Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. A transplant resident of Las Vegas via Chicago, KD reviews the diverse musical scene that Sin City brings to her doorstep. In her free time, she keeps busy creating the perfect playlist and contributing to the TicketStumbler blog. Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

I did not know what to expect when I walked into the Mirage’s Danny Gans Theatre… and when I found an older crowd dancing in their seats and clapping to pre-show songs such as YMCA and Love Train… I was skeptical to say the least.

As song impersonator, Danny Gans is a definite powerhouse, imitating the likes of Frank Sinatra, Maroon 5, Otis Redding, Dave Matthews, Rod Stewart, James Taylor and even Kenny Chesney. Not only did he nail the tone and pitch of each artist’s songs, but he transformed his body language to perfectly mock each performer’s onstage persona. He provided a movie preview of each performer, and afterwards, I wanted to go out and see all of their concerts. The adeptness in which he quickly transformed from one personality to the next was impressive to say the least. Performing the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with each stanza belonging to a different personality had the audience’s jaws on the floor. Going from Wayne Newton to Larry the Cable Guy to Woody Allen in under three breaths cannot be an easy feat.

Gans also provided needed comedy relief throughout the show by mimicking the likes of Johnny Carson, Jeff Foxworthy, Michael Jackson and Elvis. My friend sitting next to me was in tears by the end of his Redneck jokes and my cheeks were definitely aching from laughing. The only downer on the entire night, in my opinion, was his decision to perform his own song after a lengthy, personal and religious-toned story as well as his choice to end the evening with Broadway musical selections, which I have little knowledge of or appreciation for.

Gans is slated to move to the Wynn shortly, and I would be interested to seeing his new act. However, his “last” shows at the Mirage, locals tell me, will surely be a stunner as well.

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. A transplant resident of Las Vegas via Chicago, KD reviews the diverse musical scene that Sin City brings to her doorstep. In her free time, she keeps busy creating the perfect playlist and contributing to the TicketStumbler blog. Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

I was liberally swerving across the barely visible dashed lines on the two lane highway. My cell phone dropped from my ear and my startled dog perked up at the sudden sideward movement. I gained control of the SVU, hands gripping the wheel at ten and two like a fifteen year old with a learner’s permit, and I persevered. There was no way I could make it another 230 miles to the hotel I had booked in Denver. The freezing ran finally gave way to snow, and as I merged onto I-76, there was only one other brave soul on the road in front of me, calming my irrational fear that no one would notice if I suddenly veered off the highway and into the abyss of the western Nebraska night. The suburban ahead of me paved the way through the accumulating snow in the dead middle of the road, at speeds of twenty to thirty miles per hour. Visibility was complete shit, and there was not a damn light in site. As I continued on for an hour desperately pleading with some greater power to keep my wheels on the road, my parents negotiated a refund on my Denver hotel and found me somewhere to stay 130 miles outside the city. As I wearingly pulled into Sterling, Colorado after fourteen hours of driving, exit ramp signs excitedly warned me against picking up hitchhikers: There was a nearby correctional facility.

The following morning I made it back to the highway at first light, finding dismantled cars in the grassy median like beer cans carelessly strewn in every direction after a frat party. I mentally thanked my parents for convincing me to get off the road and was surprised to find dry weather after the newspaper had forecasted a 70% of hell. I soon approached the purple horizon of mountains and I found myself repeating in my head, “People drive through the Rocky Mountains everyday. I. Will. Be. Fine.” I climbed slowly up the mountainside and into a tunnel, transporting me through the insides of the massive rock. I blinked away the brightness of the tunnel’s end and found one of the most breathtaking sites I have ever seen: The peaks were swimming in a sea of evergreens, blushing with the first kiss of snow. I gawked at the vision before me as I zigzagged down the mountainside, flying at uncontrollable speeds past braking semi-trucks. One turn gave way to another, each sight more spectacular than the last.

