And that goes throughout the album where they take a perfectly catchy song and tinker too much with it to the point the four lines Elvis Costello sings on What a Catch, Donnie comes and goes without you even thinking it was him.

Folie à Deux gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Then there are The All-American Rejects who have been thrown in with the emo crowd despite sounding more like a band on the Sunset Strip in the eighties than My Bloody Valentine. And like those eighties band, they may not be writing the most profound or musically challenging songs, but they aim to please which they do for their core audience with the addition of sing along choruses like in Give You Hell. In fact most song seems built for audience participation for their live shows.

But three albums in, the latest being When the World Comes Down, you can’t help but think the band has already run out of ideas like the guitars in I Wanna is only like a half a second different than those that start off Swing Swing. The Rejects do add the sweet title track to their repertoire and Catherine and Allison Pierce add some brevity to Another Heart Calls. But it was the lack of change that doomed those bands on The Strip to VH1 reality shows two decades later and if they don’t embraces change Tyson Ritter might be expecting a call form the channel in a couple years.

When the World Comes Down gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

2008 Fall Music Preview

To say the summer for music was bad would be an understatement. Between Coldplay and Metallica which was released this past weekend, there were no releases to get excited about unless you were a fourteen year old girl (horary Jonas Brothers). Need more proof, check out Tapeworthy’s list of the Best Songs of the Summer. Yeah, sad (but where was I’m Yours?). And fall got a little less anticipated with the recent announcement that U2 has pushed No Line on the Horizon back to 2009. But here is a list of the albums you can plan to give to loved ones for Christmas this year (dates subject to change; click the album name for Amazon pre-order and the artist name to check out them on iTunes). If I left off your favorite artist, let me know in the comments and I will add it later:

September 16
Learn to Live - Darius Rucker
The Way I See It - Raphael Saadiq
Keep Coming Back - Marc Broussard
Gift of Screws - Lindsey Buckingham


September 23
Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford - Everlast
Big Bad World - Plain White T's
Loyalty to Loyalty - Cold War Kids
Acid Tongue - Jenny Lewis
Lenka - Lenka


September 30
Way to Normal - Ben Folds
Something Else - Robin Thicke
The Glass Passenger - Jack’s Mannequin
Covers - James Taylor


October 7
Dig out Your Soul - Oasis
OK Now - Jon McLaughlin
Break Up the Concrete - The Pretenders
Elephants - Rachael Yamagata

October 14
Multi-Dimensional Warrior - Santana
Gossip in the Grain - Ray LaMontagne
Pebble to a Pearl - Nikka Costa
Perfect Symmetry - Keane
Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson


October 20
Black Ice - AC/DC


October 28
A Hundred Million Suns - Snow Patrol
Evolver - John Legend
Come - Prince
Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty - Big Boi
Padded Room - Joe Budden


November 4
The Renaissance - Q-Tip
Folie A Deux - Fall Out Boy
Safe Trip Home - Dido
Scream - Chris Cornell


November 11
Fearless - Taylor Swift
On My Radio - Musiq Soulchild
Soul - Seal
Under the Radar - Daniel Powter


November 18
When the World Comes Down - The All-American Rejects
Untitled - Beyoncé
Untitled - Kelly Clarkson
Untitled - Nickelback
Untitled - David Cook
(Scooter’s Note: Anyone want to bet that at least three of these Untitled albums are moved?)


November 25
Day and Age - The Killers
24 Hours - Tom Jones


December 2
The Circus - Britney Spears


December 9
Before I Self Destruct - 50 Cent


December 16
808's & Heartbreak - Kanye West


You may also expect new albums from, Michelle Branch, Rhymefest, Fabolous, Goo Goo Dolls, Eminem, R. Kelly, Franz Ferdinand, and The Fray. Being Christmas season there is your usual Greatest Hits packages from Bob Dylan, Sarah McLauglin, Christina Aguilera, Switchfoot, Celine Dion, Hilary Duff, Bette Midler, and Tim. McGraw. Then actual Christmas albums from Faith Hill, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr., Elvis Pressley, Kristin Chenoweth, Chris Isaak, Al Jarreau, and The Wiggles.

