What I'm Up To...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

New Blog

I'm no longer updating this blog. For what I'm up to now, check my new blog out at http://drewshannon.net

Thanks!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Green Day @ Webster Hall

Almost 15 years after first hearing Dookie from a friend's older brother, I finally saw Green Day in concert for the first time last night, and I g=must say, it's probably the best live introduction anyone could ask for. Expected to sell 215,000 copies of their new album 21st Century Breakdown in its first week, Green Day is arguably one of today's biggest rock bands. The band has sold over 22 million records in the United States alone, and was reignited among younger fans with 2004's American Idiot.

Needless to say, they're a pretty big deal, which is why I was so excited to snag tickets to their show at Webster Hall, a tiny(ish) venue with a capacity of about 1500 people. The band is playing at Madison Square Garden in July. Tickets I paid $50 for were selling on EBay and Craigslist yesterday for close to $300.

One of the best shows I've ever been to. I'm forever spoiled.




Tumbledown

I just picked up Mike Herrera's (lead singer of the pop-punk band MxPx) new solo project Tumbledown. Apparently it's pop/country/rockabilly. Sounds promising. I'll be sure to post my thoughts in here later.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

1-0

Watching the Red Wings game today reminded me how much I love playoff hockey. My first memories of watching the Wings were the 2 consecutive Stanley Cup wins in 1996-1997 and 1997-1998, and it was a special and important time in my life.

It was awesome to see them win the cup again last year, and they're looking pretty good to repeat this year.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Bamboozle: Day 1





Well, Day 1 of Bamboozle is in the books, and boy, was it a long one. Here's who I got a chance to see today, if only for a song or two:

- Bayside
- New Found Glory
- Fall Out Boy
- Fireworks
- The Riverwinds
- Lydia
- Journey (!!!)
- Third Eye Blind
- Gavin Rossdale (played some Bush songs!)
- Forgive Durden
- Cartel
- The Get Up Kids
- Set Your Goals
- Ace Enders
- Shwayze
- Innerpartysystem
- Joe DeRosa
- Brian Posehn

Whew, long day out in the sun (I definitely got burned a little) and I'm totally exhausted. Time for bed so that I can do it all again tomorrow (although there are significantly fewer bands I want to see tomorrow).

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Happy Record Store Day!!

Happy Record Store Day Everyone! For those who don't know what Record Store Day is, let me (or the website) explain:


The original idea for Record Store Day was conceived by Chris Brown, and was founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.

This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Franscisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April.

Record Store Day is currently managed by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Scott Register, and Carrie Colliton. Folks wanting to contact Record Store Day are encouraged to email us at information@recordstoreday.com

NOTE:
A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a physical retailer whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% located in the state of operation. (In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths).


Shinedown had a great In-Store acoustic performance and CD signing here in NYC at J&R earlier this afternoon, so I showed up and made an appearance and helped the street team do their thing. The guys in the band are super nice, and they're definitely a band that appreciates all that they have. Their live performance (I saw them at Irving Plaza about a month ago) is spectacular as well.

I've been listening to the new Silversun Pickups album Swoon a ton lately. Their first single from their last album, "Lazy Eye" got a fair amount of popularity, but the song never really did much for me, so I never really bothered to listen much more. Thanks to the amazing Amazon MP3 daily deals, I was able to download Swoon sight-unseen for $3.99, which I came to realize as an absolute steal. Reminds me of older Smashing Pumpkins. Check it out.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Recommendation of the Day #26

Recommendation of the Day: The Working Title

Been listening to The Working Title. It's a real shame that I saw them open for Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows a few years ago, and are now unsigned. The good news is that they have a new album coming out in May, so hopefully they get the attention I think they deserve.