Yes, it’s true, Slash once auditioned for Poison back in the mid-1980s. W hen Poison’s original guitarist, Matt Smith, split from the band, the glam-rock kings held auditions. I t came down to two names: Slash and C.C. DeVille. Slash later said he “killed the songs,” but it wasn’t his scene. He didn’t dig the […]
Every month, the big glowing rock in the sky rolls out for its headlining act, the full moon and suddenly everyone’s acting weird. Cops swear crime spikes, ER nurses brace for chaos and your neighbor’s dog howls like it’s auditioning for a horror movie. The full moon really turning us all into lunatics or is […]
Visiting Venues | Rockefeller’s https://www.rockefellershouston.com Tucked along Washington Avenue in Houston, Rockefeller’s has a kind of legendary glow that only comes from decades of unforgettable nights. Originally built in 1925 as a bank by famed architect Joseph Finger, the building was reborn in 1979 when Sanford and Susan Criner turned it into a live-music club […]
Friends, grab your coffee, because it’s that time of year again when we collectively lose (or gain?) an hour of our sanity. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is back in the headlines and everyone’s got an opinion. So, what’s the deal, is it genius or just a glorified sleep sabotage? PRO: More Sun, More FunLonger evenings […]
Panama – Van Halen (1984)Eddie Van Halen never played it safe and Panama is proof. That snarling, high-octane riff wasn’t just about speed, it was speed. After critics teased David Lee Roth for only singing about cars and women, he doubled down and made a song that celebrated both. Eddie cooked up the riff using […]
Listen up, fellas, it’s that magical night when kids transform into sugar-fueled maniacs and adults pretend they’re too old for costumes (but not too old for Reese’s). If you’re a 45-year-old dude ready to defend your lawn decorations and hand out the good stuff, here’s your power list of candies that’ll crown you neighborhood royalty.
What makes it historic? A riff born from nothing, turned into a global smash and one of the first that non-guitarists still know by heart. If you’re 45 and still air-guitaring this is your warp-drive.
Celebrating birthdays this week. K.K. Downing — Guitar for Judas Priest. Born Oct 27, 1951. He turns 74 this week. Larry Mullen Jr. — Drummer for U2. Born Oct 31, 1961. He turns 64 this week. Rick Allen — Drummer for Def Leppard. Born Nov 1, 1963. He turns 62 this week.
1. “Smoke on the Water” – Deep Purple (1972)It’s the riff every teenage guitarist learns first and for good reason. Four simple notes, played with raw power and changed rock history. In December 1971, Deep Purple were in Montreux, Switzerland, to record Machine Head when a fan fired a flare gun inside a Frank Zappa […]