Monday, December 31, 2012

12.12.12 The Concert for Sandy Relief (aka The Concert of a Lifetime) MSG Wednesday, December 12, 2012



Did anyone who reads this blog (thanks to the 2 people who do) really think I would not have attended the biggest concert of our lifetime?!?!  Special thanks to my Aunt for her tireless efforts in securing tickets to the concert of the decade! 

The concert was advertised but for the first few weeks, no one knew when the tickets would go on sale.  Chase was a big sponsor which they mentioned a few times during the show.  I missed out on the pre-sale because I was in the hospital (long story, read the Monkees post when I write it).  I also couldn’t get tickets when they went on sale to the public.  They went on sale 10 minutes late too!  I wasn’t disappointed, due to the pain killers and caffeine.  I sent the e-mail to my Aunt reporting the grim news and thought that was the end of it.  Little did I know that her penchant to see the Stones, Bon Jovi and the Boss was driving her to get tickets anyway she could, any I mean anyway!  As I was getting off the train after The Who concert (read the post), I got a forwarded e-mail from eBay.  My Aunt forwarded me the e-mail showing that she bought tickets!!  I actually had a tear in my eye and all I could think of was that I don’t deserve my Aunt.  She treats me like the King I think I am.  We bought tickets from a broker in Brooklyn.  The shit hit the fan when we got an email from him stating that he is still working on seat assignments and we might get an upgrade (broker talk for they don’t have the tickets and are selling tickets they might not get).  But our broker came through with an upgrade.  We were upgraded to the floor.  After being a proponent of floor seating for a long time, now I like saving money and not having to stand the entire night by buying cheaper level 2 and 3 tickets.  Since MSG got a face life, there is no 3-D or detailed seating chart so we had no idea what kind of seats we had, leaving it for chance, I headed into the city.  
 We took an early train because there were many reports about the show starting anywhere between 7 and 7:30 although the printed ticket start time was 7:30.  So to be sure, we wanted to get there early.  After a fantastic meal at our usual chain in Time Square, we walked a few blocks over to the see the ‘Miracle of 34th Street’.  After a relatively easy security check (nothing like Barclay’s) we were on our way.  The lines at the merch tables were out of control so we just decided to make our way into the World’s Most Famous Arena.  We took 2 escalators up to the floor level.  Since they restructured the arena, we had to into the 120 section and walk down to our seats.  None of the ushers really knew how to get to our seats so we had to ask a few different ushers.  We finally found our section, Section 1.  We were above the floor (which the broker told us) but I didn’t realize we were inclined.  The seats were about 4 feet off the floor, which gave us a nice perch to view the concert of a lifetime from.  We also had end seats!  It really doesn’t get any better than that.  It almost made the 7 foot tall guy in front of us and drunken assholes from Jersey behind us, worth it.  I ran to the bathroom and got a cup of water for 5 bucks!  The announcer welcomed us to the show and said that the show was going to start at 7:30 so please be in your seats by then.  As it got closer, he would say 2 minutes and the crowd would roar.  Then we got down to 90 seconds, 60 seconds, 30 seconds and then a t-minus 10 count.  The crowd was counting down, so if anyone watching at home wondered why we were counting, that’s why.  It started with a 2 minute intro film. 
With the stage still blacked out, the Boss could be heard starting one of his infamous 1, 2 counts.  The E-Street band then launched into Land of Hopes & Dreams.  Bruce’s voice was coming through loud and clear, so loud in fact that I decided to put my earplugs in.  Bruce could have done a “hits” set, but decided to do a few random songs that have references to Jersey in them, like Wrecking Ball, a song off his new album.  There was quite of buzz on the internet about Bruce’s bulging pants (and that’s all I will say about it).  I don’t know if it was from having Jon Bon Jovi joining him on Born to Run or what?  They swapped verses, he thanked us and left the stage.  His set was only 28 minutes.  I was a little surprised, thinking back to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert where he played a 2 hour + set. 

After an intro film and a short intro by Billy Crystal, Roger Waters came out.  Roger opted to do a “hits” set and the crowd was on its feet for most of it.  The audience really ate up his set.  I am not a huge Floyd fan, but can appreciate them.  He then brought up Eddie Vedder to sing Comfortably Numb which brought the house down (to that point).  Roger commented that he didn’t want to talk because they only gave him 30 minutes. 

