Thunderbolt

Rush opened their regrouping tour at the LA Forum on June 7th. It was one of the most emotional concerts I'd been to in ages. why? Because it was their first concert since disbanding after drummer/lyricist Neil Peart's death. The air was electric that night, filled with hope and anticipation. Geddy Lee (bass/vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitars) were joined by handpicked drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold. There were so many high points that to list them all would take up most of your time. Instead, here are my top 5: 1. Geddy's voice sounded fantastic. I was at their last show at the Forum back on August 1, 2015 (that's right, I was at their farewell and their rebirth). Ged had to strain to hit some of the notes and I came away wishing that the band had adjusted the key of the songs to accommodate his age and range. No Rush fan on earth would have questioned the move. Artists get older. Their voices change. That said Geddy went to a vocal coach before...

Today is Free Comic Book Day, which has become a tradition in our house. In honor of getting up early with my son and heading to our favorite local comic store, here is Basement Song post I wrote for Popdose in 2010.   Each year the movie industry tries to push up the start of summer by opening their big event movies earlier in the year.  Used to be that Memorial Day was the weekend that kicked off the season. Now it feels like mid-April is when the studios begin pushing their big blockbusters. Pretty soon it’ll be summer year round and the only way to see small indie films will be through video on demand or Netflix. For me, the summer officially begins the first Saturday of May. Throughout the country that day is Free Comic Book Day at the local comic shops. This Saturday, May 1 st , Jacob and I will head on over to Brave New World, the excellent comic store we frequent, getting caught up in the  zaniness the proprietors will serve up that day. Raffles, baked goods...