retroBlog

Well, it appears that Yes’ summer tour (with Asia) kicked off this past weekend without a hitch. Hopefully the tour will be successfully enough for them to book dates beyond the Pennsylvania date on August 2nd. I’m personally hoping the next leg of the tour will make a stop in the southeast region of the U.S. so that I won’t have to commit to a long road trip just to see the show. come on, this middle-aged man can’t handle those long treks out on the road anymore!
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*Warning – spoiler alert* – don’t read any further if you don’t want to know the current Yes/Asia tour setlists…
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Tags: Asia, Yes

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It’s still shocking to me after spending the whole evening trying to process all this but alas legendary performer Michael Jackson has passed away at the age of 50. Rest in peace, MJ. You will be missed. Like most others on the blogosphere, I thought I’d post a few youtube videos to remember him by.

a Michael Jackson Video Compilation

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Michael Jackson Mega Video Mix by DJ_OXyGeNe_8

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This just in – Journey cancelled their June 23rd concert in Berlin, Germany due to a medical emergency. Apparently, drummer Deen Castronovo experienced some health related issues and had to stay overnight at the hospital for observation. No word on what actually happened but hopefully it’s not too serious. Here’s the latest blog post from Neal Schon from Journey’s website:

Just received info that the doctors want to keep Deen over night again. He’s having some other issues…. but we have decided that we are going to sound check with Steve Toomie his drum tec. and put together a show for Hamburg tonight….
I am now told deen is to be back tomorrow…..
This is the last thing I’ve heard.
Neal, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 – 2:14 am

You may remember Castronovo stepping down from touring with Soul Sirkus (with Neal Schon and Jeff Scott Soto) due to health reasons back in 2005. not sure if the health issues are related.

We’ll see what happens with the Hamburg show.

Hopefully Deen will make a full recovery and will be well enough to continue touring with the band!!

Here’s a video from a couple days ago featuring Deen Castronovo singing “Mother, Father” at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam (17 June 2009)

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Tags: Journey

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The hard working folks behind the BluFrog Energy Drink are giving away some cool prizes over at their website ItsaBluWorld.com. They’re hoping that the new contest will help spread the word on their tasty beverage which would definitely come in handy during the hot summer months. Featured prizes include a XBox 360 Elite bundled with Rock Band 2 and a trip to ESPN’s Winter X Games in Aspen. The prize that I’m most interested in is the trip to Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago this august. I grew up in Chicago so it would be simply fantastic to be able to go back to Chi-Town and watch bands like Depeche Mode, Beastie Boys and Ben Folds in Grant Park.
You’re probably thinking that there would be some complicated steps associated in enter the contest. But it’s actually pretty simple. In fact, BluFrog provides three different ways to enter. If you’re on Twitter, tweet about the contest and include #bluworld and http://bit.ly/UiiJy in your tweet. If you’re a blogger like me, just do what I’m doing and blog about BluFrog’s contest and which prize you want to win. Just make sure your trackback goes through and if not, simply post a comment with the URL to your blog post. And the third option is by posting a comment directly on their site expounding on the prize you’d pick and why. Each comment, blog post or tweet counts as one registration. And a person can enter up to three times. Just be sure to do all this by July 17th.
Yup, I can see it all now… Me, hanging out in Grant Park, sipping some BluFrog and enjoying some live music by The Killers and Jane’s Addiction!! Wish me luck!

