Mid-week musings

- You see it all in San Francisco. Spotted today--a panhandler with sign "Money needed for alcohol research."

- Pink's, the noted hot-dog eatery in Hollywood, is set to open a location at Los Angeles International Airport. A line is constantly in place at Pink's sole location on LaBrea, often with celebrities waiting patiently amongst the commoners. (The current menu features dogs named after Martha Stewart, Rosie O'Donnell and Ozzy Osbourne.) The news makes me want to fly to LAX just to get a hot dog!

- It's been a tough tour physically for Aerosmith. The latest news is that bassist Tom Hamilton will miss an unspecified number of dates due to recent, "noninvasive" surgery, according to a tour report. Prior to Hamilton, guitarist Brad Whitford had to sit out a month of shows after injuring his head exiting his Ferrari. And, in June, Steven Tyler suffered a leg injury which caused several gigs to be postponed. Here's hoping the band is healed by the time they reach Kansas City and the Sprint Center on September 1.

Woodstock stories: Richie Havens

No performer at Woodstock deserved more thanks from the promoters than Richie Havens.

Consider the scene: It’s Friday afternoon, August 15, and what was expected to be a crowd of perhaps 75,000 has ballooned to 300,000-400,000 people. Routes to the festival are clogged with traffic and that traffic meant performers were stranded in the endless line of vehicles trying to get to the festival. That included Sweetwater, the intended opening act, who could not possibly arrive by the 4:00 p.m. start time.

The promoters, not surprisingly, started considering what solo act they could put on stage—somebody who would not require a long set-up time and did not have a band who might be stuck out with the others in traffic.

Havens, who had no idea that all of this was going on, was back at the local Holiday Inn, hanging with a few other performers and organizers given that his scheduled appearance time was later that evening. He was summoned and quickly hauled out to a waiting helicopter in order to be shuttled over to the festival site.

So, it was Havens who was called upon to open this four-day festival—an affair which was starting late and with an attendance which had grown to astounding numbers. And, it was Havens who delivered—who took the stage in a long flowing caftan and white trousers, barefoot…and with a guitar. No one else was on stage with him—no bass player, no drummer, nobody—just Havens and hundreds of thousands of anxious fans ready to get started.

The original plan was for Havens to play a 20-minute set. He played that set, then another and then another. And he just kept on playing—no sign to come off stage, no signal from the crowd that they were growing bored with his performance. Far from it—they seemed mesmerized by the sight of this single performer. He tried to leave the stage and kept being pushed back. He eventually played so long that two of his band members actually made it on stage with him.

Finally, Havens was at a point where he was running out of material. An artist who performed both original material as well as covers from other artists, Havens looked out at the crowd and said, “Freedom isn’t what they’ve made us even think it is. We already have it. All we have to do is exercise it.” And, he started playing—improvising his song “Freedom” coupled with “Motherless Child.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-d5x-CiTUs

It was an electric moment and one that was captured in the movie documentary (clip attached above) about Woodstock—Havens’ hands and fingers flying over his weathered guitar, hunched over, voice impassioned, and the back of his caftan soaked in sweat from the two hour and 45 minute performance. The 20-minute set was now close to three hours long.

Richie Havens—opening act at Woodstock and the performer who perhaps saved the festival.

Beer in America

Last night my son and I ate dinner at Oklahoma Joe's, probably our family's favorite barbecue restaurant in Kansas City.

As we waited in line to pay, I eyed the lineup of beer offerings and checked out the Pabst Blue Ribbon, various Anheuser-Busch brands, Miller Light, Coors, Heineken and Boulevard Wheat. As I perused the selection, it dawned on me that only two of the beers were actually "American beers." Bud Light and Budweiser? Nope...owned by InBev. Coors? Nope, owned by Molson. Miller Light? No, owned by SAB Miller, headquartered in London. Heineken? Nope, of course not.

The only two were--get this--Pabst Blue Ribbon and our own, local Boulevard Wheat.

Sad, my friends...sad.

Walmart versus the Girl Scouts

Is it now Walmart versus the Girl Scouts? That's the way it appears as the mega-retailer uses its Great Value private label to go after other brands. This time the accusation is that Walmart has targeted that staple of American snack pleasure--the Girl Scout cookie.

C.V. Harquail, the self-proclaimed "Cookie Mom" for her daughter's Girl Scout troop, sampled two "beta" versions of Great Value products at the recent BlogHer conference in Chicago--a get-together of female bloggers from around the country. She claims to have immediately recognized the taste and texture as those of Thin Mints and Tagalongs, two of the Girl Scouts most popular cookie varieties.

"The exclusivity of Girl Scout cookies is what makes the cookies really sell," Harquail writes. "But now, Walmart is shoving itself in front of these little girls and knocking on your door to sell you their almost-as-good fake Thin Mints and fake Tagalongs, whenever you want them."

