Phantom

I had the honour of working for The Surfaris last night in Minneapolis. It was the first time they had ever played here. Bob Berryhill is the only remaining founding member still performing after 62 years. The line-up now comprises of his wife Gene (bass) and his two sons Deven Berryhill (guitar and backing vocals), and Joel Berryhill (drums and vocals), Naturally they closed their regular set with that timeless classic Wipe Out.

Toy manufacturer Basic Fun which owns Tonka, Care Bears and My Little Pony, have filed for bankruptcy

It's also been reported that Paul's mother, Mary Louise Westerberg has also passed away.

Laurie Lindeen lead vocalist for Zuzu's Petels died on Monday of a brain aneurism at the age of 62. She was married to Paul Westerberg of The Replacements from 2003-2014 Also, apparently Paul Westerberg's mother,, Mary Louise Westerberg passed away yesterday.

I always love seeing the guys perform Tony Andreason and The Surf Dawgs at Chateau St Croix Winery in St Croix, Wisconsin. Pure Midwest rock and roll royalty Bernie Bomberg (The Accents), Tony Andreason (The Trashmen), Dave Maetzold (Gregory Dee and The Avanties), Tom "Zip" Caplan (The Litter) and lastly "Cadillac" Sally West (The Fendermen) Thankfully it had cooled off from the past couple of days so the weather was perfect.

I'm not sure the situation where you are. But even ordering via AXS there's the option to have physical tickets mailed to you at an extra cost. I did that for the last couple of shows I paid for. Frustrating thing was that the tickets for The Charlatans arrived the week after the event. Thankfully they let me into the venue when I showed them the email with the receipt. And I forgot my tickets for Stiff Little Fingers at home on the kitchen shelf. So, there's that drawback with physical tickets.

Now with the apps it's easy to transfer tickets. I was talking about the days before that option when all you had were physical tickets. I still prefer physical tickets and would often go to the box office in person to buy tickets. AXS in the U.S. has a fair amount of hidden fees which they're trying to pass laws on to curb that nonsense.

I usually kill that time by browsing the merch table. Since I work a lot of merch tables , I usually make conversation with whomever is running it. Especially if there are unusual items for sale. Admittedly I've only been to a couple of shows each year where I'm a spectator. Other than that, depending on the show, I'm either kept busy from beginning to end. I'll hear the show, but not see it. Or I'll be busy before the show starts, during an interval (if there is one), and at the end. So, that way I can step away and watch the show with everyone else.

I prefer going to gigs alone these days and then meeting up with people when I'm there I used to have a friend that would buy the tickets and I will pay them back. But, then they would keep hold of them until the gig. He was habitually late, so I'll miss the opening bands. In the end, I got pissed off with missing so many bands, that I just said "sod it. I'll buy my own tickets and meet you there " Admittedly there were a few times when I didn't bother looking for them when I was inside the venue.

Worked for The Scarlet Goodbye earlier this evening. They played a split set of songs from their debut album "Hope's Eternal" and others from the forthcoming album " El Camino Adios " which will be out later this year

Forgot to post this on Saturday Blues guitarist, Toronzo Cannon, was on tour via Minneapolis promoting the release of his 6th album "Shut Up & Play"! Fine performance and all the band are really nice.

Saw The Castaways yesterday. Still going strong after 61 years. Remaining founding member, Jim Donna on keyboards. My only disappointment is that the only original tune they played was their hit, Liar Liar. They had several singles that they recorded during the mid 60s. But never play the songs during their shows.

Cynthia "Roxy" Ramone, who had a 20 year long affair with guitarist Johnny Ramone is currently in intensive care due to difficulties in breathing.

I had the honor of working for Loudon Wainwright III and Wesley Stace this evening. It was the final night of their mini tour together. Both are in fine form. Wesley opened the evening with a varied set delving into his vast repertoire. After the interval, Loudon regalled us was anecdotes and many a tune. They rounded off the evening by performing a duet.

I worked for Run Westy Run this past Saturday at The Green Room in Minneapolis. The Westies have been going for over 40 years. Guitarists Kirk Johnson and Terry Fisher, and lead vocalist Kirk Johnson are founding members. They' put on a solid 2 hour performance mostly featuring tracks from their recent albums with favorites from the oldies.