MK Magazine News 2008

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien Performance on September 1st.

Sgt. Pepper Live DVD & CD (w/ Al Jourgensen & Special Guests) to Benefit Prostate Cancer Foundation out August 25th.

Cheap Trick’s new self-released album- The Latest - continues to impress listeners as it takes the honor of the #1 selling 8-track in the world. The limited edition format is available exclusively through the band’s website. “In the format, it makes sense,” proclaims Idolator. “The riffs crackle, Robin Zander’s voice sounds nearly curdled, and the whole enterprise brings the words ‘kick ass’ to mind over and over again. (I know, I know, not the most erudite assessment, but when one gets bludgeoned, it’s often hard to sound smart in the immediate aftermath.)”

On September 1st, Cheap Trick heads to LA to perform the new single “Sick Man of Europe” on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. A big fan of the band, you may remember Conan sprinting across the United States during his premiere episode opening while the Cheap Trick classic “Surrender” played (watch here: www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/cold-open-of-the-first-show/1116061/).

On December 12th, 2007, Cheap Trick performed Sgt. Pepper Live at the The Waldorf Astoria in New York City for the Prostate Cancer Foundation Charity Concert & Auction. A live DVD and CD of this performance are scheduled for release on August 25th with all artist proceeds from sales to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The New York Philharmonic and special guests Al Jourgensen,  Joan Osborne, Ian Bell of Gomez, singer-songwriter Rob Laufer and an Indian instrumental ensemble, lend their talents to the cause. Geoff Emerick, who engineered the original album in 1967 and engineered Cheap Trick’s All Shook Up with George Martin for Epic in 1980, oversaw all elements of the recording and mixing.

Sgt. Pepper Live featuring Cheap Trick originated in 2007 when the band was invited to be special guests of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of the 40th Anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band record release. The concert was reprised the following year and the shows sold over 50,000 tickets combined. At these shows, as at The Waldorf, the band performed a track-by-track rendition with the orchestra, an Indian ensemble and an array of very special guests. Michael Milken, founder and chairman of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, was at one of the Los Angeles shows and invited the band to re-create the event for his legendary holiday fundraiser in New York City.

For more information on the foundation, please visit www.prostatecancerfoundation.org.

Cheap Trick Official Website www.cheaptrick.com

   

PLUS CLASSIC TRACKS FROM MOTORHEAD, ROD STEWART, 10CC, FOGHAT, SCREAM, THE MC5, VOID, THE MOODY BLUES AND MORE

HOLLYWOOD, CA (July 30, 2009) – Following the success of Rob Zombie’s initial reinvention of John Carpenter’s smash cult horror film HALLOWEEN which premiered number one at the box office breaking all Labor Day Weekend 2007 records, comes the sequel, HALLOWEEN II, hitting theatres nationwide on August 28, 2009 from Dimension Films.

With the enormously popular horror movie series back, writer-producer-director Rob Zombie, once again puts his own twisted twist on the soundtrack.  Halloween II – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Hip-O/UMe), released August 25, 2009, and co-produced by Zombie, manages to bring together dialogue from the film as well as music from Motorhead, The Moody Blues, Scream (sans future member Dave Grohl), Rod Stewart, the MC5 and Foghat, alongside new psychobilly band Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures.

Frightmaster Zombie helmed 2007’s ninth installment in the HALLOWEEN franchise that began in 1978.  HALLOWEEN II, which debuts August 28, picks up where HALLOWEEN left off, and focuses on the struggles of Laurie Strode (played by Scout Taylor-Compton) and killer Michael Myers (played by Tyler Mane).

The new recordings on Halloween II – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack include “Transylvania Terror Train” and “Honky Tonk Halloween” from Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures, who appear in the film.  The band’s leader, Jesse Dayton, an Austin, Texas-based singer-guitarist who has played with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, was part of the duo Banjo & Sullivan that performed in Zombie’s 2005 flick The Devil’s Rejects and simultaneously released an album.  Similarly, Rob Zombie Presents Captain Clegg And The Night Creatures (Stag/Zombie A Go Go) will be issued August 28.

