• Album Reviews,  Blog

    Mark Farner Closer To My Home Album Review

    I’ve been waiting for this for some time.

    The great singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad) has released a new solo album!!

    Released on November 8 of 2024, the album is called Closer To My Home and it is a phenomenal album.

    Produced by Mark and Mark Slaughter (Slaughter, The Vinnie Vincent Invasion), this album has everything you want if you are a fan of Mark or Grand Funk.

    Every song is phenomenal.  It even closes with a Grand Funk classic (I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home).

    I can already say this is one of the best albums of 2024 and one of Mark’s best albums.

    Thank you sir for making this album and for signing it too!!!!

    It rocks, but is yet soulful and has tons of melody and great lyrics.

    Rock on Mark Farner!!

  • Blog,  Concerts

    Sebastian Bach Rocks Ashland, KY!!!!

    Wow I needed this!!

    So did my friend John Robinette, who sadly just recently lost his job.

    We both went to see Sebastian Bach in concert at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY.  Just a few minutes from where I live and where I was born.

    The opening act, Kurt Deimer, started off the night with a really rocking set.  His debut album is out April 25 of 2025, which is his birthday.  I definitely want to buy it.  He does have an EP out now, though, and songs are available to stream online.  Seek him and his awesome band out.

    But the main event, Sebastian Bach, came next and boy as always, he rocked!!

    He and his great band played almost the entire first Skid Row album (2024 marks 35 years since it’s release) and several songs from Sebastian’s great new album Child Within The Man (my favorite Sebastian solo album along with his album Angel Down), and a few songs from the second Skid Row album Slave To The Grind.

    Sebastian told some funny stories about KISS (He gave a water bottle to a little kid in the audience because KISS guitarist Ace Frehley handed him a water bottle from the stage when Sebastian was 11.  And he got one of KISS singer/bassist Gene Simmon’s cup of fake blood and kept it in his refrigerator for 20 years, and one day his Mom was over cleaning and she threw it away thinking it was trash.), really pumped the crowd (he even brought two young little girls on stage to rock out to Youth Gone Wild), even signed a few things for some fans, and really had a great time.  Which in turn caused the audience to have a great time.

    Sebastian always delivers the goods and I and my friend John thank him for all the music and for the great concert.  We both needed it.

    Sorry though to my friend Brandon Lange, who was going to go to the show, but unfortunately he was not able to make it.  So, he gave me his ticket, in which I gave to my friend John.  John thanks you Brandon and I say get well soon my friend.

    Again, thank you Sebastian for everything.  I love the Child Within The Man album.

    We love you Baz and please keep on rocking!!

    I took videos too but I can’t yet post them.  I will soon.

    Keep on rocking everyone.

    Sebastian Bach Setlist:

    1. What Do I Got To Lose? (New Song)
    2. Slave To The Grind
    3. Here I Am
    4. Big Guns
    5. Sweet Little Sister
    6. 18 And Life
    7. Can’t Stand The Heartache
    8. Freedom (New Song)
    9. Piece Of Me
    10. Everybody Bleeds (New Song)
    11. Monkey Business (w part of Tom Sawyer by RUSH)
    12. I Remember You
    13. (Hold On) To The Dream (New Song)
    14. Rattlesnake Shake
    15. Youth Gone Wild
    16. Future Of Youth

    Kurt Deimer Setlist:

    1. Dance
    2. Doom
    3. Look
    4. Have A Cigar (Pink Floyd cover)
    5. Hero
    6. Whatcha Sayin’
    7. Live Or Die
    8. Naive 
    9. Fight

    Photo Gallery (click on thumbnail to view larger image)

    Video Gallery (click on thumbnail to play video)

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Behind The Mask Of The Horror Actor By Doug Bradley (Pinhead from Hellraiser Franchise) Book Review

    Horror movie icon Doug Bradley (Pinhead in most of the Hellraiser movies) released a book in 2004 called Behind The Mask Of The Horror Actor.

