Stage Crew is Awesome because Vicky Heist (L1)

Top Ten Alternative Songs For This Week:

1. “Come A Little Closer”- Cage the Elephant

2. “Pompeii”- Bastille

3. “Demons”- Imagine Dragons

4. “Ways To Go”- Grouplove

5. “Out Of My League”- Fitz and the Tantrums

6. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

7. “Do I Wanna Know?”- Arctic Monkeys

8. “Hurricane- MS MR

9. “Sweater Weather”- The Neighbourhood

10. “Miss Jackson”- Panic! At The Disco feat. Lolo 

Upcoming Concerts:

So…..I only have one concert date left. I know! That flew by. I’ve been extremely busy, and I haven’t had an opportunity to look for new concert dates. I’ll have to look over the long weekend or next week. Actually, new concert dates will definitely be posted two weeks from now. Goblin will be performing on Sunday, December 8^th in Clifton Park, New York. I PROMISE THAT NEW CONCERT DATES WILL APPEAR ON MY NEXT BLOG POST.

My Top Ten Songs For This Week:

1. “Heavy In Your Arms”- Florence + the Machine

2. “Imaginary”- Evanescence

3. “The Walker”- Fitz and the Tantrums

4. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

5. “Missing”-Evanescence

6. “On Top of the World”- Imagine Dragons

7. “Monster”- Paramore

8. “Somebody Told Me”- The Killers

9. “Radioactive”- Imagine Dragons

10. “Now”- Paramore

Random News:

The good news is that now that my play is over, Christmas music isn’t stuck in my head. The bad news is that there are still too many songs stuck in my head! At least they aren’t mixing together. That sounded really weird. Vicky wants me to listen to new songs, but I haven’t had time. This includes: “Warrior” by Demi Lovato, "The Way I am" by Ingrid Michaelson, and “Waste” by Foster the People. Also, Stage crew is awesome because Vicky Heist. This has nothing to do with anything, but I’ll keep it in here to add to my word count. WHOOPS! Did I just say that out loud?

Pearl Jam Biography

The biography for this week will be about PEARL JAM! This band was one of the original alternative bands, but they are also still performing. That makes them both a founding band and a current band. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to write a biography on an original or a current band so I picked one that was a part of both. Anyways, on to the biography!

Pearl Jam Biography:

Pearl Jam originated in Seattle in the early Nineties. Along with Nirvana, they are recognized as popularizing grunge-style music. Pearl Jam sold more than FIFTEEN MILLION copies of their first two albums. The members of the band changed drastically over the first couple of years, especially after Andrew Wood (singer) died of a drug overdose. In 1990, a memorial to Wood, Temple of the Dog, was performed by Gossard, Ament, McCready, and Chris Cornell. The memorial album made Number Five in 1992. After several other changes in membership, Pearl Jam was signed on by Epic Records in early 1991. They toured extensively and opened for bands at concerts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, and U2. Vedder was the lead singer, and he poured his personal emotions into the lyrics which increased the quality of their music. Their songs are easy to relate to because of this. Since Pearl Jam became popular almost overnight, the band members had a hard time adjusting to their newfound fame. They finally sorted it out around 1998 (it took a little while, but they got there). In September of 2000, they made history by self-releasing TWENTY-FIVE LIVE ALBUMS IN ONE WEEK. Five of these entered the Billboard 200 immediately. They released several more hit albums before their contract timed out. Pearl Jam eventually signed on with J Records in 2006. Their first album that they published with J Records was their self-titled album. Pearl Jam is still recording new music and releasing new albums. My personal favorite single by them at the moment is “Sirens”. I need to buy it!

Top Songs for the Week of November 18th

Top Ten Alternative Songs for This Week:

1. “Come A Little Closer”- Cage the Elephant

2. “Pompeii”- Bastille

3. “Ways to Go”- Grouplove

4. “Demons”- Imagine Dragons

5. “Out Of My League”- Fitz and the Tantrums

6. “Royals”- Lorde

7. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

8. “Sweater Weather”- The Neighbourhood

9. “Hurricane”- MS MR

10.  “City Of Angels”- Thirty Seconds to Mars 

Upcoming Concerts:

Next week, I will definitely update the concert dates since I’m running out of any to post. I was going to update the dates this week, but I have been extremely busy. Anyways, there will be two concerts this week, and then the next one will be in December. DECEMBER!?!?!? Holy cow! It is almost December! Sorry for that little freak-out moment. Pop Evil will be performing on Friday, November 22^nd in Clifton Park, New York. They will also be performing on Sunday, November 24^th in Syracuse, New York. Goblin will be performing on Sunday, December 8^th in Clifton Park, New York. Those are the only dates that I have left. Yep, I will definitely be looking up concert dates next week.

