Jamie’s Brain

Do you know where the f*$# you are?

I do. In metal heaven.

September 21st, 2006. The Warfield, San Francisco.

I almost didn’t buy these tickets because I felt that GNR sans Slash is, well, just not GNR. But then I realized that my 13 year old self would punch my 26 year old self in the face if I didn’t get them.

Added bonuses I discovered shortly before going to the show: Sebastian Bach is the opening act. Sweet! And the lead guitarist for GNR is Robin Filch - former touring guitarist for none other than my favorite band ever - NIN. He joined Trent for the Downward Spiral tour and The Fragile tour.

I loved getting dressed for this show. Leather pants, zebra print tank top, bandana and aviators. It was 1987 all over again. We very appropriately walk down our own little Skid Row to get to the Warfield, and the homeless guys like the pants.

We thought we were late. But then we realized that this is an old school rock show. An hour and a half and three shots of vodka later….it begins.

Man oh man Sebastian Bach can sing. I had read some mixed reviews, but those people really don’t know what they are talking about. It is interesting to watch his band play: when they play the old classics, its like watching fans playing onstage. These guys probably learned some of these songs when they first picked up a guitar! Then for the new stuff, they were less like outsiders and gelled really well together. This set really made me realize that I missed these kinds of shows. It has been too long! Too many hipster shows and you forget how much energy and passion goes into a good hard rock show. Sebastian looked great, too - he really hasn’t changed much, but he’s always been a really ‘pretty’ guy. And his wardrobe is just a slightly updated 80s metal outfit. Loved it. He did the microphone helicopter swing, the big hair head bang, the spitting, and best of all, the crazy screams that you can just see how much effort he has to rile up in himself to get it all out.

The fans were also really comendable at this show, which definitely made it for me. Everyone was just having a good time, talking to eachother, singing along, taking pictures. The only thing I would have liked to see were some old school girl groupies with big hair. There were no boob flashings going on that I could see.

Then there is another loooong wait for GNR. Maybe an hour plus.

But the we heard the distinctive guitar intro to Welcome to the Jungle. And that’s where everyone just lost it. After about the first song Axl goes, “hey, you. in the read shirt. out. take him out. yeah, you asshole.” Nice. Axl kicked out an unruly crowdmember in less than 5 minutes.

Now, I was pretty out of it, but Axl didn’t look as scary as I had read. Though I think he has cleaned up his style from the jerseys and sweatpants that he was sporting everywhere a couple of years ago. His voice is another story. It was quite inaudible over the instruments for a good majority of the show. You can just tell it is messed up. He kept changing the mic up for some of the real scream parts. I wouldn’t say that it is something that sounded bad, it just didn’t sound much for lack of a better way to say it.

And, back to Slash, since I have been obsessed with him since I was like 10 years old…It essentially took 3 guitarists to fill his shoes. And these are three really talented guitarists too. I was just amazed at that. Wow.

Sebastian Bach came out to sing My Michelle with Axl, which was awesome. They played everything you would want them to, plus some of their ‘new material’, which sounded pretty good, though by this time I kind of couldn’t hear anymore. When is that album going to come out again????? The only song I wanted to hear but didn’t was Estranged….but I don’t think they ever play that.

All in all, it felt like a once in a lifetime experience for me. It is 1p the next day and I still have rock ear. This is officially my last show sans earplugs. This one definitley took some of my hearing away. But that is the sacrifice you have to make for the rock gods, I guess…

Please witness the awesomeness of my pictures from the show here.

thanks again, youtubers!

The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart

by Willie Nelson, Turk Pipkin

I love Willie Nelson.

If you want to know more about him and the way that he thinks, then this is the book for you. It definitely shows you how the outlook that he has helps him to be successful, and be so productive at such a ripe ol’ age.

It is also full of some pretty good jokes.

Too bad the Tao won’t help him get out of this mess.

$9.95

oh my. *blush*

so now that i work at home quite a bit, i sometimes turn on fuse for a little music video background noise action. MTV, while still dear to my heart, just doesn’t get it in a lot of ways anymore. fuse has really won me over lately b/c it is really about music and people who love music.

so there is this show called ‘pants-off dance-off’ that i originally tuned into because, you know, i’m a dancer and i wanted to see some people compete with their moves. oh no. that is not what this is. the show is hosted by seemingly 15 year old Tila, who introduces people off the street who have decided that they want to dance to a music video and strip for the world.

the damn thing is hilarious. i don’t know where they find these people, but they are young, old, attractive, not so much, good dancers, don’t know what a beat is, and altogether out of their minds.

they get right down to their skivvies, and you can go online here to see them dance again, and get a little more nekkid.

i guess amateur stripping is the new way to getting your 15 minutes….

i took this not so little personality quiz that was very interesting from a research standpoint. take it yourself here.

here are my results. i felt like they were pretty telling.