Then the battle of long delayed album is heating up again between Dr. Dre and Guns ‘n’ Roses. A tie in with Detox for Dr. Dre’s own cognac is scheduled to roll out this fall but no date for that or the album. While on the Chinese Democracy front, one track will be featured on the latest Rock Band game but no set date for the whole album. But cross your fingers because if it does come out this year, Dr. Pepper will give everyone in America a free can.

I Want My Music Television vol. XXV

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Teenage Love Affair - Alicia Keys



Alicia Keys in eighties garb and a nightgown? Yes please. But I’m not sure what is more out of place, the inexplicable “2 Weeks Ago” or the for no reason inclusion of the epidemic in Africa. For a not out of place public service announcement check out:


All I Need - Radiohead



Radiohead tends not to get much talk on the 9th Green on account that I am not pretentious enough to care even if they are letting people download their album for free. But this video does highlight a very serious subject with human trafficking and should get you to thinking the next time you head down to Walmart to buy, well, anything. There are reasons to how Walmart and stores of its ilk can keep there prices so low and it mostly has to do with 70% of their products come from China where employees tend not to get health insurance or anything that resembles minimum wage in the USA. For more information check out End Exploitation and Trafficking.


Beat It - Fall Out Boy and John Mayer



I was on the fence for this Michael Jackson remake, but after seeing this Fall Out Boy video, I think I may fall into the dislike side. John Mayer was wise to sit this one out. Unfortunately Buster Bluth didn’t follow his lead. What’s sad is I think I can find all the MJ references in the video.


Falling Down - Scarlett Johansson



Instead of using this space to talk about boring the song and video is, I would rather talk about the recent news that Scarlett Johansson is engaged to the dude from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Parlor. Wait, huh? How did this happen? I know I am not up on the high school gossip of rags like US Weekly, but wasn’t she dating the equaling boring dude from 40 Days and 40 Nights?

I Want My Music Television vol. XXII

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Picture to Burn - Taylor Swift



And now it is time for the token Before He Cheats retreat. Nice touch getting men in black to do your dirty work. But much like her previous singles, the latest from Taylor Swift is overly catchy. I wonder if her performing in front of the wall of sparks is an homage to Rihanna (she has been know to perform Umbrella in concert including a recent Live in SoHo set for iTunes).


Birthday Girl - The Roots featuring Patrick Stump




Get Busy - The Roots featuring Dice Raw, Peedi Crakk, and DJ Jazzy Jeff



At this rate The Roots will have a video for every song from their album actually drops, not that I have a problem with that except with ever track, I get more excited for that release date. Birthday Girl sounds like Gym Class Heroes would sound like if they weren’t extremely cheesy while Get Busy is just another instant classic.


1492 - Counting Crows



Yeah, boring video, but if you like the song, you can download it for free, along with another track off their upcoming Saturday Nights, Sunday Morning, over at their website, countingcrows.com.

We on Award Tour: 2007 MTV Video Music Awards

Remember the catchphrase from what I think was the eighth installment of the Lethal Weapon franchise when Danny Glover (or was it Mel Gibson) said, “I’m getting too old for this (expletive deleted)!” Well that is how I have felt after ever Video Music Awards since, um, when was the last time Chris Rock hosted? But I thought this year was different when the show was announced thanks to scheduled performers Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. Apparently MTV got word of this and since they have been trying very hard to keep anyone that is actually older than they are, both ended up not being able to make it to the show.

And so went the interest as most anyone who isn’t a fourteen year old white girl that still thinks Fall Out Boy are cool. But in the end I guess it is good that neither made it because they probably would have just been relegated to singing for thirty second with Mark Ronson before MTV cut to commercial. Seriously, if I wanted to hear less than a minute of a song I’d watch TRL. Eighteen different acts were featured but only five get to perform a full song. Why bother? Apparently you can watch all the suite performances at MTV.com but you might as well wait until someone rips the best to mp3. Here are some other thoughts on the show:

- We start off with the fairly worthless pre-show where they roll out John Norris again. Did this guy sign some sort of life-long contract? MTV has a stricter age limit than Menoudo yet he still gets rolled out every year with his boyband circa 1999 haircut. And there is something to say that even though T.I. was in the building, he didn’t bother to show up for the chick from the Pussycat Dolls performance, who relied heavily on guided vocals, even though he appeared on the song.

