StewStuph

And zero microphones. OK, that was a bad joke, but I always think of that song when I say "turntable." For fathers day this year, I was given a new turntable. A Sony PS-LX300USB to be precise. This is the first turntable I have had since, I guess, the mid-1980's. I have been casually thinking about getting one for a couple of years. My son got a turntable for Christmas last year. Ever since then, I have thought more about it as I have bought three records since then. He will listen to the records in his room. I even went to the trouble of waiting in line at the latest Record Store Day to buy a record from Touche Amore . I bought a limited edition record from The Eradicator . Fortunately, each of those records was accompanied by a download code so that I could at least listen to the music that I had bought but had no other way to hear. The one record that I bought, that I knew my son would like, already had a legal download of, was American Football's first LP....

It was another concert weekend. We kicked it off Friday at Local 506 seeing regional bands Youth League , Knowne Ghost and Cuzco . Earlier in the week my son told me that he remembered seeing the bassist for Youth League at Wreckingball last summer. When we arrived at the club I saw the band outside talking. I told my son to ask him if he was indeed there last summer. Being too shy he declined. I on the other hand have not many reservations about approaching people on the street to talk to them. When asked, he confirmed that he was there. Knowne Ghost was a last minute replacement for Outbound and I was grateful because I was able to hear a "new to me" band. Youth League Saturday morning was an early start. I got up early to see Gina off for her trip to the SAS conference in Orlando. I watched the first half of the Merseyside Derby. Then I headed out to watch local soccer as some of my friends were playing each other before my own 10:00 kickoff.  My game was a victory...

One of my favorite things to do is go to concerts. This weekend I am going to see Thursday ,  Touché Amoré ,  Basement   and  Wax Idols  at The Fillmore in Charlotte. Just for fun I entered their drawing to win tickets even though I bought tickets February 2nd. This morning I received an email notifying me I did not win. No big deal, I already have tickets. But the annoying part to me was a mention in the email about DISCOUNTED tickets still available. Curiosity got to me and I checked the price of the same tickets to see the difference. It would have been HALF the price if i waited to buy them now. Of course waiting increases the risk of a show selling out. These tickets are being sold through Live Nation. I wonder how much money they get from the sale of tickets. How much does the venue get? What about the artists? This is not the first time I have seen this happen. Last year when I went to Wreckingball, I could have waited and got my weekend pa...

Well, it's happening again. I am getting VERY excited about upcoming concerts this summer. While Wreckingball has already announced a hiatus for this year , there are already a couple of highly anticipated shows that I will be attending. Last years major draw for Wreckingball, for me at least, is back on the road. Thursday will be in Charlotte April 1st! Opening for them will be Wax Idols , Basement and Touché Amoré . Having listened to Touché Amoré more since they opened the aftershow at last years Thursday Wreckingball performance, I am excited to see them again with more knowledge of their catalog. It is sure to be an exciting night at The Fillmore in Charlotte. One other show announced this week is closer to home here in Raleigh. Rise Against and Deftones will be a Red Hat Amphitheater June 19th. Rise Against has been in regular rotation in my music collection since Endgame  was released. I sometimes ask myself how I can afford this Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle.