Newsletter 2-11-08

Hey Everyone,

So did you watch the Grammy's last night? Did you notice that rock was hardly represented? The only rock band performance of the night was Foo Fighters. And the best line of the night came in the least likely place, from Vince Gill, who humorously cut down Kanye West by saying, "just got an award presented to me by a Beatle. Have you had that happen yet, Kanye?"

But I guess what really bothered me was the opening of the show and Alicia Keys (whose music I actually like), but should not be singing along with an old video performance of Frank Sinatra. That's as bad as 12 years ago when Natalie Cole ruined "unforgettable", by doing that ridiculous duet with her long deceased father. It also ranks up there with Gene Kelly dancing with a digitally inserted vacuum cleaner (for those who don't remember there was an advertisement that did this in the late 80's.)

Anyway, that really has nothing to do with this e-mail.

I want to thank everyone who came out Saturday to celebrate the BlowUpRadio..com & Lazlo's Den Free Concert at Buddie's Tavern. The performances were stellar, beginning with the last minute addition of Frankenstein 3000 to the bill. Following them was Slappy, reunited for the first time in 8 years, and sounding great. They have a new anthology CD out called, "loud, fast & prompt", and you can go to http://www.myspace.com/slappynj to find out how to get yourself a copy. Then we had back to back performances from two North Carolinian bands, Midtown Dickens and The Future Kings Of Nowhere. Going in I knew little of Midtown Dickens, except that they were touring with the Future Kings, who I already knew rock (and put out one of my favorite albums of 2007, a song from it is still available thru the end of Feb. on our site's free downloadable sampler CD). Well midtown Dickens turned out to be equally as good as the Future Kings. Check out both bands at their respective My Space pages, http://www.myspace.com/midtowndickens and http://www.myspace.com/thefuturekings.

We've got some new music on BlowUpRadio.com from Slappy, Bad Apples, and Nerve Tonic!

And speaking of Nerve Tonic, their lead singer, Eugene M. DeRobertis, will be stopping by Lazlo's Den on Thursday night (Valentine's Day). You see in addition to fronting an awesome local band, he is also a professor of psychology and the author of, "The Loser Magnet Handbook - A Quick Guide To Understanding The Romantically Challenged". A simple, clear guide for identifying and avoiding the problems most commonly associated with a pattern of unsuccessful relationships. Find out more about this book on Lazlo's Den, then purchase your own copy at this link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780595487127&itm=1

And last but certainly not least, here are your concert picks for this week:

Lazlo (BlowUpRadio.com)
Saturday the Kabuki Killers play a rare live gig at the Clash Bar. I don't much care for the Clash Bar, it's layout includes a support beam in front of the center of the stage, and the times I've been there the sound has been less than perfect, but Kabuki Killers are a fun classic MC5-like punk band worth seeing nonetheless. Also on the bill is the always rocking Six To Eight Mathematics.

Jim Testa (Jersey Beat)
Sunday, February 17
THE BLACK HOLLIES, The Insomniacs, special guests - Maxwells, 1039 Washington St. Hoboken - 8:30 pm, $8, 18+
Two of the best 60's garage-rock revivalists in NJ convene at Maxwells this Sunday. The next day is President's Day so you can stay out late on Sunday night and rock 'n' roll!

Gary Wien (Asbury Music)
My pick for the week takes place Friday at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park when the New York Dolls (along with Jersey's own Steve Conte on guitar) headline a bill that includes Trench and Frankenstein 3000.

That's all for this week folks.

Peace,
Lazlo
www.BlowUpRadio.com