Interview with Buckcherry

By Art Michalski

During the Rock on the Range festival, I got a chance to interview Buckcherry lead singer Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson. We discussed the success of their 15 record, future singles and names of tours that really didn’t settle well with the band. Here’s the interview.

AM: When “15” was being released, what were the initial expectations of the record?
KN: As far as sales go, we really didn’t know what to expect. We wanted to make a record we were 100 percent satisfied with. We knew we would have to tour our ass off behind the record, and we’ve done that. We believed in the music and went out with the mindset that it would do well. We had no choice but to think of it that way.

AM: Were you surprised that “Crazy Bitch” became such a hit?
JT: We were very surprised that it became a hit. We put it out there as a way for people to hear us again and had no idea that it would take off the way it did.

AM: Has the fan reaction for “15” been better than your debut record?
KN: I think it’s been beyond the reaction for the first record. When you’re in a situation like ours, you like a lot more to prove with a record like 15. I think the fan demand of the videos, such as “Crazy Bitch” on 15 have been the biggest difference.

AM: The “Crazy Bitch” video has been taken off various sites, due to a court case about the video? Is the case over, or still in ligation?
JT: The case is stayed right now and nothing has happened at this point right now. The court process is a long process and it will be a while before anything is settled.

AM: You guys have played the Machine Shop in Flint a bunch in the past year, is that a favorite place to play in Michigan?
KN: We like playing there a lot. Kevin (Zink- the Machine Shop owner) has been great to us over the past years, and we have a lot of fun when we play there. Now, only if they could get an air conditioner in there for summer shows….

AM: You guys have had three major rock radio singles out from “15.” Any more planned?
JT & KN: We’re pumping “Everything” right now, and I think that “Sorry” is going to be the next single, sometime during the summer. Once we’re done touring and after that single, we’ve gotta get back into the studio and record a new album before the end of the year.

AM: You guys are touring with Papa Roach and Hinder in the “Bad Boys of Rock” tour later this summer; any contests planned to put that title to the test?
KN: Nah, not really. Don’t let the name fool you; it wasn’t our idea. Somebody made that title for the tour up, and I didn’t like the name of it. But it’s gonna be a good tour with those guys.

Comments@DetroitBuzzblog

Buckcherry will be playing with Hinder and Papa Roach in the “Bad Boys of Rock” tour, hitting Michigan twice this summer:

July 13^th- Common Ground Festival in Lansing

September 7^th- DTE Energy Music Theatre

Rock on the Range - 5/19/07 - Columbus, OH

By Art Michalski 

Many of modern rock’s big guns descended on the Buckeye capital of Columbus, for the inaugural Rock on the Range festival at the sold out Columbus Crew Stadium. Even though it couldn’t probably be confirmed, the 11-hour festival was probably the biggest event the Major League Soccer stadium had seen since the inaugural Crew game.

The all day festival, sprawled out over two stages, was a hits-heavy fest of old time headliners (ZZ Top), supergroups (Velvet Revolver) and up and comers (Black Stone Cherry).

The day started off with Cisco Adler’s Whitestarr and without the sunny and 75 degree forecast that was predicted, but a somewhat chilly and drizzling start to the show that didn’t slow things down, but wasn’t exactly what the weather people lead us to believe. As the overcast skies prevailed, at least the humor was cheerful, courtesy of Los Angeles’ 2 Cents. As drummer/lead singer Adam O’Rourke hit the stage, he announced that his band was switching genres. The band was switching the sleaze hard rock style to a “Christian heavy metal, techno group that covers only Ashlee Simpson songs!” O’Rourke’s comments got a good chuckle out of the crowd, and the music had a dirty swagger to it that held the fans over until the bigger bands started to hit the stages.

The first main stage band wasthe modern rock juggernaut Breaking Benjamin, who fought through drizzle and fans that might not have been fully awake to put together a 35-minute set that was dependable, but nothing extraordinary. With songs like “Sooner Or Later” and the major rock radio hit “The Diary of Jane,” Breaking Benjamin is a band that is probably bigger than they should be. Not a bad band, but nothing still distinguishes them from numerous other bands of the same genre.

