My A.C.L. Blog

After all these years of not going to Austin City Limits (ACL) Fest, I finally gave in. It's not that I am not a festival person, because I love music fests. It is just the music fests I prefer have better, faster, more hardcore or danceable music. ACL is also a place where posers and real hipsters alike go to listen to indie rock bands and act too cool for school. I mean, even though they weren't on any signs or promo material, I'd have sworn American Apparel or Urban Outfitters was a sponsor. It was headbands and bandana scarves galore.

Why go then if that stuff bugs me? Why put up with that and the heat? Well because Sunday The Foo Fighters and Against Me were on the bill. Not to mention Texas's own (Christian) rock group Fly Leaf. Sunday was a day where I could bypass the indie rock and see groups I actually wanted to see. I am not saying ACL "gets it" or does a good job of catering to my musical tastes, but Sunday was a good day for non hipsters to check out.

I arrived at Zilker Park, via the Capital Metro shuttle bus, at around one o' clock. The first band on my list was a local favorite of mine, The Octopus Project. Words can try to explain what The Octopus Project sounds like, but seeing them live is the only way you can know. They are unlike any band I have seen before. Even though they are often labeled as "experimental", they are way past the experimenting stage of their music. Their unique sound is so in tune and polished that they own whatever genre of music they are in. With no vocals and a theremin, they are sure to capture your interest. By the way, I had no idea what a theremin was until I saw The Octopus Project for the first time.

The Octopus Project played a good set, with guest instruments played by a local group of middle school aged kids accompanying them on stage for a few songs. The crowd loved it and cheered, and it was fun to see their reactions. It was evident that many had not seen or heard of them before. One guy next to me was just wondering why they didn’t have a singer. I told him they don’t need one. There were hundreds of other curious faces and looks of bewilderment. They are the quintessential festival band…a must see.

The next band I wanted to see was Fly Leaf, playing across the park over at the AT&T stage. Understand this about ACL and festivals in general. If you don't camp out at the front of the stage early, you will be far away watching from the jumbotron screen. I ended up close enough to see but far enough away to leave easily to catch a show after. I was actually surprised and pleased that Fly Leaf was at ACL. I would have figured they were too metal (even though they are not metal) for this festival. I had never seen them before and loved their set. Fly Leaf singer, Lacy, can sing and scream really well. There was also a larger crowd than I expected watching them, and many were older (as in no one in high school or college aged).

Something else about Fly Leaf, is that they are indeed a Christian rock band. Did C3 know that I wonder? I don't mind that about Fly Leaf. Yeah they don't hide their faith in their music, but it is not too preachy or hitting you in the face with their beliefs either. Lacy did say before singing All Around Me that this song was about Jesus Christ. Good for her. No shame in letting people know where the song's inspiration came from, whether it be JC himself or anything else. There was no shame in their performance either as they rocked liked nobody's business. I only wish I were closer and could have made it to their autograph session at the Waterloo tent.

Right after Fly Leaf, it was time to make way to the front of the Dell Stage for Against Me. This was a group I hadn’t seen live before and was really looking forward to seeing. They spent their summer touring with ACL headliner, The Foo Fighters. Not just anyone can open for The Foo Fighters. Dave wouldn’t have it. That being said, I had high expectations for Against Me.

My expectations were totally met. I felt that I could have gone home after their set and been just fine. They sounded just like they do on CD. I say this now but I only began listening to Against Me this summer. Having listened to them online, I find I like their new sound better than their older, more punk rock sound. Against Me is good blend of punk, rock, and alternative….my three favorite genres. They played mostly songs from their most recent album, New Wave. It’s funny because all the hipster type kids were at another stage and the cool kids were at Against Me. I felt at home for the first time at that stage. Check out this clip from their set Sunday:

After Against Me rocked my socks off, I walked across the park to the big AT&T main stage for none other than Gnarls Barkley. I managed to get semi close on the left side facing the stage. Gnarls, Cee Lo Green from Goodie Mob and DJ Danger Mouse, play live shows with a house band consisting of a guitarist, a piano player and bass player. Danger Mouse plays piano/organ and Cee Lo sings. It is quite the musical collaboration. Their perfect blend of hip hop, old school soul and techno appeals to a broad audience.

For Gnarls, ACL was the last stop of their summer tour. What a way to go out, playing for thousands and thousands of people. Cee Lo sounded good despite being a little hoarse from all the touring. They performed all their hits from both their albums, including Crazy, which made the crowd go nuts. It was at that point, with all those people by the main stage, when ACL really felt like the massive music fest that it is. The sun was just about to go down and there was more of a breeze than before. All the fore mentioned elements, combined with Gnarls Barkley’s performance, made ACL even more memorable and it wasn’t even finished yet.

