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Buntology’s 2009 Year in Music–Thanks for the Memories!

Wow! We can’t believe 2009 has come to an end. This year saw a lot in music, and so did the staff at Buntology. Between Phish, festies, and a smattering of new and classic rock concerts, it’s going to be hard to top all of the awesome performances 2009 had to offer.

But, before we look at the music, let’s take a second to remember the great musicians that passed away this year: Ron Asheton (The Stooges), Jay Bennet (Wilco), Bob Bogle (The Ventures), Ean Evans (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Adam Goldstein (“DJ AM”), Kelly Groucutt (Electric Light Orchestra), and Michael Jackson (Jackson 5). Rest in peace!

But with death comes rebirth, and this year the stork brought us many new “super-groups” like Them Crooked Vultures, The Deadweather, Further and Tinted Windows. This past year we have seen the rise of young artists like Passion Pit,  Asher Roth, Matt & Kim and Gogol Bordello. We have also seen some older bands dust off their Fenders and start playing again, like The Flaming Lips, Weezer and Blink 182.

Blink 182 reunited this year, not only to record, but also to tour and play shows through the US last summer. Though Blink has not released any new music yet, they have are currently working on a new album. Another band that reunited after a break for a few years was Phish. They released a new album “Joy” and have went on an extensive summer and fall tour. Of course one of the highlights of Buntology staffer Ivan’s summer was the performance by Sir Paul McCartney, who played a show at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass.

How about some other musical highlights of the year? In no particular order…

ATTN Springfield readers! D-League team named

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Springfield, Mass. – The name of Springfield’s new NBA D-League team was announced today.

In honor the Springfield Armory, the team will be named the Springfield Armor. The name was voted on in a poll by fans.

The Springfield Armor will begin their 2009-2010 season this fall. The team will play their home games at the Mass Mutual Center.

Michael Jackson, 50, dies in L.A. hospital

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Michael Jackson died after being rushed to the UCLA Medical Center earlier today where he was reported as not breathing.

A call was placed to the Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics who performed CPR on Jackson and took him to the hospital.

“The circumstances of Jackson’s death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m. local time, Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times.” – Associated Press

Rest in peace MJ. And know that your video for “Thriller” still scares the bejesus out of Angela.

After the jump, read Ivan’s thoughts on Facebook as a source of news…

Gogol Bordello, ManMan at the House of Blues [by Ivan]

[Editor’s note: Sorry for the delay of this post. Alicia and I were supposed to go to this show but technology failed us (damn GPS. OK hand-written directions failed us, too) and we missed it. It was too painful to read this review after Ivan wrote it, but now I’m seeing ManMan in July so it’s all good. – Angela]

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BOSTON – The final show of the Gogol Bordello and ManMan tour finished off Friday night in Boston, Mass. at the House of Blues.

ManMan opened up the show and played songs mostly from Rabbit Habbits, the band’s third album. While the crowd was just chilling and standing around, I began to mark my course through the mass of people in an effort to get everyone rowdy before the band finished. I recognized the sound of the next song and realized Black Mission Goggles was going to start, and my presence was not about to stay stuck in the back. I made it up front and got some people going. I wasn’t going to leave ManMan disappointed without a raging crowd… Success!

Gogol Bordello took the stage next.

Baseball has wild ways the past few days [by ivan]

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The Major League Baseball season has been going on for almost two full months now, and so far there have been a few different things going on that we don’t usually see every day, or even every year. Let’s take a look at this year’s strange MLB events from April through May, buttt mostly from the past few days:

1. Hopefully you already read about Lackey’s short pitching outing. For those of you who missed it read it here.

2. As most of you know, the American League uses Designated Hitters to bat and the National League uses pitchers to bat. On Sunday May 17, the Rays hosted the Indians which featured a funny pregame mistake causing the Rays to lose their Designated Hitter spot.

short pitching outing for the L.A. Angels [by Ivan]

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The Los Angeles Angels, a team many people predicted to do well this year, got off to an interesting start last Saturday when they played the Texas Rangers.

The Angels have been in second place in the AL West behind the Texas team, but now with the return of Ervin Santana and ace John Lackey, they are looking to moving back up top.

Lackey made his season debut against the Texas Rangers at Saturday’s game, and he did not last long. He only lasted two pitches to be exact.

Lackey returned to the Angels lineup and faced one batter, Ian Kinsler. He threw one pitch behind him, while the next pitch beamed him on the side. Lackey was immediately thrown out of the game — after just two pitches!

Was it on purpose? I think so, but we may never know for sure. The ace Lackey will probably miss a little more time now if he gets suspended.

Welcome back John Lackey!