Los Angeles band Operator hit the second stage next; lead by the aptly titled Johnny Strong, the band showcased some promising material from their debut album, out in late June. With songs like the current single “Soulcrusher,” Strong’s vocals are reminiscent of Chris Cornell’s before moving into a hard rock yowl. Keep an eye out for this group later this summer.

After the surprise comeback of 2006, Buckcherry kept the ride going with a fantastic 40-minute set that should have been a lot later in the evening. Relying on a set list heavy off of their comeback 15 record, the group played tracks such as “So Far” and the monster hit “Crazy Bitch.” Only two songs from anything other than the 15 album were played, as “Porno Star”, and the major rock and roll debauchery anthem “Lit Up” ended the band’s highlight set.

Kentucky’s Black Stone Cherry sounded much heavier live than they do on their debut CD. The fusion of hard rock and southern rock worked well for the band, as they ripped through cuts like “Hell and High Water” and the opener “Rain Wizard.” The band might not be the most glamorous looking band on stage at Rock at the Range, but the music stood out.

After choosing pizza over Three Days Grace (no offense to Three Days Grace; but we were hungry), we awaited the long time coming set from Puddle of Mudd. The second stage crowd woke up before and during their set, with lots of topless women and other fans getting rowdy. Lead singer Wes Scantlin emerged and s reconnected with fans he hasn’t seen in years, or least since the band last toured in 2004. Starting with “Away From Me,” the band showed off hit after hit as well as new song “Famous” that fit in very well with the band’s set list. As the set was about to conclude, the band’s guitarist messed up the opening of the massive hit “Blurry,” so Scantlin (whether the screwup was intentional or not) busted into the sing-a-long smash “She Hates Me.” Give Puddle of Mudd kudos for their kick-ass cover of Nirvana’s “Breed” at the end of the band’s set.

Over on the main stage, Chicago’s Chevelle put on a decent 40-minute set that focused in on hits such as “Send the Pain Below” and new single “Well Enough Alone.” With family disputes behind them, Chevelle sounded crisp and rejuvenated. Unfortunately, Chevelle is a lot like Breaking Benjamin, and didn’t send the crowd into a fervor.

The last band on the second stage, Papa Roach enjoyed the first sunshine of the day and some of the overflow of crowd debauchery from Puddle of Mudd’s set. Lead by energetic lead singer Jacoby Shaddix (this reviewer still digs Shaddix’s stage name of Coby Dick as a rock name more) Papa Roach launched into a lot of new material from their Paramour Sessions record, before playing P-Roach hits like “She Loves Me Not” and the usual set closer “Last Resort.” The material from Paramour comes off well live, and seemed to be well received from the fans.

Heading back to the main stage, Hinder won the dubious distinction of being the band to suck the life out of the audience. The crowd wasn’t digging most of the band’s 50-minute set, and that’s putting it lightly. The band’s cover of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” elicited a collective yawn from the crowd and the massive pop hit “Lips of an Angel” was drowned out by random cries of “I hate this f—ing song,” and other similar statements. About the only song that got crowd response was the final song, the tepid “Get Stoned.”

The supergroup Velvet Revolver hit the stage as the sun started its descent down and probably should have headlined this show. Dressed in his military dapper usual self, Scott Weiland ripped into Contraband cuts “Do It For the Kids” and “Set Me Free.” While the Guns ‘n Roses rhythm section of Slash and Duff McKagan wailed near Weiland, the band put on a set that was a relief to see, after Hinder’s boredom-induced funk. VR showed off of a lot of new material from their upcoming Libertad album, including the current single “She Builds Quick Machines” and the intriguing “The Last Fight.” With the power ballad punch of “Fall to Pieces” and the swagger of “Slither,” Velvet Revolver rescued the crowd for the rest of the evening. The show finished off with out with alt-rockers Evanescence and ZZ Top.

For 50 dollars, Rock on the Range provided a fairly cheap way to see many of modern rock radio’s big names (Compared to 50 bucks to see just Velvet Revolver in Detroit the week before), and gave the fans the maximum bang for the buck. With a sold out crowd of 30,000, its pretty safe to say that Columbus will be seeing another Rock on the Range come 2008.

