Don't mess with a big band

Hola Amigos

I`ve been informed that Montreal show was also to promote forthcoming live CD Don`t Mess with BB that we even didn`t understood to need. So they played beforehand what you`ll find on cd. And that´s basically: nothing new comparing to previous live cd or dvd. Well, 30% is done with trio so you don´t mess with ´em all the time. It´s like icehockey game, on 2. period only goalie+2 on ice. Rest can stay in the locker room and do twittering until 3. period. In that interview (on Jazz fest site) even Brian says, like rec comp., that they don´t expect it to sell 6 figures. So they don´t believe to product that they try to sell. Is that eco or ego friendly? Every week comes out too much records already, example rockabilly with same old stuff just because they think they are "worth it": Look, no drums! Of course then can whine that records don´t sell. I mean how many times can you redo,I guess this is like Brian´s 47th on record, example Runaway Boys live and think this is better than previous ones? I think Cats nail it on that Friday TV show in -81. Right tempo and without extra solos etc., just full of piss and vinegar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQZCadZ__Wg&feature=related
You know, I love that song and it changed my live and it will hit 30years old later this year, so hats off !! Even now Rocker has recorded his version of Rock This Town and has there been Setzer show without it? This cow isn`t nuthin but skin´n´bones but we keep on milking it. Maybe it´s like with Rolling Stones: If you play it long enough it might get a new meaning - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

At least Tom Whalley (ex Intercope) had vision how to sell when he insist to put Jump, Jive´n Wail on Dirty Boogie. Where would BSO be without of it? To sell you need hit, song to singalong or/and dance to and hopefully with catchy riff. Then put something "bit more difficult" stuff inside if you like. Like new Ozzy O: Scream!! But what does he knows, newcomer. Still current and going strong. If I´d like to have something to be released on dvd, it is from that Dirty Boogie-tour period. The BSO was a band, not just a hired guns for a week. Like this: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x342yj_the-brian-setzer-orchestra-switchbl_music
No rights? Too bad. Time when there was no trio stuff to stop that freight train and band knew where to aim. Goal!!

Any future plans? It´s bit too late to say: I heard my daugher singing Hot´n Cold and I tought: That would be cool to redo. Too late to do modern hits, that train left already. Done by the Baseballs etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S_dV8c25-4
Maybe it´s time to go where (hair) quiff has never gone before: 70´s disco era. Well, actually with Runaway Boys it was a close call. Kiss did that with I Was Made For Loving You and I guess it sold quite well... Like with BSO: Martini time in Studio 54, Daddy Cool or plays ABBA (everybody loves them). No? Somebody will redo those anyway and if thinks go well, this situation on money market will get better and it´s time to dance´n party (on credit).
Maybe it´s time to feedback to MTV and Viva etc. Let´s take rap and r´n´b through billyblender: Bling-A-Billy. Who needs a mirrorball when you can use crystal/diamond covered double bass?

Let There Be... PunkPolka,
Nasse

I dunno. I have most of the live stuff. I'll buy the new album because it helps pay musician's salaries, and it promotes Brian. He put out an album that he tried to do something different and innovative, Wolfgang's Big Night Out. It didn't sell like The Dirty Boogie did, and people trash the hell out of it.

When Brian started the BSO, people were yelling for Stray Cats tunes, because the Cats.....well, hey man, it's Stray Cats. People like 'em. And to accomodate further, Brian busts out the trio at shows. Some people trash the trio playing in the middle of the set, but have you seen a live BSO show? The audience goes friggin' MENTAL during that segment.


This live album was a sealed deal awhile ago. Brian wants a bit of a break, and for somebody who's been working for as hard as long as he has, he deserves it. And just because he's not touring, and just because he's putting out an album that isn't brand new doesn't mean that he's not up to a billion different things in the background.

I guess the point is, when you've reached that level, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.


Put out a new, innovative album, it gets trashed. Put out a compilation of live tunes, trashed.
Play orchestra tunes only, people wanna hear Stray Cats. Play STray Cats, even bust out a trio for a few songs, nobody wants to hear it.

Work your mother @#$%@#$ ASS off for years, tour every year, people are on your case when you take a couple of months off.

