Trans Siberian Orchestra

    We went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra tonight.  We've been meaning to see them for years now.

    It was a fantastic concert, both the music and the special effects.  Highly recommended for lovers of symphonic rock/metal.

Bonnie Raitt

    Yeah, we're going to see her in concert tonight.  At the Celebrity Theatre, no less.

Dinosaur Jr.

    Oh my!  These guys are coming to Phoenix in September!  Just announced.  After eschewing them for 15 years because of their kitschy name, I finally picked up obe of their albums, and kicked myself for avoiding them for so long.

Dream Theater Concert

    Gonna go see these guys tonight.  I am sooooo much looking forward to this. 

Eluveitie

    Eluveitie, a fantastic Swiss Folk-Metal band is coming to the Valley next month.  This borders on being a must-see.  I've been listening to their most-recent album, Origins, this past week.  It is most excellent.

E-Card Thursday

   Also, if you're driving to go see a band in concert, you NEVER play one of the band's CD's on the way there.

It's the weekend!

    And a 3-day weekend to boot.  We're starting it off right by going to see Jeff Mangum (he of Neutral Milk Hotel) tonight.  A recap to follow in a day or two, but I think I'm gonna enjoy it.

Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

   Time for a couple words about MIM, the Musical Instrument Museum, where we saw Albert Lee a few nights ago.

    First the bad news - it's way the heck up in north Scottsdale, even beyond Bell Road, which once upon a time (my college days at ASU) was the northern limit of the greater Phoenix valley.

    That's it for the bad news.  The good news is that you can get there pretty quickly via the 101 Loop and/or the Squaw Peak Parkway.  And if you're going to a concert there, chances are it won't be rush hour.

    The theater is small; seating slightly over 300.  We were on the back row for Albert, but that was only Row 16 ("Row P"), so we still had fantastic seats, very comfortable, and roomier than the sardine-seating at our other local small venue - Celebrity Theater.  And a 300-person concert means getting on and out of the parking lot is a breeze.

    The doors opened a bit before 7:30 PM; it didn't take long for everyone to get seated.  A MIM official came out and spent about 10 minutes telling us about upcoming shows.  Then Albert and his band came on.  No waiting for the roadies to set up, no opening act, no intermission, very little chitchat.  Just 2+ hours of what you paid for - Albert showing off his talent.  And that talent was impressive.

    Bottom line - if you're into obscure groups - in almost any genre - you won't find a better venue than MIM.  A couple upcoming shows that have me excited - Al Stewart, David Bromberg, and Béla Fleck.  And of those three, Mr. Bromberg heads my wish list.

Albert Lee Concert - Phoenix, Arizona

    We did indeed make it for the Albert Lee concert on Saturday night.  And it was, as expected, fantastic.  Because we didn't get our tickets until Thursday night, we were on the last row, but that turned out to be Row 16.  We'll post about the venue in a couple days.

    Albert played all sorts of genres.  A couple of songs from his Emmylou Harris days; one from the Everly Brothers.  A bunch of good old 50's rock & roll.  Mostly is was two hours of him showing off on the guitar, although he took a break to play a couple songs on keyboards, including "Highwayman".

     His band was equally great, particularly the keyboardist, he with the ponytail and stocking feet.

    All in all, it was a fantastic concert.  Started right on time.  No opening band.  No intermission.  Well worth the $30 or so for a ticket.

    So Thank You, Albert Lee, for stopping by in Phoenix and putting on one helluva show.  My jaw dropped to the floor with every guitar solo.

Albert Lee in Concert

    The guy is a frickin' guitar legend.  He's played C&W with Emmylou Harris, the Blues with Eric Clapton, Blugrass with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs, and rocked with the Everly Brothers.

    And he's in concert here in Phoenix this Saturday night.  I am seriously thinking about going to see him.

Fiona Apple Concert

    Yeah, we'll be seeing her in concert tonight.  Jason and Liz really like her; I'm kinda neutral.  So it will be interesting to see if I enjoy the concert.

Just Wrong - Hendrix and Monkees

    45 years ago, this month - the Jimi Hendrix Experience opening for The Monkees.  Who came up with that pairing?  Who should be opening for whom?  And while we're at it, WTF is that apostrophe doing in "Monkee's"??

    FWIW, the worst concert pairing I ever experienced came in the early 70's when folksinger Danny O'Keefe opened at the Celebrity Theater for Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band.  Yeah.  For the first 45 minutes, it was just Danny, an acoustic guitar, and 5,000 stoned/drunk Springsteen fans foaming at the mouth and ready to PAR-TAY!!  We were not very nice to Mr. O'Keefe, who was only doing what he was being paid to do.  I can't say I'm proud of the way the crowd acted, but jeez, did anyone stop to think about  the difference in the two genres?

Nightwish and Kamelot

    Coming to Phoenix on 07 October - Kamelot and Nightwish!  How 'bout that for a fantastic pairing?!

   The concert will be at the Marquee Theater, which should mean great ticket prices at the expense of having to stand through the whole thing.

   Yeah, I'm gonna be there.



Guess who went to the American Idol concert last Sunday?

And sat on the 11th Row and had a backstage pass, no less?

 

Nope.  Wasn't me.

HippieFest is coming

    Something called HippieFest is coming to Phoenix, on 05 August, and at Comerica Theater.  Which I think is Dodge Theater under new ownership.  Or Celebrity Theater.  Or Cricket Theater.  Hopefully not that last one; it's outside.

