Concert Review Meanderings - Breaking Benjamin

So this past Tuesday night (the 24th) a couple friends and I moseyed up Asheville to attend Breaking Benjamin's sold out show at The Orange Peel. This was my 4th time seeing Benjamin Burnley and the cast of characters perform live. This show featured a good selection of songs off of their five albums with a heavy emphasis on 2015's "Dark Before Dawn" but also included the hits and other fan favorites.

One of the reasons I love listening and attending Breaking Benjamin shows is that I know that I will get a solid, professional and dare I say grateful attitude from Benjamin and the band. I sincerely believe him when he states the reason that they are out there performing live is for their love of their fan base. He mentions it several times at each show and you know that he is not mailing it in at any of their shows. He has a great rapport with the people at the shows be they at the front of the stage or way in the back.

Cool thing is that they keep their ticket prices reasonable as well. Face value for the ticket was $36 for two hours of solid ass rock music which also included a decent length set by the openers out of Detroit, MI called Wilson. Every time I thought of the name to myself I expected Tim Allen to magically appear. I am not familiar with Wilson's music and I guess the best way to describe it would be hard rock bordering on thrash metal. They did a pretty good AC/DC cover of "Back In Black" as well.

Breaking Benjamin's Set List Song/Album :
So Cold (We Are Not Alone)
Angels Fall (Dark Before Dawn)
Sooner or Later (We Are Not Alone)- featuring Keith Wallen on lead vocals
Blow Me Away (Shallow Bay)
Simple Design (We Are Not Alone)
The Imperial March / Bulls on Parade / Smells Like Teen Spirit / Walk / Sad But True
Polyamorous (Saturate)
Ashes of Eden (Dark Before Dawn)
Believe (We Are Not Alone) - featuring Aaron Bruch on lead vocals
Never Again (Dark Before Dawn)
Breath (Phobia)
Failure (Dark Before Dawn)
Until the End (Phobia)
I Will Not Bow (Dear Agony)
Encore:
The Diary of Jane (Phobia)

Although I loved every song and I pretty much sang aloud on all of them some of my favorites this night were "Sooner or Later", "Breath", "I Will Not Bow" and the gorgeous "Ashes of Eden". "Ashes" had Benjamin leaving the stage and joining fans in the first rows touching hands and doing fist bumps. Very cool!

As always Breaking Benjamin performs an awesome medley of songs from bands that had a big impact on them over time. They always start it off with "The Imperial March" from Star Wars as Ben Burnley says is the anthem for geeks and nerds like him. LOL. Good line! That segues into Rage Against The Machine (Bulls..), Nirvana (Smells..), Pantera (Walk) and Metallica (Sad..).I always enjoy this bit and over time they have added songs to the medley.

My only complaint is some of my fave songs are left off the set. Songs like "Give Me A Sign", "Medicate" and "Rain". However I have heard these in previous shows so it's all good. It was mentioned at the show that they are working on new material so I am hoping this gets released in 2017 if not my current Breaking Benjamin CDs will continue to be in heavy rotation in the house and in car CD player.

Peace and rock on!

Food Review Meanderings - Mamacitas

So anybody that sees my Orange Peel concert posts on Facebook will often see a mention or two of my love for Mamacitas Mexican Grill which is located right nearby on Biltmore Avenue. In fact only Wicked Weed Brewing stands in between the OP and Mamacitas. Wicked Weed is also an awesome place especially for some pretty spectacular brewed on-site craft beers and funky food choices. I will have to blog about Wicked Weed one of these days. Likely after one of those nights that I partake in several pints of awesome beers by their fire pit.

The really cool thing about Asheville is that they have some great places to get good food at really affordable prices. One of those places is definitely is Mamacitas Mexican Grill. Check out this part of the menu:

1. Choose OneBurrito, Taco Pair, Burrito Bowl or Salad
2. Fillings, Delicious Fillings

Grilled Chicken - citrus OR chiptotle marinated …$7.49
Avocado & Black Bean - avocado - black beans - mexican rice …$6.99
Pulled Pork - slow cooked pork - adobo sauce …$7.49
Baja Fish - cabbage- baja sauce …$7.49
Citrus Tofu - organic tofu citrus marinated …$7.49
Chorizo Verde - house-made deliciouness …7.49
Grilled Steak - salsa marinated-cooked to order …$9.99
Grilled Shrimp - guajillo marinated-Oaxacan style …$9.99
Veggie Mama - sweet potato-kale-black beans …$7.49
Ground Beef - seasoned beef-chipotle sauce …$7.49

I always go for the Chorizo Verde Burrito which is absolutely massive (see pic below). In the last few months I have this strange fixation on sausages related to a country's cuisine be it Polish, Portuguese, Italian, German or Mexican. May as well throw in Cajun Country's andouille sausage as well. Yeah yeah I know I have issues. Tell me something that I don't know.