The man can't win. Like I said, I'll buy it, because I'm a fan. I'll skp past Gene and Eddie if it's on there. But I'll buy it. For the same reason that i bought the actual DVDs of Montreal, Japan, etc, even though i already had bootlegs....because I want him to keep making records.


Especially in THIS day and age of music. Man. There's next to nothing good out there.

Ditto Mark...well put!

mark t wrote:

But I'll buy it. For the same reason that i bought the actual DVDs of Montreal, Japan, etc, even though i already had bootlegs....because I want him to keep making records.


Especially in THIS day and age of music. Man. There's next to nothing good out there.

Hear hear!!!!!

Hell yeah!

Maybe that´s the problem with BSO: lets please rockabillies, soccer moms, grannies (record buyers?) etc. If you put coffeemashine, dishwasher and tumble dryer all in one it won´t turn into ...you know iPod. Tri-Pod? But if you bend fast enough to every direction they don´t notice is it head or ass. Band made first time in 10 years valid BSO record and they don´t stand behind it.

It´s like ZZ Top: 95% same set list for past 20+ years cause latest records sucks and people want to hear hits. No wonder it looks like Frank is ´bout to fall a sleep. At least they don´t do solo tourind and play same stuff as together (recording with Rick Rubin don´t seem to go nowhere?). And yes, Brian is only 50+ and 30 years on the road out there... Some of them just don´t know when to quit and some them, like Springsteen, have to and can do over 2h liveshow (London Calling). And without Born in the USA!!

This product reselling is like so unnecessary. Can´t help to remember Slim Jim´s look on that Rumble In Brixtox dvd extra: "I tought they gonna put in the same box". No, we need to put live dvd and cd in different boxes and try to double money income. Thanks Surfdog. At least bands like White Stripes managed to put live cd and roadmovie/live show into one (Under Great White Northern Lights).

And I do have seen Setzer´s "reincarnations" live like 20 times, met The Man and I have almost all LP´s, cd´s, singles etc. I won´t buy "Don´t Mess.. " and if I have chance to see him live again, I probably won´t go either. To me, last summer BSO was disappointment and Cats Farewell as well. Hopefully next record producer (with Cats?) is somebody else than Dave Darling. I guess he´s too much yes-man than "ass kicker": Work those songs, dammit!

Maybe it´s like one ex webmaster said to me: He changes his mind a lot. One day rock and next day roll as we have seen.
Nasse

I can kinda see where you're coming from, and you're entitled not to buy it, of course. Is Surfdog going to try to make money? Of course they are, they're a record label. Labels don't exist just for fun, they've got to make some cash.

As for trying to please all facets as you mentioned, soccer moms, etc, and the "one day rock, next day roll". I guess that's where we're going to differ. I grew up on a pretty steady diet of punk, and there were a lot of people not happy about bands "selling out" and writing a song that became a hit single, whatever. I don't know Brian's thought processes except to say that he's a big fan of music. And I think that we've seen and heard through the playing and the interviews and the influences, that he loves all kinds of music. He talked about seeing the early incarnation of The Cramps, going to England and hanging with Tenpole Tudor, he's a fan of the Pistols and the Clash, he likes jazz and swing, rockabilly, and harder rock....to him, it's just good music.

I'm the same way. There's good music, and there's bad music. I'm not saying that Setzer and his band can do no wrong, he's put out some stuff that's made me cringe over the years, but man... to stick with one format, or put out The Dirty Boogie over and over again would be a little repetitive, no? You mentioned Jump, Jive and Wail...I can't tell you the number of people I know who are Setzer fans who HATE that song.

I dont' think that it's a matter of Brian trying to please everyone, because he knows that you can't. He's got some live stuff in the can, and it's good music...why not release it?

It's called longevity, and most artists would kill for it. So many 80s acts are long gone (I'm still waiting for that Kajagoogoo reunion ) - for Brian to not have completely disappeared off the radar, or taken 5-10 years off at a time, is truly a gift for fans of his music. You're not going to please every fan all the time. Sinatra recorded an instrumental album of Tone Poems(he conducted the orchestra), a 1969 pop-rock album, and an album called "Nice Things I've Missed," which included his take on "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown." Duane Eddy tried guitar with a big band in 1967, Paul McCartney had a solo career... (Bip Bop anyone?) If you stick around long enough, you're going to make some choices not everyone will like.

