6/28/08: Great to have Mike Piazza back in the studio with me on the Q104 show. Mike sat in pretty much the entire show, talked about his retirement and also interviewed my guests with me. This was really Mike's first media of any kind since he announced he was done playing. Clearly many, especially in the NYC area, have asked him to do interviews and I'm honored and thankful that he hangs on my show and made his first public statements about being retired. Mike will be in the NYC area some over the Summer so look for him to stop by more in the future and as always talk and play metal with us! This very busy show also featured Mike Levine of Triumph, who came in to talk about the bands reunion and future plans. After Rocklahoma the band will discuss what they want to do going forward. No decisions just yet on a full tour or new music at this point. Mike explained that most important is that all three guys are friends again. They have been busy relearning the old songs and getting down doing Triumph after 18 years. Look forward to seeing them at Rocklahoma and I'll keep you posted on further activity by this great trio. Mike will also be live in studio on Eddie Trunk Live on XM Monday 6/30. Finally guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen sat in for our final hour. Richie is more of a blues based guitarist with a hard edge and has played with Poison and Mr. Big. I've always been a fan of everything I've heard from him and was really impressed when I heard his new Live in Sao Paulo Brazil CD. "Stand" by Poison, which Richie wrote and plays on, has also always been one of my favorite Poison songs and there is a great live version of it on this CD. Richie was a great guest and it was a cool hang to have him and the two Mike's all talking music at the same time. Not much music actually played in this show, but as I always say, my shows are different every week and there was some interesting and funny discussion. Catch the replays this coming week on KNAC.com and affiliate stations. I'll have plenty of photos, audio and video on the site soon. Had the incredible opportunity to host a press conference with all five members of Aerosmith in NYC this past Friday at the Hard Rock. It was for the launch of the new Aerosmith Guitar Hero game. I had worked with the guys a couple years ago when I hosted a national radio special for their tour with Motley from Joe Perry's house. To have the guys call on my services again is a tremendous honor to say the least. The early albums are still some of the greatest ever made and they have always been heroes to me. One of the few bands I still get that buzz being around because they mean so much. The gaming world is huge to say the least. The company releasing this game rented the entire Hard Rock for the media there (imagine what that costs at the height of tourist season on a Friday!) and put out a top shelf spread of food and drink. My job was to moderate and host the press conference on stage with the band. I introed the guys, asked a couple questions, then took questions from the audience for the band. There was major media there, but sadly nobody with any real questions for the guys. Just a lot of fan worship which I understand at a meet and greet, but this was a media event! Still it was cool to be on stage with the band and moderate this massive event. Steven looked great and healthy, Joe had a walking cane but seemed in good spirits otherwise, and the rest of the band were great as well. They all seemed truly happy at how huge it is to be the first band to have this game dedicated to them and Joe explained that above and beyond the money, the best thing is that this game is turning young people on to rock music. Had a quick hello with Steven who complimented me on the job I did, and spoke to Brad who also agreed with me in his disapointment of the questions asked. I will have photos and video of this event to post here soon. My thanks to all for making this happen and giving me another tremendous memory with these legends. The plan is for the band to finish a new CD (their last for Sony) by the end of this year, then tour early next year. Speaking of media and rock. Note to CNN and Fox; it's really nice to see a band like Motley on mainstream TV, but PLEASE get someone to interview them that knows rock and something about the band! Larry King is a legend, but his conversation with Motley just did not work. Greta on Fox was even worse. Just had NOTHING worth anything to ask the band, and was befuddled that Tommy played drums in high school! Why exactly I do not know? Did she think he was always a rock star? It was a total cringe moment and you could see Tommy was doing everything possible not to snap. Awful when people that don't know rock try and do rock. Ace jammed with Pearl Jam at MSG. Not a big PJ guy but it's cool that this band shows their influence proudly. Ace first played with them in AC a couple years ago and told me he thought the band were incredible players. No news on his new CD release but his tour continues with a stop at Rocklahoma where I'll see him next. Yes I've heard the G&R latest leaks. Not sure what to say except that until there is a sanctioned finished CD released there is no point in reviewing it. Who knows if this is what the real album will be? I will be doing a live show on Q104 this Friday 4th of July! However the next Friday 7/11 will be a recorded show as I will be at Rocklahoma. ET
