Steely Dan with the Doobie Brothers--Dallas 05/25/18 at the Toyota Music Factory (Irving TX)
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@ghosthouse For SD, "Ready"Freddy Cunningham handled the bass admirably. They brought out Chuck Rainey (lives in Dallas) to play on "Peg", which he recorded on Aja. He did great. I think he suffered a stroke circa 2011. John Harrington handled all the guitar work--he is an effortless masterful guitarist. I'm not trying to take anything away from the Doobie Brothers guitar trio, but...Harrington plays circles around all those guys and doesn't prance around while he is doing it. He played the technically challenging and musical "Reelin' In the Years" solo in the encore and it seemed flawless, dynamic and calmly powerful. SD had the best group of musicians I have seen in a live performance that was not straight jazz. Keith Carlock on the drums is phenomenal. No Michael McDonald with the Doobies. DB sounded pretty darn good; they have aged pretty gracefully (at least from my vantage point on the floor row M). They were high energy, again for their age. DB played 1hr and 20 minutes. SD about the same. Here is the SD set list:
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@astewart8944 Thanks for that thoughtful and generous reply. I can get a feel for the actual concert given the links you provided. Interesting about the covers and band-sans-Fagen-songs. I can readily believe your comments about John Harrington's playing. He contributed to quite a few of the later SD (and Becker, Fagen solo) recordings. Very, very tasteful player. Need to see if I can find some of his solo stuff on-line. Never listened to him solo. I was sort of hoping Mr. McDonald might be part of that show since he contributed harmony vocals on many SD albums and was part of DB for years (though have to admit, I wasn't crazy about the turn their music took when he joined). I'll also note his participation in Dukes of September. Wish THOSE guys would record something for release. Love his voice. Thanks again. Later. |
@ghosthouse You and I think alike. I kind of was hoping Michael McDonald would show up too. When DB played the songs MM sang lead on, they let the bass player (whose name I didn't catch) sing in a few places. Um, MM sang them much much better. His voice is easy to pick out. I always hear him like a bell in Christopher Cross' first album. And I could listen to MM sing just about anything. |
@astewart8944 Yup, McDonald’s got one of the most distinctive voices. A pleasure to hear. I’ll have to pull out that Chris Cross album. Have not listened to it in ages. Did not recall MM sang on it. You are hopefully familiar with Fagen’s NY Rock & Soul Revue? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Hie67Y_Jc I guess we could continue here as a Michael McDonald appreciation thread, but that would be even further afield from the OP’s intent. Apologies to them! ;-) Have a great day. |
I saw Paul Simon on his "Homeward Bound" Farewell Tour last night (06.01.18) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. Highly recommended. His voice is in really good shape (he is 76 years old, I think). He played 2 plus hours. He engaged with the crowd and was funny and gracious. He had an 12 piece band with him (two violinists, a clarinet player, a trumpet player, two guitarists, a bass guitarist, a drum kit player and and another percussionist, an accordion player, a flute player, a cello player, and a pianist/keyboard.) No backup singers other than the instrumentalists (they sang well). I highly recommend this show. The set list is below.