If you're going to release a live album, don't you want to make it as representative of an actual concert as possible? For Setzer, that means "Runaway Boys," "Stray Cat Strut," "Rock This Town," and, yes, "Gene and Eddie" will make an appearance. Leaving 'em out would be like Bobby Darin doing a concert and not performing "Mack the Knife," - something he actually tried for a few years, and it was not well-received. "Gene and Eddie" is not my favorite song either, but it's hard for a record company to put out a live album and resist the one tune where you can hear the audience singing along. Still, I hope they resist it next time. I loved the Ultimate Live Collection, because it featured a pre-Dirty Boogie show, and you could hear some great songs from the early BSO catalog without making room for "Jump, Jive, and Wail," which appeared on the second disc.

Springsteen, like McCartney, has more money than he'll ever be able to spend, and can afford to record albums like The Ghost of Tom Joad, the Seeger Sessions, and Devils and Dust. He may leave off Born in the USA from his setlists, but with far more than the 4-5 chart hits Brian has, he can afford to leave off pretty much anything but Born to Run (which he omitted on the Seeger Sessions tour.) Macca has put out a a concert DVD nearly every year. How many times do I need to watch him perform "Hey Jude," or "Live and Let Die?" Still, I buy those DVDs, because he will throw in 4-5 different "classics" on each DVD. This latest CD will have "Gina," "Summertime Blues," "Honey Man," and early BSO classics with a nearly current incarnation of the orchestra.

The Rumble in Brixton CD and DVD were mentioned earlier. The CD/DVD combos are getting more attractive now as music companies are trying to find ways to make physical products more attractive than downloads, but back when Rumble in Brixton came out, that wasn't as common a practice. I might feel a little ripped off if that were to happen today, but back then, it didn't seem unusual to have to buy those products separately. The music industry has changed more in the last 5 years than it probably did in the previous 40, so I'm less judgemental about record companies trying to find different revenue streams.

I like the idea that Surfdog would release live CDs with some frequency. I'd be up for 1-2 a year, if the albums are from different tours. It's much less taxing on the wallet than having an entire tour available for purchase. Many Setzer fans trade and seek out audience-recorded, or poorly-mixed soundboard recordings on the bootleg market. We might as well have something with decent sound quality. If Summertime Blues and Good Rockin' Daddy are any indication, this album is going to sound fantastic!

People who aren't in favor of this release are certainly welcome to their opinions. I'd prefer a new studio album, but I'm willing to wait for it, and happy to buy this in the meantime. Don't buy it if you don't want to. Plenty of others will.

Commerce-a-billy

Let´s beat this horse to dead.

Like wise man once said: Fans are hard to please. I don´t want to be pleased, but I don´t want to feel rip-off either.
I do listen music with wide range, but Macca is not on playlist. Jump Jive´n Wail is not my favorite either, but Brian also played that on tours with trio, why? And like in Christmas shows comes Rumble in Brighton to spread Christmas spirit! Something for everybody I guess. Hands up if you want our money back if he don´t play like Rock This Town in live show? Will ours live end? Taking risks and gambles in life, hopefully sometimes in live moment. If it have to be played, maybe 4 min longer show??

I don´t want to redo Dirty Boogie either, that was just a referense. But if you don´t have nerve to stay in studio more than a week or/and take in some advises or critic who could maybe see "the big picture" about what´s ´bout to go on the wax, then result might disappointment on sales. Hardly ever record is so good that it can´t be better and some point you have to let it out, fly or die. Some cases it might take 11 years... At least you have to make it so good that you are proud to stand behind it and play live songs from it. I guess last time it happened with RaB Riot and how many self penned orginals was there? I would like to be fan and stand beside a man, but i dunno do have much reasons left.

