It's Monday time for some fun - check out boy band, Midnight Red covering: "Sexy & I Know It" by LMFAO
These Boys have been on "Entertain Me" before because of their string of performances at the Hollywood & Highland Hard Rock Cafe, which I went to with my buddy and their publicist, Ken Phillips - "The Boys" are currently filming the video for their single "Hell Yeah" Enjoy your Monday..!
Twas a rainy night in Los Angeles, CA - "Entertain Me" favorite James Durbin was poised to take the world famous Viper Room stage.
His first stop however was performing "Higher Than Heaven" from his hit album "Memories of a Beautiful Disaster" on "American Idol" - As expected James tore it up on the "Idol" stage, hey do you doubt my words check out the performance courtesy of the magic we call YouTube....
Awaiting his arrival with my friend Ken in tow at The Viper Room I was treated to a few rockin' openers too...Jared James Nichols & Vayden. I text Ken he says they are en route from "Idol" on the way there James and his wife Heidi stop off to get matching tattoos - love is great!
I spy Ken, James takes the stage and he is in top form, in short James rocks! He never disappoints and never gives a bad performance. Of course he kicked "Higher Than Heaven" for The VR audience as well.
He also looked down at me a few times, "yes" I have seen him often enough he now knows who I am...!
Can't wait to see you perform again JD - you F#$king Rule!
James is currently on tour, check out when and where at:
“I can't use what I can't abuse
And I can't stop when it comes to you” - “Vow” Garbage
It’s Tuesday, April 10, 2012. The Mission: Getting to one of two sold out shows for the triumphant return of Garbage at the El Rey in Los Angeles.
Shirley Manson, Shirley Manson, Shirley Manson…
My friend Buffy is in town from Florida scored the tickets and she is ready to rock and see LA.
First stop on our trashy evening is one of my favorite restaurants Palermo, a tasty Italian place in Los Feliz.
We are hungry and ready, our journey from the Beverly Garland in North Hollywood to our dining destination is flawless, we even got a parking spot right off.
Something isn’t right, Palermo is in lock down….Hmmmmmmmm…armed with her I Phone Buffy pulls up the data on Palermo. It’s closed on Tuesdays, WTF?! How random, who would have thought, most establishments are closed on Monday, if at all.
“C'mon push it, you can do it
C'mon prove it, nothing to it”… “Push It” Garbage
Armed with a craving for pasta we target a new destination: Osteria La Buca ….we will have our Italian pasta and eat it too! We get to OLB and are served some of the best effen pasta ever, a dish called Poppy Seed Tagliatelle w/oysters, mushroom, basil-butter, ricotta salata…can you say Yummy?!
While dining Buffy realizes the most important part of our evening’s mission, she forgot the tickets to get us into the El Rey to see Garbage back at her Hotel room…Ugh!
Shirley Manson, Shirley Manson, Shirley Manson…
Back to North Hollywood to The Beverly Garland, our objective? To get the tickets from the bowels of Buffy’s hotel room and still make in time to see Garbage.
“I think I'm paranoid And complicated
I think I'm paranoid Manipulate it” …”I Think I’m Paranoid” Garbage
Mission completed, directive? Over the hill to The El Rey to claim our reward.
We arrive find free parking (no one wants to pay $20 effen dollars for that sh!t)!
Saunter upstairs to the V.I.P. bar and grab an energy drink, Jack Daniels and Diet Coke please. We have arrived a mere ½ hour before Garbage takes the stage.
And take it they did! The show was amazing, Shirley Manson was magnetic the whole time and is one of the best female vocalists (according to me) ever!
Hey Garbage, you rule!
“I would die for you I would die for you
I've been dying just to feel you by my side, to know that you're mine” “I Would Die For You” - Garbage
"When video footage of fictional GOP presidential candidate Matt Zarley surfaces showing him at a 70s style party making out with a sexy younger man (scenes complete with 70s facial hair, furry chested men and hot tubs), the "candidate" decides to come out from behind his false marriage and be who he truly is. At the end of the music video America embraces and elects it's first openly gay president."
