I’d be a little late to the party if I wrote my own review, so instead, I want to point you to Chuck Klosterman’s brilliant article. Some of the highest praise he gives the music reads as follows: “There’s also a track called “The View” that’s pretty mind-expanding if you pretend the lyrics are literally about watching The View.”

Some hardcore Metallica fans have been laying the blame at Lou’s feet. As Lou says, “(They) are threatening to shoot me, and that’s only because I showed up. They haven’t even heard the record yet, and they’re recommending various forms of torture and death.”

Weird, because if those Metallica fans made death threats against those responsible for every poorly-received outing that Metallica’s been involved in, then they’ve surely already threatened Metallica on several occasions in the past. Let’s not pretend like Lou brainwashed them.

At this point, the crazy hardcore Metallica fans should have gotten used to saying either “I love this album! Metallica’s back!” or “hey, as long as Metallica’s happy with this. Next album should be good” after every release.

I’d just like to mention again that I have the flu.

Have a great weekend, and rmember, as is stated in this review of She & Him’s A Very She & Him Christmas, “If you ever have the opportunity to train a pit bull to rip someone’s throat out merely by your uttering a ‘code word, do make that code word ‘adorkable.’ “

There were 13 people on stage: Embassy Brats backup singers (3), Becker, Fagen, Horns Section (4), bass player, guitar player, keyboard player and drummer.

I like Steely Dan a lot. I don’t know their entire catalogue, but I do know that every single song they played had elements that I thought were VERY cool.

The Miles High band COOKS! I think when you open with the classic Aja, you’re in for a good night. (They played lots of crowd favourites, like ‘Peg, Josie Bodhisattva, Dirty Work, Reelin’ in the Years, Kid Charlemagne).

Donald Fagen is probably one of the coolest cats going. He never slips up, he has it all under control. Sort of disappointed he didn’t break out the Shakedown Street he’s been perfecting of late when sitting in with Levon Helm or The Allman Brothers Band.

Walter Becker can play the heck out of his guitar, and is a hot licks machine. He also is pretty good at improvising funny stories over breakdowns in songs.

I had never paid close attention to Keith Carlock, the drummer for Steely Dan, but since Bob Lefsetz pointed him out in an e-mail a while back, and now having seen him first-hand, I suspect he is one of the best drummers on the planet. When you end an entire concert with a drum solo (as Carlock did at the end of Reelin’ in the Years), that’s, how you say… CHUTZPAH.

I seem to be going to shows with an older audience of late. I like this. They talk less, and actually listen to the music.

If you’re going to buy yourself a Steely Dan record after reading this (which you should), I’d go with Aja.

That’s why I’m convinced I listen to the bands I do. They aren’t easily defined, or put in a box. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but overall, my music, while based in rock, really does span the gamut.

Last night, I had the excellent opportunity to catch Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. Now, before you freak out and tell me how lame that is, I want you to consider that Mr.Buffett has built an entire career and industry around his music. His career, by the way, has spanned upwards of 45 years. This is a guy who has had “2.5 hits” on radio but can fill a concert venue for 15,000 airtight.

His fans, “Parrotheads,” know every freaking word to every song, and their devotion not only to his music, but to the lifestyle, the product offering, and everything Jimmy does borders on complete obsession.

But I don’t want to focus on the industry of it all, or the idea, that Buffett, like the Grateful Dead, created social media before Mark Zuckerberg was even contemplated, I want to talk about Jimmy and the Coral Reefer Band.

Flanking Jimmy Buffet on stage was Mac McAnally on guitar (a highly regarded country songwriter and musician in his own right) and Michael Utley on keyboards (the Coral Reefer Band’s point person) set the tone for the party. Other terrific musicians round out The Coral Reefer band, and they cooked through Buffet classics like “Changes in Latitudes, Chances in Attitudes”, “Come Monday”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”,  and of course, the franchise “Margaritaville”. (Full set list at the end of this article).

Being such a huge musical icon, though, does come with a price. When he fell off the stage in Australia a few months back, within seconds, the incident was making the rounds on-line. In typical Buffett fashion though, he’s gotten through the bumps and bruises and sang about it in a re-worked “Off to See the Lizard”.

While it’s cool to see an artist and his band plow through catalogue classics, what makes me so crazy about this band is their ability to take classic songs and make them their own. Going to a Jimmy Buffett show is like going to a great island party. That’s why when he performed the Van Morrison classic “Brown-Eyed Girl” or CSN’s “Southern Cross” with his own flare, the crowd lost it. He even managed to work in a “Midnight Rider” (Allman Brothers Band) tease during one of his older tunes “The Great Filling Station Hold-Up”. The band also managed covers of Alan Jackson’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (McAnally explained his theory of Drinkability prior to the song) and “Knee Deep” by The Zac Brown Band (a song, by the way, that Buffett was asked to sing one verse on, that he now sings in its entirety live). At one point, Buffett mentioned going to see Gordon Lightfoot in the seventies at Massey Hall here in Toronto, and then did a great cover of “For Lovin’ Me”.

By the way, Buffett has some solid Canadian roots, which he didn’t shy away from (remember authenticity?). He note only referenced his Maritimer background (great grandson of a Newfoundlander he dedicated a song to his Torontonian college roommate and made several references to Toronto, and Tim Horton’s.

The 2-hour-plus set finished in a breeze, and the summer crowd enchanted by Buffett and his band wanted MORE. Luckily, fans who made their way from Nova Scotia will get more in September, while others will have to wait. Here’s hoping that Buffett does roll through town again, we see him when the weather’s warm. I, for one, will be looking forward to it!

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band

Molson Amp. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

7-16-11

1 The Wino And I Know

2 Brown Eyed Girl

3 Off To See The Lizard (Aussie Lyrics)

4 Ragtop Day

5 It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere

6 Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

7 Come Monday

8 Trip Around The Sun (featuring Tina, last played 09-02-2010 Bristow, VA)

9 Life Is Just A Tire Swing

10 Cheeseburger In Paradise

11 Son Of A Son Of A Sailor

12 Pascagoula Run

13 One Particular Harbour

14 Use Me (featuring Nadirah)

15 For Lovin’ Me (with Peter Mayer and Jim Mayer, played for the first time)

16 Jolly Mon Sing

17 Volcano

18 Knee Deep

19 Margaritaville (with the not-so-lost verse)

20 A Pirate Looks At Forty (Jimmy and Mac)

21 School Boy Heart

22 The Great Filling Station Holdup (with Midnight Rider)

23 Fins

The albums recommended in this episode are In The Shadows Of Madness by Jake Dreyer, and Ritual by The Black Dahlia Murder.

The albums recommended in this episode are Bangers II: Scum of the Earth by Barn Burner, and Choice Cuts by Carcass.

The album recommended in this episode is Little Hell by City and Colour.

The albums recommended in this episode are Rational Anthems by Teenage Kicks, Lights Of Endangered Species by Matthew Good, and Life by Keith Richards—okay, that last one is more of an audio book.

The albums recommended in this episode are The Cold Testament by Book Of Black Earth, and that’s it.

The albums recommended in this episode are Son of a Sailor by Sean McCann, Man In Motion by Warren Haynes, and Tighter by Mindless Self Indulgence.

The albums recommended in this episode are Phoenix Amongst the Ashes by Hate Eternal, and Filth Pig by Ministry.