Eyes of Fyr

Blog archive: 2009

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Breaking the silence

Um, so yeah, this "blog" (or "un-blog"?) has been a ghost town since August. My apologies to all carbon- and silicon-based life-forms, and to all ships at sea. The urge to communicate simply hasn't seemed all that urgent these past 3 months (or thereabouts). That doesn't mean there hasn't been anything new to report though, just not much since I'm still laying low these days. So with that, and with only 1 calendar month left in the year, now is probably a good time to muster up something to keep the content flowing and to …uhmm… feed the illusion of relevancy.

Here's the scoop on what's been posted since August. Starting with the most recent Media activity, there are 3 new Music foto galleries: Septer, Earthen Grave, and Gary Hoey from the show at Chicago City Limits on November 21.

It was indeed a pleasure to see Septer and Earthen Grave together in one venue, especially when said venue is in the 'hood. Both sets rocked. The best I've seen and heard so far. Many thanks to Ron Holzner for signing a few more of my Trouble CD covers. The silver marker I suggested for the Manic Frustration cover wasn't such a good idea though. The sig is rather faint. Oh well, that one will have to be a do-over perhaps. The headliner for the evening was Gary Hoey. Evidently, it was an encore performance for him and his crew at CCL so I stayed to check it out. Other than hearing a song on mainstream radio I was not familiar with the material. I still enjoyed the set though. As far as I could tell the sound was good for all the bands and the lighting was pretty much on par with other shows I've seen there. Overall it was a good night out.

The only other good night out since August was the Dream Theater/Zappa Plays Zappa show at The Chicago Theatre on 8/23. It was superb. Thanks to Scott Davidson for the comp ticket.

A handful of film camera fotos of a 1997 Krom gig at Smiler Coogans were also posted. These are actually transplanted re-adds. Other film camera re-adds were reintroduced as well. These are fotos that I took of Chris Chubb posing with famous musicians c. 1997-1998.

A place for Garden crops can be found within the Nature fotos section (Nature > Flora > Garden crops). Garden crops? Yep. Also, five new fotos were added to the '09 Flowers page. These are from the same yard containing the garden crops.

That about covers the posted updates. Other tweaks and changes that may or may not be as obvious were implemented throughout the site during past few months. Also, there was an issue with the previous contact email address mailbox so it's been deleted. An alternative address is now posted. Please send inquiries to the new address if you've received a bounce notice with the old address. (No spambots please.) Thank you.

Two Ton Anvil

Indie rocker quartet Two Ton Anvil came back to play Chicago City Limits on Saturday. This was good thing because I had to skip the last show there in April. That weekend another (family) social engagement became a higher priority so the night out was canceled. I'm glad there was another opportunity to see the them (the TTA guys) at City Limits, though. They've been gigging around the local club circuit all year so it was only a matter of time before they made another run through this neighborhood. Main man Chris Chubb (vocalist/guitarist/writer/recording artiste) is still one of my good friends IRL even though we're not joined at the hip anymore and don't keep in contact on a regular basis. Ten years have passed since the last time I saw him on a stage... in front of a mic... with a guitar in his hands. I'm glad he didn't give up playing altogther. Chris and his partner Brian seem pretty serious about what they're doing. They're hungry and they're motivated. They're actively marketing themselves and starting to gain interest from the indie community. This doesn't surprise me. They both have the vocal and playing chops. They both carry their own as well as complement each other. The band is pretty tight. Hopefully all their hard work and effort will bring them good things.

Trouble (the band) c. 2009

Although they've been revamped for several months already, my first taste of live Trouble c. 2009 didn't come to pass until last month at Chicago City Limits. I've been a long-time fan. I've seen them in various "states" (i.e., with different lineups) in the past. Fortunately that most awesome definitive dual guitar sound we all know and love is still alive and kickin. (ohhhh yeeeeah <3) But to be perfectly honest, it is this time as it was the last time. I don't fully enjoy that awesome dual guitar work as much when the definitive voice and percussion are absent from the mix. Both of these components factor in, but certainly the most noticeable difference (imho) is the missing definitive voice. Label me old school if need be. That's just the way it is from my perspective after witnessing last month's show. I suppose one could argue that two camps are better than none and that we should be grateful to have Blackfinger and Trouble keeping the tradition alive, but the bottom line is I miss the old lineup. It's not the same for me in the current state. I respect the fact that all parties gotta do what they gotta do, but... (*whines*)

Oh well... :\

Better late(nt) than never

I finally located and scanned the fotos I took of Latent Fury at The Thirsty Whale back in the day! These shots look a little better than the output from a single-use camera, so they must be from either the Pentax or Chinon (35mm compacts) I had in my possession around that time period. According to the show flyer that was rediscovered at the same time as the pictures, Latent Fury shared the stage with Metal Church. The date was December 4, 1993. I don't remember why there were no Metal Church fotos taken. The most plausible explanation I can think of at the moment is that it was so packed in there I probably couldn't get anywhere near the stage during the headline set.

