911: Never Forget

May your strength give us strength; May your faith give us faith; May your hope give us hope; May your love give us love... (Bruce Springsteen - Into the Fire)

This is a music blog and not a political blog, but as an American this day needs to be remembered always. Freedom is a wonderful and we take it for granted.

With that said back to the music; in 2002 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band released an album that was sort of a tribute to those that fell on that horible day. The album was the first with the E Street gang since 1985. The Rising was a beautiful statement, hitting the right tone, speaking of the courage and strength of those who died.

Kings, Keys & Whigs

She's such a charmer, oh no; she's looking at me... (Kings of Leon - Charmer)

I saw a hot show in Cincinnati, OH at the Riverbend Music Center (my favorite venue) on Saturday (9/04): The Whigs, The Black Keys and the Kings of Leon.

It was almost exactly a year ago that I saw the Kings of Leon in Lexington, KY. The Kings still touring in support of 2008's break through Only By the Night, played 8 of the 11 songs from that cd. They also teased us with an new tune, Pyro, from their fourthcoming new CD Come Around Sundown (to be released October 19). The Kings provided many highlights, but my new favorite Kings song and highlight was Charmer from 2007's Because of the Times.

The nights middle act was the Black Keys, who's latest CD Brothers has been in my CD player all summer long. The Keys were amazing playing a portion of the set with only the two members vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. Two additional musicians assisted on the remaining portion of the show. The standouts for me were Tighten Up and 10 Cent Pistol.

The opening act was The Whigs, a trio from Athens, GA (a very musical enriched city). The Whigs played a short energetic set of southern garage rock. Lead guitarist Parker Gispert entertained with his balancing on one leg guitar playing. This band requires further listening.