I continued through the postcard before me alongside the cliché of Jeeps and found myself on the desert side of the peaks as I closed in on Grand Junction, Colorado. The dusty, dry plateaus held no hint of their jagged, snowy cousins as they confidently sat on each side of the pavement, turning up their nose at the neighboring desert. The cruise control was set at 87 and my hands relaxed on the wheel as I breathed in the stretch of sand in front of me. The rolling earth tones blurred into the horizon as the sun began to retire in the blue sky. On came the Boondock Saints theme song, and a Cheshire Cat grin spread across my face as I catapulted across the empty highway. I had finally made my way into Bryce Canyon, Utah and was provided with just enough sunlight to take in one of the country’s most stunning national parks. The plateaus and towering canyon walls hugged the roadway as I held my one time use camera out the window, clicking and winding like crazy, with the highest of hopes that a picture may do the spectacle before me some justice. As I plummeted down the canyon, night fall was quickly settling in behind the next set of looming mountains and my nerves started to frazzle at the thought of hairpin turns in the dark.

“This is how horror movies start,” kept running through my mind as I glanced up at the sign: “No Services Next 197 Miles.” I opened my cell phone with my steering wheel hand as I drove: “No Service.” Well, shit. The only other cars on the road had all stopped off in Bryce Canyon and I didn’t see any oncoming headlights. The irrational fear that I would silently veer off the mountain and into the abyss of the southern Utah night began to steadily creep back into my mind as my car began to scale the foothills of the mountains.

Somehow, somewhere in Nebraska, the road’s obstacles had waged a war on my confident independence, amplifying my insecurities: A certifiably insane notion as soon as you make it into civilization or even gain a bar of cell phone reception. Trying to explain the sensation to others just makes people look at you like you’re on ‘shrooms trying to illustrate the exquisiteness of Berber-colored carpet. So when I finally curved around a mountainside to find Vegas shining brightly below me, I had been behind the wheel for 16 hours, bringing my grand total to over 30 hours of driving in two days. I rolled into my new life exhausted, with a lap full of Cheez-It crumbs and dog fur. As I unpacked my car the next day, I collected the hundred or so CD’s I had scattered about, knowing now that each song would always bring me back to the open desert highway, the sight of the sun shining through Utah’s famous archways, the frosted purple peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and the euphoric feeling as a valley of lights welcomed me to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. A transplant resident of Las Vegas via Chicago, KD reviews the diverse musical scene that Sin City brings to her doorstep. In her free time, she keeps busy creating the perfect playlist and contributing to the TicketStumbler blog. Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

After accepting a job in Las Vegas several weeks ago, it has been difficult preparing for a life 1,800 miles away from everything I’ve ever known. The past weeks have brought me the warped clarity and sentiment that’s usually reserved for the effects of flooding my brain with two bottles of cheap white wine. I tried to make sense of this new chapter in my life, and sought refuge from the goodbyes, by constructing a playlist for my drive out to Vegas that would reflect my frame of mind. Audible life, as I’ve been known to say.

Studies show that a person’s sense of smell brings fourth the strongest memories, but I disagree. For me, music is a portal, inviting fleeing memories from another lifetime to sit on the front porch of my mind for the duration of a song. People listen to music because they connect to it on some level. Sometimes it’s the melody or the rhythm, sometimes it’s the lyrics, but for me, the music I love is frequently due to the people or moments that the music begs me to recall. I find a lot of music enjoyable, but until I can attach a memory to magnify the song’s effect, it cannot begin to compare to the songs laced with recollections of the people and places that have shaped my life. So, as I pieced this compilation together, it truly has been a labor of love… if not a complete and utter distraction from everything I should have been doing.

There is no easy way to break up a playlist for two days of driving cross-country with an American Dingo dog as your co-pilot, so I decided to break it up geographically. Between playlists, as there is no way I have the time to plan a full 26 hours of music, I will most likely call friends, curse radio commercials or listen to my favorite albums. A lot of the typical “roadtrip anthems” have made it onto my list, because hell- I need something to keep me in the left lane, nervously testing my radar detector’s competence.

