What do you do if you’re in a legendary doom metal band, but all of your members (especially your guitarist) are doing cocaine and / or chugging booze almost nonstop, are exhausted from a massive tour, and are also running out of ideas for your fifth album?
If you’re Black Sabbath, your go back to Gloucestershire, England and record Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in a haunted castle.
Tommy Iommi‘s opening riff on the title track is the sound of ancient monsters awakening from a long slumber, and the song drifts into psychedelia at the right points to keep the shredding from overwhelming you. “A National Acrobat” is a song about DNA, believe it or not, and what determines who we become. Bill Ward keeps his drums simple, almost jazzy at some points, to good effect.
The lovely “Fluff” is pretty much a lullaby, which you’d never expect from that album cover…but you might from the back cover.
“Sabbra Cadabra” shreds on every level. Geezer Butler‘s bass roars and struts, while Ozzy Osbourne goes for broke with his vocals, having a great time behind the microphone. As if that’s not enough, along come Yes‘ Rick Wakeman to play a Minimoog on the track (and he was paid in beer!).
“Killing Yourself to Live” has soaring guitar work from Iommi. He creates a sound both majestic and heavy. The synths on “Who Are You?” ooze with creepy menace as Osbourne calls out cults of personality and the people who lead them. The groove of “Looking for Today” is top-notch. The album ends with “Spiral Architect,” a song about death (go figure) that includes lush string instruments and bright synths (and applause) to send us out on an uplifting note.
Like the other first six Black Sabbath albums (the only ones you can trust, according to a T-shirt I saw worn by Nick Aguilar of Frankie and The Witch Fingers), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was sometimes derided upon its release but it now considered a metal classic. It’s impressive that it was completed and turned out so well, considering all the band was dealing with in 1973.
It’s odd that I haven’t seen a full concert in almost five months, so opening my 2025 concert season with one of my rock heroes seemed appropriate. The Bob Mould Band was playing an easy drive from my house, so seeing them for the third time, and in a small venue, was an easy decision.
First up were Winged Wheel, who described themselves as being “from multiple cities” and thus rarely getting opportunities to play and tour together. They played an interesting brand of psychedelia that mixed synthwave with trippy guitars, a violin, and even lap steel guitar.
Winged Wheel
They had a great sunset to provide a light show, and I thought, “They could play Levitation.” Their sound is unique and they all look like someone you know.
After about a twenty-minute gear switch, The Bob Mould band came out and got straight to business. It was the last show of their current tour, and they emptied the gas tank on the Bell’s outdoor stage.
They tore through the first group of tracks so fast that you could barely breathe. The crowd, mostly aging hipsters like yours truly, seemed a bit low key. The trio of Mr. Mould, Jason Narducy (bass), and Jon Wurster (drums) were roaring and few people were dancing at first. I think some were just overwhelmed by the tidal wave of sound coming at them. There were a couple songs when it felt like a mosh pit could, and should, have broken out. Three guys tried to start one for a moment, but one of the trio soon stopped it and calmed his pals down before it could form.
The Bob Mould Band was undeterred by this, thank heavens, and ripped through a lot of good stuff from their catalogue, both new (from their Here We Go Crazy album) and even a short set of tracks from 2020. Wurster was dropping some killer fills the whole night, and Narducy’s bass grooves were locked in the whole set.
Mould, go figure, shredded the entire evening with both his guitar and his voice. It’s wild to see and hear him create that much sound.
A highlight for me was them playing the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show near the end of the night. If you’re a fan of Hüsker Dü, then you know that cover was a staple of their early shows so it was a blast to hear that gem brought out to shine.
It’s great that these guys are still crushing it and that Mould is still putting out great music and showing youngsters how it’s done.
Keep your mind open.
Thanks to the chap who let me snap a photo of this set list he scored.
[Thanks to Jim and Mia at Big Hassle for the press pass!]
I can’t understate how much Black Sabbath‘s self-titled debut from 1970 changed the game. Many words have been written on this fact, so I’m not adding anything new by declaring that no one had heard anything like this before 1970. Sure, there had been heavy psychedelic rock, and some of it downright spooky (Looking at you, 13th Floor Elevators.), but this was spooky and heavy.