- The big show started of with the much hyped Britney Spears performance and despite with expectations were so low she could walk over the bar, she still found a way to slither under it. Now I have never watched America’s Got Talent, but her performance is what I would imagine what a Britney impersonator’s that was let on the show just so the Hoff would have something to laugh at would look like. She didn’t bother to lip-sync half the time and was a half to full step behind her back up dancers half the time and looked lost half the time. But I guess it would be hard to remember the steps and to move your lips when you spent three minutes trying to hold in your gut. Note to Britney: fat people don’t walk around in their bra and panties. Yeah you could have pull that look off thirty pounds ago but you now either need to put some clothes on or work in a thousand sit ups a day.

- MTV seriously dropped the ball with the opening. They usher out a train wreck that hasn’t been musically relevant for half a decade for an embarrassing performance when they should have convinced Vanessa Hudgens open the show asking the crowd, “heard any good jokes lately?” (Thanks to everyone who pointed out why people she all the sudden became the most popular search to the 9th Green). Everyone would have talked around the watercooler today how great the opening was instead of how horrible it was. Well actually most of the watercooler talk today was, “wait, the VMA’s were last night?”

- Apparently MTV had a contingency plan in case the Brittney performance died like it did with Sarah Silverman coming out to make fun of her. Granted the best line was, “that’s not nice calling Madonna a python” as well as her backhanded comments to Paris Hilton who once again tried to look upset before breaking out laughing.

- Rihanna wins the Monster Single of the Year as well as the monster cleavage of the year award.

- Jennifer Hundson (as Alicia Keys calls her) comes out to give the most worthless award of the night, the quadruple threat award. Since when is having a clothing line a threat?

- Holy Pat Smear sighting!

- Kanye West and 50 Cent come out to hype their release date. I have said this before and I will say it again, for the love of hip-hop be sure to pick up Graduation this week so 50 retires for coming in second. Anyone find it interesting that no one even mentions Kenny Chesney who has a legitimate chance to outsell either of the rappers. Don’t underestimate the buying power of hillbillies. But any ways. Be sure to look out for my Kanye review tomorrow and 50 on Wednesday.

- Forty-five minutes into the award show and we get our first full performance by Chris Brown who did a much better job lip-syncing that Britney. But that really say much about it. But is does say something that Rihanna stole the show from him.

- Justin Timberlake’s music sucks massively and acts like a complete tool ninety-five percent of the time but I like his blast at MTV and their reality programming while accepting an award from The Hills (but I’d like to state for the record that I would definitely stand underneath the brunette’s umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh). But then lost points when saying that The Simpsons were part of MTV’s reality programming.

- Seriously, Cee-Lo singing Prince while being backed by the Foo Fighters only gets thirty seconds of airtime?

- I must take this time to apologize to CBS for creating the most appalling reality show ever with Kids Nation. I didn’t realize MTV would counter with A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila (whoever that is), your token Bachelor rip-off but with sixteen lesbians and straight dudes. But there is something to say that both channels are owned by the same company (keep in mind this is also the same company that axed Veronica Mars).

- Are we really supposed to believe Shia LeBeouf didn’t really have express written consent to reveal the new Indiana Jones title (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). That is just insulting our intelligence.

- Who keeps inviting Pamela Anderson to these things? She and Carmen Electra should be well into their begging to get on the Surreal Life point in their life but somehow they still get on big name events. What’s worst is supposedly she is the reason for the most interesting thing that happened all night (Kid Rock sucker punching Tommy Lee) and MTV didn’t even bother to air it.

- Speaking of overrated chicks, Megan Fox may be one of the few people that rival Anderson in that category. She announces Timbaland who does some weird thing before tossing it to Linkin Park. What was that? Why even bother? Why not just have Fox toss to Linkin Park. Timbaland is just completely worthless.

- During the pre-show Rihanna mentioned she was going to rock out tonight and I thought maybe she would be backed by New Order (Shut Up and Drive samples Blue Monday), but now it is just Fall Out Boy who just took home Best Group. Yawn.

- Alicia Keys adds some class to program even if she was wearing that looked like Olivia Newton-John combined her wardrobe from the final scene from Grease and the Physical video. The new song was decent, but I’m not sure where I come down on Freedom ’90. I was hoping that maybe she would bring out George Michaels but alas no.

