For the second Neil Young & Crazy Horse performance at Forest Hills Stadium (and my fourth on this “ Love Earth” tour) I attended solo and stood about five rows back behind the pit facing the left side of the stage. After the band opened with “ Cortez the Killer” and “Cinnamon Girl” Neil blew up the set list adding “ Roll Another Number”, “ Dangerbird”, and “ Sugar Mountain” into the mix while also reinstating “Down By The River” and “F*!#in’ Up”.

The overcast sky hanging over this iconic outdoor venue provided an ambience that Mr. Young seemed to appreciate.

Everything about the two day Neil and Horsefest was special somewhat taking the sting out of what I spent at the merch booth. I ran into my childhood friend and concert buddy Joe Fisk and his girlfriend in a bodega on my way to the conveniently located Long Island Railroad Station and headed home a happy man. Tonight I try to catch up on some sleep, after a whirlwind rock and roll couple of weeks with work interspersed throughout, before heading to my daughter’s on Friday afternoon where we will be in the pit for Young & Crazy at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts that night. I had taken the family to a CSNY concert at the Jones Beach Theatre when the kids were much younger, but this is the first tour either of them have seen Uncle Neil & Crazy Horse up close and personal. David Fricke wrote an outstanding review of the Neil Young & Crazy Horse concert that took place at Forest Hills Stadium on Tuesday.; a must read.
The road goes on forever…..

Like a Hurricane

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GQ

The very long awaited, and several times postponed, Neil Young & Crazy Horse “Love Earth” tour is in full swing and it is an epic evening of rock and roll. My wife and I attended the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Festival a couple of weeks ago with the Rolling Stones playing Thursday, Foo Fighters headlong Friday and Neil Young & Crazy Horse Saturday. It was an absolutely outstanding weekend of music and food but the crowd around us for the Crazy Horse set was uninspired and either somewhat worn out from three days of festival or just not into Young and Crazy’s great set of mostly familiar tunes. I then broke up three days of working the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at the US Tennis Center in Queens to meet my buddy Eric from Pittsburgh in Philadelphia where we took a ferry to Camden, New Jersey to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse perform Sunday night. Reverend Billy opened; he opened for Neil at Jones Beach Theatre several years back and I remember that, for a variety of reasons, I was not digging what the Rev was pitching. I’m not sure of it’s a complete goof, or partly serious, but the evangelical gent in the white suit irritates the hell out of me. Then Neil & Crazy Horse hit the stage and just blew everyone away, starting with an extended version “Cortez the Killer” with a newly discovered extra verse that was somehow lost while recording the original. Last night, my son and I were in the pit at Forest Hills Stadium for a ferocious set that included “Vampire Blues”, technical issues throughout “Hey Hey, My My” and ending with a raucous encore of “ Sedan Delivery” then “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Billy, Ralph, Micah and Neil seem to be getting better with each show and I will be there again tonight for a second helping at the always very cool outdoor venue, Forest Hills Stadium, where there are still plenty of tickets available and a price drop for orchestra seats. It may rain but who cares; go see this show!

American Stars ‘n Bars!

Down By The River

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GQ

I do not know how many times I have seen Aerosmith perform in concert. The first time was around 1978, or so, at the Nassau Coliseum when someone turned up Joe Perry’s amp to “11” during “Back in the Saddle” and the increased volume nearly knocking me off of the metal folding chair I was standing on in the orchestra. I saw Stephen Tyler reunite with Joe Perry during, what I believe at the time, was the last Joe Perry Project show that happened at My Father’s Place in Roslyn. I have seen Aerosmith perform with Cheap Truck opening I do not know how many times; it has been a few. The most memorable Jones Beach Theatre Aerosmith concert I attended was the one that I attended with my son with Groupon tickets and Stephen Tyler whacked Joe Perry in the face while spinning the mic stand around. That might be this 2004 concert, but I am not entirely certain as the many Aerosmith experiences seem to blend together at this point. I had purchased tickets for the Madison Square Garden farewell tour show that was “postponed” because of Stephen Tyler’s throat issues but ended up taking the refund; they are still holding on to the money with no rescheduled dates announced or on the horizon as of yet. The Black Crowes, who were supposed to open for the tour, are using the hiatus to do their own headlining concerts in support of a new album and will make a stop at Radio City Music Hall.

F.I.N.E.

