Wow, yesterday was a crazy ass day!  At noon, we had Christian rockers RED drop by the studio to do an interview and acoustic song with our very own Dex followed by HALESTORM at one.  Of course, it was great seeing the guys of RED again in person for, like, the fourth time now!  I think we’re all on first name bases by now!  HALESTORM, on the other hand, I had never met before and, let me say, their singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale is pretty damn cute!  I didn’t get to stay long with them, however, since I had to leave for the P1 Lounge with TRAPT at Whitestone Studios in downtown Greenville.

Unfortunately, TRAPT’s singer Chris Brown was ill and trying to recuperate before last night’s show, so we proceeded with a meet and greet with the rest of the band as well as a bit of a Q and A session.  I, of course, enjoyed some free Papa John’s pizza and drinks and mingled with some of our P1s in the meantime while exploring the kick ass set up at Whitestone Studios.

Afterwards, I had to bolt back to the studio since I was on the air and all (how I managed to be both places at the same time is a secret I’ve sworn to keep)!

Once I was done with my air shift, Rebecca and I grabbed a bite to eat with Jordan Zucker, TRAPT’s record rep and then went out to the show at the Handlebar.  We got there as the opening band, INEPT was finishing up their set.  HALESTORM was next as Lzzy opened their set by demonstrating the power of her voice a capella.  Halfway through their set, the drummer Arejay Hale (Lzzy’s younger brother) whipped a pair of oversized drumsticks during a crazy ass drum solo as the rest of the band all brought out percussion instruments and proceeded to join their drummer in banging away on some skins!  I was impressed!

RED was next as they commanded the audience and even earned a crowd chant for an encore at the end of their set.  Unfortunately, they were unable to do an encore since it was time for TRAPT to take the stage.  At this point our feet were killing us so we headed upstairs to the Handlebar skybox and grabbed my former bandmate, Matt Nations of DOGFIGHT.  Being upstairs was indeed ideal as we got to sit and actually see the band seeing as none of us are too terribly tall - myself especially!

The show was great and wore my ass out from the long day of running around with bands on top of my daily duties, but that didn’t stop me from returning to work after midnight to finish up what I didn’t get done while running around!

Boy, yesterday was a long one!  Starting at around four in the morning I woke up with the worst pain from where I had my wisdom tooth pulled last week.  I got up, took a Vicodin, went back to bed and nothing.  I waited about an hour and then got back up and took four Ibuprofens.  After at least another half-hour, the pain finally began to subside, but then I got all itchy and started to doze off into some strange mini-dreams.  I finally passed back out for good a little after six which sucks because I had actually gone to bed right after getting home from my Applebee’s remote in Greer.  I was in the bed and out like a light shortly after midnight hoping to get a killer night’s sleep since I don’t get until nine and knowing the day had a lot in store.  Oh well, we press on!

After getting my office work done, I went to the studio to begin my air shift only to run right into Tyler, Dave and Dean of THEORY OF A DEADMAN right at the door!  Sarah, our promotions director was escorting them in along with P1 Big Country (or ‘Countsy’ if you will) and brought in some delicious sandwiches, cookies and such from Panera Bread!  So the guys went on the air with me as soon I first hit the air and preceeded to take over a play a few of their own selections including a double shot of BLACK SABBATH!

Not twenty minutes after their departure, Jonathan Jacobs (our Universal Republic rep) came in with Cody and Mike from HINDER.  They came in, enjoyed some of the leftover Panera goodness, popped on a few songs they wanted to hear including SEETHER’s new cover of WHAM’s “Careless Whisper” and even had time to take a call.  Check out the audio from both band’s in-studio invasions here!

Jonathan was celebrating his 32nd birthday and had me and Rebecca on the guest list at the show that night since I had given up my tickets so another staff member could go to the show.  I met her at my apartment shortly after seven and we had to hit an ATM since neither of us had cash on us to cover parking.  We got our tickets and made our way to our seats just as THEORY OF A DEADMAN started cranking out “Hate My Life” and then closed with “Bad Girlfriend”.  At least I got to see part of their set since they went on at 7:05!

