Enjoy!

“The Scientist” by Coldplay

I first heard this song watching the movie “Wicker Park”. I don't know which I love more the movie or this song. But, coupled together, the combination makes for a perfect romantically, aching, timeless love story duo.

“Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy

I often play this song over and over when I'm thinking about potentially starting a relationship with someone. It helps remind me that you must always be careful and tread with an open, yet wise heart toward any potential new love situation. It reminds me how hard getting over someone can be with its passionate and beautiful lyrics and melody.

“Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional

Not only is Chris Carrabba absolutely gorgeous, his voice is filled with passionate, romantic beauty skillfully enabling him the ability to sweep lovers away in blissful visions of happily ever after.

“Falling Slowly”

This song is from the movie “Once” a love story that was quite unique in that most of the scenes consisted of songs, though, I do not think it was classified in the musical genre.

And last, but definitely not least, nor the end of my countless list of favorite songs:

“The Teardrop Explodes” by Solarcade

I thought I'd add this song in because I happen to be friends with the singer, Paul Van. I've known him for about 10 years. I actually knew Heath Cooley, who was the former drummer for the band and through Heath, I met Paul. Paul has sung with top performers like Depeche Mode before joining this band. And, about a year ago, Solarcade opened for the Killers. From the very moment I first heard this song, I was enamored by the group's incredible talent. I hope you enjoy it too!

For more inspirational musical reading:

• Changing the World
• Five Music Artists to Fall in Love With
• Colbie Caillat An Amazing Myspace Success Story
• Diamonds in the Rough Independent Artists

Mark Minelli is a singer songwriter currently located in Chicago, IL.  His music is set for dancing and moving with his heart felt rhythmic tone.

When asked why he has the word “blue” tattooed on his collar he simply replied, “ it’s my blue collar”.  Which is a perfect description of his demeanor and thoughts behind his musical style and a note to remembering where you came from.   It’s for the working man, with an hourly wage and dirty hands at the end of the day.

Marks live performances represent his audience with friends and fans alike, chattering, drinking and enjoying an evening of music without the thoughts of the everyday work week.  Not to mention Robin Williams being quoted after seeing Mark play at the Town Hall Pub Chicago 2008, "You're f***ing awesome brother! Wasn't he f***ing awesome?!"  

Though Marks live shows are something you do not want to miss, his album “ Grenade Grenade Everybody Get Down “ with the ever so popular singles, “ Murder in Streets” and “ John “ .  You can download current tracks at myspace.com/markminelli or have a listen and purchase the first album at minellimusic.com

Mark is hard at work living life and writing new material for his new record which is currently in the creative process.  For now keep an eye and an ear out for Mark Minelli at you local record store and your local pub.  White collars welcome.

We were completely stumped. Me and my girlfriend looked at each other, both thinking the exact same thing.  In something close to awe we stood slack jawed and watched the spectacle, or lack thereof. The last song ended in a maddening rush of sound and flash of light. For a moment the image of the last flash still visible in your retina and the last tone still ringing in your ear as the screams and cheers and banging and echoes fall silent and dark. Immediately a set of lights come on, and the place once occupied with something akin to violent expression transforms, like a scary shadow suddenly illuminated, into a silent drone of footsteps going up steps.

I've never seen such a lame excuse for an audience in my life. It's kind of funny to see something on the order of 5000 tattoo'd and black shirt wearing people all rocking out like they're animals when the band plays, but resign to such sheepish roles as soon as their source of power is switched off. I will admit that I was happy that nobody got trampled in the lame 2 person mosh pit, and that nobody bumped Mohawks while they were all headbanging, but come on. This isn't Neil Diamond. But I guess I should have known by the looks of the kids there. Maybe it's me getting older but kids these days seem to be getting lamer. Maybe their minds were all full of things to blog about or quests they had to complete in WoW. All I know is I kinda felt out of place wanting more.

