Jack White stepped in at the last minute this week to perform on the NBC institution ‘Saturday Night Live’ when country singer Morgan Waller broke the show’s COVID-19 protocols by partying like there is not a pandemic going on. White provided two separate numbers on the show hosted by stand up comedy champion Bill Burr. He performed a medley of the White Stripes deep cut
“Ball and Biscuit,” with the reimagined take on the Elephant track to feature both a slice of his Beyoncé Lemonade duet “Don’t Hurt Yourself” as well as “Jesus Is Coming Soon,” a traditional gospel song that was written during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. He followed this up later by tearing it down with ‘Lazeretto’.
White shared on Instagram that the guitar he used in the performance was designed by the legendary Eddie Van Halen, who passed away earlier this week.
Linkin Park’s devoted fans have known this song has existed as it’s was played at live shows in their very early days, but now they can finally stream it. As part their expansive 20th-anniversary edition of their breakout album ‘Hybrid Theory’, LP has released this new-to-the-world song ‘Pictureboard’. It’s worth noting this is a ‘demo’ without complete production but man, does this sound really good.
Though singer Chester Bennington has passed, it’s endearing to see how the band has kept the spirit of their work alive with this well-done reissue. MIke Shinoda did this unboxing where he digs into all the goodies in the box set.
Women have always been a part of Alternative, but they’ve rarely been glorified in the same way as their male counterparts. Starting with the poet laureate of punk (Patti Smith), the uncompromising resolve of Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, the dynamic presence of Debbie Harry of Blondie, these icons were known for subverting expected gender norms and kicking down the proverbial “boys club” door. Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie And The Banshees shaped the goth and post-punk sound we now know. These women were matter-of-factly doing their own thing and inspiring others. Kim Deal with The Pixies and the Breeders, Alanis Morisette, Shirley Manson of Garbage, these women defined Alternative. Hayley Williams and Tori Amos, Lorde and Gwen Stefani, Billie Eilish and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs… The past, present and future is certainly female for the History Of Alternative.
I like to joke (but not joke) that Pearl Jam is the greatest band in the history of ever, but the Pixies are quite possibly the most important band in the history of ever. Pioneers of the loud quiet loud song structure that HEAVILY influenced Nirvana and about a zillion other bands, Frank Black/Black Francis/Charles Thompson and the crew may not have achieved the mainstream success of the bands that followed, but when you do an analysis of alternative music, all roads point back to The Pixies. Here are a few of my favorite tunes…
The entertainment industry continues to make adjustments in the current pandemic. Some major films have gotten back to production but it looks like we won’t see many big films in theaters for a long time and that obviously means the theaters are in trouble. We reported earlier this week that Regal Cinemas were temporarily closing hundreds of theaters in the United States due to several major movies being delayed and audiences reluctant to return to theaters in numbers until there is a widely distributed vaccine. These circumstances are also having an even more drastic change to the production of several TV shows with some being canceled due to the COVID-19 risks.
Yesterday Universal Studios tweeted out through the official Jurassic World account that the anticipated ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ which was slated to come out in June 2021 will now be pushed back an entire year to 2022. In August, the sequel which was combining elements of the classic ‘Park’ trilogy with the recent ‘World’ films was back in production with a lot of added precautions.
Movie expert Dan Murrell broke down in this video how significant the current maneuvering by the major studios is, why it has a huge impact on the industry, and the futures of movies as we know them.
Some recent TV shows which were renewed and were heading to film their new seasons have now been canceled. There are dozens of scripted and non-scripted series that are currently sitting in limbo but here two noteworthy recent cancellations.
G.L.O.W was set to start producing it’s fourth and final season but that has been called off this week because of the “C-word”. Netflix has made the call and considering the show involves very unique characters in a wrestling ring, it makes sense. It would be really challenging to shoot this without any bodyslams or vertical suplexes. Let’s hope we get some type of revival on the other side.
Drunk History which has been a hit on Comedy Central for six seasons, and was set for a seventh was axed in August. This one hurts quite a bit. The episodes featuring Chicago history and locals boozed-up blurting out ridiculous things were some of the funniest TV in the last 10 years.