The obvious concern is that Girl Scout cookies are a fund-raising mechanism for the organization and the product has long held a distinctive place in the snack market.

In the report, appearing on adage.com, the Girl Scouts of the USA were not quite as pointed in their comments. Michelle Tompkins, spokesperson for the Girl Scouts, said other manufacturers have probably come close to the taste and appearance of the popular cookies. "I would hope that people realize," she said, "that when they buy Girl Scout cookies, they're also helping little girls."

Not surprisingly, Walmart declined to comment on the matter.

Quick Hits

- Happy Birthday to Tony Bennett--the ageless crooner turns 83 today. No less an authority than Frank Sinatra once said of Bennett, "For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more."

- Kevin Costner and his country band, Modern West, avoided major injury at the Big Valley Jamboree, a Canadian music festival, when a major storm hit the venue. Billy Currington was finishing up his set with Costner set to appear next when a huge gust of wind caused the stage to collapse. One person was killed and 75 were injured. Costner and his band were caught underneath the stage but were just "banged up."

- Tiger Woods, major win-less this year, appears to be honing his game for the upcoming PGA Championship next weekend at Hazeltine in Chaska, MN. Woods shot a 69 yesterday to win the Buick Open. Said Woods, "I feel better. I know what I'm doing wrong. It's a matter of getting in the reps." That's bad news for the rest of the PGA Tour players.

- Pat Conroy's new novel, South of Broad, comes out next Tuesday, August 11. It will be Conroy's first work of fiction since Beach Music (1995.) Conroy's last book was the memoir, My Losing Season, published in 2002.

Want a Super Bowl spot? Give me a bid!

CBS is taking an unorthodox approach to selling commercial time on this season's Super Bowl. The network, according to Advertising Age, is telling advertisers, "let's work to create a customized advertising package around the event, then determine a value."

Traditionally, the Super Bowl broadcast network will pre-determine the value of a 30-second or 60-second spot and then begin selling. This approach by CBS suggests that the economy is taking its toll on even the most valuable commercial real estate on TV--the Super Bowl, which is annually the most viewed television event in the U.S.

One source said that CBS will seek $2-3 million for a Super Bowl slot. However, the network is telling potential advertisers that pricing will be determined by where the ad runs on the telecast as well as how much time is purchased. In addition, the network will work to package pre-game opportunities along with product/message placement within programming.

In 2008, Fox sought $2.7 million for a 30-second spot on the Super Bowl. Earlier this year, NBC went after advertisers with a $3 million price tag for its commercials. It successfully sold inventory early in the process but struggled to sell off the remaining 20% or so after the economy went south late last year.

CBS' strategy could work well if the economy picks up between now and the telecast in early 2010--naming a price now would only kill its chances of asking for more later on.

Dive of the week

One of our regular readers passed along her recommendation for a “dive of the week.” LaSalle’s on 5^th Street in Kansas City, MO, on the outskirts of the River Market, gets the nod this week for the Poor Boy and Rich Boy italian sandwiches sold there. Located in the Little Italy section of Kansas City, LaSalle’s is a family place but beware, the joint’s only open during the week and sometimes they close just because they feel like it.

And, don't look for a website as there isn't one and news on the joint can't be found elsewhere on the web--probably the best present-day definition of a true "dive."

Woodstock stories: Chip Monck

Beginning today, I'll be writing a series of posts about the events and personalities at the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, held in 1969—40 years ago—in Bethel, NY. This weekend of music, performed by an eclectic variety of 32 different acts, became one of the most important events in the history of rock-and-roll...and U.S. popular culture.

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During the late 1960s, rock-and-roll concerts always featured a local personality—usually a radio disc jockey—introducing the groups. The organizers of Woodstock debated whether or not to have a master-of-ceremonies before deciding that they would handle the duties themselves. They ultimately asked Chip Monck, best known as the designer of stage lighting at major venues like the Fillmore West and the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, to be the emcee. Monck designed the lighting for Woodstock and thus was part of the core group responsible for putting on the massive music festival.

It was Monck and his voice who became “the voice of Woodstock.” His understated style, and deep voice, kept the festival organized during the three days, even though the festival was anything but—the traffic jams kept many acts from arriving on time resulting in a constantly changing schedule. It fell to Monck to keep the audience informed and entertained, and to also provide announcements during the torrential downpour which came on day two and threatened the success of the event.

When the show finally started on Friday, August 15, 1969, Monck announced "Sit down, stand up, do whatever you wish to do, but we're ready to start now and I bet you're pleased with that. And, ladies and gentlemen--please--Mr. Richie Havens."

