Chickenfoot is playing the Chicago Theatre tonight. This, if you do not know, is the "supergroup" cosisting of Sammy Hagar (vocals), Joe Satriani (guitar), Michael Anthony (bass), and Chad Smith (drums). The debut self-titled album came out in June.
Of course I picked it up. I love Satch, and, "hip" or not, I always preferred Van Halen with Sammy over Roth. I know, I know...It's not like I DISLIKE the Roth stuff, I just felt like Sammy was a much better, and versitile singer. That Van Halen's ability to do different sorts of things increased. I like bands that are versitile.
Anyway, Chickenfoot...
I think there's only maybe 3 clunkers on the album. The opening track ("Avenida Revolution") had me worried, as it's probably the worst on the disk. (why you would open the album that way...no friggin' clue) The rest is good, solid, melodic hard rock. It's entertaining and fun, no more, no less, and they all sound like they're having a great time.
Satch isn't all over the place like on his solo stuff, which some people have complained about. Thing is...of course he isn't, he's playing behind a vocalist! I really appreciated hearing Satch play in the pocket, instead of being the main show. Hagar sounds fantastic, for a guy as old as he is, his voice is still sharp as hell. Anthony gets to actually play for probably the first time in his career, and Smith turns out to be a incredibly powerful hard rock drummer.
I read somewhere, and I think it's pretty apt, "Van Halen went and got a better guitarist and drummer, and changed their name to Chickenfoot." (and yeah, I think Satch and Smith are much sharper than the Van Halen brothers at this moment) I would MUCH rather see this band than VH, and their nostalgia-rama, now. Especially at one third the ticket price.
So, I dropped by the theatre today, to see if anything was left. Of course, I know from having a friend in ticketing (ha-ha) that they almost always have some house seats left. Especially for one person. I'm in the handicapped seating area, back of the main floor, but pretty much dead center. Bonus points for buying direct from the box office, no Ticketmaster charges!
What I also realized just a bit ago is that this is the first time I'll get to see Joe Satriani play live, so that's cool.
I dunno, I thought about going to see the GI Joe movie, or having dinner (which I still may), but I wanted to get out and do something cool. CByrd's out of town this weekend, so I'm not stuck in that "what will both of us like to do?" mode. Not like she wouldn't go to this show with me, but, yknow, I don't like to make her see stuff she's not excited about.
So, anyway...Have a weekend everybody. Avoid Grant Park, that Lollapalooza's a bitch for traffic. Which reminds me, I'll have to ride the train out of downtown with those people....
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