Review: Lisa Lampanelli Is A Filthy, Dirty Whore

Lisa Lampanelli came to Albany on April 14th and performed at the Palace Theatre. I gave a call to A Work In Progress at the last minute and asked if he was interested in joining me. The place was nearly sold-out when we got to the box office, with the only two adjacent seats available in the far back of the balcony on the side. We decided to see about any single seat availability and we totally lucked out. We were in rows 7 and 8 and he was just one seat over from being directly in front of me. Seeing as how all tickets were the same price (just under $30), we scored!

If you are unfamiliar with Ms. Lampanelli, you may remember her as the most obnoxious comedian on the latest round of celebrity roasts on Comedy Central; from her appearances on the Howard Stern show; or in the Larry the Cable Guy movie.

In a nutshell, she has an incredibly insulting style of comedy. She hits on every racial, religious, and sexual stereotype during the show. If you are uncomfortable with racial epithets, anti-semitism, or homophobic slurs, this is not the show for you. She outdoes Don Imus in the first 20 seconds of the show! She does manage to be an equal opportunity offender. Her targets are chosen from the audience, so sensitive people should not get seats in the first five rows. Interestingly, she only mentions celebrities and politicians very briefly. It felt weird laughing at jokes about black people when the person sitting next to me was black. But I figured I laughed just as hard at the gay jokes.

I was only uncomfortable a couple of times, when she made jokes about cancer and AIDS. By that you can see there's no subject that is off limits.

She brought an opening comic with her, Ms Locke, who was quite funny and held the room...which was very big. And, at the Palace, you can bring beer and wine to your seat so the crowd was primed with alcohol. Only a few stupid drunks interrupted the set toward the end. Ms Locke was on stage for about 20 minutes; Ms Lampanelli for nearly two hours. I laughed hard for nearly the entire time so it was a great show for those that like her humor.

This clip is definitely NSFW and should not be viewed if you are easily, or not so easily, offended.

Review: A Great Wave Of Duran Duran

I hope y'all will indulge me on a long review of my favorite group of all time. Some people like the Grateful Dead, others Bruce Springsteen, and still others Barbra Streisand. For me, it's Duran Duran. During the '80s, I listened to nothing else. I have quite the collection of albums, picture discs, EPs, 12" singles, cassettes, VHS and DVD videos. You name it, I got it.

Picture this. (Nod to Sophia Petrillo here.) The year is 1980. Cable television comes to our house and brings music channel MTV with it. At our high school, there are the haves and the have nots. Those that have cable, and those that wish they did. (VCRs and microwave ovens are still new technologies.) With early 80s MTV comes the British New Wave/New Romantic movement...and Duran Duran.

I feel like a small town boy who's been thrown a lifeline to the outside world. A fantasy place where people think like me. I end up dying my hair blonde, wearing skinny ties that I tuck in between the 2nd and 3rd buttons on my shirt, and do all my shopping at Chess King and Merry-Go-Round. I'm too chicken to pierce my ear and my boss tells me I'm a 'ninny' to even think such a thing. [I do that twice about 5 years later, still at a time when it's a 'big deal' for a man to wear earrings...and I'm in a corporate job.] Pretty silly now that I look back on it, but I was so serious about it then.

Since the original five Duran Duran members reunited back in 2001, I've been waiting for them to tour in a place near me. The band came to Albany on November 6th and played the Palace Theatre. There was very little promotion for the show and the attendance reflected that as they played to a house that was only half full. Maybe because it was a Monday night, or maybe I'm still living a bit in the past when people clamor to see DD. It's a shame because they missed one hell of a show.

After I finally get tickets, Andy Taylor (lead guitar) gets the boot two weeks before my show. Ya might know. So the performers were four of the originals: Simon LeBon (front man), John Taylor (bass guitar), Nick Rhodes (keyboards), and Roger Taylor (drums). Dominic Brown subbed on lead guitar and there was a back up singer and a saxophonist. The stage was a basic setup with a wide curtain of animated lights as a backdrop where most of the visuals made me think of psychedelic patterns and colors from the 1960s.

