As I had previously reported here in the Musings, just the other day out in Bay Ridge Brooklyn over at Street Sounds Music, we found the Fifth Annual Gretsch Day taking place. It was great to be in attendance at this fun event because it features a whole lot of music, interesting people and demonstrations along with the enjoyment of all things Gretsch. The affair was hosted by Fred Gretsch himself and there were a number of wonderful performances throughout the course of the day. Among the performers were the young up and comers of Foxy Studs, Paul Pigat and Cousin Harley, Nik and Sam, The Octanes and the headliner of the day, Fountains Of Wayne. Check out the events poster below.

(continue reading…)

As a music journalist and photographer I am often fortunate enough to embark on a number of widely varied adventures.  I started this whole passion out just doing reviews of CD’s and some Concerts and eventually expanded into a batch of other things.  The blog you enjoy as an extension of the site allowed me to explore more avenues and interests but even that was not enough at the end of the day.  That led me to launch the PiercingKen.com blog site so I could share more photography adventures and the like with a potentially different readership.  Sometimes there are musical happenings featured over there and that led me to use it for the recent Gretsch Day being celebrated in my Bay Ridge neighborhood.  Since it was not ensconced in the Metal fires that I normally stoke I decided to share it with you all over there.  I also wanted to post this little “direction sign” for you all to be able to get it fast, so just click the logo below to be taken right to it.  It was surely a fun filled day, so I hope you like the presentation.  I welcome you to any of the other offerings as well since it showcases many other aspects of film and life in general as I see it.

I’ve disabled comments on this particular posting as these words are only a traffic sign to the full article over on my PiercingKen.com website.  Thoughts about the day can be left there should you want to offer up some opinions.

This was an interesting week in New York City as the CMJ Music Marathon for 2010 had arrived in force and brought with it a number of amazing musical acts and events for all to enjoy.  The annual event that the College Music Journal holds hosts panels and showcases around the city and really lets music lovers and industry personnel alike sink their teeth into a number of different things.  Sadly, my Metal Reporting activity during this particular week didn’t allow me the luxury of too much free time to participate in as many things as I would have liked to check out for I had the Black Veil Brides show just this past Monday and the Nevermore show the night immediately following.  The funny thing was how I was expecting to be at the Black Label Society show this evening but my plans didn’t go as I had expected so the night was free to explore the other things that were taking place in the city that never sleeps.

(continue reading…)

Cancer sucks – plain and simple and I think that many of us have met someone affected by this illness or sadly suffering from it themselves.  It’s never a fun experience to my knowledge and that is what brings me to the topic of this blog posting.  A few months ago a friend of mine told me of his participation in a Children’s Cancer charity organization called St. Baldrick’s and it sounded like something great to support.  The way the organization works is that you can either simply donate money to their cause, or volunteer to be a barber, and yes a “shavee”.  You can learn more about the charity by clicking their logo below.  This will not only save me some typing, but allow the point to make a lot more sense without the risk of me losing some of the important details.  Then of course we invite you to proceed deeper into the narrative.

(continue reading…)

"A Blaze In The Northern Sky"

Last night was the Heavy Metal concert that was held by wrestler Chris Jericho and his band Fozzy. The event was a blast in terms of the Traditional sound that it offered up but now that it was over, it was time to get a little grittier and see what was brewing down at the Scandinavia House. It was there that a seminar on Norwegian Black Metal would be held and its official title was “A Blaze In The Northern Sky: Norwegian Black Metal & The Culture That Spawned It”. The affair would be moderated and in a sense hosted by Patrizia Mazzuoccolo;  a music journalist and as I understand a sometimes radio host for this type of material. (continue reading…)

The brutal cold was finally upon us in my city of New York, and while this is often the kind of climate that finds one remaining in the warmth of one’s home, the need for some bracing air and wandering were upon me in a much stronger sense. With this being the case I set forth to traveling the village streets of Bay Ridge with my comrade in arms The Beehive Hairdresser. This neighborhood is a place that I’ve lived in for most of my life and the region is very interesting for the most part with it’s numerous parks and some cool history. The region was primarily the home to a lot of Norwegian folks for many years and while it has become a little more diverse since those decades past their influence and culture still resonate in the neighborhood. This influence led me on what I coined my “Quest for Vikings” today and how could you blame me when we found this gigantic rune monument erected in the honor of the famous Norse explorer Leif Ericson.