Before the main headliner (The Foo Fighters) came on, there was one more band that was a must see for me. I made my way back over to the Dell Stage to catch an old favorite from my teen years, Blues Traveler. I thought the window to see Blues Traveler live closed a long time ago with lead singer John Popper’s personal struggles and all. I always credit them with building my tolerance and eventual acceptance of the harmonica. Too many musicians think they can play it and cannot, just killing it for me. Popper is the real deal though. On Sunday he and the rest of Blues Traveler proved they still got it.

The start of their set was a memory lane trip right off the bat. They started with a cover of the Cheap Trick classic I Want You to Want Me and their own 1995 hit Hook. Oh the smile that brought to my face. I remember being 15 years old and not being able to get into their Austin show at Antone’s. That sourness I carried with me all these years went away with the beginning of Hook. Popper sounded so good live, almost as good as the CD itself. His adlibbing is the only thing keeping me from suspecting him of lip singing. He was that good. It was also pleasing to see people of all ages in the crowd for their set, as it is a testament to their timeless music that was able to transcend genres even then.

It would have been a perfect experience if not for these two drunk, snobby women spilling beer on my blanket telling me I had issues with my “personal space”. After asking them to their face if there was a problem, they had the nerve to tell me that I was taking up too much space, when there were empty spaces all around the stage they could have easily walked to. We have all encountered “these types” of festival goers before. I don’t know what made me think I was immune from it.

None the less, Blues Traveler was so great that even those two she-beasts couldn’t take away from my experience. Kudos to the band, as they were on point all throughout the whole set. I wanted to be sure to mention that so people wouldn’t think Popper is a man crush of mine or anything. But lets face it folks, he makes Blues Traveler.

After the ever so ear pleasing set from Blues Traveler, it was time to go back to the AT&T stage for The Foo Fighters. The good fighters of the evil foo (I hate foo!) were set to go on around 8:30 pm. I made it pretty close to the left side of the stage, but still felt so far away compared to how close I get to all the other concerts I usually attend. By then it was totally dark and all the crowd could see was the stage lights and spotlights.

The Foo Fighters immediately came out and owned the stage, giving the people their early hits from the late 90’s. I think they were the perfect headliner for closing out ACL this year. They appeal to fans of many ages, have had lots of radio hits, and are now revered by many as rock Gods. I mean, Dave Grohl was in the most important band of the last century (Nirvana in case you didn’t know).Needless to say they were amazing live. Experiencing them live with all those thousands of people was something else. Sunday night was the only night where literally everyone in the park was at one stage. Friday and Saturday nights people had two headliners to choose from. Sunday it was all about Foo Fighters.

Dave Grohl was hilarious in between songs. The highlight of their set for me was the acoustic version of Hero. That was the sing along song of the whole day, and probably the whole festival. Only the triangle solo could compete with that. Yes, a triangle solo. Grohl was correct in saying we would never have expected that. Nothing says rock festival like the triangle. And here I was impressed with the theremin earlier. What was I thinking?

All in all ACL was a good time. It doesn’t come around every day and the weather in September is beautiful in Austin. Just know if you come next year that you will need a mask or scarf to put over your face. I think I am still coughing the dust I inhaled all day at Zilker. Finally I leave you with a Foo Fighters video interview that Roxwel sent me. Check it out:

Foo Fighters - ACL Music Festival Coverage
Download Music Video Code at www.roxwel.com

60 Tigres at The Sound and The Jury Competiton

Last night I ventured out to Antone’s to see one of my favorite new Latin rock bands from Mexico, 60 Tigres. Hailing from Monterrey (the coolest city in Mexico it seems) , 60 Tigres brought a unique and original sound to The Sound and the Jury competition. They are a good mix of psychedelic and bass heavy funk, with a Latin percussion of course. They also have two singers, their bassist and their drummer.

The bands at the showcase last night were chosen by online fan voting. That being said, it was an amazing accomplishment just to be there. I know that sounds PC and cheesy, but considering the amount of quality competition, being there as one of the top vote getters speaks volumes. I think it speaks especially well of 60 Tigres being that they were the only foreign band in the top group.