Also new are “Laurie’s Theme” from John 5 produced by Bob Marlette, (Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne); “Nurse Killa” from score composer Tyler Bates (Watchmen, 300, Halloween, The Devil’s Rejects); and a cover of Nazareth’s 1976 hit “Love Hurts” from singer Nan Vernon, who covered “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and “Mr. Sandman” for HALLOWEEN.

The classic tracks range from The Moody Blues’ 1966 psychedelic gem “Nights In White Satin” and 10cc’s cheery 1977 hit “The Things We Do For Love” to Rod Stewart’s 1972 cover of The Temptations’ “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” Foghat’s 1972 take on Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want To Make Love To You” and the MC5 proto-punk masterpiece “Kick Out The Jams,” which was recorded live in Detroit on Devil’s Night/Halloween 1968.  The lesser-known vintage tracks hail from the early ‘80s: “Amerarockers” by hardcore punkers Scream, “The Chase Is Better Than The Catch” by metal’s Motorhead and “Time To Die” by hardcore/metal band Void.

Prior to entering the film world, hard rocker Zombie scored a series of multiplatinum albums–1992’s La Sexorcisto, 1995’s Astro-Creep: 2000, and 1998’s Hellbilly Deluxe –as well as platinum with 2001’s The Sinister Urge and 2003’s greatest hits collection Past, Present & Future. 

In addition to his recording career, Rob Zombie has written and directed several successful feature films including House of 1000 Corpses, the sequel, The Devil’s Rejects, and is the is the producer, writer and director of the forthcoming animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, based on his comic book series, The Adventures of El Superbeasto.

TRACK LISTING:

01 CAST - “HE’S F****** DEAD”                                                        

02 THE MOODY BLUES - NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN                                        

03 Cast- “HALLOWEEN IS COMING”                                             

04 10cc- THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE                       

05 CAST -   “WHO’S LEE MARVIN?”                                                

06 SCREAM - AMERAROCKERS                                                      

07 CAST - “JAM & JELLY”                                                 

08 Mc5 - KICK OUT THE JAMS                                                         

09 CAST -   “ASS GOOD”                                                 

10 ROD STEWART - (I KNOW) I’’M LOSING YOU                                          

11 CAST - “D-E-A-D”                                                                         

12 MOTORHEAD - THE CHASE IS BETTER THAN THE CATCH       

13 CAST - “I’M ANGEL MYERS”

14 JOHN 5 - LAURIE’S THEME

15 CAST -   “I WANT TO PARTY”

16 CAPTAIN CLEGG AND THE NIGHT CREATURES - TRANSYLVANIA TERROR TRAIN

17 CAST - “JACK-O-LANTERN AND A BLONDE”

18 CAPTAIN CLEGG AND THE NIGHT CREATURES - HONKY TONK HALLOWEEN

19 CAST - “BRING YOUR BABY BACK HOME”

20 FOGHAT - I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU

21 CAST - “SNAPPED ON BY WEIRD AL”

22 VOID - TIME TO DIE

23 CAST - “I LOVE YOU MOMMY”

24 NAN VERNON - LOVE HURTS

25 TYLER BATES - NURSE KILLA

 

HALLOWEEN II links:

Official Movie Site - http://www.halloween2-movie.com/
Twitter - http://twitter.com/H2_TheMovie
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/HalloweenII
Trick or Treat - http://www.h2trickortreat.com/
Captain Clegg - www.captainclegg.com

And check out the contest going on for HALLOWEEN II at:  http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=11110

www.ilovethatsong.com

August 27th - Seattle, WA. @ Heaven Nightclub
Mechanismus Presents…
With DJ Savak, DJ V.O.M., & DJ Omega Brain
172 South Washington Street
Seattle, WA. 98104
206-622-1863

August 29th – Everett, WA. @ Tony V’s
With Desilusion
1712 Hewitt Ave
Everett, WA. 98201
$3, 21+

August 30th – Portland, OR. - Fez Ballroom
316 SW 11th
Portland, OR 97205

September 1st – Los Angeles, CA. @ Bar Sinister
1652 N. Cherokee Ave.
Los Angeles, CA. 90028

September 2nd – Phoenix, AZ. @ Chasers
With Hardwire & The Strand
8005 E Roosevelt St
Scottsdale, AZ 85257
480-945-4985