52nd Street by Billy Joel - I think this album is even better than The Stranger. The feeling of this album radiates the atmosphere of New York City. When I listen to this album, I can feel, taste, hear and see everything that is New York City. The city comes alive.
Recovering the Satellites by Counting Crows - Anybody who have listened to August and Everything After know that it isn't the happiest of albums. Neither is Recovering the Satellites, but something about the somber album grabs you and engulfs you in the lonely air, staying with you forever.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLachlan - This is an excellent album...period. It takes you on a journey of her emotion. You can sense her angst, whether true or not. Her piano flair is simply exquisite. The fusion of all of the instruments is truly masterful. You'll never tire of this album.

V by Live - The majority of Live fans don't like this album, but I love it. It was released a week after September 11th, and feeling depressed, it brought me up to a better place. This is a daring concoction of songs that are not like any other Live album. It has an Egyptian style to it that is soothing but the rock is still present.

Anyways back to Dallas...Radiohead...with my wife...amphitheater. It was great. The anticipation, the atmosphere, the excitement as we walked in, you could cut it with a knife. And that was just at the parking lot!. As we approached the amphitheater, it was my first concert in an amphitheater so I did not know what to expect, we got our tickets scanned and all that good stuff, walking into the place was like walking into a whole new world. There were a mix of very diverse people everywhere. Felt like a festival, a hippie compound on one side, a yuppie-college gathering on the other side but love, I believe for music atleast, was in the air. In our excitement however, I forgot to grab the camera. D'oh!

The facility was excellent.We browsed around all the stands that was set up, mostly from Waste, their environmental organization that Radiohead is associated with and grabbed a drink before looking for our seats.I dare say I was probably acting like a giddy little school boy going to his first day of school.

The opening act was a band by the name of Liars. I am disappointed with myself for not knowing who they were prior to this concert because they were actually pretty good. The lead singer was a joy to watch. He was busting out with all this crazy dance moves on stage. You don't get to see a lot of skinny little white kids dancing like that on stage in a rock concert. Musically they were tight too. The band sounds like The Battles with a proper singer. They kept the crowd going, hyping the audience into a frenzy for the main event. Dedicating a song to Radiohead and telling us how excited Radiohead was to be here today and how hyped and pumped they were backstage, made me even giddier with excitement. He preluded to a treat we were about to get and what a treat it was!

By now the amphitheater is packed. It is a warm sunny day, with a slight breeze blowing. However the breeze will soon disappear completely just as the setting sun illuminates the band's entry onto stage. The crowd is deafening. Everyone is on our feet, standing, applauding, making the loudest noise you can hear. For the next 2 and a half hour, we will not sit until the band exits the stage.

Exploding into the air with the opening song from their excellent new album, In Rainbows, they played All I Need ( my favourite song from the album!). I was in heaven. They played every song from the new album and picked 2 songs from every album their discography except for Pablo Honey and even treated us to a brand new song. The band was mesmerizing to watch, having the crowd sway and swoon to every chord. They were in top form. I know now why they are tagged as one of the best live bands out there today. Hands down the best concert I have ever been to.

The whole concert was just very very awesome. But if I had to pick a few stand out songs from the vast list, they would include Videotape, You and Whose Army,My Iron Lung and Paranoid Android. It's hard to just pick these as the entire set was simply incredible but these 4 simply stood out for it's imaginative arrangements, superb performance, sheer energy and innovativeness.

Videotape on the album is a slow almost ballad-ish. Live however, it was totally new beast. It was brooding and climbing , getting more and more intense as it keeps going. It keeps building to a climax that never comes.It just stops. It builds and builds and builds to the end and then it just stops!. It was not time yet. They were not ready to climax.We were just getting started.

You And Whose Army is another great song. They did something I have never seen used in any concert I have been to. For the benefit of everyone in the back, there is a huge screen right above the band. Radiohead uses this to their advantage. Five screens showing the band in different states, different instruments and different angles. However for this song, they really went the extra mile with this technology. This is a very aggressive song lyrically. It starts of slow and on a piano but it's an aggressive song. It's a song on the current US administration.It's a "come on and take me on if you dare, you and your cronies,I'm not afraid of you" kinda song. It's also one of Suzie's favourite from this concert. The camera focused on the lead singer, Thom Yorke's eyes. It was actually a close up of his face and nothing more. Then zooming into his eyes and as the song progresses it zooms out slowly to show his entire face. The cool thing though, was that it was mischievous. He just had this mischievous and playful look to him. Then as this song builds up, Thom with his sly smile, looked at the audience and just started almost busting out laughing, because he knew what was coming. The entire screen above goes ballistic, expanding his face on all the screens and the band steps in and the song itself just blows up. Suzie said it was as if he knew what was going to happen and so he just couldn't control himself and started laughing. She taught that was fun way to interact with the audience.

