Was in New York last week in New York for the Copa Centenario, and as well as catching the NYC FC v Red Bulls derby... had a little run in with The Police... well one of its former members at least - as well as a revelation from Genesis.. well, again a former member.... saw: Peter Gabriel & Sting Rock, Paper, Scissors Tour Coney Island Amphitheater, July 3, 2016 Englishmen doing "An Englishman in New York" in New York: Sting asking the world to save our soccer: And some good music, but really, really cheesy dancing from PG (or is that dancing more PG-13):
Ah... and another one: Guns n' Roses Not in this Lifetime Tour w/ Chris Stapleton Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN - July 9, 2016 Was an awesome show... played for about 3 hours - Axl, Slash, Duff sounded great + Steven Adler even joined for a couple of songs...
That is awesome. I heard Axl has gotten his voice back. He has always been scratchy and imperfect live, but the past few years he was sounding like Mickey Mouse. I am almost feeling like I need to go see them when they come to the bay area.
The Tragically Hip Air Canada Centre August 14, 2016 A chance to say good-bye - a chance to relive some of the highlights of my misspent youth - but ultimately a chance to celebrate the life of possibly the greatest musical talent Canada has yet produced. You may not have heard of them, and if you did you may not understand the reasons why their music resonates so much in Canada. So I'm going to elaborate a bit on why. My Hip story starts in high school, 17, pimple-faced and enamoured with heavy blues based rock and roll. 'Up To Here' - their first full length album was starting to get regular airplay, and a friend and I got tickets to see them play The Concert Hall - famous mostly for hosting Led Zeppelin's first T.O. gig 20 years earlier. I loved that album (still do) and they played everything on it (save "Opiated"), plus the bulk of their eponymous EP - and a song that front man Gord Downie introduced as being about a love triangle in Algonquin park (better known as 'Three Pistols" released a year hence on "Road Apples") - and proceeded to sing the song about Tom Thomson (famous influence/contemporary of the Group of 7) and a fictionalized storytelling around the time of his death. For me, a budding student of history - this was a worlds colliding moment - a real eye-opening moment that showed that song lyrics could be more than just words for vocal melodies and tales of love & lust, and spawned a love of their early catalogue, and a half dozen shows in the next 5 years. I consider myself fortunate to have seen them play "50 Mission Cap" in Maple Leaf Gardens - prior to its release - introduced as a song about the most famous goal ever scored in this building. I knew exactly who Bill Barilko was and was gobsmacked they were singing about him. The next 3-4 years brought the height of my Hip fandom - a couple 'Another Roadside Attraction' shows - two memorable gigs in the old Ontario Place forum - and another show at MLG. Though at that point they'd grown their audience to include mainstream peeps and getting tickets wasn't as easy or to be honest, desirable. Over the years I lost touch - sure I'd pop on an old CD and relive the memories - and even went to a show or two in the oughties - I'd lost touch with their new work (still haven't really taken to anything from 2000-2012 - though many folks absolutely love these albums). Last year though, they decided to tour on the re-issue of 'Fully Completely' so I grabbed a pair of tickets and got to witness the old favourites from that era. Part of me regretted the experience - seeing my Hip fan cohort 20+ years later wasn't flattering - nor were the Hip hosers I'd mostly pushed out of my memory. Suffice to say the evening's music was worth it - if the rest was less enjoyable. Anyway - once the news of Gord Downie's terminal diagnosis and their summer tour broke - I figured I'd close my story with a final show. Yeah, they cost me as much as a mortgage payment - and the same Hip hoser cohort was out in full force - nostalgia is a powerful animal. But seeing old favourites like 'Blow At High Dough", "New Orleans Is Sinking", "Little Bones","Grace, Too" was totally worth it - and surprisingly they played "Opiated". Life comes full circle sometimes.
8/9/16 The Acacia Strain, Oceano, Knocked Loose, Culture Killer, Cranley Gardens The Voltage Lounge, Philadelphia PA Overall great show. Hottest indoor show I've ever attended, I think I sweat out 20lbs. Cuture Killer was a pleasant surprise and continues the tradition for me of going to see one of my favorite bands and getting hooked on an opener I've never heard of. Knocked Loose killed it and I was really hyped to finally see them. Would love to see them again next month when they come back around, I swear these guys never stop touring. Oceano was nice to see although I think there was only 1 original member from the last time I saw them years ago. I don't follow them anymore so I didn't recognize most of their newer songs but when they played the older ones it brought back a lot of memories. The Acacia Strain was the main reason I was at this show. I've seen them at least 10+ times over the last 10 years and they never disappoint. It was the 10th anniversary of their second album, which was what came out the first time I ever saw them and they played more than half of that record straight through. The rest was a mix of the other albums and covered pretty much everything I would want to hear. Now, I have a bad tradition of getting injured every single time I see TAS. I thought this was going to be the show that broke the streak and the thought crossed my mind as they started their final song. Well, I jinxed myself and caught a punch to the face in the last 30 seconds of that last song. Broke my nose for the 3rd time and 4 stitches to close the gash on the bridge. All in good fun.
A couple of days ago, I read a story about the final show in Kingston, and about the incomparable status the band holds in Canada and the sense of national identity with which they're associated. Dear World,Please be advised that Canada will be closed tonight at 8:30 p.m ET. Have a #TragicallyHip day.^vk pic.twitter.com/TMRah6JTG3— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) August 20, 2016 I'm glad you got to go.