There was no opening act. Things got underway with a taped audio montage of recognizable guitar riffs, synthesizer melodies, and lyric hooks that were blended together quite well with a high-tech feel. From the moment they took the stage Simon LeBon belted out hit after hit. They have a long list of hits, so they had to choose songs NOT to play. Missing were: Planet Earth, Is There Something I Should Know?, New Moon on Monday, Skin Trade, and I Don't Want Your Love among others. They did include a Power Station hit and I was hoping for a little Arcadia Election Day since the polls were open the following day but that didn't happen. Midway through the show, they dedicated Ordinary World to the American and British troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The low point of the evening for me was when they launched into The Reflex half way through the show. The Nile Rogers remix is layered and complex and it's my favorite of their studio recordings. Going in I had expected it to be their last song of the evening. But it was flat and didn't play well live...it was wise that they didn't end on that note.

The best songs of the night:

— Hold Back The Rain made me the happiest. They played a lot from the Rio album and the saxophonist was awesome, really hitting his stride during Rio. I had already thought about writing this post prior to the show and was prepared to say HBTR was the one song I wished that they had played. Well they rocked the house with it and made the whole experience worth the price of admission for me.

— (Reach Up For The) Sunrise which is the last Duran Duran song for which I actually paid. It came as a remix on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack — the old Fab Five meets the new Fab Five. The backdrop lights created images of pulsating rainbow colors that I have to think was an intentional acknowledging wink to the Queer Eye fans in the audience. Sunny golden flood lights illuminated the crowd as it cheered and people waved their hands in the air. This should have been their final encore because it was the best performance of the night.

If you like Duran Duran, you'll love this show. As my British friends would say, "Absolutely fan-ta-stic!"

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I saw Duran Duran for the first time in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University. It was a cold winter night on a Saturday in 1984 after a lake-effect snow storm had dumped about 2' on the city. The stage had been erected where the 50 yard line would be for an 'Orange' football game so they played to a packed house...but only in half the stadium.

Billy Idol was the opening act at a time when 'Rebel Yell' had been released with hits Eyes Without A Face and Flesh For Fantasy. He put on a great show, sufficiently sneering at the crowd with his trademark raised lip, whipping everyone up for the main act.

Then it was time. Behind the stage, stretching from one side to the other, a heavy curtain was used to block the empty side of the arena from sight. It was there that the group descended down the stairs through the empty stands to the floor and made their way to the stage. Those who could catch a sneak peak caused several false alarms after spotting only a stage hand, throwing thousands of teenage girls into a screaming frenzy thinking the band was about to take the stage.

Union of the Snake had been on the radio and in heavy rotation on MTV (yep, MTV actually used to play/show music) and New Moon On Monday was just released from the 'Seven and the Ragged Tiger' album. The live footage used in the video for The Reflex was filmed at their subsequent performance in Toronto. The show was incredible, I sang all the lyrics, and loved every minute of it.

This was the first (and only) time I'd ever been in a domed stadium where the roof was held up with air pressure. I still remember being tossed out by unseen forces. As people in front of me approached the exit, they were thrust out into the night by an invisible hand right at the threshhold between inside and out. It seemed surreal. I thought my eyes were deceiving me because there was no wind rushing by my ears as you'd expect. My eyes told me to brace myself, my other senses told me there was nothing to be concerned about. But when I reached the doorway I was cast out just like all those that went before me. I later found out this is called The Dome Effect.

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My next opportunity to see the group was at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in Irvine, CA during their resurgence in 1995. Warren Cuccurullo was now on lead guitar and had a major hand in the writing of 'The Wedding Album' filled with slow melodic ballads like Ordinary World and Come Undone.

Toad The Wet Sprocket (remember them?) was the opening act and did a great job with the songs that made them famous: All I Want and Walk On The Ocean. A great set with a laid back feel.

That subdued atmosphere carried over to the Duranies. Coupled with an open-air arena that seemed to suck the sound up into the night sky, the music was plodding, the show lackluster, and the experience generally disappointing.

The Palace Theater in Albany, NY

I couldn't believe what I'd been missing. In all the years I've lived here, I had never been to The Palace Theater [19 Clinton Ave @ North Pearl]. That is clearly my loss. The Palace has been refurbished and the work shows ... it is an absolutely stunning venue. Besides the ornate decor, the sight lines are incredible. Best I could tell, every seat in the house was a great one.