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. A transplant resident of Las Vegas via Chicago, KD reviews the diverse musical scene that Sin City brings to her doorstep. In her free time, she keeps busy creating the perfect playlist and contributing to the TicketStumbler blog. Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com. <BR><BR>

Chicago, Illinois to Las Vegas, Nevada
Total Driving Distance: 1,763 miles
Estimated Driving Time: 26 hours

Leaving Illinois

To listen to the Leaving Illinois playlist via FavTape, click on this link.
Driving Distance: 173 mi
Driving Time: 3 Hours

So Long So Long, Dashboard Confessional
Learning to Fly, Tom Petty
City of Lights, U2
Kind and Generous, Natalie Merchant
Get to Me, Train
Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, New Radicals
That Was a Crazy Game of Poker, O.A.R.
I Feel Home, O.A.R.
Have a Little Faith in Me, John Hiatt
Breathe, Anna Nalick
Wonderwall, Oasis
Vegas, Sara Bareilles
Till Kingdom Come, Coldplay
Runnin’ Down a Dream, Tom Petty
Cats and the Cradle, Harry Chapin
The Scientist, Coldplay
Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
Who Knew, Pink
Over My Head (Cable Car), The Fray
Gravity Rides Everything, Modest Mouse
Dreaming Tree, Dave Matthews Band
The Road Less Traveled, Corey Chowder
Someday We’ll Know, New Radicals
Here With Me, Dido
Interstate Love Song, Stone Temple Pilots
Small Town, John Melloncamp
Take Me Home Country Roads, John Denver
Like A Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan
Dammit, Blink 182
Adam’s Song, Blink 182
London Rain, Heather Nova
C’mon Girl, Red Hot Chili Peppers
9:07, Michael Hayes
Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Tom Petty
Love and Memories, O.A.R.
Hey Girl, O.A.R.
Anyway, O.A.R.
Road Outside Columbus, O.A.R.
Black Rock, O.A.R.
About An Hour Ago, O.A.R.
Boston, Augustana
Luven Me, Nelly
Ride Wit Me, Nelly

Plains States; Iowa, Nebraska

To listen to the Plains States playlist via FavTape, click on this link.
Driving Distance: 838 miles
Driving Time: 12 Hours

