The great frontman of the Cult, Ian Astbury, joined the remaining members of The Doors on a tour that landed at the Jones Beach Theatre on Saturday, June 18, 2005. Replacing the late Jim Morrison is a near impossible task, but Astbury is a rock star and was probably the best choice at the time for the band to pull off a proper tour. Drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger are still with us, 80 and 78 years of age respectively, but keyboardist Ray Manzarek has passed on so any future “reunion” tours as “The Doors” is not going to happen. While not “The Doors” in their Jim Morrison heyday, the 2005 tour with Ian Astbury was the next best thing and I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend this unique performance close to home at the outdoor Jones Beach venue.

Riders on the Storm

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On a Saturday in May, 2005, my wife and I went to the Jones Beach Theatre to see Velvet Revolver. Part Guns N Roses, part Stone Temple Pilots, this band kicked ass. The late Scott Weiland was a undeniably a rock star, and when at one point during a song he went into the audience with his megaphone, I remember thinking that we were watching something special. Some years later, I saw Scott Weiland perform a solo show at Irving Plaza where he left the stage while singing and climbed up to the left above the club audience where he was obviously not meant to roam; you could feel the sense that anything might happen tonight as rock and roll danger mixed with the possibility of unexpected unscripted magic that the great artists can produce might be imminent. When you see the real thing, the undeniable living spirit of rock and roll in the flesh, it is an adrenaline rush. Velvet Revolver was an uncontainable force of nature and Weiland was a front man for the ages.

Slither

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The Eagles performed at the Nassau Coliseum on a Sunday night in April, 2005 and I believe my wife and I sat to the right of the stage for this one, while at the same time my buddy Sandy and his wife sat across from us in a similar location to the left of the stage. Like most Eagles concerts that I have attended, the great guitarist Joe Walsh pretty much took over the show by the end of the evening with his arena ready solo rock anthems to kick the tempo up a notch. I have seen the Eagles a number of times through the years, and the band’s line up has transformed for a variety of reasons over time. It is hard to argue against the Eagles being one of the greatest rock and roll acts of all time, with my wife being a bigger fan of them than I have been, and it has always been an enjoyable night out when we have had the opportunity to catch them on the road. We last saw them at UBS arena for what was supposed to be unofficially the “final” world” tour but I believe they may still be continuing a Vegas residency at the Sphere (as is Dead and Company) so who knows of it was really the last time we see the Eagles perform live in concert. Hell, even Gene Simmons is going back on the road with his solo band; never say never (as Peter Frampton also reminded us).

The Last Resort

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I drove up from Long Island to my daughter’s house, just south of Boston, to go with her to see Graham Nash with Judy Collins at the Boch Center in Boston. Graham Nash and Judy Collins were only playing together on two dates of Nash’s tour, this one and a concert at Carnegie Hall. I left the Ford Explorer at home (I usually take the truck on the road trips) and drove my Cadillac north to Massachusetts. I picked up my daughter and we headed further north on the highway toward the show. I was taking it nice and easy in the right hand lane chatting with her when out of nowhere my car was being pushed to the right toward a metal divider. I looked up to my left and all I could see was the middle of a white coach bus that was nudging me out of the right lane toward the divider. Thankfully at some point the bus driver realized he had collided with my car, we disengaged and I followed him off of the next exit. I got out of my car while beneath the highway overpass fully expecting my car to be demolished but thankfully it was drivable (and eventually repaired back on Long Island). After exchanging information with the bus driver, and thankfully with no one injured, I suggested that we endeavor to make the show, and my daughter somewhat reluctantly agreed. We were late but unbelievably located a parking spot on the street near the theatre and found our way in to out 5th tow left center orchestra seats during the intermission. We missed Judy Collins (with Nash joining her on stage) but saw the entire Graham Nash set where he was backed by a young talented band and he interspersed great stories between songs (and thankfully except for a brief Kamala Harris approval comment, no politics). Graham’s voice is a bit more ragged, none of us are getting any younger, but it was an enjoyable concert and I am glad we managed to get there in one piece.

