My New Brazilian Best Buddy (Whether I Want Him or Not!)

Lollapalooza was a few weeks ago, and the festival was mostly uneventful. But at the end of the first day, heading back home on the train, I met a music writer for Rolling Stone Brazil, fresh off the plane from Sao Paulo and living in the Chicago suburbs with his wife. Small world, huh? I gave him my card and figured that was that, until the phone calls and emails started. The guy was super friendly, almost suspiciously so, until Alma explained to me that Brazilians are known for their gregarious ways, and that any answer short of a "no" is generally interpreted as a big "yes."

Americans are, of course, masters at the "maybe," so splitting the difference the guy wore me down into taking him to a show, which I did: Wu-Tang Clan. It was a lot of fun, really, for the novelty alone. He's got other friends, and his wife, of course, but I get the impression he's more or less been let loose in Chicago to explore and have fun. Which means I'm sure I'll be seeing more of him soon.

Van Hasbeens

The last time I saw Van Halen they were a mess, and Sammy Hagar debuted one of the worst songs I've ever heard, a piece of poop called "Where Eagles Soar," or some such lame recruiting anthem. Anyway, a new Van Halen tour is looming, but the big news is that while original singer David Lee Roth is back, bassist and (vital) backing vocalist Michael Anthony is out. It's bad enough that they tried literallly airbrushing his image off of early album covers. But now comes the news that his backing vocals may be piped in on tape! How depressing is that. More importantly, I wonder if he gets some sort of mechanical royalty reward for that?

Daft Punk

The French dance duo Daft Punk have been blowing people away over the past year with their stadium sized light show spectacular. Oh, and some music, too. Here's some best of clip a dude made that reveals just what you've been missing.

Night and Day

OK, after taking a break waiting to catch up on rest, I realized that I may never catch up on rest. Or work, etc. So ... back to the blog!

I saw the reunited Crowded House twice this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. My review of the first night is here. The only awkward thing about this negative review is that the band was 10x better the second night. Better setlist, better banter, better performance, even a spontaneous cover of "A Day in the Life." Not bad at all!

I also really enjoyed seeing Neil Finn's son Liam perform both nights. He's a looped one man band, a la Jon Brion, but rougher around the edges. He has an album called "I'll Be Lightning" that's out overseas, but not out in the States until (I hear) January 2008. Which is as clear a license to illegally download it, enjoy it, and tel all your friends as it gets.