Smoke and Mirrors- It Is What It Is

By Jenna Croyle

Smoke and Mirrors is usually an expression used when we talk about embellishing the truth or one that alludes to the performances of stage conjurers who trick the audience. This week’s featured band Smoke and Mirrors is anything but an embellishment, what you see is what you get.

Featuring Dave Vogt on vocals, Jack Molnar & Joe Nolan on guitar, Eric Schauffele (EMS) on the bass/vocals, and Pat Bolla on the drums, Smoke & Mirrors is one of Erie’s hottest hardcore punk bands.

Drawing from their hardcore roots, Smoke and Mirrors was established in 2007 and with an energetic sound filled with passion and heart brought new life and attention to the Erie hardcore scene.

As a part of the Erie Hardcore music scene, with a nice mix of raw and heavy hardcore leaning toward the mid tempo side and with a twist of the old as well as the new, Smoke and Mirrors is nothing short of awesome. The slight metal influences as well as a strong sense of punk offer their fans an overall vibe that is an energetic hardcore blend attributed to the veteran talents of the band’s members.

Since forming the band, Smoke and Mirrors has released several albums in both the US and Europe and toured with bands including Madball, Bane, Comeback Kid, Blacklisted and Outbreak.

Currently Smoke and Mirrors is hard at work writing, recording, and entertaining their fans each week at venues in and around the area.

For more information on Smoke and Mirrors or upcoming show dates please visit their website www.smokeandmirrors814.com   or join them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/smokeandmirrors814

Meat Loaf, Lil Jon, John Rich & Mark McGrath Record 'Celebrity Apprentice' Charity Song

I must say, I don't think I could have ever imagined what a musical collaboration between operatic rocker Meat Loaf, pimp-cup-wielding rapper Lil Jon, MuzikMafia honcho John Rich, and Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath would sound like. And I'm not sure I even wanted to know. But since these four unlikely friends recently joined forces on "Celebrity Apprentice" (John's now in the finals up against actress Marlee Matlin), this has actually become a reality, thanks to reality TV.

The foursome's song, "Standing In The Storm," is a bit of a stormy mess, unsurprisingly, but surprisingly, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. And it's for a good cause--a full version will soon be downloadable on iTunes, with proceeds going to charity--so I will cut Team Backbone a little slack here.

And I suppose it could have been worse: At least Meat Loaf isn't screaming like this, and at least Gary Busey is not involved.

Listen to a preview of "Standing In The Storm" below:

'The Voice' Renewed for a Second Season

'The Voice' has been one of the year's highest-rated new TV series, so it's hardly surprising that NBC has announced it will return a second season. The singing contest, which features celebrity coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green, has averaged 11.8 million viewers per episode, becoming the highest-rated TV debut since CBS' 'Undercover Boss' last year.

Next season, 'The Voice' will air in a new time slot on a night that will offer plenty more for music fans to sing about. It will kick off halfway through NBC's fall season and will start airing on Mondays, from 8:00 - 10:00 PM ET. Following the show, former 'American Idol' contestant Katharine McPhee will appear in a new musical drama, 'Smash,' co-starring Debra Messing and Angelica Huston, which will air at 10:00 PM.

"Next season begins the rebuilding of the NBC primetime schedule, and our goal is to reinvigorate our audience with a line-up of appointment television that includes our best returning shows and a variety of innovative and attention-getting new series," explains Bob Greenbalt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment. "With a powerful new asset like 'The Voice' already in hand, we go into the 2011-12 season with cautious but incredible optimism."

There's no word yet on whether the four 'Voice' coaches will return for another season. 'The Voice' currently airs on Tuesday nights at 9:00 PM ET.

Dj Kool Herc to Be Honored At New York City Event

Legendary hip-hop DJ Kool Herc will be honored at a special event in New York City on Tuesday night (May 17).

Celebrated hip-hop artists including Black Thought, Questlove, Big Daddy Kane, Jeru Tha Damaja and DJ Premier will toast the pioneering MC at B.B. King's Blues & Grill in Times Square.

The Jamaican-born, Bronx-bred music veteran is credited as being the founding father of modern day hip-hop. His break-beat djing and rhymes were adapted by artists such as Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, who introduced the new music to mainstream listeners.

In January, Herc was suddenly hospitalized without health insurance and was unable to pay for surgery. At the time, DJ Premier announced the news on his radio show, HeadQcourterz, which airs on Sirius satellite radio. He urged listeners to lend their financial support to the music industry veteran.

"For those that know about Hip-Hop, who we call the father of Hip-Hop, Kool Herc, is not doing well," Premier announced. "It's funny how we have a father of a culture that still lives, where as in some cultures they are dead and gone even though they may still be worshipped or reflected on in some kind of way [sic]."

Tuesday night's event will also celebrate the 50th birthday of Grandmaster Melle Mel. The show starts at B.B. King's at 9PM. Some proceeds from the event will be donated to the DJ Kool Herc Fund.

Brewerie at Union Station

'Priscilla Queen of the Desert' Slammed for Using Canned Music

Critics say "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" producers are trying to cut costs by subbing canned music for live musicians.