Among other early '90s artifacts that were uncovered is a signed black-and-white 8x10 Latent Fury promo pic. I had to giggle after re-reading the P.S. note from C-Lo about some "Great Toto's photos". Say what? I don't recall ever having taken any shots of them at Toto's, but who knows, perhaps they do exist. If they turn up I'll make sure to get them scanned.

In the meantime, I'll have to get back to some folks at the Ion Vein forum. Nearly 3 years ago I mentioned there that I'd try to get around to finding and scanning the rest of the Whale fotos, and guess what? That day has finally arrived. :^)

Aurora shows

One of these days I'm going to break out of this recluse funk I've been in and get out to see more shows. The club-going activity in the first half of '09 seems to be on par with last year's activity. Not sure what's causing the doldrums. I thought it might be just a phase last year but the record indicates otherwise. Ah well, it could be an extended lull similar to the early 90's transition phase. We'll see, I guess...

Anyway, I did manage to get out to Doug's in Aurora on the 13th where the party was definitely on with Blackfinger, Earthen Grave, and others. This was my second time seeing Earthen Grave, but only the first time seeing them since Rachel Barton joined the ranks. I thought this show was better than one at Nite Cap in March. Others I spoke with at Doug's were in agreement. Good to see the Grave guys polishing the act.

Excellent. Party on, Wayne ...

Blackfinger was the other reason I dragged my keister out of the house. They're the latest Eric Wagner project — a new offshoot of the Trouble family tree. They played new originals, a Lid track, and a couple of Trouble classics with Ron Holzner and Bruce Franklin. We were fortunate to have Bruce Franklin in the house that night as well. He played a couple of those Trouble classics with both Earthen Grave and Blackfinger, plus he kindly added his name to a few more of my Trouble CD covers. The covers are still missing a few sigs, though, for now.

Last days of May

A recap of changes and additions since the last update include the addition of new foto and video media, a couple of fluff changes to the home page, a new site-wide background image, and a few other cosmetic changes here and there. First, new Foto media: There are 2 new '09 galleries, one for Flowers and one for Landscapes. All the new landscape fotos are from a hike through Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve near the Argonne National Laboratory on May 22. Thanks to Eden's Fall Ray for the site suggestion and for guiding the tour!

Next, the Video media section has been revised plus some new clips were added. One of the new clips is the one of Ion Vein covering Superstition that was alluded to in March. It's another P72-produced ghetto clip, meaning that it's dark and the sound is crappy. Fortunately the content is still identifiable as live Ion Vein material though. :-) The clip is in the .wmv format. Other newly added video media includes a clip of Jon Oliva's Pain playing Somewhere in Time at the City Limits show last September, Dark Tranquillity playing The New Build at Metro in 2007, and a nature clip of Canada geese visiting the neighborhood in 2005. All of these new clips are in the .wmv format. New player-embedded pages have been created for all the clips of various formats in the Video section. If a particular file format doesn't play at all, or the player doesn't execute it properly in your browser, then downloading the linked file is an available second option. Embedded media players in the Video section will morph when a better solution is discovered, a solution that will hopefully be scriptless. A valid "de facto" markup solution to this dilemma would be sweet. After all, when the fluff (i.e., CSS & scripting) is removed what is left standing?

Embellishments to the home page include a new date script and "Pic of the Day" rotator – it's a manual pic rotator thingy. There is also a new site-wide background image. (Fluff wins this round?)

Historic structures

I paid a visit to some relatives in northwest Indiana this holiday weekend. We had a nice family dinner and then went on a brief tour of the historic district in Crown Point. I took some interior and exterior fotos of the Historic Lake County Court House building and a few exterior shots of the old Criminal Court and Sheriff's House and Jail buildings. The Sheriff's House and Jail is the same one in which John Dillinger spent a short time.

Visit the Crown Point historic structures page to see the fotos.

Family fotos will remain private for now.

Tributes @ Austin's

The Fuel Room at Austin's Saloon and Eatery in Libertyville was where it's at last weekend. Heaven and Hell (Chicago) played their one and only first quarter show there on the 4th. This was the 9th show of theirs that I've attended since late 2006 and it took place in one of the best settings the north 'burbs have to offer. The Fuel Room is really nice. I'd heard a lot of good things about it but hadn't paid a visit until last Friday. Great lights – great sound – a big stage and a roomy floor. Yeah, it's a pretty happenin' place. It even has an upper level but unfortunately it was closed off that night. The big security dude wasn't letting anyone pass, either. Oh well, what can ya do. That ultimate full-stage shot may be achieved – someday. But until then ...