The Hold Steady @ Magic Stick 5/15/07

By Art Michalski 

As the thunder rolled through downtown Detroit, the Brooklyn via Minneapolis band The Hold Steady provided a poignant and strong 85-minute set of straight ahead rock and provided relief from the nasty weather outside.

The much celebrated critical darlings lived up to their hype and bounced back and forth between jangly pop-rock and Bruce Springsteen-esque tales of the state of current affairs. Playing material from all three albums, including their latest Boys and Girls in America album, the group soaked in the love from the nearly sold out crowd at the Stick.

Lead by jovial lead singer Craig Finn, the group busted into newer songs such as the single “Chips Ahoy” and the very enjoyable roots rock sounding “Stuck Between Stations.” Along with pogoing keyboardist Franz Nicholy, Finn and the rest of the band displayed more of their chops on older tracks like “Charlemagne in Sweatpants” and “Stevie Nik.”

Finn approached the songs much like a storyteller would, and didn’t resort to screaming or trying to act cool, in order to win over the fans. His approach was more laid back and humorous. Ripping into everything from the current hardcore rock scene (which Finn was a member of many moons ago) to trendy people, it was a relief to see a singer connect with his fans.

On the track “Chicago Seemed a Little Tired Tonight,” he sarcastically dedicated it to the people who move to Chicago from other cities in the Midwest and wouldn’t shut up about their town (believe me, you and I all have at least one friend who cant stop talking about how great Chicago is). It was ironic that as the song was playing, the Bulls had wrapped up a win against the Pistons; but it was fitting at the time.

The band seems to draw comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, among others, for their narrative storytelling which seems to be one of their strengths. As far as honest-to-goodness rock music, you couldn’t get much better than the set The Hold Steady puts on.

The humorous titled Cincinnati band the Heartless Bastards opened the set with a 40-minute set, that rivaled the headliner in fan fervor and crowd response.

Zombie Trifecta - Part 1

By Taryn Shick 

It is my belief that there is no greater creature, real or imagined, than the zombie. More misunderstood than Frankenstein’s monster, more sinister than a Werewolf and far creepier than any vampire, the zombie burrows deeper into the human psyche than all other monsters combined.

With the release of 28 Weeks Later, I thought this would be a good time to explore the legend of the zombie. I will do so with a review of the aforementioned film; a DVD review of another zombie film, Versus; and a book review of The Book of the Dead, The Complete History of Zombie Cinema. This is the first in the series.

28 Weeks Later

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau
Written by: Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Jesus Olmo, Enrique Lopez Lavigne
Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

28 Weeks Later is the sequel to 28 Days Later. Weeks picks up as indicated after Days, exploring the damage done to London after an outbreak of a Rage virus that leaves its victims in a zombie-like state. The difference is that these ‘zombies’ are much faster than average zombies.

We begin with a modestly revamped London that has managed to contain the virus with the aid of the U.S. military. The story then follows Tammy and Andy, a brother and sister, aged about 17 and 12 respectively, as they attempt to survive a second outbreak of the virus.

The film is highly disorienting. This is done with an absence of music, chaotic camera movements and close-ups and virtually non-stop peril. It seems to be an attempt to show the lack of control that such a situation could yield with particular regard to the inability of any military force to even do so. If this is so, it succeeds very well.

Although I respect the intent and the style of the film, I did not like it. I found it to be severely lacking in character development, especially with respect to its predecessor, 28 Days Later. There is no true central character and definitely no strong personalities. I was unable to relate to any one character and thus unable to care about any one character. This fact made it hard for me to care about the story; hence, my dislike of it.

As far as this film’s impact on the legacy of the zombie, I dismiss it. A viral infection does not a zombie make. But as with 28 Days Later, it still packs a decent punch of social subtext. I take it to be highlighting the ineptness of the military to control such a situation and its preference for the safety of the group over any individual rights.

