The Capri Lounge: Rants and Raves from Rolling Stone's Editors

Kyle Anderson

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Summer Festival Observations: The Demos and B-Sides Edition

August 20, 2008 12:09 PM

The summer festival season is almost over (though RS.com will still be live at this weekend's Outside Lands event, as well as Austin City Limits, Bumbershoot and others down the road), and having attended two of the bigger events myself and edited much of the rest of the content on the site, I feel as though I've seen every set in every field in every city in America. There are a whole bunch of patterns that developed and observations I made on the ground that didn't have any room in the blog posts themselves. Luckily, all of my leftover thoughts can live here — think of them as the demos and b-sides of the actual posts. Enjoy!

• One of the most amazing moments of Lollapalooza was when I was walking to see the Black Keys and saw Jason Segal. Upon further inspection, I realized that it in fact was not Jason Segal, but clearly a gentleman who had decided that looking like Jason Segal was a good idea. He clearly wanted everybody to think he was Jason Segal. A strange choice.

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The Capri Lounge Interview: Jimmy Jacobs

August 1, 2008 9:02 AM

There's a big event this weekend. Sure, Lollapalooza is in Chicago, but in New York my favorite wrestling promotion Ring of Honor is staging their "Death Before Dishonor VI" show on Saturday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Jimmy Jacobs, one half of the Ring of Honor tag team champions and a guy whose character should be familiar to anybody who has ever shopped at Hot Topic or attended the Warped Tour.

When did you first get into wrestling? I can't pinpoint it down to one exact time. I know I was a big fan when I was in the 1st grade. I went to a WWF show and bought a pair of Brett Hart sunglasses and told everyone at school the next day that Brett gave them to me in the front row.

When did you decide to try to break into the business? My older brother broke into wrestling in about 1998. I was 14. I was always a follower, so I just hung around with him and helped do whatever I could at shows, like set up ring or set up chairs. After about a year, one of the guys trained me and I was all about it. I have no idea why, but here I am I guess 9 years later. I really have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea at 15 other than the fact that I was a fan. But, I guess we all want to make a living doing what you like. I'm fortunate to be one of the minority that actually does.

Have you had to hold down a lot of other jobs while you've been wrestling? When I started, I was still going to high school. Then I was moving furniture from about 16 to 19. Then I started going to college. And then, the day I realized I’d probably never have a real job or go to college again was a great day in my life.

What happened?

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To the Guy Sitting Next to Me in Full Joker Make-Up Last Night: You and Your Kind Frighten Me

July 18, 2008 12:07 PM

I went to a midnight screening of The Dark Knight last night because I am a dork. I arrived at the theater a little before 10 PM, and there was already an intense line outside the theater. Many people were in costume (including several fans in "Elect Harvey Dent" garb), but the dude who took the cake was wearing an exact recreation of the Joker's make-up in the movie. I ended up sitting right next to this guy in the theater, and initially I thought it was charming (I dressed up for a movie once, though it's too embarrassing to reveal here). However, as the movie unfolded, the make-up dude became more and more disturbing. This is a testament to Heath Ledger's performance, as he frightened and disturbed me so much that I completely forgot about the fact that it was Ledger's last role. Something horrible would happen on screen, and I was constantly looking to my left to make sure the guy in the make-up wasn't trying to recreate it.

So, to the dude in the Joker make-up sitting next to me last night: if your goal was to freak out the squares (like me), then mission accomplished.


Is "American Gladiators" Really The Best MTV Can Do?

July 7, 2008 1:12 PM

I had a very nice Fourth of July long weekend, thanks for asking. After a few days of basking in the glory of independence and not having to be at work, I wanted to kick back on Sunday afternoon and enjoy some television. I had no interest in Wimbledon nor the hours of Christmas movies running on the Lifetime Movie Network, so I turned to an old failsafe at MTV with the knowledge they normally reserve their Sunday afternoons for reruns of America's Next Top Model. Imagine my surprise when Hulk Hogan was calling somebody "Brother" on the set of American Gladiators. This caused a short circuit in my brain so profound that I'd like MTV to explain themselves.

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I Don't Feel Bad For Shania Twain Because I Worked For Her Once

June 10, 2008 1:46 PM

Just a disclaimer: The following story will probably damage my cred, both specifically as a rock critic and generally as a human being, but many people insist I tell this tale. So enjoy this knowing that I'm risking my psychological health and whatever is left of my dignity.

