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Most Friday nights at The Hotel Cafe in October have featured (or will feature) great musical acts and this coming Friday the16th is no exception.

Keaton Simons will play at 9 p.m. that night and is a fantastic singer/songwriter
who is great on record and better live. His genre of music is blues
for the most part, and his voice and guitar-playing certainly match
that. His songs are sometimes acoustic, sometimes blues-pop and
sometimes just rockin — but they are always great.

He released his full-length debut CD called "Can You Hear Me" in June 2008 on CBS Records and he has been touring around the country in support of it ever since - playing in Los Angeles sparingly among those stops. The album is a brilliant mix of blues, pop with some rockin' thrown in, with some of the standout tunes that include the very radio-friendly 'Good Things Get Better;' the mellow 'Without Your Skin;' and the blues-rippin' 'Mama Song' and 'Burch Mog.' Another track on the record is perfect for today's weather - add some rain, some wine, some cold, maybe a fireplace along with your significant other and then play the song 'Currently.' Perfect combination.

You probably have already heard his songs and didn't realize it. One
of his tunes is featured in several trailers for the Starz Network
television series "Crash," and several of his tunes have been in the
television shows "Men in Trees" and "Numbers" and the movie "Sky High."

Since his last show in Los Angeles in the summer, he has made a video for 'Without Your Skin' which is here on his youtube channel. He is all over the place online with Facebook fan pages here and here; a myspace page and his own website . He is also on twitter and has created a weekly conversation called Twitterviews where on Mondays, he and another artist interview each other on twitter. That happens at 1pm PST each week.

On Friday, he goes on at 9pm, right after The Makepeace Brothers. Look for new album from Simons soon too, but check out his show first. You're guaranteed to love it.

The drummer for the band The Police has a new book - called Strange Things Happen, which details his entire life up until the 2007/2008 reunion tour.

Copeland's book is mainly about the explosive chemistry among the three members of the group, which disbanded after 1983's album Synchronicity and reformed for a very successful tour two years ago. Copeland (drums), Sting (bass and vocals) and Andy Summers (guitar) constantly conflicted about the style of music that band did - with it fluctuating among new wave, punk, reggae, experimental and then eventually pop.

In the early years, the band played punk and reggae-infused pop and had several hits, including "Roxanne" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" Their last album was mainly pop with the mega hits 'Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," "Synchronicity II" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger." and they won three Grammys - two for "Every Breath You Take."

Copeland has never hidden the fact that the three fought and neither has Sting. The band broke up after the Synchronicity tour in 1984 and each member pursued solo careers. Sting has released many solo albums since, has won 10 Grammys and has been nominated for three Oscars. Copeland composed many movie soundtracks as well as the theme for the television show The Equalizer in the 80's, then recorded several solo albums, many of which were of percussion-heavy instrumentals. Summers - the oldest and most experimental of the three - also recorded several solo records and made a record with Robert Fripp (of King Crimson).

In 2007, the group reformed for a new tour (after several attempts and/or reunion shows in the 90's and early 2000's) which was the highest grossing tour of those two years.

Other parts of Copeland's book include his family's participation in his musical career. including his brother Miles, who founded I.R.S. Records and was the manager of The Police and another brother Ian, who was the band's booking agent. Copeland's father Miles Sr. had little to do with the band, but worked for the C.I.A - which added another element of mystery to Copeland, as did his being raised in the Middle East for much of his early life.

It's been out for a week and Pearl Jam's Backspacer was the highest-selling album in the first week of release. Not too bad for a band of 40-somethings who first released an album in the grunge era in 1991.

Backspacer is good, not as fantastic as their first two records Ten and Vs. in the early 1990's, but good. It's the first Pearl Jam album to be at #1 in sales since No Code (1996) and, coupled with 2006's self-titled Pearl Jam, reestablishes their place in music.

Since their explosive entry into music with Ten (1991) and Vs. (1993), Pearl Jam has always been around, but after a fight with Ticketmaster; generating heat with their political stances; their refusal to make videos and the change in the musical landscape, the band veered off course until the mid-2000's. No Code sold well, but Pearl Jam the album brought them back into the consciousness. Backspacer continues the resuscitation.

