Appropriate 1st After 50 Concert: QUEEN w/ Adam Lambert

 

One of my favorite things about living in Southern California is the fact that you can still book tickets for an outdoor event in November and feel confident that inclement weather will have no impact. 

And while the temperature dipped this past Saturday night at BMO Stadium, I’ll take the cheeseball approach to say that the heart and spirit were warmed. My girls and I rolled up to take in QUEEN w/ Adam Lambert at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. In the past few years, we’ve been blessed to attend a number of concerts featuring artists who make up the soundtrack of my life - Paul McCartney, Ringo, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Tim McGraw, P!nk and myriad iterations of Greg Dulli projects. At some point, I’ll get back into a calendar and connect the timeline, but alas, I can only go back so far with an important box of old ticket stubs gone missing. But, as Metallica taught us - “the Memory Remains.”

I talk often of the common space of concerts and live events as rare occurrences in our society. All the energy and love is flowing in the same directions and space. From the moment we entered the queue before doors opened, you felt that solidarity. It truly set up as an ALL-AGES show. There were tour shirts going back decades, myriad patches and embroidery projects on jean jackets and flannels, crowns and sequins … and leather. Man, there was an overload of leather and chains as far as the eyes could see. 

The crowd was slow-arriving - Welcome to LA - so I spent the time in our seats watching the NWSL Final with my daughter and staring at the logo emblazoned on the video board. And then we heard the first chords. The show kicked off with a loud roar and “Back to Humans” and “Radio Ga Ga.” The video and audio production quality stood out in a matter of seconds. 

I purposefully did not look at the setlist in advance of the show. I just wanted to roll with the emotion and celebrate what Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert curated with Adam Lambert for the night. I’d seen images of the glammed-up motorcycle for “Bicycle Race” and Lambert’s superhero outfits. And I knew we’d see a few nods to Freddie Mercury (the Call and Response, ending with his “FU” sent the crowd into a frenzy). 

“Hammer To Fall,” a favorite in our house and part of my pre-show vocal regimen for my work at FOX Sports Radio, appeared early in the set. Chills with that opening chord. “I’m In Love With My Car” had the diehards singing along

It was a rapid-fire setlist of hit after hit. I know I’ll always get emotional when I hear “Love of My Life,” and I was proud of myself for keeping it together with a full-throated singalong and smile. 

My younger daughter was giddy with the presence of “39” in the set. Here’s Brian May from earlier this year in Baltimore. 

My older daughter screamed loudly with “I Want It All.”

I got a huge gift with “Who Wants To Live Forever” from the movie HIGHLANDER. I’d run into Clancy Brown a couple weeks earlier at the Bears-Chargers game and they just announced Henry Cavill’s inclusion in a remake of the classic, so we’d talked about the movie a bunch the last couple weeks. Again, you get the wave of emotions and Lambert delivered so beautifully. 

———

You can find the rest of the setlist online. It delivered all of the hits and kept the crowd alive and loud. I loved watching the reactions as each song started — you could read fans’ faces about which of the classics impacted them most. 

Lambert was absolutely fantastic, and his love and respect for the fans and his band mates came through all night long. He spoke of it being 10 years since he joined the band on the road. Man, how time flies. 

It was a complete celebration of 50 years of QUEEN, with the debut album having dropped in July of 1973. 

I can only hope to say I’ve aged as well. 

——-

Thanks to Roger Taylor, Brian May and Adam Lambert for a magical night, filled with emotion and smiles. And memories the kids and I will keep forever. 

We hope to meet again down the road. 

New Work: Reboot

My first real exposure to soccer occurred when I worked at Yahoo! and helped to create and manage the official FIFA World Cup website for the Korea Japan tournament. I don’t imagine my Chicago childhood experience would run quite the same in 2023, but other than friends that played on our school team at St. Ignatius College Prep, my friends and I ran the cycle —- Baseball, Football and Basketball. 

So, I’ll save the lengthy tales of the site build and interactions for sometime down the line. Suffice it to say that I gained an appreciation for the game and began to casually follow. Fast forward to this media career and raising a daughter who loves the game. 

Good, short introduction, right? 

