Ooo ooo ooo concerts!

Just spotted--April 24, Duff McKagan's Loaded is going to be in Charleston. He's booked a place called "Battlefield Amphitheatre", which to be honest I've never heard of (asked Reevis, he's not sure either)--perhaps one of you guys can help me out where exactly it is. Important thing is that DUFF MCKAGAN IS COMING TO WEST-BY-GOD :^D

BRING KISS TO HUNTINGTON

Kiss is teaming up with Eventful.com to have a fan-driven itinerary for their fall '09 tour: eventful.com/kiss

I want EVERYDAMNONE to vote Huntington. The internet is a weird place--Kingston, Ontario currently has the highest demand, so certainly Huntington deserves to be right up there.

For now, where does the Tri-State stack up? (not just Huntington, but other places we tend to go for concerts...)

#21--Columbus
#28--Cincinnati
#43--Louisville
#70--Lexington
#85--Charleston
#139--Pikeville
#151--Huntington
#335--Morgantown (WHOO WE'RE BEATING THE COUCHBURNERS)

Rumors--2009 Virgin Mobile Festival

Those who know me well know this is my favorite concert (and indeed the only festival I've been bothered to spend money on!); I just saw a blurb at Consequence of Sound about this year's potential incarnation.

Bad news: it may not take place at venerable Pimlico, which may in fact meet the wrecking ball shortly acc. to the CoS guys (being based out of DC, their sources are probably a tick better than mine)! The rumor is that if it isn't at Pimlico, it will end up just outside Baltimore, at Meriwether Post Pavillion.

Good news: METALLICA MAY HEADLINE. Or at least that's one rumor. The lineups are very eclectic, but heavy on stuff that sells a zillion copies in England.

Kick my ass for March Madness

We've got our March Madness game going (printable bracket at the Real Rock Website) for gobs of fun Planet goodies, but if you want the extra thrill of knowing you're better at this stuff than I am, I'm in two free bracket games online: one at Yahoo ("HerdNation.com") and one at ESPN.com ("Fans of Marshall"). It's free to sign up (if you aren't already signed up), and if you want to razz me my bracket is very clearly marked. Let the games begin!

While I have this 100-degree fever, let's talk about Lexington

A fantastic place. It's like Huntington if it actually applied itself--big-ass skyscrapers, an indie-paper worth half a damn, and--oh yeah, a 22,000 seat arena.

Highlights:

--Reevis recommended a place called Raising Cane's, and I will recommend it as well if you're heading that way--it's a restaurant that serves NOTHING BUT CHICKEN FINGERS. Great sauce too, I can't put my finger on the recipe but I think it shares a few things in common with Big Mac Sauce. Also got my first taste of Krystal.

--The show itself? Pretty damn good. A few things I didn't mention when I was twittering like crazy:

• they serve wine at the concessions stand at Rupp--$5 a glass (cheaper than beer!)
• Seether's show was by far the best; I like the whole "speak softly, kick a lot of ass" thing
• I saw a house that had been turned into a Subway. No, really.

...while I'm pointing people to my Twitter page, add The Real Rock Twitter while you're at it. Seriously, this is addictive as hell.

My love of cars driving around in circles

Watched the Daytona 5oo yesterday, which was a bit anti-climactic (outside of the Big One of course). I'm not huge on NASCAR, but I will watch a handful of races: the plate races, Bristol, the May races in Charlotte (hell, night racing in general). My big racing interests are Indycars and F1, which makes me one of maybe a dozen people in this state... or at least it bloody feels like it. No big shake though, racing is racing is racing no matter what they're racing. I enjoy the hell out of it regardless.

Favorite driver? I have a few...

NASCAR: Tony Stewart can drive pretty much anything.
Indycars: I'd like to see Marco Andretti really take off this year.
F1: a fellow named Sebastian Vettel--won his first race last year, now driving for Red Bull's team.

Then there's this specimen of driving talent... who do you guys like?

The pros and cons of ADD

I was going to post a big long thingy about sports, until this caught my attention: Seether recorded--and have made available via iTunes download--a cover of... GEORGE MICHAEL. Well Wham! to be precise, "Careless Whisper". The thought alone is frightening... blood-curdling... and... bloody awesome?! Behold, the greatest rock band to ever come out of South Africa, making mincemeat out of middle-of-the-road music: