I Blog Therefore I Blog

Hey there! I want to take a few moments to give a shout out to all the excellent blogs to the right that I enjoy and visit frequently. They are all unique in their own right, but all offer excellent reading and an obvious passion for what it is they are writing about.

Last year when I was frequently updating this blog I was also frequently leaving comments on many of the blogs I have listed. Then, I disappeared, or so it would seem. “Real life”, if you will, was getting in the way of this online hobby I developed. Truth be known, although I stopped blogging myself and taking the time to write comments on others, I still read and perused them frequently.

But I learned a valuable lesson this last year, and that is to make time to for your own hobbies. In every week and month that passed, I wanted to start blogging and communicating to you and others again. I love how technology permits us to keep this global community that allows you to share your passions with others of similar interests, be it music, movies, sports, politics or some unique and unusual collection of something obscure.

Back in the care free days of high school I would spend hours on end talking about things that mattered to me and my friends at the time. Such as, who’s better - Sammy Haggar of David Lee Roth? Now, that “real life thing” again gets in the way of spending time in such a way. And I am not knocking real life, in fact I love it. But thanks to the Internet I can enjoy the “best of both worlds”, to quote Van Halen!

So blog on bloggers, or leave a comment if you are just a reader. Whatever, it is good to share my thoughts with you. And although I have many excellent blogs listed to the right, I am sure there are many out there I am yet to discover. So please feel free to suggest others, I would love to hear about them!

Have a good one and as always – rock on!!

Rock of Ageless

I had planned on posting a few quick movie reviews on some of my summer viewings this morning, but that will have to wait until later in the week. I wanted to get down some thoughts on an absolutely wonderful documentary I watched over the weekend called Young at Heart.

This movie follows the events surrounding a choir that performs a variety of rock and roll songs. You’ll hear selections from James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Cold Play and Sonic Youth, to name a few. What makes this choir so unique however, is that their average age is over 80.

I can’t tell you how much affection I had for these people as I watched their challenges and successes. In a day where the world seems obsessed with youth this was a treat. I hate to sound cliché, but while watching this movie you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, etc. etc. It sure has those moments where you can’t help but laugh with these people and there is more than one somber and heartbreaking moment throughout the film as well.

I admit it - I sometimes struggle with the concept of aging. On one hand I consider myself a professional, responsible family man and I relish ever second of it. But on the other hand I don’t want to let go of some of those special hobbies that made youth so magical, such as, raving or ranting over a new recording from some loud and noisy rock and roll band. And you shouldn’t have to. Part of the reason why I enjoy blogging some much is it allows me an avenue to keep that hobby burning and to share it with many others around the world with the same affections.

In this movie there is a group of seniors who take it even a step further. They put themselves out there, on stage, and enjoy life doing something they are passionate about in some cases up until their last moments. So I’d say here’s to those that continue to rock on into their senior years! Clint Eastwood – some of the best work in his career at over 70. Brian Johnson - currently rocking as the oldest member of ACDC on the Black Ice tour at 61. Chris Chelios – playing in the NHL in his late 40's. And of course there are many other examples. And finally to the seniors in this movie and the many youth who are just starting and will hopefully entertain generations into their golden years too!

Rock on!!

Anyone remember this one?

Alright, one more before the weekend starts. Last week this time I was heading off to my 20 year high school reunion. In honor of that event, the song in the video below was our grad theme song. Sounds very cheesy now, but I am so gald we went with it!! It is also a tribute to the late front man of Quiet Riot, Kevin Dubrow.

Twitter me this Twitter me that

I Tweet, but I am not sure why. But I do. Feel free to follow me if you wish:

@rboutcher

More to come next week. Have a great weekend everyone!!

The Tragically Hip

Simply put, The Tragically Hip is one of my all time favorite bands. The Hip, along with Iron Maiden, are two bands that I can spin any of their recordings from start to finish and thoroughly enjoy all the way through. The Hip’s latest offering, We Are The Same, represents somewhat of a different direction, but fully delivers.

In the early days, The Hip recorded and become known for some signature songs that are now definitive Canadian classic rock. Songs such as New Orleans is Sinking, Blow at High Dow and Little Bones are just a few of their hard hitting ageless classics. But over the years they have given us their share of semi-mellow to mellow tunes as well. Songs like Bobcaygeon, The Dire Wolf, The Emperor Penguin and Wheat Kings are some of my favorites. The newest disc, apart from a couple of songs, offers us a full package of mid tempo tracks and it is unquestionably one of my favorite recordings of the year.

As much as I love The Hip up until recently I have only attended one of their concerts which was about 15 years ago. And to be perfectly honest, it was far from being even close to the top of the list of my favorite shows. I have written about it in an earlier post. However, a couple of months ago I finally got around to seeing this band again and had a total opposite experience. This most recent concert experience gets placed very close to the top of my all time favorites.

The concert was billed as an Evening with The Tragically Hip. There was no opening act, the band played two complete sets and close to 30 songs in total were delivered that night. It didn’t hurt that I had great seats for this show, actually, the best seats I ever had for a concert. Much better compared to the first time around when I was in the back of an arena for a standing room only concert.

The Hip never seem to follow norms and they mix up their set list from night to night. So despite my attempts to snoop around on the Internet the evening still had plenty of surprises. The band started with my favorite track from the new CD, and what might be considered an odd choice for an opening number. The song, The Depression Suite, is actually three songs crammed into one epic 9 to 10 minute mid-tempo track. From there the band played a mixture of old classics, songs from their CDs in recent years, plenty from their new disc and a short three song acoustic set. Everything went over well with the enthusiastic crowd. They sounded great and lead singer Gordon Downie certainly captured everyone’s attention and imagination.

It certainly says a lot for a band and the affection it has garnered with its fans when it can play more than half of the contents of a brand new recording and it is embraced almost as well as the classics in a concert. Looking around the arena there were no droves of people heading to the bathroom when a new song was played as often typically happens at a concert from a band that has been around for a while. It was clear that everyone wanted to embrace every moment of this show.

To conclude with a couple of ratings, Tragically Hip’s newest CD, We Are The Same gets an A+ from me and the concert gets the same.

If you are from the U.S. or another part of the world and are not overly familiar with the Hip I’d be happy to suggestsome songs to get you started. I understand in some parts they have a great following, but in more areas they are not well known. Here in Canada they have reached legendary status over their 20 plus years in the business.

Have a good one!!

Long live the 80's...sort of!

I had the privilege this last weekend to attend my 20 year high school reunion. We were fortunate enough to graduate during the last year of an unforgettable (or maybe forgettable) decade. Actually, I loved the 80’s - the wild and crazy fashion, the tunes, the times, etc. etc. Ironically, while attending my Class of ’89 reunion, I did, perhaps for the first time in my life, gain some appreciation for dance music.

I was a rocker in the 80’s. I loved the hair bands and admittedly still do. It was a pleasure to be enjoying some refreshments in a bar with all of the old tunes playing in the background - Twisted Sister, Poison, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Canadians Honeymoon Suite and Platinum Blonde. However, as the night progressed and more alcohol was consumed people naturally got the urge to dance. Surprisingly, I was one of the many ready to take to the dance floor. Not that any of us would make Solid Gold dancers (how’s that for an 80’s reference), but there was a noted awkwardness when trying to work the floor to We’re Not Going To Take It.

Later in the evening, someone decided to take action and switched the music. The last hour of so of the evening consisted of a bunch of late 30-somethings dancing around to "Ma-ma-ma My Poker Face" and other more modern dance tracks. And for someone who have always proclaimed to dislike this type of music…I admit it…it was great fun!

I don’t ever see me making of mix of it to play in my i-pod, but the next time alcohol tricks me into thinking I can dance, I will likely welcome the more modern tunes a little easier.

Remember me???

“Hello? Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?”

The heart of rock and roll is still beating......

A little over a year ago I was updating this blog 4 to 7 times a week!! A pace I could certainly not keep up once the realities of summer vacation ending came all too soon. At that time it seemed I went from calm waters to a category 5 hurricane - life sure got busy. I announced a brief hiatus and over a year has now passed.

I was very happy to have found an audience and people were reading, leaving comments and sending me emails. This blog quickly became my favourite pass time. I suspect many of my regulars have stopped checking to see if I have returned, but here I am. I'll have to crank the amps to 11 and see if I can get anyone to listen (read) again.

I may take somewhat of a different approach to the blog this time. I will attempt to update a couple of times a week, not daily. Also, I may stray from chatting exclusively about music and allow myself to talk about other things as well. I am not sure what shape this blog will take this time round – stay tuned. But fear not music lovers – if I am writing about anything, chances are rock and roll will always be a focus.

So just Aerosmith did so well in the 80's - my attempted comeback begins. Hmmmm.....what are some other of rock's greatest comebacks? I smell another top 10 list coming.

So.....holler if you hear me!!!!

Back soon!

Cheers!