2023: The Year in Green's Party
This was a historic year for my blog as it turned 10! In Jan. 2013 I began this blog as a way to share my thoughts on pop culture and since then I've gotten to do things I never even imagined would be possible: interviewing filmmakers, actors, musicians, authors and more; reviewing movies, music, concerts, books, and theater; covering conventions and film festivals; and connecting with fans who also have their hands on the pulse of pop culture at the moment and it's history. This was hands down one of my best years yet! Here are just a few of the highlights:
the many faces of Green's Party
Retweets and social media: Tom Petty's website included a pull quote from my Nov. 2022 album review of Live at the Fillmore 1997 on their website page for the album; Ondi Timoner and her doc Last Flight Home shared my interview with her on Twitter; the Video Archives Podcast liked and shared my Best Podcasts of 2022 list on Twitter; Cadence13 and David Spade of the Fly on the Wall podcast liked my Best Podcasts of 2022 lists on Twitter; TV Guidance Counselor host Ken Reid liked and shared my Best Podcasts of 2022 list on Twitter; Completely Conspicuous host Jay Kumar liked my Best Podcasts of 2022 list on Twitter; U2 Daily Tour News shared my U2 movie review and album review on their daily newsletter and on Twitter; the Video Archives Podcast liked and retweeted my Quentin Tarantino birthday post; Andy Summers shared my concert review on his social media; the Chasing Chasing Amy team shared my movie review on Twitter; X (the band) shared my concert review on their Facebook; the There Was No Alternative team shared my interview with author Jeff Gomez on their Facebook; and Tremolo Productions liked and retweeted my Congrats to them on 20 Feet From Stardom being added to the National Film Registry on Twitter.
Exene Cervenka and I backstage at the X concert
Interviews: I got to interview a number of entertainers I find fascinating including director Ondi Timoner, musician Glen Matlock, Exene Cervenka of X, author Michael Azerrad, author Jeff Gomez, and Pete Stahl of Scream!
me hanging with Indiana Jones
Movie Reviews: I got to review loads of movies including One Fine Morning, Marlowe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, my annual guide to the Oscar Nominated Short Films, Scream VI, Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan: Brothers in Blues, Spinning Gold, Air, Little Richard: I Am Everything, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Master Gardener, Lynch/Oz, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The YouTube Effect, Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning: Part One, Oppenheimer, Chasing Chasing Amy, Stop Making Sense re-release, Flora and Son, The Holdovers, The Stones and Brian Jones, Silent Night, The Sacrifice Game, and Godard Cinema!
Album Reviews: I got to review tons of albums including Shonen Knife's Our Best Place, Inhaler's Cuts & Bruises, Philip Selway's Strange Dance and Live at Evolution Studios, U2's Songs of Surrender, Mudhoney's Plastic Eternity, The Kinks' The Journey - Part 1 and The Journey - Part 2, Wilco's Crosseyed Strangers: An Alternate Take on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Cousin, Iggy and the Stooges' Raw Power RSD Essential release, The Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet RSD edition and Hackney Diamonds, Galen & Paul's Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?, Hollywood Vampires' Live in Rio, Tommy Stinson's Cowboys in the Campfire's Wronger, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' Council Skies, Alice Cooper's Killer and School's Out Deluxe Editions and Road, Extreme's Six, the Asteroid City soundtrack, Deaf Charlie's Catastrophic Metamorphic, Wham!'s The Singles: Echoes from the Edge of Heaven, Brian May and Friends' Star Fleet Sessions, Neil Young's Chrome Dreams, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros' Live at Acton Town Hall, London, Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, Speedy Ortiz's Rabbit Rabbit and Major Arcana (10th Anniversary Edition), Courtney Barnett's End of the Day (Music from Anonymous Club), Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense Expanded Edition Remaster, Huey Lewis and the News's Sports 40th Anniversary Edition, Will Butler + Sister Squares' Will Butler + Sister Squares, The Replacements' Tim (Let It Bleed) Edition, The Breeders Last Splash 30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition, Ringo Starr's Rewind Forward, Haim's Days are Gone 10th anniversary edition, Chris Shiflett's Lost at Sea, Duff McKagan's Lighthouse, Prince and the New Power Generation's Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition, Snail Mail's Valentine (Demos), Jimi Hendrix Experience's Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967, Scream's DC Special, The Beatles' 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, Pearl Jam's Vs. 30th anniversary edition, and The Black Crowes' The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion Box Set.
