Eric Clapton is one of those artists that it is nearly impossible to have one favorite song of. His catalogue is so extensive and diverse; you really cannot single out one. But with a gun to my head, I may have to go with Broken Hearted. While the album version (which the link below goes to) came during his electronic era where he became fascinated the drum machine (which was to rock bands in the late nineties, what the auto-tuner is for rappers today: overused). But where the song truly shines is in the acoustic setting where the video below come from with some help from John Mayer.
Recently I have been playing around with Genius in iTunes and have concluded that it doesn’t really live up to its name because I rarely have any, “wow, that is a great match” moments. Like when I put in Puff Daddy’s Been Around the World I’d like to see Davie Bowie’s Let’s Dance and/or Lisa Stanfield’s All Around the World instead of the generic rap of the late nineties. But anyways. It does make for a good Lyrics Quiz creator. For this month I threw in St. Patrick’s Day by John Mayer (on account that it is Tuesday). Now if it was truly Genius I would expect other holiday themed songs like Halloweenhead, The Thanksgiving Song, 4th of July Ashbury Park (Sandy) or anything from Christmas related, but alas. As always leave your guesses, both artist and song title, in the comment section or e-mail me. If you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them. Here are twenty-five songs that Genius did spit out for St. Patrick’s Day.
1. Anger, he smiles, towering in shiny metallic purple armor. 2. Am I the one who plays the quite songs? Is he the one who turns the ladies on? 3. Looking on, she sings a song. The words she knows, the tune she hums. (Tiny Dancer - Elton John, guessed by Angie) 4. Just remember the telephones; they work in a both ways. But if I never ever hear them ring. If nothing else I think the bells inside them finally found you someone else. And that’s okay. 5. There’s no one left to finger. There’s no one here to blame. There’s no one left to talk to honey and there ain’t no one left to buy our innocence. (Adia - Sarah McLaughlin; guessed by Angie) 6. She could keep anything from me. I could have been anyone you see. She’s nothing but porcelain underneath her skin. 7. When you’re sure you had enough of this life, to hang on. Don’t let yourself go. (Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.; guessed by Angie) 8. Your top was untied and I thought how nice it’d be to follow the sweat down your spine. (Dreamgirl - Dave Matthews Band; guessed by Angie) 9. You will never have the time. I would love to change your mind. You were there, and it was good in the beginning. 10. Come one, come all into 1984. Yeah three, two, one, lights, camera, transaction. (Talk Shows On Mute - Incubus; guessed by Jo) 11. There are many things I’d like to say to you but I don’t know how. (Wonderwall - Oasis; guessed by Angie) 12. I’m going to meet you, I’m gonna greet you at her back door as you’re coming out. 13. We’d hit the bottom. I thought it was my fault. And in a way I guess it was. I’m just now finding out what it was all about. (Landed - Ben Folds; guessed by Molly) 14. Finding what I really need is what makes me bleed, like a new disease. Oh, lord, she’s still too young. 15. Late nights won’t do me justice because when I drink I get so (expletive deleted) depressed and it’s not right. I ain’t trying to get over you. 16. Wish I had a dollar every time you say, “don’t you miss the feeling music gave you back in the day.” (Musicology - Prince; guessed by Angie) 17. I pulled into Nashville Tennessee. But you wouldn’t even come around to see me. Since you’re heading up to Carolina you know I gonna be right there behind ya. (Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals; guessed by Angie) 18. If you want it, come and get it. Crying out loud. (Babylon II - David Gray; guessed by Angie) 19. Flowers in her evening set I get the feeling she won’t forget. And there’s times you’d long to be her but to be her is surely blinding. (She's On Fire - Train; guessed by Angie) 20. Spin around one more time and gracefully fall back into the arms of grace. (Breathing - Lifehouse; guessed by Angie) 21. Well, I shuffled through the city on the 4th of July; I had a firecracker waiting to blow. Breaking like a robber who was making his way through the cities of Mexico. (New York, New York - Ryan Adams; guessed by Molly) 22. I have only come here seeking knowledge. Thing they would not teach me of in college. (Wrapped Around Your Finger - The Police; guessed by Angie) 23. I am surrounded by liars everywhere I turned. I am surrounded by imposters everywhere I turn. (I Don't Want To Be - Gavin DeGraw; guessed by Angie) 24. There was so easy living day by day; out of touch with the rhythm and blues. 25. Don’t know who I’m kidding imagining you’ll care. I could stand here a fool for another day. (Barely Breathing - Dunkan Sheik; guessed by Angie)
(Scooter’s Note: I plan to use Genius in future Quizzes, feel free to suggest a song you would like see run through Genius in the comments along with your guesses. Keep in mind I must have it to use it)
Seems like everyone I know owns The Ultimate Experience yet no one owns a Jimi Hendrix studio album. I understand how daunting getting into an artist that died before you were even born and I have a large collection of Greatest Hits myself as the lone album I own by that artist. But the thing with Hendrix is that he only released three studio albums all of which are must owns. But if you want to start small, my favorite non-ultimate Experience track is Bold of Love. Unfortunately when I searched for the song on YouTube all I found were hacks butchering the song in their basements or live versions with crappy audio. So I have to go with a John Mayer version, but defiantly hunt down the Hendrix version.
