So what is a "Fave Rave"?

• someone with special talents!

• someone to rave about!

• someone who rocks our worlds again and again and again !

HALL OF FAME

Merry X-Mas
aka Fave Rave of December

2009 has started but it is time to reveal the winner of our Fave Rave of December Voting.
Of course it was about X-Mas, that's what December is all about, isn't it?

It was not so hard to guess who the winning Christmas song will be:

WHAM! - LAST CHRISTMAS

We all hate this song, but as soon you hear it the first time each year, you know Christmas isn't far away, and you should hurry up getting presents for your beloved! Wham managed to write a piece of music that is loved and hated since the moment it was released, but isn't losing any power over the years.
So let's wait til next November to hear Last Christmas again!

And the others?

The Wombats - Is this Christmas? The newest song, and maybe not a traditional song. But once again The Wombats manage to write a lovely, cute song that makes us happy. And then watch the video, and there is no way that you can't be in a Christmas mood. The Wombats under a Christmas tree - we love that.

ROMANS DO IT BETTER - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) We all know the song, originally written by John Lennon in 1971 but you havent heard this version, right? As the band project name says it is all about Romans and bands from Rome. Daniele Brian Autore from Vanilla Sky wanted to show how united all those bands from Rome are and turn it into something special for a good cause. So they did a cover version of Happy Xmas and release it as a charity single. For those of you who are in Rome over Xmas, there will be some charity shows as well. People included in this project are members of Vanilla Sky, The Electric Diorama, Hopes Die Last, Your Hero, Autoreverse, The Beauty and sooo many more.

The (metal) dream of your sleepless nights
aka Fave Rave of November

Is November a metal month? For Vienna November 08 was it, lots of metal/hardcore superstars or legend came to our city and rocked!!
But who were you dreaming off?

Biohazard

The originally based in Brooklyn, New York band were one of the first bands who mix Metal, Punk and Hardcore with elements of Hip Hop.
After releasing ten records including World of the State Address in 1994, the band decided to go separated ways, formed new bands or "work" in the adult industry.

2008 is their 20th band anniversary and they are celebrating that fact with a reunion tour. At their Vienna show they proved that they are still the same they used to be. The show was great, the audience loved it, and the guys on stage had a great time. Read more about the show here.

And who were their opponents?
	Slayer The gods of Trash Metal. Can you believe this band was already formed in 1981, 1981 that is 27 years ago and they did not stop playing gigs all around the world. 13 released records, lots of EPs and DVDs, and even two grammys for the Best Metal Performance, yes that is what we call a band history. Their Unholy Alliance Tour 3 brings them to Vienna, and with them Trivium, Mastodon and Amon Amarth.

	Slipknot This band was only formed in 1995, wow that young :-) and are most famous for their masks. And those masks are really scary. They consist of nine people, each with its unique mask. But it is not only the mask that made them that famous. The music isn't too bad either :-) Their latest record "All Hope is Gone" was released this years, and now it is your chance to see their new masks live. (oh, and guess who is supporting Machine Head, love them!)

The next big British Thing
aka Fave Rave of October

So we have a winner - a band who can proudly call themselves Fave Rave of October. RockMISSes always ask themselves what the latest trends are and who will be huge soon.
And those three bands all deserved to be the next big thing but only one could win our voting - Fave Rave of October is:

LATE OF THE PIER

What make this band so special? Their music isn't something new but it is amazingly good!
Synthie pop, Electro punk, these are genres that would suit the Brits from Castle Donington.
But what was is exactly that made the music of the four young guys so interesting that Erol Alkan fell in love with them and produced their debut record (after already working on a few singles with them)? We think it was their ability to have new ideas, to include new sounds into their songs, to create wholeness out of ideas and sound bits.

Their debut record Fantasy Black Channel was released in August and made in to Nr. 28 in the UK charts, which isn’t to bad for a debut record, right?

And DONT FORGET - They are playing a show in Vienna next Tuesday. November 4th @ Flex is the place to be to see one of the newcomers of 2008.

Click on the photos to be directed to their myspace sites to listen to the music!

And who were the other bands that are as fabulous as them but did not make it to the throne?

