Elton John – Spinning Platters

Inside Lands Schedule IS LIVE

The “Inside Lands” schedule is up and live!!! And, as I hoped, that legendary Gorillaz set, including one of maybe five times Damon and Del played “Clint Eastwood” together, is part of the mix for a late night Friday set! They also added some Gatromagic fun for the 10pm hour, and sets by LP and Elton John have been thrown in, too! This is starting at 4pm on Friday at twitch.tv.

The full schedule can be found here.

They are even selling merch, which is kind of awesome. Especially since they are doing this for free, and are missing out on 2020.

And, don’t forget to buy tickets for 2021. I know I’m chomping at the bit to get “Outside” again, and I don’t even care how bad that pun is.

Film Review: Rocketman

Overstuffed effort … but worthwhile viewing

Taron Egerton as Elton John at Dodger Stadium in 1975

There are any number of Elton John lyrics that would fit nicely here, to start this review of Rocketman. You’re thinking of them now. You know you are. There are so many. How do you choose? You’re also picturing the former Reginald Dwight, festooned in iridescence and bedecked in enough feathers to set off hundreds of allergic reactions, enough sequins to blind at 100 yards. And now that you’re thinking about Elton, you’re tripping back over the bio and musical highlights: Big ’70s rock star, years of excess, late ’80s resurgence, recent marriage and fatherhood, late-career comparisons to Tom Jones or maybe Van Morrison.

Great, you think, but how, you ask, does all that get stuffed into a two-hour long mainstream movie? Great question!

Continue reading “Film Review: Rocketman“

Outside Lands 2015: 19 Instant Gig Reviews

Just a bunch of hippies in Golden Gate Park

Every year Outside Lands gets bigger and better. This year was a great year for a lot of reasons – it was an excellent, diverse and well-paced line up. They also switched up the set-up of the grounds this year, opening up walkways, adding more bathrooms and in general, making a much more comfortable festival experience. The weather was amazing, as well. None of the usual ice cold and overcast OSL, this year was all about having fun in the sun. I also got to see a slew of excellent sets of music & comedy!

Continue reading “Outside Lands 2015: 19 Instant Gig Reviews”

Is It OK For Artists to Charge High Prices For Their Concert Tickets?

How much would you pay to see these guys?

This started with a Facebook post I made on my personal wall:

The cheap seats are $171 for The Rolling Stones at Oracle. $660 for the top price level (not including VIP which costs GKHM). Makes Prince look like a bargain.

To that, my friend and fellow blogger John Marcher of A Beast in a Jungle responded with a long post that started with the line, “Gordon, I want to debate this with you.” So over the next few days, we sent some emails back and forth doing just that, and getting into deep topics like whether career artists are truly artists. I promised him the last word, and he’ll have it between us. We do invite you, however, to post your thoughts in the comments.

John Marcher:

Gordon, I want to debate this with you. The prices are what they are, and they are fair. Is $250 too much to see Prince in a small venue? Absolutely not. He and his band deserve to paid for the show. The people setting up and tearing down the show deserve to get paid. They have to eat on the road and stay in hotels- and do you think Prince and his band are going to eat at fucking Mel’s Diner and stay at the Holiday Inn? Continue reading “Is It OK For Artists to Charge High Prices For Their Concert Tickets?”