POM RELATED BLOGS

04-24-08 POM at Pensacola, NAS Concert Review - CLICK HERE

Review from Biloxi, MS CPRFest

Short article here, plus a few pics of POM. Someone should have researched to see who was in the band, sorry they got you wrong Christian.

My Review:

CPR-Fest XI – It was an amazing show! First some shoutouts… I took some photos of a lot of friendly and fun fans for my website. Those pics will be up by Monday at the latest. They were psyched for the concert, it was great talking with so many of the fans and they had nothing but good things to say about POM, thanks ya’ll! 

We had made arrangements to meet John and Melita from OD’s Rock Shots, the name might be familiar, they took spectacular photos of POM at Tampa this year and at The Swamp in Ft. Walton Beach. You can tell they really love what they do, it isn’t just a job, they know where to be to get that perfect photo. It was so nice to meet ya’ll, hope you enjoyed your time in Biloxi! Be sure to check out their website this week, they took photos of most of the bands and were literally at the band’s feet.  www.odsrockshots.com.

Someone proposed on stage between two of the beginning bands and she said yes.

Setlist in order:

1. Away From Me

2. Control

3. Drift & Die

4. Bring Me Down

5. Schizophrenic Psycho

6. Nobody Told Me

7. Blurry

8. Breed (Nirvana)

9. Merry Go Round

10. Famous

11. She Hates Me

Sorry guys, no photos except for the crowd shots. When we got in the floor was already filled to capacity, it was a sold out event. We ended up in seats, they were good seats with a good view but it didn’t translate into good pics :( so all of the good memories are in my head lol.

It should be against the law to have seats at a rock concert. It was the first time I have been in a seat at a POM show and it is my last, you just can’t move around and do your thing in 1 square foot of space! I want to feel the music in my feet, not in my butt!

The extended intro of Away From Me has become a regular addition to the song, I like it.  Control, of course everyone loved the smack my butt song, the crowd was really rockin’ to that one.  Drift & Die, has the new intro and verse at the beginning, it’s the second time I have heard it this way. Also was the guitar solo in the middle, stretched the song out to 7+ minutes, nice!  Wes introduced Schizophrenic Psycho as a song on their new album which was coming out SOON… no date... emphasis on the word SOON when he said it.  Nobody Told Me is one of my all-time favorite Mudd tunes, I always love hearing it, it doesn’t always make the setlist so it’s a treat when they add it. 

Wes said, “Thank you, we’re Puddle of Mudd, good night.” And it goes dark. Then you hear Christian, “Wes, I think we have a couple of more songs to do.” It was funny. They get the audience to participate and Wes and Christian have a contest to see whose side is louder. I think Christian’s side won…. We were on that side ;)

Blurry deserves it’s own paragraph.  This is where Wes mentions Katrina… He said “we heard all about that f’n B**** of a storm… lost lives, glad for everyone that is still here (he asked everyone who had anything that lights up, cell phones, lighters to put them up.. get em’ up) This song is dedicated to all the peeps who aren’t here.” It was amazing to see the blue glow from a coliseum filled with 13,000 people. Kind of like a candlelight vigil without the candles. I remember back in the day a Bic was the thing to have at a concert, there were some but not like it used to be. More cells than Bics! Kind of made the tears well up. Everyone was singing. One of those had to be there moments.

Next, Wes said raise your cell phones, he brought us a gift… then jumped into Breed by Nirvana. The audience went haywire. There has to be some serious cases of whiplash today. Doug was insane on stage during Breed as well as Christian, who has that spin thing down to a science.  Be careful dude you are going to break a leg or something! Next is Merry Go Round, this is also the song where you here Doug from the last webisode, where he sings ‘come on, come on.’  Then Famous… ‘a new song off of our new album, Famous, go out and buy a copy… or two.. or three.. or 50… ok 30.’ After Famous… they act like they are leaving and Wes comes back said Biloxi is f’n amazing and asks what they want to hear... of course everyone screams She Hates Me. A really good number for this crowd and then Wes said, ‘You guys are f’n amazing! Peace!”   It was a great show! Went to the after party at IP, locals Castor Troy were good, 12 Stones was also there. It was a long night.

Quotes from the night:

“Respect the music, buy it!”

“If you go to leave and you smell something burning, shake and bake, it isn’t coming from your tailpipe”

“What do you do here in MS… party… flip us off… go ahead… flip us off,” and 13,000 people flippped them off for fun.

Shoutout to the crew…. Asked the audience to give them a round of applause for everything they do, and when Zack had to come out there he said give it up for Zack and we did. 