- Jamie Foxx comes out to show everyone how much he has had to drink while in Vegas then shuts ups just long enough for Jennifer Garner announce the Best New Award as Gym Class Fallout. Yeah, that seems just about right.

- MTV then rolls out a week old joke that really wasn’t that funny a week ago in the Miss Teen South Carolina who flubs while pretending to flubs. Nice. At least she gave the Wu-Tang Clan a shout out.

- The big surprise guest of the night is Dr. Dre (who is disturbingly showing his age). No he didn’t perform or even receive a Lifetime Achievement Award or anything interesting, no he is just relegated to handing out Video of the Year to Rihanna.

- The show ends with Nelly Furtado, Timberlake and Timbaland each performing a verse from their latest song before getting together as the song they did together start only for the track to stop so abruptly that Timbaland had to inform everyone five seconds later that that’s the end of the show. How apropos of an end.

- I’m really getting too old for this (expletive deleted).

Live Blogging: Live Earth

Today is the Live Earth Concerts and since it is supposed to top out at around 90 here today, I thought I would try live blogging for the very first time. You can stream the Live Earth concerts on MSN.

Scooter Update: It is the day after and I have a few more thought on things I didn't get to or didn't see yesterday.

- The Police get great closing out the show. Not that surprising when they brought out John Mayer, who has been known to do an version of Message in a Bottle in concert. But the big surprise was when Kanye West popped up. Yeah the rap was kind of lame with lines like "Sting is the only police cool in the hood" and it was obvious that it wasn't Sting's idea to have him as he mispronounced his name (Kane-ye). But it was a cool way to end the show.

- Roger Waters with the rest of Pink Floyd was a huge letdown even with the weird "Save Our Sausage" pig balloon (get it, because SOS was a running theme and sausage is made from pigs part of Pink's imagery? Oh never mind). It was cool when he brought out the children's choir for Another Brick in the Wall until the chorus hit and you realized that they weren't miked up and they were piping in the album version.

- Who had the Smashing Pumpkins being the only artist (that I saw) to shameless promote their album? Then to make it worse Billy Corgan went on to insinuate the band lackluster sales in the late nineties were because of illegal downloading. No Billy, it was because the product wasn't very good. And it looks like Billy recruited yet another female bassist, his third for the band) and this new one is definitely the most attractive one, you know, in a creepy goth kind of way.

- Shakira straighting her hair: upgrade.

- Unless I missed it, it was nice to see Rihanna skipped her new single Shut Up and Drive. It was silly enough to have a car company sponsor the event. But I'm not sure what was the worse fashion statement of the day, her Sandy at the end of Grease outfit or KT Tunstall's.

8:10 - Well I think I finally hit the wall. It is time to take the dogs out and actually turn of the computer (I'll even switch off the power strip, see I did learn something today). I'll catch up on the rest which includes Bon Jovi, the semi-reunited Smashing Pumpkins, Roger Waters sans Pink Floyd and The Police later and may add them to this later.

7:50 - I got to imagine that Kanye West's string section is getting tired with always being paraded out with weird makeup ever performance. At least Gnarls Barkley dresses up their backing band in cool outfits that they wear with them. He also breaks out Golddigger which he opened his Concert for Diana with. Yeah that was appropriate.

7:35 - Sadly Kelly didn't take my advise as she brings out back to back songs from her new album as the audience visibly thins. Okay Kelly, we get it, you are a bitter chick with daddy issue, it time to move on.

7:25 - It is Kelly Clarkson time and she wisely didn't up with anything from her unlistenable new album. Hopefully that trend continues.

7:10 - Wow, that was a blistering performance of Don't Drink the Water, which is very appropriate for the day's festivities.

6:50 - Okay, that was coo, they just had on the US feed what I assume was from earlier in the UK a massive drum ensemble featuring the drummers from Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queen along with a bunch of what looked like high school age kids. But I can't complain that it got cut off because it is time for one of the best live acts ever, the Dave Matthews Band.

6:30 - I'm really digging this new Alicia Keys song, That's the Thing About Love(?). It's goosebumps good. And when did she get so hot? Maybe it's the sweat or that flattering pink dress she is sporting, but she is looking real good tonight.