Rearviewmirror, Pearl Jam
Brandy You’re A Fine Girl, Looking Glass
I’m Like a Bird, Nelly Furtado
Laid, Matt Nathanson
Time For Me To Fly, REO Speedwagon
Big Yellow Taxi, Counting Crows
Brick, Ben Folds Five
Landslide, Smashing Pumpkins
Love You ‘Till the End, The Pogues
Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin
Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
Son of a Preacher Man, Dusty Springfield
November Rain, Guns ‘N Roses
The Adventure, Angels & Airways
Only the Good Die Young, Billy Joel
Chicago City of Shoulders, Andy Davis
The Trouble With Love Is, Kelly Clarkson
Like Lovers Do, Heather Nova
What the World Needs Now is Love, Jackie Deshannon
Take a Picture, Filter
Feels Like Home to Me, Chantal Kreviazuk
Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield
If God Made You, Five For Fighting
Tiny Dancer, Elton John
Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison
Bright Side of the Road, Van Morrison
I Can’t Get Next To You, The Temptations
Stand by Me, The Temptations
Lean on Me, Bill Withers
Breathe Me, Sia
Crash Into Me, Dave Matthews Band
Bartender, Dave Matthews Band
Brighter Than Sunshine, Aqualung
Look What You’ve Done, Jet
Meet Virginia, Train
Blowin’ In the Wind, Bob Dylan
Flying Horses, Dispatch
Already Gone, The Eagles
Round Here, Counting Crows
Back Where I started, Curtis Peoples
Long December, Counting Crows
Lightning Crashes, Live
Muzzle, Smashing Pumpkins
If You Look to the Sky, Train
Mr. Jones, Counting Crows
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Smashing Pumpkins
The General, Dispatch
Hangingaround, Counting Crows
Satellite, Dave Matthews Band
Two Step, Dave Matthews Band
#41, Dave Matthews Band
Tripping Billies, Dave Matthews Band
A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carleton
Drops of Jupiter, Train
Red Red Wine, UB40
Stay (Wasting Time), Dave Matthews Band
Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
Sunday Kind of Love, Etta James
Lover Lay Down, Dave Matthews Band
All Along the Watchtower, Dave Matthews Band
I Alone, Live
Jane Says, Jane’s Addiction
Buddy Holly, Weezer
Subterranean Homesick Blues, Bob Dylan
Everyday, Dave Matthews Band
It Ain’t Me Babe, Bob Dylan
Good Riddance, Green Day
The Joker, Steve Miller Band
Sunday Best, Augustana
Honestly, Cartel
These Are the Days, 10,000 Maniacs
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Such Great Heights, The Postal Service
Open Road Song, Eve 6
Ants Marching, Dave Matthews Band
More Than a Feeling, Boston
Clocks, Coldplay
Flashing Lights, Kayne West
Ecstasy, Rusted Root
Dancing Shoes, Artic Monkeys
This Modern Love, Bloc Party
Just Like a Woman, Bob Dylan
Secret, Maroon 5
Complicated, Poi Dog Pondering
Walking in Memphis, Marc Cohn
Omaha, The Counting Crows
Best of What’s Around, Dave Matthews Band
American Girl, Tom Petty
The Gambler, Kenny Rogers
Any Road, George Harrison
Song for the Dumped, Ben Folds Five
Back In The USA, Chuck Berry
Betterman, Pearl Jam
Days Go By, Keith Urban
What Light, Wilco
Sail Away, Enya
Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Army, Ben Folds Five
Road Trippin, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash
American Woman, Lenny Kravitz
Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash
Glory Days, Bruce Springsteen
Blister in the Sun, Violent Femmes
The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding
Summer of 69, Bryan Adams
Destination Unknown, Smashing Pumpkins
Snow (Hey Oh), Red Hot Chili Peppers
Come Sail Away, by Styx
Carolina in My Mind, James Taylor
Walken, Wilco
Mexico, James Taylor
Somebody Like You, Keith Urban
Country Road, James Taylor
Warehouse, Dave Matthews Band
Songs About, Rob Blackledge
Layla, Eric Clapton
My Next Thirty Years, Tim McGraw
You Ain’t Much Fun, Toby Keith
Keg in the Closet, Kenny Chesney
Ticks, Brad Paisley
Farmhouse, Phish
Fortunate Son, CCR
Las Vegas Orig Mix, Chris W. James
I’ve Got Friends in Low Places, Garth Brooks
Respect, Aretha Franklin
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, Rolling Stones
Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
Good Vibrations, Beach Boys
Imagine, John Lennon
Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen
I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
Yesterday, The Beatles
Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
In The Midnight Hour, Wilson Pickett
Sweet Child O’ Mine, Guns N’ Roses
You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC
Rock & Roll All Night, KISS
Old Time Rock & Roll, Bob Seger
No Woman No Cry, Bob Marley
Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Like A Hurricane, Neil Young
Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis
Let’s Stay Together, Al Green
Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, The Temptations
Strawberry Fields Forever, Beatles
Billie Jean, Michael Jackson
Teenage Wasteland, CCR
Tainted Love, Soft Cell
Faith, George Michael
Rockin’ in The Free World, Neil Young
God Only Knows, The Beach Boys
Bad Moon Rising, CCR
Hurricane, Bob Dylan
The District, Adam Richman
Thanks I Get, Wilco
Wicked Little Town, Ben Kweller
Raise It Up, Impact Repertory
Price of Gas, Bloc Party
Can’t Escape My Love, Enrique Iglesias
Homecoming, Kayne West
Hey Mam, Kayne West
Ugly, Bubba Sparxx
Hate it or Love It, The Game
Roses, Kayne West
Scotty Doesn’t Know, Lustra
Body On Me, Nelly
Self Esteem, Nelly
Greed Hate Envy, Nelly
Happy Valentine’s Day, OutKast
The Seed (2.0), The Roots
Corona and Lime, Shwayze
Say it Right, Nelly Furtado
Shut Up and Drive, Rihanna
American Boy, Estelle
For Once in My Life, Stevie Wonder
All Summer Long, Hit Masters
Don’t Turn Around, Ace of Base
The Sign, Ace of Base

