Archive for the ‘concert reviews’ Category
Pat Benatar Concert Review, Austin TX 4/13/2013
Pat Benatar and her husband Neil Giraldo have been creating music together for 35 or so years. You Better Run was the 2nd song ever aired on MTV. While I’ve never owned any of her albums, I’ve always enjoyed her music. Neil’s riffs and solos always had good hooks and she has always had a great voice.
Tickets came available a couple of months ago and I decided to go having never seen her before. It made it even better that ACL Live at the Moody Theater was hosting it. I love this venue. Easily the best venue in Austin. Saw some friends in the lobby area while enjoying a beer before the show and then we went our separate ways. I’ve been pretty lucky to get front row balcony for almost every show I’ve seen there.
She opened with All Fired Up and played through her string of hits. It was a short set, only 13 songs, but quite enjoyable. Her voice still sounds amazing. Neil’s playing was spot on and I was surprised at his piano playing skills as well. It was a sold out show and the crowd sang along for the whole show. I was quite surprised that I knew the lyrics to all of her hit songs. All those years in the 80s of radio and MTV apparently had an impact. The bassist and drummer were solid and I got to meet the bassist outside just for a second as we were walking back to the car. The only thing that could have made the show better was if Myron Grombacher was still on drums. That guy was a killer drummer.
In her encore, she closed with Heartbreaker that went into a bit of Ring of Fire then into a snippet of Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker then back to her Heartbreaker.
All in all it was a fun show and I’m glad I went. I’m seeing Chicago Monday and I am all fired up about it (yes, I went there).
Yes Concert Review, Austin TX 3/20/2013
March 20, 1964. That’s my middle brother’s birthday. He died just over a year ago but he was a huge Yes fan and subsequently I became one. Yes played the Moody Theater at ACL Live last night and it would have been his 49th birthday. He especially loved Fragile and Close to the Edge and both of those albums are very special to me.
When I saw it announced that Yes was going to play The Yes Album, Close to the Edge and Going for the One in their entirety, I had to go. Especially since it was going to be at the fantastic Moody Theater. It’s my favorite venue in town.
I typically buy 2 tickets to most shows that I want to see, one for me and one to sell to a friend or to offer as a special gift. My friend Chuck is a huge Yes fan and a phenomenal bassist and he was the first I thought of when I scored front row center balcony seats. That’s my favorite spot in the theater. It was Chuck’s first time there and he liked it a lot.
The show started slightly after 8PM and they opened the show with the Close to the Edge album. I hadn’t yet seen/heard the new singer, Jon Davison. Now let me drop back and say that I’ve seen Yes twice before with Jon Anderson…one in 1998 with The Alan Parson Project(!!!) and again in 2000 with Kansas. That show in 1998 was incredible while the 2000 show left me pretty bored.
But last night I was not bored. They came out and nailed it for the most part. The new singer left me not really even noticing or even missing Anderson. Davison has the pipes and he sounded incredible. The band went right into Going for the One, and album of their that I love. I’ll admit that my 3 faves are Drama, Tormato and Going for the One. After getting through GftO, they took a 20 minute intermission.
The closed the set out with The Yes Album. It was great.
I’ll admit to getting a little verklempt during the song Close to the Edge. Memories of my brother flushed through me hard. During several songs throughout the set I got chills, mainly because of the awesomeness of the songs…mainly And You and I and Wondrous Stories.
Sound-wise, I thought the keyboards were a little overbearing and the bass was a little low in the mix. Even though it was a phenomenal show and probably the last time I’ll ever see them, they weren’t perfect. Compared to the previous shows I’ve seen, they’ve collectively lost a step. While Steve Howe is one of my favorite players, he’s always had a bit of a choppy style. Last night he was missing some notes and it even sounded like he missed his cue in a few solos. However, vocally he still sounded great. His acoustic piece, Clap, was pretty awesome. Chris Squire seemed spot on and his vocals were great, too. Finally, Alan White. He wasn’t playing with the power that I had seen before, but he is 63 and still touring, so there’s that. And again, Jon Davison’s vocals were stellar. That dude can flat out sing.
The encore was Roundabout (see below).
If they do end up touring again, I’d certainly go. Glad I got to see them again, for sure.
Eric Clapton and The Wallflowers Concert Review, Austin TX 3/17/2013
It was the tail end of SxSW 2013 and my ass was worn the hell out. Come show day I really didn’t want to go as I was just so damned tired and sore from the previous week’s festivities. Not to mention that I had trouble finding someone to go with me. Fortunately my friend Leah was in town and was able to accompany me.
Historically, I’ve always been a moderate Clapton fan. Cream and Blind Faith had some great songs and I like some of his solo and Derek and the Dominos songs. His 80s/90s ballads/MTV Unplugged stuff totally turned me off, though. Some of his 80s pop stuff was fantastic like Forever Man, It’s In The Way That You Use It, Rock and Roll Heart, She’s Waiting, Pretending etc. Lots of good stuff. Oddly enough, I never really paid attention to his guitar playing. Sure I know he’s considered a legend and a great blues player, but I just never noticed anything beyond taking in his songs as the whole and not in its parts. Add to the fact that in general I’m not much of a blues fan.
