Partying like it was 1984!

I had a great weekend.

Unchained Girl says, "Bottoms up!"

Denise and I went to the 80s Throwback Party at the Hawthorne Theater. I make no secret about my love of 80s music (some of the GREATEST guitar music came from that era). I saw a Cult, Poison, and Van Halen tribute band. They were all good, but Unchained, the Van Halen band was the highlight for me. Oh...and I even got a pick from "Eddie" which I will be using on my guitar...maybe it will channel some of that guy's talent. He was a-freaking-mazing!

I am a known KISS fan, but if I had to pick my top 5 bands of all time (excluding Stevie Ray Vaughn--he is his own category...GENIUS!), it would be:

1. KISS
2. Van Halen (the DLR years...I was VERY unhappy when Sammy joined)
3. Aerosmith
4. Queensryche
5. WASP

So, seeing Unchained was a treat. These guys go the extra mile to pull off the tribute. "Eddie" keeps that ever-present smile, "Diamond Dave" is all swagger and innuendo, "Michael Anthony" carries killer harmony vocals and has a gruff sort of swagger, and "Alex" beats his drum kit with abandon.

Even better was how they pulled off the sound. Looks only get you so far, but Unchained leaves little doubt that you just experienced the Van Halen experience. These guys are a blast...just see for yourself.

And as you can see, we were VERY close to the action. Which was almost like re-living my old days as a concert rat back in the 80s, minus having to sleep in the parking lot of the Portland Memorial Coliseum (which is what you had to do if you wanted to be up close on the floor back in the days of General Admission.)

Unchained Girls, Unchained band...and me!

After the show, the band was even nice enough to pose for a few pics, and even brought along their Unchained Girls. Talk about making a guy feel special for his birthday. Diamond Dave even took home a copy of DEAD: The Ugly Beginning and we talked briefly about the "good old days" of Romero's original Dawn of the Dead. Does a band get much cooler? Probably not.

I will try to have my Wednesday post up, but since I will be turning 48 that day, no promises. In our house we celebrate "Birthday Week" so there is no telling what could happen. So, don't let Monday get you down. Pull out some classic VH and re-live some good times.

Last, but not least, I have one unclaimed set of audio books: Zomblog, Zomblog II, Zomblog: The Final Entry, and That Ghoul Ava and The Queen of the Zombies. Comments are entry tickets, so if you comment, you could win!