The Last Vegas, 'Evil Eyes' -- New Song and Video

The Last Vegas will release Bad Decisions next Tuesday, August 28. The first single from the new album is "Evil Eyes" and the song just plain rocks. It's downright classic sleazy Glam with a modern edge. You can tell the band is definitely Glam but work hard to sound current. You can pre-order Bad Decisions now via iTunes.

Listen and tell me: doesn't singer Chad Cherry sound exactly like 1990-era Mark Slaughter?!

Aerosmith, 'Lover Alot' -- New Song

Aerosmith has a new song. It's called "Lover Alot" and will be on the new album Music From Another Dimension. The album is due November 6. I love the raw guitar riff on this track. What do you think?

Proof I'm a Sap: I'm Excited Chad Kroeger and Avril Lavigne Are Engaged

I love this: Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger is engaged to Avril Lavigne. The Canadians met a few months ago during a song writing session for Lavigne's upcoming album. The couple dated for six months and it was all hush-hush.

According to People magazine, Kroeger proposed on August 8th and presented Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond engagement ring. No wedding date has been announced.

This is my giggly-girlie-post. I love Nickelback and I love weddings (and engagement rings). So that's it. Not Glam, but when was the last time a news headline actually made you smile? Seeing this news did make me happy, so I just had to share.

In Case You Missed Cinderella This Summer...

In the event you didn't get out to see Cinderella live this summer (I didn't either), there's a full concert up on YouTube. The show is from Rams Head in Baltimore, Maryland and was recorded just a couple days ago. Overall, Tom Keifer sounds pretty good. His voice is definitely different than it was during the band's hey day, but it's solid. Sadly, it's the same setlist as always, meaning songs like "Shake Me" and "Heartbreak Station." Still, this is good Glam. Enjoy.

Iron Maiden, A Live Review and Different Perspective

Credit: Christian GrausIt's well documented that I am a major Iron Maiden fan. It should come as no surprise that I saw the last two shows on the current tour, and got to the barrier in Houston. What's a little surprising, is that I didn't love it as much as you might expect.

The first night I was plain jetlagged and was three rows from the front ( i.e. no barrier to lean on ) so I held out for "Phantom of the Opera" then went to sit down, and then after I'd sat for a bit, I saw  lightning and decided to bail.  I was at the barrier the next day, right?

For Houston, I got on to the fan club and found someone to go to the barrier with me, but it seems they had a low number of entries, because the folks who had been looking for a spot had won themselves, that afternoon.  That was fine as we were told we'd be escorted so we wouldn't have to run, but that turned out not to be true, and as I was at the front, I was in the group that got lost. Still got the barrier, but closer to the center than I wanted. (I try for guitarist Adrian Smith's side).

Coheed and Cambria were actually pretty good. I hated them the first night, but I think that's because I was on the right, the mix to the left and you could hear them better.  The one thing is, they did "Heaven and Hell," which was great, but it made clear that nothing they write is close to "Heaven and Hell."

So, the show starts with a video of lots of icebergs. I guess they look like the Seventh Son album cover. The first song is "Moonchild," which does not work for me as an opener, but is an OK song.  Next up was "Can I Play with Madness" and "The Prisoner."  So far, so good.  For me, "2 Minutes to Midnight," the next song, lost them momentum.  It's a song they played on the last two tours at least (I didn't check further back), and I could have done without it.  "Afraid to Shoot Strangers," on the other hand, was epic, a definite highlight.  But then they did "The Trooper."

I think you're getting the idea here. I love Maiden and I love that they mix their set up so much, I just wish they'd mix it up more. Run to the hills was OK, but "Number of the Beast," "Fear of the Dark," even "Running Free" is not a good enough song to be played two tours in a row. I thought they were doing "Wrathchild?" How about "Children of the Damned" or "22 Acacia Avenue," or "Die With Your Boots On," or "Stranger In A Stranger Land?" Basically, the highlights were the songs like "Phantom" (and the crowd went nuts for that, both nights) and "Seventh Son of A Seventh Son" and the lowlights were the same old songs they do every time.  A bit more adventure in the setlist would have been great. Long view - if they had not done Seventh Son songs on the Somewhere Back in Time tour, then this setlist would have been even better (and so would that tour).

For the first time, I am thinking that the tour two tours from now, I'll think about not going. The next tour will be on a new album and should be lots of new songs, and I'm always up for that. The band has alienated the mainstream with these "new album" tour cycles, and I know from experience, they play more shows in bigger venues on a "classics" tour, but if they are not scared to play to their hardcore fans, then why not do that all the time ? And where do they go next? Surely not a Fear of the Dark tour, as on this current tour they've played two of the best songs from it already.  "Be Quick or Be Dead" is the only song from this album I could see them adding. They've done these cycles and I wonder if they are coming to a logical end for the band as a whole? Certainly if they do a tour off of Fear of the Dark and No Prayer for the Dying, there's no way they can do a Futureal tour after that.

Crashdiet in Los Angeles - Live Review

As a false start of the Sunset Strip Music Festival in Los Angeles, Calif., Crashdïet played at Whisky A Go-Go Wednesday, August 15th. Since I just moved to California it seemed like a good idea to go see a Swedish band to avoid getting homesick... and of course to check out Whisky A Go-Go for the first time!