So I get this huge effing burrito filled with chopped or diced chorizo verde which is basically ground pork shoulder mixed with fresh poblano chile, fresh serrano chiles,cilantro and ground spinach powder. Yes it has a little bite to it. Added to this in the burrito are black beans, Mexican style rice, finely shredded Mexican cheese, fresh diced jalapenos, pico de gallo and more cilantro. Usually I will get a side of fried plantains on the side which are otherworldly awesome. Deep fried plantains are my raison etre for using a deep fryer at home. Absolutely epic. I didn't get those the other night. I took the homemade chips on the side and added some tomatillo salsa verde and a spicy chipotle salsa.

Knowing that I was going to partake in some craft beers at the Dweezil Zappa show and that I had a 70 mile drive home later that night I only took a couple of glasses of ice water to help alleviate the spiciness of my food choices. LOL. I will say though that their beverage prices are extremely reasonable just like the rest of their menu is as well. End result to wallet that night for that awesome tasting burrito was $8.01 or $27 Canadian. LOL. Geezus some of the drek that you can get at fast food places costs more and that is for fake processed shite. Super value at Mamacitas Mexican Grill!

I'll end this blog saying that I have tried on many occasions at home to perfect burrito plates especially with leftovers that remain from my cooking for one adventures (haha) but my efforts are always for naught as my burritos fall apart and pretty much become a messy salad of sorts. I think my burritos are too wet. Okay that looks weird. Too wet. Hmm. Pretty sure I will edit that line at some future date. I just can't think of a better term right now. LOL.

In honor of this blog, it's time for a good tequila shot!!!

Concert Review Meanderings - Dweezil Zappa

So this past Wednesday night I headed up to The Orange Peel to catch Dweezil Zappa's "Cease and Desist" show aka "Dweezil Zappa Playing Whatever The F@%k He Wants" show. Turns out there is some family acrimony on who rightfully owns the name Zappa so Dweezil Zappa has to be very careful on how he markets the shows. His younger siblings Diva (37) and Ahmet (42) and those are their ages not their IQs though those could be state that they own the family surname Zappa and that Dweezil Zappa needs to "Cease and Desist" using the "Zappa Plays Zappa" moniker and that he can not sell any merchandise at his shows with the likeliness of their Dad. They even tried to copyright Frank's moustache for fuck's sake. Geezus how petty!

Anyways Dweezil Zappa has been performing the "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour since 2006 and has done over 1000 shows with a smorgasbord of musicians over time and on this latest tour he has several players that have been with him for years. One thing about Frank Zappa's music is that it is quite complex with constant time and beat changes. The rhythm section are Ryan Brown on drums and Kurt Morgan on bass. Ryan works like crazy and is great drummer with nary a break during the whole show. Frank didn't write ballads. LOL. Multi-instrumentalist Scheila Gonzales has been there since the beginning and keyboard player Chris Norton has been there for quite a while as well. The newest members are David Luther on vocals and horns and Cian Coey on vocals as well. Every band member had time to shine during the 145 minute show (2H25M). The musicality of the band is incredible and their versions of Frank's music was fantastic. Dweezil has some serious guitar chops. Any doubts on how good he is would be rendered null and void if y'all check out the instrumental "Apostrophe" from the January 17th show at Jannus in St. Petersburg on YouTube. The Florida one not the Trump one. LOL.

In fact "Apostrophe" was one of the highlights of the show for me. This is an instrumental featuring guitar, bass and drums and was written by Frank Zappa, Jack Bruce (legendary bassist of supergroup Cream) and the very troubled drummer Jim Gordon. The song comes from Frank Zappa's 18th album of the same name released in 1974. Frank's first album "Freak Out" was released in 1966. 18 albums in 8 years. Holy Eff Batman says Robin. "Apostrophe" was his highest charting album at #10 and also featured "Cosmic Debris" which was another highlight of the show and it also had the classic comedic song "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow". Sadly that song didn't make the setlist. One could have a show of only Frank's comedy songs and you would still come away impressed on how good the music is in these tunes. The album itself has the following genres: comedy rock, progressive rock, hard rock and jazz fusion. Not exactly the usual same old same old huh.

The setlist (just below) for the show featured over 25 songs and had out and out rockers, the comedy songs, the satirical songs, the statement songs, the guitar songs, the horn songs and pretty much everything else in including kazoos, beach toys and fake boobs. You had to be there for that last one (Fembot In A Wet...). LOL. Another favorite of mine was "Black Napkins" with the dual horns and the solos. Beautiful song!

Help, I'm a Rock / Transylvania Boogie
It Can't Happen Here
You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here
Harry, You're a Beast / The Orange County Lumber Truck
Lemme Take You to the Beach
How Could I Be Such a Fool?
Who Are the Brain Police?
What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning?
Shove It Right In
Flower Punk
Inca Roads
Black Napkins
Apostrophe
Teen-Age Wind
Montana
Zomby Woof
Doreen
You Are What You Is
Yo' Mama
Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt
On the Bus
Keep It Greasey
Packard Goose
Watermelon in Easter Hay

Encore:
Ride My Face to Asheville
The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing
Cosmik Debris
Muffin Man

All in all it was great show. Fantastic value. Seeing this performance gives me a more appreciative view of the complexity of Zappa's music and how much he was before his time.

