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Results: It was only a matter of time: there are now officially no Gen Xers left in the ToR, as a great Boomer legend waxes U2 … by nearly a two-to-one margin. Wow, on so many levels. The numbers: #5 Neil Young 65%; #1 U2 35%. NY moves on to the Great Eight.
Up next, our search for the greatest Baby Boomer band of all time takes you to the Hollywood Bowl region where the heavy favorite awaits another challenger. Can Elvis pull off the biggest upset ever?
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Results: I know. It’s only rock & roll. But I like it. So, too, do our voters, although it was a pretty good race from wire to wire. The numbers: #2 The Rolling Stones 54%; #3 David Bowie 46%. The Stones move on to the Great Eight.
Up next, our search for the greatest band of all time takes you to the Red Rocks region. In the red corner, a band that’s had the same lineup since day one. In the blue corner, an artist who has established his greatness in three different incarnations. Get your thinking caps on, kiddies.
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Results: We’re stunned. In perhaps the biggest upset so far, The Police led virtually wire to wire (although the margin was never more than a few votes) and dismissed the man who invented folk rock. The numbers: #4 The Police 55%; #1 Bob Dylan 45%. The Police advance to the Great Eight. Dizzamn.
Up next, our search for the greatest band of all time stays in the Budokan region for a throwdown between two of the most influential acts in history. Ought to be fun.
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Update 2: The poll is closed. For some reason PollDaddy is having technical issues and as a result you can still vote. However, we have a final tally as of 11 am MST and no further votes are being accepted. Sorry about this.
UPDATE: As much as we love The Police, we never expected this match to be so close. But here it is – 8am, neck-and-neck. We’ll leave the polls open until around 11, so if you haven’t yet voted, please step into the booth…
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Results: Can it ever be an upset when the favorite wins? Honestly, even though they’re seeded higher, it has to be a bit of a surprise that The Clash managed to beat “the voice of Generation X.” Or maybe it isn’t… The numbers: #2 The Clash 55%; #3 Nirvana 45%. I don’t klnow about the Casbah, but The Clash will be rocking the Great 8. Full Story »
 They say money can’t buy happiness. The same also goes for celebrity, and even the status that accompanies being among the best in the world at your profession. We’ve had ample demonstration of this in recent days.
Robert Enke, the goaltender for Hannover 96 (who currently hover in the middle of the German Bundesliga standings) and a potential member of next year’s German World Cup team, died the other day. His death was apparently a suicide.
“At 1825 (1725GMT) he was run over by a regional express train running between Hamburg and Bremen,” said police spokesman Stefan Wittke. “The train was travelling at the speed of 160-kph.”The player’s friend and consultant Joerg Neblung told reporters: “I can confirm this is a case of suicide. He took his own life just before six (pm).
Enke lost a child in 2006 and has left behind a wife and eight month-old daughter. Full Story »
Results: It was a see-saw battle where each artist surged dramatically, but Zep surged hardest and latest. The numbers: #1 Led Zeppelin 60%; #5 Jimi Hendrix 40%. Led Zeppelin is into the Great 8.
Up next – since our quest for the greatest band of all time tortured Boomers in the last pod, it seems only fair that we provide equal opportunity for Gen Xers to tear their hair out trying to decide between two of the bands that defined th-th-th-their generation. There aren’t any wrong answers here, although there are lots and lots of bad reasons. Let the anguish commence.
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Results: I suppose when a #3 seed beats a #2 seed and the #3 seed is one of the most important and influential bands of all time it’s hard to call it an upset, huh? The numbers: #3 The Who 66%; #2 Bruce Springsteen/E Street Band 34%. The Who are our first band into the Great 8.
Now let’s truck the tournament to name the greatest band of all time out to the Fillmore region and see if we can’t incite fans of incendiary hard rock guitar into a galloping hissy fit.
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Welcome back to the Scholars & Rogues quest for the greatest band of all time. Let the Sweet 16 commence. It’s now one-on-one, and our first head-to-head features two of the most dynamic bands – both in the studio and in concert – in history. Your contestants:
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Please have a look at the Tournament of Rock – Legends logo.
As you can see, it features a red guitar. But that’s not just any red guitar, ladies and gentlemen. That’s a very specific and very famous guitar.
For ten points, name that guitar.
Our last pod ended the Great 48 on a subdued note. Nirvana won handily, but voter turnout was low. Does this mean trouble for “the voice of Generation X” at the next level? We’ll know soon enough. The numbers: #3 Nirvana 56%; #8 John Mellencamp 32%; Los Lobos 12%. Full Story »
What. The. Fuck.