September 4th – San Francisco, CA. @ Annie’s Social Club
With Slave Unit
917 Folsom St
San Francisco, CA. 94107

September 7th – Boise, ID. @ Hijinx Comedy Club
800 W Idaho St
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 947-7100‎

September 8th – Vancouver, BC. @ The Media club
695 Cambie Street Vancouver
British Columbia V6B 2P1 Canada
(604) 608-2871‎

http://www.smphq.com
http://www.myspace.com/smphq
http://www.stiffvalentine.com
http://www.myspace.com/stiffvalentine

We are still looking to book a few dates:
Sacramento - August 31st
Vegas - Sept 3rd
Reno - Sept 5th
Spokane - Sept 8th

Interested promoters can contact smphq@smphq.com

SOURCE: www.reelzchannel.com

 Director Troy Duffy announced to a packed room in San Diego that the sequel to his cult hit, The Boondock Saints will hit theaters on November 1, 2009, All Saints Day. A fitting date for Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day. Even though this surprised no one, it was a welcome announcement for a movie thought dead years ago.

The Comic-Con panel featured the All Saint’s Day trailer as well as appearances by its stars Billy Connely, Sean Patrick Flannery, and Norman Reedus, who were genuinely thrilled and grateful to be at Comic-Con and gracious to the fans who demanded the sequel be made.

Duffy promised fans will see more of what they loved in the first movie and many more surprises. He also revealed that, as suspected, Willem Dafoe’s character Paul Smecker will not be returning for All Saints Day, but fan favorite David Della Rocco, who made a surprise appearance in the fan Q&A line, will be back. Given that he died in the first movie, it will be interesting to see how this gets pulled off.

In a panel full of surprises, and enough swearing to make even Quentin Tarantino blush, the biggest surprise was when another favorite from Boondock Saints appeared: adult film legend Ron Jeremy. Did you know that Jeremy has teaching credentials and frequently lectures on college campuses? Neither did we.

The panel felt refreshingly more like a school reunion than a big studio media blitz. Fans were even included in the cast and crew’s celebration, as Duffy invited them to join up for drinks at a local San Diego pub that night.

“If one more ‘journalist’ makes a cavalier statement about me and my band, I will personally or with my fans’ help, greet them at their home and discover just how much they believe in their freedom of speech.”

SOURCE: rollingstone.com

Marilyn Manson has issued a warning on his MySpace blog against journalists who write “cavalier statements” about himself or his band, saying there will be repercussions for the “soon-to-be-murdered-in-their-home press” if he spies any more fabrications. “If one more ‘journalist’ makes a cavalier statement about me and my band, I will personally or with my fans’ help, greet them at their home and discover just how much they believe in their freedom of speech,” Manson warns. “I dare you all to write one more thing that you won’t say to my face. Because I will make you say it. In that manner. That is a threat.”

Manson’s comments are reportedly a reaction to a recent L.A. Weekly interview with Buddyhead.com founder Travis Keller, who talked about what it was like to meet Manson in 2007. Keller paints Manson as a paranoid cocaine addict (Keller said the first thing that Manson asked him was “Can you get us some cocaine?”) who walked around in a side-turned Von Dutch hat. “I was like, ‘You’re Marilyn Manson?’ I remember thinking he’s going to come out with some kind of cape on,” Keller told L.A. Weekly, “I’d never met him before and thought he’d be hanging out in a coffin. He’s nothing like that.” Keller went on to say that Manson’s girlfriend at the time, insinuating actress Evan Rachel Wood, was nicknamed “Snowflake” because “when they played shows, she’d hold all the coke.”

Though when Manson talked to Rock Daily in January 2008, he told us about how the Led Zeppelin reunion in November 2007 inspired his own reconciliation with Twiggy Ramirez. However, Keller claims Manson only knew one Zeppelin song (”Stairway to Heaven”) and got bored at Zep’s reunion concert after the song was played. In Manson’s defense, his statements to Rolling Stone seem quite genuine.