Doug was retro in the ‘old-school-high-tops’, Ryan was all arm flinging behind the kit, our seats gave us a great view of the man in action. Christian has really let loose on stage, he’s everywhere! Wes has really chatted up the crowd the last 3 times I have seen them, it’s fun, jovial, and makes the audience feel like he is talking to each and every one of them. Nice job guys, you brought your A-Game to South Mississippi, we appreciate it! Enjoy your time off, you deserve it, you’ve been rockin’ for quite a stretch! I’ve scrubbed the setlist scribble off of my hand… another awesome show. Oh, no Mudd Mission postcards this time, we stopped at several places, no postcards. The problem is all of the postcards they sold previously are what Biloxi USED to look like. All of the icon places aren’t there anymore, and people have bought them up for souvenirs.

Other Bands:

Joshua Sun – Missed them, locals say they are great, the were the Battle of the Bands winner to open for CPRFest.

Kittie – Didn’t see too much of them, caught the last song or two, those who were there to see them loved them. Screamo!!

Saliva – Give me some H*** yeahs.. and some F Yeahs… was Josie’s line. I knew about 2 songs of theirs, the hits. The audience loved them, Josie really knows how to get the crowd on their feet and using their hands.

Sevendust – Pretty good… Loud!

Seven Mary Three – This was the least liveliest of the bands… not saying they aren’t good or talented if you like them, but I didn’t care for them, I found their session mundane and found myself sort of bored. There was someone a few rows ahead of me, they must have thought the same thing, he played Suduko (however you spell it) on his cell phone the entire time! The pit had their hands down most of the time and just stood there.

Daughtry – My friend who went with me had been anxious to see him, he is coming back to Hard Rock Aug. 6 but it is sold out, she didn’t get tickets but I am glad she got to at least see him at CPRFest. I know his song Home from radio, that was the closer it was good. It would have been better if I had known more of his material. I think he is a talented up-and-comer.

All of the bands expressed sympathy for everything our area has seen the last 2 years. Thanks for all of the support and it was cool to change up the lyrics occasionally to give us a shout out.

06-05-07

You know you want to be Famous! Or do you?

Listen to Famous on POM's Myspace Page or spend the cash and get it now on iTunes!

After more than two weeks of listening to Famous, the newest single by Puddle of Mudd and from their upcoming release Livin’ On Borrowed Time, it’s time to discuss this catchy tune that has even a first time listener singing along to the chorus by the time the song has concluded. It’s reminiscent of a fun, fan-sing-along-song similar to She Hates Me, one that most everyone can insert themselves into, after all haven’t we all dreamed of even a little bit of fame, just not on such a grand scale?

Fame – is it what the Golden State implies it should be? A land that beholds fakery and plastic if you aren't careful, where money can buy most anything and more than likely most everyone is out for something from you - and of you. But wait, that’s not just L.A., it’s everywhere.

Famous, full of irony and sarcasm, mocking and humorous, yet it’s the outright truth without any fluff.

The rock star lifestyle is a conflict between most everyone else you know, days have no beginning or end if you judge by the celestial cycle vs. when you sleep, when you work, or when you play; a 12-hour differential of normalcy, but then again what is normal in the life of a rock star?  Certainly fame has its perks including chicks if that floats your boat but as with every silver-lined cloud there are just as many intrusions, entering and exiting places through the back for that little bit of privacy, you give it all up to live in a glass house. The line, ‘be careful what you wish for’ opens the door for doubt, is it really what you want, do you continue the dream or do you force yourself awake and out of the quagmire you wished for yourself…

Technically, I admire Wes’ ability to pelt out this tune night after night on tour. This song is difficult vocally for the average person. Try it. Plug it and sing it on repeat about four times in a row, crank up the volume, give it all you got, wide open. Notice the strain on the vocal chords… yet Wes nails it time after time and on that chance of an off-night, let it slide, it’s a hard song to sing, three minutes seventeen seconds non-stop.

Co-written with Brian House, it features a great guitar intro, then it bursts out loud and rhythmic, much like Control and Away From Me, I just jumps out there in your face, under your skin, playing mind games with you without realizing, you quickly get sucked into the song, as if you are walking along Sunset Strip complete with Hollywood Stars of entertainment icons embedded in the sidewalk, bright lights, neon signs, anything a wild imagination could wish for, you want it, you got it.  The drums are very noticeable, carrying this song with rolling drums and cymbals, it’s not just background noise, more than subtle, yet not overpowering. Same for bass, Doug adds just the right tweaks where they need to be without being overly heavy.  

It’s a good single to start off with, POM has been flying under the radar for a few years while they wrote, recorded, re-wrote, and re-recorded the new disc. They needed to jump out the gate with a song that is relatable to the general audience of rock listeners and they did just that. Famous has a great vibe and a forward motion that is just starting the wave of what POM will show us they have to offer on Livin’ On Borrowed Time.

Dreams do come true, the hard part is to keeping the dream alive when you are standing in front of your fans, peers, and the record label. See your dreams to the end, never be scared try something new and never take your gift of music for granted. It can all be gone in an instant, treasure it always.

One last comment, the Grammy line - is it a big thumbs down and snub dating back to 2002? IF IT ISN’T IT SHOULD BE. Some things are inexplicable and not forgotten, especially by this fan.