DAY TWO

Rocky Mountains, Colorado

To listen to the Rocky Mountains playlist via FavTape, click on this link.
Driving Distance: 248 miles
Driving Time: 4 Hours

Viva La Vida, Coldplay
Wake Me Up, Charles Kelly
What I Got, Submlime
The Best of What’s Around, Dave Mathews Band
Yellow, Coldplay
Undeniable, Mat Kearney
This Year’s Love, David Gray
A-Punk, Vampire Weekend
Oxford Comma, Vampire Weekend
M79, Vampire Weekend
Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, New Radicals
Piano Man, Billy Joel
Why Georgia, John Mayer
Playing Favorites, The Starting Line
Not Ohio (Come Back to Texas), by Bowling For Soup
Disarm, Smashing Pumpkins
Battle of Who Could Care Less, Ben Folds Five
Unconditional, The Bravery
Neigbors, The Academy Is…
Dashboard, Modest Mouse

National Forests, Utah

To listen to the National Forests playlist via FavTape, click on this link.
Driving Distance: 391 miles
Driving Time: 5 Hours 30 Minutes

Sunday Morning, by Maroon 5
Porcelain, Moby
Get out the Map, Indigo Girls
Makes Me Wonder, Maroon 5
Razor, Foo Fighters
Ripe, Ben Lee
Today, Smashing Pumpkins
To Be With You, Mr. Big
The Sound of Silence, Simon And Garfunkel
Colorblind, Counting Crows
Float On, Modest Mouse
Natural Blues, Moby
The Best Deceptions, Dashboard Confessional
She Will Be Loved, Maroon 5
As Lovers Go, Dashboard Confessional
Holiday in Spain, Counting Crows
Starting Now, Ingrid Michaelson
The Sun, Maroon 5
Something’s Come Over Me, Ernie Halter
South Side, Moby
How to Save a Life, The Fray
Man on the Side, Ernie Halter
Look After You, The Fray
Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby, The Counting Crows
Ghost of a Good Thing, Dashboard Confessional
Boston, Augustana
She Says, Howie Day
Sparks, Coldplay
Rewind, Paolo Nutini
Something Honest, Curtis Peoples
Multiply, Jamie Lidell
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad, Moby
Catch My Disease, Ben Lee
Breakable, Ingrid Michaelson
Studebaker, Jordan Zevon
Collide, Howie Day
She’s For Free, Cary Pierce
All at Once, The Fray
All I Want, Curtis Peoples
Screaming Infidelities, Dashboard Confessional
She Is, The Fray
Forever, Working For a Nuclear Free City
Rocket, Working For a Nuclear Free City
Asleep at the Wheel, Working For a Nuclear Free City
Quiet Place, Working For a Nuclear Free City
Kingdom, Working For a Nuclear Free City
I Turn My Camera On, Spoon
Aeroplane, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Scar Tissue, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Desert Driving, Nevada

To listen to the Desert Driving playlist via FavTape, click on this link.
Driving Distance: 90.3 miles
Driving Time: 1 hour 19 Minutes

C’mon Girl, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Typical, Mute Math
Honey, Moby
Hotel California, The Eagles
I Can See For Miles, The Who
Life is a Highway, Tom Cochrane
Control, Mute Math
With or Without You (Instrumental), U2
One For My Baby, One More For The Road, Etta James
Trucker’s Atlas, Modest Mouse
It Don’t Matter, Rehab
The Mexican, Babe Ruth
Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chaos, Mute Math
Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby, The Counting Crows
Starlight, Muse
Heart-Shaped Box, Nirvana
All Apologies, Nirvana
Somebody Told Me, The Killers
I Miss You, Blink 182
Dammit, Blink 182
The Rock Show, Blink 182
Bossman, Lucky Boys Confusion
Sittin’ At a Bar, Rehab
Black Betty, Ram Jam
First Date, Blink 182
I Don’t Care, Fall Out Boy
Josie, Blink 182
When I Come Around, Green Day
Stay Together For the Kids, Blink 182
More Like You, Rehab
Going Away to College, Blink 182
Are You Gonna Be My Girl?, Jet
Hold Your Colour, Pendulum
I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor, Artic Monkeys
Supermassive Black Hole, Muse
Already Gone, Eagles
I Won’t Be Back, New Atlantic
Someday We’ll Know, New Radicals
7 Weeks, Gym Class Heroes

