Ghost - My First Ritual

The band Ghost has been putting out music for almost 10 years but somehow they've been under my radar until earlier this year. When I saw pictures of the band, I presumed they were a death metal type band so I never checked them out. Then one day, Spotify graced my mix with the song Rats and I immediately bought its album, Prequelle. It only took a couple more weeks before I grabbed their entire catalog.

Probably my favorite shot of the night

Sometimes when you hear a band for the first time, it's magic and just clicks with something in you. There is no doubt they'll become one of your favorites. I couldn't accurately describe their style of music if you asked me. Sure, I'd toss out styles like metal, gothic, psychedelic and their occult/Satanic lyrics. I'd mention they remind me in different ways of Black Sabbath, Queen, and even Kiss among other bands. You really have to hear them to get the vibe.

Everything about them just hits the right buttons for me. When I heard they were coming around, I actually didn't jump on it right away. I watched a few of their concert videos and decided there was no way I could miss this type of performance.

For those not familiar with the band, they are currently fronted by Cardinal Copia who succeeds the previous three singers: Papa Emeritus I, II, and III. The rest of the band are Nameless Ghouls and Ghoulettes hidden behind silver masks. This whole mythos behind the band is one of the things I really like about them. They are definitely a great band for Halloween! Fans will even dress in costume, see the Faith video below.

I'm not going to get into a song by song breakdown of the concert. Suffice it to say it was everything I hoped it would be and more!

Although the Ghouls and Ghoulettes don't speak (other than to sing) during the show, some of them do play off each other and Copia.

Copia has enough costume changes to make a pop diva jealous.

During the song Mummy Dust (which is about greed), air cannons shoot gold confetti and "Papa Dollars". I wasn't in the front to catch any but there were plenty behind the front barrier and the security guys were nice enough to grab them and hand them out.

If you want to check them out, here's a few of my favorite songs. Not only will these give you a good idea of their sound but I think seeing them really gets their vibe across.

Rats (obviously)
Cirice (Great video!)
Danse Macabre
 Square Hammer
Faith (concert video)
He Is (tiny bit NSFW)

And I've got lots more photos on Flickr. I took around 120(!) but out of those I think only 30 or so were worthy.

If you want to see all the participants in the Countdown to Halloween, don't fret just click below.

Rick Astley in Concert

I went to see Mr. Astley this past Sunday night at the House of Blues in Boston. I saw him last February when Mrs Dex needed someone to go to the show with her. Even though I didn't know most of the songs, I liked them and enjoyed the show because Rick puts on a great show. It's not a huge production, but he's got such a great stage presence you can't help but have a good time.

When he came back around, I was looking forward to going. We got there early and were much closer to the stage for this show.

Of course, he did the hits, some new songs, and some older ones. 

He even covered Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You."

Last year's show was the final one of that tour and things got a bit crazy when they went into an insane cover song medley. He mentioned that because they were just getting this tour started, he was going to reign it in and stick to the set list. He, and the band, did a shot to toast that show.

And they closed the show out with Rick playing drums and covering AC/DC's "Highway to Hell!"

What? You didn't think you were going to read a Rick Astley post and not get Rickrolled?
But seriously, they did close out with "Highway to Hell."

If you haven't check out anything from his latest album, I highly recommend "This Old House."

Galactic Empire Invades Boston

Not so long ago in this very galaxy, there was a Kickstarter by some crazy guys calling themselves Galactic Empire. They play heavy metal versions of Star Wars themes while dressed as the bad guys. They sounded awesome and although I thought they'd get shutdown for legal reasons, I backed the project. I was pleasantly surprised when the project finished and I got the CD. Now, they are on the road, bringing their music to the masses.

There were three other bands that opened for them. The first two were local: Quick Machine (80s style rock and my fave of the three) and Without Warning (metal with a bit of prog mixed in, they covered Iron Maiden's The Trooper). The third band has been on the road with Empire and they're called Dangerkids. I think the term for their style is metalcore and while it's not something I'd seek out, they put on a hell of a show. It was a cross between what I always imagined an 80s punk show would be and 90s metal.

