Muse and their Uprising

Atlanta, GA -- The level of sound produced at The Arena at Gwinnett Center last night almost tore off the roof in this suburban area.  Opening their first show together for their North American tour, the Silversun Pickups and Muse put on a raucious performance for the sold-out arena.  The SIlversun Pickups opened the evening with a groovy 30 minute set, closing out with a lethal performance of "Lazy Eye."  By their sound, dress, and style, one can easily conclude that this band came from alternative doldrums of New York or Los Angeles.  LA it is.

Standing on three pillars that spanned from the stage floor to the roof, Muse opened their show by opening the pillars at the equator.  With each member launching into the group's newest hit, "The Uprising," the crowd went into hysteria.  The set list included all of their major hits, including "Undisclosed Desires," "Maps of Problematique," and "Starlight" over a 19-song, 2-hour performance.  Trying to master the sound and acoustics within a closed building requires a great amount of skill.  Muse and their technicians certainly mastered the volume levels.  Taking a page out U2's book, whom they recently opened up for on their tour last year, Muse utilized an impressive array of laser lighting, stage props, and sound to put on a stellar performance last night.  The sound itself is a fusion of mid-90's artist Our Lady Peace and early 2000's artist System of a Down.  The rifts and melodies topple the hard, grunge rock sound, which is a good thing when you're looking for a distinctive sound.  Based on this performance, I'm looking for Must to be the "breakout" artist for 2010.  They've been around for quite awhile (mid 90's), so maybe they're just "late bloomers."  This breakthrough North American tour could be the key to the band's uprising.

Thoughts on the Olympics

Greensboro, NC -- I believe that I've tuned in more to these Winter Olympics than any of the prior games in my life.  Coincidentally, the USA is performing mightily at these games between hockey, skiing, speed skating, and ice dancing.  At every Olympics, an American star is born -- somebody who we either never heard of or heard very little about prior to the games.  I must admit, as a sports junkie, I've never heard of Apolo Ohno before.  The only reason I've heard of Bode Miller was that he was an alcoholic, and it costed him heavily in the Torino games.  The wonderful ice skaters on TV last night have been non-existent until they took the ice this week.  There is very little exposure on these athletes, yet the way that they're able to perform certain tricks, fly down a mountain or ice luge at 90 mph is not only very brave and breathtaking, it is commendable.  The boundaries of their comfort zones must have no limits, or they were shattered at an early age.

With either the Russians or the Canadians being eliminated tonight in hockey, the Americans have an excellent shot to capture Olympic gold.  Germany has begun to catch us in the medal count, but there's only a week left.  I'd love to see the gold for men's hockey -- it would show just how far the team has come from the pitiful performance at the 1998 Nagano games.

Welcome 2010

Greensboro, NC -- Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year since the last time that I formally checked in. I have many updates to provide you -- the first being the most important. On October 2nd, I proposed to Ms. Kaylin Murphy. We will be getting married this summer in nearby Winston-Salem, NC.

Second, as you can tell, the blog posts have been non-existent since last summer. I have embarked on a new project that have taken my musings and thoughts through audio waves. Along with my partner "Trivia" Tim Beeman, we have started a weekly podcast called "The Less Desirables." Our website is up and running at: TheLessDesirables.com. We touch on everything -- music, movies, sports, beer, technology, economics, and pop culture. It's a little bit of your world dolloped on a 30-minute platter every Wednesday evening. Be sure to check us out on our website, or by downloading the podcast on iTunes (available every Wednesday night).

I will still be blogging frequently, but the substance in the blogs may be less verbose. The writings and preparation that goes into a blog post will go into the production of the weekly podcast. In essence, you'll still be getting my same blogging material, but just in a different format. With NFL free agency, Spring Training, and an upcoming trip to Atlanta to see MUSE, a lack of material won't be a problem. Cheers.