WWE valet Virgil shakes hands with On The Beat Editor Scott Frost. He was selling his autographs for $15 and posing for pictures.
CONEY ISLAND, NY - A former WWE valet tells On the Beat he too sees the comparisons of LeBron James' banding with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh for the Miami Heat next season to Hulk Hogan's decision to turn heel and join the nWo in 1996.
Virgil, real name Mike Jones, was selling his soul on the Coney Island Boardwalk last Saturday when he was stopped by On the Beat and asked about the comparison.
Virgil, best known as Ted "The Million Dollar Man" DiBiase's money holder/manager/indentured servant for the then WWF in the '80s and ''90s, was a valet for the nWo - taking the brunt of most battles as he was usually thrown to the wolves as a decoy so that the rest of the crew was able to sneak in for the kill. He was one of a few jobbers for the nWo and was thought to be out of wrestling. He's back on WWE TV now, though, in a feud with Ted's kid. "I'm going to take Ted's title at Wrestlemania," Virgil said in the only promo I ever heard him do.
At first Virgil didn't see the correlation between the Hulkster's move to the NwO and LeBron's evil switch over to the Wade's Heat.
"Nah," Virgil said, when asked the question.
"But you know what," he said after pondering for a minute. "I can see that.
"But he's going to bring home a title."
Found it a bit surprising that Virgil hadn't heard the comparison. It had been a topic of juxtaposition among sports morning shows and on the net (see some funny videos below - thanks to Queens Mike, who's also pictured shaking Virgil's hand).
Well, he had been hit in the head a few times - maybe even more than your average wrestler. He's Canadian, too.
PHILADELPHIA - If there's one band that's excelled in the in-between songs it's We Are Scientists.
The New York rockers kept the atmosphere jovial at Philly's Johnny Brendas on July 15. And the inside sweat shop - with the air conditioning hardly cooling down the band's on-stage antics - played along.
"We made a lot of mistakes in Philadelphia," said bass player Chris Cain, "and never paid for one of them."
Not sure what Cain was talking about, but We Are Scientists have the reputation of using comedy to explain themselves while also being the life of the party. Rumor has it singer Keith Murray showed up to a SXSW gig so intoxicated he was barely able to perform. And that had to be a shame, because every time On The Beat's in attendance - be it at a mega fest like Coachella or inside a tiny club like Asbury Park's Wonder Bar - the trio always delivers. It was also good for them that Philadelphia was ready for a good old shake down. In fact the packed house passed on the struggle of extreme humidity to jiggle along from first to last song.
The guys played nearly every song off the new record, "Barbara" - including the single "Rules Don't Stop" - but the most shaking came during the "oh ... oh ... ohs" in the almost five-years-old track, "Nobody Move Nobody Gets Hurt" and the closer, "After Hours."
Probably one of the best live sets I've seen this year. It just rocked my socks off.
The Trenton trio’s rock ’n’ roll flow ridin’ tends to skin the concrete between alt-glam Stone Temple Pilots and screamy, sci-fi power punk. But that’s changed. On The Beat’s learned the gang is working on two new singles expected to drop in the winter time, featuring a “radio-ready with integrity” delivery aimed at Muse and Foo Fighters fans. “Crying Out,” the only song available on the band’s MySpace right now, is a suicide dive of punk grime that’s been an On The Beat fave for a couple years now. A staple of their live shows, it should be the highlight of tonight’s free acoustic jam at the Hot Topic at The Quaker Bridge Mall (3320 Quaker Bridge Road, Lawrence) tonight. Show starts at 7.All-ages.
The Woodbridge rockers’ perplexing opera punk mixes Mike Patton vocal posturing with Sonic Youth. The foursome’s seven-month siesta since releasing its “Done Waiting For The Day” last summer ends with a performance at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) tonight. Show starts at 9. Sludge punks, The Sex Zombies, play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
Hear a bit of Propaghandi in the Ewing trio’s head-spinning thrash-punk these days. Also gaining an appreciation for the whirl-winding progressive psycho shreds in the guitars and unapologetic bark. If only NoFX was still looking for the perfect opener to their 1996 “Eating Lamb” tour these guys – banded together for the first time two years later – would be set. Going to fight the good fight, though, with a nationwide tour that begins in Baltimore next week with stops in Kansas City, Denver and Seattle. A hometown warm up date starts it all off at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night. Show starts at 6. Pistol Monk, Amalgama, Live Set Disaster and A Call To Arms round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. All-ages.
The Princeton rubber-room rapper mixes up his slippery rhyme style with the Trenton free-for-all grunge-core sound slayers for what should be an event of pandemonious proportions at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night. Roebus - On the Beat’s favorite word technician – said he’s been working with DEMO for a few months now, and that the rock band will make a major musical impact to the follow-up to 2009’s “Reflections of Goodbye.” “We jammed one night and recorded a few songs. I freestyled a bit and played drums on one song,” Roebus tells On The Beat. “They are like the music I hear in my head before I even met them.” For fans of El-P and “The Judgment Night” soundtrack.Show starts at 9. Stampy Goblyn plays, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Welsh guitarist from bluesy Brits Sovoy Brown headlines The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tomorrow night. His acoustic solo work is said to be on the jazzy side, which is a contrast to the electricity of Simmonds’ time with Savory Brown. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $18 at the door. All-ages.