And then it was time to witness the power of a fully armed and operational metal station! I thought it would be fun to do a FB live video of their first song, the Main Title. FB Live was not designed for shooting in dimly lit clubs while on wifi apparently. Not only that, but it turned my landscape into portrait view during the feed which made me a little embarrassed. The video quality is not great but the audio is decent if you want to check it out.

The band was amazing. I have never yelled so much at a show where there were no lyrics to be sung. You may notice that their outfits kinda sorta look like the characters but are different. They did their own takes on the characters, not only to avoid legal trouble, but to make it easier to perform in them.

A Rebel spy is brought on stage and dealt with

 They did a couple bits during the set that were fun but mostly they played all the songs from their album. Dark Vader prefaced "Across the Stars", the love theme from Attack of the Clones, by saying "This song is very personal to me. It's about my love for Padme and my hatred of sand!"

This guy, Bass Commander, was my favorite. 

He had an incredible energy throughout the set and was constantly in motion.

During the show, a couple guys dressed as Jawas were moving through the crowd and rocking out. I'm pretty sure they weren't even with the band!

This video I shot with my camera and it came out much better than the live stream.

 

After the show, the guys came out (sans costumes) to meet people and I got them to sign my poster. I had to follow another guy around because I had no idea what they looked like out of costume! They were genuinely cool dudes who appreciated the fans.

The tour has wrapped but I highly recommend checking them out. Head over to their Facebook page to keep up with news and buy stuff. The album is totally worth it! I can only hope there is another.

There's a few more pics on Flickr if you're interested.

Duran Duran with Chic

Last week we took a short trip to the Mohegan Sun casino in CT to see Duran Duran. We did do a small bit of gambling, and when I say small it's not in the sarcastic opposite way! High rollers, we are not. We stuck to the licensed slot machines: Wizard of Oz, Walking Dead, Superman (1978), Wonder Woman (TV series), and Batman '66 all of which were pretty cool. Not so cool they gave us a lot of money, but hey, that's gambling!

Now, I could probably make a list of 100 bands I've heard on the radio and nowhere near that list would be Chic. They opened for Duran Duran and it was like stepping into the 70s!

Maybe you don't know Chic by name, but I bet you're familiar with their big hits like "I Want Your Love" and "Le Freak". Of course they played these, but they also did a medley of just a few of the songs that Nile Rodgers has had a hand in writing and/or producing over the years, including Daft Punk's "Get Lucky"! Seriously, check out his Wiki page!

They did a tribute to Bowie by playing "Let's Dance". Rodgers having produced the album of the same name. In the current age of "music" we're in, there's something really cool about seeing a full on band including keyboards, sax, trumpet, and back-up dancers/singers.

They ended with "Good Times" and as Rodgers intro'd the song saying "a dance party always breaks out when we play this," a whole lot of audience members were brought on stage (above) to fully bring the party atmosphere.

If you'd asked me before this show "Hey, do you want to see Chic in concert?" I'd probably have been indifferent. But now that I've seen them, my answer would be "Heck, yeah!" They put on a great show with songs that might take you back...depending on how old you are. They're also a lot of fun!

Duran Duran opened with Paper Gods, it being the Paper Gods tour and all, and then went into Wild Boys. It's one of my favorites and it's a fantastic live song to get the crowd going. I'm not going song by song, but you can see the playlist at Setlist.

I bet you can guess this next one, which is another favorite of mine...

They brought Nile Rodgers on stage for "Notorious" and "Pressure Off". Even Simon LeBon has been quoted saying if not for Rodgers, the band may not have made it through the late 80s.

During "Pressure Off" there was confetti.
Lots of confetti!

And then in the middle of "Planet Earth" they broke into a bit of Bowie's "Space Oddity" which kinda hit me in the feels after Chic's "Let's Dance."