Sunday night I got to experience a home game for Angel City FC against the rival San Diego Wave with my girls. We got to BMO Stadium about an hour before kickoff and got to our seats to watch warmups. The game marked the introduction of USWNT star Julie Ertz to Angel City, and she received a hero’s welcome during pre-game (and many subsequent in-game touches). I gotta say — we were mesmerized by the pre-game work put in by the goalies as they constantly peppered with balls. It seemed the equivalent of a full practice. 

Drums and chants and songs made for an electric atmosphere in the sold out 22,000-seat stadium. Groans with each foul call. Cheers on each rush. And existential crises following the two goal allowed.  

Anyway, it was a tough 2-0 loss to Alex Morgan and the Wave. The offensive attacks and numerous corner kicks failed to dent the scoreboard. 

But, despite the loss, there were loud roars for the squad as they exited the field, and the music and chants continued. Civility and positivity ruled the day. Can’t say I heard an unkind word uttered during the day. Cheers and chants, no smack-talk. It was jarring given the stuff Smith & I talk about so frequently on FOX Sports Radio. 

A great night with the kids and conversations and laughs — in-stadium music plus our usual playlists makes for a cool thread. We met a gentleman standing in line for popcorn (that ain’t no joke!) who’d brought his kids and grandkids to the game. He’d yet to see a moment of action as he’d been put on food duty. But he was loving every minute of it, as were the groups of kids cheering for their favorites or holding up signs. 

Reset and restored … though the direct sunlight came hard for my face after Saturday’s sunburnt beginnings. Follow me on TikTok @harmonrants to check the out and the future content madness. 

Find your wins —- create some - shake it up.

Find Your Space: Take Out The Trash

Don’t worry. I’m not starting a movement or putting together a book just yet. 

Harmonism is still some time away. Flawed, failed and a roller coaster ride inside my Dome that I’ve acknowledged extensively here and frequently on my nightly show on FOX Sports Radio. Hell, read my Twitter comments on a given day and there are plenty of folks lining up to call me every name in the books. 

Most of those are easy to dismiss. Context and short attention span theater come into play. Sometimes, I get caught up in the Monday AM Quarterbacking, second-guessing analogies or the pop culture situations applied to analysis. 

On Monday night, the Bills and Bengals were midway through the first quarter of an important Week 17 battle. Bills DB Damar Hamlin tackled Tee Higgins - and everything stopped. Medical personnel administered CPR and operated a defibrillator on the field. Our show was four hours of covering this story and its different angles - human and business. After an hour delay, the game was finally postponed. How and why and what occurred can be found in the podcasts of the show on all audio platforms. 

For my part, I was drawn to the human side of it - Hamlin the man, his family and the impact of this situation to Hamlin’s teammates and coaches, Higgins and the Bengals, the fans in attendance and the millions watching … including the players, families and friends across the NFL. And, of course, you try to make sense of timelines and the decision trees, the optics of said decisions and, of course, all of it informed by your own experiences. 

I’ve had several close calls of my own - once passing out awaiting a Rolling Stones concert and one huge car wreck. Add a couple medical emergencies and you’ve got a base of experience and emotion from which to build. I’ve witnessed the defibrillator applied to a neighbor - it did not revive her.

All of that to say. We’re blessed to get another opportunity to do what we like/ love with each wake-up. It’s nothing revelatory, but billions of dollars each year are spent in the pursuit of unlocking that recognition. Find the best of situations that you’re in —- you can’t always unring the bell of past mistakes and bad decisions. People, employers and Father Time can’t/won’t always forgive or work through such. Recognize those errors, and wake up to be better. 

Which brings to today’s wake-up. I peeled carrots for my daughter’s lunch and went to throw away the residue, Garbage can was full. Recycling bin was full and overflowing. A million things flash through the head and the obvious potential responses. I get paid to be snarky and cynical, for crying out loud. 

I chuckled and got it ready for the walk to the dumpsters. Blessed, given those examples here and many more unwritten, to be able to connect and play a role. I’ll never get back what’s lost — but I try to celebrate and support/prop up what’s left. 

————-

We’ve had a running bit for years in the house based on a CBS This Morning piece done on Bruce Springsteen. The gist of it is this — Play to 75,000 people at night. Still the guy that has to get up and make the pancakes the next morning. Just Dad.