HINDER went on next almost right at eight opening with “Use Me”, the first single from their latest album Take It to the Limit.  They played for around forty minutes and ended with their first hit single “Get Stoned”.  Jonathan came over and hung with me and Rebecca during most of their set then we all met up with Mark Hendrix, Stoneman from ROCK 101, Dex and a few other staff members and listeners to hang in the hall while waiting for CRUE.

MOTLEY CRUE’s set began just as AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” finished playing on the overhead.  The intro music began as the silhouette of an angel appeared followed by the silhouette of the Devil then the silhouette of the angel began to perform oral sex on the silhouette of the Devil.  This was just the first of an onslaught of sacrilegious imagery throughout the first portion of CRUE’s set.  I wasn’t offended but it made me uncomfortable and it seemed a bit out of place.  It would make me uncomfortable anywhere but I could see all that taking place at a MARILYN MANSON, SLAYER or CRADLE OF FILTH show but not so much at a MOTLEY CRUE show.

Musically speaking, the band was dead on and Mick Mars even seemed to get around fairly well despite his condition, but Vince Neil sounded like a castrated chipmunk - well, more so than usual!  The fireworks and pyrotechnics were a bit overwhelming and Rebecca is allergic to sulfur so we left after a few songs.  I believe we made it through “Shout at the Devil” which I think is one of CRUE’s stronger songs from their best album of the same name.  I’m not a big CRUE fan as I was planning on leaving early regardless, but even I was starting to actually taste the sting of the sulfur at that point.  Well, at least now I can say I’ve seen them live!

I know the weekend isn’t over yet, but I figured I’d go ahead and sum it up as of this far:  Friday night Rebecca and I went to go grab some dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s and then went out to Medusa’s to see IRONSIDE, a band I used to do a lot of shows with back in my days in DEAD AT DAWN.  The line-up was a motley crew of bands from North Carolina I’m not yet familiar with, but IRONSIDE was on their game when they took the stage with their new singer and guitarist.  Check them out if you want some serious hard-hitting metal here!

Rebecca once again had to take care of some work early Saturday but afterwards we went to the Haywood Mall to get my new watch adjusted and grab some lunch from the Jambalaya place in the food court.  We then drove around looking at some houses and then on to Wal-Mart to swap out my digital antenna and her mismatched shoes (one a 5 1/2 and the other an 8!).  I had to pick up a different flat antenna for $50 since they were out of the one I originally purchased but this one picks up local digital channels better so it works out!

We got home and popped in one of Becca’s Netflix Journey to the Center of the Earth with Brendan Fraser.  The movie wasn’t anything spectacular but entertaining with its surrealistic looking special effects.  Not one I would buy, but an enjoyable rental that looked great on my new 40″ LCD flat screen TV!

Journey to the Center of the Earth  \m/  \m/  \m/

After the movie, we went out to the Handlebar to see the newly reunited UNDONE open for HELLS BELLS the AC/DC Tribute Band.  UNDONE took the stage almost right at nine to get the crowd going which consisted of both old fans of the band as well as newcomers who were AC/DC fans that surely walked away fans of UNDONE at the end of the night!  And, of course, they closed their set with the local hit “Bag of Crazy” which won them best song in Upstate Unsigned’s Top Ten Songs of 2007 before encoring with their cover of GNR’s “Sweet Child o’ Mine”.

Not being a fan of AC/DC, Becca took my car and ran home to put her dogs to bed after UNDONE’s set while I caught some of HELLS BELLS’ set.  She came back to pick me up after I got to catch a few songs (including “Shot Down in Flames” and “T.N.T.” which were the two AC/DC covers I learned in my very first band, FEAR THE GHOST) and we grabbed a late dinner at IHOP.