The opening title track alone has Ozzy Osbourne singing about some sort of dark…thing, Satan himself, arises out of smoke to point a black finger at him and possibly doom him for all time. Osbourne pleads to God, and us, for help while Tommy Iommi‘s guitar sounds like weird chants, Bill Ward‘s drums are like rolling thunder that rumbles at distance and then overwhelms you moments later, and Geezer Butler‘s bass is like cloven footsteps approaching you from the dark.
Just when you think there’s no light in this pit, along comes “The Wizard,” a song about Gandalf and loaded with enough blues harmonica from Osbourne to power a Howlin’ Wolf track. It’s one of their best early cuts, and just a lot of damn fun. Finishing up Side A is the four-song medley of “Wasp / Behind the Wall of Sleep / Bassically,” and “N.I.B.” Clocking in at nearly eleven minutes, the four tracks have a great swagger to them that keeps you hooked the entire time, even as Osbourne sings about your body turning into a corpse. Don’t worry, though, because the morning sun will break the spell and awaken you from this horrible dreams. Geezer’s solo on “Bassically” leads into the thudding “N.I.B.” (named after Geezer’s “pen nib” goatee) and Osbourne singing a warning about how deceptive the devil can be.
“Wicked World” starts Side B with wicked, almost jazz-chop drums from Ward, who was clearly having a blast in the recording studio that day. Osbourne sings about social injustice with lyrics that, unfortunately, are still relevant (“People got to work just to earn their bread while people just across the sea are counting the dead.”). The second side ends with another medley, this one of “A Bit of Finger” / “Sleeping Village” / and “Warning” that almost four minutes than the medley on Side A. Most of it is a creeping, menacing instrumental (“Sleeping Village”), while the end is a song about staying away from a potentially dangerous (and mystical?) woman.
It’s a classic album, and an important one not just in the history of metal, but of music in general. It flattened people back in 1970 and still hits as hard as a battle axe.
Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, release “Drowned In A Sea Of Tears,” the new single from their upcoming album, MAD!, out May 23rd via Transgressive Records. Having recently added more dates to their European tour they now announce a North American tour in September, kicking off in Atlanta and wrapping in Los Angeles with stops along the way including Boston, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and more. Tickets go on general sale Friday, April 11th at 10am local time. A full list of dates is below with tickets and further information available here.
On the heels of the “sweeping, theatrical breakup tune” (Stereogum) “JanSport Backpack,” “Drowned In A Sea Of Tears” is a minor key mini-tragedy about the perils of emotional continence, of the stiff upper lip, of keeping it all in. The protagonist keeps her emotional landscape guarded behind high walls, and the narrator is unable to be her saviour. Unusually, for a Sparks song, there is no punchline, no twist in the tale. The accompanying video is a visual theater piece about a woman succumbing to her tears of grief.
Watch the Video for “Drowned In A Sea Of Tears” Despite the efforts of Edgar Wright’s superb 2021 documentary The Sparks Brothers, which introduced the duo to a wider audience than ever before, the exact creative dynamic between Ron and Russell Mael remains inscrutable, as mysterious and unknowable as their private lives.
The one thing we know for certain is that Ron Mael is one of our most acutely perceptive observers of social mores. In a different discipline – dramaturg, cartoonist, novelist, cineaste, chronicler – he’d be a Moliere, a Hogarth, a Fitzgerald, an Altman, a Swift. He just happens to work within the medium of popular song. His brother Russell Mael has the asset of a talent to put those observations across in a uniquely arresting manner, captivating as a frontman and gifted with a countertenor voice of extraordinary range. The alchemy between Ron on keys and Russell on vocals is simply what they do. And they’ve rarely done it better than on MAD!.
MAD! finds Ron and Russell examining cultural phenomena such as branded backpacks, tattoos, performative devotion (whether to a God, a lover, a celebrity or a sports team), the hegemony of banter, and the rise of influencers. The satire is never on-the-nose, always retaining enough ambiguity for the listener to fill in the blanks. And the exquisitely unusual lexicon (you won’t hear the word “epistemology” on many other albums this year) and cultural references leap out on every listen.