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After recently reading some of the leaked excerpts from Sammy Hagar’s unpublished book about his years with Van Halen, I’m personally glad to see Hagar (along with Michael Anthony) getting some good buzz with the new supergroup called Chickenfoot. According to the excerpts from the book, Alex and Eddie Van Halen are extremely petty and paranoid and pretty much gave Hagar and Anthony the shaft at the end of their stint with the legendary rock group. Of course the book is a one-sided account of what went on behind the scenes but whatever the truth may be, it’s just good to see Hagar and Anthony back in the spotlight. The band is made up of some stellar players including guitar-god Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Chad Smith on drums. Supergroups like these tend to all look good on paper so the real test is the MUSIC and fortunately for us the new record ROCKS. ChickenFoot isn’t about re-inventing the wheel. It’s obvious that the goal was to make an accessible guitar-based rock record in the vein of Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. And thankfully the group delivered the goods. Folks were probably expecting some sort of trainwreck with all the big egos involved here but the group really DOES sound like they gel together nicely. Smith is a fantastic drummer laying down some tasty grooves with Anthony holding down the low end as solidly as ever. Satriani manages to rein things in, going back to basics with crunchy riffs and melodic leads during the solo sections. And Hagar can still do those blood-curdling screams at the age of 61! amazing. The album contains many highlights including “Down the Drain”, “Sexy Little Thing”, “Soap on a Rope” and the power ballad “Learning to Fall”. The refreshing thing is hearing a band playing together live in the studio with minimal overdubs and NO click-track. It’s a bit jarring to hear the tempo naturally ebb and flow in this day & age of tempo mapping and quantizing in pro-tools. but for a rock record, there’s no better way to capture a band in action. Oh and I gotta give kudos to producer Andy Johns and engineer Mike Fraser. The recording sounds fantastic with crisp definition of each instrument and great punch down on the low end. Unfortunately, I have to take points off for some lousy lyrics but with music this good, I’ll overlook it for the most part.

RetroGrade: B+
Chickenfoot
Released: June 2009
Label: Fontana
Produced by Andy Johns
Mixed by Mike Fraser
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TrackList:
1 Avenida Revolucion 5:56
2 Soap on a Rope 5:32
3 Sexy Little Thing 4:14
4 Oh Yeah 4:54
5 Runnin’ Out 3:52
6 Get It Up 4:41
7 Down the Drain 6:17
8 My Kinda Girl 4:34
9 Learning to Fall 5:13
10 Turnin’ Left 5:48
11 Future in the Past 6:38
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ChickenFoot:
Sammy Hagar – vocals
Joe Satriani – guitar
Michael Anthony – bass
Chad Smith – drums
Official Website: ChickenFoot.us

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Tags: Chickenfoot

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holy crap. I nearly forgot… legendary rocker Sir Paul McCartney is 67 years old today! Happy Birthday Sir Paul! To celebrate, I thought I’d post a track of his from my vast archives.

Here’s the remixed version of a rare B-side – Good Sign. It was a collaboration with Hamish Stuart and recorded in the fall of 1988.

That’s a good, that’s a good sign…

That’s a good sign, see the meter’s movin’
That’s a good sign, let us keep improvin’
That’s a good sign, see the meter’s movin’
That’s a good sign, don’t you know?
-Good Sign written by Paul McCartney and Hamish Stuart

Download Good Sign (7:34, 128kbps, 6.94MB) [for a limited time via mediafire]
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Tags: Paul McCartney

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There’s nothing groundbreaking or novel about running a blog or a website these days. Everyone and their grandmother seems to have their own domain up and running on the net. And it’s pretty much a no-brainer. With your own hosted site, you have the freedom to post what you want, when you want and the way it’s presented. It can be as simple as a static homepage or as dynamic as a busy current-events discussion forum. With your own website, the sky’s the limit. But the big question is: where should you go to get hosted? There are a ton of choices out there and folks can get overwhelmed by all the great offers being advertised by providers right now. First and foremost, take the time upfront to do your research. Having a reliable and responsive web host is the “key” if you ask the average webmaster. And you can start by heading over to Web Hosting Geeks to read up on reviews and do head-to-head comparisons between webhosting plans. The site is a great resource to help you find the right host for your needs. Besides reviews and detailed info on each provider, the site also gives out “Best of” awards to providers in a variety of categories including Best in forum hosting and Best in dedicated server hosting. The “best of” distinction is a quick and easy way to find the top providers in the type of hosting your interested in. Also, be sure to check out their Hosting 101 section of their blog for some informative articles on what to look for in a webhost.