You can read a more in-depth dive into this part of The Boss’ home life here. Springsteen Makes Pancakes

Take out the trash. Make the pancakes. And try to do some good locally - your house and relationships - and where you can, maybe reach out to a larger space and community. 

The NFL community, led by #BillsMafia, came together in grand fashion to support Damar Hamlin’s charity - a toy drive for a daycare center in McKees Rocks, PA. Hundreds of thousands of donors have contributed over $4.7 million as of this writing. That’s right. $4.7 million. 

Click to read about Hamlin’s charity

HNY: Self-Destructive Patterns

 Exhale. 

You made it into another new year. That’s no small feat. So, raise your glass (or cup of coffee). Happy 2023. 

Granted, you can turn a proverbial new leaf any day of the week. You don’t need a countdown or drunken foolishness. But, there’s no market in that. 

Hence, the ads for low-cost New Year’s gym memberships, debt relief and those life-changing gadgets. 

We love our traditions and our “one last time” for any level of indulgence, be it food, drink, gambling, spending habits or general lethargy. Those grand acts and parties that are meant to exorcise those demons of the year(s) past. 

As Danny Ocean candidly summed up the events that led to his incarceration. “I fell into a self-destructive pattern.”

The entirety of the “Ocean’s” franchise speaks to my inner smartass and generally sarcastic self, with the opening exchange between the parole board and Clooney’s Ocean as one of my favorites. 

——

“Self-destructive pattern” — We all have our pitfalls and vices, the guilty pleasures or concerns that take up our time and mental space. And we work to make peace, or at the very least, to keep ourselves busy enough that the dark spaces and worries get pushed off awhile. 

Change is hard. There’s a wide range of estimates as to how long it takes to create a habit. In this space, it’s the idea of creating a positive wave in any aspect of your life. 

There’s an old adage from the Adam Carolla Show that has marinated in my head for a long, long time. To paraphrase, ask yourself these basic questions about the investment of your most valuable resource — time.

“Does it make me happy? Does it make me money?”

—————————————-

Maybe 2023 is the time to truly work to incorporate this mantra into existence.

Health, cash, relationships - personal and professional, sleep, diet and exercise, work, cleaning and general operational efficiency. 

Whatever you’re pondering —- 

“Just Try.” 

You knew I had a song for that … 

“Tough Times Don’t Last … But Bad Guys Do:” Celebrating Scott Hall

Another one. 

The characters and heroes of my youth (our collective youth) have seemingly fallen at a more rapid rate of late. Maybe I’m more keenly aware of it given some near-misses of my own. 

The wrestling world lost one of its true characters and legendary heels when Scott Hall (aka, Razor Ramon) died following complications related to a hip surgery. He reportedly suffered three heart attacks, and the decision was made to take him off of life support. 

I’d seen a note about the surgery ahead of the weekend and offered up a few good thoughts to a man who entertained the hell out of me and multiple generations of wrestling fans into a fourth decade. 

My first memories of Hall come from his success and tag team championship days in the AWA alongside Curt Hennig during the mid-80s. He was given the all too creative moniker “Big” Scott Hall. Hell, I remember the Remco action figures of those legends - we had them all, including the wooden ring, and we created matches and did commentary to rival anything on the airwaves. 

There are plenty biographies that will chronicle each step of Hall’s career. I’ll just put it in its simplest terms —- “Razor Ramon” and the “nWo.” Those two characters and time periods, in WWF and WCW, respectively, made Hall an enduring piece of the wrestling landscape and one of its treasured stars. 

The looks were unforgettable. His catchphrases became part of pop culture history. 

Toothpick, greasy hair, 5 o’clock shadow.

“Say hello to the bad guy.” 

 

“Hey, Yo!” 

“Too sweet!”

The man had his demons and transgressions, drug and alcohol problems that compromised his career at multiple turns. Dallas Page  But the outpouring of love from fellow wrestlers, his peers, his mentees and the fans, demonstrated the good he created as well.  

His tag-team partner with the nWo and “The Outsiders,” Kevin Nash wrote of one of Hall’s favorite quotes. “The last perfect person to walk the planet, they nailed to a cross.”