Here's a few more random pictures, if you want to see all 155 (!) from the show, head over to Flickr. My wife usually gets seats on John Taylor's side of the stage but this time we were on the opposite side so you'll see lots of shots of lead guitar Dom Brown.

NYC & Duran Duran

Things were a little quiet last week because I was in New York for the first half of the week. Things will probably continue to be a little quiet around here for the next week or so as I spend my normal "blog time" ramping up for the Countdown to Halloween. Also, for those wondering, the SummerSwap is still going on! Should have a field report soon.

The main reason we went to NYC was to see Duran Duran as they start touring for their latest album, Paper Gods. If you're saying "Are they still around?" the answer is yes, yes they are. In fact, I defy you to listen to "Pressure Off" and not get it stuck in your head.
More on the concert later.

While doing touristy things, we found NBC was out in Times Square promoting Heroes Reborn. I have to admit, when I first heard it was coming back as a finite series, I wasn't all that excited. But the more I see of it, the more I want to see of it!

They had a "4D" experience you could go through to get tested for powers. There was a pretty long line and it would take about 3-4 minutes per person. A little quick math told me I'd be standing there at least an hour. It seemed pretty cool but not wait in line an hour cool. Luckily, if you just wanted to do the free photo op, you could skip ahead to do just that.

And as soon as you fill out your info on the computer, BOOM! You get an email with a link to your pic. Not only that, but it also gets plastered on the Jumbotron.

One of the other fun spots on our trip was Dylan's Candy Bar. Oh. My. God. If you ever have the chance to see this place, go! Not only do they have probably every candy you can think of, they also make their own fudge and there's an ice cream shop on the top floor. You'll be seeing more from there in October but here's a few shots for now...

This doesn't really show the scale of this giant chocolate bunny.

Just a sampling of the variety of deliciousness.

Remember these?
Nothing appeals to kids like candy based on things that can kill you.

And then, there was the concert. I got to meet some new people, one of which is an autopsy photographer, so that was an added bonus!

We got there a few hours early after getting a text from another friend that said the band was popping out to sign for the people waiting at the back door. Unfortunately/fortunately, by the time we got there they weren't outside anymore but were doing a sound check. So we got to hear a few songs before lining up at the front door.

I had heard the first two ladies in line had gotten there around 6:30am! We got there almost 12 hours later and were still able to be in the first three rows for a general admission show. It was a great show, as always!

^^ Probably my favorite shot of the night. ^^

So those are just three of the 98 shots I have!
If you want to check out the rest, head over to my Flickr album.

Doctor Gasp Show & CD Giveaway

The day after getting back from vacation I found out that local musician Doctor Gasp (aka Dan Blakeslee) was playing in Salem. I make it a point to never miss one of his shows because he's a cool guy and his music really embodies the New England Halloween vibe.

It also happened to be the release of his second Doctor Gasp album: Vampire Fish for Two.

He always brings a pumpkin patch of retro Halloween lights to decorate the front of the stage. And dig that tentacled guitar!

Gasp and the Eeks actually played two short sets. Between the sets, another band took the stage. Their name? Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion! I'm glad I stuck around to watch them because they were really good! Go check out that link and show em some love.



Here's one of two videos I took of Doctor Gasp. The quality is better on the other one because I was closer, but I think you'll recognize this tune!



Like I said, there's another video and there's also a few more photos if you'd like to see them, head over to Flickr. After the show I went over to say hi and pick up the new CD. I also picked up a second copy to give away to one of you! The CD is the handmade limited version on this page. It's also signed and hand numbered 25/1000.



To enter, just leave a comment below on what you listen to to get in the October mood..
As Halloween is just a week away, the entry period will end at 8am EST 10/26 so I can get it out in time for you to listen to it. I'll also toss in whatever other spooky swag I can cram in a small flat rate priority box.

Hey! What's that?!
It's Countdown to Halloween and Blog-O-Ween!