Archive for May, 2010

April 11, 1994 Boston, MA (intense shows during the last couple of dates of this tour due to the death of Kurt Cobain)

So, let’s kick things off with, perhaps, their trademark track “Alive”.

The origins of “Alive” can be traced to 1990 when Stone Gossard recorded a series of demos, while still in Mother Love Bone.

One of the instrumental tracks was “Dollar Short,” which would become “Alive”. After the demise of Mother Love Bone, Gossard, Jeff Ament and their new guitarist Mike McCready, circulated a demo of five tracks in the hopes of finding a singer and drummer.

The demo found it’s way from Seattle to San Diego and into the hands of one Eddie Vedder.

Vedder wrote and recorded the lyrics to three of the tracks, “Alive,” “Once,” and “Footsteps”. These three songs would become famously known as the “Mamasan Trilogy”.

The band liked what they heard from Vedder, so they invited him up to Seattle. With a singer now in place, the group dubbed themselves Mookie Blaylock and began recording demos, with “Alive” obviously being one of them.

The band was forced to change their name, because the basketball player they named themselves after was none too happy about the shout out. So, Pearl Jam was born.

“Alive” was demoed again during the recording of their debut album Ten, and the rest, as they say is history.

To read the complete article visit EVOLVER.COM

Fresh off a European tour, Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela brought foot-tapping Latin rhythms and metal energy to Radio City Music Hall last Friday (Apr. 29), joined by surprise guest Robert Trujillo of Metallica.

Lead guitarist Rodrigo Sánchez and rhythm guitarist Gabriela Quintero play traditional nylon string acoustic guitars, but their style is hardly orthodox. Sánchez plays melodies at a blazing speed — using a pick, as is conventional in rock music — while Gabriela’s distinctive rhythmic approach uses traditional flamenco and folk techniques like triplet strumming and “rasgueado.” With roots in thrash metal, samba and flamenco, the pair brings unparalleled speed and percussive quality to its playing, and the contrast between their individual styles results in them sounding more like a trio with a phantom drummer.

To read the complete article visit BILLBOARD

Hard rock thrives on conflict and chaos, and no band has found more beauty and soaring aggression within those ingredients than Deftones.

The Sacramento group has operated like this for years, a functioning dysfunctional group of musicians who nearly broke apart (again) during the struggle and combat of their last album, 2006’s “Saturday Night Wrist,” which nonetheless ended up as another stirring fusion of atmosphere and grinding guitar.

After the band finished recording, bassist Chi Cheng said at the time: “It’s a really onerous, painful process … but it seems that kind of tension does make great music for us.”

Four years later, band members convened for a final day of rehearsals in North Hollywood before leaving on a tour that began in Mexico City last weekend. They recently completed a new album, “Diamond Eyes,” set for release on Tuesday. But Deftones did so without Cheng, 39, who now lies in a semiconscious state following a 2008 car accident in Santa Clara.

To read the complete article visit LOS ANGELES TIMES