Strong words, for sure. Not an excuse-making statement, but just a reminder to be mindful of others’ struggles, fails and to love and build up. As well as our own. Take ownership and work to be better. Bit by bit. 

———-

I talk of it often on FOX Sports Radio. The microphone skills of wrestlers in the 80s and 90s (along with those Chicago broadcasters) make up a good base of my training. Rants and looks (more video to come here), rewound on video tapes and memorized. 

I sent and received myriad Scott Hall videos that chronicled his entire career on Monday — shoot interviews, in-ring rants and bits of skits and matches. I knew our show on FOX Sports Radio was going to consist of deep dives on NFL Free Agency, Tom Brady’s decision and the latest debacle from the Lakers. 

I thought I’d share a great clip from his HOF speech. Watch the eyes to close it out. 

Go find your greatness. And remember to, “give the flowers,” as we say, while folks are around to receive them. 

Broken: Lanegan’s Death And Your Number Called

Tuesday started early with great professional and personal highs. 

In my career with FOX Sports Radio, I’ve been blessed to work with a number of industry greats and former players transitioning into their next careers (and becoming greats in radio and television!). 

I was offered the opportunity to co-host The Dan Patrick Show (The DP Show!!!) with Rob Parker. Rob’s a mainstay in radio and television, sometimes a lightning rod for discussion and debate, and we hadn’t done a show together in quite some time. His show on FOX Sports Radio precedes mine each night, so the intersection hasn’t occurred in a while. 

Then, I was gifted the glory of a new single from The Afghan Whigs … and the release of several tour dates. My daughters and I anxiously await the West Coast adds). So, I streamed that tune multiple times in commercial breaks and rocked out. 

After the shift, I conversed with my team for a few minutes. It was so good for the soul to see some of them in person for the first time in months (some longer). Eventually, I got in the car and started driving home - playlist blaring - and, reports weren’t wrong, there was some traffic. Those that know me, or have read previous entries, know that I have a lot of Bowie, Dulli, Queen, Stones and Lanegan in the mix.

And then my phone started to buzz repeatedly. I finished the drive home and grabbed my phone, expecting some fallout from the Aaron Rodgers appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” That was only a part of it. My brother had forwarded the message from the Official Twitter account of Mark Lanegan. 

The troubadour, whose voice and lyrics echoed in my brain, a comfort in hard times and a burst of energy to propel the good, had died in Ireland. I froze. Broken in that moment. 

He’s been part of the soundtrack and an influencer (in the best of terms) for three decades, and I knew some of the Screaming Trees and QOTSA catalog, but his work and collaboration with Greg Dulli (Gutter Twins, Twilight Singers and Afghan Whigs) made me search out more lyrics, more tunes and more video of his history. 

There was a resonance in the news that generated a few tears. I can’t pretend to have known him. I knew his history, his struggles, and had read some of his writings about the effects Covid had on him. 

I met Lanegan a couple times at LA concerts, brief chats where I’d only ask a question or two, talk a little sports and thank him for the lyrics of particular songs that were in constant rotation on my playlist at the time. I’d always hoped for a longer interaction, an opportunity to discuss his road in more detail, more sports and pursuits. (It’s time for that music/pop culture podcast series, perhaps.)

The 2010 Greg Dulli concert at The Troubadour in LA remains one of my favorite live events. Meeting Dulli post-show was an honor, but the set contained surprises and an emotional roller coaster of powerful lyrics and guests. Lanegan came down the stairs, performed a couple songs from The Gutter Twins album with Dulli and the band, and just as quickly went back from whence he came. “The Stations” live carries tremendous weight - the opening on my list of all-time greats. 

Lanegan left us an awful lot in “Read Backwards and Weep,” his autobiography, the hundreds of poems and lyric sets, and, of course, a rich tapestry of performances with countless artists. His influence has been cited for decades by numerous artists — stories of those sessions with Kurt Cobain and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” 

The outpouring of love and respect filled my timeline on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. The community that I speak of, the church-like energy and positivity, came together to celebrate his life and mourn his passing. It’s that energy that helps to sustain me. 

