Posts Tagged ‘austin’
The Doobie Brothers Concert Review, Austin, TX, November 5, 2013
The Doobie Brothers are yet another band that has been around in my family for as long as I can remember. More than anyone, Mom was a fan. The only album I remember us owning was The Captain and Me. Not sure why the Michael McDonald era albums weren’t around, probably because buying and owning music wasn’t a priority in my family. That could be why it became important to me, who knows?
I was able to catch them last night in Austin’s Paramount Theatre. I bought tickets late and ended up near the top of the venue, but that was OK. Not a show that I necessarily need to be close to the front for.
No cameras were allowed and I was able to get a quick shot right as they hit he stage. The volunteers that work the venue were pretty hardcore about making people put their phones away. It was nice not having those lit rectangles sticking up all over the place for the night.
I brought my best friend, Amelia, with me as I hadn’t seen her much lately. She’s my “go to” for shows when I can’t find anyone else to go with me. She said, “We see all of the old people shows together!” There’s some truth to that. She’s good kid. Late 20s but loves the Doobies, Hall and Oates, Chicago etc. Perfect show date as always.
We climb the stairs and got to our seats, the lights go down and they come out with Jesus is Just Alright, straight in to Rockin’ Down the Highway and then in to Take Me In Your Arms. The Doobies are still fronted by Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston and John McPhee, all original members and all in their mid-60s. But let me tell you, those guys can still sing and harmonize. They didn’t sound like most rockers in their 60s. Simmons sounded the best of the 3 and his guitar playing was quite incredible to watch. The guy is a damn fine guitarist.
They rolled through a string of hits and one or 2 off of their latest album. I was quite pleased that they played Clear As The Driven Snow from The Captain and Me. Easily one of my faves by them and was never a radio hit.
Something was missing, though. Oh! The lack of Michael McDonald songs! Beyond Takin’ It To The Streets, there were no other songs from that era. Looking back at setlist.fm, it seems they have been neglecting that era since about 2000. That seems strange to me. Apparently there must be a rift between them. Too bad as I really wanted to hear What a Fool Believes, my favorite by them.
But no matter, it was another fun show and I’m really glad I got to see them. If I had a real complaint, it’s the 2 drummer thing. Other than wanting to try it once with some friends in the mid-80s, I’ve always found it silly. It’s impressive as they 2 have to be spot on with each other, and both of the drummers last night were super tight, I just find it unnecessary. Oh well.
Great show! And I couldn’t help but think about the episode of What’s Happening the whole night. Most of you readers under 40 or from outside the USA probably won’t remember or even know of that show and/or episode.
ZZ Top Concert Review, Austin, TX 10/9/2013
ZZ Top is one of those bands that I can’t say I love or dislike. They’ve always just been there. If you were around in the 80s, you couldn’t get away from them because of MTV and radio play of megahits Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man and Legs. Eliminator was a huge album for them. HUGE. Their 70s stuff was prominent as well but that MTV era blew them up and they changed with the times by writing straight forward bluesy rock and roll pop hits, quite different from he previous decade. I’m not telling you anything new here.
I’d never seen them and when the show was announced for Austin’s ACL Live/Moody Theater, I decided to go and get them struck off the list of legendary bands that I hadn’t seen yet. ZZ Top and Austin have a long history, especially with them being from Houston. A guy sitting next to me last night was talking about seeing them in for the first time in 1971(?) at the now-defunct Armadillo.
As I generally do, I bought 2 tickets on the presale and got my favorite spot in the venue, which is front row, center balcony. The show sold out quickly. My friend Mariana quickly accepted the offer to join me when I asked a few weeks before the show. When we arrived at the show I liked the shirts that ZZ had and decided to buy one for myself and Mariana. We ended up with the same styled shirt and I swear that it was brown and not black. The vendor said it was black and compared to the black shirts on either side of it, it wasn’t…seriously. I ended up trading it in for a truly black one as seen below.
I didn’t realize there was an opening act until we sat down. When I saw a washtub and washboard, I wasn’t too excited. It was Joppa, MO’s Ben Miller Band. Americana/bluegrassish/hipsterish music. In general they weren’t that bad. I’d never heard a washboard played with a wah pedal and flange before, so that was interesting. Everyone in the band was multi-instrumental and that was impressive. That type of music, for me, is better heard and not seen.
Jason K’s message to me before the show. haha
ZZ Top came on a little after 9PM opening with Got Me Under Pressure. They smoothly ran through most of their hits and really threw out no surprises. Like a lot of older bands are doing these days, the setlist is set and very coordinated and ZZ’s performance was no different. They were obviously playing along to synched up tracks and that’s fine. It made their show a well-oiled machine.