Musically there are nods to New Wave, Synthpop, Art Rock and Electronic Opera – all genres Sparks had hands in pioneering, or straight-up invented. When you hear echoes of other artists, from Air to Shostakovich, you remind yourself that they’re all people who Sparks influenced in the first place. (Well, maybe not Shostakovich.) Ultimately, however, MAD! is a modern record, which belongs in, and speaks to, the modern world. Which is all the more remarkable when you consider the vintage of its creators.
Further information on MAD! and background on Sparks is available here.
MAD! Tour Dates: (New Dates in Bold) Sun. June 8 – Kyoto, JP @ ROHM Theatre Tue. June 10 – Osaka, JP @ Zepp Namba Thu. June 12 – Fri. June 13 – Tokyo, JP @ EX Theater Wed. June 18 – Thu. June 19 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo Sat. June 21 – Sun. June 22 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo Tue. June 24 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall Thu. June 26 – Haarlem, NL @ PHIL Haarlem Sat. June 28 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal Mon. June 30 – Paris, FR @ La Salle Pleyel Tue. July 1 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall (venue upscale) Thu. July 3 – Copenhagen, DK @ The Koncerthuset Fri. July 4 – Stockholm, SE @ Grona Lund Tivoli Sun. July 6 – Berlin, DE @ Uber Eats Tue. July 8 – Milan, IT @ Teatro degli Arcimboldi Sat. July 12 – Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Tue. July 15 – Dublin, IE @ National Stadium Wed. July 16 – Dublin, IE @ National Stadium Fri. July 18 – Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh Playhouse Sat. July 19 – Wolverhampton, UK @ The Halls Fri. Sept. 5 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle Mon. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Keswick Theatre Tue. Sept. 9 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre Thu. Sept. 11 – Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center Fri. Sept. 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre Sun. Sept. 14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre Mon. Sept. 15 – Cleveland, OH @ TempleLive at Cleveland Masonic Wed. Sept. 17 – Toronto, On @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre Sat. Sept. 20 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater Tue. Sept. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre Wed. Sept. 24 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre Fri. Sept. 26 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall Sat. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Theatre Mon. Sept. 29 – El Cajon, CA @ The Magnolia Tue. Sept. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
Keep your mind open.
[I might drown in a sea of tears if you don’t subscribe.]
Back in 1991, Drop Nineteens were recording songs in their dorm rooms and sending them out on cassette to various labels in the U.S. and the U.K. These demos sat unreleased for over three decades and are now finally seeing the light of day with 1991, putting another feather in the band’s cap after touring for the first time in that long in 2023 and releasing their last new album, Hard Light, last year.
1991 (sometimes known as Mayfield in some bootleg releases) is a great slice of time and shoegaze sound. “Daymom” instantly drops you into another world that’s brighter and lusher than the one you’re experiencing right now. The gorgeous guitars, tight beats, and misty vocals are intoxicating. “Song for J.J.” has great rolling beats and more vocals you can’t quite make out but know make you feel good. The thudding bass of “Back in Our Old Bed” reminds me of early Cure tracks, and is largely an instrumental track – which I love. The drop-out in the middle with swirling vocal sounds and guitar effects is a stunner.
Female vocals chant and call in “Soapland,” making you think of sirens luring sailors to either jagged rocks or island paradises. You’re not sure which. The unofficial title track, “Mayfield,” growls like an angry cat with guitars that would make Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury Strangers sit up and smile. “Shannon Waves” hits you in waves, and is a pure instrumental that washes over you like a slow-rolling hot tub.
“Kissing the Sea” glistens like sunbeams atop the water at first, and then the drums roll in and almost change the track to an adventurous sail across a secluded bay. It’s not yacht rock by any means, but it’s just as smooth. “Snowbird” sounds like something being sun from atop a snowy mountain, so the title is appropriate. There are no drums on the first half of track, just swirling guitars and synths, but then the song grows into a thumping rocker with buzzsaw guitars everywhere.