There are many bands with heavy touring and they don´t put out live record every 1-2 year. And where is limit how many of those and from what do we really need? "O Sole Mio - Setzer sings in the Shower"- recorded during various tours. And available only on Japan version: "X Hole Mio - Taco Bell Mix". And there are always somethings in vault from rec sessions and usually for a reason: not good enought to put on CD. And I also afraid that this live after live cd will bring also bad press. Hope not.

It´s soon like with Elvis, every year some alt. take of another alt. take to release for fans whom will buy it ´cause they need it or can´t live with out it. I did not see him live and I really don´t want to see him to do comeback tour either. Some things happened in past and if you where not around then, tough luck. Do we go to Setz shows and demand Stray Cats songs so that we could feel young again, are we revival crazy or just rockabilly retards? Maybe it´s time to look to a future for a while... Hopefully at least Imelda May will hit jackpot in this scene with next one, Mayhem.

I do have those 20 $ to spend, but I think someones need more donations than Surfdog (will it go now belly up?).
www.joinred.com

How deep is this hole now? 6 feet maybe?
Nasse

Sorry my bad spelling, no habla inglese.

I can appreciate that we all would like success for Brian. But Brian's never been about chasing the trends or the charts. The charts have found him in the early 80s and late 90s, but have ignored him for most of his career. And yet we're still here, and so is Brian.

I do believe the creative process for Lonely Avenue lasted a bit longer than a week, but because it was released during a year of a Christmas Extravaganza tour, there wasn't much room in the setlist between the Xmas tunes and Setzer favorites to feature more than a few tunes from the latest album. It doesn't mean he's not proud of the album. I think he's damn proud of it. And he should be. Despite the number of musicians in the Big Band, there were enough overdubs and intricacies on both Lonely Avenue and Wolfgang, that the tunes probably translate better in the studio and on record than on stage.

As far as touring goes, in the US, Brian visits new venues all the time. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the audience who have never seen Brian before. The world wouldn't stop if he didn't play Rock This Town, but unless he's playing a private fan show, or an album preview show, like the ones he did for the '68 Comeback Special, I don't think he should forgo Rock This Town, ever. It is his "Born to Run."

If we're keeping score - Brian released one live album in 2003 (a double album, and a worldwide release for those who didn't have the Japanese "Jumpin' East of Java" CD.) That's a live BSO release. Then, there was Rumble in Brixton im 2005 - a Stray Cats project. Next, in 2007, it was "Red Hot, and Live" from a band well worth documenting, the Nashvillains. And now, a second worldwide BSO live CD. That's it. Just two BSO CDs, documenting three tours: 1995, 2001, and 2009. Stray Cats is not the BSO, and the Nashvillains is not Stray Cats. I know it's all Setzer, and yet the 3 live albums are different enough, and I think, vital to his catalog. I think it may be especially appealing for the US fans, who have only had Xmas tours for most of the past 8 years. I have a suspicion I'll feel the same about "Don't Mess With a Big Band" as well. There's something special about what Brian can pull off on stage. I think most Setzer fans will agree.



Tramps Like Us-a-billy



PS: I don't count the 4 DVDs, by the way, as I can't remember the last time I had time to sit down and watch any of them - I usually watch them several times when I first get them, and then put 'em away. Live in Japan and One Rockin' Night are basically the Ultimate Live Collection on DVD, same for Brixton, with the Christmas Extravaganza being the one documentation of the Christmas tours - on DVD only. (I am NOT chomping at the bit to have a live Xmas CD, either!)

Now the horse is officially dead... 'til July 20th!

I would like to get my two cents in here. Unfortunately, I have no sense.......................

Sorry, just to put cross in place.

I think my pointless point was this "Don´t Mess with a BIG BAND" theme before I went off topic. If we can sue Mc Donalds for coffee being too hot, can we sue someone for band being too small? I paid to see Brian Setzer Orchestra, not 70% of the time. Sell "extravaganza" like it is, do what you came to do, like:

An Evening With Sting With The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
- Sting performing his most celebrated songs re-imagined for symphonic arrangement

Now, if people fall to sleep during his normal shows, I guess this time bring bodybags. But he´ll probably do trio set in the middle too to perform Roxanne etc.


