Neil Peart performs at Buddy Rich memorial concert

A few posts back I mentioned Neil performing at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert in NYC last Sunday...I believe I've found footage of it here...of course when he starts on the cowbells you can hear the Rush fans in the crowd.

I also have included footage of Rich as well, so you can have an idea of how skilled and unbelievable this guy was.

Neil Peart honoured

It's always satisfying to see one of your favorite musicians HONOURED (in the true English spelling sense)...especially when they're essentially part of a nonmainstream band that doesn't get much recognition outside of their home country.

A team of St. Catherine, Ontario artists recently unveiled a project where they created a series of double-sided banners featuring famous St. Cathariners and hung them up at various locations downtown.

One of these banners is our favorite St. Catheriner, Neil Peart. You can check out a picture of Neil's banner, which is hanging outside police headquarters, at this link.

For those who don't know, St. Catharines, Ontario is about five minutes down the highway, west of the Canadian side of Niagra Falls.

Thanks to rushisaband.com for the heads up.

Congratulations, Neil! Cool stuff!

The Gene Simmons Roast

One of the more amusing and entertaining television programs recently has been the Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Had I not found The Osbournes to be amusing a few years back, I probably wouldn't have watched this.

I'm not much of a TV person, let alone reality TV, but for some reason the reality rock 'n' roll family shows strike a chord. The Simmons program is better than the Osbournes, mainly because of his son, who comes up with some of the funniest stuff imaginable. It looks like he has a brilliant future ahead of him.

Here's a clip from a roast Simmons' wife put on for him, along with a dozen comedians to poke fun at him. It's a special 1.5 hour episode, I think showing on A&E. This is the clip with Cher and Diana Ross entering the room.

There's all sorts of interesting stuff at this roast: the comedians get weirded out by Simmons' kids being in the audience, Steve-O gets tossed before the show even begins, Carrot Top looks like he's out of control with the steroids. He looks like Ronald McDonald turned Frankenstein, and not in a good way. Creepy stuff, actually.

Perhaps the funniest moment is when Craig Gass does a mock KISS press conference where he imitates Paul Stanley, Simmons, and Gilbert Gottfried as if he was in KISS. He follows that up with an impression of Al Pacino handing Simmons an acting award and quoting KISS lyrics. I almost fell off the couch laughing.

If you ever even had a remote interest in KISS, or wanted to know what the hoopla was all about, this is an interesting way to get behind the music and into the mind of one of the more amusing characters in rock, Gene Simmons. A legend with the ladies.

One more line from the roast. Quoting Andrew Dice Clay: "Gene made a decision when he was young...why not become the Bozo the Clown of rock 'n' roll?" S