Ending with “Another Summer,” 1991 goes out on the fastest notes of the album and is a glimmering rock track that’s perfect for your summer playlists and leaves you optimistic.
This was a stunning debut that had multiple labels scrambling to sign Drop Nineteens. Caroline Records eventually won the skirmish, and Drop Nineteens became legends.
Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, make their opening gambit for 2025 with the release of “Do Things My Own Way.” A teaser for their 28th studio album, MAD!, due this year on new label home Transgressive Records, the single also functions as something of a manifesto for the Maels – Sparks are a band who have always, always done things their own way.
“Our mantra since 1972, amplified in 2025.” — Sparks
While further details about the album remain under wraps, fans can look forward to the MAD! Tour. Having wowed audiences and critics alike on their 2023 tour – including sold out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall (two) and Sydney Opera House, a hometown triumph at Hollywood Bowl, and a headlines-stealing set at Glastonbury Festival – Sparks will be returning to the live stage this June kicking off with the Japanese, UK and European legs of their world tour. A full list of dates can be found below, and tickets are available here.
SPARKS MAD! TOUR DATES: Sun. June 8 – Kyoto, JP @ ROHM Theatre Tue. June 10 – Osaka, JP @ Zepp Namba Thu. June 12 – Fri. June 13 – Tokyo, JP @ EX Theater Wed. June 18 – Thu. June 19 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo Sat. June 21 – Sun. June 22 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo Tue. June 24 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall Thu. June 26 – Haarlem, NL @ PHIL Haarlem Sat. June 28 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal Mon. June 30 – Paris, FR @ La Salle Pleyel Tue. July 1 – Cologne, DE @ Gloria-Theater Thu. July 3 – Copenhagen, DK @ The Koncerthuset Fri. July 4 – Stockholm, SE @ Grona Lund Tivoli Sun. July 6 – Berlin, DE @ Uber Eats Tue. July 8 – Milan, IT @ Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Most acts, by the time they’ve been making music together across seven different decades, would have slowed to a crawl, creakily playing the oldies on the heritage circuit and releasing nothing more modern than the occasional Greatest Hits collection.
Sparks aren’t most acts. And, if anything, their rate of productivity has sped up in recent years: since the millennium the duo have released eight new studio albums, a radio opera (The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman), a side-project (Franz Ferdinand collaboration, FFS), a live album, a film musical (2021’s Annette, which won a Best Director award for Leos Carax and the Best Original Score at the César Awards for the Maels), toured the world numerous times, and been the subject of The Sparks Brothers, an acclaimed documentary by Edgar Wright. Their laurels remain resoundingly unrested-upon.
It’s no secret that Lightnin’ Hopkins is my favorite bluesman of all time. He’s the only one I have emblazoned on a T-shirt I bought in Nashville years ago. So, I practically jumped at the Chicago wrecka stow rack when I saw this 2022 issue of his 1960 album, Lightnin’ in New York, for sale at a stunningly cheap price.
Hopkins was slowly getting into the concert scene around this time, mostly playing in house parties and honkytonks back in the Houston area. He had trouble connecting with young, white audiences at first, figuring (correctly so) that they hadn’t seen or experienced the things he and his friends and family had. How would and how could white people relate to the blues?
He landed in New York City in late 1960 and, after being shuffled around to some low-rent apartments, learned that there were indeed some white people in the Big Apple who could relate to the blues. Downtrodden and heartbroken people can be found everywhere.
Recorded on November 15th of that year, Hopkins sat in the studio with his trusty guitar and a piano, often switching back and forth on the same song. “Take It Easy,” the opener, is a great showcase of this talent. “Mighty Crazy” is a witty, fun track that skewers oppressive social and sexual attitudes (“Ain’t it crazy to keep on rubbing at that same old thing?”).
Hopkins is relaxed and enjoying himself on “Your Own Fault, to Treat Me the Way You Do.” His playful piano work is like a strutting cat on it. “I’ve Had My Fun If I Don’t Get Well No More” is a song about approaching death, but looking back and appreciating the ride. Hopkins wants his mother to know what’s happening (“Let her know the shape I’m in. Just tell her to pray for me, momma, forgive me for all my sins.”).
