What a summer concert season it's been! This past Tuesday night, the Loop brought the "Metal Masters" tour featuring metal/hard rock pioneers Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motorhead and Testament to Chicagoland at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre. As expected the legendary bands all put in stellar sets that saw them mixing their classics with some of their new material. Heaven & Hell was the lone exception in the new music category. Tony Iommi told me when he checked in with me on my show the night prior that they are currently working on a new CD (which they hoped would be ready this fall) but would forgo playing them live until they had been released. Rob Halford of Judas Priest discussed with me their future plans to tour a theatrical version of their latest double disc rock opera/concept album entitled "Nostradamus" to theatres. Don't be surprised if Priest's next stop is in our theatre district with a show of metal power that is to date unprecedented in that world. If any band could make a "metal opera/musical" a primordial success, it would be Judas Priest. On the other end of the spectrum, Lemmy and Motorhead have always been satisfied to consistently churn out what we decided was simply a supercharged and amplified diet of "'50's greaser rock", reflecting his first true love. Lemmy and I spent the rest of our conversation chatting about his time as one of Jimi Hendrix's roadies when he was younger. As you can imagine, there are a few stories there. Keep listening to my show as I will be presenting the highlights of those conversations with Rob Halford and Lemmy soon. Many thanks to all the Loyal Loopers who came by to say hello during the live broadcast of my show from the FMBA. You guys (and gals) are the best!

(See Judas Priest perform "Painkiller" live at the FMBA here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-IaZGGuhg)

Last Friday during the "Loop On-Stage" I played several tracks from Judas Priest's concert here in 1981.

(See Judas Priest live at the International Amphitheatre in 1981 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLLyNDLvyDw)

Last night, the ever jocular George Thorogood rocked the house... the House of Blues, that is. Yet another light, tight and bright show from George for the capacity crowd. The moment I took the stage to greet the amassed Loyal Loopers, I knew we were all in for a good night. Amped up crowd + first rate entertainer + Chicago-style blues = P-A-R-T-Y!

(See George Thorogood perform Bo Diddley's classic "Who Do You Love" here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmMhnM-y4Q&feature=related)

All this week on my show, win tickets to see Live... live at the House Of Blues September 21st!

In addition to the Scorpions playing in town last weekend, I also took in the Extreme/King's X/Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp show at the House of Blues last Saturday. The "opening act(s)" were numerous Loyal Loopers who signed up for the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp and got to open up for Extreme and King's X. The "camp counselors" were a collection of very accomplished musicians (Gilby Clarke of Guns n' Roses, Elliot Easton of The Cars, Earl Slick of John Lennon and David Bowie, Dave Ellefson of Megadeth, Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple, Chris Slade of AC/DC and Jimmy Page, Mark Slaughter of Slaughter, and Kip Winger of Winger and Alice Cooper) who coached and then jammed with the lucky Loopers on stage. The Loopers and counselors alike had a great time and were beaming from ear to ear.

(For more information about the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp click here: http://www.rocknrollfantasycamp.name/tour.htm)

King's X and then Extreme picked up where the Loopers and counselors had left off. It was difficult to fathom that Extreme has actually been an inactive outfit for some 13 years from the blazingly energetic reunion set they executed. The folks who came expecting to see a "ballads" band in Extreme were colossally shocked. Just as their name should indicate, Extreme was/are a blistering hard rock band featuring the awe-inspiring and endlessly inventive fretboard antics of one of the few guitarists in the same league as Eddie Van Halen... Nuno Bettencourt. Not only is Extreme back in fighting shape, they have just released a brand new CD named "Saudades de Rock" which is loose Portuguese (Nuno is Portugese) for "Nostalgic Yearning For Rock."

(See Extreme's video for "Decadence Dance" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykRxlPd6U4k)

(See Extreme's video for "Kid Ego" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDr2M94ejPQ)

After the show, all the bands and I gathered in the Foundation Room for an after show party that eventually saw the guys from Ratt (who were playing with the Scorpions the following night) join in.

This Tuesday night at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre is another huge Loop show featuring Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell (the Black Sabbath lineup with Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals), Motorhead and Testament dubbed the "Metal Masters Tour." I will be doing my show live from the FMBA that night, so stop by and say hello. To help get us prepared, Tony Iommi of Heaven & Hell/Black Sabbath will be checking in with me tomorrow night at 9:30 on my show.

(See Judas Priest's video for "Heading Out To The Highway" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoDbAd4fYBA)

(See Heaven & Hell/Black Sabbath's video for "Neon Knights" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhe1SuBGkiA)

(See Motorhead's video for "Ace Of Spades" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BstyQX-kQQ)

(See Testament's video for "Return To Serenity" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdfHobqSjA)

Some tickets remain at http://wlup.com/Concerts/Listings.aspx. See you there!