Last year I started a Best Performances of the year list mostly because of the overabundance of great performances at Live Earth. Despite the lack of any major cultural event, I thought I would continue the list for at one more year. Here the live performances that caught my ear this year. I have links to YouTube for those that have yet been pulled and there are even a couple that are sold on iTunes so check out the button for those.
1. Stronger/Hey Mama - Kanye West and Daft Punk (Grammy Awards)
2. Just Stand Up - Carrie Underwood, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger , Natasha Bedingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Keyshia Cole, Ashanti and Ciara (Stand Up 2 Cancer)
3. Burning Up/Ray of Light - The Stooges (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony)
4. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room - John Mayer (Where the Light Is)
The Grammy Nomination special, the first time in prime time, was just a silly exhibition. With that said if they do it next year, I’m totally watching. Especially if the Foo Fighters sing more Carly Simon songs and announce country songs. I did like that they had singers perform songs in the Hall of Fame instead of just trotting out their latest hits. And as an added bonus we wintness John Mayer’s attempt at the worst goatee ever, even worse than my attempt when I was seventeen. Here were the nominations announced last night:
Wow, for the first time since I can remember there is no token rock groups, instead we get Duffy and Adele who are for all intents and purposes are the same person. I would pick either of them but they could split the vote (and Amy Winehouse won last year) which could open the door for someone else.
In the biggest shocker of the night, Ne-Yo gets a nomination over Grammy darling Alicia Keys whose As I Am landed at the top of my Best Albums of 2007. Not that any of this matters because they might as well hand the gramophone to Plant and Krause right now. Hey, it will be a step up from Herbie Hancock singing Joni Mitchell.
Plain and simply, Plant and Krauss will be favored in every catergory they are nominated in. But all these songs were really sub-par to me although I really can’t thing of anything better off the top of my head.
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Royal Flush - Big Boi featuring Raekwon and Andre 3000 Swagga Like Us - Jay-Z featuring T.I. and Kanye West Mr. Carter - Lil Wayne featuring Jay-Z Wish You Would - Ludacris featuring T.I. Put On - Young Geezy featuring Kanye West
Really all that needs to be said about this is that rap were royals, there would be a lot of inbred prince and princesses.
If there were any justice M.I.A. would take this home, but sadly the combination Plant and Krause are the front runner. The biggest omission has to be Duffy’s Mercy which is far catchier than Chasing Pavement. It is also odd that Lewis is here instead of Duffy yet not in Best New Artist.
Surprising they omitted Song of the Year from the broadcast, here are those nominations American Boy - William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West) Chasing Pavements - Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele) I'm Yours - Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz) Love Song - Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles) Viva La Vida - Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)
Now here’s the catergory for me because I could vote for any of these, well maybe not the Estelle song. Not sure why that is nominated for a song writing award.
It is late and I am tired so I really can’t go threw all 100+ awards, okay I’m not going to bed because right after the Grammy special there was Adriana Lima taking off her clothes. But anyways. Head over to Grammy.com for the complete rundown.