“The Trouble Blues” is a powerful song with Hopkins’ vocals aching with sad memories of his girl leaving him (“I’m leavin’ in the morning. Lightnin’, your crying won’t make me stay.”) and fatigue from rough mileage brought on by the world in general. “Lightnin’s Piano Boogie” is a fun instrumental showcase of his playing.
“Wonder Why” is another heartfelt performance of Hopkins losing love yet again. He can’t figure out why his girl is leaving him, and she’s not giving him any hints. The album closes with one of his classic storytelling songs, “Mister Charlie,” about a stuttering boy who has to tell a kind mill owner that his mill is on fire. The boy is losing his home, and the owner is losing his business, but the owner lets him know things will be fine despite the tragedy.
This is a great recording of a blues legend relaxed and playing what he wants. It’s a prime addition to anyone’s blues or Hopkins collection.
If you’re like me, you also had no idea that Lou Reed, before he helped found The Velvet Underground and become one of the most influential musicians and songwriters of his time, was a songwriter, singer, and guitarist for Pickwick Records – a long-closed label that produced sound-alike recordings of artists who resembled popular bands of the day. Reed wrote everything from surf music to soul ballads, and thankfully the Lou Reed Archive has collected a lot of these rare tracks on Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65.
There’s a lot of fun and interesting stuff on this collection. It starts off with Lou in a band called The Primitives performing “The Ostrich,” a fuzzy record describing yet another dance craze, and returning again with the band later on the wonderfully wacky “Sneaky Pete.” You can instantly hear the seeds of the loud, wild edges of The Velvet Underground in this track. On “Cycle Annie” by The Beachnuts, Reed is singing hot rod rock and putting down fast-paced guitar strumming while doing it. Later, on “Sad, Lonely Orphan” and the “Okay, we get it.” “I’ve Got a Tiger in My Tank,” he hands the mic to someone else and concentrates on hammering out riffs.
Reed contributes soul jams “I’m Gonna Fight” and “Soul City” for The Hi-Lifes, slick ballads (“Oh No Don’t Do It,” “Love Can Make You Cry,” and “What About Me”) for Ronnie Dickerson, and sings lead again for The Roughnecks on “You’re Driving Me Insane,” which sounds like it could be a modern track from The Schizophonics.
The J Brothers‘ “Ya Running, But I’ll Getcha” has a bit of bluegrass flair to it, and Beverly Ann‘s “We Got Trouble” is a straight-up hippie rock track that was probably an attempt by Pickwick to create their own version of Cher.
The compilation’s title track comes from The All Night Workers and blends soul-rock with psych-drone. Jeannie Larimore‘s “Johnny Won’t Sure No More” is a bit sugary, but the drum beat behind it is the early sound of the kind of beats Reed would ask Moe Tucker to play later. Robertha Williams comes next with powerful soul numbers “Tell Momma Not to Cry” and “Maybe Tomorrow” that make you wonder why she didn’t become better known.
Terry Philips‘ “Flowers for the Lady” and “This Rose” sound like a lot of other 1960s crooners’ songs, but that’s what Pickwick wanted. Your head might explode when you hear Reed singing lead on The Surfsiders‘ goofy “Surfin'” (Dig that wacky saxophone!) and their cover of “Little Deuce Coupe.”
This is a fascinating look and listen back at a part of Reed’s career that’s unknown to many, and the seeds of his later work are all here.
The weather stayed nice for us on Day Two of Levitation Austin. There was no rain, and it was overcast – which meant that the sun wasn’t beating down on us at this place.
There is no parking.
We spent most of our day here. It was a first time for both of us at the place, and the Austin Psych Fest in the spring is held here. You have to take the bus or use a ride-share service to get here because it’s on a busy road and there’s no where to park for miles. That being said, it’s a nice place big enough to hold two outdoor stages and multiple vendor booths. I would’ve enjoyed more food truck options other than pizza (which looked delicious, by the way), and we’ll bring a blanket next time, but the place reminded me of the La Chabada venue at Levitation France. You can easily hop back and forth between stages at both places.