The Loyal Loopers' love affair with the Scorpions continued unabated and unabashed last night at the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island, 29 years to the day after their live debut here back in 1979 with the Loop at Navy Pier. The "Fountain Of Youth" is merely a myth, but you could swear the Scorps have found something akin to that in order to still be administering the same tight and exuberant style of show they became famous for three decades ago. This in spite of the fact that Scorpions lead guitarist Matthias Jabs nearly cut off the main fingers on his fretting hand in a kitchen accident only a few days prior. Maybe because this band has had to work at least twice as hard as anyone else to make it (having to first learn another language - english AND being from a part of the world that had previously never produced an internationally successful rock act), they still appreciate and cherish every opportunity to perform like no other act I know of. Especially when they are performing for the people who embraced them before any other... the Loyal Loopers of Chicago.

Shortly after an on-stage introduction from me, the Scorpions literally leapt to the stage and proceeded to deliver a mix of classic Scorpions rockers, plus a few surprises like "Make It Real," "Dynamite" and "I'm Leaving You" which were blended flawlessly with several new songs from their excellent recent disc "Humanity Hour 1" that kept the crowd on it's feet and roaring their approval all night. After the show, the band and myself adjourned to the Foundation Room at the House Of Blues for a post-show/end of tour celebration and surprise "birthday" party. After I mused on the air many months ago about the historical significance of the date on which they were to play Chicago again, word spread amongst the fans and management and we decided to surprise Klaus, Matthias and Rudolph with a "birthday" cake and a very warbley sung version of "Happy Birthday." Much laughter and good times were had by all. Particularly amusing were the remembrances we shared of one other very long Sunday night back in 1988 in a hotel suite at the Buffalo Hilton in Buffalo, NY. At the time, the band was part of the "Monsters Of Rock" bill that included Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken and Kingdom Come. That night, they had played before 80,000 people at the former Rich Stadium in Buffalo. One-by-one, Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Matthias Jabs and Rudolph Schenker (even Rudolph's family at one point) of the Scorpions as well as various other friends of mine piled into my room after the show. A kind of camping trip "around-the-campfire" type of atmosphere developed with singing, funny stories and general silliness that lasted well into the next day. By what seemed like noon the next day, I had hit the wall. Crawling into bed, I realized Matthias was still going strong and was urging me to stay up just a little bit longer with him. After managing to utter a weak "nein"... I was out. Rather appropriately, the Scorpions current album at the time was entitled "Savage Amusement" and the follow-up was titled "Crazy World." Indeed. Crazy times. Happy anniversary guys!

(See the Scorpions perform "Blackout" live at Charter One Pavilion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw0F3l3bFnI&feature=related)

(See the Scorpions perform "No One Like You" live at Charter One Pavilion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX7wdFVTebw&feature=related)

(See the Scorpions perform "Rock You Like A Hurricane" live at Charter One Pavilion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOdRl0072Zw)

Unfortunately, Billy Corgan didn't make it to the Scorpions show last night to reprise his duet of "The Cross" from "Humanity Hour 1" with Klaus Meine and the Scorps as we had hoped. Billy grew up a huge Scorpions fan and was quite thrilled to be asked to contribute to the Scorpions latest CD. The previous night (Saturday), Billy and the Smashing Pumpkins played their first Chicago area show since reforming at the Venue at the Hammond Casino . A sold-out affair, the gig showcased the superb acoustics of the brand new room (part of a $500 million expansion at the casino) nicely.

(See the Smashing Pumpkins perform "Tonight, Tonight" live at The Venue here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNLb25l8yrU)

If nuthin' but a good time was what you were craving... Poison, Dokken and Sebastian Bach brought the party in abundance to a First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre packed with Loyal Loopers this past Sunday night. Between bringing the bands on stage, I alternately took in the show with Bret Michaels, Sebastian Bach and Don Dokken from the side of the stage. The camaraderie and enthusiasm the guys displayed for each others sets was downright contagious. After all the pyro, lights and killer performances were over, a completely satiated group of Loopers and tattooed minstrels went their separate ways, but only until the next convening of the youth gone wild.

(See Poison perform "Unskinny Bop" live at the FMBA here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eje4mJgejPA)

(See Poison perform "Talk Dirty To Me" live at the FMBA here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNNeYBk5Ck0&feature=related)

Also this past weekend, the the 4th staging of Lollapalooza in Chicago rolled through town. It proved to be the the most successful one yet, with a sell-out crowd of 225,000 taking in 130+ bands spread over three days. Easily the most anticipated act of the whole weekend (75,000 came just to see them alone) was the reunited Rage Against The Machine featuring Libertyville native Tom Morello. The years spent apart have done nothing to diminish their skills or their power to excite a crowd. Look for a new RATM recording to be released in the near future.

CAUTION... THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE!
(See RATM perform "Killing In The Name Of" at Grant Park here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWbzvGZfuOI&feature=related)

(See the RATM crowd from on-stage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q7YLFcdIgg)

No time to come up for air! This coming Sunday, the Loop brings the Scorpions and Ratt to the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island. I will be broadcasting my show live from the event, so make sure you stop by to say hello. Fittingly, it will be 29 years to the day since the Loop brought the Scorpions to Chicago for their very first appearance on August 10th, 1979 at the former Chicagofest at Navy Pier. This Thursday at 9:30pm, Matthias Jabs of the Scorpions will be checking in with me on my show to discuss the anniversary (and upcoming concert) and then on Friday at 10:00pm during the "Loop On-Stage", I will play a recording of that 1979 Scorpions Chicagofest show!