Recently John Mayer released a live album, Where the Light Is and even if you have Any Given Sunday, the new live album is also worth picking up. It is really three sets in one, an acoustic one, a blues rock set with the John Mayer Trio, and a full band set. The latter features the highlight. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. The version is so epic I had thought the song was going on for ten minutes or so even though it really clocks in at under six. The Where the Light Is version isn’t on YouTube currently (it is at MSN video but it is not embeddable. You think if they make you sit through a commercial the least they could do is let you is embed it. But anyways. Click the link to see that) but below is another live version. But you definitely want to check out the WTLI version because like I said, the solo is just epic, even more so than the one below (but below he does work in some a Tom York song).
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.
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:
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.
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?
In contrast of award shows, The Grammy’s decided to kick off their fiftieth anniversary with Alicia Keys dueting with a youthful Frank Sinatra while MTV decided on their twentieth Video Music Awards to instead go with the train wreck that is Britney Spears. And this is why the Grammy’s keeps getting better and better why the VMA’s has slipped further and further since the last time Chris Rock hosted. And the Grammy’s were wise enough to stick their over hyped train wreck (i.e. Amy Winehouse) near the end of the show just in case it backfired. Here are some other thoughts from last night’s festivities:
- Another reason why the Grammy’s are always worth watching is because they get artists to take their songs in a different direction and that was most evident with the Carrie Underwood, doing her best Nancy Sinatra impression, being backed by Fat Albert’s Junk Yard Band and still made it work.
- Someone should have told Rihanna just because she was performing with The Time didn’t mean she had to get the Morris Day haircut.
- Performance of the night had to go to Kanye West. I actually preferred the slowed down version of Stronger than the album version and it was visually stunning as he brought the Daft Punk pyramid complete with Daft Punk inside. Then Hey Mama was just heart wrenching. Not sure why he continued to wear that glow in the dark vest all night though.
- Too bad John Legend had to slum it with Fergie, couldn’t they let him sing one of his own songs for having to stoop so low.
- I wonder if Cher and Tina Turner had a contest to see who face could move the less last night. When will people realize that you look much creepier with Botox than with wrinkles? Odd that Tina performed a song she help made famous with her ex-husband who just died without a mention. As for the guy who wrote it, I really couldn’t tell if John Fogerty liked the preference or not.
- I don’t remember the show ever performing outside the venue and not only did they have Amy Winehouse perform via satellite, the Foo Fighters performed in the parking lot. Luckily they didn’t spend as much time as last year hyping the My Grammy Moment this year but more Jason Bateman isn’t that bad. And did I miss what exactly the girl won? Aside from being at the front of the stage, it didn’t seem that much prestigious than the rest of the orchestra.
- Yet another reason not to listen to hillbilly music, the song Brad Paisley performed about searching a chick for ticks. And I didn’t think anything would be stupider than the song about how tractors are sexy. My IQ needs to drop about forty points before I can start enjoying those types of songs.
- In a rare misstep in Grammy performances, that was an odd bit from Feist. I’m not for sure, but I think they cut out a verse. Her performance on Saturday Night Live was actually much better and cooler with the massive band and choir she had with her. Really, the “whoa-o-o-o” is the best part. Less people on a bigger stage just didn’t work.
- Speaking of things that didn’t work, Keely Smith (who won the first Grammy) and Kid Rock? Umm, yeah, no.
- Just when I started to get tired of No One, the new spin on it from Alicia Keys made it better again. Performing with Frank Sinatra and John Mayer in the same night? Good work if you can get it.
- Seeing Amy Winehouse singing about not going to rehab when she is on leave from rehab (name dropping her incarcerated husband twice during the song) just makes the performance a little weird. And seeing how she reacted to winning Record of the Year making me wonder if the current treatment is taking.
- Token Old Dude Alert!: Nothing better than an old dude who probably made more last year than I’ll make in my lifetime complain about money.
- Earlier this evening, Grammy’s went to the narrator of Pushing Daisies and Barak Obama who beat out Bill Clinton. No, seriously.
- Will.i.am’s little bit was, um, interesting to say the least.
