summer concert shows journal; and what's next!

I tried making this my second year in a row for my concert-attending. Nothing was really stopping me; it was pretty much the fact that there were not many shows I was interested in! I mean, sure I wanted to see Tom Petty and the Eagles, but I had to sacrifice them. I was more 'into' seeing acts I've never seen before. Not very many came by my way (St. Louis area), but I managed to see a couple. My only regret was not seeing the Eagles. I always tell myself that every time a legendary act tours that this will be 'their last one'. The Eagles have been around for a long, long time and keeping them together is known to be a challenge. They were at Busch Stadium in June with the Dixie Chicks. I don't care very much for the country trio. I got to see Dave Matthews Band back in mid-June, but it didn't do well for me. I like some of Dave Matthews' radio songs, but I learned quickly while attending the concert that there are two kinds of DMB fans: the die-hard and the ultra die-hard. This is because 85 percent of what Dave played were all album cuts that only true fans know. One of the very few songs I was familiar with that he played was his latest hit 'You and Me'. Dave and the band put on a great energetic show, but that doesn't mean I'll be back at one of their shows anytime SOON!

Last month (July) I got to see Hole and the B-52's for the first time. I got to catch the B-52's on the 4th of July at Fair St. Louis, underneath the arch. It was awesome, although the crowd and the humidity was a tough challenge. The one thing that surprised me was how Kate Pierson has aged bigtime. I'm not saying its a bad thing (lol); but I saw close-up shots of her on the monitor and I couldn't help but notice how she became wrinkled. I also didn't realize she was 62! I thought she was ten years younger, but its easy to forget she had a career as a Playboy bunny before she joined the B-52's. I got to hear their lost 80s hits (Private Idaho, Mesopotamia as well as Rock Lobster) live and to me it was quite a thrill.

I also got to catch Weird Al Yankovic and Hole last month. It was the second time to see 'the king of parody', as I got to go with my sister and her twins. My 7-year old nephews love him, and it was great to see them so excited about seeing Al in person. He did most of his hits as well as all of the songs off his most recent EP 'Internet Leaks'. He put in so much energy into his show and I feel he gave everyone their money's worth. On the other hand, Hole didn't. Lucky for me and my friend Laura, we went for free since I work at my college radio station. A ticket would have cost close to $40 to see Courtney Love and her new band members perform for 50 minutes. Most of us know about Courtney's wild history, from being Kurt Cobain's widow to her offstage behavior and image. She also has had quite a respectable acting career, most notably for 'The People vs. Larry Flynt'. I wasn't much of a fan of Hole, but I do love their classic 1994 album Live Through This. Many rock historians know it as a landmark in her career. I thought this would be my opportunity to see her in person, live. Laura saw them at the old Mississippi Nights back in '94 (or '95?), and according to her it was better back then! When we were there, we literally had to wait an hour before the band hit the stage, which of course ticked off a lot of people. But when she hit the stage, she totally rocked the house performing all of her signature songs. As mentioned earlier the show didn't last an hour as Courtney said the band 'was tired and didn't wanna play anymore'. A lot of people, not surprisingly, were shocked but they went on and took in that they were done.

So what's next? I'm still deciding what to do. I just read that Blondie will be at the Illinois State Fair in a couple weeks. Rush will also be coming back to St. L as well, and they will be performing their Moving Pictures album live in its entirety. I saw them 3 years ago with a group of people, and it was one of the best shows I've been to. I already bought my ticket to KSHE's Pig Roast for September, as it will be on the weekend before my birthday. There will be a lot of 80s hair bands as well as a few current bands on the bill. But it will be a great time as it will probably my last time at Verizon for the year. I also might catch Seether either in Du Quoin or in St. Louis. It's still in question.

Got a concert story for the summer? Let's hear it!

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.

Springsteen was born to run

Alright, another concert review. On Sunday (10/25) I went to see Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band at Scottrade. It was one of the greatest shows I've ever been to, in short. I'm not sure where to start on this one. For a guy who has been around the block for a hefty long time (the early 70s), he's still got the energy to please everyone who takes the time to go out and see him. Bruce has always been known for 'standing up for the little guy' as anyone can tell by his lyrics and political views. Up until Sunday, I have never seen a 60-year old guy crowd-surf. He invited so many people to join him on stage (mostly women) and I was amazed that he had the whole crowd sing the verses (not him) to 'Hungry Heart' and 'Born To Run'.

That being said, I still think he is one of the most overrated rockers in history, mainly because of the so-called professional critics of magazines like Time, Newsweek, and oh yeah, Rolling Stone. I do think people give him too much credit for his part on rock and roll, but I do have to give him props on staying alive during the short disco and new-wave era. Rolling Stone has given just about every one of his albums a four or five-star rating. Hey, more power to him. He's sold a lot of albums, but there are still a handful of acts that have outsold him despite critics. The main reason I did see 'The Boss' was I heard that he was known to put on a great performance in concert, and that was why I spent all the money to go see him in person. And of course, I got what I paid for, which was awesome.

He did the whole 'Born To Run' album live as well as most of his early stuff. I thought it was very ironic that he only did one song from his signature album 'Born In the USA'. That song of course was 'Dancing in the Dark' where he had a few ladies join him on stage. I was also amazed that he was able to impromptu covers while taking requests from people who sat close to the stage.

So what's next for shows this year? (Anthony, are you listening? j/k) I hope to see Charlie Daniels in December. He's putting on a show at the Family Arena. I would love to go out and see the legend perform while he still can. Especially if I read his blogs at charliedanielssoapbox.com.

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.