Approaching Las Vegas

To listen to the Las Vegas playlist via FavTape, click on this link.
Driving Distance: 46.5 miles
Driving Time: 50 Minutes

Mr. Brightside, The Killers
Hot n Cold, Katy Perry
Let it Rock, Kevin Rudolph
Forever, Chris Brown
Yeah, Usher
Gold Digger, Kayne West
Homecoming, Kayne West
Go Girl, Pitbull
Hate it or Love it, The Game
Happy Valentine’s Day, OutKast
Corona and Lime, Shwayze
Idiot Boyfriend, Jimmy Fallon
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
Maneater, Nelly Furtado
Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
American Boy, Kayne West
Luven Me, Nelly
Paradise City, Guns N’ Roses
City of Lights, U2

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. HerMixTape is a combination of love and loathing all aimed towards music. When KD isn’t in search of the perfect playlist, she’s either drinking or over organizing - except in the winter - she’s hibernating. KD is a flip flop disciple and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

As a parting gift to Second City residents before I move to Vegas, here are all of the upcoming Chicagoland concerts worth seeing. Follow the links or head to TicketStumbler to compare prices from several different ticket sites.

The Academy Is…
30-Oct-08
Pops
Sauget, IL

Steve Miller Band
30-Oct-08
iwireless Center
Moline, IL

OneRepublic, Augustana, The Spill Canvas, The Hush Sound
30-Oct-08
Congress Theatre
Chicago, IL

Relient K
2-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

The Academy Is
6-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

The Academy Is
7-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

Kaiser Chiefs
13-Nov-08
Park West
Chicago, IL

Usher
13-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

Andy Davis
13-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

Smashing Pumpkins
18-Nov-08
The Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL

Eric Hutchinson
18-Nov-08
Double Door
Chicago, IL

Ingrid Michaelson
19-Nov-08
Park West
Chicago, IL

Matt Nathanson
20-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

John Legend
20-Nov-08
The Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL

Matt Nathanson
21-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

Smashing Pumpkins
21-Nov-08
Auditorium Theatre
Chicago, IL

John Legend
21-Nov-08
Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL

Jason Mraz
22-Nov-08
Aragon Ballroom
Chicago, IL

Smashing Pumpkins
22-Nov-08
Auditorium Theatre
Chicago, IL

Freddy Jones Band
28-Nov-08
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL

The Verve Pipe
29-Nov-08
Martyrs
Chicago, IL

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. HerMixTape is a combination of love and loathing all aimed towards music. When KD isn’t in search of the perfect playlist, she’s either drinking or over organizing - except in the winter - she’s hibernating. KD is a flip flop disciple and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

What song best describes your life?
Learning to Fly, Tom Petty

If you had to pick only one- who would you say is your favorite band?
O.A.R.

What are your three favorite albums and why?
Country Grammar by Nelly, Handful of Sand by Jamestown and Crash by DMB

What is the best concert you have ever attended?
O.A.R. at Chicago House of Blues

What is your favorite love song?
Till Kingdom Come, Coldplay

Who would you most like to see in concert that you haven’t already?
The Fray

What is your favorite album cover?
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Smashing Pumpkins

If you were stranded on a deserted island- (with a c.d. player)- what three albums would you want have with you?
The Very Best of Bob Marley, James Taylor’s Greatest Hits, Live at Red Rocks by DMB

If you were to start a band- what would you name it?
um…. Her Mix Tape?