	White Lies The voice is associated to Ian Curtis, their music is compared to Joy Division or Interpol who themselves got compared to Joy Division at their start. And now that Interpol are taking a break, and Joy Division’s story is written down in the chronicles, White Lies are doing a great job filling this gap. Having guests like Morrissey and Nick Cave at their gigs, and only two singles (Unfinished Business which is still downloadable for free and just recently Death), we can expect great things from the three charming guys from London. Their debut record (To Lose My Life Or Lose My Love) wont be out before the beginning of 2009, so there is still some time left to fall in love with this band, so you can tell your friends that you already knew them long before they became huge ☺ Oh, Harry McVeigh, the singer, isn’t he is good replacement for Miss BB’ Fave Rave Nr. 1 Paul Banks?? And we haven’t heard about an ex-supermodel girlfriend on his side, yet!

	Johnny Foreigner And another trio, but this time they have a girl in their middle, on bass the lovely Kelly Southern. She and the guitar player Alexei Berrow share the job on the microphone. To complete the Birmingham indie-rock band there is Junior Elvis Washington Laidley on drums. To quote the Indie Music Database: “Johnny Foreigner is fierce. They're the embodiment of melodious noise. Your eardrums hurt, but you can't stop listening” What did RockMISSes think when listening to their debut record Waited Up Til it Was Light that was released in June 2008? Miss Ana mentioned Pavement, Miss BB early Weezer songs. So let’s say Johnny Foreigner sounds like the bands from the 90ies we all loved but in a modern, more energetic way. RockMISSes had the pleasure to see them live at the Great Escape in Brighton last May, but now we beg the Austrian bookers to get this band to Vienna!

The annoying Pop Stars we can't live without
aka Fave Rave of September

We all are annoyed by all those pop stars but somehow we just can't live without them, at least sometimes we need a little pop right?

And September brought some big mainstream pop stars to Vienna.
We actually like to watch one or another POP circus when the time (and the artist) is right. But in case of these artists, we just don't know. They are/were lovable at times, on other occasions they are/were super annoying.

The fight for the Pop Star that you can't live without was hard,
but we have a winner:

COLDPLAY

They are pop now, but still there are their indie roots that make them just loveable. We had and still have to admit they have the ability to write lovely songs, we still dream away while singing Yellow, and how cute and innocent Chris Martin looked back then.
AND most of all they are a fabulous live band as you can still read in our specials section.

Yes, Chris Martin started behaving really odd (and yes, we blame Gwyneth), but we have to state that it is actually good for a musician to be politcal and have something to say, just don't do it all the time, right? And their kids are more than cute, but if you name is Apple you just have to be cute.
(And still RockMISSes are against the combination of a rockstar and an actress or model!)

Still we congratulate Coldplay for winning over the Queen of Pop Madonna, and Jason Mraz who actually has the cutest smile in the world.

Their rivals:

	Madonna The Queen of Pop, bla-bla-bling. Miss Ana wouldn't mind her not making another album (and movie either) ever. Miss BB is waiting til Madonna turns into Madonna again, and not some copy sounding exactly like all Timerland / Neptunes productions. We loved that Madonna was different and did her thing! But most of you surely love the ambitious Miss Ciccone, right?
	Jason Mraz He hasn't been around long enough to become REALLY annoying. But his name sounds suspiciously similar to James Blunt (eee!)and his songs are really not that different either. And another one of that kind is definitely too much. Right? But we have to add, his songs are quite catchy, and noone can be as annoying as Mr. Blunt.

One Guy A Day aka Fave Rave of August

So in August we had a mass of amazing musicians in Austria, to be exactly we had millions of good-looking guys at the festivals and especially at the Frequency Festival in lovely Salzburg.

So we wanted to know who is the best! We chose One Guy A Day and let you decide which guy is the hottest!!!

We are proud to announce this month's winner -
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fave Rave of August is noone else but

Mr. Keith Murray

With this band We are Scientist he played the first the day of the Frequency and there is no way you can't love him! He is just adorable.
He is good looking, more talented, writes the most entertaining music, we love his voice and he is so much fun on stage. AND AND AND have you seen his greyish hair, how sexy!!!

For your entertainment, the video of their latest single Impatience.

So who was he competing with?

Michi Beck –
Die Fantastischen Vier

We just had to go for Michi Beck; he is just the best of the four guys, or at least the best looking (even if Thomas D’s tattoos are adorable!!!).
He is from Germany, so not such a huge distance for a far-distance relationship ☺. And even if he is German, we love him!

Just remember him singing Sie ist weg years ago and suffering that much in the video, make our hearts melt.

Xavier de Rosnay – Justice

The Electro Guy! DJ, Producer, Grammy Nominee,...
Then add his good looks - a little bad boy look - and it is a pleasure to watch him enjoying his music and his job on stage. His remixes (with his partner Gaspard Augé) and own tracks makes us dance all night.

