2009 was a year for concerts/shows

At the beginning of this year, I promised myself that I would go to several concerts so I can enjoy myself and experience the greatness of the music and the performer. After all, I'm a lifelong fan of the greatest of all entertainment mediums....music! I claim to have a very diverse taste, with some exceptions here and there (I can tell you in a future blog that I don't care too much for a lot of current stuff people my age call 'cool'), but I wanted to witness what I can before anything happens to me, or the artist or band. So as long as I can afford it, and take off work at the right time, then it was my time to fulfill. Life is too short. Party hard, if not even that!

If you've read a lot of my blogs throughout this year, you probably already know that I've attended a handful of shows. I got the chance to see rock legends Elton John and Billy Joel (together), Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Elvis Costello, among many others. I've even taken the chance to see current and future legends as well. In an earlier blog, I wrote about artists performing 'full-length albums' in concert. This year, I got to see four classic albums performed live. In this order, I saw Aerosmith perform their 1975 album Toys In The Attic. In August, I watched Motley Crue perform 1989's Dr. Feelgood as part of their 20th anniversary for the album. It was cool hearing Vince Neil saying 'Okay, that was the end of Side One. And now, on to Side Two....'. In October I witnessed They Might Be Giants performing one of my favorite albums, Flood. All the songs were not in order, but it was still cool. Later that month, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band performed the album that put them on the map, Born To Run.

But some weird things have happened throughout the year, associating with those acts. Aerosmith, for one. Today it is in question if the group will be together. As a lifelong fan of Aerosmith (since fifth-grade), I know they have had a long history together, going through one breakup which turned out for the best as they entered a second successful chapter in their career during the late 80s. My friend Liz (who is also a huge fan) once had a conversation that groups like Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones will never break up, unless death occurs or if something bad happens to a main member, like Mick Jagger or Joe Perry. When I saw Aerosmith back in mid-June, it was their first stop on the tour as they proudly started in St. Louis. I remember the rain delay as well as Perry and Steven Tyler singing the hits together on stage, often leaning against one another. Then a month later, Steve Tyler fell off a stage in South Dakota and that was it for the tour. Last month, it was reported in the media that Tyler hadn't 'spoke with any of the band members as well as his longtime songwriting/musical partner Joe Perry, in months'. There were several drama reports as Aerosmith band members went back and forth at each other, often denying 'a breakup'. According to Wikipedia, since that time Perry and Tyler have performed together a couple times on occasion. So who knows. I really don't want to see a breakup to one of the greatest American bands of all time, or someone taking Steven Tyler's place for that matter. Also, with Bruce Springsteen, I was quite shocked to hear that the next day (after I attended their St. Louis show) that they had to cancel their Kansas City show at the last minute because of a sudden death of one of Springsteen's family members. While I did felt bad for Springsteen, I considered myself very lucky to catch the show at good timing.

Last night, I went to Harrah's St. Louis to see Straight No Chaser. They are an acapella group (ten guys) who found success two years ago with their comical version of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', which combined some humorous elements as well as a rendition of Toto's 'Africa'. The group found fame thanks to Youtube when a video of them performing the song in 1998 gained over 8 million views. Atlantic Records president got hold of what was going on and signed the group to a five-album deal. It was their first ever stop in the St. Louis area, and I was proud to be at the sold-out show. They said they will be performing a sold-out event at Madison Square Garden in NY tonight, and on Christmas Day they will be on the Today show. It was an amazing opportunity to meet the group after the show as all 10 members autographed my CD. I simply stated to all members that what they did was awesome and very creative, as well as impressive. It was my first concert that did not rely on instruments of any sort, although a harmonica was sometimes used to start a song. All it took was the power of voice, and all ten of the members were on the same page the whole time. Not one person was singled out as it was always a group effort. I think these guys will be around for a long time. The only challenge I believe would be distancing themselves as 'a holiday act'.