Our House

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The Soulshine Benefit concert that took place at Madison Square Garden on n Sunday, November 24, 2024 was nothing short of extraordinary. My son and I sat in the 5th row on top to the right of the stage, which was not a bad seat to begin with, but the large video screen with the livestream broadcast right in front of us made it perfect.
Goose, Warren Haynes, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Dave Matthews Band with special guests and moments throughout the event was a one shot special night of music. There are too many highlights to mention but Warren Haynes playing the Grateful Dead “Shakedown Street” with Joe Russo on drums shook the building and “Whipping Post” with Derek Trucks harkened back to The Brothers concert at MSG held the night before NYC was shut down for Covid. Mavis Staples, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, Trombone Shorty and Trey Anastacio were all incredible in their own rights, with Dave Matthews acting as a pseudo host, following his two nights playing the Garden with DMB, and the glue connecting the dots from the acoustic “Soulshine”opener with Haynes, to the group finale, the Beatles’ “Come Together”. I have attended a lot of concerts but it was definitely a privilege to be in the audience for this one.

GOOOOSE!!

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I have to admit I knew little of Jesse Malin before I purchased a nice seat on the aisle in the loge of the Beacon Theatre for the first of two Jesse Malin benefit concerts that took place earlier this week.The line up, that included Lucinda Williams, sounded interesting so I went expecting the evening’s guests to perform their own sets to help raise money for Malin’s medical bills. What we actually got though was a Jesse Malin concert with cameos, that included Little Steven and Elvis Costello, and was pretty damn good. Malin and his band primarily sat throughout the performance, much like Peter Frampton had at the Beacon Theatre during a recent show due to his own medical issues. The audience had a cool downtown New York City vibe and Malin proved to be an extremely likable front man. The gal next to me told me that Malin owned Bowery Electric and parts of about four other bars and it was easy to see by the support in the crowd, and some pre- show publicity, he is an extremely popular guy. The same gal told me she used to work at The Ritz (now Webster Hall) back in the day and we traded some stories about the heyday of the venue; I saw some incredible shows there to include U2 and Lou Reed and had numerous memorable, and some foggy, experiences there. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and take a chance chasing down live music experiences and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this show.

Memory Motel

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My wife and I sat in the nosebleeeds to the right of the Madison Square Garden stage for the last performance of the 2024 David Gilmour tour. I did not want to miss this opportunity to catch Gilmour, particularly since years ago, when I was driving livery part time, I spoke to a woman who was a concert junkie like myself, and she said Gilmour at Radio City Music Hall was the best concert she had ever seen. Best concert you’ve ever seen?
I attended Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” tour at Nassau Coliseum, I saw the David Gilmour version of Pink Floyd at Yankee Stadium and I have gone to a couple of Roger Waters tours along the way.; I had to see David Gilmour.
We were pumped that there was no opening act last night; the band hit the stage shortly after the 7:30 PM start time and played until after 10:30 PM with an intermission.
The first half was a great show with a couple of Pink Floyd classics interspersed with David Gilmour’s solo material. This was clearly a “David Gilmour” tour and not a Pink Floyd concert and that was fine. The sound snd light show were phenomenal; the audience was respectful and attentive, mostly keeping their cell phones out of view as was requested before the concert began. The second half began with a Gilmour era Floyd song into a number of melodic solo offerings. Once again, this was fine, but We kept waiting for a kick ass Pink Floyd classic or two as the end of the show drew near. I never look at set lists before a show but my wife did. It was either catch the 10:45 train to Babylon or transfer at Jamaica on the 11:06 to Long Beach. Was it “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”? ( an unused to that point mirror ball hung above the audience); no “ Comfortably Numb”. Great song but work in the morning and the train schedule won this time. Great concert, glad we went, but just missed being epic.