Thanks, To give you an idea of this - due to immense demand for tickets,the band paid for ~3 hours of prime time CBC coverage ad free during the Olympics to broadcast the finale. Combining the ratings for TV, radio and web streams 11.7 million people tuned in for all or a portion of the show - which is roughly 1/3 of the population. Only the 2010 gold medal hockey game drew greater ratings, at 16 million or so. The Prime Minister was in attendance (Kingston is about an hour from Ottawa), and upwards of 25k were in the town square watching on a big screen, on top of the 7k in the arena. This is in a city of 100k. And as much as they are treasured here - they are road warriors that have carved out a solid US fan base though they never made it big - and have a solid following in the Netherlands. Dutch label Music On Vinyl has re-issued their first three releases in the last 5 years - which warms my heart immensely.
B52s Boarding House Park Lowell, Mass 9/3/16 They sounded pretty good considering they've at it for nearly forty years now. They basically a played juke box show, but they have a pretty good jukebox.
The English Beat -- The Avalon Theater in my podunk town The English Beat! The English freakin Beat! Well, no, not really. It was Dave Wakeling claiming to be the English Beat. But as I said, it was in my podunk town, so this is as close to musical royalty as we get. I've seen Flock of Seagulls three times in the past 20 years in 200+ venues and they just seem pissed that they're not the headliners they used to be. I will say this for Dave, he really did seem to enjoy himself. And that was refreshing...
Just came back from seeing Elton John in Vegas. 2016 has been all about trying to see some legends before, well, they get 2016'ed. So amidst the usual indie/hip hop and what not this year I've also gone to see Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, ELO, and Paul McCartney. Going to see Peter Hook this weekend play both Substance albums also. As for Elton John, wow he can still perform at a high level even if he can't hit his signature falsetto anymore. Glad I went. Even though there was no Candle In The Wind and Sad Songs. Really, closing with Circle of Life? Anyway, still a good show.
Toploader Hilton Hotel Doha Thursday, November 24 Great deal - $50 ticket for a 1 hour show with $30 bullfrog drinks, with only 3 member playing along to prerecorded backing tracks, but ah...... I guess beggars can't really be choosy here when living here in Qatar. Afterwards got to hang out and have a drink with the band at Trader Vic's. Next show is GnR again in March.
I hadn't previously heard of them; that song I associate with King Harvest in the early 70s. But apparently Toploader covered it in 2000 and it was a big hit then too. It's one of my favorite trifle songs from the early 70s. I imagine shows must be pretty expensive there in general, if only because it's expensive for a band to travel there (especially with equipment).
Crystal Bowersox at Kitchen Sink Recording Studios in Santa Fe Thursday; she was recording live to a small audience. And wow is she prolific-- the only things I had heard before in the whole show except for a few covers were "Dead Weight" and "Stitches."And before the show, at a meet and greet, she mentioned that there's some songs she's holding back till they can get a full studio treatment. Of course there are people who write a lot of songs but they are all mediocre; but these all seemed strong, and none of them were simple... Liked the band a lot too, although the drummer maybe hits a bit too hard for me, at least in a small room.
Gaither Christmas Homecoming One of the highlites, for me, was Mary Did You Know, sung by Mark Lowery (wrote the lyrics) and accompanied by, among others, Buddy Greene (wrote the music). If you've heard the song, it was probably Kenny Rogers' version. Gospel/Christian music is not really my thing (wife loves it), but it was an enjoyable show.
Guns N' Roses Autism Rocks Arena Dubai, United Arab Emirates March 3, 2017 Possibly the best and worst concert I've ever been to... best in the sense that GnR absolutely killed it... worst as the organization was catastrophic... fortunately, got in well before, but had to walk almost 2 hours down the highway to finally get a taxi back to Dubai. http://www.thenational.ae/arts-life...phoric-knockout-juggernaut-of-a-show-in-dubai http://www.thenational.ae/uae/guns-n-roses-fans-wait-hours-to-get-in-at-dubai-concert My second time seeing the Not in this Lifetime Tour after Nashville in July, got much closer this time as you can tell:
Richard Thompson Sanders Theater Cambridge, MA April 18, 2017 My god that man can play guitar, to say nothing of song writing, more than passable singing and even some pretty entertaining stage patter. Probably the best show I've seen him do, helped in no small part by lucking into front row seats in a general admission room.
Generation Axe: Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, Tosin Abasi NTU Sports Center Taipei, Taiwan April 14, 2017 Was on holiday in Taiwan last week and found out this gig was in town, and always being a big Vai fan + all these guys so couldn't resist. A hundred bucks got you right up front. Unfortunately for some reason the sound quality on the video footage I got sucks... probably because I was right by the speakers... anyhoo, sounded better in person obviously..
Incredible me, Denver, 2014 - They're not my cup of tea, but my kids wanted to go. The band members are actually really nice. David Jones, the lead singer went around the venue meeting people and he talked to my sons. Apparently they have corresponded for some time with him and the bandmate and they 'knew' each other. My kids used to post their covers on youtube and they invited them onstage to sing one of their songs with them. We also hung out with them after the show for a bit. David Jones thanked me for my service which was pretty neat. Really down to earth. Prior to that I took them to an Angels and Airwaves concert in Munich at the Theaterfabrik on April 4th 2012. This is Tom Delong's (formerly of Blink 182) band. That was a great concert. This is footage from the actual concert. We stayed after and met all the members and got to actualyl have conversations with them. Tom Delonge was kind of absorbed with his after show dinner and was the most abrupt. Matt Wachter, their bassist was probably the most personable.
Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin The Sinclair Cambridge, MA June 22, 2017 As far as I know, this is the first time the brothers Alvin have toured together since the long ago days of the Blasters. Therefore, there was more than the usual handful of Blasters songs, since many of them were written with Phil's powerhouse voice in mind. There was also a spark between between the two of them that took the night well beyond Dave Alvin's typical high quality shows.