Bon Jovi was up next.  I thought my Aunt lost her shit with Bruce and Roger, but she went crazy when Bon Jovi came up (she’s a fan).  The casual listener knows the songs he played.  Jon started his set facing the audience on a road case.  He then called The Boss back up and they did Who Says You Can't Go Home. 

Eric Clapton did a mini set of three songs.  He started with a sit down acoustic song on his signature EC Martin guitar playing Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out.  He closed with Crossroads.  He only had a bass and drummer.  He had a full sound from only three instruments and a voice.

The Rolling Stones played 2 songs!!!  I was impressed with the two songs they played, but felt since they were one of the big reasons my Aunt wanted to go, we could have gotten at least 3 songs, c’mon Mick!  Charlie’s snare had an odd sound, almost distracting at times.  After Mick said “thank you” and they left after two songs, it had a lot of people scratching their heads.  The only thing I could come up with was that they were going to be streaming a pay-per-view concert in 4 days and didn’t want people not to buy that by overplaying their market, but what do I know, I’m just a blogger!
 I don’t care for Alicia Keys, but her voice is somewhat rough like a Carole King type.  In fact her voice was very harsh and sounded like she was trying to sing out of her range.  The drunken assholes from Jersey behind us had no problem booing her off the stage during her two songs.

The fact that The Who (Roger and Pete) are still around and rocking, is nothing short of amazing.  They also played a ‘hits’ set.  They did 2 songs from the album they were pushing at the moment, Quadrophenia.  I was surprised to hear See Me, Feel Me.  Roger had his shirt undone after the first song.  It’s not that hot up there Roger, keep your shirt on!  They closed their set with Tea & Theatre, a most intolerable song, especially since for the most part, they had a stellar set and Roger’s voice was strong, except for this song.  Just before they left the stage, Pete, being Pete, tried to keep the censors on their feet and said “Have a fuckin’ beer!”  Watching the TiVo the next day, the censors weren’t quite able to block that from the broadcast.  Pete is always pushing the envelope even as he’s pushing 70!

I was not in the arena for Kanye’s set.  But I did get a 5 dollar bottle of water and 13 dollar burger with onion relish.  It was cooked medium and it was juicy and brilliant.  After woofing my half of the burger down we tried to find my Aunt a long sleeved concert ‘T’.  It seems that the Robin Hood Relief Fund underestimated the demand for the merch, because MSG sold out and the website went down because I tried to check during the show and it wouldn’t load! 

Billy Joel was up next, and his set was probably the best of the evening.  His voice was strong and he picked the right songs to pace his set.  His band is amazing, Crystal was backing up Billy on the high part since most of the songs are down a step or two to make them singable.  The crowd was on their feet again.  I’m not a fan of New York State of Mind, but how could he not play that song?  It was funny that both my Aunt and I decided to sit down during this song and take a rest.  Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) had specially re-written lyrics for wrath of Sandy.  
Chris Martin was up next.  He just had his Martin guitar and a microphone.  He played a new popular Coldplay song by himself.  He has a nice voice, just not really a fan of Coldplay.  I wouldn’t be able to sit through a whole show.  He then brought up a surprise that even the organizers didn’t know about, Michael Stipe or REM fame.  My Aunt was singing along to Losing My Religion.  Chris said he came out of retirement to do this, but then he’s going right back in.  Michael did a great job. 

I am and always will be a die hard Paul McCartney fan (even over the Beatles!), but his set list was uninspired and unorganized.  It’s like he picked songs that he knew he wouldn’t screw up on live TV.  He started with Helter Skelter, a song that I think is ready for retirement.  He really nailed the high parts, I was surprised, not bad for a 70 year old, poor guy, still has to work at his age, lol.  Then he surprised me when he swapped the Hofner for the Lessy.  I knew the only other thing he could do is Let Me Roll It, and let me tell you, they did.  The Mary Jane was flowing freely by this point.  Then he did an obscure Wings song Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, although I enjoy this song, I think ten other people of the 17,000 knew it.  Diana Krall was invited on to play for the equally intolerable song My Valentine.  Then Paul strapped on his Martin to play Blackbird.  His voice cracked really badly during this song.  After that he called up the surviving members of Nirvana, including Pat Smear for a new song.  Paul played some sort of 4 stringed guitar, it looks like it was made out of a cereal box.  Paul swapped the cereal box for the Lessy again to play I’ve Got a Feeling.  Since someone had been  instragramming photos from rehearsals and wrote something about fireworks, I knew he would do Live and Let Die.  I love this song, and it’s amazing the heat you feel even in the back of the arena during the fire and fireworks.  It’s quite impressive.  After that, Paul called Alicia back to the stage and all the first responders came out and she closed the show with a song about New York. 
 It was 1:15 by this point.  I had been up for over 20 hours and was ready to leave.  I grabbed my poster and we were on our way out of the Garden.  We easily found a cab at 1:15am and made our way to Grand Central for a 1:45 train.  After getting in at 3:30 I tried to get some sleep and just drink in what had happened.  The concert of a lifetime!  Thanks to all the artists and my Aunt for making it happen!  I owe you a long sleeve T-shirt!

