This past weekend was the Pittsburgh Blues Festival. Always a good time, but some wacky band choices each year. Remember Mahogany Rush? Me neither. But they were the headline band Saturday night. At a “blues festival”.
Actually, their first song wasn’t half bad. Great guitar solo. Then they went to hell. We packed up and left, along with most of the crowd, midway through their third song.
Has anyone else seen a band/performer lately that they just can’t believe is still around?
Whenever I log in to MySpace, there’s a little section on the login page called “MySpace Music.” They show random artists in there who have MySpace accounts (but not just your average Joe Garageband - these are signed acts). About 1 in 5 of these artists are ones that were either big or a blip on the radar when I was in high school, over 10 years ago.
I know it’s nothing close to Mahogany Rush, but it is very odd for me to see Boyz II Men or Reel Big Fish featured on a Web site where I assume I’m supposed to be seeing something “fresh” and “new.”
The Rolling Stones.
Guns N’ Roses, even if practically all the original members left. Why, why, why won’t Axl give it a rest?
Goo Goo Dolls, Flock of Seagulls, Collective Soul, Alice in Chains, Weezer, Counting Crows (probably) Green day
I dunno. All of the above mentioned bands were at least somewhat popular in recent memory. Was Mahogany Rush ever popular?
I saw Rush back in June. Those geezers can still rock! And for 3 hours no less. That was an awesome show.
This is going back to when Craig Kilborn was hosting the Daily Show, but he once read a lead-in in a story on the Village People, and continued in a clandestine whisper, "There’s something about them you may not know… they’re still together".
I always wondered if Mahogany Rush had compromising photos of record company executives hidden away somewhere. I didn’t know anyone who liked them, but they always seemed to get rave reviews and tons of hype. Guitar Player magazine did a piece around 1977 on lead guitarist Frank Marino. He claimed he was able to play guitar immediately, following an acid trip. When ‘This is Spinal Tap’ came out a few years later, I found myself wondering if the characters were based on Marino.
We were all wondering the exact same thing. I heard (no cite) that Frank Marino claimed that when Jimi Hendrix died, his abilities were somehow absorbed by Frank Marino. Heh.
Tommy James and the Shondells are playing a free concert on the beach this weekend. I didn’t know he was still alive, much less still playing gigs. That said, it’s free, it’s at the beach…I just may go.
I wonder how much of their past success had to do with people confusing them with “plain” Rush.
I saw a poster in a nearby town that advertised Iron Butterfly at their July Fourth celebration. Iron Fucking Butterfly!
I just saw where Pat Travers is playing at some nearby music festival this weekend. I remember “Boom Boom Out Go The Lights” from high school back in the mid-70’s, and the song wasn’t that good back then! I can’t believe he’s not selling insurance or something by now.
Cheap Trick, a band that was big back when I was in high school, is still performing.
Les Paul is 92, still plays two shows a week, and they sell out every night. I don’t see any reason to stop performing if the artist and audience still have a connection.
Great White.
Even after they made a nightclub explode.
I gotta defend Great White here. I saw them at FoxFest about 3-4 years ago, and they were freaking awesome! They just got up on stage and jammed for about an hour and a half. It was a compilation of all their songs plus some good transitions between. Second best band I’ve ever seen live (Best was Deep Purple about 2 years ago).
I’m actually really happy to hear Boyz II Men and Cheap Trick are still together. Sure, it sucks that they’re no longer the headliners they once were, but there must be some genuine personal, professional, and/or musical chemistry there for them to stay together despite the unsuccess.
Lynrd Skynrd is still together, with a decent touring schedule.
Hootie and the Blowfish are playing here next month.
The Smashing Pumpkins are here in September.
I didn’t know either of those groups were still together.
I saw America (the guys who did “Horse With No Name”) a few weeks ago. They were the opening act for Chicago. Chicago wasn’t bad, but America, frankly, sucked hard. They really should have packed it up years ago.
I got a couple good ones.
The Hollies (Long Cool Woman) are still playing. I believe only two of the original members are still part of the band.
Jerry Lee Lewis is still touring. I saw him up here about 10 years ago and back then I remember thinking, “He’s still alive?”