R.I.P Thanks for a ride, high horse
Nasse

I love reading this!!! We die-hard fans are BRUTAL!!!.........and yep, I still will be one of the first people to buy Don't Mess.....even with all the repeat songs, "Gene and Eddie" etc.-----BeeeeeBop a Lula, shee's my bayyyyybehhhhhhhh!!!!!! hahahahaha!

I Have 212 Setzer/Cats vinyl,cd,singles etc. Buy this one? Hell yes.

Seriously, this tangental back-and-forth started with someone taking "Don't Mess With a Big Band" too literally? Too much! I thought it was the charter meeting of RAGE - Rockabillies Against Gene-n-Eddie!

I like the trio sets at the BSO shows, as Brian's trios and quartets rarely do a full tour in the US. The '68 CBS tour in 2001 was the last one, as the Trio tour in 2003 was as an opening act for Tom Petty, most of the Stray Cats shows in 2007 were 45-minute sets as part of the Jackfest tour, and the Nashvillains shows have been all too rare. So for a lot of US fans, it gives them a chance to hear Fishnet Stockings, Gene-n-Eddie, Runaway Boys, and rockabilly classics like Red Hot or 16 Chicks. Sometimes it has also allowed Brian to do some smaller, non-rockabilly tunes like For Lisa and Route 66. So I say, mess with the big band - just enough for a fresh shirt and a smoke break for the horns, and let Brian, Spazz, and Tony do their thing. (It'd be OK to leave Gene-n-Eddie and Runaway Boys off the next live CD, though!)

Ha! Look at me whining about small group tours, when I should feel for my BSO-deprived brethren in Europe. Reading what I wrote about all those tours and live appearances, which include none of the Christmas Extravaganzas or Japanese tours or Nashvillains tours, or Stray Cats tours in Europe and Australia, I must say, that Brian Setzer has been practically INVISIBLE!

Enjoy the vacation, Brian, and thanks for the audio postcard we're gonna get in about 21 days!

Slacker-billy

Well said as always Rick, on all of your recent posts. I will be there on time and I'll pay the cost...

Rickabilly wrote:

audio postcard

Now that's a fine title for a theme album (wink wink)


Brian Setzer Audio postcard from Hawaiji?

- Swingland
- Rocky mountains
- country bunker
- hillbilly heaven
- bob' barbershop brooklyn
- 42 street NYC
- Wonderful world of strings & things
- cool lakes of Finland
- Cousin It's garden party


Got it? Feel free to exploit the idea.

Help! My head is stuck in my arse.

I know I´m pissing againts the wind here in fan forum, but that trio plays rockabilly standards is so amazing thing? I don´t think that it´s so hard to find rockbilly band (with real slapbass) play those songs or Cats songs live nearly every town weekly or montly. But to hear 17 piece rockin´ big band in any city, state or country? And BSO, 68 CBS or Nashvillans performing Cats songs is so repeat mode. Stray Cats did Farefell Tour here in Europe and Brian said that he is tired to do touring, so I thought I´ll go to see him do those songs for final time. So last year he came back with BSO to europe, because he got big sallery from those 2 gigs, and played Cats etc. songs and also with trio to please rockabillies. I know that situation or feel to this is different in States. To put that Montral gig to dvd? We can see it online and where is the difference to Live in Japan or Christmas extravaganza? Much better and new tricks in the bag?

Of couse Brian is happy to play sold out big shows, who wouldn´t. Reality check: Stadium shows - mega rec selling, enough hits. Big arenas - good record + sale, current and "trendy". If you make jazz rec, then play in jazz club or similar. Average rock record and sale - mid size rock clubs. Selling out yourself or pleasing crowds, where is the limit? In live shows people live in that moment and wanna have fun: Are you having good time? (no matter what, answer is) YEAH! Do you wanna see old tumble dryer bouncing on the stage? YEAH! But how far to go before it´s get tacky? If like Alicia Keys says: Do you like skimpy dresses? Yeah! Do you wanna see me play naked? HELL YEAH! Might work few times, but night after night?