Abbey Road - The Orange Peel (01/14/17)

So last night was my first music event of the year after last weekend's snow event and it started off with a great show. I drove up to Asheville again. LOL. It's like my second home. Hmm perhaps third home if I throw in Sanibel as my number two. The band that was performing at the OP are called Abbey Road LIVE and as the name implies they played the Beatles 1969 classic album from the opening song on side one "Come Together" through to side two's epic "Medley". The band's members are from the Athens, GA area and have been touring since 2002. Unlike many Beatles tribute bands they do not dress the part with the wigs and "uniforms". These guys let do the music and their skills do the talking. Don't get me wrong; some of the bands doing the Mop Top tribute do a great job as well. I am thinking of The Return who I have seen a couple of times in recent years.


First thing I noticed last night coming into the venue was that it was an all ages show which is pretty darn cool when you see teenagers of the 2010s attending a show to appreciate music that is 50+ years old. Their parents did a great job exposing them to great music. Don't get me started with most of the noise that is on the radio bands nowadays! I will save that for another blog or ten. LOL.

So onto the show we go! I was all of 7 yrs old when Abbey Road the album was released so I can easily say that I did not hear this music in my little BBG world at that time. That was the year that my father died. Wow that's a sad remember when. My Mom was not a Beatles fan. She was more a Jerry Vale and Renée Martel and Ginette Reno fan. Okay that is more of a pleasant remember when. I actually like those artists. Jerry Vale was oh so smooth.

I probably really started hearing the songs in the mid 70s when I started listening to 97.7 CHOM-FM in my birth hometown of Montreal. Great thing back then on CHOM is that they would literally play any cut off the album and they would play it in its entirety. Here I'm referring to Lennon's classic paean to Yoko Ono "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". All 7m44s of it. Abbey Road LIVE did an awesome job on this bluesy stoner rock classic. A+ to Abbey's lead guitarist who I call the Tom Petersson look-alike. LOL.

The band members are great musicians. The Beatles were way more mature and experimental in their later days in their lyrical content and musicianship in comparison to the early Beatles stuff which was fun and all and risque for the times but kind of bubble gum to me. Just my opinion. I am not an expert. I like pop ditties from time to time but give me "Come Together", "I Want You" and "The Medley" any day. So they started off with the rock songs"Come" which segued into "Something" and I knew I was in for a special music night. Then came the pop songs "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "Oh Darlin" and "Octopus Garden". The latter being one of my least favorite Beatles song. A close runner up to that tune would be "Yellow Submarine". Side One ends with "I Want You".

Side Two begins with another great George Harrison song "Here Comes The Sun". Such a beautiful song! Turns out this song was written in Eric Clapton's garden. George and Eric had an interesting and odd relationship. Think Patti! Abbey Road LIVE did an awesome version of it. That was followed by the pretty "Because" that was one of the few songs that Lennon, McCartney and Harrison all sang in unison. Sure they harmonized tons but most songs featured one of them on lead and not all three as one.

Then the highlight moment for me from the Abbey Road album was played which is the 15 minute medley that closes out the album. Beatles geeks like me love that song and can sing or mumble through all eight pieces of the Medley. As it was being played by Abbey Road LIVE I was looking around to see who else was way into it. There were quite a few us. Men mostly. Mostly in their 50s and bald, balding and baldest. LOL. Us geeks were there swaying, riffing, drumming and singing mumbling from "You Never Take My Money" all the way to the majestic "The End". The great Ringo drum solo was featured and was very cool.

That was the first set. 47 minutes of amazing music! A short break followed for costume change, rest break for the band and BBG sitting his butt down outside in the smoking section. I really do not miss smoking. No lecture forthcoming. LOL. Just an observation. They have seats outside in the smoking section and it was not too crowded hence my being out there. I am way too old and big to park myself on a floor.

Then the second set began and that featured a lot of the early and later Beatles songs that many people came to hear. You know like "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Don't Let Me Down", "Birthday", "Hard Day's Night", "Oh Bla Di, Oh Bla Da", "Hello Goodbye", Twist & Shout","Day In The Life", etc etc. That set lasted about an hour and boy oh boy people young and old were singing along during this set. They did an impromptu tribute to David Bowie and sang a great off the cuff version of "Changes". Cool thing that the band did was take some requests. Problem there is that the Beatles had so many songs and unless Abbey Road LIVE was going to play for four hours there was no way to get them all in. Abbey Road LIVE has more than 100 Beatles songs in their repertoire.

It was a great show! Highland Gaelic Ale is great beer! Dweezil Zappa is next on the docket.