Heaven and Hell

By the way, I reckon I forgot to mention just how insanely, incredibly awesome Heaven and Hell were. Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and one Ronnie James Dio along with drummer Vinnie Appice (And Dio's off-stage keyboard player for extra doominess). Sabbath's H&H album has always been one of my all time favorite albums - I love every song on it and Mob Rules is right close up there too. Hearing that stuff live (and the Dehumanizer stuff too) has been a dream of mine for 20something years - 3 times I have had tickets to see Tony play and 3 times sickness or injury or other circumstances have thwarted my efforts. It was SOOOOOO worth the wait. Mister Iommi is a freaking GOD. I have had the pleasure of seeing Dio on his solo tours but this was just extra special with singing all these songs. He appeared to be having a great time on stage and his voice is as powerful as ever. Geezer ain't no geezer. There were times his bass felt like it was literally punching me in the gut. I'll take that kind of gut punch all day long. Vinnie is a beast on those drums. I am sorry Bill Ward couldn't make it but there ain't nothing wrong with Vinnie. I wish Mr. Ward nothing but continued good health and great success. I have no idea why he wasn't involved with the project (he was at the very first) but I do know from his web site that whatever was claimed by a Clear Channel (a radio hegemony in the USA) employee was false.

And if it wasn't enough to have two hours of Black Sabbathy magic, there were also amazing opening sets by Queensryche and Alice Cooper. I was literally stunned by how great Geoff Tate's voice still is. What an incredible vocalist he is. And the rest of the band are tight as hell. They did a sweet, heavy cover of Pink Floyd's Welcome To The Machine as well as their own top hits. I would have begged for Queen of The Reich or the Lady Wore Black if I could have but I didn't get the chance. Still, very enjoyable set marred only by its' shortness. I would have been glad to hear more.

Alice Cooper does not know how to put on a bad show. Well, both times I have seen him, he's been simply awesome. He rocks as hard and heavy as any band on the planet. I will go see Alice every time I get a chance. Great stage show, great song choices and he seems to have a hot-ass daughter who is in the show too. No disrespect intended, AC. But she is smokin' hot and a great dancer too. If any of you three people who ever read this (I am counting myself) have never seen an Alice Cooper show - go find one. It's worth the trip.

Led Zeppelin to Reunite for one-off gig

Yes, that was the sound of me splooging in my pants.

If you are like me and just a hair under 25 million other sad sacks, you ain't gonna be in London in November to see the show.

So sign this petition imploring the boys to make the show available on CD, DVD, Pay-per-view, wax cylinder, or ANYTHING - I don't care what. I'll accept a slide show with cassette music track JUST PLEASE DON'T SHUT US POOR BASTARDS OUT!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pleasereadtheletter/

25 million people tried to sign up for a chance to win the lottery to buy tickets. That ought to tell you guys something.