If you don’t have a date, you feel like a miserable loser.  If you didn’t get flowers, no one loves you. And if you do have a signifant somebody, you are guilted into running out to the florists, jewelers, chocolatiers, and card stores to try and find something, anything, so your person will still love you on the 15th. 

So is there really any good reason for all this?  Nope! We tried to dig up some dark and dirty facts about this St. Valentine’s Day thing.    And, you know what? There’s really nothing to say and no concrete history here at all.  At some point about a million years ago, there was a guy named Valentine, or maybe two or three guys named Valentine (nobody really knows for sure), who were apparently killed fighting for their cause.  (What cause, nobody really knows)  And then, one or two or all of them were made Saints.  And later on, even the Catholic Church couldn’t remember why the Valentines were made a saint, and the sainthood was renounced.

So bravo to the silly romantics and greeting card companies for making something out of nothing! 

And then there was Al Capone. He knew how to plan an event that would give this day some real history, so lovingly labeled the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.  And how fitting that a sweet man like Al would not only take out seven of his rival’s best guys in a Chicago parking garage, but make it on a day when the wives and girlfriends of these seven unfortunate souls would have to relive the  heartbreak every year on February 14th. 

We heard from an excellent source that the Florida Underground Music Festival last Saturday, Feb 11th at Bombshells Tavern was pretty awesome.  Should have been there. 

There must be something about the onset of Spring ’cause there’s lots of metal in bloom…..

February 23rd at the Haven - Conquer, From Within, An Effigy Distorted, Deviations

March 4th at the House of Blues – Dropkick Murphys (well, okay – not metal, but we love us a little punk too)

March 17th at the State Theatre in Tampa – Metal Alliance Tour featuring Devildriver, THE FACELESS, Job For A Cowboy, Dying Fetus, 3 Inches Of Blood, and Impending Doom

March 30th at the Haven – The Spring Mutila Tour         

And finally, we are extremely pleased to see the number of views for Rose’s Damned Opinion steadily climbing.  Keep reading and give us  your opinions, and let us know who you’re listening to……

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And old Lang’s eye!”

Ummm…..well, there are definitely a number of old aquaintances and old days that Rose thinks are best forgotten!  However, in the course of one’s time in this world we will encounter many beings and situations that turn out to be heartbreaking, or even horrifying experiences. 

The Universe sends everyone into your life for a reason.  Quite often it’s not the reason that you wanted it to be.  But, the good thing about memory is that it can be selective.  We can choose to put away the memory of  an “auld acquaintance” and recall them only when the anger has dissipated and we are strong enough to reflect upon it and learn from the experience. 

We did some reading up on celebrations and the interesting ways people drive out the bad memories and spirits of the old year so one can start making fresh ones in a new year.

The Celtic (Irish) New Year festival is known as Samhain which meant “summer ends”.  This was celebrated on October 31st.  (Of course, we know this date in the U.S. as Rose’s favorite holiday… Halloween! )  To the Celts this day was considered dangerous because the spirits of the dead returned to earth.  The Celtic priests would go into the woods on New Year’s Eve (October 31st) to gather bunches of mistletoe, to hand out to the people to protect them from harm.  Bonfires were lit to drive away evil forces.

In the Netherlands people burn Christmas trees on street bonfires and let off fireworks to ring in the New Year and as a way of driving out the spirits of the old year.

Our favorite has got to be the Scottish New Year’s Eve celebration of Hogmanay, when people bring a gift of luck (whiskey) to the homes of their family and friends.  The Scots also hold bonfire ceremonies whereby the townsmen parade around swinging giant fireballs on poles overhead. (probably after the good luck whiskey has been drunk)

OOOOOOOOOO

 How awesome is that?  Rose would seriously enjoy the chance to walk through select gatherings swinging giant balls of flame over the heads of those in attendance.

But, now we must turn our attention toward music!

  Alice Cooper

After decades of waiting to see Alice Cooper live, we have finally been graced with the opportunity to witness this spectacle.  The date was December 14th at the Hard Rock Live.  Alice opened with “Black Widow”. 

While you may think that 40 + years as the founding Father of Rock Theatre is way too long to be a good thing, Alice delivered an amazing show backed by a great band.  Over the past four decades Alice’s bands have been made up of some of the best musicians around.  The current line up includes a mix of old and new members; Chuck Garric – Base, Glen Sobel – Drums, Steve Hunter – Guitar, Tommy Henricksen – Guitar;  and the newest addition,  Australian guitarist, Orianthi, who also happens to be the first female musician in Alice’s troop. 

In this new decade, Alice no longer attaches the huge fake house fly to his crotch, nor does he command an armless naked half mannequin to perform naughties on his personal space; and his wardrobe includes alot more fabric than his 1970′s torn up body stocking.  Nonetheless, all the essential Alice toys were present including the guillotine, “Killer” the python, and cold Ethyl.   The show is still a perfect blend of horror film theme, vaudeville humor, and hard rock music.  And four decades later, Alice is still the  ultimate deranged maniacal front man.

So What’s Up This Week?

An Effigy Distorted at the Social on Friday the 13th.   On Saturday night, Wirethrone returns to the Haven.

Rose has some inside information….

*An Effigy Distorted has been recording.  Looking forward to this first EP.

*Spawn of Thirteen should be playing soon at a club near you!

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What’s in Rose’s CD player?  Machine Head – “The Blackening”

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Upcoming Shows that Rose wants to see (and you should too)

January 13th – Florida Metal Showcase VII with An Effigy Distorted  and From Empires to Ashes at the Social

January 14th – Camden Cruz’s Florida Metal Showcase Armageddon with Wirethrone and a ton of other bands at the Haven

February 10th – Florida Metal Showcase VI with Wirethrone and An Effigy Distorted at the Brass Mug in Tampa

February 23rd – An Effigy Distorted and From Within at the Haven

March 3rd – Iced Earth, Symphony X, Warbringer at the House of Blues

March 4th – Dropkick Murphys at the House of Blues

March 17th – Metal Alliance Tour 2012 with Devil Driver, The Faceless, and a ton of other bands

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Look for another opinion soon!