It’s been over a year since I saw Crashdïet live and that time I was pretty blown away. Although I’ve been through many different phases with their music since then and especially fallen in love with their first album, Rest In Sleaze. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them this time, since I’m used to hearing Dave Lepard and not Simon Cruz on vocals. There was no need to worry, Cruz sounded more clean than I remembered. So did the whole band. The setlist of the night was great as well: mainly stuff from their latest album Generation Wild together with some goodies from Rest In Sleaze and ”In The Raw” from The Unattractive Revolution. I got to hear my favorite song ”Queen Obscene/69 Shots” and they also chose to slow the set down in the middle with ”Save Her,” which created a great mix.

But the thing that actually got the show going was that it was very obvious how excited Crashdïet were. No wonder! Which band hasn’t dreamed about playing at Whisky A Go-Go? Still it really helped to see how thrilled they were over being there, at that stage. Somehow that created a personal connection between the band and the crowd, both as excited as one another.

They also gave us a taste from their upcoming album, a new song called ”Anarchy.” To me it sounded a bit more heavy than their previous stuff and made me excited about what to expect with their new album. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Skogsröjet Festival Review

If you start your summer with a festival, for me it was Sweden Rock, it’s not more than right to end the summer with one as well. That’s what I decided to do last weekend and went into the deep forests of Sweden to hear some great music. For the seventh year in a row, the small rock festival called ”Skogsröjet” opened its gates and with acts like Alice Cooper, Hardcore Superstar, Michael Monroe, L.A. Guns and more. It seemed like the perfect place to be, since I was in the mood for some Glam. (I really don’t know how to translate the Swedish name ”Skogsröjet” fairly, but something in between ”The Forest Party” and ”The Forest Rave” is pretty close, I think).

Day one started of with L.A. Guns, who unfortunately hit the stage at 6.45 p.m. Phil Lewis was in a great mood and the sound flawless. I really enjoyed the set, but at the same time I felt like it never got that "kick" to make it something extra. I mainly blame the audience, who didn’t really give the band the support they needed to fill the big stage. Can’t help but wonder if it would have been different if they had played two hours later.

Two hours later it was time for Alice Cooper. I’d never seen him before either, but my friend assured me that he always delivered live. After his show we both agreed on that the best thing with Alice Cooper is also the worst thing with Alice Cooper: you always know what you get. Yes, I got to hear all of the classic songs that I’ve been looking forward to hear live. Yes, the band was great and yes, Mr. Cooper did what he could to entertain us with the scenery, many changes of clothes and the so-called horror show. It was amazing but at the same time I left wondering if that was really it? Have you seen Alice Cooper live? What do you think of his performance? Did I just happen to catch him on bad evening when most of the show was just plain routine?

Day two started with Sister Sin, a band I haven’t listen to at all before. Although my friend and I always want to ”support the ladies” and with very few ladies at this festival we decided to go see a band with a least one woman. And we weren’t disappointed. Even though it’s not really the music I normally listen to, Sister Sin is great live. The singer Liv Jägrell’s voice is very strong and even though it was only 6:30 p.m., they probably had the biggest audience in front of the small stage during the whole festival. If you get the chance to see them live, take it.

My main focus this day was Michael Monroe and Hardcore Superstar, but since I’m writing for BBG! I thought I’d check out Reckless Love as well. Although they are not a band I like. There, I said it. To me the music is just to much pop and I have a hard time taking the singer Olli Herman seriously. Especially when I think of his time in Crashdïet, don’t even get me started on that… Anyway, I know they have a really big fanbase and the crowd seemed to really enjoy their set. And despite my feelings I have to admit that Olli tries hard to put on a great show, so I guess if you like Reckless Love you would enjoy to see them live.

Then it was FINALLY time for Michael Monroe, the show I’ve been waiting for whole summer. And did he deliver! The energy from the band is at 200 percent from the first tune and they just kept on going. Michael Monroe is funny to watch too, he’s out in the audience, he’s climbing the rig and my thoughts goes to Iggy Pop. Michael Monroe might just be the Iggy Pop of the Glam scene. That he nowadays has Swedish guitarist Dregen, from Backyard Babies, by his side also gets the crowd going. Definitely the greatest show of this festival, probably of the whole summer. Wanna know how it’s done, go see a Michael Monroe show.

I then can’t think of a better way to end the festival than with Hardcore Superstar. It’s almost ridiculous how great they are, especially live. There’s no better live band in Sweden, in my opinion. You always know that you will get a great show, but at the same time you don’t know what to expect at all. For example the setlist this time included some surprises, like their old hit ”Someone Special.” I didn’t think they played that one live anymore, but apparently so and the crowd went crazy. The singer Jocke Berg is one of my favourite frontmen and once again he proved why. It’s also obvious how much the fans love Hardcore Superstar and how much Hardcore Superstar loves their fans. The sing-a-long to ”Run To Your Mama” almost drowns the band playing and when they kick off their last song of this night, ”We Don’t Celebrate Sundays,” I don’t think anyone is standing still. This was the fourth time I saw the band within a year and I still can’t get enough. They finished by saying thanks to the festival, the crew, the crowd and finally they promised to be back next year – with a new album! Can’t wait!