Update

Hey everyone, Sorry I have been away for so long but the website has been going through some changes and being updated. I am going to LA next week and will be doing something fun...I will let you know about it next week. New posts and tons of pictures coming soon. Stay Tuned!!!

Linkin Park SOLD OUT at MSG

Hey Everyone, How are you today? Did anyone go to LP last night? What did you think? Well here's my thoughts... Yesterday was a cool day. I woke up knowing that I was going to see Linkin Park at the Garden... first time for them! I also knew I was going to hang with my boys in Type O after the show (Next Blog) I pulled my reserve camera out because my main camera is at the camera doctor along with my 28-70 lens. I packed all my gear early and made sure I had charged batteries. I took care of some things and made sure I ate before the show because I hate paying the ridiculous prices for food at The Garden. I was going to take the train in but I remembered I was going to Duff's in Brooklyn after the show so I just waited until like 6:30 before I left so I could park on the street. I didn't realize there was a band before Coheed and Cambria so I missed Chiodos. Once I got to MSG I went to will call to grab my tickets and my photo pass and headed over to the press entrance. I spoke to Laura and she told me I wasn't on the list for coheed ...I forgot to get a pass for them, I thought I would be able to shoot them with my LP pass..Oh well next time. So I ask her if I can go watch Coheed and she tells me it's OK so off to my seats... The seats are pretty good and I see my buddy Gary from Music Choice, he's sitting not to far away from me so we talk for a bit and he heads back to his seat once the lights go down. Coheed got some pretty good cheers from the Garden crowd... It must be surreal for those guys coming from Long Island and now playing MSG. The show was pretty good with a good selection of songs. They actually had a keyboard player and 2 background singers! I never really like the sound at The Garden but they sounded pretty good. After their set I head of to go Downstairs to meet up with the other photographers to go to the photo pit. On my way over there I meet up with my bud Paul Adams... Paul works for Magus Entertainment They handle some band named Duran Duran lol... We talk for a bit and then I head off to the elevator then I but into Eric and a few of my friends from The Crazy Donkey where I DJ I say hello to them Then I but into my buddy Keith from WB and Brian who used to work at WB but is now at Say Now. We talk for a bit but I really need to get downstairs... When I get downstairs I bump into LP's manager Rob McDermott we hug say hello and now I am off to the pit. On my way to the pit I bump into Eric Lemasters and his kids and my buddy Tom Rob who does security for LP, then while I'm in the pit LP's tour manger Mike Amato comes over to say hello... Mike ROCKS! we talk for a bit and I tell him I want to do a conversation for the site. He tell's me he's off for 2 months and he's down...cool! I then go walk to find Sal... Sal is always in front at the LP shows around the east coast... and there he is we talk for a few. Sal was in Baltimore the other night so he's filling me in on how the show starts so I can get my angles. The light's go down and the show begins.... They open the show with Wake going right into Given up...The lights are cool and Rob and Joe rose up from below the stage...then all of a sudden....My camera gets a ERR 99 UGHHHHHHH!!!!!! Not again! I switch it off change the battery and try again... I take a few and again ERR 99 FUCK! The next song is Lying From You and I still trying to work my camera out I need some shots for the blog!!! Then they launch into Somewhere I Belong after that I am out of the pit and back to my seat to watch the rest of the show. Then they knock out No More Sorrow, Don't Stay and Points of Authority. Then Chester talk to the crowd He says he "This is a big deal for us... I remember's talking to his sister about 5 years ago saying when we play Madison Square Garden you'll all be there and they are all here tonight" and the crowd goes crazy... This show is SOLD OUT too and I'm not talking none behind the stage THE WHOLE GARDEN! The stage set up is cool. It's really big too with % screens hanging from above the band and 2 on either side of the stage. They then going into In Pieces then Numb and then Joe and Rob get lowered back down under the stage and it's just Chester and Mike and the play My December and The Garden is lit up by cell phones and lighters and I get chills... It's always cool to see something like this. After that they start off Breaking the Habit alone and are joined back by the rest of the band. The song starts of and everyone is clapping great crowd participation! Chester even plays a Flying V during the song! Ok tempo change...the new single and my favorite song on the record..the U2ish Shadow of the Day.. Just amazing crowd singing really cool!. They then go right into Crawling but with the Reanimation intro...pretty cool... The set list so far has been really good. The crowd is at times singing louder than the band Chester then decides to go into the photo pit and the crowd goes NUTS! Next up In The End then A Place For My Head with Brad starting out the song alone and they end the set with Mike in the crowd for One Step Closer. First encore starts off with In Between and more crowd participation and then What I've Done just rocking...OK time for more???Hmmmm YES! Then band come out and then...JAY Z!!!! The crowd goes ballistic the screams are deafening They launch into Numb/Encore but only half of it The Crowd is still screaming when they go into Jigga What/Faint both tracks off the EP they did with Jay Z Jay then waves and heads off the stage and Mike says "We have time for 1 more" Bleed It Out with a little drum solo for Rob... On a whole the show was great and I am sure this won't be the last time Linkin Park plays MSG!!!...Now I am off for food and Type O party in Brooklyn at Duffs...
Peace out! Bagel

