Cheap Trick ‘Rockford’

As you may or may not know, I’m a major Cheap Trick fan. So as I was meeting Christine for my first trip to Costco, I found myself there a little early. I was thinking… “Frak! I’m always too early. What am I gonna do for 20 minutes?”

I saw the Circuit City and it hit me… I needed to get the new Cheap Trick CD. I parked Roxy and headed inside. I hadn’t been in this new location and I was appalled to find the CD section reduced to the bare bones. It was very sad. A superstore with just about every title from major label artists reduced to nothing more than a glorified truck stop music rack.

They actually had the new Cheap Trick! I plucked it out of the rack with my grubby little hands and headed to the counter. I spent the rest of the time listening to it as I waited for Christine.

The new album is a damn fine one. If you like power pop/hard rock, you should consider this album. Sure, the single isn’t so great, but the rest of the album is the usual/unusual Cheap Trick fare. It’s just as quirky as their early albums.

Friday was my first trip to Costco or any other huge warehouse store like that. I’ve always steered clear of those things because I have always thought of it as a cult. You know a place where the downtrodden and spiritual go to worship things in bulk. And they want to share the good news with you and try to convert you.

I picked up all kinds of healthy foods there because since Monday, I haven’t eaten anything fried.

Not eating fried foods is something that I’m going to try. I figure that I’ve abused my body enough within 40 years and now it’s time for a little payback.

My body is still getting used to the change because it doesn’t know how to react. I’ve always been a “heavy fuel” kind of cat. So, if this eating healthier is a mid-life crisis kind of thing, it’s cool. I still refuse to get my ears pierced and I’m not trading Roxy in for a sports car.

But enjoying the company of a girl half my age is still on the table. There are some good things about a mid-life crisis that shouldn’t be ignored.

Last night, I attended the Pat Benatar concert with a hot lady named Cheryl. The beer was way too much and the venue was much like Costco.

The show took place in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center where they typically have boat shows for News 2’s Eric Chilton to broadcast from. Funny that I bring him up because Ed Matthews was chilling and catching the show with Pat Benatar last night.

Pat is still in good form both physically and vocally. Her husband Neil Giraldo is still as underrated as a guitarist as ever and his chops are still in fine, fine shape. It was a good show, let’s see what the review says in the News & Record.

Hangface from Norway opened up the show and even though no one knew who these Europe posers were, the crowd welcomed them to Greensboro. I saw the members of the band hanging at the merch table and sadly, no one cared.

I saw former Rock 92 personality Pete Bunch there with his son. Pete’s hair has been whacked off and he says that it was time for his summer shearing.

My hair is getting way too long and it’s time for my shearing real soon. Yesterday was a hot day that kept reminding me how long and uncomfortable my hair is getting.

Maddog from WQFS was there too. It was good seeing him too. My college radio show came on right after his Friday Night Rock Party. I would purposely pull out a CD by Night Ranger or an album by Starland Vocal Band for what I called “The Maddog Eye Roller”. Maddog is more of a music snob than I am and it was always good to get a rise out of him.

Also in attendance was Heavens Sake / Spank guitarist David Barker. I haven’t seen him in a while so it was good to get a look at his lady.

Well, that should pretty much get me up to date. I’ve been enjoying Band Of Brothers from Netflix. Two stars from a great show (Boomtown) that didn’t make it are in the cast. Former New Kid Donnie Wahlberg and Neil McDonough will make a great showing I’m sure.

Boomtown was a great show and if you never saw it… It’s available on DVD. Whether you purchase or rent it, you won’t go wrong.

I was kind of shocked to find that the Ross cat from Friends is in the first episode of Band Of Brothers. And he actually shows that he has some skills because in my opinion, Friends sucked.