The Dark Stuff is an online music magazine and podcast that focuses primarily (though not exclusively) on independent artists that perform in Omaha, Nebraska and the Midwest.
Help celebrate an 80's metal Festivus with Dave and Erika! Today's video is the 12th episode of Rock of Aging, and it's our first ever holiday show.
For this special episode, we decided to celebrate the "alternative" holiday of FESTIVUS, as celebrated on the TV show, Seinfeld. With an 80s metal vibe, we'll be airing our grievances, offering up Festivus miracles, and maybe even our feats of strength!
We hope you'll love this episode. Please leave your grievances in the comments!
Today's video is the seventh episode of "Rock of Aging." In this series, my co-host Erika and I are exploring the depths of our "hair metal" past as well as trying to discover what it is about the music of that era that has kept us captivated for decades. Rock of Aging is your go-to spot for 80s metal and conversation!
This month, we are offering up our picks for "Five Essential Hair Metal Albums to Start Your Collection." We each pick five (and two runners up) and offer up our reasons for why they must be included!
These picks are a place to start, that's all.
Welcome to the newest edition of "This Year's Week" -- my wrap-up video of everything happening in the world of The Dark Stuff.
There's new music from KISS, The Replacements, and members of The Bangles to discuss, as well as some recent concerts from Bob Dylan and The Spirit of 1989 "hair metal" tour featuring Trixter, Enuff Z'Nuff, and Pretty Boy Floyd. This week gave us Record Store Day, and naturally, I had to partake.
I also have a rant about "no phone" shows and this month's playlist.
Today's video is the fourth episode of the "Rock of Aging" series. In this series, my co-host Erika and I will be exploring the depths of our "hair metal" past as well as trying to discover what it is about the music of that era that has kept us captivated for decades. It's your new, go-to spot for 80s metal news and conversation!
This month, we do a "deep dive" into Bon Jovi's second album, 7800° Fahrenheit. The album came out 40 years ago this month, and is a divisive record in the band's celebrated catalog. Jon Bon Jovi himself doesn't care for it, but the album remains a fan favorite.
Erika and I offer up our "origin story" as to how we initially heard the record and became fans. Then, we go track by track through the album and give our thoughts on each one! How does the album hold up after 40 years? Why is this album generally ignored by the band during its live shows? Is it bad? Is it underrated? Overrated? What do you think?
This month's video is the third episode of the "Rock of Aging" series. In this series, my co-host Erika and I will be exploring the depths of our "hair metal" past as well as trying to discover what it is about the music of that era that has kept us captivated for decades. It's your new, go-to spot for 80s metal news and conversation!
In this month's episode, we begin with a little bit of news on the solo band tour from Gene Simmons of KISS. Is this something you are planning to attend? Why? Why not?
After the news, we immediately jump - head first - into our selections for best, underappreciated or unknown 80s metal bands. These are hardly the only ones we could have chosen. I'm guessing we'll be revisiting this subject again...
In this episode, we talk about Electric Boys, Lillian Axe, Kix, Bonham, Rock City Angels, and Black 'N Blue.
Do you have any recommendations for "lost" or "unsung" 80s metal bands you'd like us to check out? Leave them in the comments!
In my newest installment of "Concert Tales," I take you back to a November 1987 show from KISS and White Lion.
In 1987, I was 16 years old, and I could finally drive myself to concerts (no more begging for rides from Mom). I had learned, by then, that many of the bands that perform at the Omaha Civic Auditorium stay at the nearby Red Lion Inn hotel. November 27, 1987 was a Friday, and it was the day after Thanksgiving that year. Omaha was in the midst of a two day snowstorm, but I decided to drive down to the Red Lion on the off chance I might meet someone from KISS.
I had already met the band on the previous tour, but I was at the height of my fandom at this time, and I needed more! I spotted Gene Simmons dining alone in the hotel's restaurant, and I approached him. He invited me to sit with him, and I proceeded to do a spontaneous interview with the rock legend.