 Results: About what you’d expect – The Stones laid an Altamont on all comers. Maybe they’ll find stiffer competition at the next level. The numbers: #2 The Rolling Stones 80%; #7 Bob Marley/Wailers 13%; #10 The Sex Pistols 7%. Stones advance to the Sweet 16.
And now, the final Great 48 pod in our search for the greatest band of all time. Let’s head out to the Red Rocks region for a throwdown hosted by one of the most important game-changers in rock history.
Polls close tomorrow. Full Story »
 Results: Boomer legend nard-stomps Xer legend. In other news, sun rises in East. The numbers: #5 Jimi Hendrix 67%; #4 REM 24%; Joan Jett/Blackhearts 10%. Jimi advances to the Sweet 16.
Up next, our quest to find the greatest band of all time slides over to the Budokan region, where one of the stronger candidates to unhorse The Beatles looks to start it up.
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 Horror of the “gothic” variety that occupied so much of the conversation between Byron and the Shelleys (these would be the conversations that ultimately gave rise to Frankenstein) has traditionally traded in some easily recognizable tropes. Among the most common are your haunted places. Swamps and moors are always a little scary. Graveyards and crypts, of course. Transylvania.
And then there’s haunted houses. Dark mansions, castles on top of hills. Abandoned homes where terrible things once happened. Subdivisions built on top of Indian burial grounds. And so on. Full Story »
 Results: Surprise! The Beatles win! *ahem* Okay, so maybe we all saw that coming. Still, Zappa thumping The Beach Boys this hard for second? Interesting things happen in the battle for second, too – not that it impacts the rest of the competition, of course. The numbers: #1 The Beatles 72%; Frank Zappa 22%; #6 The Beach Boys/Brian Wilson 6%. Fabs advance to the Sweet 16. (By the way – we’ve had a couple of Pope John Pauls. Why no Pope George Ringo?)
Three pods left in the Great 48. So let’s head our search for the greatest band of all time out to the Fillmore region, where the band that defined the Southern Gothic sound for the Alternative era hosts what promises to be a very challenging match. (Once again, let’s see if we can make voters hate themselves…) Full Story »
 Results: Not only was this one of the tightest contests yet in terms of victory margin, it was also a case where the arguments to be made in favor of one artist or another were anything but definitive. In the end, Elvis nudges The Ramones. Hey, we asked for drama. The numbers: #4 Elvis Costello 43%; #5 The Ramones 39%; ZZ Top 18%. Mr. McManus advances to the Sweet 16.
All the drama is wearing us down, so move our search for the greatest band of all time to the top of the Hollywood Bowl region where four lads from Liverpool begin their ritual march to a preordained coronation. Or do they? Let’s see if we can’t make it a little hard on them, at least. Full Story »
When we think about Halloween and art, we sort of automatically think of film. And why not. We have a decades-long library of movies designed to scare the pants off us. But there are some bands out there working the shadows with their music, as well. While it’s unfair to dismiss so many talented artists as Halloween acts – because talented and unconventional is cool 24/7/365 – it’s also true that during this week the veil between the mundane and arcane grows thin.
So, to help you prepare your playlist, here are some of our scary music favorites.
First, from Toronto, one of the absolute best darkpop bands in the world, The Birthday Massacre. This is their video for “Blue”: Full Story »
 Results: Top-seeded U2 looked poised to be our highest-ranked upset victim yet as of last night, but then put on a strong finishing kick to win one of the strongest pods we’ve seen yet. The numbers: #1 U2 56%; #6 Queen 37%; #12 Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne 8%. U2 advances to the Sweet 16.
Our search for the greatest band of all time now moves to the Hollywood Bowl region and an artist who walked away from the music that had made him one of the biggest names in the world to follow his own curious muse. Full Story »
 Results: Well, the top seeds are on a roll now, and this time there wasn’t even a hint of drama to be had, as “Which one’s Pink?” Floyd administered the worst butt-kicking we’ve seen so far. The numbers: #2 Pink Floyd 88%; The Kinks 9%; Robert Palmer 2%. Floyd advances to the Sweet 16, where hopefully they can find a little competition.
Speaking of competition, we may encounter a little now as our search for the greatest band of all time heads out to the Red Rocks region. There, the band that defined Red Rocks in the minds of millions hosts a pod that’s packed with peril. Full Story »
Well, ArtsWeek sure has been fun, huh? Great posts, great reviews and interviews, great photography – makes you wish it happened more often, doesn’t it?
Well, there’s no rule that says it can’t. So let’s do it again, and this week, in honor of Samhain (that’s “Halloween” to most of you), let’s focus on the darkness that lies within us all….
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