I just saw My Morning Jacket here in Chicago and they were amazing. I was fully prepared for them to stink and be overrated, but they were just incredible. For those who don't know the sound, it's like Led Zeppelin meets Glen Campbell, but played by guys who look like Lynryrd Skynrd circa 1975. Very interesting band out of nashville.

My other interesting sounds this year have included Wilco and (seriously) Iron Maiden. The latter were impressive, believe it or not.

Anyone see any interesting musical acts lately? Anything a 'must see' on tour?

Unfortunately, our single decent live music venue up here turned into a ho-hum bar/restaurant with a fake cowboy theme. Caught Omar and the Howlers there in the older days, among many others. Heh, KISS showed up one evening, full stage makeup, but that gig never happened. Some booking agent either messed up or had a great sense of humor. ZZ Top played there during the white guitar period. I miss the smell of ozone, the crackle of shorted electronics, the roadies with soldering irons and tape keeping the gigs going while the bands played on.

The music scene in the Springs is too far away and not worth the effort (for me). But being as I sometimes do the streets of Manitou and Old Colorado City on weekend days in the summer, I've caught some great performers along the way.

Won't name names or make comparisons. It's just that there's a bunch of good musicians out there covering tunes that get more mileage than ever intended. Live music is like that, surprisingly better than recorded. It will always be superior to the recorded stuff.

There was this one lady who played a drum and made it sing. She worked the rim somehow and got tones sort of like making a crystal glass ring, but with leather and wood. There was this guy doing Hank Williams pretty straight up, but in a baritone voice. A couple singing folk music real sweetly. Got into a blues jam with this homeless kid, two guitars trading it off. Bluegrass groups making constant sorrow, seemed to be the rage last summer. A teenaged woman played classical violin, it was quite an experience.

Had a guy from India scoping out my slide work on National, amazed that we do this in the states. He told me about how this is done also in India, but different music of course. Different stringed instrument too. He liked Delta blues.

Well. Live music is so much better than recorded. It's like the difference between a zombie and a living person. No, it is the difference.

There might be a revival of this going on, along with reading. Maybe people are sick of media and want the real deal. The novelty of the record player, the television, the programmed pre-recorded radio could be wearing off. People might want to engage with each other again, like it was for thousands of years.

Or is it just an old hippy's dream?

Over the past month or two I've seen a bunch of concerts, none of the groups are similar.

First I saw Joan Jet and the Blackhearts.

then Mushroomhead (one of the opening bands, Ventana was pretty good). Mushroomhead puts on an awesome show with lights, smoke, confetti, and of course costumes and heavy metal.

then I saw She Wants Revenge.

then I saw Pepper open for Slightly Stoopid in the Jagermaester concert series.

Now THAT is a crazy mix of genres.

One of the bars I may or may not frequent has country bands several nights a week. So I may or may not have seen several of them.