Six time “Playboy” Latina model Yvette Lopez is here, and she has the music in her.
With songs such as “Bloodrush” “Freakshow” and “Tell Me It’s A Lie” …
She wants you to dance!
So get off your butt and do it, and do it now…!
MS: Loving all your songs including the current one “Bloodrush” - your recurring theme in all of them seems to be about being lost in music.
YL: Music is my life, it’s all about music. My Father was a musician, he did his first 45 when he was 7, so all my upbringing was about music. Now that I am doing it, it seems to be all about music again.
MS: Of course you may intertwine that more with sex than he did. (laughs)
YL: (laughs) Yeah, mines a lot different than his stuff.
MS: But it all relates to music, I noticed that.
YL: I co-wrote 4 of the songs with Jens Gad of Enigma. I also co-wrote with a lot of other people, it was a lot of fun, I have never written before, I didn’t know I could. It came out very easily, and now I am excited to get back in the studio and do some more stuff.
MS: Writing is my natural gift, I don’t believe in writers block, if it doesn’t work, go back and change it.
YL: Exactly! That’s what a producer told me one time.
MS: Well your producer is right!
YL: Yeah, just go back and write it down.
MS: So, let’s talk about “Bloodrush” it’s about music, but it’s about sex & drugs as well….It’s crazy, it’s so open for interpretation on 3 different levels.
YL: (laughs) Yeah, my producer picked the subject and said: “What is a Bloodrush to you”? Of course it’s sex, what is better than that? So we went with that and when we were shooting the video I was so lucky that my friend, Mikey Post was there.
MS: I thought that was Mikey
YL: Yeah, it was Mikey! I asked him to do the video and he said: “Hell Yeah” and there he was choking me and pulling my hair.
MS: So what’s up with it Darlin’ ?
YL: Well I have the Playboy name behind me which is great, some people think, because of that: “Oh she’s a girl who just takes her clothes off” but if you listen to the music, it’s pretty damned good! Right now, we are figuring how to get it out to the radio stations and different venues. Did you ever hear my first single, “Tell Me It’s A Lie” ?
MS: Yes, Romi (Simmons) played it for me in her car after I saw you at EG Daily’s show at the club on Vine in Hollywood, CA. So what happened with that?
YL: We have it iTunes, it does pretty decent on there. After a while Romi and I got pretty busy and stopped promoting it, which was pretty silly, and now we are promoting it again because of all the stuff that is happening.
MS: She told me what the song was about, before I heard it, it is about a woman whose man cheats on her with a guy, well OK, the lyrics are open for interpretation which is great!
YL: Oh yeah, that would be fine with me. It could about a guy or a girl….I date both sexes. I prefer a man to a woman, but…
MS: You flow.
YL: Yep, at least in life.
MS: “Freakshow” is another song of yours I loved.
YL: I love that one too I recorded it here in Los Angeles, with Peter Rafelson, he’s worked with Lady Gaga, he wrote a number one hit song for Madonna, he’s pretty well known. I really want to put a show together with that song, me tied up in a cage, with a lot of stuff going on around me. With me and a bunch of little people and everyone doing all these crazy sex things. That is a turn on song for me.
MS: I especially like the line “Put the leash on, you know my kitty wants to play” OMG, what does that mean?! (laughs) You got your music career going on.
YL: I hope so, the music industry is all about doing it yourself these days.