Southern rock ’n’ roll with a poly-minded Rage Against the Machine rap attack for Faith No More and Pearl Jam fans is what’s on the menu when this local trio headline The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. Trenton’s Honah Lee (Philo, Moscow Girls), The Wait and The Turnpike Sailors round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
The beach-bumming shoegazers – think a soft and spacey My Bloody Valentine high on daffodils – headline Asbury Lanes (209 4th Ave., Asbury Park) tomorrow night. Also for fans of A Perfect Circle and Radiohead instrumentals. Show starts at 8. Dr. Void & The Death Machines, Status Green, The Obvious and DJ Jim Curran round out the bill. Tickets cost $10. 18-plus.
The punk-core players headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday afternoon. Show starts at noon. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The Hawaii power-pop tour warriors released “There’s No Place Like Home” in June. It’s infectiously melodic stuff with harmony-laden breakdowns topped off with aggro sing-along choruses like Four Year Strong. The tour hits The Mill Hill Basement (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) Saturday night. Show starts at 5. Illusionist, This Is Our Fight and Cowabunga open. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The New York City ska lords - who dropped “Steal My Sound” in May - are more hyper than The Skatalites but are cut from the same cloth in relation to the music’s island rhythm tradition. Third-wave ska in its labeling, their rock ’n’ roll and punk additives were also born out of the spirit of the scene’s new wave chart toppers, Bad Manners and The English Beat. For fans of The Toasters and aging hot chicks in plaid skirts, too. With some “ska saved up for a rainy day” at their disposal, the gang is all set to headline The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
The Trenton alt rockers – think post-stoney Queens of Stone Age – hit up The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Blind Man Drive plays, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
The perpetually heart-broken Hamilton high schoolers recently woke up from their strength-saving slumber to play a few shows – including a co-headlining spot with Reckless at Brewsters (529 Route 130 N, East Windsor) Sunday afternoon. Right before their hiatus it looked like their bittersweet harmonies and tempestuous lyrical cries – think Circa Survive or Cursive – had set them up as the top teen attraction around. Well, singer Jeff Del Valle tells On The Beat that there’s new material in the works to sob over, and that some of those tunes will be on display this weekend. Show starts at 1. Here and Now, The Central Fuse and Paul Bedford round out the bill. Tickets cost $5. All-ages.
The bluegrass blitzing Stillwater roots rockers headline The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Saturday night. Show starts at 5. Assembly of Dust opens. Tickets cost $25 in advance, $30 at the door. All-ages.
The kill-core metallic masochists - whose name is defined as a type of brain trauma that causes its victims to forget words and names – headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Sunday afternoon. Show starts at 2. Battleships, In Wake Of the Plague, ArchaeuM, Morgan’s Accident, Angel Of Fire, Yours Truly and Assayer play, too. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
Still getting lifted after more than 20 years on the hip-hop circuit, the cannabis crusaders dropped “Rise Up” earlier this year – their eighth studio effort. Not much of a departure from the Latin lingo-ing rap-rock mashing they’ve done on their past record, the newest features guitar work from Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) a Spanish soiree from crunker Pitbull and a sonnet from Marc Anthony. They’ll get smoked out with ragga-dub fusionists Slightly Stoopid at the Stone Pony Summer Stage (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Sunday night. Show starts at 5. Collie Buddz with The New Kingston Band play, too. Tickets cost $37.50 in advance, $40 at the door. All-ages.
1996’s “Joe Black” is a four-minute hell-riding explosion of murderous woofs and grating musicianship that not only helped establish the Florida death metal champions’ violent hostility as among the most extreme music in the world, but also set the bar for all heavy music to follow. They’ve had tons of lineup changes over the years, but have always remained brutally minded. Original bassist Jason Blachowicz stopped tattooing for a living to record “Invidious Dominion” – Malevolent Creation’s 11th studio album, due out August 24 on Nuclear Blast. He told metalunderground.com the new offering “is going to rip the weak and feeble to shreds.” Cool! There’ll be something fresh to melt your brain to when the hate-breeders hit up Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Wednesday night. Show starts at 4. Misery Index, Gigan, Anticosm, Her Virgin Womb, Death Sick, I Am The Trireme, Hadean Reign and Hydro Shock play, too. Tickets cost $15. All-ages.
Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian and at www.trentonian.com every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com.
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DiBiase's money holder/manager/indentured servant for the then WWF in the '80s and ''90s, was a valet for the nWo - taking the brunt of most battles as he was usually thrown to the wolves as a decoy so that the rest of the crew was able to sneak in for the kill. He was one of a few jobbers for the nWo and was thought to be out of wrestling. He's back on WWE TV now, though, in a feud with Ted's kid. "I'm going to take Ted's title at Wrestlemania," Virgil said in the only promo I ever heard him do.
DiBiase's money holder/manager/indentured servant for the then WWF in the '80s and ''90s, was a valet for the nWo - taking the brunt of most battles as he was usually thrown to the wolves as a decoy so that the rest of the crew was able to sneak in for the kill. He was one of a few jobbers for the nWo and was thought to be out of wrestling. He's back on WWE TV now, though, in a feud with Ted's kid. "I'm going to take Ted's title at Wrestlemania," Virgil said in the only promo I ever heard him do.
