Garbunzl.com

’nuff said

I saw my first show at the Gorge in George a few weeks ago, awesome that it was one of my favorite bands.  I drove over with my dad and met up with friends  just before the show.  The venue was pretty amazing with the rocky cliffs and hills and the setting sun in the background.  Our seats were not the best.  We were all the way to the right and 39 rows back, making the angle to the main stage rather extreme.  Additionally, there was an auxiliary stage and equipment right in front of us which, while not blocking our view of the main stage, was a bit of an annoyance.  That was all forgotten when Martin and co. ran out and performed 3 songs on that stage.  It was pretty cool being mere inches away from the band.  I really liked the setlist they chose and they gave an awesome performance.  My dad and I spent the night at a campground after the show which, despite being stuffed in like sardines, wasn’t too bad.  At least they had soft grass and loud, all-night partying by other guests was not an issue.  There are a few other pics of the Columbia on our trip back and a petrified Ginko log and some petroglyphs removed from walls along the river. It was a quick trip but a great experience.  Looking forward to seeing another show there someday.

I’m pretty excited with U2’s new album, No Line On the Horizon, coming out next week.  It’s been over 4 years since “Atomic Bomb” so us U2 fans are starved.  Being a U2.com subscriber, I’ve been able to listen to the entire album this week.  I’ve already listened to it twice and streaming it a third time as I type this.  It’s characteristic U2 stuff but with new and different sounds. My current favorite song on the album is called “Magnificent”.  The pulsing bassline reminds me of Joshua Tree tracks.  The title track is also quite good. Another awesome track is Breathe, which the band premiered live in Paris last night. The song is a real rock track that opens with Edge’s charged guitar and a piano and leads into Bono’s frantic lyrics.  Very cool sound!!  11 tracks and 53 minutes of awesome!

I was thrilled to find out that Coldplay was coming back this summer after they skipped us during their last US tour.  In fact, when I first heard a local DJ mention they were coming to the Gorge several weeks back, I thought I was crazy as there was no news on their site or the venue’s for a couple weeks.  While I have been to a Coldplay show, I’ve never seen a show at the Gorge, so this will be pretty cool.  I saw them back in ‘05 at the new White River Ampitheater.  They were touring on their X & Y album which I pretty much played non-stop for months.  It was an excellent show.  While Viva la Vida is probably their biggest commercial hit, it’s not my favorite album but I’m still hyped to see them again.  The Gorge is supposed to be pretty nice.  It’ll be cool to see them with my dad and some friends, though we’re not all sitting together.

The first single from the new album, “No Line On The Horizon” is streaming online today.  The album comes out March 3rd. Hard to believe it’s been more than 4 years since U2’s last album.  I remember trying to buy tickets to see them for the Vertigo tour and being unsuccessful, due to website issues.  I also remember they had a huge problem with scalpers then and a lot of people were upset.  U2’s been my favorite band since my dad bought me the Joshua Tree album when I was a kid…but I’ve never seen them live!!!  If they come anywhere near here this time, I plan to see them.  I think it would be awesome to see them at the Gorge.

I like the track. The guitars have somewhat of an Achtung Baby feel to them. 

Here’s the link if you want to give a listen:  http://goyb.u2.com/

Perhaps one of the coolest happenings this year is the upcoming release of a groundbreaking concert film called, very simply, “U23D”. Releasing on Feb 22nd, the film uses new 3-d filming technology which has been used in filming sporting events, such as the Super Bowl. U2, having been one of my favorite bands since my dad bought me the Joshua Tree album all those years ago, is the perfect choice to pioneer this new technology in a concert film. Shamefully, I have never seen U2 in concert so this movie will be the next best thing. I tried to get tickets for my dad and I to their Vertigo tour in 2005 but they were impossible to get, especially due to a major scalping problem. Apparently much of the movie’s footage was taken durin the Latin America leg of the tour. Maybe I can get my dad to come up and we see this together instead. Heck, depending on the theater, the acoustics could be even better than a live concert anyhow.

Check out this cool widget from the official site to view the trailer.

Ok, enough whining about the Seahawks and on to a worthwhile post.

I’ve been listening to the new Incubus album, “Light Grenades” and I have to say I’m pretty impressed. Their last disc, “A Crow Left of The Murder” was a disappointment to me, aside from the politically-charged, “Megalomaniac” and “Talk Show On Mute” tracks. As a result, I’ve been eagerly anticipating their next release, since their acclaimed Morning View album, which happens to be my personal favorite. Without a doubt one of my favorite things about Incubus is that they have resisted conforming to any one musical genre and they have a great ability create very diverse peices of music…good music. This ability is ever-present in their latest release. In fact, Incubus’ guitarist Mike Einziger told MTV “It sounds like 13 different bands playing 13 different songs…”
(more…)

I picked up the new album by Audioslave, titled “Revelations”, last week. This album came out on Sept. 5th so I didn’t exactly race out and get it as I did with the previous two. The first couple of times I heard the first release, “Original Fire” on the radio, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Gradually, the song grew on me and now I like it a lot. While this album has the characteristic heavy guitar chords and wailing solos of Morello and driving basslines, the album has a different, more of a funk vibe to it.

(more…)