Rune Monument to Leiv Eiriksson in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

(continue reading…)

At the beginning of the week I decked the halls with New York’s own Twisted Sister who had once again set out to deliver their “Twisted Christmas Holiday Extravaganza” and this festive hoedown too place at The Nokia Theatre in Times Square. We documented all the fun from that night HERE, and that evening’s happenings were part of the reason that we were on point for this special occasion down on Wall Street today.

Oh Come All Ye Metal Faithful

(continue reading…)

Today was the day of the annual Bay Ridge “Third Avenue Festival” and this event brings hundreds upon hundreds of vendors to the area and several thousand visitors to our streets all in search of bargains, good eats and entertainment. Depending on what you like to eat, you can find pretty much of everything along the two mile span that the festival runs based on the area’s own restaurants and if you are a fan of the standard sausage and pepper hero that you find at every single festival well there were plenty of those folks as well selling the stuff as they are apt to do time and time again. There are plenty of bars and many offering up music that spanned the Rock and Pop genre while hair salons and clothing stores seemed to cater to having DJ’s in front of their establishments. Today’s adventure for me was based on my learning that Suicide City’s own Jennifer Arroyo or Ms. Jenncity to use her nom de guerre, would be hosting a fashion show down at the What’s Next show store located on 3rd Avenue between Bay Ridge Parkway and Ovington Avenue. It was a nice afternoon and I felt it would be fun to see Jenn acting as emcee instead of throttling her bass guitar for a change, so I wrapped up the PiercingMetal camera and headed on down to the store.

What's Next Shoes Marquee

(continue reading…)

As much as I love vacations, the aspect of them seems to have eluded me of late and the closest I seem to get are those little moments of respite that fall outside of the normal scenarios that I often find myself adventuring into. Thanks to my good friend in music media, Christa Titus, the Piercing One would tonight be taking a breather from all of the Heavy Metal indulgence that I had been undertaking. It was needed to say the least and came right after the killer performance by Stratovarius & Pagan’s Mind that was last night over at the Nokia Theater. This brief excursion into “normalcy” would be a perfect lead into the next couple of days since tomorrow I had planned to see Stryper over at The Fillmore NY and if I could maneuver between time efficiently, both the Chris Caffery performance and Gwynbleidd one on the same day the Saturday which followed.

Gibson New Music Showcase Invite

(continue reading…)

Followers of the PiercingMetal Musings Blog might recall an article that we did for the Stage Script Reading of a new play called “Allies: The Musical” several months ago. The show featured the music of the band Heart and having loved their stuff for many years I was interested in seeing just how it would be used within the context of a play aimed at Broadway. It was also the chance to bring a little bit of difference to our day so we could not resist partaking in it. That play was written by both Celina Carvajal and Maggie Levin and we truly had a good time and look forward to seeing something come of the project very soon. After the reading we made sure to stay in contact with the creators and that brings us to this new article about their latest adventure – a play entitled “US”. This time around the reading that was being done would feature the music of the legendary Progressive Music icon Peter Gabriel who many fondly remember from the early days of Genesis along with a truly prolific solo career. When it came to “Allies” I was able to easily see how that bands music worked within a love story, but I had to admit some curiosity about how the music of such a Prog-Rock giant would work along similar lines. Today’s reading would be held at The Neighborhood Playhouse down on 53rd Street and 2nd Avenue NYC. Kindly set your cell phones to vibrate for the duration of this blog musing as the show commentary is set to begin.

(continue reading…)