n80, I stay away from the big bands at big venues, because they are the most expensive. I seek out interesting bands at medium to small venues. Sound and sight is much better anyway. And yes, ear plugs are a wise idea as we get older.
Just saw Yuko Mabuchi (again!), this time at the Vibrato Grill in Bel Air, California. With Yuko were her trio mates, Del Atkins (bass) and Bobby Breton (drums), as well as guest Robert Kyle (saxes and flute).
They put together a polished, elegant set with controlled intensity and artful nuance. This playlist included jazz interpretations of three Antonio Carlos Jobim works and Yuko’s own Waves, all rendered beautifully.
Yuko pounded the ivories with energy, skill, and creativity. A prodigy indeed. As before, Robert Kyle was a great complement to the trio. And the Vibrato was a lovely venue for the evening.
I recently saw the Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra play at the Rawlinson Road Middle School Auditorium.
As pedestrian as that sounds it was remarkable in a number of ways:
1) It was the inaugural concert of our new local symphony which was created when many smaller orchestras are going under. And this in a small but rapidly growing, former mill city in South Carolina. It was sold out as is the rest of the 3 concert season. Expenses have been met by ticket sales and local benefactors.
2) The newly built Rawlinson Road Middle School auditorium has amazing acoustics!
3) The performance was really quite good. Which is not surprising since regional musicians are looking for work. We drew from the Charlotte and Atlanta region. There were no try-outs. The conductor (from New York) was able to hand pick.
4) My sister-in-law is on the board and my wife is on the advisory committee. This was truly a grass roots effort.
5) It now has the mayor and other large benefactors realizing that their tenuous plans to build a performing arts center is now not only do-able, but critical.
Anyway, live, high quality classical performances by excellent musician in Rock Hill, SC. Who would have ever believed it?
Van Morrison - Last week. It was fun but strange as hell. Van came out spoke no words between songs, grinded out 15 songs back-to-back-to-back. Walked off stage halfway through the last song (G-L-O-R-I-A), lights went up and that was that. He still sounds like Van only he may well have just been mumbling "Chicken" all night...
I went to Paul Simon's last concert on Saturday. It was a disappointment. I had great hopes. It was a good concert but nothing special. He seemed happy to be finished, rather than celebrating. I thought there might be special guests but there weren't. He did Bridge Over Troubled Water and introduced it saying that he got his baby back (dissing Art Garfunkel). The crowd was stoned, pushy and unpleasant. It was filmed and probably will show up on PBS. At least you will be able to sit in a comfortable chair without people stepping on you. The review in the NY Times was similar to my opinion.
Whatever his reasons for disliking Art Garfunkel, it's gotten very old over the years, and it is part one of the reasons that I don't hold much respect for him. I'm sure that with their close proximity for a number of years, there were plenty of reasons to be annoyed or worse, but in the end, the way a person can put those things away and move forward with a loving spirit is the way he's measured. It jus makes a lot of his songs ring false.
I saw a televised Van Morrison concert where he did Astral Weeks at the Hollywood Bowl. It was kind of sad. As mcslipp mentioned, you could tell it was Van Morrison singing but otherwise his singing was just a big muddy run-together jumble of words. I'm a huge Morrison fan but from what I've read he's not a particularly nice person, has a reputation for being unnecessarily petulant and a bit arrogant (he is Van the Man after all). He also has a history of stage fright. Hard to say but from what I've seen on TV and heard from live footage in recent years, I would not pay to go see him.
I would contrast Van with Robert Plant, another one of my favorite singers. It has been a while since I saw Plant in concert but every time I have seen him you get the distinct impression that he is having the time of his life even in some podunk arena in South Carolina. Either he is having a great time and loves what he's doing OR he is a great actor. Either way, I respect that he makes the effort.
Has Van lost his voice? That is possible and it does happen. Linda Ronstadt does not perform any more for that reason. Robert Plant admitted in a recent interview that he no longer has the range he used to have and so does not perform some of the more iconic Zep songs.
If I want to see some iconic bands of my youth...the first thing I do is google the most recent concert utube videos for a look see. This way I can get an idea of what my money is actually buying. If the singer is bad I generally pass on a ticket purchase...
Seether and Tremonti in Montclair, NJ on Sep. 20. Before that, Jeff Beck, Ann Wilson and Paul Rodgers in Holmdel, NJ in August. Different types of rock and different eras but all good.
Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams and Steve Earl at White Oak Music Hall, Houston Texas in August. Getting ready for Bob Dylan this Saturday night in Sugarland Texas.
@reubent, Concert was really good, saw Steve a few times but never DY or LW and could not believe my luck when all three were on the same bill as I have been a big fan of all three for a long time.
Saw The Struts last night at a small 1000 person venue last night. They are a newish glam/pop band in the Queen mode. Incredible concert. Very tight playing, superb vocals. Totally engaged with the audience. Crowd in a frenzy all night. I was exhausted by the end....in a good way.