    Part autobiography, part history book, Doug talks about getting into acting, earlier projects and working on the Hellraiser movies, but also, he talks extensively about other Horror movie icons, like Lon Chaney Sr. and Jr., Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Englund, and many more.

    He also talks extensively about Horror movie characters, like Dracula, Frankenstein, Phantom Of The Opera, Michael Myers, Freddie Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, and much more. 

    He talks about earlier origins of Horror characters too and people who made up many Horror characters, including Clive Barker, who did the forward to the book.

    This is a very good book about the history of Horror but also is a partial autobiography of Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley.

    I really enjoyed this book.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    John Corabi Horseshoes And Hand Grenades Book Review

    Singer/songwriter/guitarist John Corabi (The Scream, Motley Crue, Union, RATT, The Dead Daisies, solo artist) released his autobiography Horseshoes And Hand Grenades in 2022.

    I bought it when I saw him earlier this year.  Sorry John I was late getting to it.

    It’s a great book, though.  Co-written with Paul Miles, it traces his life from childhood, some of the crazy things that have happened in his life, all the bands he’s been in, and tons of stories throughout.

    If you are a fan of John’s, I cannot recommend this book enough.  

    It has it all.

  • Blog,  Movie Reviews

    My Thoughts on the Terrifier Franchise

    As I’ve said in earlier posts, I’m late to the Horror genre.

    I’ve been a fan of some Horror movies over the years (Halloween franchise and some of the Horror movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s), but overall, was never a big fan until the last few years.

    I’m still catching up and have a long way to go, but this year, I finally decided to watch the Terrifier movies.

    The main character, Art The Clown, started off in an anthology movie called All Hallow’s Eve, and was so popular that a movie with him as the main star was made.

    Terrifier is a very low budget Horror movie in which a killer clown (David Howard Thornton) wreaks havoc in very bizarre and gruesome ways.

    Terrifier 2 involves Art getting even more gruesome and also has a “final girl” as they are called in Horror movies named Sienna (played by Lauren LaVera) who has to fight against Art.

    Terrifier 3 has Sienna being released from a mental hospital and spending Christmas time with family members (her mother was killed in the second movie and her father has been dead for some time), and ultimately having to fight Art again, who of course is more gruesome and evil than ever.

    These movies are DEFINITELY NOT for everyone. 

    I usually would hate movies like these because I am not a fan of extreme blood and gore, but for these movies, this works.

    The Terrifier movies have become extremely popular (as I type this, Terrifier 3 has been number one at the box office for a few weeks) and Art The Clown has become a modern day Horror movie icon.

    I look forward to seeing the next one because I’m sure there will be another and more after that.

     

  • Album Reviews,  Blog

    Motley Crue Cancelled EP Review

    Now that I can post on the website again, I want to talk a little about the new Motley Crue EP.
     
    I’d heard all the songs online, but I love physical product and actually owning it.
     
    Motley are the band that many love to hate, especially on the internet, these days.
     
    However, I’ve been a fan for 25 years and I always will be.
     
    I don’t like that Mick Mars is not there, but Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, and Tommy Lee are still there, along with the amazing guitarist John 5 (John Lowery).
     
    I enjoy these songs. I’m not apologizing for it. They rock!
     
    I’m glad that Motley finally released more new music and I hope they will release more someday (albums please?!).
     
    Thanks guys for all the great music and keep on rocking!!
  • Blog

    The Website Is Mostly Back!!

    I’m back!!

    Over the past few months, I have been having some issues with the website and they are still being worked on.

    A few posts went away and the videos are currently off the site (that’s being worked on).

    But otherwise, the website is working again and I am able to post stories again.

    I am in the process of putting the posts that went away back on here.

    The videos hopefully will return soon.

    But until then, please feel free to browse the site and enjoy it.

    Sorry it’s been awhile, but I’m glad to be back on here.

  • Blog,  Conventions

    My 4th Scarefest Experience!!

    I went to ScareFest Weekend for the 4th time in Lexington, Kentucky on October 19 of 2024.
     
    It’s definitely one of my favorite conventions.
     
