My bride insisted on getting tickets to see David Foster at Town Hall in New York City for tonight. Town Hall is a beautiful theatre in midtown Manhattan but Mr. Foster is an unknown commodity for me.
I believe the well known composer has backed Peter Cetera on his orchestral concert tours.
Rock on?
GQ
My wife is a ridiculous Chicago fan going back to when she was a teenybopper growing up in Elmhurst, Queens. I have seen Chicago in concert with her every year since sometime in the 1980’s including a show at Westbury Music Fair with Peter Cetera still in the band. The concert at Caesars in Atlantic City is one of my favorites as we stayed overnight and the venue had Vegas style table seating with waitress service. I do not think the Caesars venue is set up the same way any longer but at the time (could it be seventeen years ago?) it was a great place to see the band and a lot of fun.
The band has changed personnel numerous times through the years and is in the midst of yet another transition with the long time drummer and the latest bass player/vocalist leaving and a lounge singer type who does not play bass stepping in. Fortunately Robert Lamm is still a mainstay on one of the keyboards, and two thirds of the road warrior horn section are hanging in there for this upcoming tour, but it is starting to feel like the end may be near on this fifty year anniversary tour. At some point I expect that the Chicago brand name will continue on tour indefinitely with entirely replacement players and a video montage of the glory years. As for now, Chicago definitely gives you your money’s worth and their endurance and energy is amazing.
Happy wife; Happy life.
Happy Man
Rock on!
GQ
Sirius Satellite Radio hooked me up with tickets for Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats st the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem last night. I walked past the tourists taking selfies in front of the iconic Apollo frontage and entered to collect my complimentary Sirius Satellite Radio tickets. The Apollo Theater seemed narrow and the hallway leading up to the second level wa lined with framed pictures of performers who had played the venue in the past (no, I did not see any photos of Metallica but it does not mean that it could not have been there somewhere). The theater smelled a little like a short stay motel adding to a throwback ambience from a bygone era. The theater was clean, the restrooms were immaculate and the comfortable red seats were in fine shape. The venue itself seemed much smaller and more intimate then I had imagined with the upper balcony way up in true nosebleed land. My seat in the second level were four rows back dead center-a perfect vantage point for what was to come.
The opening act was very good but the singer said their name so fast no one around me heard what it was. Banjo, bass, guitar and some mostly high energy tunes was a nice table setter for the evening.
I had seen Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats last year opening for Chris Stapleton at Jones Beach and the small crowd in the pit got a taste of a band on the rise. This year Nathaniel and The Night Sweats are headlining at Forest Hills Stadium soon in support of a just released new album so a “big” show was snticipated.
If Van Morrison and Levon Helm had a baby boy they would name him Nate. The man is a rock and soul powerhouse. This is not a museum piece on the road like some of the veteran road warriors filling arenas these days. This is a band kicking ass, raising roofs and causing people to shimmy in the aisles. The sky is the limit for Rateliff and The Night Sweats as they travel the world in a soulful quest to save the music industry from greatest hits summer tours.
Tearing at the Seams
Rock on!
GQ
My son and I went to City Winery this past Thursday and he was definitely the youngest person in the room by a long shot, if you do not include the staff. I was pleasantly surprised with the opening set by singer songwriter Dan DiLego who wa accompanied by a pedal steel/multi-instrumentalist and, for his last song, a musician friend on background vocals. Mr. DiLego has some really good songs andhis between song banter, including a rap about his mother telling him to ask The Zombies to help him do construction on a bar he owns,was entertaining.
The Zombies hit the stage and they looked as old as the audience but I should not have been surprised as they began as a group somewhere around 1967. I wa strapping myself in for what I thought wa going to be a rough night but as the band got rolling and performing their numerous hit recordings, I realized that this band was still really, really good. Their longtime bassist of eighteen years recently passed away and his replacement did not miss a beat. The drummer was Chris Farleyesqe and the excellent lead guitar was Garth straight out of Wayne’s World.
The Zombies regaled the adoring AARP members with a mix of old hits, newer tunes and a couple of great Argent songs including “Hold Your Head Up”.
This was a show that I mistakingly had low expectations for but we left the venue smiling and sonically satisfied; the big sound in the intimate room proved to be perfect. The Zombies three night stint at City Winery New York was a rousing success.
God Gave Rock and Roll to You
Rock on
GQ
I watched “Almost Famous” featuring Band Aid Miss Penny Lane again last night and it never gets old; a perfect movie by any standard. While watching it I got to thinking about the greatest rock and roll movies of all time.
The documentary “Beware Mr. Baker”, about the great Cream and Blind Faith drummer Ginger Baker, is without question the greatest documentary of all time. There’s a fine line between genius and insanity and Mr. Baker is living proof.