“This is something that’s bigger than life”….”Bloodrush” - Yvette Lopez
SAMSON, HARTKE, ZOOM AND BEST BUY JOIN FORCES FOR METAL MASTERS 3
The Successful Clinic Series Lands At The Key Club
In Los Angeles On April 12
Three of the leading gear/technology companies for both musicians and consumers alike partners with one the top retailers in the United States for another memorable music event. Samson, Hartke and Zoom have teamed up with Best Buy again for the third installment of Samson’s successful “Metal Masters” series. Metal Masters 3 will take place on April 12 at the famed Key Club on the legendary Sunset Strip in Hollywood, CA. Doors for Metal Masters 3 will open at 7:00PM with the clinic starting at 8:00PM. Metal Masters 3 is comprised of David Ellefson (Megadeth), Kerry King (Slayer), Charlie Benante (Anthrax), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Mike Portnoy (Adrenaline Mob/Flying Colors) and newly added master Dave Lombardo (Slayer).
If the buzz that is still circulating from Metal Masters 2 is any indicator, Metal Masters 3 will not disappoint anyone who is lucky enough to see it. Metal Masters 2, which took place at the Best Buy Theater in New York City, featured the Metal Masters demonstrating their personal techniques and styles they use to create the music that millions bang their heads to every day. Metal Masters 2 featured surprise performances of Phil Anselmo (Pantera/Down) and Scott Ian (Anthrax) joining the Masters for some memorable performances including the still talked about Pantera classics “A New Level” and “Hostile.” If that wasn’t enough, Metal Masters 2 was capped off by a full performance by New York metal icons Anthrax days before their performance at the historical Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium. Metal Masters 3 will outdo the legendary Metal Masters 2 and this time return to the west coast where some of the most famous metal bands started.
“We’re extremely excited to be bringing the Metal Masters series back to the West Coast where it originated.” says Mark Menghi, Samson’s Director of Marketing. “And with the artists we have participating and the surprises we have planned, Metal Masters 3 is going to be the best one yet.”
Tickets are available for $20 (first come, first served) at the Key Club’s box office, located at 9039 Sunset Boulevard, or via www.keyclub.com. With door giveaways and surprise guests, all should purchase their tickets early for this All Ages event to witness the return of the Metal Masters.
Kira Leyden and guitarist Jeff Andrea, the husband and wife songwriting team behind Strange Familiar, make the kind of timeless music that long careers are built on. They have been writing and performing together since they met in grammar school in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. “I was in seventh grade when I saw Jeff’s band playing (Pearl Jam’s) ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ at our school dance,” Leyden recalls. “The singer forgot the words and walked off the stage, and I remember thinking, ‘I could do better than that!’”. A life long partnership sprang from that serendipitous beginning, forged by their mutual love of music and each other. By the time they were in high school, their band had morphed into Jaded Era, one of the top indie groups in the Akron, Ohio area.
When Jaded Era splintered, Kira and Jeff headed to the Leyden family basement, where they set up a studio and started writing songs that would become the foundation of The Strange Familiar. After months of performing around town and experimenting with new sounds, The Strange Familiar decided to make the move to Los Angeles.
Here to make you more “familiar” with the “strange” is Kira Leyden…!
MS: You have an album coming out “Chasing Shadows”.
KL: I’m so excited, “Chasing Shadows” is coming out on April 10th.
MS: Cool, tell me what you hope to accomplish with it?
KL: “Chasing Shadows” is the first time I feel we have been able to get into a studio as a band and do something really cohesive. The band played on all the tracks and it feels like the first time something wasn’t done in pieces. It feels like the most honest we have ever been musically. I think that it is really honest and uplifting, and it will inspire people and help them through tough times.
MS: Very cool.
KL: You know, I really can’t write anything that’s frivolous, “Being Me” is about as frivolous as it gets. (laughs) But we are still trying to send a message - “be happy with who you are”.
MS: It’s more whimsical, than frivolous.
KL: There you go! I’m going to use that from now on. Last year we did a mini school tour. We played a lot of High Schools & Grade Schools. We want to put out a positive message and ended up doing a full show….I looked at those kids and thought: “Wow! That was me a few years ago, trying to fit in”. Our overall message is be yourself, and I’m proud of that.