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It was either Chris Isaak, or Gordon Lightfoot. I think I’m done running to concerts. The ticket prices, parking, not to mention the late hours, are just too much to navigate. Now, I just watch them on Blu-ray listening through Stax headphones, and remember how much fun it used to be. Even the musicians are calling it a day, so I guess I’m not alone. |
Saw the ZZ Top/John Fogerty Blues and Bayous tour last night. ZZ Top was spot on as usual, Just wish they would have played some more of their newer music. . Fogerty, not so good. First, he needs to fire his sound man. His band is too large for his music. The arrangements are way over the top.He plays way too much filler crap. He's trying to make a spectacle out of his good simple music. Just my opinion, nothing more. |
LSD Tour 2018 Lucinda Williams Steve Earle Dwight Yoakam At Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, Ohio 6/2/2018 Awesome show. Steve Earle was great, ending with a brilliant cover of "Hey Joe". Lucinda Williams was the best I’ve seen her in 10 years. Really inspired. Seemed to be enjoying life again. Dwight Yoakam was really good. Very professional band. Tight. Great song selection. My first time seeing Dwight (I’ve seen Lucinda and Steve many times) and I would go see him again. |
I too saw the LSD tour is Kansas City at the Starlight Theater. Great venue, great show, My fav was Steve, I have been to Steve Earl and Lucinda Williams shows several times each. First time for Dwight, very enjoyable, an interesting sound he goes for on his acoustic six string. Can't say I didn't like it but very strident to my ears. |
Foreigner @ SPAC last Saturday the 16th. My expectation was sort of middle ground. I expected a good to very good show. I would say they were Very good to Excellent. Very enjoyable show. Earlier that same week, I made it to MSG (my 1st time) to see Def Leppard and Journey, who opened. The sound for Journey was so horrendous I can’t begin to grade the performance. So compressed and loud it was painful. The Def Leppard sound guy must have turned a knob the right direction, because it became listenable. But still not good sound by any stretch. It was good enough to enjoy DL, but what a shame the sound was so bad. |
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Stephen Stills and Judy Collins last Saturday on Staten Island. Judy can still carry a tune at 79, but Stills lost his years back. Some of the song selections were questionable. They opened up with a Traveling Wilbury's song and later a Tom Petty song. Stills stated he likes playing other peoples songs? Overall it was ok. |
+1 on moe. I saw them a couple of weeks ago, what a great live band! I learned later that the bass player recently had cancer treatment, which makes the 3.5 hour show that they played even more impressive. I went to Dead and Company the next day. I really enjoyed that show too. I also saw Robert Plant and Neil Young at the Arroyo Seco festival last month, in the pit up close to the stage. I especially enjoyed Neil Young's nearly 20 minute versions of Like an Inca and Cortez the Killer. Next up is Drive by Truckers and Tedeschi Trucks at Red Rocks. |
Hi boxer12 - I really liked Mayer’s guitar playing and singing. My friend who is a longtime Deadhead said Mayer plays "faster" than Jerry, like he is fitting in more notes. I’m more of a novice Dead fan than you or my friend, but in my opinion John can really jam and improvise. Here’s a high quality Nugs clip of Hell in a Bucket from the concert I attended (you have to fast forward for 8:37 minutes to get to the beginning of the song; and then John begins to jam around 15:30): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZJY71fWHM4 |
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Just enjoyed the Yuko Mabuchi Trio at the Brand Library in Glendale, California. Guest performers included Robert Kyle on sax and flute and Billy Mitchell on organ. Yuko is an animated pianist, quite mobile bouncing on the bench, and she likes to sing wordlessly with her playing. I found her jazz expressions of classics like Girl Talk and Blue Moon to be captivating, as well as her own composition Waves. Robert Kyle did an extraordinary job with brilliant sax solos as well as a lovely flute performance with Sukiyaki. His interpretations fit in perfectly with the essential character of each presentation, as if he had been with the group for years. Billy Mitchell’s accompaniment added an extra dimension to this evening’s session, very adroitly completing the soundscape and moving each song’s composition to a higher level. I’m looking forward to Yuko’s next Yarlung Records release, a live recording of her performing Miles Davis. If it is as good as her first Yarlung album, I’ll be happy to add it to my top shelf collection. |
I can’t answer for djones51 but I agree with tonykay above, I just have not been motivated to see many live rock shows. I find the prices almost insultingly high, more so than opera tickets in many cases. The parking, unruly crowds, deafening sound levels (I have hearing loss, in part, due to rock shows) have just made it not worth it to me. Dylan is coming to town, thought I might bite on that one, but decent seats are $150 and up. No thanks. Having said all that there is a young British band called The Struts that are a throwback to British glam rock. Maybe a little heavy at times but really mostly pop. They open frequently for the Foo Fighters. Even in stadiums. They have developed a reputation for putting on a good show, their freshman CD is very good and very catchy. So when I heard they were coming to Asheville to small local venue (1000 seat max) I bought tickets. $20 general admission. This will be the first rock show I’ve been to since Black Crows/Robert Plant in 1990. It is on a Wednesday night. There may not be anyone there. I did not buy the $90 VIP pass to meet the band. I’ll hate myself if they get huge. As if. I’m worried my wife and I will be the oldest people there (55). I have no idea what to expect. I will be the one wearing ear plugs. |
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