 

Overall grade: C

Zombie grade: F

The Host (Gwoemul) Review

By Taryn Shick
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Hie-bong Byeon, Hae-il Park, Du-na Bae, Ah-sung Ko
Written by: Chul-hyun Baek, Joon-ho Bong, Won-jun Ha
Directed by: Joon-ho Bong

The Host is a horror film that follows one family’s quest to save a little girl from a monster that has taken her. The monster hails from the Han River, thanks to an ignorant scientist who dumps several chemicals down the drain because the bottles are too dusty.

The little girl is taken by the monster. Her often incompetent and usually sleeping father, her grandfather, her uncle and her aunt who happens to be an Olympic archer, join together to save her.

The monster is CGI. Much of the dialogue is subtitled. But the characters are endearing; very likable and often amusing. There are some great scares and plenty of tension. There’s even a little subtext, though not really that subtle. The monster is reported as having contaminated anyone who it has come in contact with (and not killed, of course) with a deadly virus. Military action is to be taken. But protests are mounted and it is possible there is actually no virus, much like there were never any weapons of mass destruction. The creation of the monster by the dumping of toxic chemicals might be a nod at pollution and the environment. But it might just be a neat way to create a monster.

I really enjoyed The Host. I like the strong female characters, even the little girl. No whimpering bimbettes or helpless damsels in distress here.

The monster has a neat way of flipping on the bridge of the river it hides in to get around.

But the best thing about The Host is style of the film itself. There were many shots that built up the scares. Often, a scary moment would be taking place, and before you knew how it would end, we cut to another scene. For example, the monster attacks. It’s advancing on a potential victim. It’s about to strike, and then…we’re in another location. What happened? You don’t know! Some might find this annoying. I thought it was a brilliant way to add to the suspense.

The only issue I have with The Host is the sentiment of the film that any animal who kills a human should be killed. Maybe so, but then any human who kills a human should be killed, too. I don’t see humans as superior to animals; in fact, most of the time I think of us as inferior. I believe humans and animals should be treated equally. So I didn’t agree with this tone of the film.

However, the ‘animal’ in the film is a monster, and I will subscribe to the tradition of the horror genre to kill the monster. But I have to ask, who is the real monster? The scientist who dumped the chemicals? The creature itself? The military?

Even if you’re not into the subtext like I am, The Host is a fun film. It delivers scares and suspense without a lot of gore in place of a story. Very well done.

Grade: A-

Detroit’s Summer Concert Preview

By Art Michalski

Here we are again! The 2007 summer concert season is almost upon us. Here at Detroit Buzz, we are still getting most of the information for the big summer tours in our hands. But be prepared, this summer will be no disappointment. With many major tours and many roaming festival tours as well.

The ticket prices are going to vary greater this summer than in the past, with OzzFest setting the bar high by having no charge for tickets. The other side of this curve will be The Police’s first reunion tour in almost 25 years being the high ticket water mark for the summer.

But it’s easier to just tell you by venue, what is going to be heading to Detroit this summer. Remember, dates of shows and lineups do change on occasion. So, if your favorite band I mentioned now doesn’t make the Warped Tour, don’t go on our blog and tell me how stupid and deceitful I am, even though you want to.

Here we go:

 

Indoor Shows:

State Theatre: If you heard the rumors, they are true and the State Theatre is changing its name to the Fillmore Detroit sometime this summer. The House of Blues chain has bought the venue, and the name change has been promised. But the quality of the shows will remain:

• The Deftones will be on tour with Japanese avant garde rockers Dir En Grey, hitting the State…er.. Fillmore on June 12^th.

• The Sounds of the Underground finds a new home this year, as it hits the venue on July 19^th. This year’s metal fest features Shadows Fall, Chimaira, Every Time I Die and the shlock master mainstays Gwar.

• If it smells like a High Times magazine on August 2^nd, don’t be surprised as the Kottonmouth Kings invade with Hed(Pe) and Authority Zero.

• Prepare to lash out at all the injustices in the world as Rise Against plays on August 23^rd.