Now I knew going into Antone's that they weren't going to win. The odds were against them as they were going against local favorites and other top vote getters. The competition was judges by the in house crowd and a panel of industry judges. There were other factors that were against them also, such as the fact that they sing primarily in Spanish. It is often hard for people sometimes to get into a band at first if they don't understand the language they are singing in. The other factor they were going up against was that they had equipment issues. Luckily for them one of the other bands, T-Bird and The Breaks, were kind enough to lend them equipment.

T-Bird and The Breaks was also the band that went on before them, and up to that point they were the band with the best crowd support. Man did I feel for 60 Tigres after they finished. Hell, even I thought T-Bird should have won if 60 Tigres couldn't. They were awesome and more original than the other generic indie rock bands playing. That's just what ACL needs right…more indie rock.

60 Tigres, like the other bands on the bill, only had about a 20 minute set. Despite their short set, I honestly think they made a good impression on the majority gringo crowd there at Antone's. That is one thing I love about this town. People are open to different types of music and embrace it even. Of course the Hispanics there were going to love them, but seeing everyone else nod their heads and dance (thanks to the beer I suppose) was great to see. 60 Tigres noticed as they made it a point to thank everyone for listening and let the audience know how honored they were to be there.

I hope they make it back to Austin next year so more people can get a chance to see them. They were great live and if you like to dance at concerts, then you'll love 60 Tigres. Having got a chance to speak with them after their set, I got the impression that they want to come back as soon as they can. They loved it here. In the meantime, you can check out their music for free on their website. Click here to check them out, and do check out this video from the show:

The Everlasting Sound Tour at Stubb's

Monday night I was at Stubb's with my friend Facundo (drummer for The Banner Year) for The Everlasting Sound Tour. We hadn't hung out in a while and we both wanted to go support The Material. The Banner Year played with them at their first show in Austin over at The Red Eyed Fly back in July. Being that it was a Monday night, I didn't think there was going to be a large turnout.

We got to Stubb's early enough to hang out, get a drink, and catch up with The Material. I got the scoop on the other bands on the tour from Colleen (lead singer for The Material) as I was unfamiliar with them. I figured she would know since she was on the road with them and played shows together for the past couple of months. She had nothing but good things to say, which I expected because she is probably friends with them all by now.

She told me that they had to get a local band to fill in as Run Doris Run wasn't in Austin for some reason. They were on the tour myspace, flyers, etc. So, local Dub Raggae Ska band, Subrosa Union, was the fourth band on the bill. They are completely different from the other pop/power pop band on the tour, but they won many members of the crowd over none the less.

The first band to go on was And Then There Was You from Miami, Florida. There is no doubt in my mind that they were heavily influenced by Fall Out Boy, as many new young bands are. They had the shag hair to th side with bangs, skinny jeans, Vans slip ons, the whole works. Now I cringe when I see bands that look this way most of the time. I strongly dislike that kind of super pop punk or power pop, whatever its called. It's the kind of music that Aleternative Press covers and you see on Warped Tour now. However, these dudes weren't that bad.

A couple of things I can't say about And Then There Was You is that they lack energy or that they are stuck on themselves. They even did a Helmet cover, which was both cool and unexpected. I am not going as far as to say I would buy their CD, but their live show was good. They lead singer(Steven) had a good voice, not emo or girly at all. They also had a really good drummer, noticeably good. Being that it was a small show, everyone got to talk to all the bands and they were cool guys. I got an interesting lesson in the Miami scene from their bassist, Eddie.

Following them was my favorite band on The Everlasting Sound Tour, The Material. Having seen them at my mom's house two days earlier (true story), they knew I was coming. Their lead singer Colleen was a little sick with sore throat as I saw her drinking hot tea all night before they went on. The Material still sounded good despite her sore throat and performed all their songs on their current self titled EP. This time around there were more people in attendance than there was at their show I caught in July. Several young ladies up front knew the words and were singing along. I think they all have girl crushes on Colleen.

Their set was great as always but short. That wasn't as big of a deal to me as them not performing their One Republic cover of Apologize. I can totally understand why they don't, as they probably don't want to be known as a "cover band". The thing is though, it is what got them many new fans from their performance on MTV2. It is on their myspace, so click on the link I set up to their myspace to check it out. I would love to hear The Material do it live one day. Other than that, I can't say anything bad about this band. I think they will have a breakout 2009.

After The Material was done, Blameshift (another band new to me) went on. All I knew of Blameshift was what Colleen (The Material) told me earlier, that they had a guy and girl lead singer. They also had that "power pop/pop punk" look, but they looked around my age (late 20s) so I was less skeptical about them. I know, that's very age-ist of me.