I´m not Springsteen fan (yes he has some hits and also misses) but maybe reason to leave Born in USA out of setlist is because message is not so current anymore? He had something against Reagan and Bush government (dunno why), but I don´t think he´s against Obama so much. I´m not. Rumble in Brighton? Those things happenend -79/80 or so and now those guys are too busy watching football/soccer and eating chips (sorry). Sexy+17? Ain´t that kinda kinky thing against the law in some states? Runaway Boys? How many of us can even run 100 yards? Brian? No hits to play or can´t make new ones? Amy Winehouse looked in to mirror and what did she saw? Rehab. I don´t mind if example Setzer does differend kinda records, I´m behind that. But with some stuff you get 1st class treatment and sometimes you have to fly coach.

Maybe it´s time to all of us to leave the "comfort zone" and try new things or are we just too plain lazy? But what f...k do I know. I´m just a Monday morning quarterback. Now there´s song to sing.

Wayyyyy too far from topic again, sorry
Nasse

( To Rick, I´m too shy too )

I think that it's well accepted at this point in the age of the internet that people are going to have differing opinions on things.

I was just reading two things that i wanted to address from your post, and your English is fine, by the way. :-) 5 years ago, I started a rockabilly trio in my area. I did this because I loved rockabilly, I loved the idea of playing a big friggin' upright bass, and.....there were NO rockabilly groups in the area. Technically, there was one about an hour away, and a few more in Toronto (probably members here or on the GDP), but NONE where we were from. There was one band about 2 hours away that we used to travel to see because they played every Friday night in Niagara Falls. They did mostly covers, Stray Cats, Reverend, some Blue Caps, and they may not have been the best band in the world, but that gives you an idea of how dedicated we were to the music, and how lacking we were in shows.

When we played, people came out to see us, even though we were still learning our stuff, and insisted on playing mostly originals which were a little different from trad rockabilly....just because they wanted to see a rockabilly band. Get dressed up, go out, lindy hop, whatever.

Stray Cats came here in 1983, played Toronto. Setzer came back in......1999? Same venue. People showed up in droves. Chance to see the big man in the area for the first time in over 15 years. Didn't come back Canada way until last year, 10 years later, for Ottawa Blues Festival. Jam-packed. Played Montreal after that (we were going to go the extra distance, but drinking with a big band til 4 a.m. will put you out pretty quickly), 185 dollars a SEAT! and it was once again, packed. Average Joe who likes Jump, Jive N Wail is NOT paying 200 dollar seat prices to go see the BSO.

Before that Stray Cats, OPENING for The Pretenders (don't get me STARTED!), we drove 5 hours to Michigan to see them play for 45 minutes. Ran into a bunch of people from my area there. Drove out to see the Cats, drove home.

This year, Montreal. Yes, free show, and there are going to be a lot of people in town for the Jazz Festival to say , hey, short walk to the BSO stage, lets' go. Then there are folks like me who drove 7 hours with a buddy in tow for a road trip just to see the band. Granted, we had a little more time to plan it than most. I went there to see friends, but also for Setzer.

What am I saying in all of this mess? Who the hell remembers? Oh yeah......sure it's easy to check out rockabilly in some places, see some trios, here some standards. In other places, not so much. The second point that I was making is this; small clubs, medium sized venues, mega stadiums, outdoor festivals.....wherever he's playing, no matter what the ticket prices, people are travelling, people are buying. And not just any people. Fans of good music, fans of Setzers. And calling a large venue performance selling out is not quite on, either....did you suggest that he play a jazz club? Haha....Setzer makes some jazzy music, tries to fit 18 people into a jazz club, and then people are going to be yelling for his HEAD because the capacity is 300, and nobody can get in to see him. He just played the Irridium Club in Manhattan for the Les Paul tribute...anyone try and get tickets for that?

And so, in conclusion, I would like to surmise, now that i've wandered way off track. Setzer plays good tunes. He's not going to make everyone happy. This time around, he played stuff off of Lonely Avenue, the much maligned Wolfgang (do you know that people have told Brian and the band to their faces that Wolfgang is a piece of garbage and they wouldn't buy it), older stuff like Your True Love, dusted off Summertime Blues and Gina (Spazz has been with the band how long? And he had to practice like hell to learn Gina because he'd "Heard it on some Stray Cats record, but never played it live), and played that @$%^$# in front of OVER 100,000 people.