We got home and watched the first half of another one of Becca’s Netflix Zombie Strippers featuring legendary porn star Jenna Jameson and Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund until we were both about to pass out from exhaustion.  We slept in this morning and then finished the movie which was a fun expedition of straight-to-video cheese chock full of gore and nudity and even more loaded with really bad lines!  Let’s not forget the epic one-on-one fight between the two lead zombie strippers with Jenna Jameson’s character shooting ping pong balls and even billiards from her nether regions!  CLASSIC!!!

Zombie Strippers  \m/  \m/  \m/

After finishing Zombie Strippers, we sat and watched My Best Friend’s Girl starring Dane Cook and Kate Hudson.  The movie was a funny and crude twist to your usual ‘date movie’ or ‘chick flick’ as Dane Cook plays “Tank”, a guy who makes extra cash by taking out acquaintances’ ex-girlfriends and treats them like crap so they run back to the guy they left with a newfound appreciation and devotion.  This plan, of course, backfires as he does the same for his roomate played by Jason Biggs only to find that his ex (Kate Hudson) is somewhat turned on by his antics.  As in most romantic comedies, it becomes a big mess that needs to be sorted but keeps the guy appeal with its blatantly crude humor.  A bit cookie-cutter but enjoyable for both sexes.

My Best Friend’s Girl  \m/  \m/  \m/

Making it a big, lazy movie day, we turned right around and popped in Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who which was a hundered - no, a THOUSAND times better than both live action attempts to bring Dr. Seuss’ beloved stories to the big screen!  The animation was incredible and even infused some seemingly hand-drawn sequences and the storyline was great and remained fairly true to that of Dr. Seuss.  Enjoyable for all ages!

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

Wow!  I just got back from one of the greatest concerts I have ever experienced!  I admit I have like severe ADD so I often lose interest and my mind wanders during 95% of all shows I go to, but this was one of the few shows that kept my attention entirely from beginning to end - a feat only accomplished by a distinguished few such as ROB ZOMBIE, LINKIN PARK and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA!  Both percussionists, Clown and Chris were all over the place and DJ Sid was constantly climbing all over Clown’s kit while it was spinning and lifting on the hydraulics - it’s no wonder he’s prone to getting injured on stage!

They opened with one of my favorites from the self-titled debut, “(Sic)” followed by a few others from the first album including “Wait and Bleed”.  They covered a ton of great material from all four albums and then came back to do an encore with “Surfacing” and “Spit It Out” the latter of which had an extended interlude in which Joey Jordison’s drum kit rose, spun and tilted forwards all while he was feverishly playing.

Of course this was just the end of a crazy ass day of having Corey Taylor and Clown invade the studio during my air shift to guest DJ and ride my ass!  It was great having them on to play killer tunes such as “Jesus Built My Hotrod” by MINISTRY and a double shot of SLAYER including “Angel of Death” and “War Ensemble”!  Of course Corey had to follow the SLAYER double shot with “Secret Lovers” by ATLANTIC STARR not to mention “Shake Your Booty” by KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND prior to both!  It was easily the most fun I have ever had on the air in my ten years of radio!  I’m actually listening to the audio right now as I write this!  Check out the podcast here!

Wow, it has been a crazy week with SLIPKNOT in town tonight at the BI-LO Center!  I can’t wait to do another blog tomorrow about it!  So, I am just now getting around to giving my rundown of last weekend!

Friday, Rebecca and I went out to Ground Zero to see GHOST IN THE MACHINE, WICKED JONES and SKIN KAGE.  Before the show, I was talking to Travis, guitarist of SKIN KAGE about his new B.C. Rich guitar which came with Rockfield pickups as did my new Traben bass.  I was surprised to hear that B.C. Rich was using Rockfield being a new and virtually unknown brand, but we both agreed that their sound was amazing.  I couldn’t exactly make out the sound of the pickups during SKIN KAGE’s set being my ears aren’t THAT good, but their set was great!

