Back from hiatus

Apparently I am embracing the very European tradition of month-long vacation...

Yesterday was the Live Earth show and I didn't move very much from my couch from about 3 until about 10:30.

There's a lot I want to say about the Live Earth performances, but I want to re-watch the sets before I do. My brief analyses, though?

1. Hip hop seems to have a harder time translating from album to live shows. Akon's set left a lot to be desired, as did Ludacris' set. I started wondering if maybe it had something to do with a lack of crowd response (both went on early in the day in NYC). Kanye West ripped the roof off the joint, though. He owned the stage and the audience.

2. The Smashing Pumpkins aren't giving me a lot to hope for. They're set was so lackluster and I hated the new arrangements of Today and Bullet with Butterfly Wings.

3. The most amazing performances came from some of the most unlikely performers. Who'd have thought that the Pussycat Dolls would rock Live Earth? Not me.

Most important of all of these is:

4. AFI is the new Depeche Mode. And I love them. They were so passionate about the cause and the rocked the house despite having a terrible crowd to work with. They had so much life and energy and their music was rich, deep, and thoughtful. I ran upstairs and looked them up on iTunes, immediately buying their newest album. They are fantastic, and I genuinely hope that Live Earth gets them more of the mainstream recognition they deserve.

You can view any or all of the Live Earth performances at liveearth.msn.com

Some things I hope to blog about soon:
The Transformers movie
Seeing Steve Poltz perform in Chicago
Mandy Moore's new album
The Golden Compass (the book, not the movie)

I promise to get back to a normal blogging schedule.