After checking their set out, I bought a Blameshift CD. Ok so I bought it before they went on as I was talked into it by lead singer, Jenny Mann. I also used that as an opportunity to take this picture. Blameshift was good live. I liked them. The whole tag team lead singer thing works for them and thier show is also very high energy. There were no annoying screams or nasaly voices. The Sirens Are Set was the song that stood out to me the most. Their set seemed to go pretty fast as all their songs are pretty uptempo. Anyone who likes this genre will love Blameshift. Even if you don't usually listen to this style, check them out anyway as they are worthy of your ear time. Don't be like me and let their look detur you from listening.


All in all, this was a good showcase of good up and coming bands. I once again ventured out of my usual realm of hip hop and hard rock. I also thing that had this tour come through Austin on a weekend, there would have been a better turnout. There was maybe 35 people at Stubb's that were not band members or crew. There was also members from local bands She Craves and one guy from The Riddlin Kids in the house. They were all there to see The Material, as was I originally. I leave you with a clip of the show, this one from And Then There Was You.

Hot 93.3 and Baby Bash at Antone's

Thursday night at Antone's, Austin's own hip hop radio station Hot 93.3 put on a concert showcasing some of their featured artists. You couldn't just buy tickets to this show, you could only win them on the radio. Thanks to my trusty Sidekick, I can text in to win faster than people with other types of cellphones. Anyway, so I won and I went. Truthfully, I was really only there for headliner Baby Bash and crossing my fingers Frankie J would make a guest appearance.

As I arrived at Antone's, one performer was just finishing up and radio Hot 93.3 personality Boogie was hosting the showcase. Shortly after he was done with his drunk speak, West Coast rapper extradonaire Lil' Rob came out. Lil' Rob is best known for his smash hit Summer Nights. Anyone who listens to hip hop radio in town knows of that song, as it was on every hour during its initial popularity. The crowd loved him and it was evident that he has lots of fans in Austin. People were singing along with him and Lil' Rob was loving it.

I have to admit I haven't much of a fan of this sort of Chicano, Lowrider style Hip Hip in long time. Not since Lighter Shade of Brown or Delinquent Habits have I really payed any attention to this niche market genre of hip hop, but Lil' Rob is alright. He holds it down live and I really enjoy the (strip) club jam Bring Out the Freak in You. His set was short, maybe just under 30 minutes. It was long enough to be good and short enough not for me to get bored. Check out this Lil' Rob clip here:


After Lil' Rob was finished with his set, Boogie came out with Houston rapper Rob G. He had a show with Pitbull the next day, so he must have showed up early to party. He didn't perform, but it was fine as I was wanting to see Baby Bash and go home after a fight broke out in between sets. It never fails. At every Hot 93.3 concert I have been to, there has been a fight break out. I just expect it now. It is not something that happens at other Hip Hop shows I go to, but then again those are shows for artists not on major Austin radio stations. Those shows are about the music and the true spririt of hip hop, not about being hard or fronting like you are. No worries, though, once the brawlers were kicked out it was back to the fun.

The crowd was at its largest for Baby Bash. As soon as he came out with his crew, the energy immediately went up and the party got started again. Baby I'm Back was the song he came out with, one of his popular hits and a personal favorite of mine. I was really hoping Frankie J would come out with him and perform as hey have a lot of songs together, but instead Paula DeAnda cam out and sang the Frankie J parts. I would have preferred Frankie J, but Paula actually did a good job holding it down for him. She could actually sing, something I didn't know. She was great on the Baby Bash and Frankie J collaboration Obsession (No Es Amor). Good for her.

Baby Bash came out with a crew of hypemen as he always does, the Stooie Bros. He came out with them last year at the Hot 93.3 Winter Meltdown. Usually, too many hypemen are annoying as they serve no real purpose, but Bash's crew dances with him and is always high energy. They also do a good job of not trying to take away attention from him. I don't know how many bad hip hip shows I have been to where the hypeman is trying to get all the attention. They get down crazy with Bash on his hits What Is It? and Cyclone. The only thing bad I can say was that the set was too short and the show eneded too early. Oh well, I am sure I will see him again soon. Bash isn't going anywhere. Ladies love him too much and the fellas respect him. Check him out here on this clip and check out what you missed:

The Material Came to My Mom's House

Oh yeah. Today one of my favorite new bands, The Material, came to my house to hand deliver a CD I ordered last week. True story. If you follow lead singer Colleen on Twitter, it is there on her list of "tweets". I am still in shock that they came to the door. I just hope I didn't disappoint them by not being some screaming, freaked out teenager. I am sure they didn't expect some 28 year old dude they already met once before. I even blogged about them in April. Check my blog archive.

