heidicuda's Blog

So H-E-I-D-I-W-O-O-D it hurts.... Somewhere in my Top Ten musical moments of all time is the moment I first laid eyes on the Street Dogs of Boston Massachusetts. I was filming the 10th Anniversary show of the Warped Tour in Boston in '04 and while my photogs were shooting Rancid, I bopped over to the Ernie Ball stage to check out my pal Joe the Kid’s new band. Joe drummed with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones but earlier in the day, he told me he was drumming with this new band, the Street Dogs (photo, right). On that tiny stage, surrounded by rabid Boston fans, was a fierce singer named Mike McColgan, who put everything he had into each and every anthemic song. I discovered he’d been the original singer for the Dropkick Murphys before pursuing his dream of being a fire fighter. He lived that dream for a few years then went back to his first love, hardcore Boston, Irish, heartfelt punk. God bless him. Newly signed to Epitaph's Hellcat imprint, the Street Dogs are part of this weekend’s Bamboozle Left shows in Irvine at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Fans of punk, emo and hardcore can check the likes of My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year, the Bouncing Souls, Hot Water Music, Escape the Fate and more. But do yourself a flavor, and don’t miss the Dogs on Sunday…. So my Super-X-Husband bumped into Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister at the Rainbow on the Strip on Tuesday night. He tells me Lemmy was minding his own beeswax playing video poker when his signature song, “Ace of Spades,” came on. (That’s kind of like when you’re thinking, “plate of shrimp” and someone says, “plate of shrimp.”) Reminds of the time I was standing behind Angelyne at the Beachwood Market in Hollywood buying cheesecake (true story)…. In more Super-X-Hubbie news, one of the Hollywood bars he built, Beauty Bar, celebrates its 8th anniversary this Sunday. The party’s sponsored by Grey Goose and Bud. Should be a fine fete…. So the world’s greatest DJ Joe Sib (of Indie 103’s “Complete Control Radio") says save the date: On April 28, at the Anaheim House of Blues, Sib’s record label SideOneDummy is sponsoring the “Beautiful Noise” benefit, which is raising money for the family of Mike Conley, a punk vet who was killed in a car accident in Chicago in late February. Such fab artistes as Social Distortion (playing acoustic) and the Cadillac Tramps are scheduled to perform (photo of Social D's Mike Ness, below, by Big Al Banks). Conley founded the Las Vegas band, M.I.A. and is survived by three daughters and a wife…. This just in: World music lovers should check out Debashish Bhattacharya’s performance at the Herrick Chapel at Occidental College on April 27. The slide-guitar virtuoso not only takes listeners on a journey through the ages of Indian music, he designs his own instruments. Lemme hear you say, “Ohm” (Ohm!)…. In SaMo news, look for some "desert blues" to hit Temple Bar on April 29, as Niger's Etran Finatawa hit the Left Coast for the first time, fully costumed, fully rockin'.... And Kanye West kicked it at Temple Bar on Sunday night…. In more see-leb newz, Emmy Rossum, Dita Von Teese, and Butch Walker thanked their lucky stars for being among the blessed few who got to catch Dolly Parton’s performance at the Roxy on the Strip on Friday night.… Here’s a little known fact: Famed guitarslinger, Billy Zoom, from the veteran L.A. band X, created his signature, wide-legged, low-slung stance because he was tired of having his head cut-off in photos. Turns out, when photogs snapped pix of X singer, Exene, Zoom’s dome wouldn’t make the cut. So he crouched down low and a rad style was born. And the smile he always has on his face when blazing on gee-tar? He says, at the time, it was to get back at the hippies, who grimaced when they played to make it look hard. Zoom, whose cranked up, rockabilly riffs really were complicated, smiled just to make it look easy (in yo’ face!). Check out Zoom and the gang when they perform next week at the Musicbox at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday, April 10, and Friday, April 11. It’s been three decades and counting, and X (below, left) always marks the spot…. xxxo, hsc