Damn, man. That's not a sellout crowd, that's the stuff that an artist remembers for a lifetime.

Before I get off of my high horse.....Springsteen charged over 200 bucks for average ticket prices last time he rolled by (Buffalo). Setzer returned to the place where the Big Band first broke, and people got to check it out for NOTHING. That might be interpreted as selling out, but I interpret it as nothing short of phenomenal.





Oh, and I still don't like Gene and Eddie.

mark t wrote:

(do you know that people have told Brian and the band to their faces that Wolfgang is a piece of garbage and they wouldn't buy it),

What? When? Where? in Montreal?

Brett wrote:

mark t wrote:

(do you know that people have told Brian and the band to their faces that Wolfgang is a piece of garbage and they wouldn't buy it),

What? When? Where? in Montreal?

Maybe....but no, in NYC last year.

Don't get me wrong, an artist should be open to criticism. One of the guys from Bad Religion, a punk band that I was really into way back when (they're still good, just not so much my favourites now) asked me if there was anything that I didn't like about one of their albums. They had a slide guitar kind of intro on one of their songs, and I was not a fan. Gutsy move for a "hardcore" band, but just didn't work well. I told him so. ACtually, after a few beers i believe i said, "Well, it's good for the most part, but I don't know what the #@$% you guys were thinking with the slide guitar", and he laughed and said he agreed.

Little different from, "Man, that classical Wolfgang album is @#$% garbage. Not one good song on it. I think that i'm the only one outside of the band that bought a copy". I guess everyone's entitled to an opinion.

The beauty of this is that we all vote with our $$. Surfdog and Brian have opted to release some live material, and it is up to the paying public if they want to purchase it or not. I happen to enjoy live recordings, so I am happy to purchase this to support Brian. If he turned into a marketing whore like KISS then that would be another issue. I don't see any harm in releasing something "from the vaults."

iTunes has given the public the option to buy the album cuts they want without having to purchase the entire set. With the live Europe discs, I have a couple complete shows, then I bought extra tracks from each show that I wanted separately.

Just my 2 cents!

The beauty of this is that we all vote with our $$. Surfdog and Brian have opted to release some live material, and it is up to the paying public if they want to purchase it or not. I happen to enjoy live recordings, so I am happy to purchase this to support Brian. If he turned into a marketing whore like KISS then that would be another issue. I don't see any harm in releasing something "from the vaults."

Amen!! (Man am I trying to keep this thread going or what?! hahaha) Setz doesn't have U2 or Bruce type $$$$$--we as fans almost have an obligation to support whatever he(or the record company) puts out, ---"13", Wolfgang... or whatever. Nuff said.

The only thing I regret of this upcoming album is that many songs played during that tour are left out... Ring Of Fire, Cry Baby, Blast Off, Maybe Baby, Peggy Sue, Brand New Cadillac....

And the same happened with Red Hot & Live... I was expecting for a full live show, not for a 55min set... definetely I got it because I like it, but sometimes, if you can get a soundboard recording, is much better than an official live album when it comes to the songs included.

I will always support Brian, but... geez, he should include something different I guess..

Lord Vincent Blackshadow wrote:

I absolutely hate Gene and Eddie, always have. I can see why he might play it occasionaly live, as lots of artists do a a medley of old songs ........but why it was ever put on an album or played at every single show is beyond me. From the original on Blast Off to all its live recordings, it's just cabaret. I HATE it with a passion. It's the one Setzer tune, that I would never play for anyone else as I think it makes a seriously good Rocker sound like a wedding singer.

Whit.......!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEY MAN your opinion

now this is a few times av now seen critical things written bout Gene & Eddie
well am not happy bout this.....!!!!! OK


Now this song is a f**kin masterpiece in guitar playin
and songwriting by our big champ.....!

putting together all the most famous song's from his too hero's
it is very very well done and I for one would love to hear it again and again and again

at every live show the Brian ever does with any of his band's groups, or the orchestra



Brian please come back to the UK in any shape or form



and defo play the pure dead BRILLIANT Gene & Eddie............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!