A coalition of Broadway musicians has launched a campaign against the new musical 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert,' slamming the production for using a canned soundtrack to cut the number of live musicians.

According to the newly-launched Council for Living Music, the new musical is cheating theater-goers by employing nine musicians instead of the 18 typically used at the Palace Theatre. In addition to some brass instruments, the strings section is provided entirely by tape.

"In recent years some producers have begun to slash live orchestras and replace musicians with recordings or synthetic music to squeeze out a few extra dollars in profits. Meanwhile, ticket prices continue to rise," charges the flashy 'Save Live Music On Broadway' campaign, which in backed by the local union as well as composers, musicians and members of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the president of Julliard.

Local 802 president Tino Gagliardi said a move away from live orchestras would undermine the entire Broadway experience.

"Audiences deserve experiencing the unparalleled beauty and power of live music," he said. "We’re talking about the diminishing of an American art form."

But producers say their music choice is purely artistic and say they're doing nothing wrong.
"This sound is very specifically related to the music of 1980's drag shows in Sydney, which is the setting for the show," said musical spokesman Adrian Bryan-Brown, who noted that the same number of musicians has been used in all productions of the show.

Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, a group that represents theaters and producers, also defended the play and dismissed the union's claims.

"This was an artistic decision of the show's creators, and is in no way indicative of an overall industry trend," she said in a statement.

Broadway theaters have each agreed to use a minimum number of union musicians in their productions, with that number varying by theater. In cases where a theater wants to use less than the minimum number for a specific production, they have to apply for a waiver from a neutral third party picked by both sides.

In this case, the producers of Priscilla Queen of the Desert were successful in getting the waiver.

The union is currently challenging that decision, and both sides are now waiting to sit down with an arbitrator, who has final say, they said.

In 2002, producers staging a revival of the "West Side Story" came under fire for replacing five musicians with pre-recorded music, the coalition said.

The musical "Contact," which won a Tony in 2000, also drew fire when it became the first musical to forgo a live orchestra for pre-recorded songs.

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Roger Waters Reunite Onstage in London

Those wishing for a Pink Floyd reunion perpetually need to be reminded not to hold their breath, however fans were right to anticipate an onstage collaboration between ex-bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour this year.

The pair previously announced that Gilmour would sit-in with Waters for one song at an unspecified date during Waters' current, worldwide 'The Wall Live' tour, which was based largely on Pink Floyd's 1980 'The Wall' tour. Most people assumed that the collaboration probably wasn't going to happen during the U.S. leg of the tour last year.

The moment that everyone had been waiting for came -- and passed all too quickly -- on Thursday (May 12) at the O2 Arena in London.

NME reports that Gilmour joined Waters onstage for a rendition of 'Comfortably Numb.' It was the first time that the pair performed together publicly since Pink Floyd briefly reunited for just three songs in 2005, as part of the massive Live 8 benefit concert, which was simulcast live around the world. Gilmour and Waters did, however, perform four songs together last year at a private benefit concert in front of just 200 extremely lucky guests.

London's O2 Arena is making good on its stated intention to eclipse New York's Madison Square Garden as the most famous and prestigious arena in the world -- the O2 was also where Led Zeppelin chose to reunite, also for one show only, in 2007. And it was also going to be the home of Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' comeback run in 2009 which, of course, tragically never happened.

The reunion between Gilmour and Waters was suspiciously timed -- it came during the same week that Pink Floyd launched a massive reissue and archival release campaign, which will feature a virtual treasure trove of unreleased material from the band's heyday. No matter -- when it comes to anything Pink Floyd, the more news, the better.

A reflection on the death of Gustav Mahler, 100 years ago

One hundred years ago today -- May 18, 1911-- Gustav Mahler died. He was only 50.

Back in July, the 150th anniversary of his birth, I went on and on about how much this man and his music has influenced my own life, so I'll spare you that. I just wanted to acknowledge the anniversary in an aural and visual musical way.

The visual is a photo of Mahler's grave at the Grinzing Cemetery in Vienna.

I got there once, a long time ago in the early stages of my Mahler mania, on a very cold, gray January day. The sight of the large, unadorned stone left an indelible impression.

This picture (by Chris Lee) comes courtesy of the New York Philharmonic, which is currently on tour with music director Alan Gilbert. In between performances (including an all-Mahler program) in Vienna earlier this week, musicians and patrons of the orchestra stopped by the cemetery to lay a wreath. Mahler was music director of the Philharmonic at the time of his death.

Choosing music to mark this day was tough. I finally settled on ...

the "Urlicht" ("Primal Light") movement from the "Resurrection" Symphony, in a poignant performance with the divine Janet Baker and the London Symphony, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, Mahler's most illustrious successor at the helm of the New York Philharmonic.

I think these five minutes easily reveal the soul of Mahler and the extraordinary, magnetic pull of his music. Here's the text:

O red rose! Man lies in greatest need. Man lies in greatest pain. I would rather be in heaven. I came I upon a broad path where an angel came and wanted to turn me back. But I would not be turned away!.I am from God and want to return to God. The dear God will grant me a little light, will light my way to that eternal, blissful life.