TV Reviews: This year I branched out and got to review some TV shows including Lucky Hank, John Carpenter's Suburban Screams, Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bassists Human Too?, and John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial.
my friend Ron and I at Boston Calling in May
Concert Reviews: I wrote about my day at the 2023 Boston Calling festival and I also got to cover concerts from Andy Summers, X, Sting, The Breeders, and Scream. I also started a new feature called Concert Pics, where I share pics from concerts I attended but didn't review.
Blu-ray Reviews: I got to review some blu-rays including Project: Alf, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, and We Are Not Alone.
Book Reviews: I got to review and cover some books including Stewart Copeland's The Police Diaries, Michael Azerrad's The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, and Jeff Gomez' There Was No Alternative.
my friend Jenn and I at Jagged Little Pill
Theater Reviews: I got to review Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill when it played in Boston!
Comedy Reviews: I got to cover The State reunion show in Boston!
me at the Boston Underground Film Festival in March 2023
me with Mr. Sam J. Jones at 2023 MusicCon Collectibles Extravaganza
Film Festivals, Conventions and Events: In February I got to cover Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Man of the Year presentation to Bob Odenkirk and Woman of the Year to Jennifer Coolidge; the 2023 Northeast Comic Con Spring Edition; the 2023 Boston Underground Film Festival (my first time covering them since 2019); the 2023 Salem Horror Fest; the 2023 Independent Film Festival Boston; the 2023 MusicCon Collectibles Extravaganza; I got to cover the Stop Making Sense reunion Q&A simulcast from TIFF, IFFBoston's 2023 Fall Focus mini-fest, and the 2023 Northeast Comic Con Fall Edition.
Me seeing Stop Making Sense on the big screen!
Stray Observations:
I got to cover Hollywood Vampires collectively and individually: In June I got to review Hollywood Vampires' album Live in Rio and I got to see them live in July, I also saw Joe Perry solo in April and I got to review Aerosmith's Greatest Hits in August, and I got to review Alice Cooper's Deluxe Editions of Killer and School's Out in June and his newest album Road in August.
It was a sad year for Gen X: in May MTV News announced they were ceasing operations; and there was also the passing of Andy Rourke of The Smiths, Sinead O'Connor, and Paul Reubens, all staples of the 80s and 90s :(
The Police never ended: It's as if I got to see a Police reunion this year because I got to cover guitarist Andy Summers' concert in July, singer / bassist Sting's concert in September, and while I didn't see drummer Stewart Copeland live, I did get to cover his book The Police Diaries in October!
Tough year for physical media fans like me between Netflix ending it's DVD by mail service and Best Buy announcing they're going to stop selling DVDs. Time to go to my local library more often for DVDs and blu-rays!
...And the Biggest Postings and News of the Year on Green's Party:
1/2/23: This blog turned 10! It feels like I'm just getting started in some ways!
1/20/23: A very rare clip of The Eric and Mike Show, the cable access TV show I co-hosted and co-produced as a teen, surfaced online.
Jan. - Mar. 2023: I rolled out my Best of 2022 lists in time for awards season!
3/15/23: I had my 3000th post on this blog!
4/18/23: After Netflix announced they would be discontinuing their DVD by mail service, I wrote my remembrance of Netflix DVD.
6/26/23: I shared my thoughts on the Best of 2023 so far.
9/14/23: I got to cover the re-release of Stop Making Sense, the re-release of Talking Heads' soundtrack album, and the simulcast of the Talking Heads' reunion Q&A at TIFF with Spike Lee.
10/28/23: I posted about Dave Grohl's history of SNL appearances. 34 notes.
10/30/23: I got to cover The Holdovers screening with an intro and Q&A from director Alexander Payne.
11/25/23: I wrote about the passing of Marty Krofft. 16 notes.
11/29/23: In memory of George Harrison's passing on that day in history, I posted his music video for "Any Road". 10 notes.
11/30/23: I wrote about the passing of Shane McGowan. 192 notes, making it my biggest post of the year!
11/30/23: I was quoted in a Boston.com article about the best holiday music!
Nov - Dec. 2023: I got to do an album review of Scream's DC Special, interview singer Pete Stahl and cover their concert, a rare hat trick for me!
12/27/23: I wrote about the passing of Tom Smothers. 11 notes.
Thank you for attending Green's Party in 2023! Now onto more pop culture thoughts in 2024....
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