"Foreigner", CSN, Lewis Black, Jill Scott, Yes

I had to laugh when I got the email from Innsbrook today advertising the Foreigner concert on Wednesday night. Tickets are $15, $35 for the Gold Circle and the gates open at 6 PM. Its kind of an early bird special which is good because the show is sponsored by the AARP. These guys aren't that old, are they? And just a heads up, there is only one original member in the band, guitarist Mick Jones. The next longest member is the rhythm guitarist who has been with them since '93. This violates my 50% rule. At least 50% of the original band has to be in the band to still call it by the band name. You can get a flyer on the rule if the current members have been in the band longer than the original members but I don't think "Foreigner" makes it. Just call yourself "Mick Jones doing the songs of Foreigner". Really.

I also saw this on Wikipedia and had to put it in: "Foreigner has been referenced multiple times on the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Most notably was the episode in which the Mooninites won the Foreigner Belt at a local carnival, which according to Ignignokt, gives the wearer of the belt "all of the superpowers of '70s supergroup, Foreigner." For example, whenever the wearer of the Belt speaks the title of the Foreigner song, "Cold As Ice," an adversary would suddenly freeze up, rendering him/her powerless. The character Carl is also known to be a big fan of Foreigner, having seen them at the Meadowlands in '83. During this concert he copped a feel off a passed out "broad" and now whenever he hears the song "Urgent" he thinks of "her boobs covered in vomit"."

On Thursday night, you can head out to the C'ville Pavilion to see Crosby, Stills & Nash. But unless you want to scalp you better have tix already because the show is sold out.

Though you may want to try this new site: FanPrice. This is kind of like a Priceline for tickets to concerts & sporting events. You choose the area you would like to sit, name your price and the seller either accepts or denies your request. Haven't tried it yet but its not a bad idea.

Also on Thursday, perpetually angry comedian Lewis Black is at the Landmark. Lewis is always funny. I love when he really gets going and his index finger is pointed and twitching and his head veins are throbbing. I'm sure he'll have some good material on the election. Tix are $55.50 - 65.50.

New soul goddess Jill Scott will play Fridays at Sunset at a special location, VA Union University's Hovey Field. Jill is a Philly girl and she is too freakin' cool. Tickets are $40 and gates open at 5 PM. The Fridays at Sunset site says: "This heartfelt Philadelphia native blends Jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop and spoken word into her songs, that sends fans into a whirlwind of diverse musical sounds." Just go to her web site and groove to some of her tunes.

Finally, if you are a fan of watching the big festivals on the web, as I am, you'll have two to choose from this weeeknd. Lollapalooza will be broadcast on the AT&T Blue Room. Lollapalooza is now a three day event in Chicago. They'll be broadcasting 8/1 - 3 starting at 1:15 ET each day. Bands include Gogol Bordello, The Raconteurs, The Ting-Tings, Wilco, and more. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that they scored the headliners Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails or Kanye West.

If you are more jam band than alternative, check out the webcast of Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT. They will have live streaming video from the mainstage starting at 8 PM Thursday night and going through Sunday. That means you should be able to catch bands like Dark Star Orchestra, Black Crowes, Zappa Plays Zappa, Phil Lesh & Friends, Neville Brothers, Umphrey's McGee, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival, and Sam Bush. They'll also be broadcasting on iclips.net. Should be a good weekend for music on the Interwebs.

In this week's Tony Remembers the Spectrum segment we hit April 30, 1984 with Yes on the 90125 tour. I remember it being a very nice spring day and as I was getting ready to go, Mark Goodman from MTV was broadcasting on WMMR. It was WMMRs 15th birthday and they had some of the old jocks back including Mark. As for the show, the opening band was a Bugs Bunny cartoon. This was actually pretty cool as it was the one where Bugs is being chased around the castle by the mad scientist and they accidentally inhale ether. Needless to say, this went over the well with the Yes crowd.

(BTW, I'm very excited to find that a ton of Warner Bros. cartoons are on the video.aol.com site. You can't find these on TV anymore. I'll definitely have some fun turning my 3-year old onto Bugs and the gang.)

Yes was excellent, riding a new wave of popularity with "Owner of a Lonely Heart". They played just about everything off the new album and of course, some old "hits" with the highlight for me being "Starship Trooper". Chris Squire also did one of the few great bass solos I've ever seen. And the lasers were kick-ass especially when they made the updated Yes logo (from the cover of 90125) in mid-air.

Another exciting tidbit from the Remember the Spectrum web site: The cost of a regular beer on opening night, Sept. 30, 1967, was 10 cents. If you were a big spender, you could get a premium beer for 40 cents.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan