Jaimoe

Have a great birthday Lynn! You are the best (don't mention I said that to my wife)!

"When you see things in your private life get torn apart, it makes you really, really sad. Not sad for Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, they want it, they have no right to complain because they've asked for it completely. I've never asked for it, all I've ever wanted to do is write songs." Amen Brother Jack.

Although Hetfield and Ulrich reveal themselves as impossibly childish and mean. It's a real turn-off.

Kanye's rapping distracted me from keying in on Mayer. I could tell from the way he played the main Message riff that he wasn't doing it right, without even really hearing him.

I worked the show tonight and was really digging Roger Waters and The Police. I was telling anyone who would listen: "They are fucking great! They haven't lost a step at all. Andy’s ripping it up. Stewart is hammering the drums. Awesome! And Sting's an underrated bassist too. His voice is still strong as hell". I was really fucking excited... and then John Mayer strolled onto the stage and I yelled-out in MuchMuusic master control: "WHAT THE FUCK??!! NOOOOOOO!" But moments later, I stared agast at the monitor after Sting said the name: "Kanye West". Jam bands constantly ruin songs with all-star jams, so I never saw this Sting debacle coming. I feel cheated. I would have preferred Sheryl Crow instead of Kanye.

I was worried when I heard John Mayer's name announced, but my worry quickly increased tenfold when Kanye started rapping like a fool. I blame Sting for this mess... and The Police were killing before Message too!

The Police were kicking butt until Message In A Bottle. Why Kanye West was allowed near a mic I'll never know... and where was Sheryl Crow? I can't recall her ever missing out on a tribute album/charity/fundraiser festival etc...

Anyone catch Yusef Islam's set in Hamburg? He put on a nice show and even played a cover of Cat Steven's "Wild World".

I actually think the lead singer is the only hot Doll. The rest look like tramps or trannies.

The Beasties are bringing it right now.

David listing off all the bass players from Madonna's band: "Everyone does Madonna".

Nigel is the greatest guitarist ever. The all-star Big Bottom is the greatest live performance of all time.

Hey Ollie, MuchMore and Much are showing complete concerts for their respected cities. CTV is intersecting feeds from these channels - along with Bravo and StarTV. CTV is kinda like an HD highlight pack, although they do show most things live, just not complete concerts from what I can tell.

It's amazing how good they are when they aren't backed by a 40-piece orchestra. Man, Dave Hetfield looks horrific in HD.

I think NYC is later today. I know the concerts run until 11:00, which will probably end in NY. I'd say that a safe bet is sticking with CTV, however, Much, Bravo and MuchMore carry a full schedule. Flip between channels. On a technical side, is there still no audio for the VJ's when they do segments in the MuchMusic studio? Those segments had no audio all through the early morning including last night. I let them know and they had no idea what I was talking about. Great job Dome/CTV!

I believe the Sydney show used solar power for their lights. Crowded House and Wolfmother were excellent. I didn't even mind Jack Johnson.