And never mind “The Godfather”, the greatest movie of all time is (Ginger drum roll please….) is the coming of age classic “Detroit Rock City”. This is not even open to discussion, just ask Gene Simmons.
Count the headlights on the highway and
Rock on!
GQ
Diary of a Madman
Around the time Stuttering John opened for Ozzy at Jones Beach (21 years ago?) and my all grown up daughter was a little girl, MTV played rock videos and I would hold her in my arms and we woud fist pump to “Mama, I’m Coming Home” while standing in front of the television.
Ozzy Osborne’s No More Tours 2 arrives at Jones Beach Theater in September.
I caught “the end” of the new Black Sabbath documentary on Showtime last night and was kind of shocked at how good the band played. I attended the Madison Square Garden show on the last Sabbath tour and they put on a great show. Ozzy looked and sounded amazingly healthy, and the band kicked ass one last time. The Black Sabbath documentary is well done and it is really hard to believe with the reckless rock star lifestyle Osborne has led that he can kick it into gear for not one, but two, lengthy farewell world tours.
Ozzy’s next solo tour is yet another expensive ticket with all sorts of “special” VIP treatments and hopefully he can keep it together for another year or two; with Ozzy you never can be 100% sure. This next tour makes me long for the days of inexpensive seats with rock and roll unpredictability and volatility, special nights of heavy metal mayhem. I would not spend 200 bucks to see Ozzy Osborne one last time but I have seen him before and have gone to Ozzfests (and besides I won a pair for September’s concert on Q104.3 last week!) but for Ozzy diehards with the disposable income to spend, bang your head against the wall and have fun.
Bark at the Moon
Rock on!
GQ
Don Henley is an extraordinary person and not a bad musician. On the heals of piecing the Eagles band back together for The Classic West and East concerts last summer after Glenn Frey’s untimely passing, Henley has once again found a way to cash in, this time by adding Frey’s son to the mix in an effort to mitigate whatever guilt he might have in continuing under the Eagles brand name to keep the money rolling in and as an apparent attempt to appear to legitimize the project. The music is iconic but the greed of this band is legendary. The Eagles were the first $100 concert ticket while also adding a surcharge to parking fees to be donated to their favorite charity. I have not seen the ticket prices for this upcoming tour, but considering the outlandish numbers being charged today ($169 for Smashing Pumpkins at Madison Square Garden?) and the special VIP admissions and “Dynamic Pricing”, it will not be an inexpensive date night with the bride. I love the older acts but even I am getting nauseated by these retirement fund tours. Elton John’s three year farewell tour is supposed to net him $400 million plus and the shows are selling out a year in advance. I’ve seen Elton John several times through the years, and it least one time with Billy Joel, and I will see him again, but a 73 year old John is surely not the same performer he was the 1970’s, 80’s, 90’s or 2000’s. But we will go hoping to hang on to the past glory’s and foggy memories. There will be Grateful Dead stickers on Cadillacs in the fifty dollar parking garages.
Radiohead sold out four nights at Madison Square Garden yesterday.
Turn the Page
Rock on!
GQ
The Showtime documentary “A Life in 12 Bars” is a bit slow moving but chock full of interesting information and insight as to how Slowhand became a rock and blues legend. His childhood revelation is illuminating and his love affair with George Harrison’s wife, which led into “Layla and Assorted Love Songs” by Derek and the Dominos, heroin, cocaine, alcoholism and a mixed bag of solo efforts, is enlightening. The birth of a son by a lover and the child’s tragic death is particularly heartbreaking. Eric Clapton was God with John Mayall, then Cream and supergroup Blind Faith. A rain storm knocked my power out two hours in but I think you get the drift. The documentary is mostly for diehard fans of the great EC but those with stamina will find a mesmerizing portrait of a guitar legend and the rollercoaster life that truly earned him the right to sing the blues.
Money and Cigarettes
Rock on!
GQ
Panel discussion is killing me.
Play All Night!
GQ
Dave Matthews, Trey Anastasio, Aaron Neville and others play a benefit concert for Puerto Rico at Radio City Music Hall tonight on a frigid New York City evening. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree comes down tomorrow and the NFL playoffs began today so after a disastrous New York Jets campaign we are firmly in the winter doldrums dreaming of pitchers, catchers, and outdoor shows at Jones Beach and Forest Hills Stadium.
What kind of show to expect is a complete unknown as my son and I sit outside in the car waiting to go in but I’m hoping a special guest or two perform and I’m sure that Trey may jam with Dave at some point.
(Frozen) Ants Marching
Stay warm and rock on!
GQ