My Top Ten Songs for This Week:

1. “Imaginary”- Evanescence

2. “Tourniquet”- Evanescence

3. “Missing”- Evanescence

4. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

5. “The Walker”- Fitz and the Tantrums

6. “A Light That Never Comes”- Linkin Park and Steve Aoki

7. “You Will Leave a Mark”- Silent Film

8. “Gold”- Sir Sly

9. “No Light, No Light”- Florence +the Machine

10.  “Monster”- Paramore

Random News:

I was listening to Alt. Nation the other day, like usual, when the Alt. Eighteen Countdown came on. Now, you’re probably wondering why this is important but trust me, it is! “Gold” by Sir Sly was number thirteen! I was so excited because I haven’t heard that song in a while. It’s officially stuck in my head again along with all of the Christmas songs that I have to sing in the play. THERE ARE TOO MANY SONGS STUCK IN MY HEAD!!!!!!!

The Smiths Biography!

The biography for this week will be going back to when I started this blog. I started off with biographies of the original alternative bands, and I decided to go back to it. The band for this week will be The Smiths! I don’t know if I’ll stick with doing biographies for the original bands or if I’ll go back to the current bands. I might even alternate! Now there’s an idea……. Anyways, onto the biography!

The Smiths Biography:

Morrissey and Marr were the founding members of The Smiths. They met in 1979 at another concert actually and by 1982, they decided to form a band. This band was formed in the UK since that was where they both lived. They eventually decided to bring more members into their band, even though Marr’s guitar playing went so well with Morrissey’s voice. They decided on Michael Joyce for their drummer, and Andy Rourke for their bassist. One of their first singles, “Rough Trade”, claimed the spot of Number Two on the British chart. A couple of other songs, especially “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, fully established the band. Now they had a solid foundation to build off of. As The Smiths continued their rise to fame, many people were offended by the lyrics. They considered them to be too controversial. The hardcore fans loved the lyrics because they were angst-driven and the lyrics had powerful/different lessons. Craig Gannon, guitarist, joined the band in 1986. Their 1986 album, The Queen Is Dead, was very popular in the UK but when they went on tour, they found that the people in the US didn’t appreciate their music as much. Later that year, Marr got into a car accident, and Gannon was fired shortly after that. In 1987, the single “Sheila Take A Bow” became a Top Ten UK hit. A couple of months later, Marr returned and said that they had run out of ideas for great music. The Smiths disbanded shortly after that. Morrissey went on as a solo artist, but he also joined a couple of bands afterwards. Marr also joined a couple of bands afterwards. None of these various bands even came close to the music that The Smiths had produced. The Smiths never got back together, but they have left behind a great legacy of unique alternative music. 

Top Songs For The Week Of November 11th

Top Ten Alternative Songs This Week:

1. “Pompeii”- Bastille

2. “Come A Little Closer”- Cage the Elephant

3. “Ways To Go”- Grouplove

4. “Demons”- Imagine Dragons

5. “Out Of My League”- Fitz and the Tantrums

6. “Royals”- Lorde

7. “Sweater Weather”- The Neighbourhood

8. “Hurricane”- MS MR

9. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

10.  “Safe and Sound”- Capital Cities

Upcoming Concerts:

Widespread Panic will be performing on Thursday, November 14^th in Syracuse, New York. Trapt will be performing on two consecutive days. On Friday, November 15^th they will perform in Clifton Park, New York. They will then perform the next day (Saturday, November 16^th) in Syracuse, New York. Pop Evil will then perform in Clifton Park, New York on Friday, November 22^nd. They will then perform in Syracuse, New York on Sunday, November 24^th. Last but not least, Goblin will be performing on December 8^th in Clifton Park, New York. Something is definitely up because they’re ALL STILL PERFORMING IN THE SAME PLACES! Anyways, next week or the week after I will update the list of concerts. The two old lists are still available, but these are the concert dates that are coming up.

My Top Ten:

1. “Missing”- Evanescence

2. “No Light, No Light”- Florence + the Machine

3. “Haunted”- Evanescence

4. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

5. “You Will Leave A Mark”- A Silent Film

6. “Gold”- Sir Sly

7. “Follow Me”- Muse

8. “Wake Me Up”- Avicii

9. “A Light That Never Comes”- Linkin Park and Steve Aoki

10. “Tourniquet”- Evanescence

Random News:

Hi again everybody! I have found that going through older songs on my iPod can have unexpected results. I happened to be listening to “Missing” by Evanescence when all of a sudden another song came on that I didn’t recognize. I unlocked my iPod to see what the song was, and it was “Tourniquet” (also by Evanescence). I ended up listening to the whole Fallen album again and now ALL of those songs are stuck in head! NOOOOOOO! It goes without saying, but I’m officially hooked on Evanescence AGAIN. Anyways, see you next time!