In a post titled “Marilyn Manson is a big man on the internet!,” Buddyhead writer Meathead responded to Manson’s threats, adding fuel to the fire by writing, “I’m trying to visualize a scenario in which Marilyn Manson actually acquires my home address, achieves a mental state that’s close enough to sobriety to allow him to successfully type it into Google and print out the directions, and then makes it all the way over here without getting distracted and sucking off a vagrant along the way,” Meathead writes.

Even if Manson’s threats are just deemed posturing, there is some journo-beating precedent that make Manson’s MySpace post more serious. In 1998, Manson and two bodyguards were accused of assaulting Spin executive editor Craig Marks backstage at a concert over a magazine story. Then again, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor recently called Manson a “dopey clown,” and he’s since disappeared from Twitter, so who knows what kind of mayhem Manson is capable of. Consider us cautious.

 

Every Thursday!
August 6, 13, 20, & 27 @ 10:00pm SHARP
Blue Bayou Bar & Grill
3734 N Southport Av, Chicago IL 60622

The dog days of summer are upon us, but you’ll find no relief from that on Thursdays at Blue Bayou, as Vaudezilla cranks up the heat even more with the hottest bar-top burlesque show in Chicago.

Make sure you dress down…way, WAY down! We’ve got some scorching hot ladies that’ll make your blood boil. This month, we have two – count ‘em – TWO special guest performers. On August 27th, we have Rose Darling from Dallas, Texas, and the one and only Penny Starr, Jr. all the way from Hollywood, California!

And of course, you’ll be treated to your faithful crew of Vaudezilla’s finest: Red Hot Annie, Donna Touch, Wham Bam Pam, Bonny Babs, and Maria May I. You’ll also see: Bizarre Sally, Siren Jinx, Lola Getz, Carnal Calamity, Lula Houp-Garou, Titi Touche, MsPixy, Chasity Chaos, Jolie Roberson, Naughty Natanya, Paris Green, Kitten Kaboodle, Natasha Minsk, and Miss Teddy Bare.

Enjoy some authentic New Orleans cuisine and some tasty $3 drink specials while our dancers entertain you promptly at 10:00pm.

The show is FREE and features 5-6 different performers from the roster every Thursday. For a schedule of appearances, visit vaudezilla.com/events.htm.

Remix Album Featuring Mixes By Marilyn Manson, Skinny Puppy and Gravity Kills Set for Sept. 29 Release

July 29, 2009 (El Paso, Texas) – RevCo (p/k/a Revolting Cocks), the long-running side project from Al Jourgensen and a slew of collaborators over the outfit’s twenty plus year history, will release a remix record titled Sex-O MiXXX-O on Sept. 29 via his own 13th Planet Records.

The ten track album couples longtime conspirators including Luc Van Acker, Dave “Rave” Ogilvie and Marilyn Manson’s Chris Vrenna with current RevCo players Clayton Worbeck and Stayte (which features the aforementioned Worbeck as well as Josh Bradford).  The original album, Sex-O Olympic-O, was released in the fall of 2008 and was hailed by Alternative Press as the “most satisfying album” Jourgensen had created to date with RevCo and went on to dub the album as a “celebration of hedonism and glorious excess.”

Orchestrating the previously announced LubricaTour, RevCo’s first North American headline run in twenty years,  is the legendary master of the unceremonious Jim Rose, of The Jim Rose Circus fame, featuring Jim’s cast of freaks and characters, revolving nightly. Previously announced support acts include Blownload and Left Spine Down.  Jourgensen joins the RevCo circus as a special guest artist for the El Paso, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York dates only.

Track Listing for Sex-O MiXXX-O:

