Here’s two cool new DVD gift recommendations for that classic rock junkie on your holiday list; Tom Petty, Running Down a Dream and The Who, Amazing Journey. The Petty documentary is clearly the better of the two but Amazing Journey is an essential addition to any hardcore Who fan’s library.
Running Down a Dream is a four disc set divided into two CD’s that contain the documentary portion of Petty’s career, there’s a live disc of highlights from a 2006 Petty concert and a short audio CD containing some tracks from the documentary. The film part is very thorough and covers a ton of ground with great interviews and killer footage. I had forgotten about his early battles with the record industry and that massive world tour he did with Dylan. What was most interesting to me was the context for original drummer Stan Lynch’s departure. Stan’s one of my all time heroes but his style did not really fit with the Jeff Lynn era records that Petty created. It’s also interesting to see the decay of bassist Howie Epstien as he sinks deeper and deeper into heroin addiction.
I haven’t really had time to check out all three discs of Amazing Journey but the bits I have seen actually add something to the massive amount of Who media already out there. For one, the interviews and studio out takes are very recent. The story is told post Entwistles death and touches on the beginnings of Endless Wire their last studio CD. The most touching part of the whole thing (so far) is to see what good friends Roger and Pete have become. After years of bickering the two seem to have a genuine love and respect for each others talent and companionship throughout the years. It might be a little deep for those who are not nerdy who fans..but for those who are this DVD is a must.

Dirty Martini (dressed as the cast from Charlies Angels) Headlines the Aladdin theater for 94.7 KNRK’s Halloween extravaganza.

**I’m supposed to be Bosley

Hey! Dirty Martini’s new single Waste a Little Soul is in the top 10 of the ourstage.com music competition. If you have a quick minute today please click the link below and cast your vote for the band. Rules are that you must listen to 30 seconds of the song before you cast your vote. Click the link below to vote for DM. Thanks!
Link: Vote for DM on ourstage.com

I was at the Voices for Silent Disasters artist appreciation party at the swanky Portland Armory earlier this week. It was a vertiable who’s who of Portland talent. I compare the evening to what I’ve read about the Monterey Pop festival (hey there’s Paul Simon chatting with Jimi Hendrix). I managed to capture this pic of some of the top NW female songwriters all together. From left to right we have…Susie Blue, Little Sue, Michael Jodell, McKinley, Lara Michell and Jen Bernard. The “one grenade” reference comes from my touring days when several bands would be in the same city..and the same party all at the same time. We used to say “one grenade and you’ve wiped out the Portland music scene.”