Revenge of the Amateurs

Dan Neil
June 5, 2005

Shane Felux has a name fit for a rebel leader. Felux is a desktop auteur, the producer of the 47-minute "Star Wars" fan film "Revelations." He and his wife spent the last three years and $20,000 building, frame by computer-generated frame, their downloadable epic in their basement in northern Virginia.

Like hundreds of other "Star Wars" fan films—a misnomer, since film is almost never involved—Felux's may be read as a devotional tribute to George Lucas' beloved empire, a monument to misspent geek energy. Check out http://www.atomfilms.com , the Lucasfilm-sanctioned home for fan films on the Internet, and view—free of charge—the winners of the 2005 Star Wars Fan Film Awards. Among them: "Anakin Dynamite," a laser-targeted spoof of Lucas' seething, Sith-ing teen, who gets shoved into a lot of high school lockers.

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Of Basements, Beer and Bread

by Jim Koziowski

"It's been such a long time, I think I should be going'. . Time doesn't wait for me, It keeps on rollin'. . .
Tom Scholz, 'Long Time'

Ironic, in a way, isn't it? Tom Scholz wrote those lines about six years ago now, and after all that time, it only took five months for 'Long Time' and the seven other songs that comprise Boston's first album to saturate the air-waves and achieve double-platinum status, a rare accomplishment indeed. It would seem as if Boston is now moving faster than time, compressing years of touring and recording into one explosive year.

lt began as a whisper early in 1976, with tales of how this extremely talented band with the name "Boston" was going to take the record industry by the collar of its Levi's Leisure Suit and s-h-a-k-e it ever so roughly. Sure, sure, everybody said: every band claims to be Rock's current Messiah, and as for the name, well, 1976 was the You-Know-What Year, after all, and Boston (the city) was attracting lots of national media coverage as one of America's Historic Birthplaces. It would have been easy for people to gloss over, then dismiss, Boston (the band) simply because of the seeming "cash-in" quality of their name. Silly, right'? Well, it happened to some extent when Queen first appeared, for example; a band's name often creates an unwanted backlash.

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Toy Time

Deborah Allard, Herald News Staff Reporter

FALL RIVER -- At 7 a.m., Henry Teixeira put on his Santa hat and balanced himself on his walker at the back of the line at the annual Citizens for Citizens Inc. free toy pick-up.

Folks began lining up at 3:30 a.m. Saturday for the annual event, which will provide toys to some 3,000 needy children this Christmas.

By 9 a.m., the starting time for the Operation Christmas program, the line extended more than a block past CFC s Griffin Street location.

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L.A. Times: Rock and Road Mix

SPECIAL ISSUE | SUMMER TRAVEL
A little hum, a lot of drums beat boredom
Rock and road -- it's a classic mix. Here is a recommended drive-time playlist.
By Joe Benson
Special to The Times

June 19, 2005

As travel heats up, more animals are getting their wings

A great summer driving song  music that virtually propels you toward your next adventure  requires an aggressive beat. An insistent snare drum snap like Charles Connors' on those early Little Richard songs. Propelling percussion like the Allman Brothers Band, Rush or Bob Marley. Granted, even with a strong backbeat, some things drag on too long. That's where compelling interplay makes all the difference.

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More than a feeling for Brad Delp

By Ramiro Burr
San Antonio Express-News

He has been recording and touring with Boston for almost 30 years, but singer Brad Delp says he still gets a charge out of performing.

"Sometimes, every night is like the first time again," Delp said during a tour stop. "When the fans sing along on the songs, it makes it special. Fortunately, it's happened right from the first tour when we went out in '76, which surprised me.

"On that first tour, we went out for two or three weeks after the record came out, and people were singing along with almost every song. And it was unusual back in those days for radio to play anything other than whatever the single was on the record."

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Check out Boston tonight at Starwood

tennessean.com
Friday, 08/20/04

Check out Boston tonight at Starwood. Look for bass player Kimberley Dahme, a Nashville musician who has been with Boston for three years. She'll be easy to spot. Kimberley's more than 6 feet tall and she'll also be the only female on the stage

A Charitable Concert

DANVILLE, Va. - Boston drew a crowd to Carrington Pavilion on Thursday, but promoter Lauren Willis hair was safe as less than 5,000 concert tickets were sold.

Willis of James River Entertainment said he would donate all the net profits from the Boston concert to the Red Cross to be used for the victims of Hurricane Charley. He also said he would have his head shaved on the stage prior to the concert if more than 5,000 tickets were sold.

As of 8:15 p.m., 2,200 tickets had been sold.

Boston took the Carrington stage just before 8 p.m.

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It's been a long time, but Boston's back for another round

BY PHILIP BOOTH CORRESPONDENT
heraldtribune.com
August 20. 2004 5:59AM

TAMPA -- There's nothing complicated about the way Tom Scholz runs Boston, the long-running rock band whose self-titled 1976 debut still ranks as one of the fastest-selling albums of all time.

Scholz, the group's chief guitarist, songwriter and producer, simply issues a call to action. And his bandmates come running, no matter how long it's been since the last album.

A notorious perfectionist, Scholz has decided over the course of nearly three decades to release only five original studio albums, including the band's latest, 2002's "Corporate America."

Boston's method of operation isn't a democracy. But it works.

"By the time I go in to sing, he usually has a pretty good idea, generally, of how the lyrics are gonna go," said Brad Delp, the singer heard on the once omnipresent singles -- "More Than a Feeling," "Long Time," "Don't Look Back" and the chart-topping "Amanda" -- from Boston's first three albums.

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Just another band out of Boston

Published Thursday, August 19, 2004
by Skip Sheffield
bocaratonnews.com

They claim to be  just another band out of Boston, but don t believe it. Classic rock group Boston is one of Beantown s biggest pop phenomenons ever, and they ll be playing their hits live at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Mizner Park Amphitheater in downtown Boca Raton.

The newest incarnation of Boston is anchored by co-founders Tom Scholz on guitar, vocals and keyboards and Brad Delp on vocals and guitar. Kimberley Dahme, the group s first female member, plays bass, sings and contributes to songwriting efforts. Guitarist Anthony Cosmo also sings and writes songs. Anthony s father, Fran Cosmo, contributes vocals and guitar. Gary Pihl adds additional guitar, keyboards and vocal harmonies and Jeff Neal completes the lineup on drums and vocals. It takes a lot of people to create Boston s dense, melodic sound.

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More than an old feeling

Arena rock is celebrated by Boston in impressive outing before sold-out crowd.

Review by ROBERT KINSLER
Special to the Orange County Register

Is time travel possible?

It was on Saturday night, when a capacity crowd journeyed back to the late 1970s with Boston during a satisfying stop at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa.

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