 

Outdoor Shows:

Freedom Hill: After a failed stint as part of the Palace Sports & Entertainment conglomerate; Freedom Hill is once again an independent venue. After only a half dozen or so shows at the venue last year; Freedom Hill has announced a hearty schedule in 2007. Here are some of the highlights:

• Starting off the season and fresh from the Rock on the Range Tour, modern rock stars Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin head to Freedom Hill on May 20^th. Puddle of Mudd tags along on the bill as well and is officially back from the dead.

• At Rock on the Range, but later in the summer brings back ZZ Top, as they come on July 25^th. Maybe they’ll bring those old school cars like they had in their videos in the 80’s.

• Until Tommy Lee is done milking Rockstar: Supernova for all its worth (which isn’t much); Vince Neil needs a summer job. So, he’ll be coming to Freedom Hill on August 4^th. That’s right after he plays at the parking lot at Toledo Harley Davidson. Is playing a cruise liner not far behind? Oh wait…
• In case you need to take your girlfriend to some shows, you can always take her to see Snow Patrol on August 6^th or the Goo Goo Dolls on August 26^th. Bring extra earplugs for those shows; especially when “Chasing Cars” or “Iris” are played.

DTE Energy Music Theatre: The nine trillion pound gorilla of the Detroit summer concert scene is back. But with the rising gas prices, will the dominant venue suffer from lack of attendees who don’t want to drive all the way to Clarkston. Don’t bet on it…. Pine Knob (sorry energy corporate cronies, it will always be Pine Knob to me) is back for a full slate of shows. Here are the ones you might be interested in:

• Eddie Money plays on May 25^th. If you pay to see this show; you paid too much. End of story.

• The Honda Civic Tour hits May 27^th, in the midst of Memorial Day weekend. Pete Wentz (hopefully sans camera phone) and Fall Out Boy will headline, with the post-Blink 182 project +44, and the upstarts The Academy Is… backing them up.

• If you really want to score points with your Grey’s Anatomy loving significant other; The Fray will amaze you on June 16^th. Note the sarcasm.

• Maybe Ted Nugent can rant on how much the Rage Against The Machine tirade on his presidential buddy at Coachella pissed him off when he’s at Pine Knob on June 22^nd.

• Hair metal will be well represented this summer; with Def Leppard playing on July 24^th, and the double bill of Poison and Ratt on July 31^st. REUNION ALERT: Ratt is back with original lead singer Stephen Pearcy this summer; but no spandex will be worn. Thank god!

• Tool will come around once again this summer, hitting Detroit on July 3^rd, producing sonic fireworks that will rival the real ones the next night.

• After not one, but two cancelled shows at the State; Incubus is promising us a show on July 26^th. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me three times, shame on me.

• The Family Values tour will be back, and with promised low ticket prices once again this summer. This year’s bill features creators Korn, Trivium, Hellyeah and Atreyu. Oh yeah, Evanesance will be there too, if you like that sort of thing. It’s August 1^st.

• The oddest fan pairing of the summer will take place August 11^th, as the diehard aging metalheads take on diehard aging Goths as Slayer and Marilyn Manson tour together.

• The Projekt Revolution tour is reborn on August 22^nd, as creators Linkin Park team up with My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday and possibly H.I.M..

• Dave Matthews hits the Knob on August 23^rd, but yes, it will probably be sold out. And no, you cant get tickets.

• Rush plays their first show in Detroit and god knows how long when they excite all the guitar and drum geeks on August 28^th.

• And of course, the free OzzFest. Except infinite corporate plugs and beer guts galore on August 26^th. After a year off, Ozzy Osbourne will be back with a solo set, plugging his new album Black Rain (surprisingly, it sounds all right). But with support from current metal kings Lamb of God and Hatebreed, the best probably wont be for last. You will want to watch Finnish Gwar-wannabes Lordi. The costumes are just as bad, but the songs aren’t. Best of all, OzzFest is on a weekend in Detroit for the first time since 1999.

 

Other Venues:

The Warped Tour will be back at Comerica Park this summer on July 27^th. This marks the first time Warped is Saturday or Sunday since probably 1999. This year’s bill features punk legends Bad Religion and Pennywise and metal from Killswitch Engage and emo from Circa Survive and Cute is What We Aim For. Prog rock is represented from Coheed & Cambria. Warped creator Kevin Lyman must have listened to his constitutes after last year’s somewhat underwhelming bill.