- And the Grammy for Album of the Year goes to… of, course, the oldest guy in the category. Anyone who says their shock by Herbie Handcock beating out Kanye and Winehouse obviously has never seen the Grammy’s before even if it were the second jazz album to ever win the award.
While watching Live Earth earlier this year with all the great music, it crossed my mind to come up with the greatest live performances of the past twelve month. And with the Grammy’s, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the thousands of other pat themselves on the back events that the music business throws for themselves, it wasn’t hard to populate a list. I did throw out the talk show performances because 99% of them are just boring rehashes of their album versions. But here are the best of the best of 2007 with links to YouTube where available (and if you have the mp3 of any of them shout me a holla because there are a couple I would like that I haven’t hunted down yet):
1. Gimme Shelter - Keith Urban and Alicia Keys (Live Earth)
2. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (49th Annual Grammy Awards)
3. Check the Rhyme/Award Tour - A Tribe Called Quest (2007 VH1 Hip-Hop Honors)
4. Like a Star/Coming Home/Gravity - Corrine Bailey Rae, John Legend and John Mayer (49th Annual Grammy Awards)
5. Darling Nikki - Cee-Lo and Foo Fighters (2007 MTV Video Music Awards)
6. Big Bottom - Spinal Tap and an Army of Bassists (Live Earth)
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.
For those that like free, I got a treat for you; currently you can download this video for free on iTunes. Click the title above to be taken there. On a side note, does anyone know if there is a way to convert video to MP3. I am under the assumption that the video is DRM’ed to the point that it makes it impossible, but I thought I’d ask. And unlike most soundtrack songs that are unlistenable, the new track from John Mayer has a great vibe to it in a John Hiatt kind of way. On the other hand, The Bucket List looks unwatchable. Plus it looks like they spoiled the whole movie anyway with the scene with Jack Nicholson speaking at Morgan Freeman’s funeral.
Speaking of free videos for something unwatchable, you can also get this Ryan Adams video for October Road for free on iTunes. It is a crime against humanity that ABC would bring back this show and the equally unwatchable Notes from Underbelly but not Knights of Prosperity. Seriously, would it hurt the channel to bother putting on a show that guys would watch? Ever since it let go of Monday Night Football, the network has turned into the All Broads Channel. No seriously, look up and down the channel and tell me how many of its shows actually appeal to dudes.
You have to put this song and video in the it’s so bad its great category. I’m not sure what possessed The White Stripes to do a cover of a cheesy fifties song, but I am glad they did because it is frakking genius. Then throw in whatever drug induced stupor person that thought up having a flirting bull and you have one of the most enjoyable three minutes of the year.
I am beginning to think that The Killers rarities disk may actually be better than Sam’s Town. The song is obviously their take on the Joy Division classic and the scenes from the video are from the upcoming band’s bioflick, Control.
Last year Nas declared Hip-Hop Is Dead. The only problem was that the album was in fact proof that hip-hop wasn’t dead. Yeah ring tone rappers have watered down the art form, but albums from Common and Kanye West this year has kept the genre afloat. On the other hand, R&B has been on its deathbed for a long time and great R&B albums have been few and far in-between this decade. Even the great ones getting little airplay instead radio spent more time to R&B artists who excel more at dancing than singing with tracks that sound more like hip-hop beats than something coming out of Motown or Stax.
One of the few R&B artists that manage to have soul and still have commercial appeal is Alicia Keys. This may be in part that she still infuses the use of hip-hop beats like her contemporaries, but the bases of her music is still primarily the piano which leads to a mix of hip hop and classical with Keys’ heartfelt and introspective lyrics overtop. Her first two albums, which combined to sell ten million records, were just appetizers to what she is truly capable of.
Now at twenty-seven, her third studio album As I Am has a maturity that her first two were lacking. This is most evident with That’s the Thing About Love. The song is definitely not something that a twenty year old could write, and the older Keys lets loose at the crescendo at the end of the song, knowing, even in this world of Pro Tools, it isn’t about hitting every note right if the emotion behind it is there. The song itself is just one of those timeless love songs that should be a requirement at every wedding for the next century.
