JET f**ked!

Witty title, I know.
Went to see the Great Powderfinger in the mud and the wet in Ballarat on the weekend, for what was meant to be the last gig in their "Sunsets" tour (it's now been much extended to finish sometime in 2017. Incidentally, I've been travelling for work and have been in the same city as them 3 or 4 times so far (in, like, Perth and Canberra, of all places), but instead of taking those many opportunities, I instead drove out to Ballarat to see them in the wet and the mud).
Nonetheless, very enjoyable, and v good to see them going out on what appeared to be a high.
They were supported by Paul Dempsey, who was also good, and...JET. Who were...JET.
Allow me to rewind a few years to Powderinger's "Across the Great Divide" Tour, which we saw in Bendigo ("Bendigoin'off!"), when I was a little non-plussed about seeing Powderfinger's support act - Silverchair. But I was very and pleasantly surprised - Silverchair are a great live band and Daniel Johns is of course a genius.
Now, fast forward a few years to this "Sunsets" tour, and I was again non-plussed about seeing Powderfinger's support act - this time: JET. But I was very and unpleasantly shocked into utterly hating this band within approximately two songs. Wow. They suck to the max. I know people seem to like them, but those people don't understand that they have no idea. They've been sucked (there's that word again - coincidence? I don't think so) into the complete vacuosity of this derivative band who don't appear to have a single original idea - including their faux-rock-star "attitude". I was quite astounded. And then, so that I didn't completely waste my time while they were playing, I went through my phone and deleted old text messages.
Burn.
But when Powderfinger came on, all was forgiven. Those guys rock out with their bits and pieces out. And they played both Capoicity and personal fave Thrilloilogy. Plus stuff from Double Allergic (and Ian played a small glimpse of the riff from "Tail" from Parables for Wooden Ears).
Not "My Kind of Scene", but overall, pretty frickin' sweet.
Well worth the mud and the waste of time before they came on.
Vale, 'Finger Dudes.
PS I want to reiterate that Paul Demspey was also great. I was just very surprised to discover how much I hated JET.

A Rose by any other name...would still be bit of a tool...

So Axl Rose has finally released the next Guns N'Roses album - Chinese Democracy.
Although the album has been causing problems in China for some reason, it's been causing even more problems in the Greatest Democracy on Earth.
Seems that the good people at Dr Pepper, amused at the amount of time it was taking Axl to release said album, issued a challenge back in March this year, offering to provide everyone in America with a cool can of Dr Pepper if the album was released before the end of 2008.
Because he actually did it, Dr Pepper provided people with an opportunity to download a voucher to get access to one of these prized cans, for a limited time. Seems fair enough in this modern age.
However, according to the New York Times ("Dr Pepper and Rocker in a War of Hype"):

"The arrangement irked fans, who took to the Internet with stories of being blocked for hours from the site and a related customer-service phone line. And that irked Mr. Rose."

So, "Mr. Rose" (if that IS your real name...which it's kinda not but kinda is) then took the logical next step:

"On Tuesday his lawyers sent a harshly worded letter to the soft drink maker complaining of its “appalling failure to make good on a promise it made to the American public,” and demanding a public apology, more time for thirsty fans, and payment for piggybacking on the “Chinese Democracy” publicity."

The lawyers also asked that Dr Pepper run apologetic full-page ads in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and other papers, giving customers more time to receive their free soda.
Apparently, similar sentiments spread across Guns N’ Roses message boards:

“If they said they’d give a free can to everyone in America,” one fan wrote, “can they really put a one-day time limit on it? Seems like it’s something that if someone took to court they’d win.”

PLEASE!! I don't normally get legal on anyone's ass on this blog, but I feel I must take my glasses off this once (i.e., like Superman - he was a lawyer, wasn't he?): What cause of action would you bring, sirrah? Breach of contract? Sorry, buddy, for a contract, you’ve got to give something in return. About the only person who MIGHT be able to sue would be Axl Rose himself, and that’s assuming he accepted Dr Pepper’s offer and in return brought the album out by the end of the year in order to meet his end of the bargain. And there’s no indication that he did accept the offer. Certainly, he had no corresponding obligations if he hadn’t brought out the album in time, and it’s going to be tough to prove he’s done anything he wasn’t already going to do.
PLUS, what’s a can of Dr Pepper cost? A dollar?!? Go and buy one yourself, Dr Cheapskate!
That said, you should really drink Mr Pibb, because, when combined with Red Vines, it is indeed Crazy Delicious.
As an aside, I LOVED the Gunners in the 80's, and even a little bit into the 90's, though we all know things started to go south when Izzy left the band. I would still put Appetite for Destruction in my Top Ten Albums of all time. I even participated in the Calder Park debacle in 1993. However, I do not have high hopes for this album. No Slash and no Duff and no Izzy and no Steven Adler makes Axl something-something. But I doubt it's a good something-something.
Anyhoo, now that someone's raised the topic of Top Ten albums, here's mine, as at November 28th, 2008. These are albums that just work, from go to woah.

My Top Ten Albums Of All Time (in no particular order, and subject to change)
Appetite for Destruction – Guns’N’Roses
Chocolate and Cheese – Ween
Either/Or – Elliott Smith
Master of Puppets – Metallica
The Colour and the Shape – Foo Fighters
Odyssey Number Five – Powderfinger (what? Seriously, what?)
Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim – Pixies (it was one album in Australia)
OK Computer – Radiohead
Going Blank Again – Ride
Superunknown – Soundgarden (I know Badmotorfinger is probably cooler, but Superunknown is a great album, cover to cover).

I know all of these albums were recorded between, like 1986 and 1996 (except Odyssey Number Five), but that’s just coincidence, plus the music of my X-Generation was like totally the best.
That said, I’m happy to hear any other suggestions…
As for anyone who wants to diss my selection of "Odyssey Number Five", here's a clip of my fave Powderfinger song, which also happens to be my fave Powderfinger clip, and which also happens to be from "Odyssey Number Five"…

(PS If you want the totally approved version, it's here)