I was on a quick hiatus from writing reviews. But, I'm back! Saturday Night's Justice Tour 09 Finale at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood was so great it compelled me to attack the ol' wordpress.
If you have ever attended any of these benefit shows thrown by the incomparable Tom Morello (Nightwatchman/RATM), you know they are ALWAYS a good time! Few things have remained constant w/ these shows. They are usually held around L.A. in intimate venues like The Hotel Cafe to The Troubadour. The Ticket price are always at what Tom calls "The People Price" ranging from a whopping $10-$15 bucks, 100% of which is donated to Charity btw! Oh and the friends he gets to jam out with him? How about the likes of Ben Harper, Slash, Jerry Cantrell, G. Love, Perry Farrell, Flea, David Navarro, Travis Barker, Stuart Copeland, Cypress Hill, Joe Satriani are just a few that I have seen perform at these gigs.
This last Saturday's show was no exception. The roster of artists joining Tom at the Fonda were... Slash (GnR), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Shooter Jennings, Boots Riley (The Coup), Sen Dog (Cypress Hill) and more.
Each artist takes turns doing mini 3 song sets with Tom jumping in and out. Then it gets nutty when all the artists hop on stage collaborating (mostly impromptu) on crowd pleasing cover after crowd pleasing cover.
Top 5 Highlights of the night
(1) Jerry Cantrell, Slash, and Corey Taylor - covering Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".
(2) Slash, Corey Taylor, Sen Dog, and Tom Morello - covering not one but TWO Guns and Roses Classics "Paradise City" and "It's So Easy".
(3) Sneak Peek at Street Sweeper (new group consisting of Boots Riley and Tom Morello) - in addition to a couple new songs they did a cover of MIA's "Paper Planes"! Whoever is attending the NIN/JA Tour this year make sure to get to the venue early and catch these guys!
(4) Surprise (not billed) performances from Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello) and Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead).
(5) Everyone (including the entire crowd) - performing Woodie Gutherie's "This Land is Our Land" to close out the show and tour.
3 hours of great music and entertainment for $15 bucks and all going to charity? Everyone wins - especially the fortunate fans that got to experience it. Thanks again Tom!
Special Shout Out - goes to E.D.B.M & O.E, Aziz & Paul of Human Giant, and Chef Roy & Aliiiiice of Kogi for good times last Thursday night on the Great L.A Taco Tour! Everyone should vote for them! Although my NCAA bracket is dust (Thanks for nothing Pitt!) my Taco Madness Bracket is still pristine and no offense to James Beard Award Winning Grandma Yuca (we all know this place all about the conchinita pibil burrito and not the tacos), but I'm predicting a Championship Final w/ Kogi ultimately pulling out a close victory over the King Taco Evil Empire. Come on people! Kogi tastes so much better! Here's are recaps of the night food met comedy met music...
http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2009/03/taco-tour-with-roy-choi-of-kogi-bbq.html
http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/2009/03/appreciating-taco-warriors-with-kogi.html
and more videos from the Moviebruin here https://youtube.com/watch?v=user/moviebruin