Up first were Meatbodies, whom I’d recently seen in Chicago. They were the first band of the day and had a good crowd for a 4:30 slot. They had fun and set the table for everyone else to follow with a night of garage-psych, electro, cosmic rock, and post-punk.
They had to cut their set a bit short, as the second band of the day was in the process of unleashing fierce dance-punk on the main stage. Special Interest came out ready to fight and / or fuck. “Fierce” is how my girlfriend described their wild set.
We could hear parts of Fat Dog‘s set, which was described by one of the sound engineers as “Like Fontaines D.C., but hornier.” We decided to get close for Gang of Four, who are on their final tour, and were the big draw of the day for me. They didn’t disappoint, playing a lot of classics and destroying a microwave in the process. Jon King‘s manic energy made my girlfriend wonder if he might have a heart attack on stage, but one look through his unbuttoned shirt showed how ripped he is.
We hung out in the same area for Dry Cleaning, who somehow had to follow Gang of Four. Lead singer Florence Shaw (whom my girlfriend described as “fucking weird”) spoke, a bit nervously, about all the great bands playing that day. She and her bandmates didn’t have to worry, however, as they put down a great post-punk set. I love the addition of their saxophonist on this tour. The echoing horn is a sharp touch.
We heard part of Pissed Jeans‘ set, which sounded crazy, and they had a lot of fans at the Far Out. I saw plenty of their band shirts on people in the crowd (“Excuse me, are those Pissed Jeans you’re wearing?”), and then headed over to see Slift, who were once again wrapping up their U.S. tour at Levitation. They wasted no time, using every bit of gas left in the tank. Crowd surfers were abundant during their set and they practically blasted the east fence off the place. “I think Slift stole the show,” my girlfriend said.
We wrapped up the night at Kingdom in downtown Austin, a venue that’s the opposite of the Far Out. It’s pretty much a rave warehouse that you can only access through a door in an alley. We hit the dance floor during MJ Nebreda and Doss‘ sets, which were full of so much bass that we were both buzzing by the end of the night. It was fun to hang out with a crowd of ravers (many of whom still in costume a night after Halloween) after hanging out with rockers for several hours.
Up next, night three of Osees‘ four-night residency at Hotel Vegas.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see The The live. The band’s leader, frontman, and songwriter, Matt Johnson, had seemingly retired many years ago to make film scores and write other non-musical projects. Then, in 2018, he did a reunion tour through the United Kingdom. I thought that would’ve been great to see (and video recordings of the shows bear me out), but guessed that my only chance was gone.
Then he released Ensoulment, his first new album in almost thirty years and announced a world tour that was stopping in Chicago. I signed up for pre-sale tickets and snagged a pair as soon as possible. My friend, Brian, and I went, both of us having been fans since 1986’s Infected album.
There was no opening band. The The played two sets. The first was Ensoulment in its entirety, and this was the first time I’d heard more than the first three singles from it. The first half is almost a jazz album, and Johnson’s sharp lyrics and jabs at the political establishment (i.e., “Kissing the Ring of the POTUS”) on both sides of the pond still hit like a gold medal fencer.
Following a 15-minute intermission, the band came back out for a “time traveler’s set” of material from their previous albums, opening with a slightly stripped-down, but no less funky version of “Infected.” “Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)” and “Heartland” were big hits with the crowd. “Love Is Stronger Than Death” was a beautiful addition to the set, and Johnson declared “This Is the Day” as a song of hope that was just as important now as when he wrote it decades earlier.
All of his songs still resonate. “Lonely Planet” prompted a “Fuck yeah!” shout from a guy a couple rows ahead of us when Johnson announced it to close the second set. The encore was two songs from Soul Mining, which had been released forty-one years prior (“I wasn’t even born then,” Johnson said.). “Uncertain Smile” and “Giant” rounded out the show, leaving a lot of people happy and buzzing. The whole crowd was in the same boat as Brian and I. We all thought we might not get to hear these songs live, and were all thankful that it happened.