Billy Gibbons made the statement that these 3 guys have been playing together for 4 decades…and the “same 3 chords.” Pretty funny. He’s been a huge influence on a lot of guitarists and the guy still has it. Get beyond the beards, hats, choreographed stage motions etc, and you’ve got one bad ass guitarist. Minimalist style that is about as flawless as you could want. Dusty’s solid bass lines provided the perfect bottom for the show. Frank played his steady styled beats while it was pretty obvious that his drums were triggered. He didn’t need to hit hard at all. The sound went out on the drums for a few seconds in one song and while I could see him hitting drums, you couldn’t hear any of it. He seemed to be the one most worn from the years of touring, but he played fine.
It was a fun show and while I wanted to heard Beer Drinkers and Heard It On The X, I’ve got no real complaints at all.
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- Monkey Boy and Mariana…La bestia y la bella
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- T shirt I picked up.
Iron Maiden & Megadeth Concert Review, Austin, TX 9/10/2013
Last night Iron Maiden made their presence known in Austin the only way they know how…by getting on stage and destroying anything in their path and still being one of the greatest live bands ever.
They played at the Austin360 Amphitheater which is part of the new Circuit of the Americas racetrack on the outskirts of Austin. Megadeth has been the opener for this leg of the tour. What an incredible venue. No real covering over the pit or the seats and gives it a really awesome feel. The setup was really good overall.
I just saw this tour a week ago in Raleigh, NC and knew what to expect. But it didn’t matter. I love the band and would go see them every week if I could. Last week’s show was pretty special mostly because of the non-concert stuff that happened around the concert weekend. Last night’s show was special in its own way as well because again I got to see my favorite band with more of my closest friends.
Automatically when the show got announced I decided to join the Iron Maiden fan club just to get presale tickets. We were only allowed 4 tickets on the presale and I had my 3 spares easily picked out. Don, Pablo and Marco. Three of my closest friends in the area.
We met up at my house to each have a bottle of the Trooper Ale that I had picked up last week. I’m liking the beer a little more each time I have it.
We then took the quick ride to the venue and parked in the premium parking as I had prepaid for a pass. We scooted passed the line of cars and easily parked. We brought some extra Trooper beers with us to have a little parking lot celebration while waiting for my friends Jason and Morgan. Upon their arrival we went in.
I didn’t get an event shirt in Raleigh as they had sold out of my size. I decided to wait in the merch line during Megadeth and got the shirt I wanted. We were able to catch the last few ‘Deth songs and them mulled around the venue talking with other friends. Everybody was there it seemed. Maiden brings everyone out.
Maiden comes out and plays the same set they’ve been riding for the last year plus. I still wish they’d leave out Afraid to Shoot Strangers and Fear of the Dark and bring back Infinite Dreams and Still Life. Jannick Gers was slightly less annoying last night than in last week’s show.
I can’t state enough how great and energetic this band still is. Bruce Bruce sounded awesome and the band still fires off all cylinders. Nicko’s right foot is still that of legend. It was high in the mix last night, too. Guitar solos were still a bit buried as they were last week.
I hope we get to see them again and I’d gladly see them again at this venue. Well done, COTA.
Up the Irons.
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- Pablo, Monkey Boy, Don and Marco…and Trooper Ale
Steely Dan Concert Review, Austin, TX 8/28/2013
Steely Dan was in town last night at the Bass Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Texas. I got tickets during the presale and scored stage left balcony, 7th row. The rows were angles and the view was absolutely incredible.
I’ve been a big Steely Dan fan since I was a little kid. That primarily came from my brother Robert (RIP) and Mom who were both big fans. Their work in the 70s is absolutely incredible. Lots of folks dub them a lounge rock band, and that’s not really far from the truth. But the musicianship this band has displayed since day one is something to note, not to mention the hotshots that have been part of the band throughout the years.
In tow with me for the show were my best friend Amelia, her brother and Billy Milano. Yes, THAT Billy Milano. I met Billy shortly after moving to Austin and we’ve been pals ever since. He’s a good dude and absolutely hilarious. He’s also a huge Steely Dan fan. When he saw that I had one spare ticket, he said to me in his still thick NY/Nj accent, “Sean…you better hold that fuckin’ Steely Dan ticket for me!” Yes sir!
I got to the venue first and while hanging out talking with some folks who were looking for tickets, one of the guys said, “Hey, that dude was Christopher Cross.” I said ‘sure enough’ and just walked up and said that I was a big fan and asked if we could do a quick photo. “I’d love to.” Click! He asked if I had ever seen the band before and I said no, but have wanted to since I was a kid. “You’ll love it.” He’s originally from San Antonio and has been doing a lot of stuff around Austin in the last few years. I need to go check one of the shows out for sure. I truly am a fan of his first few albums and the “yacht rock” genre in general.
My friends arrived right after that, we walked in, grabbed a drink and found our seats. There was a little jazz blues trio called the Deep Blue Organ Trio and they were solid, primarily playing covers as instrumentals. They closed with a fantastic version of Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight.
After a quick set change, Steely Dan’s backup band dubbed The Bipolar All-stars opened up with an instrumental then Donald Fagen and Walter Becker walked out and they went right into “Your Gold Teeth” from Countdown to Ecstasy. They played a good cross section of their hits and deeper cuts as you’ll see in the setlist below. It was a great show and Fagen’s vocals still sounded pretty good for age 65. Becker wasn’t doing a lot of soloing but when he did he sounded good. They had another kick ass player on most leads. But I have to say what took the cake for me was the drummer, Keith Carlock. That dude was absolutely incredible and to be honest stole the show.
