Weekend Wrap Up

Lori survived her first Motley Crue show just fine, her only complaint was that it was so damn loud. The Sunday night show at Mohegan Sun in CT wasn't the full Crue Fest show, just Buckcherry and Motley Crue played (not seeing Sixx:AM again was a bummer) and their sets were the same as Friday so I won't bother with any details. But the Mohegan Sun Arena is a GREAT place to see a band because it is so small. Capacity is listed as 9,518 but I don't think it's that many for concerts. I swear there are high school gyms bigger than this place. The bands all commented about what an intimate gathering this was compared to all the other dates they played this summer. I think venue size is why they couldn't do the whole Crue Fest lineup - there just isn't enough room on stage.

Between Crue days we caught "Tropic Thunder" at the movies and it is hilarious. Easily the funniest movie of the summer. A terrific skewering of all things Hollywood.

Sunday I got notified that I was picked for three acting projects that I tried out for earlier this month, a student film, an indie feature and a short demo for another feature. First one starts shooting in September, so it should be an exciting Fall as I'll be a cult member, a slime ghoul and chief of police over the next few months.

Crue Fest Report

Well I'd say the inaugural Crue Fest was a roaring success. Got there plenty early to see every band starting with Trapt. They were entertaining enough to pass the 25 minutes they had. Their radio hit "Headstrong" is easily their best song. Next up was Sixx:AM and they sounded great and had a strong crowd presence considering they went on around 5:45pm. My seats were 20 rows straight back from Nikki's side of the stage. He looked distracted and upset most of the set, looking at the side of the stage not liking his monitor mix. James Michael's voice is phenomenal and really holds up live - I don't know where this guy's been hiding but I'm sure glad Nikki found him. They played "Pray for Me", "Heart Failure", "Accidents Can Happen","Intermission" "Dead Man's Ballet", "Tomorrow" and ended with their biggest hit "Life is Beautiful". On this final song Nikki was finally smiling and the whole band seemed genuinely impressed and moved by how loud the crowd was singing along to the song. And for the me the emotion of the song still held up - that song blew me away the first time I heard it and I was thrilled that it did so live as well.
Next came Papa Roach whom I've seen before as part of OzzFest at some point and always forget how many of their songs I know from radio. They were much more high energy and punk than I recalled and ended up being a lot of fun. Lead singer Jacoby Shaddix jumped into the crowd and kept moving and singing making his way through the crowd (including stepping right over my seat) to really wake up the masses. They played (I'm missing a couple): "Change or Die" (new track from upcoming album) "...To Be Loved" "Forever" "Getting Away with Murder", "Scars" ,"Broken Home", "I Almost Told You That I Loved You" (new track) and "Last Resort".
The penultimate act was Buckcherry who I saw a few years ago opening for AC/DC and they've been riding a string of radio hits in recent years. They are very old school 70's rock - sex, drugs and rock n' roll act. Really remind me of early Aerosmith - in fact I spotted Aerosmith's Joey Kramer on the side of the stage checking them out. Lead singer Josh Todd looks just like freaky actor Krispin Glover to me. They tore through "Lit Up", "Next 2 You," "Everything", track from upcoming new album "Too Drunk", "Sorry" and ended with a 10 minute version of "Crazy Bitch".
Finally with the sun long gone and the whole place packed - Motley Crue; and they lived up to their own hype as the Loudest Band on Earth. The Crue ripped through a hit-packed 90 minute set featuring more pyro than Desert Storm. There was a lot of playfulness between all the members and they seemed to really be enjoying the night. Set List: "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Shout at the Devil", "Saints of Los Angeles", "Live Wire", "Motherfucker of the Year", "Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)", "Same Ol’ Situation", "Primal Scream", "Looks that Kill", "Girls Girls Girls", "Dr. Feelgood", and encored with "Home Sweet Home" with the whole band gathered around the piano as old photos were displayed showing the history of the band. Vince did his normal live routine of not even trying to sing all the lyrics on faster songs, but at a Crue show the audience usually sings louder than he does anyway so it was all good.
Off for another dose on Sunday.

Check out some fan photos of the show.

Crue Fest

WooHoo, after a long drought of metal shows I'm off to Crue Fest tonight down in Mansfield MA at the Great Woods/Tweeter/Comcast/Whatever name of the day Center thing. That means Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:AM and Trapt. Beyond the Crue (whose new album 'Saints of Los Angeles' is really good) I'm totally psyched for Sixx:AM, that is Nikki Sixx's side project and I absolutley love their debut "The Heroin Diaries" which is a soundtrack to Nikki's book of the same name. It is an amazing piece of artistry, humanity and music. It is also amazing that over all the years, all the drugs, all the drinking... I've never seen Motley Crue suck live. I've seen Ozzy and Aerosmith both be absolutley awful back in their most "mood altering" times, but somehow the Crue always kick ass live. Then on Sunday I'll be seeing them again at Mohegan Sun in CT. There must be some sort of Indian or casino bylaw banning Crue Fests, because Sunday's show will just be Buckcherry and Motley Crue.

Big metal bonus as yesterday was the release of "The Day That Never Comes", the advance single from Metallica's "Death Magnetic" that will be out next month. Once again Metallica proves they take care of their fans - fan club members got a free mp3 of the song even before it was released to radio stations. The song is just epic. I love it more with each listen. It feels like 3 distinct songs fused together into an 8 minute masterpiece. That combined with the live version of another new song "Cyanide" proves the new shit is gonna be phenomnal. They will be in Boston in January - so of course, so will I.