What band and or song brings back the most memories from your childhood?
There’s Always Somthing There To Remind Me, Naked Eyes

What musician do you find the most attractive?
Adam Levine

What song describes your last break up?
Goodbye My Lover, James Blunt

What song best describes your life right now?
Baby Girl, Sugarland

What song always makes you laugh?
Idiot Boyfriend, Jimmy Fallon

What song puts you in a good mood?
Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough, New Radicals

What song best describes your love life right now?
Starting Now, Ingrid Michaelson

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. HerMixTape is a combination of love and loathing all aimed towards music. When KD isn’t in search of the perfect playlist, she’s either drinking or over organizing - except in the winter - she’s hibernating. KD is a flip flop disciple and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

Rolling Stone provides a list of artists angry with Republicans who have used their songs. My favorite commentary comes from Heart whose song “Barracuda” was played by Palin at the Republican National Convention.

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. HerMixTape is a combination of love and loathing all aimed towards music. When KD isn’t in search of the perfect playlist, she’s either drinking or over organizing - except in the winter - she’s hibernating. KD is a flip flop disciple and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

“The Beastie Boys have announced their “Get Out and Vote” tour. In an e-mail blast this morning, the activist rappers said, “This election is too important to stay at home. We hope that you can come out, have a nice night, dance, sing, get your freak on, and then wake up the next morning and get everyone that you possibly can to get out and vote.” Mike D told Rolling Stone.”

Just what everyone wants to do the day after a concert: wake up and hit the ballots.

Beastie Boys Get Out and Vote Tour

October 28 - Richmond, VA @ Richmond Coliseum w
With Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson and Santogold

November 1 - St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
With Ben Harper and Tenacious D

November 2 - Milwaukee, WI @ U.S. Cellular Arena
With Ben Harper, Crosby & Nash and Tenacious D

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. HerMixTape is a combination of love and loathing all aimed towards music. When KD isn’t in search of the perfect playlist, she’s either drinking or over organizing - except in the winter - she’s hibernating. KD is a flip flop disciple and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

In middle school, I took to wearing steel toe Doc Martin boots, dressing in all black and sporting Smashing Pumpkins t-shirts daily. I named my bird Corgan and pierced my cartilage without parental permission (twice) while singing the song “Zero” to take my mind off the pain that comes with shoving a sewing needle through your ear. I must have saved up for months to buy The Aeroplane Flies High box set at that age. My friends still give me shit all the time about this stage of my life that they have labeled as “Goth” because it “sounds funnier,” but I digress….

It’s been over ten years and I still don all black as often as possible (everything matches and it’s slimming: it just makes total sense), and still love, love, love the Pumpkins. So with Halloween around the corner, I decided to honor my dear friends and the original band members: Billy, D’Arcy, James and Jimmy.

Here are my all-time favorite Pumpkin songs, in no particular order….

Thirty-Three
Spaceboy
Muzzle
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Perfect
Today
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Tonight, Tonight
Disarm
Landslide
Zero
Lily (My One and Only)
My Blue Heaven

The Pumpkins are currently on tour (click HERE for tickets and dates)

Editor’s Note: The following is written by KD at HerMixTape. HerMixTape is a combination of love and loathing all aimed towards music. When KD isn’t in search of the perfect playlist, she’s either drinking or over organizing - except in the winter - she’s hibernating. KD is a flip flop disciple and contributor to the TicketStumbler Blog.  Check out her website at hermixtape.blogspot.com.

Along with the rest of America, I am constantly attempting to draw in a younger, hipper crowd. So, in honor of that attempt, I will pass on some of what the hipsters are listening to these days… so grab a bronson (beer) and get ready to bust a moby (dance), because I asked my fabulously hip cousin what she had on her playlist this week and she passed along some bands for our listening pleasure:

Sigur Ros
“An Icelandic ambient band,” is what my cousin described them as… I was not sure what this meant, but I did ended up buying a few tracks. I’m trendy and diverse like that.

Animal Collective
A psychedelic experimental Indie band. Hit the hash pipe and give it a listen.

Panda Bear
Some of the group is in the aforementioned Animal Collective. She describes them as having a Beach Boys sound…. I would say it has a Pink Floyd flavor myself.

Justice
Similar to daft punk.

Broken Social Scene
Before Feist was famous and was on apple and verizon commercials. I bought “Cause=Time.”

The Hood Internet
Chicago mash up band.