If I had to say I was a little disappointed it would be that they didn’t play Deacon Blues. Mom always said that song reminded her of Robert and it does that for me, too. Not just in the last year after his death but throughout my whole life. If the song came on the radio she’d say, “There’s Robert’s song.” It’s probably good that they skipped that song for the Austin show as I don’t know how well I would have kept my emotions in check. They also didn’t play “Do It Again”, which is one Billy really wanted to hear. Finally, if I was able to pick the setlist, Green Earrings would have been in there. That’s my #1 by them. “Don’t Take Me Alive” would have been awesome to hear as well.
Overall, the show was 10/10 and the Bass Concert Hall is a phenomenal place to see a show. The sound in there is absolutely stellar. Another great concert in a great town with great friends.
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- Billy Milano loves Steely Dan
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- Christopher Cross and Monkey Boy. My gold teeth?
Black Sabbath Concert Review, Austin, TX 7/27/2013
I’ve been a fan of Black Sabbath since the mid-70s when one of my my older brothers, Robert (RIP), brought home Paranoid. Somewhere around 78 or 79 he gave me their debut album for Christmas and it was one of the first pieces of vinyl that I ever owned. I’ve spoken many times before about his influence on me musically and and his love for Sabbath was certainly passed on to me. I f’n LOVE Sabbath…Ozzy, Dio, Gillan and Martin eras. But my love for them doesn’t give them a pass. In fact, it may make me more critical.
I’d never seen Sabbath (by name) but I did see Heaven & Hell twice. I saw Ozzy live in 1988 and to be honest he was horrible. At that point he was a shell of his former self. Last night I would have called him a shell of a shell of his former self.
Lots of cards were in play with the recent Sabbath reunion. No Bill Ward on the album because of a contract dispute (read: $$ and Sharon). Iommi’s lymphoma which was caught early but is still being treated for every 6 weeks. No Ward on the tour. A new album that I think is boring, autotuned vocally and severely over-processed. Bill couldn’t have saved the album.
Sabbath opened the recent leg of the tour in Houston the night before and the reviews of Ozzy were pretty awful.
The show was opened with Andrew WK doing a DJ of the same songs that most venues would have played prior to a concert…DIO, Slayer, AC/DC etc. Sharon must have gotten him on the cheap! I would have preferred an opening band.
Sabbath opened up with War Pigs then went into Into the Void(!). By the second song Ozzy had pulled out his inner ear monitors. He was motioning during War Pigs that his inner ear sound was jacked up. The band sounded great the whole show. Tony and Geezer were just incredible to watch and listen to. Touring drummer Tommy Clufetos (Alice Cooper, John 5, Ted Nugent) did a fine job on everything except for the song Black Sabbath. He played most of the songs pretty spot on but was doing something weird on that one that just didn’t seem to work. He also did a drum solo and even as me being a drummer (retired), I really don’t like most drum solos, especially from metal bands. But Ozzy said it best last night, “Rat Salad…I need to take a fucking break!” So I can easily see why there was a solo. Ozzy looked worn out. Metal band drum solos are typically just a bunch of double bass, quads and triplets. zzzz. I’d prefer to not have a solo or to watch one where a drummer is showing me their chops. But that’s just my opinion. The crowd loved it and that’s what mattered. And let’s be honest here, does anyone think Ward would have been good live at this point? From what I have seen on Youtube and read in reviews of the reunion tour, dude had a tough enough time keeping up as it was.
I will say that I thought Ozzy was better than I expected him to be, but he wasn’t great by any means. Strapped to his teleprompter, still not getting words right (same in 88 actually) and being flat for a majority of the show. Sure his drug use is that of legend and in general the guy probably doesn’t know where he is half of the time. His wife, who did save his life, seems to be money hungry and continues to prop him up like a puppet.
He sounded best on God Is Dead? and the other new songs which makes sense as they were written more about how he is able to sing now. I was happy to see Dirty Women in the set, unfortunately he couldn’t keep up in it. Snowblind was another highlight.
I know my opinion on this is a minority opinion, but I’d respect Ozzy more if he’d just say, “That’s all, folks. I just can’t do it any more.” I have a list of performers that fall into that category for me.
But all the above taken into account, I had a really good time and have zero regrets about going or about the high ticket price ($115+fees). I felt it was the last time I’d have a chance to see Iommi and watching Geezer is always a treat. He’s still a beast on the bass. And Ozzy sounded better than what I had expected, so there’s that.
I did hear someone say before the show that they loved “Tommy Iommi.” That one always cracks me up.
As we were walking out after Children of the Grave (Yes, I left before the Paranoid encore), I heard Ozzy say, “Thank you, Houston!” He must have walked away from his teleprompter again.
The Metal Files 
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