I'm torn

As you probably know, the Graffiti Tablers are huge Beatles fans. John and George are gone. I saw Paul in 1993 at the Superdome in New Orleans. And Ringo - well, Ringo is going to be in PDX this summer. So, hey - it might be nice to see an ex-Beatle while they still exist, but it's hard to get hard for his All-Starr band. Let's see - Colin Hay. Ok, I can roll with some old Men At Work, no problem. Business As Usual was part of the soundtrack to our freshman year of college, so that might even be enjoyable.

Then there's Billy Squier. I can't turn my nose up at Mr. Stroke Me, after all I still really enjoy his 1981 album, Don't Say No. I think that record was one of those magical moments where a mediocre artist produces something excellent due to various unknown reasons. Maybe it was using Mack, the guy who produced Queen's The Game a year earlier. I dunno, but it's still a good record to me. His other stuff - not so much.

But then the All-Starrs start getting a little rough around the edges: Hamish Stuart, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright & Gregg Bissonette (enough with the linking). Hamish was in the Average White Band which is not a recommendation. I've never like Edgar or Johnny Winter, but I guess I could sit through Frankenstein if I've got the right brother. For sheer cheesy bliss, I'd enjoy hearing Gary Wright play Dreamweaver, but that's about it. And Gregg Bissonette I actually had to Google, so that shows you how much I'm into seeing this guy. Who, by the way, IS A DRUMMER. Ringo, you are a drummer, a great drummer - why in God's name are you bringing along some cheesy studio musician to ruin all the songs by overplaying everything? I guess all those years playing with Steve Vai amd Joe Satriani have paid off for him. On the bright side, he did tour with Spinal Tap, so my opinion just rose 10%.

Anyhoo - will I be able to drag anyone to this Boomerfest? The Edgefield could be a nice place to see this type of show - depending on the food and drink.

P.S. I mentioned I was a Beatles fan, right? Well, I'm compelled to mention that Hamish Stuart was actually in McCartney's band when I saw the '93 tour. And Gary Wright played on several Harrison solo albums in the 70's and even co-wrote a tune with him. Tweedly deedly dee, I'm a fucking nerd.