A few years after Woodstock, Monck found himself driving from Los Angeles to San Diego. He pulled off I-5 into a gas station and told the gas pump attendant (yes, in the days before self-serve), "Fill 'er up, boy. High test!" A few yards away, a hippie hitchhiker, who had heard Monck, yelled out in an awed voice, "That voice! I know you--you're the voice of my generation! My God, you're Chip Monck. You're the Voice of Woodstock." A smile crossed Monck's face as he eyed the hitchhiker, then pointed to the backseat of the convertible. "Get in!" he ordered, in his best Woodstock emcee voice.

Chip Monck--the voice of the Woodstock Nation.

"Saturday night's alright for fightin'..."

Well, it's Saturday night and I'm not fightin' but I did think of those lyrics from Elton John's 1970's hit as I provides these musings on a lovely evening here in mid-America:

- Welcoming back our buddy, Ron Livingston, to TV: Livingston will star in Defying Gravity, the new science-fiction series starting on ABC tomorrow night.

- A robber was caught in Leawood, KS this week after his cloth mask failed to cover his identity. Seems the culprit, who was channeling Johnny Depp/John Dillinger (Public Enemies) by jumping over the bank counter, was recognized as one of the bank’s regular customers. Not the brightest criminal here in suburban Kansas City…

- For Kansas Citians, Blanc Burgers is eyeing the Uno Pizzeria space on the Country Club Plaza as a location for the restaurant’s third restaurant in this area.

- The crowd at the Trace Adkins-Toby Keith concert on Friday night at the Sprint Center had a high skank/redneck factor. Where the Kenny Chesney concert-goers were a bit more fashionable in their western wear, the Adkins-Keith attendee was more likely to feature a tattoo and skin that had a hard time being contained by jeans and flimsy top.

- Catch this week’s great profile in Sports Illustrated on the Atlanta Falcons' Tony Gonzalez. I’m going to miss seeing Tony in a Chiefs jersey each week. So too will QB Matt Cassel…

- More on the Kansas City restaurant scene—lovers of Spin Pizza should check it out on Monday nights. On that evening the restaurant waives the corkage fee should you decide to bring in your own bottle of vino.

- It was only a matter of time—John Daly is soon to have his own reality show. The troubled golfer will be followed for six weeks by The Golf Channel. The show will chronicle Daly’s day-to-day activities including performances in tournaments and an encounter with celebrity golfer Justin Timberlake. The show will air in 2010. Speaking of Daly, how about those pants he’s sporting these days on the links? It’s another of Big John’s endorsement deals.

Trace and Toby kick it at Sprint Center

Trace Adkins and Toby Keith brought their country stud, flag-waving brand of country music to the Sprint Center on Friday night and, to the delight of the close-to-capacity crowd, hit hard at a lineup littered with songs about "hot mamas," beer-drinkin', bars, country boys and rednecks.

The opening act, Sean Patrick McGraw, played a short set to start the evening, reminding the crowd on more than one occasion that "you can find us on MySpace, Facebook, i-Tunes and there are CDs to buy out front." McGraw is an engaging sort who sings and performs in a Toby kind-of-way, so the 20-minute set by he and his Nashville bandmates did a good job of priming the crowd for what was to come.

Adkins played for approximately 45 minutes and sang all of his hits, save the newer "Til the Last Shot's Fired." When he walked out on stage, my first reaction was "whew--big dude." With his flowing mane of hair, his glower, and his tigher-than-tight jeans, Adkins can be a menacing presence. His stage presence, though, is one of "I'm here for you" and he aims to please the crowd. It's obvious that the ladies think he performs quite nicely, thank you. His songs were complemented by clips of his videos throughout the performance.

After the obligatory Ford long-form commercial, starring himself, Toby Keith hit the stage with pyrotechnics, his usual tight band behind him and a catalog of hits from which to draw. His set was close to what he performed the last time I saw him in Kansas City--songs like "I Love This Bar," "Weed," "I Ain't As Good As I Once Was," "Get Drunk and Be Somebody," "How Do You Like Me Now" and "I Wanna Talk About Me." For "Whiskey Girl," Keith recruited several local "whiskey girls" to join him on stage for a choreographed dance routine during the song. (Trust me--they didn't look like the "whiskey girl" from the song's video.)

Keith ended the night with a two-song encore--the expected "American Soldier" coupled with the flag-waving "Angry American." The highlight on the latter was that Adkins joined Keith on stage--two guys proud to share their feelings about those protecting our country and their patriotism, in a very unapologetic fashion.

The Kansas City Star had an article the day before the concert intimating that Keith may be on the backside decline that happens with any major artist's career. That may be--the arena was probably 95% full but it's hard to tell whether that was due to any waning popularity or just the reality of our economy. Keith did prove that he's still a very good, hard-working, crowd-pleasing entertainer. He may not be "as good as he once was," but he's still one of the marquee artists in country music.