WICKED JONES put on an amazing show next with a style that is totally their own!  You just have to see this one!  GHOST IN THE MACHINE brought it like they always do and introduced a couple of new songs while they were at it!

The show ended after one in the morning and then Becca, our friend Michael and I all went to Waffle House for some late night chow.  We didn’t get home and get into bed until about 3:30 - which sucked because Rebecca had to be up at 6:30!  When the alarm went off, Becca wasn’t feeling too good since she had a good bit to drink but not enough time to sleep it off.  So she was hugging my toilet which at least allowed her to feel a bit better so she could make it through her day.

When she got home we watched one of Netflix movies, The House Bunny with Anna Faris which was actually pretty funny and was pretty much what I expected of a movie about a Playboy bunny becoming a geeky sorority’s house mother.

The House Bunny  \m/  \m/  \m/  \n

After the movie, we went out to grab food and some other things and stopped by Blockbuster to trade in one of my Total Access flicks for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa on Blu-ray.  The sequel brought back all of the lovable characters from the first film, especially the penguins (my favorites!), and introduced some new characters as well.  However, the film didn’t have as great appeal as it’s predecessor.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa  \m/  \m/  \m/

Sunday, I didn’t do much except rest in the wake of this crazy week!  Monday I had to work late being it was the only day this week I really could do so!  Last night I ran down to the Applebee’s in Anderson for week two of Applebee’s Late Night World Tour.  The turnout wasn’t as massive as week one was in Simpsonville, but it was a very passionate crowd that was really appreciative to have the Planet out representing!  I did some really horrible singing on “Eye of the Tiger” and “Crazy Train” on Guitar Hero: World Tour and my drumming on a couple of songs wasn’t much better!  Definitely a fun time but I’m looking forward to having even more fun tonight at the SLIPKNOT show and ecstatic about having Corey Taylor and Clown in the studio today to take over the airwaves during my show!  More tomorrow!

Well we now have our new 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama.  I enjoyed the inauguration with my highlights being the piece of music composed by John Williams (I was half expecting them to break out the Star Wars theme in the middle of it!), Obama’s speech which was more like a State of the Union address which I found appropriate considering the state of the Union and, of course, the reverend’s speech which was ‘colorful’ in its hopes for racial unity (”…when yellow will be mellow…” - CLASSIC!).

And don’t forget the NFL Conference Championship games took place last weekend with Arizona taking down Philly for the NFC Championship and Pittsburgh defeating Baltimore to take the AFC Championship.  So now the two will face-off at Super Bowl XLIII on February 1st and I know a few Steelers fans who couldn’t be happier!

Last Friday Rebecca and I went out to Ground Zero to support a few of our homegrown bands.  First OF GOOD AND EVIL took the stage with a guest vocalist helping out here and there since their vocalist was having problems with his voice - it is the season for that!  WHISKEY MOUNTAIN MACHINE was next with their brand of Southern flavored metal followed by PANACEA.  Becca and I had to leave early during their set because she had some rather early appointments the next morning which I regretted because PANACEA was unbelievably tight with a rather large full sound from a band with only one guitarist.

The next day I slept in but ended up running around town with Rebecca the better part of the day so we spent Saturday night in relaxing and catching a few DVDs.  Between Saturday, Sunday and Monday we took in several decent flicks.  First off, we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall a couple of weeks back so I figured I’d start with that one.  This is one I will definitely buy once it goes on sale for like ten bucks (or fifteen since Blu-rays are still a bit pricey) because it was hilarious once you get past the full frontal exposure of the main character - and I don’t mean Sarah Marshall who is played by the smokin’ hot Kristen Bell!