www.linkinpark.com

A Conversation with The New Singer of Anthrax Dan Nelson

So, this will be the first of many interviews of different artists I will have here. The interviews will be more of an inside look at them a different side. Some of the stuff will be about the bands they are in but more of the things will be personal stuff, funny stories and what they like to do besides the band. So what better way than my bud Dan Nelson the new singer of Anthrax. Dan and I met at NAMM but after talking with him there we realized we definitely crossed paths a lot of the past 10 years or so. Dan's vocals remind me of a cross between both John Bush and Joey Belladonna with some Phil Anselmo thrown in for good measure. Now Dan and I started talking at NAMM about doing this interview which turned into just us talking so its more a conversation. I had no set questions we just talked like buds telling stories and he also asked me stuff too. Dan isn't only a singer he is originally a bass player and plays drums and guitar also. He lives in Long Island with his wife, Kimberly, mother-in-law Pat and a dog named Samantha. Dan's been married for 4 years but been with his wife for 14 years! Dan has 3 brothers and a sister. Growing up Dan got into Anthrax by stealing his cousins copy of Among the Living. His other metal favs growing up were Metallica and Megadeth and his first concert was Metallica and The Cult on the And Justice For All tour and Nassau Coliseum. Some of Dan's passions include the New York Rangers, the New York Yankees, playing hockey and he absolutely loves movies! Dan is a personal trainer so he also loves to work out. Growing up he used to and still collects comic books and G.I. Joe action figures. He likes video games too and loves to play his Xbox 360, some of his favorite games are Gears of War, Oblivion and he really loves Zombie type of games. He loves warm climate areas but doesn't like the beach... just like Charlie Jaws ruined the ocean for him. Even though he trains people his favorite food is pizza and fast food, he also likes popcorn, coffee ice cream and dark chocolate. Ok now that you have had a short history lesson on Dan I did ask him some questions about what's going on with Anthrax. I asked him how the album was coming along and he told me that they only jammed together as a 5 piece 2 weekends ago but they have been writing stuff from day 1. The music was already written but he along with Scott are writing most of the lyrics and Scott, Frankie and himself are writing the melodies with a little help from Charlie. He told me that they totally embraced him as the new singer and gave him lots of room and listen to his input. He doesn't feel like a hired gun he feels like a full fledge member of Anthrax. The first song they played together live was Inside Out and then Room For One More. After the first song Scott said "This is gonna be awesome!" and he told me the rest of the band felt the same way. He hasn't met either John or Joey but has been told that John wishes him all the best and thanked him for all the good things he has said about him in the press. Another singer who was in a similar position was Tim "Ripper" Owens. Dan met Ripper at NAMM and was told to just go with the flow and that he has a really cool voice and also gave some advice on things. Vinnie Paul is another person that Dan met at NAMM that gave him a pat on the back and told him good luck. Dan said sometimes he thinks back on the times when he used to drive around singing Anthrax tunes in his car and now he has the tunes on his board at his studio to sing too except no vocals on the tracks. The way the band found Dan was through Rob and Rob said "What rock have you been hiding under?" Dan can't wait to get out on the road to show the people that Anthrax is alive an well. I will be following Dan over the next few months until the first show with Anthrax so check out my blog every week for some more Anthrax info from the new guy!
Check out the link below for more Anthrax info.
Peace Out! Bagel
Anthrax.com

Carmine Appice at Samson

Today I went out to the Samson office. I had to take my video camera out there for something and had to talk to a few people there and also Mark told me that Carmine Appice was coming to do some sort of video for Zoom. I rolled in about 11:15 and walked into marketing. I said my hello's to everyone and walked over to talk to Jack Knight for a bit. Mark and I talked about this new promotion that Zoom will be doing with Carmine for the H2. When Carmine showed up Mark took him for a tour of the office. After the tour Carmine said hello to Doug... Doug was a tech for Cactus way back when. Carmine and Doug talked for a few minutes. After they finished we went into one of the meeting rooms for lunch and for Mark and Carmine to discuss what's going to happen with the upcoming promotion. Once lunch was finished we headed over to the new production room. Part of the promotion is filming a really cool video about Carmine's history in music from his days in Vanilla Fudge up to what he's doing now in Slamm. John DiMaggio the video king was on hand of course to film it! He talked about his time in Cactus and hanging out with Led Zeppelin back when nobody knew who they were. He also shared stories about his time playing with Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck. Carmine is a great guy and really funny. He told us that Jeff Beck said Carmine is the cause of his tinnitus. Carmine has loved and used Zoom products for the past 10-15 years or so, so when his brother Vinny started working with Zoom, Carmine was all aboard! After learning the history of Carmine Appice he took some pictures with a few of us and he also signed drumheads and other assorted things for people in the Samson office... Class Act all the way!!! For more information about Carmine's new project Slamm and Zoom please click on the links below...Peace Out! Bagel...Oh sorry about being away but I have been trying to figure out my new Mac...I will have some stuff up this week!

http://www.carmineappice.net/

http://www.myspace.com/slammusa
http://www.zoomfx.com/

http://www.zoomh2.com/

YEAH!!!!

Today I got my Imac... I will be posting somethings later....Sorry I have been going through pictures from the weekend. Be Back Later
Peace Out! Bagel