1.        HookerBot3000 (tweaker mix) - Remixed by Chris Vrenna of Marilyn Manson

2.        Keys To The City (Invincible mix) - Remixed by Crabbi of Vileevils & Pop Will Eat Itself

3.        Red Parrot (Juarez Tunnel mix) – Remixed by MegaJive

4.        Robo Bandidos (A Chilling Effect mix) – Remixed by Doug Firley of Gravity Kills

5.        Cousins (Sexy Problems = Sexy Solutions mix) – Remixed by Clayton Worbeck of Revolting Cocks

6.        Touch Screen (Shower Strangulation mix) – Remixed by Luc Van Acker

7.        I’m Not Gay (I’m So Gay Club mix) – Remixed by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy

8.        Abundant Redundancy (Clockworks and Cold Steel mix) – Remixed by Stayte

9.        Lewd Ferrigno (Club On mix) – Remixed by Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist

10.     Wizard of Sextown (Bisected Banshee mix) – Remixed by Seismologist
LubricaTour dates:

# = with Al Jourgensen

RevCo touring line-up:  Josh Bradford – vocals (Stayte, Simple Shelter), Sin Quirin – guitar (Ministry), Clayton Worbeck - keyboards (Stayte, Simple Shelter), Aaron Rossi – drums (Ministry, Prong, John5) and Stevie Banch – bass (Spyderbaby)
September

10     El Paso, TX                                  Club 101 #

12     Albuquerque, NM                         Sunshine Theater

13     Denver, CO                                   Gothic Theatre

14     Ft. Collins, CO                             Aggie Theatre

15     Salt Lake City, UT                         Club Vegas

17     Couer D’Alene, ID                       The Grail

18     Seattle, WA                                   Studio Seven

19     Vancouver, BC                              Rickshaw Theatre

20     Portland, OR                                Dante’s

23     San Francisco, CA                        The Fillmore

24     Orangevale, CA                             The Boardwalk

25     San Diego, CA                              Brick By Brick

26     Tempe, AZ                                   The Clubhouse

27     Los Angeles, CA                           House of Blues #

October

1     San Antonio, TX                            White Rabbit

2     Oklahoma City, OK                      Diamond Ballroom

3     Kansas City, MO                            The Beaumont

4     St. Louis, MO                                 The Firebird

6     Chicago, IL                                     House of Blues #

7     Detroit, MI                                     Blondie’s

8     Cleveland, OH                                Peabody’s

10     Ottawa, ON                                  Babylon

11     Montreal, QC                                Foufounes Electriques

12     Toronto, ON                                Reverb

14     Pittsburgh, PA                              Rex Theater

15     Allentown, PA                              Crocodile Rock

16     Worcester, MA                             The Palladium

17     New York, NY                             Irving Plaza #

18     Baltimore, MD                              Ram’s Head Live

20     Jacksonville, FL                             Jackrabbit’s

21     Orlando, FL                                  Firestone

22     Ft. Lauderdale, FL                         Revolution

23     St. Petersburg, FL                         The State Theatre

24     Charlotte, NC                               Tremont Music Hall

25     New Orleans, LA                          The Parish Room @ House of Blues

29     Ft. Worth, TX                              Ridglea Theater

30     Austin, TX                                    Emo’s

SOURCE: www.huffingtonpost.com

Kid Rock is using a sustainable brewery to brew his new American Badass Beer.

Last weekend Kid Rock launched his own brew, American Badass Beer, at two concerts he performed in Detroit. He’s been working with the Michigan Brewing Co. for the past year on the beer he describes in the Detroit Free Press as “American-style lager … easy to drink without an aftertaste.”
 
“I’m American, that’s what I like to drink, and from looking around the parking lot before my shows, I know that’s what my fans drink,” Kid Rock said.
 
The beer will be available statewide in Michigan and will roll out across the U.S. over the next 12 months.
 
Back in 2007, Michigan Brewing Company (MBC) switched to biodiesel to power the steam generator that produces their beers. I find it interesting that MBC’s website has very little to say about their sustainable efforts. Except for the 2007 press release about switching to biodiesel, the website has little else to say on the subject. I found more information on Capital Gains Media.
 
MBC also houses the Biorefinery Training Facility, which includes a biodiesel-making operation. Both the stills and biodiesel refinery are used for research, teaching and outreach. Combined, they are training dozens of people to tap into the emerging green bioeconomy.
 
MSU’s student body, largely unaware, is also contributing to the enterprise. Recycled fryer grease from campus cafeterias and the canola seed from Charlotte are the two sources of the biodiesel that MBC uses to power its steam generator to heat water to make beer.
 
MBC also uses some biodeisel to power their employee vehicles and recycles their waste mash by giving it to local farmers to feed their hogs.
 
I wonder if Kid Rock knows his beer is being powered by biodeisel. I wonder if MBC knows that adding this information to their website is important because these days, everyone wants to know if the companies they are buying from are environmentally responsible.
 