The first single from Backspacer is 'The Fixer' which is certainly radio-friendly, but personally, 'Amongst the Waves,' with it's fantastic hook and chorus, seems to be the better single (it might be the second). Singer Eddie Vedder's love of surfing certainly permeates the latter song and that same activity inspired him to write the lyrics for a few of most powerful songs on Ten such as 'Alive' and 'Black.'

Other song highlights on Backspacer include "Gonna See My Friend," which is a rocker that sounds like Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden) could easily sing it and "Just Breathe," which is reminiscent of the Into the Wild Soundtrack (on which Vedder composed and sang all of the songs) as well as the Vs. track 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town."

Guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready continue to blend guitar sounds perfectly without overpowering the songs and Jeff Ament uses several different bass guitars and sounds that are always appropriate for the styles of each song.

Unlike several of their albums, Backspacer has 11 straight forward songs with none of them being unorthodox instrumentals or experiments like "Aye Davinita," "Bugs" and "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me, " among others. (All three of those tracks appear on the same album - Vitalogy.

These guys have certainly mellowed and gotten more clean-cut, but they've also far outlasted their Seattle peers and made another good record.

What's the big deal with did-he-win-fairly-or-not Kris Allen controversy? It was Kris Allen vs. Adam Lambert and Kris appeared to win....but maybe not? So what, Adam is going to have a career equal to if not exceeding Kris anyway, so it doesn't really make that big of a difference who 'won.'

Case in point:

non-winners Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry and William Hung (in a way)
"winners": Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia

Sure, there are also winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, but still.

American Idol should be this. Winner and winner only gets the contract. Everyone else gets nothing of the kind for like a year. Therefore, if you win...only you get the chicken dinner.

The evolution of Rush's live shows can be narrowed down to one thing. Chicken. The band - who has been touring together with the same lineup since 1975 - has loosened up so much in the past five or 10 years, that you might have walked away hungry after watching one of the band's live shows on the Snakes & Arrows tour.

The band - consisting of Geddy Lee (on bass, keyboards and vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitars and mandolin) and Neil Peart (drums and percussion) - who are now all in their 50's - played at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Mother's Day (as well as two shows at the Nokia Theatre the week before). They not only sounded as tight together as ever, but they showed the most personality and humor than they ever had before. During the concert, the band starred in several ongoing skits where Lee's character 'Harry Satchel' spends an inordinate amount of time and energy looking for chicken. Along the way, he encounters Lifeson as multiple characters - complete with appropriate accents, costumes and sometimes fake teeth - and actor Jerry Stiller (in drag). Its a far cry from their past performances where they were glued to their positions, barely spoke and took their live shows very seriously. They still take the shows seriously; they just seem to have more fun doing them.

Like they have for the last three or four tours, they play alone now without an opening act. Their past opening acts were sometimes entertaining (Steve Morse Band & Primus, for example) and sometimes weren't (Fastway?). Prior to their coming onto the stage, you not only get to hear a recording of their 1976 epic track 2112 done by an orchestra, but then you see the first skit, which features Lifeson, by far the goofiest of the three members. In it, he hears a noise and when scared, he tries to get comfort from bedmate Peart (the most serious member). It turns out the noise is being caused by Lee's loud Scottish character who blames the racket on the actual Lee, playing himself, who is there also.

Never before had the band displayed this much willingness to be goofy. Fans have gotten to see their sense of humor only sporadically with Lee's participation in the 1981 novelty song 'Take Off' by Bob and Doug Mackenzie (SCTV characters played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) and Lifeson and Lee singing and playing the Canadian National Anthem with Terrence and Phillip - the offensive, fart-joke happy characters from the South Park series and movie. (Both SCTV and South Park continue their connection to the band and appear in the Rush show now). Another sly example of their humor is naming a Rush song 'Limbo" and acknowledging that one particular instrumental is "Part IV of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy."