    Although I will say this is the biggest one I’ve seen them do yet.
     
    That’s great, but I could see it seemed a bit overwhelming and maybe some of the staff was unprepared for the massive crowd.
     
    Having said that, what I saw at least was mostly positive and I had a wonderful experience.
     
    The staff was good to me. I know there were complaints, but I’m grateful to the staff.
     
    Especially when one of them got me out of the general admission line (I had a Weekend Plus ticket, not GA.) after an hour and got me into the correct line.
     
    And some of the photo op lines were a bit chaotic, but these are big events and things can change. So I’m fine with it.
     
    And as I said, I had a wonderful time.
     
    All the celebrities I met (Dick Warlock, Nick Castle, R.A. Mihailoff, and Adam Green) were all very nice.  There were a ton of other celebrities there, but I could not afford all of them.  
     
    I spoke to R.A. and Adam for a little bit, which was nice. R.A. discussed his movie Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, which I really like and he appreciated me saying that and told me about the movie.
     
    Adam, who is the creator of the Hatchet movie franchise, discussed with me his show Holliston, a horror sitcom, that unfortunately only lasted two seasons because of corporate bureaucracy. It’s a great show. Seek it out.
     
    I actually even opened up one of Dick’s water bottles for him when I met him. He’s a great man and a stunt legend (Kurt Russell’s stuntman for 25 years) and is most famous for being Michael Myers in the original Halloween II and was one of the villains in Halloween III.
     
    Nick is the original Michael Myers for most of the original Halloween movie, and had cameos in the last Halloween trilogy. He’s also a writer (Escape From New York and Hook) and director (Dennis The Menace and Major Payne) just to name a few.
     
    I got selfies and autographs of all of them.
     
    I also got pro photo ops with Dick, Nick, R. A. (dressed up as Leatherface), and the legendary Clive Barker, in one of his last scheduled public appearances. I did not want to fight his autograph line, so I just got a picture, but even in my brief encounter with him, he was very kind. Thank you all sooooo much for everything.
     
    Oh and I met Sean Clark of Horror’s Hallowed Grounds (a phenomenal series in which he goes to various movie locations) and the podcast The Thing With Two Heads. Thank you for taking our picture together and giving me a little bit of swag.
     
    I also went to a Michael Myers Q&A Panel, which had Nick, Dick, Jade Jude Courtney, Tom Morga, and Tyler Mane. All who have played Michael Myers. They all had great things about playing the character.
     
    I’m leaving things out, but again, this was such a fun day. It was long and tiring, but a ton of fun and it was all worth it.
  • Blog,  Concerts

    First Jason (Ari Lehman of Friday The 13th) Rocks!!

    Thank you Ari Lehman (Jason Voorhees in the first Friday The 13th movie) and his great band First Jason for a fun, rocking night at the Paramount Arts Center.
     
    The band played for about 40 minutes, featuring songs that combine metal and punk rock music, but lyrically, the songs are all about Jason. Really cool stuff. 
     
    After the band’s set, Ari took a couple of questions from the audience about the Friday The 13th movie, then the band, who include Ari on vocals and keytar, Eddie Machete on guitar, and Bass Amp on drums, sat in the audience and did a commentary watch along of the movie Friday The 13th.
     
    Lots of fun tidbits about the movie, trivia questions for the audience, and just funny comments throughout.
     
    Then after the movie, Ari went to the lobby to take pictures and sign stuff.
     
    This was a really fun night.
     
    Not a lot of people were there, but I hope the band and everyone had fun.  I know I did.
     
    Thank you guys for the great night!
     
    And as Ari said “Jason never dies!”

    First Jason Setlist:

    1. Machete Is My Friend
    2. Red Red Red, Jason is Watching!
    3. Kill For Mother
    4. Look What You Did
    5. Voorhees Is The Name
    6. Victim
    7. Jason’s Bride
    8. Ari Keytar Solo
    9. Jason Never Dies

    Photo Gallery (click on thumbnail to view larger image)

    Video Gallery (click on thumbnail to play video)