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For those that can’t make it to see 80’s supergroup Asia open for Yes on tour this summer, there’s still an alternative. Many fans of the original Asia lineup may not be aware that there’s another version of Asia touring the U.S. this summer: Asia Featuring John Payne. Yes, I know some may feel that this configuration of the band is the inferior of the two but whatever the case may be, Payne was responsible for a number of decent tunes in the Asia back catalog. As a matter of fact, Payne (along with original member Geoff Downes) released eight studio albums as “Asia” between 1992 and 2004. I personally thought that Asia “mark II” hit their stride when they released Silent Nation in 2004 featuring the talents of Guthrie Guvan on guitar and Chris Slade on drums.

But things went south for Payne’s band when Downes decided to reunite with John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer to tour as “Original Asia” in 2006. I’m not really clear on who owns the rights to the name “Asia” but there seems to be an agreement that Payne can still use the name “Asia” as long as it’s followed by “featuring John Payne”. Personally, I’d rather see Payne break free of the Asia name altogether and just focus on his other band GPS (which includes Guvan and Jay Schellen) but it seems that concert promoters are more willing to put up the money for a band called “Asia” than the lesser known “GPS” even though Payne, Guvan and Schellen play in both bands.

So anyway, for those that aren’t familiar with John Payne’s work with Asia, I thought I’d post one of my favorites by Payne titled “Long Way From Home”.
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There’s a black Siberian
Look a white guy in the sun
Miles away from where the quest begun
From the ice to the sand
Nations moved across the land
Ever since time designed the man

I’m a long way from home but I know where I belong
It’s a long way I know
But the heart will still carry me home…

-”Long Way From Home” written by John Payne and Geoff Downes
from the 2004 album Silent Nation
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download Long Way from Home for a limited time via mediafire
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Catch Asia Featuring John Payne live this summer –

Jun 13 2009 Isle Casino (Isle of Capri) Biloxi, Mississippi
Jul 5 2009 American Music Festival Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Jul 12 2009 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry, New Hampshire
Jul 14 2009 Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, Connecticut
Jul 16 2009 The Boogie Festival Springville, Indiana
Jul 18 2009 Rock N Resort Music Festival North Lawrence, Ohio
Aug 7 2009 Crestwood Fest Crestwood, Illinois
Aug 9 2009 Valley Cultural Arts Woodland Hills, California
Aug 12 2009 Trocaderos Event Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
Aug 13 2009 Waterfest Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Aug 15 2009 Wisconsin State Fair West Allis, Wisconsin
Sep 12 2009 Sky City Casino Acoma, New Mexico

Asia Featuring John Payne includes:
John Payne – Bass, Vocals
Guthrie Guvan – guitar
Jay Schellen – Drums
Erik Norlander – Keyboards

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Tags: Asia

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As we become more and more dependent on the web and utilize it for things like online banking and shopping, corporations have to continuously work to secure our private information. Companies simply can’t just set up a website and think that everything will be protected indefinitely. Unscrupulous computer experts who have been lured to the dark underbelly of internet crime, continually seek opportunities to breach online security systems in order to steal identities and credit card information. To tighten up IT Security, many companies are now seeking expertise from a Certified Ethical Hacker. These specialized online security analysts are used to help keep corporate websites from being vulnerable to cyber-crimes. There’s such a demand for this type of Ethical Hacking nowadays that formal training programs like the ones offered by EC-Council are popping up all over the country.

With the recent economic downturn, there must be a large number of folks looking for a new career. These training programs can be a perfect and timely way to start over in a new field of work. Relevant course work includes Security Fundamentals, Penetration Testing, Secure Programming, Computer Forensics and Disaster Recovery. This looks like a great career opportunity especially when you realize that experts in the field can pull in a salary somewhere between $97,000 to $124,000 a year. Checkout the EC-Council website for more information on getting certified.

#CEH

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