I wonder if a beer that’s made for the American masses that’s easy to drink and has no aftertaste has any taste at all. I suppose I should reserve my judgment until I actually get a chance to taste it.

 –ABC News
 

 What began as a government internship for a one-time honors student with a questionable past has become a full-blown sex scandal that ensnared a married Tennessee state senator and led him to resign.

According to court documents, Senate intern McKensie Morrison, was having an affair with Tennessee Republican state Sen. Paul Stanley, when Morrison’s boyfriend, Joel Watts,  found nude pictures of Morrison taken in Stanley’s apartment and attempted to extort the senator for $10,000.

Republican Sen. Paul Stanley had maintained a low profile until his announcement late Tuesday that he was resigning from the state Senate effective Aug. 10, after his affair with a 22-year-old intern and a subsequent extortion attempt was revealed to the public.

Stanley, a 47-year-old evangelical Christian with two children, said in his resignation letter that he has “decided to focus my full attention on my family.”

“Whatever I stood for and advocated, I still believe to be true,” he told Memphis radio station WREC-AM Tuesday. “And just because I fell far short of what God’s standard was for me and my wife, doesn’t mean that that standard is reduced in the least bit.”

He had been engaged in a sexual relationship with intern McKensie Morrison when her boyfriend, Joel Watts, contacted him, according to an affidavit filed in Davidson County by prosecutor Douglas Long.

Watts threatened April 8 to release nude photos of Morrison at the senator’s apartment unless Stanley paid him $10,000, the affidavit claimed.

Watts, 27, allegedly discovered a memory disc with explicit photos of Morrison that were taken in Stanley’s apartment on a cell phone. “Watts communicated to Stanley if he did not pay the money, the photographs would be sent to other individuals, including the media,” the document states.

“Good morning, sir. How are you this fine day? McKensie and I have been talking, and I feel that I have a video and some pictures you might be interested in seeing,” Watts allegedly texted to Stanley, according to a transcript read aloud during the hearing, as reported by The Associated Press.

Instead, Stanley contacted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

“He came to us for help,” TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm told ABCNews.com.

“We explained to him that we were going to take that information to the district attorney general who did turn around and ask us to open an investigation.”

After recovering the threatening text messages, TBI instructed Stanley to play along with Watts’ demands, according to court documents.

The TBI provided Stanley with the $10,000 Watts had requested and on April 9, the two met behind a Mexican restaurant to exchange the money for the disc. Once the cash and the disc were swapped, Watts was arrested, charged with theft of property and extortion.

After a preliminary hearing last week, Watts’ case was sent to a grand jury for extortion. The theft charge was dismissed.

Neither Watts nor Morrison could be reached for comment.

ABC News’ Nashville affiliate WKRN reported that Stanley released a statement last week, saying he was “the victim and a witness to a crime.”

“At this time, I have been advised by authorities and the district attorney’s office not to comment. There is already misinformation being inferred regarding this matter which I look forward to clearing up at the appropriate time,” the statement read.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s office also declined to return repeated messages today.

But Ramsey, who is also the speaker of the Senate, told Tennessee media at a fundraiser this past weekend that he considered Stanley to be a close friend and that Stanley had been having marital problems for some time.

“First of June, end of May he was in my office, he told me he and his wife were going to be separated,” said Ramsey, “and obviously we had a good conversation about that. Both of us were upset about that.”

Helm said Stanley was “very cooperative” throughout the investigation, adding that the TBI’s active investigation is now closed and she does not expect Morrison to be charged at this time for playing a role in the senator’s alleged extortion.

“I don’t really know what her involvement was as far as how much she played a part,” Helm said. “But obviously, if we had the evidence to charge her at the time Joel Watts was charged, we would have charged her.”

Morrison is no stranger to controversy. According to an article published this week in the Orlando Sentinel, the former central Florida high school honors student has been arrested for cocaine possession and was married to a man who is now in prison for beating a 75-year-old man in the head with a hammer in her presence.