Later that night, my friend and I hit the Civic Auditorium Arena to KISS and opening act, White Lion. For a variety of reasons, we were among the few, the proud, who went to this particular KISS concert. In the newspaper the next day, the attendance was reported as 2,592. The place was pretty empty. Regardless, KISS put on their usual, high energy show, and I loved it.
I hope you enjoy this trip down hair metal memory lane...
Welcome back, friends, and thanks for watching my latest video. This week, I caught the band Faster Pussycat at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha. When I was a teenager, I loved this band; but to be honest, I had lost track of them by about 1990.
I still have fond memories of Faster Pussycat, so I threw on their debut record from '87 to see what I thought today. I dug it. Very early Aerosmith vibe -- and lead singer Taime Downe's voice is a little bit Steven Tyler and a little bit Darby Crash. That sealed the deal, I was going to go to the show.
A lot of time has passed since May 1990 when I saw Faster Pussycat open for KISS. The current version of the band features only lead singer Taime Downe from that period. I had no real expectations going in.
Faster Pussycat 2024 is a harder, grittier rock band than they were back in the day. They played an impressive set that featured all the classics from the first two records, as well as some newer material and a surprising cover song. It was a great night.
There were four openers for the show (way too many, imho), but I only caught two.
Hello, friends, and welcome to the latest video. This week, I continue to mine the depths of my hair metal past with a series of collaborative videos with the Youtube channel, lostmixtapes (https://www.youtube.com/@lostmixtapes). If you're familiar with either of our channels, you probably associate them more with Alternative, indie, or singer/songwriter type of music. But did you know that we both share something of a heavy metal youth?
We were both teenagers in the 1980s, and we both became transfixed with metal before we left elementary school! We wanted to do this video to try and explain how we became so fascinated with this music, and why some of those artists continue to remain fascinating to this day.
Further into the video, we discuss things like drawing band logos on your school books, who actually "killed" hair metal, bands that used to frighten us as kids, and the dividing lines drawn between glam or "hair" metal and thrash metal. This is part one of a two part video. Part Two will be linked once it is posted.
Welcome back, friends. In today's video, I am taking you back to hair metal's glory days -- 1987. On February 10, 1987, I caught Ratt for the third time at the Omaha Civic Auditorium (R.I.P.). This was Ratt at its peak! Touring in support of its third platinum record in a row, Ratt had its biggest stage show ever. On this leg of the tour, young upstarts Poison were opening the shows. Poison's debut LP, Look What the Cat Dragged In, had been out for about eight or nine months at that point.
Since we met back in the 8th grade, my friend, Matt, and I shared an obsession with hard rock and heavy metal. We saw pretty much every metal show in Omaha together from, maybe, 1985 to 1989. At some point in '86, we got the bright idea to start our own magazine/fanzine. My Mom's side hustle at the time was a stationary business. So, we created a logo and had letterhead made. We were both 15 years old.
Before publishing a single page, we were able to parlay our new endeavor into a free pair of tickets to see Ratt...AND a photo pass! This was nuts. All we had was letterhead. Seriously.
Earlier in the day, we went to meet Poison who were doing an in-store signing at the Homer's location in Bellevue, Nebraska. It was weird seeing them without all the girly make-up from the album cover and the videos. I got my album signed by all the guys.
For those who weren't around in that time, you need to remember that people didn't just carry a camera around with them wherever they went. Photography was prohibited at concerts back then, and to take any pictures, I had to sneak a camera into the arena inside my pants. I feel lucky I was able to get any pictures of this stuff at all.
Australian alternative rock legends, The Church, made a rare appearance in Omaha last night. The band performed at The Waiting Room, and treated the audience to two full sets of music encompassing their entire 40+ year career. I will have video on my YouTube channel shortly.
Here is my full length review of the recent L.A. Guns show (along with Tom Keifer Band) at Steelhouse Omaha. I wasn't planning to do an entire video about the gig, but ended up liking the show a lot more than expected.
For this video, I tried something different. I called it, "My Sweet 16," and I am discussing the Top 16 albums from the year I turned 16. In my case, that took place way back in 1987. Hope you dig it.