Forgetting Sarah Marshall  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

On Monday, I traded in a few of my Blockbuster Total Access flicks for some in-store new releases and I bought Wanted on Blu-ray.  One of the movies I picked up was Hellboy II: The Golden Army since Rebecca had just seen the first one on TV.  The second film was somewhat better than the first but I wasn’t a big fan of the first film although I think Hellboy is a great character with his sarcasm and insubordinate nature.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army  \m/  \m/  \m/  \

And I can’t say enough good things about Wanted!  When it was in the theaters I had little interest in seeing it because I am not big on assassin action flicks.  However everybody kept telling me how great the film was so I eventually caved and went and saw it in the theater.  I was FLOORED!  I had been waiting to see if I’d get a Blu-ray player before buying it on DVD, so now that I have a PS3, I picked it up on Blu-ray.  Simply amazing!  If you don’t like it then YOU SUCK!!!  LOL!!!

Wanted  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

I also rented Pineapple Express on DVD but haven’t had time to watch it yet but be looking out for a review of that one too!

So far this year has been relatively slow and uneventful as January and February usually are compared to other months of the year.  I have spent the first two weeks of the year mostly working and watching movies and playing Lego Star Wars on my PS3.  Last Friday I finally made it out to catch some shows for the first time so far this year.  And, yes I said shows meaning plural since NOXIOUS was having their cd release party at the Handlebar with HOLDCELL from ATL and my old band DOGFIGHT while my best friend Kenny’s band (also my old band - damn, I’ve been around!) MARTIANS SEE RED was playing down the road at The Real Gypsy.

I got to the Handlebar just as DOGFIGHT was halfway through their first song, a cover of SKRAPE’s “What You Say” which rolled right into their cover of DIO’s “Holy Diver” which was my favorite part of their set because new vocalist Phil’s voice fit the bill for the song perfectly.  Atlanta’s HOLDCELL was next and they were really good with a surprisingly full sound from a three-piece band.

Right after their set I had to head to The Real Gypsy to see Kenny and the boys do their set.  I got there halfway through the second band’s set (there were FIVE bands total!) and then MSR hit the stage.  Their set was amazing as usual with Kenny commanding the role of frontman the way that only he can.  Hey, he’s my best friend I’m allowed to be biased!  LOL!  Go check them out and judge for yourself here!  Check out “Lost”!

After they finished their set, I said my goodbyes and ran back to the Handlebar just to catch the last half of NOXIOUS’ last song!  I then went home, crawled into bed and was there just long enough to fall asleep when Kenny called as he, his girlfriend Erica and his drummer Troy were all crashing at my apartment.

Rebecca and I both had to work on Saturday and went to church for the first time in months on Sunday and tried to rest a bit along the way!

This week has been business as usual but, last night I went to jam with Chris and Jeff formerly of HALLOWBODY.  Everything went well as we spent most of the night just building chemistry and sampling some of the material they’ve recorded.  They were excited about getting me on board so hopefully things will continue to go well and I can get back into action!  Plus it was fun to really get a chance to put my new bass to use!

This weekend was a great weekend for some live music on rather opposite ends of the spectrum.  Friday night, Rebecca and I grabbed some dinner and headed to Ground Zero to catch the CD release party for LECHEROUS NOCTURNE’s The Age of Miracles Has Passed.  There were some great openers including both death and black metal bands but everyone gave proper homage to the metal gods when they took the stage at the end of the night.  Even if death metal isn’t your thing, you can’t deny the musicianship of the band as their guitarists’ fingers move faster than my eyes!  A truly intense live show!  Check out their video for “Just War Theory”:

Saturday I did a bunch of nothing except play Nintendo and watch movies including one of the worst films I have ever seen and possibly ever made called A Night to Dismember.  Considering it’s 25 years old but looks over 40, I’m not going to bother reviewing it but I will have some DVD reviews to compile in the next couple of days.

Sunday was this year’s visit from the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA which is quite possibly one of the best live shows you’ll ever see and you can see it every year around Christmas.  TSO is a perfect marriage of rock and symphony catered for the holidays complete with pyrotechnics, laser lights and stage robotics.  It’s a show for all ages, all generations and many different musical tastes.  If you did not make it out this year, make plans to go next year and mark your calendar once they set the date!