Judas Rising, a tribute to Judas Priest, opened the show. When this site was revamped I chose not to bring back all the Chicagoland tribute band foto galleries except for Heaven and Hell (Chicago). Since then, I've had to revisit the idea of perhaps bringing back others. There will not be a separate section for them as before, though. They'll simply blend into the music section alphabetically with the other artists. Visit the new Judas Rising page to access the Austin's fotos. Links to galleries from 2006 and 2007, from 2 of their shows at Legends in Addison (before it closed down), are available there as well.

March Metal Madness

Got more home-grown band fotos to share – new live shots of Ion Vein and Army of Souls from the March Metal Madness show at Chicago City Limits. Army of Souls kicked off the evening with their brand of hard rock and metal. This was my first time seeing them perform. I didn't know any of their stuff going in but I did recognize all of the covers. They did some respectable remakes from bands such as Pink Floyd, McCartney & Wings, AC/DC, and Motörhead. "Aces of Spades" is always a crowd pleaser. Brian, lead vocalist/guitarist, is also in Two Ton Anvil. They'll be playing here next month on the 10th.

Ion Vein played the Halloween bash at City Limits just a few months ago so now I've seen them twice since the Powerfest '08 performance. A tight, cohesive entertainment machine is what they were last Friday. Front man Allen James is a total nutter up there singing and dancing all over the stage, getting down into the faces in the crowd while Chris, Brian, and Chuck deliver the sonic assault. This is definitely not your momma's prog metal of yore. It's something totally different! And yet it's still good. Their set list contained a mix of originals and covers as well. One of the covers was a rockin' version of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." I have this portion of the show video taped. The video will probably surface at a later date.

By the final Ion Vein song I was ready to drop so I skipped out before Circle of Fate came on. I'm still interested in seeing them again though and will try to catch them next time around.

Remembering Roach

The Chicago music community lost a brother this month. Troy "Roach" Coates, front man for The Plague and Lungbrush, succumbed to cancer. My condolences go out to his family during this difficult time. Before he left us he also headed up the band Ghost of the Underground, which I erroneously labeled in the previous post and have since corrected. I'd never seen them before so I'm glad I had the opportunity. Rest in peace, Roach.

Rock for Roach

The Rock for Roach 7-band benefit and birthday jam was last Friday at Nite Cap. I wasn't sure if I was going to make this one but managed to get down there to see Earthen Grave, Ghost of the Underground, and Smoke. The other bands were Grog, Torg, and the legendary Life Sentence. I'm not familiar with the two former bands. Grog were already into their set when I got there. Smoke was up next and played for about 20 minutes. (Sorry, no pics this time.) They were followed by Earthen Grave and Ghost of the Underground. It would have been cool to see Life Sentence but I didn't stay. The house was even more packed than when I got there so I had to bail.

More Cover art scanned media has been posted, too. A couple new additions from the Arch Enemy collection were added as well as a new entry for items from the Opeth collection.

Cover content

I've scanned a few more signed CD booklet covers from the collection since January. The following artist sections have been added to the Cover art scanned media: Armageddon, Arch Enemy, Carcass, Dark Angel, Death, Dimension Zero, Eucharist, Fight, Spiritual Beggars, and Strapping Young Lad. The signed copy of the Black-Ash Inheritance shaped disc that resides in my collection also has been re-scanned and filed with the rest of the signed In Flames covers.

The images above link to each artist's section of the Cover art scanned media.

Scans, blog archive and more...

The Scans scrapbook has been expanded. New sections include galleries for CD extras, Fanzines, Flyers, Laminates, Promo fotos, Set lists, and Tour programs. The scrapbook's previously created Misc section has been closed for now but it may reappear at a later date. The J.O.P. Rebel Radio flyer posted in the Misc section last September has been moved to the Flyers section.

See the new Scans scrapbook content:

With the passing of 2008, the need to devise an archival system for the Blog became evident since it's not tied into WordPress yet. I'm not sure if the system I've implement will easily integrate when the time comes to plug into that. The plan for now is low tech but it gets the job done. See the new Blog archive.

The Site map page has undergone style and structure changes as well. The list structure has been streamlined and new styles should help highlight the main sections better. Collapsible list elements may be added if the extra bling for that can be worked in without causing too many usability issues.

You'll also find cosmetic changes have been made on all the Music fotos gallery enlargement pages. Image counters have been hard coded under each foto replacing the file name captions.

Happy New Year!

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