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GQ

I took my then 12 year old son to the 2004 K-Rock Dysfuncional Family Picnic at Jones Beach Theatre primarily to see The Darkness who were an interesting phenomenon around that time and who we thought might be the “next big thing”. More notably, as it turned out, it would be the only time that I would catch the Beastie Boys perform in concert. My clearest memory of the event was, although the Cypress Hill had some really good songs, I had to take my son for a walk around the venue during their set as some aspects of the act, and some of the material, did not seem age appropriate for him at the time. The K-Rock “picnic”, and the station itself as a rock and roll entity, are both a thing of the past now, so I am glad that we had the opportunity to celebrate Howard Stern’s former home in person, at least this once, during this wild diverse concert line-up performing while at Jones Beach.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love

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GQ

If memory serves me right, this Fleetwood Mac concert at Jones Beach Theatre in June, 2004 was a tour that did not include Lindsay Buckingham but instead the band added two guitarists to replace him. Entertaining show as I remember, and no Buckingham did not make much of an impression on me as, while I like Fleetwood Mac and their music was everywhere in the 1970’s and beyond, I was never the biggest Mac fan. I came to more fully appreciate Lindsay Buckingham’s contribution to the live act when they played a two day mini- festival that included the Eagles years later at Citifield.

Go Your Own Way

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GQ

I attended the New York City stop on the Yes 35th anniversary tour at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, May 13, 2004. I have no particular recollection of this Yes concert but unbelievably this will make 2024 the 55th anniversary; time waits for no one. I recently saw the Steve Howe version of Yes at the NYCB Theatre in Westbury which was sadly not sold out that evening. In the 70’s and early 80’s the diehard Yes fans among us would order our Yes tickets months in advance for the Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum shows with the anticipation building as the shows came closer. After the “Going for the One” tour, and the return of Rick Wakeman, the succeeding worldwide Yes treks were performed “in the round”, which was genius as each musician in the band was brilliant in his own right; while the stage revolved in center orchestra you could concentrate on an individual member’s performance and fully take in their individual contributions for a song or two.
Yes “ in the round” at Westbury was obviously not quite the same as the old days, and it was a stark reminder of how much time has passed since Yes had been in their heyday; thankfully the music has held up through the years and the current touring versions of the band can bring us back to the memories of those glory days.

Roundabout

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GQ

For her Christmas gift, I took my sister Tracy to Morristown, New Jersey for the sold out matinee performance of Dancing with the Stars Live. I do not claim to be a fan of DWTS, (given a choice, I would much rather have gone to the Peter Frampton concert advertised on the Mayo venue’s marquee on a Wednesday in March), but for what it is, the show was entertaining. The venue reminded me of the Patchogue Performing Arts Center on Long Island, for what it is worth, and was found to be located in the center of the Morristown business district. The DWTS television show has apparently been following up the finale with a road show for years and it is definitely a well done production providing two solid hours of entertainment with a fifteen minute intermission. Those fans of the show who came to see their favorite dancers perform live in person seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

Dance, Dance, Dance

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GQ

Neil Young & Crazy Horse were still on the “Greendale” tour when they performed at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in March, 2004 where we sat in the orchestra on the left side of the stage. This was an epic evening as the four of us went to the bar Hogs & Heifers in Manhattan after the Young & Crazy portion of the program had concluded. The young lady tending bar berating the legend known as T-Bag to buy her shots was beyond hysterical and the lunacy on the ride home in the T-Bag’s company car got so out of hand I thought the driver was going to leave us on the side of the road on the Long Island Expressway.

Devil’s Sidewalk

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GQ

I had originally listed the date on this Meat Loaf Westbury Music Fair concert for sometime in 2003 but this Saturday, December 7, 2002 date is more likely correct. My buddy Sandy reminds me that he and his lovely wife were sitting opposite my wife and I that evening as the stage was “ in the round” and rotating.
My best memory of seeing Meat Loaf, and my first time, was at St. John’s University. in the gym I believe, when he performed in a wheelchair for most of the show as he was recovering from a broken leg. Out of nowhere, during the encore, Meat Loaf was apparently so fired up by the spirit of rock and roll, he pulled himself up from the wheelchair then dramatically staggered and hobbled about the stage as a latter day rock and roll Frankenstein monster freed from his restraints. We didn’t get the tumblesaults or acrobatics Mr. Loaf had become famous for on that night, but a good time was had by all during this unusual performance at this somewhat unlikely university concert venue.

Bat Out of Hell

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GQ

I have seen Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band many times through the years; however this July, 2003 Giants Stadium concert is not jarring any particular recollections. My wife and I recently saw Bruce and the band at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and we were supposed to travel to Albany but the rescheduled date in April, 2024 was just not working for us so I took the refund.

My father brought home “The River” double album for me when it first came out and it was on my turntable nonstop for awhile. Some of my favorite albums were the double (and sometime triple) album collections when your favorite bands could really stretch out and provide endless artistic sonic explorations. The Clash’s “Sandinista” was one of those albums where the band took you on a musical journey during a particular prolific point in their career. There was no internet or YouTube; you learned about the band through the music and the occasional magazine article. There was a mystery behind the artists with images spun through album covers, liner notes and public relations spins. David Lee Roth was a mythic figure based on the information at our disposal. Bruce Springsteen had not released any new music for awhile due to legal issues drawn out for years, so when it came time to finally release some new music, Bruce gave us a sprawling masterpiece that put him right back on track from where he left off with “Darkness at the Edge of Town”.

Hungry Heart

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GQ