6:20 - Looking at his waistline, Randy Jackson won't be running for president any time too. It hard to take energy conservation tips from people that aren't conserving their food intake. He is out to introduce Alicia Keys who starts of with a great medley of For the Love of Money, Living for the City and Mercy, Mercy Me. I can't wait until she finally puts out her next album that should be out by the end of the year.

6:00 - Al Gore is back out and he is now shouting. Bored now. People say you can tell if Gore is going to run in 08 based on his waistline. Well it looks like he won't be running at this point.

5:45 - Now it is time to catch up on some of the acts I missed earlier like Genesis in the UK, Linkin Park in Japan, and Snoop Dogg, who know more about living green than maybe even Al Gore, in Germany all while I wait until Alicia Keys comes back out in the US.

5:30 - Back from dinner and it looks like I missed the start of the John Mayer set. And it looks like John is know longer waiting as he has changed the lyrics to his hit song to "We're not waiting on the world to change." While I was eating I checked out the Bravo broadcast and Dave Holmes actually made me spit out my food when someone said Akon was coming up to which he responded, "Somebody's gonna get humped."

4:45 - Darn I missed all but the end of Fall Out Boy. Oh well. And with Madonna in the UK and Akon in the US, I think I'll take my dinner break now. Be back in an hour or so.

4:35 - Dave Grohl, with his new Jesus look, dedicated Best of You to "you know who". Actually I don't, can someone help me out?

4:20 - The Foo Fighter start off with my favorite song in their catalog All My Life. If that life can't get your blood rushing I'm not sure what could. Then they follow that up with my second favorite Hy Hero. Can Big Me be next?

3:55 - Ludacris really needs a new hype man. I know they can't all be Flavor Flav but c'mon. Now he is preforming Pimpin' All Over the World. I'm sure all that pimpin' has to have a pretty large carbon footprint. It is never a good sign when you set is so bad you make me switch over to the Pussycat Dolls. And no, I still don't wish my girlfriend was hot as any of them because that would be a downgrade.

3:40 - Gee had I known that Keith Urban was going to bring out Alicia Keys to sing Gimmie Shelter I may have watched it live. Well probably not because he was still against the Beastie who set the bar pretty high for best performance of the day on any continent. Of course that is because you, and maybe the Beasties, never know what record Mix Master Mike is going to put. Not it is time for a major lull as the Pussycat Doll are coming up in the UK while Ludacris takes the stage in the US. Seriously who invited the Pussycat Doll, together they probably killed a good chunk of the Ozone every performance with all the hairspray they go through. Well they do save some electricity considering only one of their microphones are ever turned on.

3:35 - It's the fracking Beastie Boys doing fracking Sabotage!!! Frack Yeah!!!

3:25 - It's the fracking Beastie Boys!!!

3:10 - Crap, I turned in early as not to miss the Beastie Boys and happened upon James Blunt butchering Wild World. That's enough to turn Yusuf Islam into an actual terrorist. Please get the Beasties out soon so I can erase this from my mind.

3:00 - I guess I spoke too soon about competing venues as I am having trouble figuring out who I care about less, James Blunt in the UK or Taking Back Sunday in the US and there is always Xzibit in Japan. I may sink to watching Crowded House in Australia because I continue to not dream it's over. Ooo, Beatie Boys are up next in England.

2:55 - Spinal Tap certainly brought out everyone to help them out with Big Bottom yet even though they have about twenty different bassists onstage, it doesn't sound like any of them are actually plugged in but not that it mattered because the visual was good enough.

2:35 - Now that the US event is up and running there are going to be some hard decisions as it goes head to head with Britain. Right now it is either the Spinal Tap (with the dude from The Office) or KT Tunstall (in gold tights, shorts and a tank top, no seriously). Luckily they will be streaming these after the fact. But Live 8 gets the reunited Pink Floyd, Live Earth reunites Spinal Tap. Mmm.

2:05 - Decisions, decisions, upcoming there is Jack Johnson in Australia, Metalica in Britain or the 12 Girls Band back in China. I think I'll go with Jack who wrote one of the best environment song in recent memory, The Horizon Has Been Defeated.