If you have not heard of this band before and if you are sad that rock is dying a long slow death, check this band out. They will give you hope. YouTube them. You'll be glad you did.
Tickets were $20 which, in a day when you buy $200 tickets to see has-beens phone it in, is very refreshing.
Hard to tell where they're career will go. The opened for the Foo Fighters all last year and Dave Grohl said they were the best opening band they've ever had. Opened for the Stones in stadiums and a good many other big name bands.
I saw Dylan in the early 1990’s at The Hollywood Bowl, the worst show I’ve ever witnessed by anybody (though The Stones at The Staples Center a decade later was close. Time to hang it up, fellas). Both he and his band (G.E. Smith / guitar and mugging, Kenny Aaronson / bass, and Christopher Parker / drums) were atrociously bad.
I then saw him in the early 2000’s at The Hollywood Palladium (a beautiful Deco-style theater on Sunset Blvd.), and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed. Bob was on fire, absolutely spitting out the lyrics, fully engaged with both his excellent band (Larry Campbell / guitar, mandolin, and harmony vocals, Tony Garnier / standup and electric bass, the great David Kemper on drums, and Bucky Baxter / steel) and the audience. Bob even played some Chuck Berry-style guitar solos as Larry looked on, bemused. A great, great night of music.
Bettye Lavette - 10/13/2018 - @ Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peach Ranch Station -Meigs County, Ohio
What a voice! Loved her style and delivery. Was up close (really close) and personal. Was really cool because it felt like she was singing directly to us.
Emmylou Harris - 10/16/2018 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
Good show, but Emmylou's voice is not what it once was. She is 71 years old, so I gotta cut her a little slack. She had a full electric band for this tour. I enjoyed more the previous show I saw where she played as part of an acoustic trio.
Courtney Barnett - 10/17/2018 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
Wow! What a show. Courtney Barnett ROCKS! Really good stuff. One of the best shows I've seen in a while. She's now on my "must see" list every time she's anywhere near me.
Richard Shindel, folk artist last Thursday at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA.I just purchased a ticket to see Mark Knopfler next Sept. at Berkeley's Greek theater.
Last night had the pleasure of seeing the Doobie Brothers at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg PA. The boys still got the musical goods...and then some!!!
The Alarm - Ludlow Garage - Cincinnati, OH - 11/8/2018
Awesome show. If you like the Alarm, go see this tour. Yes, it's really only Mike Peters and 3 newer members. But, it is in support of their new album and they play ALL of the great old songs from The Alarm.
The Ludlow Garage is a tiny venue, seating 300. Mike and company had the place rockin'. It was Awesome! I've been a huge fan of The Alarm for 30+ years, but had never seen them live. It was WAY better than I was expecting....
Adrian Belew, Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH last night. Second show of this tour, new album just released. Too much material to cover here, but did a couple of the new tunes, a bunch of stuff from King Crimson's Discipline and Three of a Perfect Pair, a couple off Lone Rhino and more recent solo stuff, a Talking Heads medley and two very touching tributes to Bowie and Zappa. Always a pleasure to see someone with such huge talent who loves music and has fun with it in a small venue!
And keep your ears on Julie Slick - she is really coming into her own and handled all the Tony Levin riffs with true aplomb.
Not the last concert I've seen, but I mentioned The Struts above. Had so much fun in October that I'm going to see them again in May in Charlotte which is close by, in a small venue (1200 people) and then drive down to Charleston, SC to see them again two days later in a 600 person venue. Can't wait.
My son and his new bride (as of about 4 hours ago) are going with us to the Charlotte show.
Two generations going to see a show by a band of guys in their 20's that were inspired by Queen albums owned by their parents. Rock and roll has taken some crazy turns these last 10 years or so.
Third to last show--Jesse Cook February 1 Dallas Majestic Theater: Really good show, but you gotta like the world music genre Second to last show--Eric Johnson February 2 Dallas House of Blues: I love this guy. His live playing is near perfection--except that he is going about 20BPM faster than his recordings. LOUD! The humblest best guitar player I've seen live. Last show--Woodrow Wilson High School Band February 17 Dallas Granada Theater--local high school band played a whole set with the Polyphonic Spree founder and lead singer Tim DeLaughter doing Spree songs. My kid played electric bass the whole show. Best concert ever---but that's not objective. It really was a good show though. DeLaughter was fun and the kids clearly were having a great time backing him up.
Saw a Neil Young acoustic concert a few years ago at the Fox Theater in Detroit.Just fantastic!Even though some rude noisy idiots tried hard to ruin it.Nowadays we are content with local concerts in parks.We're pretty tired of cell phones,loud conversations,and people constantly going back and forth buying drinks.Or maybe we're just curmudgeons:)
Took my wife and 15 year old son to see the Kiss - End of the Road Tour at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio last Saturday night. Was St. Patrick's Day weekend, so the whole city was hoppin'. Fun show, not dramatically different than the first time I saw them 42 years ago.
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