It’s been said that if you find yourself losing the passion for something you should go back to your roots and rediscover what made you fall for that in the first place. Over the last few months or so, I felt like I had lost a lot of the passion I have for music along with writing and running Audioeclectica. I started this as a labor of love and continued to do it as so. After 2100 articles I felt like I had exhausted myself as well as those of you that read what I write about. There are a few reasons for my taking a break and below will be the answer as to why (not that I need one).

I do want to thank you all for all the years of support. Thank you to all that have shared and reposted articles, wrote me notes and have joined in the fun of following along. I really do appreciate all of you out there that have been along for the ride and it will continue.

For those of you that don’t know, since 2021 I have been part of bringing back The Cobalt Cafe (the legendary So Cal all ages rock club) as The Cobalt Presents, doing shows at different venues across Los Angeles. Part of my exhaustion has been due to that as well. Booking shows and bands and then running the show and listening to band after band can definitely lead you to needing a break. After all this I needed a break from music it seemed. Even just going to a concert for fun was a bit of a challenge as I tried to just enjoy it without thinking of it in terms of reviewing a show. Though there was one show recently that I did go to and enjoyed quite a lot and I’ll get to that in a moment.

Then there is the other factor that caused me taking a break. For a while too, I was working with a partner to get an artist development company off the ground. There are many different caveats to this one. First there are the bands that really work their ass off cause they really want it. Then there are others that you can tell they only want to be in a band for the sake of being in a band and telling people they are in a band but, they won’t do what is necessary to get to the next level of things. That alone is annoying enough because, myself and my partner in this would be working to get things going and such only for nothing to happen on their end. It’s interesting too to watch the bands that really want it. They come in and kill it every time. The ones that don’t come in like that and or question every aspect usually are the ones that fall short. If you question everything to the most minute detail, you’re going to get so far in your head that reality is far off. There also seems to be a sort of empty void between communicating with people these days. One other thing that really bugged me about all that came with that was there was never any sort or gratitude for the work put in. The entitled sensibility of today’s youth has really left a bad impression on me. You know who you are if you are reading this!

Another reason for my taking a break was seeing a total lack of professionalism out there with a lot of the bands. There seems to be this thought (especially with the younger bands) that you don’t have to pay attention to things and read the details that are sent your way. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to have to deal with either kids that don’t pay attention or their parents that “manage” the band and them not reading a very detailed checklist of sorts or just not putting in any work to being in a band. Then there is the reviewing the show factor. Putting on the shows made me have to really question what I was doing. Do I review these shows and bands and then absolutely destroy a kid’s dream because their band is that bad? That’s not the type of energy I want to be putting out in the universe.

It has taken me a while to come around to the idea of continuing, then an album came out and it was sort of the start to me finding my love of all this again. I remember being a very young kid, probably about 2 or 3 years old and hearing a band that ultimately led me down the path of becoming the music nerd/encyclopedia that I am, that band was Bon Jovi, and they just released their 16th, yes SIXTEENTH studio album, entitled Forever. Upon listening to this album, a smile came back to my face. It’s kind of funny that it took a Bon Jovi album to bring me back. And I’m sure a lot of you are scratching your head wondering “really?! Bon Jovi? Yep! sometimes you have to go back to the start to find out what it was that got you into it in the first place. After that my passion started to come back little by little. Then something else happened that really seemed to have brought it back. My daughter started to get really into the album and the next thing I knew she was asking me for more Bon Jovi. How could I say no?! I mean this is one of those proud dad moments and it really made me think, wow this is the power of music and how it can really make things all come together. Plus now I get to share that with her so I can’t be happier. Thanks Bon Jovi for making me come back to music.

As for the shows, I went to see Queens Of The Stone Age at the Santa Barbara Bowl. They played a set that night that was chock full of deep cuts and Josh even told the crowd a couple songs into the show that “if you want hits tonight, too bad, you should have been at the Forum show. Tonight we are going to play some deep cuts.” As a big proponent for bands changing it up night to night live, this was a very welcome surprise. Plus it had been quite a long time since I’ve seen them live and the definitely didn’t disappoint. Also, it being at the Santa Barbara Bowl was great as that venue is quite great for seeing concerts! Then there more recently I attended a couple of shows that really made me want to get this up and going again. Seeing Mastodon and Lamb Of God celebrate the 20 year anniversaries of their albums Leviathan and Ashes Of The Wake was one hell of a show. Both those albums are exceptional and to hear all those songs live was absolutely awesome. The other show is one that many of you wouldn’t expect but, let me tell you it was one of those shows that felt just right and that show was the return of Linkin Park at the Forum. That show was one of those that from moment one grabbed you and everyone in the audience and for the next 2 hours you were locked in. Plus they have returned with quite the invigorating fire and that felt quite contagious and that was the moment I knew I had to continue Audioeclectica.

In closing, I’ve decided to continue Audioeclectica and I’m going to finally be doing a few things that I’ve put off doing because I was busy with other things that took my passion away. There is still a lot of great music out there to share be it older and new. Cobalt shows are still happening and I urge you to come check out a show! It’s quite fun. There is a lot of new things that you’ll see in the coming months on Audioeclectica, please stay tuned for all that fun! And again, thank you all for your support! It means a lot!

See and Talk To You All Soon,

Brian