Vie’s Verses – Wishes For 2013
The holiday season is once again upon us. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or the baseball winter meetings (my favorite holiday), it is safe to say that they all have one thing in common — the celebration of joy and the receiving of gifts. And with the receipt of any gift comes the prerequisite wish list. I have one for Christmas and I have one for the baseball winter meetings. I also have one for hard rock in 2013, and I’m happy to share it with all of you. Here now are my hard rocking wishes for 2013.
Pop Evil/Dead Sara Tour
Take two of the hottest new bands to come out in nearly a decade and put them together. Do you know what you have? Only one of the best concert tandems to be heard since Maiden toured with Black Sabbath. If Dead Sara and Pop Evil were to hit the road together in 2013, it would be a dream come true for this fan-boy. As a professional, I usually don’t gush much over the musicians or acts that I cover, but in the case of Pop Evil and Dead Sara, I can’t help myself. They are both two of the most talented rock bands I have heard in years. And with rumors of a new Pop Evil disc coming out next year, this would be a fine way to promote a new album. Let’s hope that the Evils and the Deads make this tour happen.
A New KISS Album
I know we just got Monster this fall. I know that it usually takes 2-3 years for a band to release a new album anymore. I also know that I grew up in the days of an album per year. Frankly, I miss those days. I loved being able to count on a new record from my favorite band on a yearly basis. Nowadays, you never know when the heck a new record is coming out. I think KISS should buck the trend and record a new album in 2013. Their last two albums have been fantastic, and I think the time to strike is now, while they are still crafting music at an exceptionally high level. Besides with Gene no longer banging groupies and not filming Family Jewels, what else is he going to do with his time?
An AC/DC Hits Tour
I love AC/DC and I love when they tour behind a new album, but the band has never gone on a hits tour. The most obvious reason for that is because they have never put out a “hits” album. That’s due to Angus’ desire to not repackage material and sell it to the fans, which I respect and admire. However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t go on tour and play all their hits! With Malcom Young recently having stated not to expect any new music from AC/DC before 2014, what’s a fan to do? We want our fix of one of the greatest hard rocking bands to ever hit the stage. And to see AC/DC perform nothing but their top hits with no new songs to mix in could make it the best AC/DC tour in the band’s history.
A Huge Headliner For M3
As I have for the past three years, I intend to travel to Columbia and check out this year’s M3 Festival. In 2013 I would love to see M3 put out a headliner that would blow away all of the previous years combined. Perhaps Black Sabbath or Bon Jovi may be able to headline the event this year? Both are scheduled to tour next year and there’s no reason why they couldn’t include a stop in Maryland on their itinerary. Iron Maiden would be another great grab for the headliner slot. KISS would be great here as well. However, I don’t see any of these bands actually being the headliners at M3, but that’s why it’s called a wish, right?
Lower Ticket Prices
With the economy still in flux and a lot of us still digging out of debt, it’s hard to attend multiple concerts in the summer. The price of tickets just eats into the budget too deeply and leaves a hard rock fan with limited dollars in his/her pocket. It would be great if the ticket promoters got together and said for 2013 they would ease the pain of paying for a concert by lowering the prices. If promoters were to do this, perhaps they would see more sold out shows, instead of half empty arenas (ala Aerosmith and Van Halen). The greatest gift of the New Year I could get is to see some affordable ticket prices to concerts I want to see. And by affordable, I don’t mean $20 for the nosebleeds. I mean more like $40 for decent seats. Is that too much to ask? Why do I have to pay over $200 if I want to sit in a good section to see Bon Jovi perform live? I just can’t justify the cost and therefore, I don’t attend which is a shame and sometimes makes me dislike the band that I grew up loving.
That’s my wish list for 2013. What’s on yours? Drop a line in the comments and let us know!
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Ryo, since you mentioned the mighty Black Sabbath, my wish for 2013 is for Sabbath and Bill Ward to settle their differences so he can be back behind the drum kit with sabbath where he belongs. I also wish for Ozzy to take better care of his voice, and perhaps work with a vocal coach to save what’s left of it. Listening to the bootlegs from the couple of shows they’ve done this year, it is really sad to listen to Ozzy’s voice cracking all over the place, and sometimes flat out singing in the wrong key. i admire that he still puts out a full effort, but his voice, in its current state, is a huge liability when Sabbath performs live.
Ahh…a wishlist! Hmm, I may need to ponder that. I too grew up in an era where a band would release a record a year. I think Kiss released two records in a year twice. I’d love a new Kiss record in 2013. However, I wonder what their next step will be? They didn’t really tour Monster properly. They played one song off it this past summer. (For that matter Alice Cooper’s Welcome 2 my nightmare only got one song played off that. They were both great releases. Makes me wonder.) I suppose Kiss will do a headline tour next year…to support Monster? I’d like that. I’d love to see a new Kiss record next year…sure!
Not sure about getting a major headliner for M3. I can see where it would be great. I was thinking Alice or Poison. If Maiden headlined, I wonder if it would turn into more of a Maiden thing. I’ve attended the last two years and I like the vibe and amount of people. I just wouldn’t want…double the people. Might not get my great chances of getting great seats! Ahem.
My wish is something, heck anything with the Roth fronted VH. I was hoping for a live CD or dvd. I still wanna see them one more time and their last album was great. I’d be good with another cd from them.
I’d love to see BCC get their thing together and tour the Toronto/Buffalo area. Same thing with UFO.
Perhaps a guitar themed tour with people like Frank Marino, Uli Jon Roth, Pat Travers, Rik Emmett, etc…
How bout Ritchie Blackmore doing another tour with Deep Purple. Ha!
My head is spinning now with wishlists…