Chaz Bono: My Mom Just Needed More Time to Accept Me

In the past, Cher acknowledged she had a hard time accepting her child's decision to undergo a sex change, and now Chaz Bono tells PopEater he believes his famous mom's reluctance may have been a "generational thing" and that she was not only shocked by his decision but also surprised at how quickly others adapted to it.

"I think she was surprised. I think she didn't expect people to be able to handle it as well as they have," Chaz said. "I really thought that we had come farther than I think my mom did. I think that's probably just a generational thing."

Chaz also talked about his relationship with longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Elia. They've been engaged for a while, but had to put any marriage plans on hold for obvious reasons.

"We've been engaged for about two years now," Chaz said. "So when all this stuff started happening and Jen was in grad school and I had started my transition, we had to table it for a while. So we'll get back into it."

The 42-year-old activist, who is promoting his book, 'Transition,' and documentary 'Becoming Chaz' (on Oprah's OWN), called the very fact that he can now get married "a weird thing for us" because just a few years ago he was not legally male.

"It feels weird for us. So many of our friends are gay and lesbian. We're big supporters of marriage equality and Prop 8 was happening in California, we were really involved," Chaz said. "So that is kind of a weird thing for us, too, that now we can do it. Exactly, it feels a little weird."

And just like all other couples who can marry, Chaz and Jennifer will be able divorce if that's what it come to. Chaz warns that for similar couples, the outcome hasn't always been pretty.

"There have been cases when the divorce happens where it has gotten around child support and stuff like that where there have been some really nasty court cases and people challenging it."

The top 10 singles and albums on iTunes

AP, May 17, 2011 2:45 pm PDT
iTunes' top 10 selling singles and albums of the week ending May 9, 2011:
Singles:

1. "Rolling In the Deep," ADELE

2. "The Edge of Glory," Lady GaGa

3. "Give Me Everything (feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer)," Pitbull

4. "The Lazy Song," Bruno Mars

5. "E.T. (feat. Kanye West)," Katy Perry

6. "On the Floor (feat. Pitbull)," Jennifer Lopez

7. "Just Can't Get Enough," Black Eyed Peas

8. "Dirty Dancer (with Usher) (feat. Lil Wayne)," Enrique Iglesias

9. "Just a Kiss," Lady Antebellum

10. "Look At Me Now (feat. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes)," Chris Brown

Albums:

1. "21," ADELE

2. "Turtleneck & Chain," The Lonely Island

3. "Lovestrong.," Christina Perri

4. "Goblin," Tyler, The Creator

5. "American Idol Top 4 Season 10," Various Artists

6. "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two," Beastie Boys

7. "Sigh No More," Mumford & Sons

8. "Rumours," Fleetwood Mac

9. "Helplessness Blues," Fleet Foxes

10. "Simple Math," Manchester Orchestra

Pete Townshend Will Finally Deliver His Memoir Next Year

Pete Townshend's long-awaited memoir Who He? is finally going to see the light of day. The Who guitarist has inked a deal with HarperCollins to release the book, which the publisher says will hit shelves in the fall of 2012. "In the 1970s, Pete Townshend famously asked the musical question ‘Who are you?'" Harper Collins executive editor David Hirshey said in a statement. "Now, in his autobiography, generations of fans will finally get the answer they've been waiting for."

Townshend began working on his autobiography in the mid-1990s. When he was cautioned by the British Police in 2003 for accessing child pornography on the Internet, Townshend explained that he was researching material for the book. "I have been writing my childhood autobiography for the past seven years," he said in a written statement. "I believe I was sexually abused between the age of five and six and a half when in the care of my maternal grandmother who was mentally ill at the time. I cannot remember clearly what happened, but my creative work tends to throw up nasty shadows - particularly in Tommy. Some of the things I have seen on the net have informed my book which I hope will be published later this year."

There was no further word about the book at the time, but four years later Townshend began a blog with plans of posting segments of it online. "The backbone is complete, all the research is in place," Townshend wrote. "And yet, because my creative and professional life is still so active, I feel I will never catch up with the present unless I retire simply to write. To retire, simply to write, when I am already a writer, presents a contradiction. So rather than endlessly write, I am going to publish."

He published a fascinating account of the day that the Who previewed Tommy for critics in 1969 at a London jazz club, but soon afterwards he shut the site down with little explanation. In September of 2008 he wrote on his website that the book was "on ice." There's been little word on it since.

The Who have been off the road since they toured Australia in 2009. Last year they played halftime at the Super Bowl, as well as staging Quadrophenia for charity at the Royal Albert Hall. Roger Daltrey expressed interest in bringing that show - as well as Tommy - on a world tour this year. A few weeks ago, the Who frontman announced an extensive solo tour where he'll play Tommy straight though. What exactly that means for the future of the Who remains unclear. One year ago, Townshend expressed a reluctance to return to the road. "I'm tired of touring at the moment, and I'm writing," he said. "So there are no plans right now." In that same interview, a fan asked Townshend about touring Tommy in 2019 to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary. "If we wait until 2019 one thing I can assure you: I will not be on stage," he wrote. "I will either be composing or decomposing."

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