Though Stanley is a state-level politician, he joins the ranks of numerous other elected officials who have made more headlines for their dalliances with mistresses than for their policy-making.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford came under fire not only for admitting to an affair with an Argentinean mistress, but for disappearing with her on vacation without telling staffers and then apologizing in a drawn-out, nationally televised press conference.

Last year, former presidential candidate John Edwards finally owned up to an affair with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter after more than two years of denying that he was cheating on his terminally ill wife, Elizabeth Edwards.

SOURCE: Tampa-Sarasota By Eric Snider

 Cheap Trick play Every note, sound and lyric of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is so indelibly imprinted in people’s heads that the thought of performing it live must be a little daunting. If that was the case last night at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Cheap Trick did not let on.

They nailed it.

The band had help. A keyboardist and second guitarist augmented the group. Behind them on a riser, 24 members of the Florida Orchestra filled out the sound, playing the string and horn parts with accuracy and feeling. Just for good measure, an Indian sitarist and tabla player came in from Miami specifically for the George Harrison-penned raga “Within You Without You.”

The evening opened with some instrumental versions of Beatles songs by the orchestra, which was followed by a brief set by Donovan. The 62-year old Irishman brandished a kelly green acoustic guitar and performed “Catch the Wind,” “Sunshine Superman” and “Lalena,” followed by heartfelt turns at the Beatles “Dear Prudence” and “Blackbird.”

I thought “Hurdy Gurdy Man” would’ve been a nice choice; it’s Donovan’s most psychedelic tune, and he could’ve employed the orchestra for interesting effect.

After an intermission, Cheap Trick and company took the stage and launched into “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with exuberance and just the right measure of rock ferocity.

 The show belonged to Robin Zander, the Cheap Trick lead singer who resides in Safety Harbor. Dressed in a military-style jacket, his head topped with a oversized white police-type hat, he covered all the lead vocal parts: McCartney’s rasp and croon, Lennon’s sneer, even Ringo on “With a Little Help from My Friends.” He didn’t mimic the voices as much as re-create the spirit.

The ensemble took a few brief, between-song breaks, but that didn’t slow their momentum.

There was probably considerable post-show discussion about which Pepper songs the band best rendered. Here are mine:

Song 4, “Getting Better.” It’s one of The Beatles most underheralded songs, and Cheap Trick swallowed it whole, with vibrant vocal harmonies and that familiar ringing rhythm guitar (by Rick Nielsen).

Song 6, “She’s Leaving Home.” Zander, backed only by strings, owned the song, hitting all of McCartney’s high notes, remarkable for a 55-year-old. He not only executed the material, he dug deep and felt it. The audience responded with awe-struck applause.

Song 11, “Good Morning Good Morning.” It’s a Pepper song that doesn’t get as much attention as some of the others, but it’s a rock burner and Cheap Trick killed it. The horns added just the right extra bit of heft.

This is not to diminish the performances of the rest of the tunes, which were uniformly good. (Even though Donovan, guest vocalist on “Within You Without You,” struggled to synch with the orchestra, overall the tune retained its exotic, mesmerizing air.)

Actually, one song came up a tad short:

The album-closing epic “A Day in the Life” was played at a too fast a tempo, rushed even; there wasn’t enough textural contrast between Lennon’s opening part and McCartney’s middle section. And … the ascending orchestral crescendo had to fight to be heard amid the rock band, losing much of its drama.

But hey, file all that under nitpicking.

Cheap Trick encored with part of the medley from Abbey Road (”You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” et al) with terrific aplomb.

But I thought the encore was a missed opportunity. There’s talk of Cheap Trick taking the Pepper show on the road. A perfect conclusion would be the double shot of “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane,” both of which were recorded during the Pepper sessions and were major hits. Tack those two classics on the end of the show and the audience will leave even happier than it did last night.

After the concert, VIPs and folks willing to pony up a couple hundred bucks attended a jam/auction in Eckerd’s Heye Great Room. Proceeds went to the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation. Backed by a a group called the John Entwhistle Foundation Band, Zander and Nielsen popped onto the stage to perform “I Want You to Want Me” and “Surrender.”

Emcee Tom Gribbon auctioned off the guitar Nielsen was playing. A guy standing next to me won with a bid of $4,000. I asked him how he felt but he just mumbled something and wandered off. He looked stunned.