Metallica: "Death Magnetic"

The mighty Metallica have announced the release date for their first album in five years; "Death Magnetic" will hit the streets and Internet on Friday September 12, 2008. "Death Magnetic" features a few firsts for the band - it is the first album appearance for bassist Robert Trujillo who joined the band after 2003's "St. Anger" was recorded. It is also the first Metallica release produced by Rick Rubin. Bob Rock had been Metallica's producer (and unofficial fifth member by playing bass on St. Anger) since 1991.
Check out lots more at http://www.metallica.com/ and http://www.missionmetallica.com/

The first single and video will be "The Day That Never Comes."

"Death Magnetic" tracklisting:
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Broken, Beat & Scarred
The Day That Never Comes
All Nightmare Long
Cyanide
The Unforgiven III
The Judas Kiss
Suicide & Redemption
My Apocalypse

Slime Ghouls

Last night was my audition to be a Slime Ghoul in a low-budget feature called "Harm School". Harm School is brought to you by the fine folks behind "Pony Trouble." All I had to go on was this "The slime takes over the brain and causes people to act by feral instinct like animals, driven by a confused reproductive urge to throw other people in the slime, make out with them, hump walls and trees, and the like." But I was prepared to be a horny, feral animal and I think I nailed it.
The funny thing is that before I did what I was prepared for they asked me to read for a total of three different projects, two features and a short. So I survived my first 'cold read', I got lines for four different characters and just went for it. The two people I auditioned for were cracking up and said to expect a call back for all three projects. In the span of 15 minutes I was a slime ghoul, a couple cult members, the chief of police and a priest. Think I'm pulling for the chief and slime ghoul the most. I should know soon, a couple start shooting in August and the others in September.

The Boss Rocks Foxboro

Wow, I'm still exhausted from seeing Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kick ass for 3+ hours last night at Gillette Stadium at a show that went well past midnight. All I did was watch, I don't know how the Boss keeps going like that. I have to admit I was never a big fan, just know the Springsteen songs played on the radio over the years. In fact, when I first saw him back in 1999 I thought the show was just alright. Maybe it was too many years of hype about his amazing live performance or he just had an off night (or maybe I did). So I went last night only because friends were in town who were big fans. But damn, I'm glad we went. Last night was the sort of legendary, high-energy, manic, rock star/preacher show that Bruce is all about. After a 90 minute delay due to pounding thunder storms and the most intense lightning I've ever seen around Gillette, the band took the stage and tore through a cover of "Summertime Blues." Springsteen played way more songs that I knew than the first time I saw him and had two segments where he pulled signs requesting songs from fans to decide the next few songs. One song (Little Latin Lupe Lu) was so rare the sign had the lyrics on the back. Springsteen thanked the fan saying that was the only way he'd be able to sing it.
The night culminated with a seven song encore set including "Born To Run". Singing that at the top of my lungs in a packed stadium is a highlight of my many years of concerts and it was topped a few songs later with my all-time Springsteen favorite "Rosalita". The sound was perfect all night and the fans loved every moment. Just a flat-out phenomenal show.

Bruce Springsteen
August 2, 2008
Foxborough, Massachusetts - Gilette Stadium

Summertime Blues
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Promised Land
Spirit In The Night
Tunnel Of Love
Light Of Day
Little Latin Lupe Lu [first time with E Street Band since 1977!] -- Chosen by fans
Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? -- Chosen by fans
Hungry Heart -- Chosen by fans
Who'll Stop The Rain [Tour Premiere]
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
Mary's Place
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
-- encore --
I'm Going Down -- Chosen by fans
Jungleland -- Chosen by fans
Born To Run
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
American Land
Rosalita

"Edge of Darkness" Casting Call

Lori and I both hit the open casting call this afternoon for "Edge of Darkness". A cop thriller starring Mel Gibson as well as Robert DeNiro - that was new news given to us at the call. We first arrived at 2pm and saw very long lines outside the Boston Casting offices, which was a bit of a concern as we had to get back home to meet friends and head off to the Springsteen show tonight. Then as we parked and left the car, it started POURING. Like as hard as rain can fall. So we took some cover to wait it out and luckily it passed in about 10 minutes. I saw of lot of my fellow "Dreads" whom I met working on "The Surrogates" earlier this summer and spoke with three of them. That was really cool, to already feel like part of the local acting community. But I didn't notice anyone from my acting class there which was a bit of a surprise.
The Boston Casting staff handled the crowd and weather just great - they took people inside in large bunches, gave everyone an introductory talk including info about the movie and what to leave with them. They saved a lot of time by skipping the standard practice of taking a photo of everyone too, so we were actually on our way home in an hour.
The movie is being shot around Boston and Northampton Ma, starting August 18 and running through December. It is being directed by Martin Campbell who directed the James Bond reboot 'Casino Royale' and the script is from the Oscar winning writer of 'The Departed' and local guy William Monahan. We heard GREAT things about Campbell - like he selects every extra himself, likes to keep extras close to set and be part of the production, he often plucks people out of crowds and gives them a line or two and will even mingle about the actors asking "Who are you today?". They also will be needing about 3,000 extras through course of the film so everyone who showed up will be getting used.
Now we're off to Springsteen!