On Bands That, Depressingly, Still Exist

The Mental Floss blog is one of my favorites for a simple reason: every day I read it, I learn something that is usually (a) utterly fascinating, and (b) completely useless. I especially enjoy their looks back at the first time certain notable people, places, or things were mentioned in The New York Times; this week, they look back on the first time Aerosmith made it into the paper of record, in a 1973 review of a Kinks concert:

Aerosmith, the opening act, played loud, derivative rock, distinguished only by Steve Tyler’s fawning imitation of Mick Jagger.

34 years later, the only difference would probably be the position of the bands on the marquee.

While I'm on the subject of music that irritates me (which is quickly turning into a dominant theme on this blog), how the hell are we not even halfway through September and I'm already hearing commercials for the Trans-Siberian fucking Orchestra? Are there people who camp out months in advance for those tickets? Is it going to be just a couple more weeks until the radio stations switch their format to "all Christmas music all the time, to the point where you're ready to join Jimmy Stewart on that bridge"?