Last week, 5 day music festival here in Boise, Idaho. https://www.treefortmusicfest.com/ 400+ bands. I went all 5 days. Hours of shows every day. Too many highlites, although two nyc bands, Antibalas &The Muckers were primo. |
@reubent- +1 to everything you said. esp. "any Lyle I can get". In the acoustic shows I've seen, you get a more "personal" experience,. but his Large Band is just a stunning exhibition of musical virtuosity. Most incredible to me was how each individual musician, a "star" in his own right, was always playing in service to the song. The last time we saw the Large Band, there were 13 pieces and a 9 person choir backing Lyle and Justine! One of the best shows I've ever seen. |
@swampwalker - I did enjoy it. I really like Lyle Lovett live. This is the first time I've seen him do an acoustic show. I do prefer the Large Band show, but I'll take any Lyle I can get. He's really funny and engaging. I enjoyed the banter between he and Colvin. I thought Shawn Colvin was pretty good. I saw her last summer, doing a similar show with Steve Earle and I think she was better this time. I thought the few songs where Shawn sang with Lyle were some of the best of the show. |
@reubent- I hope you enjoyed the show. We caught them at the Garde Theater in New London, CT a couple of weeks ago. I'm not a huge Shawn Colvin fan but Lyle is amazing! Saw him with the Large Band last summer and a couple of times in an acoustic show. He is unique, I love his songwriting and his quirky sense of humor. |
John McLaughlin, Jimmy Herring and their bands--separately and then together (playing tunes from the Mahavishnu Orchestra songbook) at the Paramount Theater in Austin, 11/30/17. Supposedly it was Mclaughlin's farewell tour. He's still at the top of his game and it was great to hear him play those great tunes from the 70's again (as well as his newer material). I hadn't heard Mr. Herring before but he is a fine guitarist with a good band behind him. All in all, a good night out. |
King Crimson, Cleveland 11/24/17. A totally awesome show. Last saw them in 1982 at their first US gig after releasing Discipline. Fripp and Levin have lost none of their chops. 3 drummers didn't hurt a bit, either. The hall was the Hard Rock Rocksino. Smaller venue, maybe 1000 or so seats. A great spot to see bands that benefit from smaller places. Recommended! |
@thepigdog - Not only do small venues count, you actually get extra credit for seeing a show in a small venue! This last year I saw Bruce Cockburn in a 200 seat room and I saw Richard Thomson in a 450 seat room. Both shows were incredibly intimate and outstanding. I would always prefer to see a great artist in a small venue over seeing a "mainstream" band in a large arena. However, I did enjoy seeing U2 twice this summer on their Joshua Tree stadium tour...... |
Do small venue (less than 500 seats) count as concerts, most things I see mentioned here seem to be large shows / big sound? if so then we listened and saw Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Dave Alvin at The Bull Run in Shirley Mass 11/3/17. 2 guys playin’, singin’ and tellin’ tales. Had not heard/seen JDG for 15-20 years, saw DA approx 2 years ago. Both were in great form, wonderful selection of old songs. Pretty good venue in a centuries old building. |
Sting at SPAC last week. He is in good voice, I enjoyed the show more than I expected.... I ’m a casual fan of The Police, only have their first 3 LP’s, and Nothing Like the Sun. I have to admit these have collected some dust, with the exception of Zenyatta. Needless to say, I played Outlandos and Regatta since the Sting Concert. I would love to see him with Andy Summers, and Stwewart Copeland. |
I saw dada last night at Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY. Great show. In my book, dada is the best band that never made it big. The Trews opened up for dada. The Trews were awesome! I had never heard of this band. Now I'm a big fan. Interestingly, they were much better live than I would have ever guessed from listening to recordings and watching videos. |
Saw Tift Merritt & friends last night. Always enjoy seeing her live. Her recent lp has taken some time to grow on me. Seeing her perform some of those songs live gave me a much deeper appreciation for them. Her (friends) that comprised her band were fabulous separately and especially playing together. When you experience her live, you feel like she could be your sister, down to earth, no put-ons. |
Bdp I know of Fritz and the Fritz story, and I’ve seen a few photos, but I never heard them. Unfortunately. BTW, Buckingham and Nicks moved to LA after they got a deal with Polydor. Fritz auditioned, but the label just wanted the two of them. Their record flopped, but Buckingham happened to be in-house when Mick Fleetwood walked in looking for a studio and new guitar player. Fortuitous meeting. |
Marty, have you seen any of the pics of Lindsey and Stevie when they were in The Fritz Reiner Memorial Band (original name, later shortened to merely Fritz)? They were just another local San Jose cover band, playing at local High Schools and Teen Centers like the rest of us. There are pics of her on stage in a Prom dress, with a bouffant hairdo! I saw them live only once, as the opening act at the Santa Clara (valley) Folk Rock Festival in the Summer of '68. Also on the bill were The Electric Flag (fantastic!), and The Doors, who closed the show. Maybe it was San Jose's The Doobie Brothers getting a Warner Brothers record deal that inspired them to move to L.A. in '72 or so. They've done pretty well for themselves ;-). |
Lindsey and Christine. Terrific show. The new material works better/rocks harder live than on record IMO. Buckingham's voice was in much better shape than it's been in for years. McVie still has great pipes. The new rhythm section is hard edged and great on the more aggressive material. They skipped a few songs that I'd have loved to hear, but that's usually the case when the band has so much material that I love. BTW - The Wallflowers opened. Their set started slow, but picked up steam throughout. Coincidentally, given all of the Richard Thompson love recently exhibited in this thread, they covered "I Want to See The Bright Lights" and it was a high light of their set. |
Good to see all the Richard Thompson love here! My wife and I arrived in Las Vegas yesterday to see tonight's Buckingham McVie show (which stars in about 5 hours). After we checked in and got dinner, we wandered over to Planet Hollywood and bought tickets to see Pitbull. Evidently he's a Big Deal these days and my bride wanted to go. It was a quick show and entertaining enough - he played 75 minutes - although I'm not sure how much more he could have gone on before it got annoying. The odd part (for me) was the large overlap between "street attitude hip-hop" (not sure that's the right genre, but it's as close as I can come up with) and traditional schmaltzy Vegas spectacle. Loud pop music, highly choreographed, big lazer production, lots of "feel blessed to be here" / thanking the audience speeches, and the requisite scantily clad, top heavy dancing girls. In a way, it wasn't much different from the Rat Pack. I guess it was very different in some ways, but it felt very much "in the Vegas tradition". Incidentally, while there wasn't a ton of musical ability on display, Pitbull's drummer is a beast. Later tonight - Lindsey and Christine. |
I saw the Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom and other Chambers Tour tonight at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio. Awesome show. The finale of "Pump it Up" and "What's so Funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding" is one of the great concert moments of my life. Interestingly, I just saw Elvis's wife, Diana Krall at the same venue, just last month..... |