I tried not to like The Killers because they are so hot now and they are from Vegas–and face it, Vegas is where bad musicians go to fade into oblivion.

However, Hot Fuss is one, um, killer album. I highly recommend it.

My wife and I went to see Chris Isaak last night at the H.O.B. here. I have to say, that man is quite an entertainer. I’m not the biggest “rockabilly” fan in the world, actually, quite far from it. But he (and his band) really enjoy themselves on stage… they have a good time, and consequently the crowd has a good time. It was a really good show, and I would recommend catching him if he comes through your town.

Ray Charles passed away today… I can honestly say I didn’t know that much about his life, other than being familiar with his “hits”. Of course, I knew that he was a huge influence on soul music as well. But on NPR they were playing clips of interviews with him over the years, and one thing really struck me as being truly astonishing, not just for his time, but as also being virtually unheard of today as well:

Ray Charles owned his own music.

Not just the publishing. He owned the master recordings too. Apparently, when he first signed with Atlantic in the late 1950s, they built him a state-of-the-art recording studio in his home, but he paid for it. He retained complete creative control over his music. Atlantic told him “You worry about the music, we’ll worry about the marketing.” Amazing. Now that is how the music industry should operate.

I don’t think you can use one of these Autotuners to correct your vocals and in any way, shape or form, call yourself a “punk” band.

Last night I went to see Bruce Springsteen play at US Cellular Field (that’s Comisky Park to most of you out there). I have to say that I never would have called myself a Springsteen fan, even though he’s a decent songwriters. I mean, have you really listened to Born in the USA? It’s hardly the patriotic anthem some dumbass jingoistic republicans* make it out to be… it’s actually a very critical song of America. Come to think of it, have you ever read the lyrics to Dancin’ in the Dark? Most people probably remember it from the silly video where Courtney Cox is pulled up on stage. But check out the lyrics… it’s a bitter song about lonliness and desparation.

But I digress…

Springsteen played for over three hours, with no opening act. He came out and did a half a dozen songs without stopping… which is pretty impressive. But what really got me was the sheer level of emotional (if not physical) intensity that the entire band, and especially Springsteen, put into their performance. They just plain rocked. And in a world where fans are now suing performers for lousy shows with overpriced tickets, it’s pretty refreshing to come away from a concert not only feeling that you go your money’s worth, but that the performer cared about their music deeply, and wanted to share that passion with you.

*Ronald Reagan invoked Springsteen and his song “Born in the U.S.A.” while campaigning in 1984. But Springsteen didn’t like being quoted by Reagan, saying that instead of it being “morning in America,” as Reagan claimed in his TV ad, he’d seen places where “It’s midnight, and like, there’s a bad moon risin’.”