Thursday, November 25, 2010

Top 10 Bassists

Disclaimer: Similiar to my list of top ten drummers, this not a list of the best bassists of all-time, or the best bassists around right now, or anything like that. I am not qualified enough to judge the abilities of every bassist in the history of the world against each other and determine the best. Nor is this a list of the bassists from my favorite bands (though there is a noticeable overlap; half of them are/were a member of one of my top five favorite bands). This is a list of the people I'd pay just to watch them play bass (without the rest of their respective bands) and get some pointers. They are presented in no particular order.

Kelly Ogden, The Dollyrots - One of my more recent favorites, I love her upbeat personality, and the way she has fun with it.
Maya Ford, The Donnas - She's also a pretty good artist, as seen by this Donnas T-shirt.
Mike Dirnt, Green Day - My favorite on this list. Author of one of my favorite Green Day songs, J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva).
Scott Shriner, Weezer - A great pick up after Mikey Welsh left Weezer in 2001.
Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Slap-style technique, very cool.
Gene Simmons, Kiss - A tip of the cap to Gene for admitting why he markets the hell out of Kiss. He didn't want his kids to grow up poor like he did. His reality show is pretty good, I enjoy watching it.
Mark Hoppus, blink-182 - I prefer his singing to that of guitarist Tom DeLonge.
Greg K, The Offspring - Dexter and Noodles get all the love, but don't underestimate what Greg brings to the table for this band.
Matt Sharp, Weezer - Did a fantastic job when he was in Weezer.
Emma Anzai, Sick Puppies - The most hardcore (IMO) on this list. Just look at the way she rocks it in their video for "You're Going Down".

Thursday, November 18, 2010

If only I had more time...

I don't suppose anyone has a DeLorean I could borrow for a little while, would they?

No? Dang. Well, I had to ask...

Ever since I became a Donnaholic, I've wondered how much it'd cost to hire The Donnas to play a private show for me (and anyone else I'd want to invite).

I no longer have to wonder about that. I called their booking agents last night. For the low, low price of $15,000 + travel expenses, they could fly up to Fargo and melt my face off.

I'm surprised I was able to get a figure that easily. I had this elaborate pseudo-lie all planned out to snow the guy over and make it seem like I was completely serious about it. I'd be hiring them for my birthday (which is at the end of December), I had the money (which I do, just not easily accessible), I had a venue picked out (that was a COMPLETE lie). But Ron just told me. Quick and easy. I beat around the bush a little more, telling him I'd have to crunch the numbers. He told me to shoot him an e-mail if I could make it work.

And I think I CAN make it work. I'm assuming a minimum of $10,000 for travel expenses (flights, hotel rooms, meals) and venue rental. I think it'd be just enough to eke it out.

Onto the event itself...

Simple. They'd play at my birthday party. Help me celebrate my ascent (or descent) into 30. Then I started to think bigger. December 29th is only a couple days before New Year's. Let's combine the two!! It's been done before. It'd make the party even bigger. Perhaps sell some tickets and open it up to the general public (and recoup expenses).

But who am I to hog The Donnas to myself in such a small town?! If we're gonna do it right, we need a REAL location. The Twin Cities. This would also allow all my friends to come, which is all I've really wanted for my birthday. Spending it with the people I love. And I can't leave out the Donnaholics. I'd be willing to pay to fly a few of them in, like my friend Jennifer from Phoenix. Of course, with it being New Year's, I'm sure The Donnas and their crew would want to spend it with their loved ones. I'd allow all of them to bring one additional guest each (if they have an S.O.).

Additional airfare... Nice hotel for The Donnas to stay at... A metro-area venue for New Year's... We're looking at $40,000 now.

I just added up the numbers. If I mortgage my future and rob from every bank and savings account I have, I've got over $44,000 to my name. We're in business now...

Sadly, six weeks is not going to be enough time to pull this off. I should have started planning this in, like, August. And maybe saving the money up since... I dunno, 2008?

There IS always next year... :D
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