They said they were staying nearby where my mom lives after their van was giving them some sort of trouble. My mom's is where I send most of my mail as I move a lot. It is just easier to send everything her way and pick it up when I visit. It was funny because I just happened to be there at that moment Thursday evening when they rang the doorbell. Personally I would have just mailed it, but it just goes to show they are much cooler(and nicer) they are than me.

The Material are in Texas for the Texas leg of the Everlasting Sound Tour with bands Blameshift, Run Doris Run and And Then There Was You. I am honestly not familiar with the other bands, but will be come Monday. I will get my moneys worth alone with The Material either way.

That's right. Monday night at Stubb's (indoor) you can catch The Everlasting Sound Tour for about ten bucks. Yup, that's all. The Material always seem to come to Austin on odd days. The last time they were here was at The Red Eyed Fly on a random Tuesday night. That is where I took this picture below with lead singer, Colleen D'Agustino.

The Action Design at Red 7

Wednesday night I hit up one of my old favorites for venues, Red7, to see The Action Design. Playing in the same bill as The Action Design was L.A.'s Killola and Austin's own Under The Gun. The show was outside in the Red 7 patio, versus being on the inside stage where I usually catch shows there. Truthfully, on a nice night, I prefer the patio.

When I got to Red 7, Under The Gun was in the middle of their set. Being one of my favorite local bands, I try to catch them whenever I can. Wednesday they did a really cool Bad Religion cover and some new songs that will be on their next album according to bassist Will Campbell. It should be interesting. The new songs sounded less punk rock party and more punk rock politics.

Shortly after Under The Gun finished up, Killola set up. Killola is a female fronted rock band from L.A. Lead singer, Lisa, has the look of actress Taryn Manning and the attiude of an early Deborah Harry. Cute as she was, she was all business on stage. It was so hot and humid Wednesday night, it is a wonder she didn't pass out of heat exhaustion. She was all over the stage, bouncing around and what not with her flinging all over the place. The small crowd was feeling it too, or just starring at Lisa and not really paying attention to the music. Either way, they got their moneys worth.

I wish I could tell you the names of some of their songs, but this was my first Killola experience. It won't be my last. In fact, Killola is giving away a free download of their album on their myspace if you want to check them out. I describe their sound as "party rock". I say this after seeing picture of Lindsay Lohan with their album. I feel as if now I can be part of the cool kids now for being in the know. Lisa was super cool and engaging after the show as she posed for pics and hung out with fans. That kind of behavior and gratitude for fans speaks well. Being the picture slut that I am, I took a picture with her as well.

After Killola was the band we all came to see, The Action Design. I was interested in Action Design because two of their members are from the now broken up, Tsunami Bomb. I caught on to Tsunami Bomb late, as I discovered them only last year. They broke up after their 2004 release Definitive Act from what I understand. What a bummer right?

Lead singer "M" (Agent M or Emily Whitehurst) and bassist Matt Mckenzie were the two left over members from Tsunami Bomb. Whitehurst picked up right where she left off from Tsunami Bomb. She commanded the stage with her vocals and keyboards from the moment she set foot on it. The Action Design was energetic, a little electronic and more indie rock than I expected. Nothing against Indie rock, but I hear too much bad Indie rock these days to the point where I cringe at the mere mention of the word "indie".

Wednesday night I didn't hear anything I didn't like from The Action Design. Every song sounded ready to be a breakout single and sounded polished (despite not having the best sound at the venue). There was good incorporation of key boards without them getting annoying or over done. Whitehurst was the great vocalist I remember from Tsunami Bomb. She is what will carry this band to another level, even though the band themselves seem to be great musicians.

I still cannot believe I saw them at Red 7 and not a bigger venue. Oh well, that's Austin for you. Here it is possible to catch a great band, not just a good but great band, on any given night at any venue. I see bigger shows for The Action Design here in the future. I picked up their CD after the show and highly recommend checking that out before they come back around. Check out this clip I took from the show:

My Thoughts on the 2008 VMAs

Sunday night’s MTV video award show was the absolute lamest, tasteless and boring installment in what was once an event worth watching. On what was the 25^th anniversary, the current MTV staff that put this year’s show on should have been fired by now. They just spat on the face of MTV’s legacy of a once great network that actually showed videos it gives awards for.