Happy New Year and I’m sure we’ll be keeping busy with concerts in 2013!

Friday, December 21, 2012

2012 Year in Review



Here is the list, the list that everyone has been waiting for…no not that list, the list of concerts I have been to this year.  You will see some duplicates and some new names on the list.  I crossed off a lot of artists on my bucket list this year.  Most of them were at the 12.2.12. Concert!  Here are some of this year’s highlights. 

Jimmy Buffett in Florida.  While it was cold up north, I was wearing shorts and sipping margaritas in an air conditioned arena in Orlando.  I also got some mini golf and bike riding in.  Thanks Jimmy and my Aunt!   
I finally got dragged to a full Bruce Springsteen show.  If New Jersey could harness the energy that man has, they could light their state for free!   
 I never would have thought I would get to write that I saw the original surviving Beach Boys, let alone see them 3 times!  I had second row seats to CSN at the Oakdale.   


Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band was the best I think he’s ever put together.  I know I say that every time, but this time I mean it.   
 Even though it was only two concerts, I have George Thorogood and Steve Miller and Huey Lewis and Joe Cocker listed as separate since they did lengthy sets each.  Joe Cocker was an utter delight.  The man still has such passion and soul in his voice.  George Thorogood destroyed the stage with The Destroyers.  Huey Lewis is straining on a lot of songs, but still puts on a good show.  I was a little disappointed with Steve Miller’s set, but he is such a good guitar player that I will let it slide.   

Hearing the “SO” album from start to finish was one of the top highlights this year.  Peter Gabriel can still sing quite well and really put a lot of effort into putting together an engaging show for the audience.   
 I also got to hear the 1st (and best) CSN album from start to finish at the intimate Beacon Theatre.  It was clear that it was the last show of the tour, by the tired voice of Stephen Stills, but as one of them said, this is the longest tour they have ever done.  It started in March and went to October.   
The other top highlight was seeing Mark Knopfler!  He puts on such a great show.  The set list is very engaging and even though people were not there to see him (they were there to see Dylan) I think he put them all under his spell.  In my opinion, he is one of the best guitar players EVER!  We left early and only saw maybe like 5 songs from Dylan.  He has no voice, but I knew that going in.  I never thought I would ever see Mike Nesmith with the original core Monkees.  Yes it was very upsetting that Davy Jones couldn’t be there, but what a night of music with the Monkees.  Just as promised, it was interactive and was loaded with rare footage and it was a very nice celebration of Davy Jones’ life.  Mike still has such a good voice, maybe it’s from years of not being used (hint hint Mike!).   






You can read the review of The Who if you like, but I thought Roger and Pete still have a lot of music in them.  They have an awesome backing band and Pete can still play quite well.  


 The top highlight of this year, and probably of my concert going career is the 12.12.12 Sandy Relief Concert.  It started promptly at 7:30 and was broadcast live around the globe from Madison Square Garden in the heart of NYC.  From the first note to Paul McCartney’s last, I knew that I was a part of something that only 17,000 other people would ever be privy to.  It’s different than watching it at home, we had great elevated floor seats on the aisle.  Most of the people in my section were well behaved, with the exception of the drunken assholes that kept voicing their opinions about the artists they don’t like.  I’m not a fan of Alicia Keys but I would never boo her and make nasty comments, out loud at least, have some class fellas.  I was wondering how they were going to get all the artists on the stage and off in four and half hours, which they didn’t, it took five hours and fifty minutes! 

Enjoy some photographic highlights from throughout the year. 