Time

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I always like going to the Farm Aid festivals with Neil Young all but sure to perform except for a few recent Covid related absences. I missed the last few Farm Aid shows, unfortunately including last year when Bob Dylan did a previously unannounced set with the Heartbreakers (there is great YouTube video of Dylan with Tom Petty snd the Heartbreakers from, I think, Australia which is extraordinary). This year’s Farm Aid was held at Saratoga Performing Arts Center; my wife and I had rear orchestra seats to the left of the stage on this beautiful September day in upstate New York. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats were an early highlight; I have seen the band open for Chris Stapleton, headline the Apollo Theatre and I believe perform at the last Farm Aid held in Saratoga. The band killed and the crowd was totally into their set where they played mostly familiar songs. Margo Price looks great but I find her voice not to be especially powerful and she was not really doing it for me. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds were great as always and there was clearly a large DMB contingent in the audience who sang along to every Dave tune. For his final tune, Matthews brought Ratelifff back on stage with Micah and Lucas Nelson to perform The Band’s classic “ The Weight” which was yet another highlight of the day. The John Mellencamp set is pretty much the same year to year but he always blows the crowd away with his many classic hits. Mellencamp is every bit the rock star and knows how to rouse an audience. Next was Neil Young and his crew scurried to set up for a full band stage presentation as this would be the debut of The Chrome Hearts as Neil’s latest backing band. Micah Nelson remains from the Crazy Horse tour that was abruptly suspended in Chicago and then canceled due to illness. Replacing Ralph Molina on drums and Billy Talbot on bass were the Promise of the Real rhythm section with legend Spooner Oldham on keyboards filling out the line up. Young eased into things with a few Harvest Moon songs before going electric with “ Powderfinger”. Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts followed up the Farm Aid appearance with what is supposed to be the start of an east coast tour with two killer shows at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York where I managed to be right up front for both nights in the general admission orchestra ( more on that later). Willie Nelson and Family had some major technical issues to start their set with with no amplified sound and video images of Willie making him look frail, somewhat confused and every bit of 90 plus; but the band played on as we listened to the bulk of their set on Sirius as we headed to a local hotel for the night. It was a great day of music for a good cause. Next stop, the Capitol Theatre for two more epic Neil Young performances

Unknown Legend

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Now if I am recalling this Rod Stewart concert at Jones Beach Theatre correctly, I had four seats in the mezzanine (any seat in the mezzanine at Jones Beach is to be avoided; bad views and usually worse sound depending on how the wind is blowing that night) and our friends had bailed because of the rain. My wife and I then took our daughter and son (they weee young and did not have much choice) and Stewart played a mix of the Great American Songbook project and his many rock and roll classics. I just saw that Rod Stewart is going to play Mohegan Sun in the fall which makes sense as his recent tours have entertaining but a bit too Vegasy for my liking. The first Rod Stewart songs I remember as a kid in the 1970’s were “Stay With Me” and “ Maggie May”; two all time great rock and roll songs. Rod has managed to navigate through the pitfalls of show business over decades and maintain an incredible legacy; he is a truly a one of a kind musical icon.

Rhythm of My Heart

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse finally hit the road with the “Love Earth” tour and it has been epic. The first Young & Crazy performance this year, for me, was at my first New Orleans Jazz Fest. The Rolling Stones started off weekend two of the festival on Thursday, with Foo Fighters, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and the Coral Reefer Band filling out the weekend headlining. Next stop for me was Camden, New Jersey, where I met up with my buddy Eric in Philadelphia and we took the ferry across to the show. Two nights at Forest Hills Stadium followed with my son joining me in the GA pit for night one. Thankfully the tour stopped at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, which is a short drive from my daughter. A somewhat stressful drive from New York to her house culminated in the two of us getting to the venue during the opener “Cortez the Killer” and wedging our way into the oversold pit area in front of the stage. When the tour was first announced it seemed as though Chicago would be the last U.S. date so I picked up a single pit ticket for myself with the perfect plan. As luck would have it, the Cubs had a day game and WhiteSox a night game same day with the concert venue for Neil that night in close proximity. A three and a half hour flight delay from LaGuardia Airport crimped my Wrigley Field portion but I made it in time to catch a few innings with some peanuts left to spare. I returned to the hotel to get ready for a few innings of White Sox- Orioles then NYCH. Just before leaving my room I saw there was an email from the venue which I assumed would be another warning to get there early as traffic would be bad. Unfortunately the email stated the concert had been postponed due to illness with no further specifics provided. Wow; my perfect plan came off the tracks and, after digesting the news, I went to the White Sox game and then the hotel bar for a nightcap. We still don’t know who was ill, or when the Chicago and two Texas dates that were to follow would be rescheduled, but I still have a pair on the pit for the added Denver gig in July and will travel to the rumored Saratoga Springs Farm Aid benefit in September. The tour is the closest thing to a “greatest hits” show that Neil has maybe ever put together, in honor of the great David Briggs who produced many of the tunes being performed. I believe the Canadian leg of the tour is supposed to kick off in July; let’s hope Neil gets back on the Horse snd is able to fulfill current tour commitments, and beyond, because these dates have been a celebration, and a blast.

Dangerbird

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