Now I am not sure if I am going to say anything new that hasn’t been said already, as the blogoshere is running rampant with VMA related content. If the VMAs did one thing for me, was gave me a reason to rant about MTV again. I was bored and uncomfortable all at once. Where do I start?

• Travis Barker drumming live to different hit songs of different genres with performers like Lupe Fiasco and LL Cool J. The sad part is that these side performances were better than the actual featured performances. It was a cool concept and I am sure the live audience dug it as they needed some entertainment.

• Kid Rock. He exudes what rock and the VMAs used to be about when the VMAs were worth watching. He put on a good high energy show as always, but the crowd was already so bored from everything before him that they weren’t in the mood to really feel him. Still, Kid Rock was good. Not spectacular or memorable, but good.

• Having Lil’ Wayne perform. Read that again. I am not talking about Weezy’s performance, but having him on as a performer is what MTV got right

Now this list couldn’t be long enough, but I will chime in on things that bugged me the most. What They Got Wrong:

• Katy Perry is not a good performer. She is a Christian rock girl gone Pussy Cat Doll in the name of “making it”. She has an alright voice and is “marketable” cute, but I smell one hit wonder. DJ AM could have been replaced by anyone, but I guess dating Nicole Ritchie was justification enough for him to perform along side Barker. I found out later they are friends and have a mixtape together. That explains that.

• Too many bad or boring performances. There were a couple of gems, but overall I was more bored than the audience seemed to be. While Rhiana’s performance of “Disturbia” had the elements of a good performance (costumes, dancers, make up, choreography, etc) it was painful to watch. She didn’t sound that good and off key at times. I happen to think she is overrated and worked on heavily in the studio, but she was worse Sunday night. The talented people who made “Thriller” should be pissed off at that terrible knock off. It was obvious that is what they were going for.

• There was also Lil’ Wayne’s performance. Great song. Great M.C. Mediocore performance. I could have done without seeing his chones. He held his crotch the whole time and needed a shirt. T-Pain does nothing for me either. I just can’t get excited about an over exposed performer (using that term loosely) who using voice effects all the time. That might as well be anyone else doing his part. Not impressed.

• The Pussycat Dolls were great performers, but I just don’t like their music. They look good, they are good dancers but it seemed that they don’t sound good live. Mediocore again. I don’t expect much more from a studio, corporate music label manufactured, project. I am sure it worked in Vegas, but something gets lost in this version.

• Britney Spears won three awards. Three? Are you kidding me? I smell conspiracy. I sense a voter scandal. Let’s face it people, MTV needs Britney Spears to be relevant again. During her height in the early part of the decade, MTV and specifically TRL, were at its height. Magazines and even bloggers need something Spears related to talk about. She has been somewhat low key lately and pages in tabloid staffs are having to work harder for content. She does look better physically and said all the things in her acceptance speech her PR coach told her to say. Still, I am sure there were better videos that were more deserving.

• Russell Brand, the host of this year’s VMAs, was unbearably awful. He was the worst part of the evening. He did absolutely nothing for the show. He tanked. He bombed. He was not funny or entertaining. Bloggers and social media users are all over this topic and seem to share my same sentiment. Spare me your political feelings, regardless of your party. Plus, it is not polite to bash a country’s president, no matter how much they may deserve it, as an accented national of another country. Brand did so in the name of humor, but he missed it completely. The tacky and personal attack on the promise rings or abstinence jewelry was uncalled for. No one was attacking Brand. Plus, he attacked teenagers….kids. He is an adult and they did nothing deserving of being made fun of that way. So the Jonas Brothers don’t want to have sex. Big deal. Who cares? Now I am no fan of theirs by any means, but leave them alone. They are just kids. Jordan Sparks let her feelings be known on Brand’s abstinence attack in an interview. She didn’t much care for it to say the least. I bet her publicist is excited about that clip as I am sure she sold more albums to middle America conservatives….if they were watching at all by that point. I am sure they turned off the television or changed the channel during Brand’s “Vote For Obama” plea. O'Riley must have had a field day with that one

I could go on for days about how much I hated this year’s VMAs. I mean, what was up with the location? A studio warehouse for a setting? No major Latino acts? No hard rock or punk despite its popularity with the MTV2 audience? The VMAs are dead to me. I will watch again next year because I am sure I will want to blog about that. I just stopped being excited about it. I may be too old for this show now, but I know I am still cool. Check out the list of winners online. Just to show I am not a bad sport, check out the performance I did like, even though I have seen better from this group. It is none other than Paramore, performing “Misery Business”. I dig the hot yellow pants.