Much has been made in the past few weeks of the end of the marriage between country crossover sensation Shania Twain and '80s hair metal producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Most of the public sympathy seems to have landed on the side of Shania, as Lange appears to have cheated on his wife with a mutual friend of theirs. I'm not the sort of guy to condone cheating, but if Lange's personal experience with Shania was anything like mine, then I'm surprised he lasted that long. Of course, I was never involved in a relationship with Shania (if I was, you can bet I wouldn't be giving my story away for free on this fine blog), but rather as an unofficial employee. For in the summer of 1998, I was a member of Shania Twain's touring band.

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Britney Spears Hearts Radiohead: The Transcript

May 8, 2008 3:03 PM

Britney Spears was spotted carrying a copy of Radiohead's In Rainbows. Below is the exclusive transcript of the conversation that led up to this historic photograph.

Britney: All this time in court has made me sluggish, y'all. I need to get to the gym, especially if I'm going to gorge myself on those crazy Tim McGraw Fritos.

Anonymous Hanger-On: Would you like to listen to some music while you're at the gym, Brit?

Britney: I love listening to music while I'm on the Stairmaster y'all, but I lost my magic box that played music.

AHO: You mean your iPod?

Britney: Whatever y'all.

AHO: Well, I've got a CD player you can borrow.

Britney: I remember CDs! I used to sell millions of those a week.

AHO: What CDs would you like to bring?

Britney: I don't have any CDs, y'all.

AHO: What happened? You had a big collection!

Britney: I got hungry, y'all!

AHO: You ate plastic compact discs?

Britney: I thought they were Fritos, y'all.

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The Capri Lounge Interview: Jonny Fairplay

April 23, 2008 4:11 PM

As an online editor at Rolling Stone, I get a lot of pitches. Most of them are for up and coming bands, while sometimes a random celebrity will be presented to me. Every once in a while I'll get a pitch for somebody that I love but know I can't use for any sort of content on the site. Luckily, the invention of this blog has thrown the doors open for all sorts of people who otherwise would be excluded from the Rolling Stone universe. That's why I got super-excited when somebody called me and asked if I wanted to talk to Jonny Fairplay. Normally I would have to say, "I'm not sure we could do anything with him," but this time I got to say, "Fuck yes." Fairplay, who will be appearing with Billy Corgan-approved wrestling promotion Ring of Honor in New York on May 10, talked about wrestling, Survivor, his fight with Danny Bonaduce and his incredibly strange brand of fame.

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Miley Cyrus Is Just Like Any Other Kid on YouTube, Except Rich

April 14, 2008 1:02 PM

One of my favorite YouTube memes is the phenomenon of teenagers re-enacting dance moves from music videos (had YouTube been around in 2000 at the height of boy-band mania, this would have been even more amazing). Miley Cyrus is not immune to this. In the above video, she goofs around with her friend Mandy for a minute until they somehow morph into a tribute to the video for Madonna & Justin Timberlake's "4 Minutes." I haven't spent a ton of time contemplating Cyrus' place in the current social fabric (or even in the pop music social fabric), but at least part of the whole pop star alter-ego deal is that Miley is just like you and me (well, not very much like "me," and only like "you" if you're a fifteen year old girl). But I feel like that message keeps getting lost in the fact that she is who she is. During the goofy portions, she's just a teenager making wacky voices at her friend. But then it becomes an expensive video homage, complete with choreography, back up dancers and an obviously hired stand-in for her dancing Grandma. So the message should be: Miley Cyrus is just like you, as long as you're the centerpiece of multi-platform Disney-fueled media empire.

That being said, this is totally awesome and is probably the weirdest thing that a teenage star has done in a long time (at least that doesn't involve pregnancy). The bizarreness is refreshing. But I'm most certainly not the target audience. What's the verdict on this video, and Cyrus in general?


Snoop Dogg Hits Number One (In Music-Related Wrestlemania Moments)

March 31, 2008 2:41 PM

Last night at Wrestlemania XXIV, Snoop Dogg oversaw a women's tag team match that ended with him laying out a guy named Santino Marella. This was awesome for a number of reasons. First, it looked stiff as hell. Secondly, he immediately grabbed downed wrestler Maria and made out with her, because he's a pimp. Also, it was an incredible joy to hear WWE play-by-play guy Jim Ross shout "SNOOP DOGG!" over and over again.

Snoop's clothesline puts him in the top position among music-related Wrestlemania moments. What are the others in the top five? Glad you asked, and feel free to drop your favorites in the comments.

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Tag Team Did Not Have the Market Cornered on "Addams Family" Songs

March 24, 2008 4:20 PM

In reference to my last post, I was reminded over the weekend that the above video actually exists. This is my vote for the "Wackiest Music Video That Incorporates Movie Footage" award (narrowly edging out U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"). What are your votes for most ill-advised soundtrack/cinema crossover?


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