Tuesday, we had HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD swing by the Planet studio to do an interview and video with Dex before their show that night at the Handlebar.  I stepped in to introduce myself and meet with the controversial rap rockers and even had a chance to strike a pose with a few of the guys.  That night Rebecca and I went out to see them along with a couple of local bands A VACANT SOUL and SHALLOW PALACE.  HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD stormed the stage with their masks on and jammed out their breakthrough hit single “Undead” and a few other songs before retiring the masks.  They were incredibly tight with their heavy blend of alternative rock and hip hop.  They really astonished me at how good they were with their performance and stage presence.  I believe these guys have the potential of taking their act to a much larger scale and becoming this generation’s BEASTIE BOYS!

Being I got in late Tuesday night, had to take a while to wind down after the show AND had to get up early  (well, early for me anyways) Wednesday morning, I ended up passing out on my couch early Wednesday night.  I woke up around 1:30 and took my dog Molly out before going to bed.  While she was doing her canine functions, I saw a couple of dark figures cutting through the bushes heading into the neighboring apartment complex.  Needless to say, this was very suspicious so I made a note to report it to the front office first thing in the morning.  When I got up Thursday morning and took Molly out, the cops were in front of the apartment building next to mine getting a report from one of my neighbors who’d had her car broken into and her boyfriend’s had been STOLEN!  So I strolled over to the police officer and reported what I had seen the night before and he informed me that the perpetrators had broken into several cars throughout my complex and  one or more of the neighboring areas.  I wish now I had called the authorities immediately!

After a strange start to the day, I headed to work and got ready to lend a hand in taking Toys For Tots donations during my air shift since The Rise Guys had me covered in the studio during their 28-hour broadcast.  Thankfully it was warmer than the previous year, or the previous two days for that matter!  There was food galore and Rebecca and I donated a couple of toys which I had purchased the night before at Wal-Mart.  I got a hand-held Guitar Hero game on her behalf and picked up a plug n’ play game with Battleship, Mouse Trap and Simon on it from me.  She came by and had lunch with me and we dropped off our donations.

It was a great feeling to contribute and it made for a much better way to end my day as opposed to how it began!

Man, there was a TON of shows going on and around Halloween night!  Thursday night, Rebecca and I went out to Ground Zero to see WALLS OF JERICHO, ILL NINO and OTEP.  Being I get off work at 7, I had to run home, take care of my dog Molly and grab some dinner so we didn’t get to GZ until quarter after eight just as WALLS OF JERICHO was hitting the stage.  After their set, I spotted their vocalist Candace actually selling merch at their merch table!  I grabbed Becca and we went over to get our picture taken with her!

HEADSNAP took the stage downstairs next followed by ILL NINO on the main stage.  Locals BROKEN MERCY took over the downstairs stage next then OTEP wrapped up the main stage.  Overall it was a killer show and I’m glad we made it just in time to see the band Becca really wanted to see!  OTEP was a little on the bizarre side….and that’s coming from a guy named Twisted Todd!

The next night we went BACK to Ground Zero to catch one of many local Halloween shows going on all over the upstate and then some!  We ran around trying to get some last minute Halloween candy to give out at the show before running back to my apartment to suit up for the show as we went dressed as Li’l Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (that was our compromise giving her the sexy European look and me the classic scary look).  We got there as A VACANT SOUL was wrapping up their set downstairs and GHOST IN THE MACHINE was setting up for their set upstairs.  HARMDIVISION made their return next on the downstairs stage followed by HEADSNAP upstairs and OBC back downstairs followed by the costume contest.  Becca had to lead me onto the downstairs stage as my wolf mask gave me some serious tunnel vision and, on top of that, fogged up my glasses so I couldn’t see hardly anything!  However, we actually made it down to like the last three or four contestants in the contest!

It was a fun Halloween weekend!  Bring on Thanksgiving!  Then Christmas!