Check out this amusing video on YouTube. I don't know how I came across it but I was looking for something about U2 and this popped up. Amazing editing job.
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Last night was my daughter Dana and her husband Matt's 1-year anniversary. We went over to their house for dinner, along with the rest of the extended family, and then watched a video of the wedding. (The happy couple are going to Chicago for the Labor Day weekend to celebrate their anniversary, otherwise they would have celebrated by themselves last night, Dana informed me.)
It's amazing that a year has passed already. The video was great, extremely well done by a real pro, Ron Matanick of Toledo.
It's hard for me to watch myself on video but I guess the cameras do not lie, right? I got to watch my stint with the band, playing guitar at the reception on a couple of songs including "Margaritaville," which my pastor loves to remind me of ... all in good fun (I think). I had a blast.
The Jimmy Buffett tune is not the most spiritual choice of songs, but it's one of the few that I know how to play ;-)
Going to Matt & Dana's, I missed the opening night of the Democratic National Convention and Michelle Obama's speech, and I also missed the Nine Inch Nails concert in Toledo.
Kind of an odd combination of misses.
I'm not a fan of NIN but that group puts on an amazing show, one of the most expensive and elaborate productions you'll ever see. You've got to give credit where credit is due. And my friend John is the promoter so whenever he's in town I enjoy hanging out with him backstage.
Trent Reznor, the band's lead singer, was supposed to do an interview with me but he blew it off. I know his voice is raw and he needs to rest it but I sent him questions by email, so he could have typed out his answers if he truly cared about selling tickets and promoting his own show. I guess the word on the street about him is true, he's a bit of a pompous jerk. I don't usually believe the gossip because I've found firsthand that it's often wrong, but this could be a case where it's right.
Not that I care personally about interviewing Reznor, but his failure to come through made it a hassle to write an article in advance of the show. The interview was on, then off, then on, then off. I waited 'til the absolute last minute and when he didn't write or call I had to scramble to come up with something interesting and then stayed up writing 'til the wee hours of the morning.
I write music articles for fun and to make a little extra money in these tough economic times. But the NIN scenario was a royal pain and not worth the time or money. I did the best I could, however, with what I had. Here's the preview article.
As an example of the kind of guy Reznor is, he recorded one of his albums in the L.A. house where Manson's followers murdered Sharon Tate. Then he called the studio "Le Pig," mocking the words scrawled on the Tate mansion wall in blood. Great sense of humor, huh?
When he moved to New Orleans, he moved into a former funeral home. The guy apparently has a death fetish.
Rod Lockwood reviewed last night's concert. Here's a link.
Note that he said there were about 3,000 people at the show. This is a group that used to sell out 20,000-seat arenas. Nine Inch Nails is getting a bit rust-covered.
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Sylvania, Ohio
August 26, 2008