The Police’s first show in 25 years hits the Palace on July 17^th. If you’re expecting a joke and punchline, don’t. Beyond maybe having Rage Against the Machine play my birthday party (which aint happening, so don’t email me for an invite), this may be my most anticipated concert of the summer. I don’t care if they’re old as hell, at least I can say I saw this band once before they die.

 

Once again, we’ve got a big and busy mess on our hands this summer, when deciding what shows to pick. This isn’t even counting such bills as the the highly rumored Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains tour, among others. Try fitting all those into your schedule and you just may run out of gas money. And who knows; there could be many more shows that happen between now and Labor Day. Bring your sunscreen, money, and favorite legal or not-so-legal libations.

Spiderman 3 Review

 

By Art Michalski

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, James Franco
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Produced By: Stan Lee, Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr, Kevin Feige
Genre: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and Sequel
Release Date: May 4th, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing

Let the summer movie race begin as the web-slinging Spider Man comes back for a third (and possible final) time. It’s pretty hard to top the stellar first two installments of this series; but the third movie goes for broke and comes up just a little short of the first two, but still very entertaining.

The third chapter begins as Peter Parker (Maguire) is still excelling in college and struggling to make ends meet in New York City. He’s planning on proposing to girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Dunst), who is getting her first shot at a Broadway play. In between watching his woman in her play, Parker must get into his alter ego to take on his former best friend latest super villain Harry Osborn (Franco). But in the third installment, his former friend is the least of his problems; Parker must worry about petty thief Flint Marko (Church) transforming into the mammoth villain the Sandman and rival photographer Eddie Brock (a hit or miss Topher Grace).

Whew, does that sound like a lot of plot to burn through in 150 minutes or what?

Let’s just get my criticism of Spidey 3 out of the way first. With that past paragraph; this reviewer just touched on the tip of the iceberg as far as the plot is concerned. There are various other storylines going on (such as the reopening of Uncle Ben Parker’s murder case and Harry’s amnesia for half the movie) that makes your head spin at times. With past Spider Man’s, we’ve had a one on one battle between Spider Man and his foes. In Spidey 3; three villains seems like too much and didn’t leave as much time for plot development as the last two movies.

But the movie still gets a good amount of character development in; with the conflict of Harry’s love/hate relationship with Peter; Mary Jane’s struggles as she tries to make it, and the backstory behind the Sandman’s character. The most interesting and entertaining storyline is Peter’s struggle with using revenge as motivation, and adopts a more cocky and testy attitude, compared to the quiet and timid Peter Parker in past movies.

Maguire has played Parker to perfection in the three movies; even if he looks a little goofy in a goth-lite look for a small portion of the flick. It’s very refreshing to see Franco as the carefree and happy Harry for some of the film, compared to the sour, vengeful Harry we’ve seen through Spider Man 2. Church is good as the somber Sandman/Marko, but this reviewer can never shake the vision of Church as anything but the dim-witted Lowell from the TV show Wings. Same thing with Grace; he will always be Eric Foreman from That 70’s Show, even if he gets a few funny lines in this movie.

Dunst and Bryce Dallas Howard (as Parker’s potential love interest Gwen Stacy) are fine in their roles, even if Dunst spends most of the time crying throughout Spider Man 3. Director Sam Raimi has done another fine job with the third movie, but one also thinks that this movie could have been two separate movies. Spider Man just became Grindhouse!

Even with the sarcasm, Spider Man 3 is destined to one of the biggest movies this summer and even with the numerous subplots going on, provides closure to many of those plots and makes a Spider Man 4 completely unnecessary.

GRADE: B

Wednesday Sports Highlights

• MLB: Tigers beat Orioles for third straight win. BoSox lose to A’s.
  
• NBA: Mavs able to stay alive against the Warriors. Grant Hill… Piston… Whaaaat?

• NHL: Holmstrom returns tonight to help the Red Wings even up against the Sharks
• NFL: Nobody calls Millen back. Mel Kiper gives the Lions a C in his draft grade sheet.