So, for 2010 and on, I will keep the promise on attending shows at the right time. I do hope to make it to a festival show down the road, meaning Coachella or Bonnaroo, or maybe the Memphis Blues festival. I'm already thinking about Rock Fest in Kansas City.

a growing concert trend

And that's bands (mostly classic) playing an entire album live. This summer sees Judas Priest and Motley Crue performing their classic albums live in concert. Just recently, when I saw Aerosmith perform almost a month ago I mentioned they played their classic album 'Toys In The Attic' from start to finish (minus 'You See Me Crying'). I honestly doubt it was a thrill for half the people who were there, but for me it was quite a thrill seeing all songs being played live in person. After all, I grew up listening to Toys in the Attic. And on top of all that, all original members (as it was back in 1975, although Whitford was not shown) having been there to perform them all was a good sight. If I do go to Crue Fest this year, I'll probably see Vince Neil and crew perform their '83 LP Girls, Girls, Girls. I can honestly say I don't really like much of the music off it, except for the title track and 'Wildside'. But its also been said they might play the Dr. Feelgood album in honor of its success and its 20th anniversary. There are plenty of other acts who are following in on this 'albums in their entirety live' trend. It was believed to have been started by Roger Waters and one of the other guys from Pink Floyd when they played the entire album of 'Dark Side of the Moon' in the right order from first to last at the Hard Rock Cafe, years ago.

So is this a good or a bad thing? I'll leave the debates open. It's too bad we'll never see Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road done live (and obviously not Thriller!) since all four Beatles have played a part on both albums. I would love to see Supertramp perform the entirety of their 1979 'Breakfast In America' lp. But the chances of that happening are......

the rain, Aerosmith, and other things...

So as most of you may know already, I finally got to see Aerosmith last night! It was an exciting time yet kind of odd, too. They've come to St. Louis several times, but yet I kept missing my chance. I remember in 6th grade ('93) they came out with Stone Temple Pilots and I was too young. I've been listening to Aerosmith since about that time when I remember my sister buying their old Greatest Hits. I soon turned to Toys in the Attic and their earliest stuff as well as their then-current material like Get a Grip. Since then, off and on, I continue to listen to them.

Speaking of Toys In The Attic, I heard on KSHE (on the way over there) from Favazz that they were going to play the whole album front to back. That's exactly what Steve Tyler and crew did later on. The only exception being the last track 'You See Me Crying' but I understand they were trying to hurry through since they were on a time schedule thrown off from the rain delay. I felt honored to hear Tyler say 'We haven't played most of these songs in several, several years so check this sh*t out!'. We were also the first to hear an upcoming song with Joe Perry on vocals. They managed to sneak in their 80s 90s stuff but mostly their 70s classics, which was alright with me. In fact, the most recent stuff they did was 'Livin' on the Edge' and 'Cryin'. I honestly don't like very much of their post-Get a Grip material, with the exception of some of their Honkin' On Bobo material. The rain delay (because of the storm) was not so fun, simply bc everyone was panicked and most people were encouraged to go to their cars and sit. It was almost an hour and a half's wait and finally by 10:30 Aerosmith hit the stage.

Opening act was 3 Doors Down. They were okay, and they performed just about every song that I've heard of from them. I'm sure they've done better shows. In fact I remember when they toured with Breaking Benjamin 4 years ago. Aerosmith's regular touring partner this summer is ZZ Top for 90% of it. I believe ZZ Top would've been 10 times better than 3DD, since they are well-known for their performances and tours. But 3DD was I guess better than no opening act.

A lot of you may wonder why I've been going to several concerts this year. Well, maybe not several, but big ones. One of my new years resolutions was to go to as many shows I can, as long as I can afford it. I know there's several great concerts this summer and I definitely don't wanna miss out like I usually do. These rock stars aren't getting any younger, and only time will tell when they'll ever tour together again. I've only been to Billy Joel/Elton John, CSN and Aerosmith so far this year. My sister and her husband are talking about going to Coldplay and possibly U2 this year so I might save up for those.