On the other side of the spectrum is the more subtle Like You’ll Never See Me Again where Keys coos over bells that go up and down the scale throughout the whole song and some well placed finger snaps. The album is bookmarked with two of the strongest track. Go Ahead is a tuba heavy (no seriously) kiss off with Keys in full woman scorned mode. The album closes with Sure Looks Good to Me with its grandeur than transcends R&B and is much closer to a sweeping power balled of the seventies than any contemporary artist of today.
Alicia Keys definitely has a classic album that stands the tests of time in her, but unfortunately As I Am isn’t that album. There is just too much filler on it. The biggest disappointment is the John Mayer (she appeared on his Gravity) assisted Lesson Learned a boring melodrama that isn’t up to par with either artist. Certainly the females out there can appreciate the I Am Woman Here Me Roar esthetic of Superwoman, but as a grown man I just found the song trite and skipable.
Then there is I Need You with lyrics that seem left over from either Karma from the last album or a sophomore poetry assignment. But much like Karma, the song is saved by a killer backing track from Mark Baston (Dr. Dre, Dave Matthews Band), who also produced Go Ahead. Hopefully by the next album, all the filler will be gone and Keys makes the album she was born to make.
There were a bunch of great performances at Live Earth but there is one that I have been listening to on repeat the last couple days and that is the new song that Alicia Keys unveiled during her set, That’s the Thing about Love. Unfortunately it looks like we will have to wait until late October until we can hear a more polished studio version when her new album is scheduled to drop, until then here is the YouTube version of the performance at Live Earth:
It popped up over the weekend that there will be a best of the Live Earth album that will be put out in August which you can preorder on iTunes (if you do so you will get the John Mayer track now, also Metallica’s full set is available separately). Although there is currently no confirmed tracks (aside from Mayer’s) so here is my suggestion of the top twenty songs from the event (links go to YouTube):
Agree, disagree, well vote or add your favorites to the Unspun widget below:
Okay, now on to what Live Earth was really about, doing your part to saving the environment. You might think to yourself living a green life is a daunting task, well I am certainly no tree hugging hippie, in fact I am extremely lazy, but I realized that I already do some of the things that they suggested thought Saturday’s festivities. Seriously, if this lazy bum can do these things to help out than certainly you can add these to your daily routine. Even if you don’t care about the environment, do these why I do them, almost all of these suggestion will save you money:
- Change to Energy Efficient Light bulbs - Yeah they cost a little more but I saw a noticeable drop in my electricity bill when I switched just three bulbs. Really you should buy any and all energy efficient products, TV’s, toilets, computers, radios, etc.
- Use Sunlight During the Day - Unless there is a storm brewing, all window drapes are open there isn’t a light on from sun up to dun down
- Change the Thermostat When You Leave - In the summer during turn the air conditioning down a couple degrees, turn heat up in the winter. In the winter, I even do this when I sleep so I can bundle up in a couple more blankets
- Boil Only the Water You Need - I was surprised when this was suggested during the telecast because I though it was a no brainier but apparently people boil more than they need. This is just laziest, and that says a lot considering I been called the laziest person some people have ever met
- Flip Off Your Power Strip - Here is one that I have started after seeing it on Live Earth as I have three big power drains with all its accessories plugged into a power strip (computer, two TV sets). I plugged a VCR into the wall because that is my clock in that room, but everything else is plugged into the strip which I flip off when the stuff isn’t in use. I’m not entirely sure how much energy/money I have saved by doing this, but long if it is something it will be worth the one second it takes to flip it on and off.
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!!!
3:10 - 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.
- Elton John, guessed by 
- Sarah McLaughlin; guessed by Angie)
- R.E.M.; guessed by Angie)
- Dave Matthews Band; guessed by Angie)
- Incubus; guessed by 
- Oasis; guessed by Angie)
- Ben Folds; guessed by Molly)
- Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals; guessed by Angie)
- David Gray; guessed by Angie)
- Train; guessed by Angie)
- Lifehouse; guessed by Angie)
- Ryan Adams; guessed by Molly)
- The Police; guessed by Angie)
- Gavin DeGraw; guessed by Angie)
- Dunkan Sheik; guessed by Angie)
didn’t follow his lead. What’s sad is I think I can find all the MJ references in the video.
?
![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on my 