2/5/2012        Jimmy Buffett Amway Center, Orlando, FL
4/6/2012        Bruce Springsteen MSG
4/29/2012      Colin Hay Ridgefield Playhouse
5/8/2012        Beach Boys Beacon Theatre, NYC
5/9/2012        Beach Boys Beacon Theatre, NYC
5/13/2012      Beach Boys Mohegan Sun Arena
6/16/2012      Crosby Stills & Nash Oakdale
6/17/2012      Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band Mohegan Sun Arena
6/26/2012      Jimmy Buffett Mohegan Sun Arena
8/3/2012        George Thorogood MGM Grand (opening for Steve Miller)
8/3/2012        Steve Miller Band MGM Grand
8/4/2012        Huey Lewis & The News MGM Grand
8/4/2012        Joe Cocker MGM Grand
10/13/2012    Peter Gabriel Mohegan Sun Arena
10/16/2012    Crosby Stills & Nash Beacon Theatre, NYC
10/17/2012    Crosby Stills & Nash Beacon Theatre, NYC
10/22/2012    Crosby Stills & Nash Beacon Theatre, NYC
11/21/2012     Mark Knopfler/Bob Dylan Barclay's Center Brooklyn
12/02/2012    The Monkees Beacon Theatre NYC
12/05/2012    The Who MSG
12/12/2012    12.12.12 The Concert for Sandy Relief

2012 was a great year filled with great music.  As always, I want to wish my fellow loyal readers a happy holiday season and nothing but the best in the coming year.  (Note: please don't borrow or use any of the photos in the blog).

Thursday, December 6, 2012

The Who Madison Square Garden, Wednesday December 5, 2012 New York City



Who Are You?
I’ve been waiting a long time to see The Who.  I wanted to see them when they weren’t pushing anything.  I guess I was waiting for a ‘hits’ show.  This was the closest I guess I will get.  I got tickets in August when they first went on sale.  Originally I was supposed to go with my Aunt, who later bowed out, leaving me with an extra ticket.  So I found my music loving neighbor wanted to go, and she did.  On our way to the city it was warmer, but after we got off the train, the temperature dropped and the wind was cutting through my windbreaker.  After a sub-par BBQ dinner, we were on our way to The Garden.  This was my neighbor’s first time visiting the behemoth arena.  After a brief bag check and perusal of the merch table, we were on our way to the 200 section seats I had secured with a Chase pre-sale.  I was not aware there was going to be an opener, but after the first few bars of the opening song, it was clear this band was not my cup of tea.  The only opener I like is when it’s a big artist, like when Knopfler open for Dylan or CSN opens for Tom Petty.  I walked around the beautifully restored NYC landmark.  I chatted up a friendly usher and found out that The Who would take the stage at 8:30 and be done by 10:45.  In the back of my mind, I was thinking that I would be able to catch the 11:22 and make it an early night.  I made it back to my seat for the start of the main event.
 I have never heard the Quadrophenia album before.  While I know both of the original members are in their late 60’s, I was shocked with how good both of them sounded.  Pete has been very rough the last decade or so, and Roger has been straining for quite a while, but miraculously, both were in good spirit and voice.  Roger and the production team did a fine job of bringing the opus to life on stage.  There were big screens so everyone could easily see the show.  Quadrophenia dragged on, there were a lot of fans who loved hearing the album from start to finish, but most of us were there for the hits at the end.  There were some touching tributes to dearly departed members Keith Moon and John Entwistle.

After an hour and a half, Pete thanked and introduced the band, thanked Roger and they launched into the hits.  Roger’s voice was a little tired during the hits.  Maybe they should start doing shorter shows to save his voice a bit.  The backup singers were cutting through and holding the notes in the background for Roger.  During Pinball Wizard when Roger was twirling his mic by its cable, he inadvertently tripped over Simon’s (Pete’s brother) wedge and tumbled, but didn’t miss a beat and came back in when he was supposed to.  I happened to have the camera rolling at the exact moment and it is quite comical the way they kept playing.  Both and Pete and Roger were cracking up and trying to finish the song with some decorum.  The show took a morbid turn when Roger and Pete were talking about 2 dear friends who died in the span of the week.  But after that they closed the show with Tea & Theatre.  I would have rather had Substitute or something fun, but Pete asked me to stop making the set lists.  A southern rambler named Stratton Lawrence who was sitting next to me during the show, asked me to send him some pictures I took, so check out his review on his website, strattonlawrence.com
 I Am the Sea
The Real Me
Quadrophenia
Cut My Hair
The Punk And The Godfather
I'm One
The Dirty Jobs
Helpless Dancer
Is It in My Head?
I've Had Enough
5:15
Sea and Sand
Drowned
Bell Boy
Doctor Jimmy
The Rock
Love, Reign O'er Me>Band Introductions
Who Are You
Behind Blue Eyes
Pinball Wizard
Baba O'Riley
Won't Get Fooled Again
Tea & Theatre