I hope he’d found some peace in Ireland with his wife. Good thoughts and memories to his family, friends and collaborators and fans across the globe. Grab some good. FYW

Here’s one of my favorites — “When Your Number Isn’t Up”

This performance features Dave Rosser, guitarist for The Afghan Whigs and Gutter Twins, who died in 2017. Get down that rabbit hole, starting with this classic. 

“No one needs to tell you that
There's no use for you here anymore
And where are your friends?
They've gone away
It's a different world
They left you to this
To janitor
The emptiness
So let's get it on”

Peter Pan No More: Brady Says Goodbye

 It finally ended. A series of Instagram posts from Tom Brady made it official earlier this week. 

We’d had myriad media reports — starting a week before the official announcement from friend of the show Jason LaCanfora. He had a second report for CBS Sports on the Friday before the big flurry of activity on Saturday when ESPN and the Schefter/Darlington combination dived into the fray. 

We’d done the deep dives and reasoning and rationalizing about Brady and his future for a week. The secondary reports made me take pause. 

For a moment, even though I was punting and shagging soccer balls for my daughter in my ragged shorts and backwards ball cap, I thought, “Damn. Now I’m officially old.”

It’s not a new phenomenon, these fleeting thoughts. After all, Jason and I have discussed plenty of “JRs” making their way to collegiate and then professional sports. 

But this one hit different. Brady’s the player that sought to spit in the eye of Father Time. He set lofty goals of playing at 45, or — crazier - even 50 years old. 

———

During the week, I’d argued about the high achievements of his 2021 season, the potential chaos of perhaps losing both coordinators, roster turnover and Brady having watched each of his contemporaries find their way to performance cliffs.  

So, the pile of reports came as no surprise and didn’t stop me too long. The next punt gave me a twinge in my hammy, but I’ve come to accept those as part of the process. I shanked it, and laughed like a lunatic as my daughter glared at me. 

By the time Brady actually confirmed the story, we didn’t spend much time discussing the actual retirement. Rather, we parsed words to determine potential snubs and the feelings of fan bases and organizations. 

We’re transitioning into a brave, new post-Brady world. He may have hung them up (maybe until late-July?), but we continue our pursuits to keep young and playing in our weekend warrior mode. Maybe I’ll even find some TB12 supplements and avocado ice cream. Hey, worked for Tom!

I gotta go stretch. “Ball up!”

EOD: June 7th

 There are some days when everything crashes around you. I’ve long had the ability, propensity and let’s face it, stupidity, to grind days until I had nothing left. You think you’re helping in the moment to get things done and, as I’ve always said, “to keep the line moving.” But, at some point, you hit the swing into negative returns and cause some frustration and pain to those around you. 

And, you find your own health compromised. The more elaborate tales of this ilk will arrive in book form sometime in the future. 

Suffice to say, the first win of Monday is simple ... nap. Nap for 15 minutes. Stretch it out to an hour if you can. Mine felt like a second half to a night’s sleep, leading to a rally for the day.

What else happened?

1. Nice long walks with the dog. Put on some tunes and just get the body moving. I carry a wide array of songs and artist in my playlist, a collection termed “The Devil’s Jukebox” long ago. So, Monday’s journeys included some Gutter Twins, Elton John deep cuts, Warren Zevon, Roger Waters and a block of Jethro Tull. 

One of the songs at the start of the walk was a Gutter Twins cover  of Jose Gonzalez’s “Down The Line.” 

I always forget the surroundings or, more likely, don’t much care and start singing along: 

“Don’t let the darkness eat you up!”

Check out the original here. 

Gonzalez’s “Down The Line”

2. I finally finished the draft for my Will. Psychologically damning and that recognition of age and how spread out your money can get. Diversification is a good thing. Just make sure you’ve got your spreadsheet of sites and logins handy. I do need to add one or two instructional lines — think Shawshank Redemption, and to produce the latest in the farewell playlist. Oh, and to procure a lot of mini-bottles of booze for the global toast. 

3. Finally, the FSR show on Monday had its twists and turns. The band “Jimmy Eat World” became part of the soundtrack because of the band’s appearance at halftime of the Suns-Nuggets game. We argued about the ongoing Aaron Rodgers saga, chronicled two blowouts in the NBA and celebrated Kevin Durant and the resurgent Blake Griffin.