My Iron Lung is a popular song for Radiohead fans. I think every song from The Bends album could be considered a favourite among Radiohead fans. This song stood out primarily because everyone knows/knew the lyrics to it. It was a whip out your lighter moment. Everyone sang along almost drowning Thom out. Myself included.

Then came the grande finale. After three encores ( Yes 3!!! ) Bringing the entire experience into a climax, the last song they played brought the house down. That actually is an understatement. Paranoid Android destroyed the place. The crowd went mental. The band goes mental. The screens goes mental. The lights goes mental. It was an assault of noise and energy and on our senses. It was a non stop jam fest. Everything was just perfect in the world for that short time in their vortex of sound and lights. In our pop and digital world, we forget the joys of actually going to a concert sometimes. This reminded me why this is an important part of the human psyche. Thru the ages people have surrounded themselves in amphitheaters such as this one listening to musicians, poets, scholars and priests.It's an enlightening moment to go somewhere, connect with people who I've never met and never will meet again and all of a sudden connecting to each other thru (in this case) music.

A truly once in a lifetime experience for me. I enjoyed it tremendously as did Suzie. Going with her and experiencing it with her made it even more enjoyable for me. She is really an awesome person to go anywhere with let alone a concert of this magnitude. I am truly blessed to have someone like that in my life. The entire experience has etched itself in my mind and will not be forgotten.

Eurovision must make everyone in Britain ask themselves, “are we that out of touch with our neighbors?” as the Bosnia act gets roaring cheers and backing vocals from the audience, if you can't remember, they were the ones dressed in cartoon like clothing with a washing line and old women knitting in the background. As they receive another ten points on the score board later on, Mr Wogan commented “have I missed something?” A sentiment that must have been echoed by everyone that wasn't in on the joke.

The U.K.s entry was a good one, and it deserved far more than joint last place with Poland and Germany, (Germany's entry was awful, kind of like a couple of women who had been picked up at the local karaoke bar the night before). Even Armenia's shrieking angels received at least eighty points, which was disgraceful and an embarrassment to the song contest that has literally nothing whatsoever to do with music or the arts.

The winner, Dima Bilan is apparently a big star in Russia and perhaps deserved his win, although, it wasn't a good song and the figure skater was bemusing to himself and to others. It was a drab, monotone tune with no excitement or any sort of an entertaining delivery, nothing compared to the performance by the superb Andy Abraham, who, in all fairness, was robbed.

Next year, maybe we should spend our time and effort looking for an act that not only looks like a joke (Bosnia) but actually makes a joke of the competition (Spain) maybe then we might receive some critical European acclaim, or we should just give up, not enter, and be content with being disliked by everyone in Europe.

Bring back ABBA!

According to their website, the band will start their residency at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago on May 7th and they will be playing a different album every night, with one night dedicated to B-Sides and rarities, through the 13th. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, March 8th.

Funny thing about this story is as a young man as much as I loved music, I loved sports even more. I was an outstanding athlete. I could play any sport. But baseball was my passion. It took more than being an athlete. Certain skills that are very difficult are rewarding when you do it successfully.

I turned down a Division 1 baseball scholarship and excepted an invitation to attend a developmental camp for double A baseball. It made sense at the time. I did well until I tore my ankle. I have had problems with it ever since. That basically ruined any further chances, however remote, at professional baseball.

I was 19 years old then. It was then that the desire to play music became my new first love. As I mentioned at the outset I already enjoyed singing. So at 20 years old I began teaching myself how to play guitar.