    HippieFest is proclaimed to be a celebration of the Summer of Love (that was 1967 for you young'uns), and the acts include :

Dave Mason  (formerly of Traffic)

Mark Farner  (formerly of Grand Funk Railroad)

Rick Derringer  (formerly of The McCoys)

Gary Wright  (formerly of ??)

The Rascals

    Sad to say, the only one I'd really like to see is Dave Mason, and that's mostly because of his post-Traffic solo material.  The McCoys had only one hit (Hang On, Sloopy), and I'm not keen on Derringer's solo work.  The Rascals would be interesting, and I admit I used to have a couple of their albums.  But there's a reason those LP's are no longer in my collection.

    So I doubt I'll be going to this, despite the fact that it should really appeal to me.  Now if they could get Janis, and Jimi, and Jim-the-Lizard-King to show up, I'd have to reconsider.

Goose Creek Symphony concert

We saw Goose Creek Symphony on Saturday and they were AWESOME. This time, we even got to sit, which wasn't true for the two previous concerts we went to at The Rhythm Room. The trick is to get there 20-30 minutes before the doors open, which in turn open an hour before the concert starts. . Between this pic and the third one, you can see all seven members of the band. A pair of drummers; a fantastic fiddle player (requisite for any bluegrass band); and four guitars (two lead, one bass, and one acoustic). And yes, that's Yoko Ono sitting right in front of us. . They played for two hours. It was a nice mix of their well-known but older stuff, and their newer songs. I snagged me two of their newer CD's (I've already converted the four LP's from their heyday in the 70's); and a tie-dyed GCS t-shirt. .

The audience was almost entirely 50-somethings. All the guys seemed to have pony-tails which made me jealous. The place was packed.

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Coming to The Rhythm Room next month are Savoy Brown (a superb blues-rock band) and Al Stewart ("Year of the Cat", "Time Passages", etc.). Unfortunately, both are on weeknights, which lessens the chances of me going.

Roger Waters Concert!

Yes, I had extremely high expectations for this concert, and yes, it lived up to them completely. Excellent music (The Wall, obviously) and a fantastic visual extravanganza. I'd tell yooze folks to go see him when he's in your town, but the tour is almost complete. He's got about 5 more dates in California; then he's done. .

Plus my ticket and dinner were birthday presents from Jason and Ryan! How kewl is that!? Thanks guys!

It's A Beautiful Day (Concert)

It's A Beautiful Day played at the Rhythm Room Saturday night, and it was a great show. They started promptly at 6:00, and played two solid hours (minus some witty repartee). David LaFlamme is stunning on the electric violin (or, as he pointed out - a miniature viola, since it has five strings, not four). It was a family affair, with wife Linda handling the female vocals, and daughter (Alicia?) joining Mom and Dad on stage to sing harmony on a couple numbers. . They did most of the eponymous debut album, plus a couple cuts from the almost-as-good Marrying Maiden and Choice Quality Stuff ones. There were about 4 songs I didn't know, one of which was off the It's A Beautiful Day...Today LP, which I have but never play. .

The place was packed. Doors opened at 5:00, but we got there about 10 minutes before the gig started, so we had to stand throughout the show. But I'm used to that from attending various Metal concerts. And unlike those Metal concerts, where I turn out to be 20 years older than everybody else, the entire audience here was gray-haired, ponytailed SIT60's, except for Jason and Jasel.

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This was a low-tech show - just the band doing their thing. The trade-off was that you were within 20 feet of the stage, and picture-taking was allowed. A month from now Melanie will be there, and then in February it's Goose Creek Symphony. All-in-all, three groups that I never thought I'd see in concert. Sweet.

The Fall Phoenix Concert Season

Autumn has arrived, and you know what that means. Decent acts once again will be showing up in concert. Here's the ones I'm contemplating attending.

. 02 October - Johnny and Edgar Winter

09 October - Its A Beautiful Day

early November - Elton John & Leon Russell

10 November - Andre Watts

13 November - Melanie ("Safka", not "C")

late November - Roger Waters and The Wall tour
 

. That's an awesome schedule.   And James McMurtry was here yesterday, and I didn't even know it. . We have our Elton John and Roger Waters tickets already.   Melanie and IABD are at a local blues bar, and will only cost $30 each.   Johnnny & Edgar are at the Celebrity Theater, which is always a good place for a concert.   And Andre Watts is in a class by himself.

  .I won't make all of these, but it's hard to say which ones I'll miss. Stay tuned.

Meat Loaf Concert

The Meat Loaf concert last night lived up to expectations. Good, honest rock-&-roll; and Mr. Loaf's voice did as well as could be expected. His daughter, Pearl, opened for him with her rock band, also called Pearl. She/They have one CD out ("Little Immaculate White Fox"), and I bought it. Review to follow. . The concert was at the Celebrity Theater, which makes for an intimate setting, but at the cost of lousy acoustics. We were in Row 10, and off a bit to the side. Fantabulous! No cameras allowed, but these two pics come close to capturing the essence of show. . He opened with Bat Out Of Hell and then did his number from Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was a pleasant surprise. He only did the first three tracks from his latest CD, Hang Cool Teddy Bear, which is also a good album. Patti Russo was there, and did her usual superb job on the duets. The rest of his band was excellent as well. . They did all the hits we came to hear - Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad, Paradise By The Dashboard Light, I Would Do Anything For Love, You Took The Words Right Out of my Mouth, etc. There were about three songs that I had never heard before. They closed with a rousing rendition of the guitar solo from Lynrd Skynrd's Free Bird. . Meat Loaf is sixty-two years old (or, as he prefers it, "sexty-two"). You gotta figure he's not going to put up with the rigors of touring too much longer. So if he's coming to your town sometime soon, go see him. You won't be disappointed.