Working Class Hero?

Welcome to the biggest little show on this particular blog. I've been lurking and quasi-stalkerish on some blogs for a while now and so, by court order, it's now time for my mind to be unleashed on the world. It's fun for me to read others thoughts and so I am going to make myself believe that others now want to know what's happening in my wonderfully squishy and slightly forgetful mind. Not that it's being helped right now at work where I've been relocated and have a plastic sheet hanging from the celing to help keep the asbestos and sheetrock dust away from my delicate and virginal lungs. I don't know that it's being all that effective as the plastic only comes out halfway across my desk before stopping. I suppose that's as far as dust will travel. I need an Ionic Breeze something fierce right now.

But as my mind is squishy and forgetful and not brave due to the dust and also a fear of having fears, which I believe is called phobophobia, this will be a query about who today's biggest stars are. I pass by a banner on a lightpost everyday coming home from work that proclaims the Concord Pavilion (currently called SleepTrain Pavilion at Concord) to be the place to see, "Today's biggest stars, Under the stars." Then I pass by the pavilion, which is also on my way home...it's a long way home, and it let's me know that coming to the pavilion this year are Al Green, Lyle Lovett, k.d. lang (who doesn't know about capital letters yet), Rush, Styx, Foreigner, Journey (minus one Randy Jackson), Def Leppard, and even Alice Cooper. Now I'm not hip to the current music scene as much as I could be, but how many of these bands are really "Today's Stars"? I know that they're still known, but c'mon. Of course, to be fair, they will also feature Hilary Duff (awesome), Bianca Ryan (who I had to look up and it turns out that she won "America's Got Talent" last year, so I guess we'll see, eh?), and of course Marilyn Manson and Slayer, who I guess are stars. They're certainly a little nuts. But who knows, maybe they'll get some last minute big names.

The music I listen to, however, doesn't usually include many big names, although they're at least under 40. Most are still under 30, which means they're automatically current, right? They have Myspace pages and everything. And for those, mostly on the east coast now, who haven't seen Nickel Creek yet, do it now before they're gone. They're due to be gone as a band after the summer, just as a little FYI. There is nothing more than a fiddle, guitar, mandolin and upright bass, and yet it sounds like so much more. You never know who they'll cover when you see them live. I've heard songs from The Band, Radiohead, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and even Britney Spears. If you've never heard it, google 'Toxic Nickel Creek' and be prepared for awesomeness beyond cooliocity.

And of course, that will be the first of many "Danny Recommends" musical bites for you to chew on with your audio recepticals. And since this is the first post and it's a mini-celebration worthy of corn dogs and a Nick Swisher home run celebration dance, I'll even give you another one to check out. Clear your mind and open your ears, then let your fingers do the walking to find yourself Luke Bulla's interpretation of Exit Music for a Film. I dare you not to remember Clare Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio trying to do Shakespeare. Ha! You have already failed.
"Hand me my longsword!"