Last night changed my perception of him a bit. Watching him play his riffs and solos was pretty mind-blowing. The dude is almost 70 and still can play like a bad ass. Even the slow blues stuff he played, primarily with no pick, was pretty impressive to watch. His voice is still strong too. Am I going out and buying his back catalog? Absolutely not. I have the songs I need from him, but I do have a new appreciation for his playing. The setlist pretty much left out his 80s pop stuff altogether which was a bit disappointing, but it was enjoyable. Jimmy Vaughn came out and did a song. The one thing that made the night more special for me was that he had Paul Carrack on keyboards. Who is Paul Carrack? You may not know his name but you’ve certainly heard some of his music. I was pretty excited to see that Tempted (Squeeze) and How Long? (Ace) were on the setlist. They sounded great. Of course the rest of the band was killer, especially Steve Jordan on drums.
The Wallflowers opened the show and I was a-ok with that. Bringing Down the Horse is a fantastic album and last night’s show had 4 songs from that album. They sounded great in general and I’d been wanting to see them for quite a while.
Unfortunately I have no pictures to share. We had decent seats but my camera sucks. However, I will be uploading Tempted and How Long? to YouTube later this week.
Glad I went. I’m seeing YES later this week. Rock on!
Red Lamb Concert Review, Austin TX 3/9/2013
I’ve been an Anthrax fan ever since I found a used copy of Spreading the Disease on cassette at Unicorn Records in 1986. That tape was in regular rotation in my old 66 Nova 4dr and subsequent Ford Ranger for many years. I’ve worn out countless copies. Seen them 6 times since 1987 and they always rocked it live. The John Bush era really never did it for me but the one time I saw them live with him, they were good.
In the last year or so, Dan Spitz, former lead player of Anthrax, has been working on a new project called Red Lamb. I’ve always like Dan’s solos and was happy for a chance to see him play live…and of course to have an opportunity to get the book signed.
I got to the show in north Austin around 10pm and pretty much just hung outside during the opening acts. I just wasn’t interested. I think it was sometime around midnight that Red Lamb hit the stage. I had listened to a song or 2 online and while it’s not my kind of rock, it’s not bad. Dan’s solos make it worth it for sure. Patrick Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen) had recorded the drums on the album but unfortunately didn’t tour. The touring drummer, Kevan Roy was just fine. His footwork was pretty impressive. Don Chaffin handled the vocals duties and sounded good. Bassist Alan Goldstein (Aghora) was pretty awesome to watch. While not needing to be very busy with this type of music, you could still see moments of the dude’s talent. C’mon, he’s in Aghora! No slouches in that band.
And then there’s Dan. His playing was sharp and his solos were quite awesome, as expected. He certainly seems like a quiet guy, very reserved and I imagine that the heart attack and subsequent triple bypass probably slowed him down a bit. He didn’t speak much and talked about this tour being done to help promote Austism awareness. He mentioned that his twin sons, Brendan and Jaden, both have the condition and that the song Puzzle Box (co-written by Dave Mustaine) was about his family’s daily struggles. I can’t even begin to imagine.
They cut 2 songs from the end of their set. There was plenty of time left. One they finished, Dan promptly got off stage and went straight to the bus. There were only about 20-30 people there. So no meet and greet time. I hung out for a bit after to see if he’d come out and was talking with the bassist. I asked is he could get Dan to sign the book. I had some CD covers in there as well, but told him that the book was most important. He took the stuff on the bus and came out a few minutes later with everything signed. What a champ! Alan was a super nice guy, too. He said, “Dan said thanks a lot for coming and for bringing some stuff to sign.” I’ll take that! I went home right after that…driving through a deluge for 20 miles.
It was a good time. Go see the tour!
My pics suck horribly. The lighting was awful and so is my camera.
Faster Pussycat Concert Review, Houston TX, 3/7/2013
I’m on temporary work assignment in Houston and saw last week that Faster Pussycat was playing right up the street from my hotel. I’d seen them a couple of times before including being able to open for them in 2003 when they were on tour with Pretty Boy Floyd and Enuff z’Nuff. That was a fun night for sure. On to last night…I had been sick all day and laid up in my hotel room from diverticulosis. Lucky me. By dinner time, I was feeling a little bit better and had enough energy to go and grab a bite to eat. I drove up the road to find the venue after dinner and hung out in my truck for a little while trying to decide whether I was going to go in or not. Ultimately (and obviously) I went in. Quite an interesting crowd at this north Houston venue. The groupie girls were definitely in full effect, most of whom are really past their prime. Sorry ladies, you’re looking rough these days.
While sitting there wading through some opening bands who were so horrid that they shall remain nameless, Danny Nordahl, bassist for Faster Pussycat, walked in. When we played with them in ’03, he and I talked for a long time, mostly about Thin Lizzy. The custom guitar picks I was using at the time had Phil Lynott on them and I gave him one, since he said he was out of picks. Last night I mentioned to him about that show and he said something to the effect of ‘you’re the dude that gave me that guitar pick with Phil on it. I still have that!’ Sweet! We hung out for a few while the last opener was clearing the stage and then it was showtime.
They were slated to go on at 10:30 but ended up being closer to 11. I was getting really tired but I stuck around for for about half of the set. Taime was his typical self. His voice sounded pretty good and the band was pretty solid. I think my favorite thing about the show was that Taime held an unlit cigarette in his hand the whole night. It was quite funny.
Faster Pussycat is one of the few “hair bands” that I like and their first 3 albums are pretty good.
I stayed for 6 songs, but could only recall 5.
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