The band played almost a three hour show at Verizon Wireless, which was broken into two parts - the first part of mainly older material and the second part which was longer, dedicated to more of the new Snakes & Arrows album and it featured a couple of individual solos. The first half had the songs 'Ghost of a Chance,' 'Digital Man,' and 'Mission,' which are songs brought back into the setlist rotation since their initial recording (in 1991, 1982 and 1987 respectively). Also among the songs is the longtime concert staple 'Freewill' and 'Between the Wheels,' which is another long-lost track recorded in the 80's and trotted out again. ('Wheels' is from the 'Grace Under Pressure' album from 1984, which is one of the band's darkest records to date - musically and lyrically. The theme of that album is generally bleak, lonely and futuristic, but one of the tracks 'Red Sector A' is also a thinly veiled nod to Lee's family - who had survived being in the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. After realizing its double-meaning, listening to the lyrics becomes a more haunting experience).

During the short intermission, the sketches are on full display with Lee's Scottish 'Harry Satchel' looking for - and eventually finding - some chicken. Only after Lee leaves at the break do you then fully realize what is on his side of the stage. Three rotisserie chicken ovens - that are fully functional. A guy in a chef's hat comes out a couple of times after the break and butters the fowl - which brings your attention more toward the prop and makes it funnier.

After the break, the band energetically powers through many of the songs on Snakes & Arrows, including 'Far Cry,' 'Workin' Them Angels,' 'Armor and Sword,' 'Spindrift' and 'When the Wind Blows.' They also play the cut 'Witch Hunt' which hasn't been in the rotation regularly since the 80's and the hoppin' instrumental 'Malignant Narcissism' - which in itself is another nod to South Park. After that song, Peart plays his signature drum solo - which is a rare art for most rock bands nowadays. Like usual, Peart incorporates all of his acoustic drums and cymbals, as well as his electric drums, MIDI-pads and triggered horn blasts into the 10 minute solo. In the final section of it, he plays along with the Buddy Rich track 'Cotton Tail,' a swing tune with a complex horn part. Peart has including a swing section in his solo ever since he got inspired by Rich's music in the 90's and recorded an album of swing music as a dedication to him.

No show of Rush's would be complete without them playing the popular track 'Tom Sawyer,' which is sometimes introduced in interesting ways. This one has the kids of South Park attempting to play it themselves as 'L'il Rush' (with Cartman as Lee - complete with long hair). Needless to say, they fail and they let the real guys do it.

The band's final song is another show staple, the instrumental 'YYZ,' which for years had appeared earlier in the show, but was now pushed into the encore. The track is so known by other musicians, that drummers, bassists and guitarists all try to learn it (either for real or on the game Guitar Hero, where it's now immortalized.) One of those musicians is Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who lived out a dream when Lifeson and Lee appeared onstage at a Foo Fighters show in Toronto in March and he played 'YYZ' with them. Hawkins and bandmate Dave Grohl - also a drummer - were so excited about it afterward that Hawkins bearhugged Lee after the song and Grohl talked - no wait, yelled - about that appearance for the rest of the Foo Fighters show.

If you haven't seen a live Rush show and have any interest in seeing a rockin' good time with three great veteran musicians, then catch Rush in concert on the next tour. In the meantime, you can listen to the studio record 'Snakes & Arrows' or the live version 'Snakes & Arrows Live' which are both available in stores or on iTunes. When you listen to the album, get some chicken. That might enhance the experience.

On a somber note, the band's original drummer John Rutsey, who had only played on Rush's first album in 1974, died on the same day as the Irvine show. He was 55.

Don't miss Rush at their second show at the new Nokia Theatre tonight at 8. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster or at the box office.
This is their second leg of their tour supporting the Atlantic Records studio album Snakes & Arrows, which came out last year and their live record Snakes & Arrows Live, which came out a week or two ago.

They are a great band to see live and Snakes & Arrows - produced by Nick Raskulinecz - is fantastic.

Tune in later for some of my interview with guitarist Alex Lifeson...

The great live band The Mornings is playing on Saturday night at the Mint at 10:30. The Mint is at 6010 W. Pico Blvd in LA. Excellent live show and they're playing with several cool groups.

As a teaser, here is a video to check out. Also look at www.myspace.com/themornings for more info.