His French accent when he is talking English makes us love him even more and who would mind visiting him in his hometown, the city of love – Paris.
His name itself is sexy enough to make him one of our favourites.

RockMISSes hope you all had an amazing time at the Frequency Festival!!!

The supremely Torres VOTING
aka Fave Rave of July

Ok, we decided not to talk about football in our June voting, but now that the Euro 08 is over, after seeing soo many matched, there is no way we can avoid this topic.
But is there anything better than being allowed staring at sweaty & well-trained guys for 90 minutes??? Especially when they are so good looking like some of the Italian, Swedish and particularly the Spanish team.

There is Iker Casillas, David Silva, David Villa and of course Fernando Torres, and it not only that they are good looking and have perfect bodies, they are the best football team in Europe.
Congratulation guys for winning the Euro 08.

RockMISSes dedicated the July voting to the one and only Fernando Torres.

RockMISSes' hero
Spain's hero
actually the hero of whole Europe now!
(and during the UK premiere league season Liverpool's hero)

So let's vote:

	Fernando Torres, the Liverpool star : 24 goals in 33 premiere league matches make Fernando breaking all records and being the most famous premiere league debutant. Liverpool loves him for that, so do we. And we dont want to mentioned what he earns per week, this is just too crazy, but he is worth it.
	Fernando Torres, Spain's star: His goal in the finals of the Euro 08 made Spain win the tournament, after 44 year Spain finally made it again, thank Fernando for that. He was twice voted Man of the Match during the Euro 08.
	Fernando Torres, the gorgeous: We just love him! His not only an excellent football player but he is gorgeous as well. The perfect combination - talented and good looking!!

And we all keep singing:
His armband proved he was a red - Torres, Torres
You'll never walk alone it said - Torres, Torres
We bought the lad from sunny Spain, he gets the ball he scores again
Fer-nan-do Torres, Liverpool's number 9.

The Ultimate Rock Festivals Cuties Voting
aka Fave Rave of June

June's Voting was not about football (even if there are some really hot men on the field!), neither about Sex & The City.
We wanted to know who of all those Rock Stars playing the NOVA ROCK festival is the hottest!
So who is the FAVE'est of them ALL ???

Never ever was it that clear who is the winner, with more than 50% of all votes

BRANDON BOYD is elected to be FAVE RAVE OF JUNE.

RockMISSes say - NO wonder at all; he is a Rockstar, a painter, an artist, a model, we love his voice, his lyrics, his paintings and oh yes, his tattoos. The RockMISSes are just in love with him.
And hey, we just learned from a GoTV Interview that he is not in love at the moment and going back to LA to make babies, or at least practise for that; should we book a flight? :-)

And as we all want to see more of him, here some more photos.

Here his website, wow, he signed it with "your friend & lover, Brandon Boyd", we wouldn't mind having a lover like that.

and who was he competing with? No chance for them!

Arnim Teutoburg-Weiß / Beatsteaks
Smiling is his profession,
jumping around the stage too.
Being a fun company, anyway.

So all up for Arnim?

Richard Ashcroft
Indie-girls' dream
Indie-boys' role model
That aura and that voice,

Mr.Ashcroft is that one! Right?

The One and Only Hair Metal Voting
aka Fave Rave of May

Not literally a Hair Metal band, but definitely the one that has started the motion of long hair and guys' make up - KISS. They have combined the 70s-Glam with the early 80's-Metal and now they are coming to Vienna on May 12th. This is enough reason for us to ask you who the ultimate Hair Metal Band was.

Please don't turn green in the face (or fall of your chair).

It was a hard fight between two bands, and somehow the third bands seems not to have any fans amongst you, even as they still sell out all the shows. The band who you think lived and still lives and breathes the Hair Metal Life Style is:

POISON

Poison were all over the place in the Eighties and Bret Michels was THE lover-boy among other hair metal sex-drug & r'n'r masters. And it seems this attractation still continues until today.
Bret Michaels got his own MTV show in order to find a perfect women for him; we just don't recommend to watch "Rock of Love with Bret Michels", it is too scary to see what happened to the cool guy from the 80ies.

Most of you just agree with Miss Ana that POISON are the obvious winners because they were cooler, had the "best" hair cuts and simply rocked, and made as cry with their ballads.

