The first concert that I ever attended was Queen with opener Thin Lizzy at Madison Square Garden in February, 1977. This show in March, 2006 at the Nassau Coliseum was during a period when the remaining members of Queen were still trying to figure out a path to continue on as a band without the irreplaceable Freddie Mercury. Vocally Paul Rodgers and Freddie Mercury could not be further apart, but Rodgers is a great vocalist in his own right and on this night the collaboration with Queen worked, although not as Queen purists might have liked. I had taken my son, who was eleven at the time, with me to the Coliseum and I remember having had enjoyed the concert. The only thing that I specifically recall from that evening was that about midway during the performance, a black grand piano appeared from beneath the stage before Paul Rodgers played a Bad Company tune. In later years, Queen would move on from Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert ultimately was seen to be the better fit as the Queen frontman. I have not seen Queen with Adam Lambert other than a random television appearance, but I know people who have seen them perform live and loved it. Having had seen the original band with Freddie Mercury several times before his untimely passing, I have never had the urge to see Queen again after the Paul Rodgers tour. Rodgers and Queen did put out at least one set of original music that somehow made it into my CD collection; if was interesting, not horrible, but a pale imitation of those early iconic Queen albums.

Tie Your Mother Down

Rock on!

GQ

I have been a Wilco fan for many years now, going back to when I first saw the band at New York City’s The Town Hall pre-Nels Cline, and when “Summerteeth” was my favorite album of theirs for a period of time. I have seen Wilco many times, and just this past summer caught Tweedy with band at the Newport Folk Festival where I briefly met the great Glen Hansard standing behind my son and I as he watched Tweedy following his own set at on the main stage. Jeff Tweedy has released a three album solo set recently and the bulk of the songs on this tour come from that latest collection; the show was phenomenal; I was not familiar with the new material prior to this night and it did not matter. The tight knit group, with two of Tweedy’s sons in the band, was great, the sound was impeccable , the “older” crowd was appreciative, and Tweedy’s responses to occasional audience shout outs in the otherwise respectfully quiet room were sarcastic and humorous. Near the end of the show proper, Jeff said the plan for each concert was to play one tune unique for that evening connected to the venue or area where they were playing each night. While a Billy Joel tune seemed to be an obvious choice, the band instead performed Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” which he said they had just learned that afternoon.

The Patchogue Theatre, nestled in the heart of a vibrant Long Island business area, is a nice older venue, like a smaller Beacon Theatre without the architectural updates. Jeff Tweedy looks and sounds healthy and, with the latest compilation, is clearly still a creative force.

Twilight Override

Rock on!

GQ

On a Sunday night in September, which is always a risky bet with an older crowd during football season, Elvis Costello played songs from his “early years”. The setlist was cool, and included some of my personal favorites like “Every Day I Write The Book”. I had purchased cheap seats for this one during the presale, which turned out to be the very last row a little right center of stage. The view was fine but the sound was kind of off for us and Elvis’ voice was not stellar this night as it seemed like he was struggling vocally a little. It was a pretty full house and the audience was clearly predominantly Elvis Costello fans who were attentative and appreciative throughout. I too am an Elvis Costello fan from way back; our friend Beefsteak Charlie chef John would play us the latest New Wave bands and albums in his apartment which was located above a store in Douglaston, Queens where he could crank up the volume to all hours of the night and he introduced to Elvis music early on.
I have seen Costello perform many times since about 1981, and even saw him recently at the Newport Jazz Festival a couple of years ago when he opened with “Watching the Detecives” at Fort Adams Park.
I am a big Elvis fan as well, and the setlist for this tour was great, but unfortunately the sound for me this Tilles Center concert left me slightly unsatisfied.

Radio, Radio

Rock on!

GQ