I became pretty good reasonably fast. Part of my learning method was writing original songs to become proficient at changing chords. I also began spending a lot of time going to see live acts.

One of the live bands I liked to see perform was a Philadelphia band called The Hooters. Yes the same band who did "And We Danced" and "All You Zombies". This was before they were famous though. I was invited to a party one time where a couple of the guys from The Hooters were party guests like me. They were playing some tunes and somehow I was volunteered to play a couple tunes.

First their passion for their music stuck out to me. It also was at that point where they were about to break through to the national scene. So that made me think "that would be a cool gig". Also the fact that they took me seriously and genuinely liked my material really got me focused.

A couple years later I started a band called "Batteries Not Included". We had a nice following. We played in places and at weddings from Boston to Virginia Beach. We opened up for a few national bands. The more known ones were "the Outlaws", "Frehly's Comet" with Ace Frehly from Kiss, and "The Marshall Tucker Band".

On one of those occasions we had a great experience. Usually the opening band is ignored by most. So it wasn't a surprise to begin playing an auditorium that seats 1500 and only see about 50 people listening. The rest were out smoking and enjoying pre-concert beverages and/or snacks.

The cool thing was only about three songs in and the room was filling up with a crowd of people happy we were actually good. It was almost packed. The beauty of it was we were playing all original music I had written and I was the front man. At one point hundreds of people were clapping and by the end of some of the songs they were singing some of the lyrics that they had just heard for the first time. It was some of the best 45 minutes of my life. And it got better.

When we were finished our set we came of the stage as high on life as you can be. Then the promoter for the band we were opening for and the club manager took me aside and asked if we had another 30 minutes in us. It turned out that one of the stars of the headline band showed up drunk out of his mind. We of course were more than happy to keep this moment going. In fact when they announced that due to a vehicle problem the opening act was going to continue, the people applauded. That was awesome. We weren't just a side show or a complimentary warm-up band.

We picked up like we never stopped and hit it like an encore! As usual we stayed to see the "big" show. Especially knowing how drunk the guitar player was. Amazingly he was playing very good. But part way into his solo in the third song he wondered a little too close to the front of the stage and fell off! Pulled his amp down and bam right to the floor from about 6 ft high.

Then the club management and the promoter realized sending us out a third time wasn't going to work. So they made an announcement that the audience would get a refund or tickets to a make up show. The also said the reason the guitar player fell was because an electrical surge shocked him and made him lose his balance. Probably sobered him up too. We got to open up for them again when the returned. And a lot of people remembered us.

Another great musical experience I had was with a band we named "Tweezer". Before there was a Weezer by the way. Anyhow we were playing a wedding in New Jersey at a ritzy restaurant. Across the hall from the actual dining areas was a banquet room where the reception was. They had these huge wooden roll away doors on both sides of the hall that could be opened if a wedding was using the entire building. This wedding was only using the banquet room side. So the restaurant was open to regular customers.

These doors were unbelievably sound proof. But half into our first set the owner popped in with his business partners to the bar. As people would come in and out of the reception, people dining would here us playing. The owner and his partners could here customers talking about us. Turns out the one owner was famous musician from that area.

It was the guitar player from a world renown New Jersey band. So he peeked in and then turned off the house music in the dining area. Then they opened the doors so that the people eating could listen along with the wedding guests. In fact as the night went on the father of the bride was inviting people to come over and join the reception. It was crazy and euphoric at the same time.

We got to hang with the owners after for a bit. We got a bunch of wedding gigs from that night. And it was awesome to return there and relive a similar experience almost everytime. A couple times the wedding party didn't want the doors open.

One of the times we played there the father of the bride insisted on giving us $1000 bonus. And he paid for us to stay at a hotel near by the night before and had us brought to the place in a limo. I think he just had a little too much money and didn't know what to do with it. He went so far as to ask us if we would be interested in playing a day after the wedding party in their backyard.

Which meant he would have put us up again and he was willing to pay us to play of course. Unfortunately we had another gig the next night in NYC. Needless to say I have never had any one over pay me by that much ever since then. We may have gotten some nice tips but never that much.