And here is your prize for making POISON the winner, a collection of their best photos - Be SCARED, we don't take any responsibilty as watching those photos can lead to permanent damage.

AND even scarier - that's how they look like nowadays!
that's what the Poison guys look like today! SCARY!

Who were Poison competing with?

Europe

So this is how a cool Swedish band looked like in the Eighties??

Hard to believe that these long-haired guys sold over 15 Million album copies in their career, but that Final Countdown song just won't go disappear.

Bon Jovi
Nowadays sleazy mainstream rose-loving romantics, Bon Jovi used to be "bloody cool" with their wig-like-hairdos and tight pants.

They are big rolemodels for typical Austrian country-side-hairdressers, who are also their biggest fans.

The King of NYC aka Fave Rave of April

RockMISSes asked you and you voted for the King of NYC.

And the winner is:
FABRIZIO MORETTI

omg, he is just gorgeous, isn't he?

Actually RockMISSes were quite surprised that it wasn't Julian that won this voting, but it seems being a frontman is not enough to win! (We'd like to state that it was quite close between Julian and Fab)

Mr.Sweet - We all like sweet guys and Fab is the sweet one.
... or at least so he seemed during their first visit to Vienna. He literally said to Miss Ana "that he needs to go back to the hotel because his girlfriend is waiting". And that? That was Drew Barrymore.
We also love his curly hair.
And he is a drummer, we all love drummers, don't we? He gives us the beats to dance to.
He is simply fab, yes he is. His parents gave the best fitting name ever.

So who are The other Strokes he was competing with.

Nikolai Fraiture aka Mr.Nice
Jules' best man at his wedding and best known for his significant haircut (longer version of a bob). And that funny way he holds his bass guitar.

Nick Valensi aka Mr.Romantic
Married to "the coolest person he knows" and daddy of twins, it is still hard to resist his charms on stage. And those long hair? Awesome.

Julian 'Jules' Casablancas aka Mr.Party
The master of the infamous the Strokes-sound and you gotta love him for that. He is (or at least used to be) hilarious with his backstage party escapades.

Albert Hammond Jr. aka Mr.Sexy
The party tiger and the curly head of the band is one great guitarist too. He released a solo album titled Yours To Keep in 2007 and successfully toured with his fellow curly heads.

And here once again the whole band - THE lovely STROKES.
You just have to love them, and acutally RockMISSes just learned that they are preparing for recording a new record. We can't wait for that.

Heartmelters aka Fave Rave of March

RYAN ADAMS

This should not come as a surprise. He is multi-talented and overly productive and more over, he grew to become "a cool New Yorker" too.

What else? A super entertainer, a funny blogger and good looking too...He is simply our generation singer-songwriter.

And RockMISSes bloody love him! (obviously Miss Ana especially ;-))

And what did you say about Ryan?
- sexy, sexy, sexy! (oh yes he is)
- Verena: Ryan lives in NY and that's why he is cool. ;) (soo true!)
- Dietlind: well, i know that love is hell, and i love his haircut :-) ...

"I could be serious but I'm just kiddin' around
I could be anything, nothing, whatever, oh well, love is hell"
("Love Is Hell", Love Is Hell, Pt. 1, 2003)

and who were his rivals fighting for the title?

Conor Oberst / Bright Eyes Date of birth: February, 15th 1980
Residence: Omaha, Nebraska
Heart-melting factor: 10 (very subjectively stated by Miss BB)
You will recognize him by: his eyes that always seem filled with tears

Random lyrics:
"And you said 'this is the first day of my life
I'm glad I didn't die before I met you
But now I don't care I could go anywhere with you
And I'd probably be happy?" ("First Day of My Life", I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, 2005)

Jose Gonzales
Year of birth: 1978
Residence: Gotheburg
Heart-melting factor: 10 (that awesome finger-picking
You will recognize him by: curly hair, beard, rough looks

Random lyrics:
"I see problems down the line, I know that I'm right
I see darkness down the line, I know its hard to fight."
("Down The Line", In Our Nature, 2007)

Clash of the Swedes aka Fave Rave of February

Another month is over and we have brandnew Fave Raves!
RockMISSes wouldn't dare to say which of these three lovely Swedish bands deserves this title the most,
so we asked you - and you decided!

AND THE WINNER IS
MANDO DIAO

There are always great moments with this band", said Björn in this interview. RockMISSes agree very much, and we are happy that you agree too! They are talented, good-looking and, most importantly, they are very nice people...Well deserved Fave Rave crown, indeed.