Jon Troast: halfway to a hundred

Singer-songwriter Jon Troast hit the halfway mark the other night on his "100 Concerts in 100 Days" trek across the United States. Since launching this latest run of 100-dollar-a-night house concerts in March, Troast has traveled through Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and is currently in my neck of the woods, California.

Having hosted one of Troast's living room concerts last year, I can testify to what a unique and memorable experience it is. The comfort and ease this approach offers for the audience is unbeatable, and Troast is a blast to hang out with, as evidenced by his road diary, full of wry observations and affectionate asides. He even played a show the other day for a guy named Jon Troast. No, really -- a different guy named Jon Troast. I can relate, having discovered a doppelganger of my own.

In any case, it's a little late for "bon voyage" or "break a leg," so let's just borrow a baseball phrase here and wish Troast a great second half of his road trip...

The Vault in brief: Nine Inch Nails, Jon Troast and a cast of thousands

Since we threw caution to the wind last Friday and sang the praises of one of our competitors, maybe it's time to toot our own horn for a day, eh? Because there's surely been a ton of interesting material published on the Vault in recent days...

For one, there's Darren Paltrowitz's biweekly effort at Keeping Up with the latest in music, books, and all other forms of entertainment media.

For another, there's Bruce Rusk's review of a recent Nine Inch Nails concert -- sounds like Trent & co. are putting on quite a show this winter.

And for another, there's a review of a Jon Troast show at a much smaller venue -- my living room -- for anyone interested in hearing more about how a house concert works...

Finally, there's the reviews we just published of Powderfinger, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, Elvis Presley, Fight Like Apes, Bob Seger, Marvin Gaye, CSS, Megadeth, Duran Duran, Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Cure -- not to mention the reviews we're about to publish of Guns N' Roses, Ry Cooder, Rick Wakeman, Science Faxtion, George Michael, Billy Squier, Donovan, the Rolling Stones, Katie Miller-Heidke, Jeff Beck, Keane, the Mountain Goats, The Clash, Love & Rockets, Morrissey, Tina Turner and many more to come.

Capeesh?