In the 60's and 70's, all the major acts played at The Palace. With around 2,500 seats, it was the largest performance theatre in the area. Now it seems most musical acts play arenas with capacity for 20,000 people or more. That increases the chance you'll get a seat, and the act's bottom line, but the intimacy provided by a smaller place is lost.

There's a happening night life scene within walking distance of the theater. Lots of restaurants and bars located adjacent to one another, encouraging folks to hop from one place to the next with live music in several of them. The area reminded me of the West End in Dallas and Sixth Street in Austin. Weather permitting, there is additional seating and standing space on the sidewalks so patrons can mix and mingle. On a Friday night before a show at the Palace things can be quite busy. The crowd appeared to be mostly 30 to 50 year old professionals. If this sounds at all appealing, it is definitely worth checking out!

Review: Comedian Kathy Griffin Dishes The Dirt At Albany's Palace

Kathy Griffin, self-proclaimed member of the 'D-List', brought her comedy act to a packed house at The Palace Theater in Albany, NY on September 22. [More on the theater below...]

Kathy was true to form. Her comedic style — gossiping about Hollywood stars from her unique vantage point of an outsider looking in — gave her two hours of material that she covered in rapid fire. There were times that she seemed breathless because she was so excited to let you in on all the secrets. So much to tell, so little time. I've seen her stand-up comedy DVDs and both seasons of her Emmy-nominated show "My Life on the D-List" on Bravo, and while many of her celebrity targets were the same, the material was all new.

She started out with Jessica Simpson and quickly transitioned to Sharon Stone, Barbara Walters, Star Jones, Whitney Houston, Clay Aiken, the Olsen twins, Larry King, Katie Couric, Oprah and Gayle, and so many more.

Kathy spent some time entertaining the troops in Kuwait and Iraq earlier this year and she had some funny behind-the-scenes, not-for-TV stories to relate.

The Scientologists were skewered, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Kathy gave the audience an inside view into the crazy 'religion', started by a science-fiction writing hack, by relating the experiences of a close friend that had gotten swept up with them but was able to get out.

Her politically liberal slant wasn't too prominent. Although a quick slam of Ann Coulter turned the psycho political pundit into the masturbatory fantasy of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.

The most hilarious segment involved Kathy's Irish Catholic 89 year old father and 85 year old mother. Anyone familiar with her show already knows they are portrayed as booze hounds that provide no end of irritation and entertainment to their daughter. According to Kathy, no group takes the Lord's name in vain more than the Catholics, choosing to ignore that commandment. To illustrate her point, Kathy tells how she tried to persuade her parents to accompany her on a lesbian/gay family cruise to Alaska sponsored by Rosie O'Donnell's R Family Cruises. As more details of the trip are disclosed to her mother, the skit escalates until her mother is swearing a blue streak and the audience is roaring!

If you like Kathy, you would like her show. For those others, probably best to stay at home!

I can't believe what I've been missing. In all the years I've lived here, I have never been to The Palace Theater. That is clearly my loss. The Palace has been refurbished and the work shows ... it is an absolutely stunning venue. Besides the ornate decor, I sat in the front section of the balcony and the sight line was incredible. Best I could tell, every seat in the house was a great one.

In the 60's and 70's, all the major acts played at The Palace. With around 2,500 seats, it was the largest performance theatre in the area. Now it seems most musical acts play arenas with capacity for 20,000 people or more. That increases the chance you'll get a seat, and the act's bottom line, but the intimacy provided by a smaller place is lost.

There's a happening night life scene within walking distance of the theater. Lots of restaurants and bars located adjacent to one another, encouraging folks to hop from one place to the next with live music in several of them. The area reminded me of the West End in Dallas and Sixth Street in Austin. Weather permitting, there is additional seating and standing space on the sidewalks so patrons can mix and mingle. This was a Friday night before a show at the Palace so things were quite busy. The crowd appeared to be mostly 30 to 50 year old professionals. If this sounds at all appealing, it is definitely worth checking out!