1:50 - Is it wrong that whenever I here Keane's Somewhere Only We Know I instantly think of that horrible Lakehouse movie just because they used the song in the trailer? Then coming up in Japan is AI, I wonder is (s)he is related to the Antwain Merriweather look-a-like TI.

1:45 - There is currently (I assume) a German rapper on the Germany named Jan Delay (who I assume isn't related to Tom, but one can hope) feed right now, this may be the most entertaining thing I have seen all day.

1:30 - Ugg, the Live Earth website really needs to work on the timing. I missed the beginning of Corrine Bailey Rae because it still says she won't be on another ten minutes will Jack Johnson has been going back between 50 and 45 minutes for a while now even though that concert is already over so there shouldn't be any guessing. Cool, John Legend has joined Rae onstage for a version of Mercy Mercy Me.

1:00 - Darn, while watching the Peppers in England, I missed Enrique Iglesias in Germany. Oh well. And what is with him being in Germany, is he big there? (Insert your own Hasslehoff joke here)

12:35 - Chris Rock making fun of Paris Hilton and introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Classic. Oddly enough he called U2 the "Baddest Band in the Land" at the 1997 MTV VMA's. Wow, that was ten years ago, I feel old. And where is Bono in all of this? If you can't get U2 to a charity event, how important can it be?

12:20 - In between acts on the England feel they have "Put Your Computer to Sleep" which is the biggest irony of this whole event because think of the amount of energy is going into including to power all the concerts and the TV's and computers who are watching, and I'm sure all the waste at the events can't be good for the environment. I know if this wasn't on, my computer would be off right now and I'd be outside doing yard work.

12:00 - So while making my lunch, I turn on Bravo's coverage it it is fracking Fergie again. Can we please end the Black Eyed Peas era? And your host on the television is Dave Holmes, the original loser of MTV's Who Wants to Be a VJ contest and Duffy, the short lived VJ from the nineties. C'mon NBC, can't you get the people at Today to work an extra day of the week? Now Duran Duran is playing Notorious. It is weird to hear this song without Kelis from the great Notorious Trick mash-up.

11:50 - Gee, I take a shower because Fergie is on and I get back and John Legend is already done just to be followed by one of the Spice Girls. Did he just get one song. Now it's Duran Duran who I just saw at the Diana Concert so that's my cue to get some lunch. Hopefully I don't miss the Red Hot Chilli Peppers who are next.

11:25 - Insterersting, in Germany, Maria Mena also sang What a Wonderful World, a much better version if not shorter. I wonder if it was suggested to artist to do the song or if it is a coincidence. Only thirty minutes until John Legend hits the stage in England.

10:10 - I liked Paolo Nutini's New Shoes but this dude is not a very good live performer. He is currently butchering What a Wonderful World. I gotta hunt down the Loius Armstrong to remember how great the song is. But there is only ten minutes until 12 Girls Band hits the stage in China. While Eskimo Joe still plays Down Under. They must be huge there to get such a long set. Speaking of Australia, where is Midnight Oil, aren't they a requirement for every event in that country?

10:55 - Finally Al Gore and I'm already nodding off. Poor Al, he hit the interview circuit last week in one of the worst week with the Fourth of July in the middle of the week to take about Live Earth. Then everyone wanted to talk instead about his son getting caught with the sticky-icky and if he would throw his hat into the presidential ring because the current lackluster candidates.

10:45 - Now there are two American Indians. C'mon, there is only one person that I want to bore me today and that is Al Gore. I'm almost ready to switch over to the Australia feed to listen to Eskimo Joe.

10:30 - Random old dude not named Al Gore coming straight from the National Mall. I guess when you ask Congress to okay a concert featuring Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood was a better idea than getting to okay one featuring Akon and Kanye West.

10:20 - A commercial with Jessica Biel in a bathtowl, if that can't get people to recycle, I'm not sure what will. Well, maybe her actually doing my recycling in a bathtowl. And only ten minutes until a speech from Al Gore. Yeah.

10:00 - Okay, this may not be much for normal music fans, but I totally geeked out when David Gray and Damian Rice performed together. Yeah, I like the sappy troubadours.

9:45 - A nice way to wake up is to the sounds of Snow Patrol. Unfortunately they only got three songs. I guess that will be the norm until the big name old timers hit the stage later.