I'm at work right now and my channels are carrying the concerts live for 24 hours. Right now, Wolfmother is kicking fucking ass in Australia (on MuchMoreMusic) - John Butler preceeded Wolfmother and they put on a great show in a Ben Harper-light kind of way. The MuchMusic feed is from Japan and it sucks ass. Later today Much, MuchMore and Vibe will be carrying London with the Beasties, Damien Rice, Metallica and Spinal Tap and New York has Roger Waters and The Police. Jack Johnson and Crowded House are up after Wolfmother's set on MuchMore. Here are the line-ups. LIVE EARTH NEW YORK AFI AKON ALICIA KEYS BON JOVI DAVE MATTHEWS BAND FALL OUT BOY JOHN MAYER KANYE WEST KEITH URBAN KELLY CLARKSON KT TUNSTALL LUDACRIS MELISSA ETHERIDGE ROGER WATERS SMASHING PUMPKINS TAKING BACK SUNDAY THE POLICE LIVE EARTH LONDON BEASTIE BOYS BLACK EYED PEAS BLOC PARTY CORINNE BAILEY RAE DAMIEN RICE DAVID GRAY DURAN DURAN FOO FIGHTERS GENESIS JAMES BLUNT JOHN LEGEND KASABIAN KEANE MADONNA METALLICA PAOLO NUTINI PUSSYCAT DOLLS RAZORLIGHT RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS SNOW PATROL SPINAL TAP TERRA NAOMI LIVE EARTH SYDNEY CROWDED HOUSE JACK JOHNSON WOLFMOTHER JOHN BUTLER TRIO MISSY HIGGINS ESKIMO JOE SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM PAUL KELLY GHOSTWRITERS TONI COLLETTE & THE FINISH BLUE KING BROWN LIVE EARTH HAMBURG CHRIS CORNELL ENRIQUE IGLESIAS JAN DELAY JULI KATIE MELUA LOTTO KING KARL MANà MIA MICHAEL MITTERMEIER REAMONN ROGER CICERO SASHA SHAKIRA SILBERMOND SNOOP DOGG STEFAN GWILDIS LIVE EARTH TOKYO ABINGDON BOYS SCHOOL AI AI OTSUKA AYAKA COCCO GENKI ROCKETS KUMI KODA LINKIN PARK RIHANNA RIZE LIVE EARTH JOHANNESBURG ANGELIQUE KIDJO BAABA MAAL DANNY K JOSS STONE THE PARLOTONES THE SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR UB40 VUSI MAHLASELA ZOLA LIVE EARTH SHANGHAI ANTHONY WONG EASON CHAN EVONNE HSU HUANG XIAO MING JOEY YUNG SARAH BRIGHTMAN SOLER WINNIE SHIN 12 GIRLS BAND ARTISTS FROM THE POPULAR TELEVISION PROGRAMS “MY HERO AND “MY SHOW†LIVE EARTH RIO DE JANEIRO LENNY KRAVITZ PHARRELL WILLIAMS MACY GRAY XUXA O RAPPA MARCELO D2 JORGE BEN JOR JOTA QUEST VANESSA DA MATTA MV BILL LIVE EARTH KYOTO (Special Broadcast Event) BONNIE PINK MICHAEL NYMAN RIP SLYME UA YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA

Another thing worth noting: Jack's improving by leaps and bounds on lead - not that he needed to, but he's more adventurous. I think his stint in The Raconteurs was healthy. I love that band too.

I think they did for the most part. It certainly delivered in a musical aspect, with tons of songs aired-out and with lots variety. I'm responding more to what Nellie and New Rider observed around them.

I've gone to gigs 'cold' only a few times out. The Slip being one of those times. I didn't stand around like a one-off White Stripes fan either.

I doubt the majority were non-fans. C'mon (JOB from Arrested Development voice)! The crowd was the same last time in T.O. too. The frat boys, MuchMusic kids, greasy hippies and mods and rockers packed the Amphitheatre. The folks weaned on the hits last night, like the last time out, did not anticipate a show like the one delivered to them.

I can see by Nellie and New Riders' accounts that some of the people - and I'm loathe to call these idiots White Stripes fans - clearly DID NOT anticipate a night low on hits and high on rarities and jams. They obviously don't know this band at all and their style and influences. The crowd down front were I was standing was having a great time. Another thing worth noting is that the crowd, like the last one in '05, were on their feet for the entire night - at least in the seated sections.

I thought about that too, but you should enjoy The White Stripes from 20 feet away without beer.

If I can get around to it, I may try to write a review of the show later today. A few more thoughts regarding last night's show. I'd say there was around 13,000 at the show; there was a chunk of empty seats in the high 400's, but overall it was packed. The crowd was just as good or better at the last Amphitheatre show - the '05 gig was better attended too. Last night's set was not as high-impact as the last Toronto show. I was thrilled not to hear their brutal single "Blue Orchid", but was a little disappointed they didn't mine their fantastic new album to a greater extent. If you didn't own or know the early albums or like blues and country, then you probably still don't know what hit you. "John The Revelator", "Death Letter", "Hello Operator", "St. James Infirmary" and Ball and motherfucking Biscuit" BABY!!!

Just a quick hit about tonight's show: I thought it was excellent and unpredictable. The set was heavy, heavy, heavy, on the blues with a heavy dash of roots/country. In fact, I think it would make perfect and logical sense if tonight's show was dropped into Ottawa's Bluesfest. More tomorrow.