Following a video tribute by Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Webb opened the rehearsal show for his Carnegie Hall tribute concert alone on piano and sang the Glen Campbell classic “Galveston”. The prolific Mr. Webb has written a slew of all time classic songs and helped propel enumerable artists with his iconic tunes.

A top notch band performed much of what tonight’s concert set list will be and there were several highlights even though “special guests” were few and far between during the relatively short hour and a half show.

Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. sang “Up, Up, and Away” which was a radio staple during my youth and Billy Davis Jr followed by a song made famous by Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge. 

BJ  Thomas sang a tune and Glen Campbell’s daughter played the banjo like a chip off the old block.

“MacArthur Park” is such an all-time great song and while the band did a good job recreating it musically, on this night it needed a vocalist up to the task to take the performance to the next level.

It’s always a wild card attending these City Winery rehearsal shows but this one was a bit of a disappointment, particularly when the band had to vamp with a blues tune while waiting for the final guest vocalist to make it downtown from Lincoln Center.

The Cake and the Rain tonight at Carnegie Hall.

Wichita Lineman

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GQ

The ticketing and venue monster that is Live Nation kicked off a week of $20.00 cheap seat offers for the summer tour season with a FREE concert at Irving Plaza in Manhattan last night.

The advertised lineup included country favorite Jason Aldean, Foreigner with Jason Bonham, Nickelback with Daughtry and the Roots. The show started pretty promptly at 7 o’clock and was hosted by a young gal from the Today Show.

Jason Aldean started the night off with a three song acoustic set with his band fousing on new material. After a short break where stagehands hustled equipment through the crowd to make room for an eight piece Foreigner band who kicked the evening into gear with “Feels Like the First Time”, “Jukebox Hero” (without the inflatable jukebox from their heyday headlining Madison Square Garden), and “Hotblooded”, which the Nickleback singer kiddingly said would be stuck in his head for awhile. Nickleback proved to be a dynamic arena ready act with Daughtry joining in for a popular tune about wanting to be a rock star.

The Gull and I skipped out before the Roots hit the stage but it was a successful early Monday night of rock and roll and the price was right- free is for me.

Tonight is yet another unusual night of music at City Winery for The Music of Jimmy Webb Rehearsal Show for the Carnegie Hall date tomorrow. I really do not know what to expect for this one but a Rolling Stone article reviewing Webb’s autobiography detailed his hanging out with John Lennon and Harry Nilsson during the infamous “lost weekend” and intrigued me enough to make me want to check out what this guy, who wrote tons of hits for other people, is all about.

MacArthur Park

Up, Up and Away

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GQ

The fact that I have almost no recollection of this particular Ramones concert may mean we never gained entry and hung out on the Wollman Rink rocks where we could hear any show that was sold out (or we just decided not to spend the $4.50 or $2.50 to get in that evening).

While attending Queens College, my buddies and I were more inclined to listen to Led Zeppelin or Neil Young than the punk sounds originating from England and downtown Manhattan. I still remember a heavy set student clad in leather punk garb telling me that the Ramones and the Clash were the present and future of rock and roll and me thinking that he wa crazy. It turned out that we both may have been correct.

Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls opened the show.

I briefly met Joey Ramone at a Plasmatics concert at Bonds in New York City. An attractive gal had an apparently inebriated Joey Ramone in tow and were heading straight toward me at the gargantuan venue. I somehow knew that the Ramones had a gig somewhere on Long Island that night so I quickly came up with a plan to act like Joey and I already knew each other and I complimented him on the show they played that night that I did not attend. We were having a cordial conversation when his girl friend seem to realize that Joey was too discombulated to possibly know who I was so she tugged on his wrist and led him away into the crowd. 

Too Tough to Die

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GQ

Now long before Trump supporter Ted Nugent was in a Twitter war with the ultra liberal David Crosby, the Motor City Madman played his brand of guitar driven rock and roll in arenas. Ted Nugent had co-headlined with Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Nassau Coliseum when I had last saw him and, if memory serves me right, the somewhat mismatched but enjoyable double bill was scheduled to happen again at Madison Square Garden when the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash tragedy changed the southern rock landscape forever and made Mr. Nugent the headliner for this particular tour.

AC/DC with lead singer Bon Scott opened the show and Angus Young carried Bon on his shoulders through the MSG orchestra section much to the delight of the aspiring metal heads at the Garden.

I have always loved Ted Nugent’s gunslinger mentality and his blistering guitar leads which made the eponymous first album that contained “Stranglehold” and the “Free for All” collection rock and roll classics.

Ted Nugent is still periodically on the road and he will play The Paramount in Huntington on Wednesday, August 16, 2017.

Journey to the Center of the Mind

The Amboy Dukes

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GQ

Billy  Joel  opened the “new” Nassau Coliseum last night and tonight Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders play at the revamped arena.

It’s been a great stretch of women rockers coming through tow with Ann Wilson blowing the roof off of The Space in Westbury last week. Annie mixed in Heart songs with classics by other artists like The Who (Won’t Get Fooled Again,  Love Rein O’er Me), Prter Gabriel (Don’t Give Up), Jimi Hendrix (Manic Depression) and the Buffalo Springfield.  Ann Wilson is like David Crosby in that their voices are extraordinary gifts holding up after decades of rock and roll wear and tear. The show was one of those somewhat unexpected great events reminding me why I continue to attend as many  concerts as I do. Every once in awhile you catch lightening in a bottle and leave happily surprised and grateful you made the effort seek out the rock.

The Classic East concerts at Citifield with Fleetwood Mac go on sale tomorrow which turns out to be bad timing for Stevie Nicks as many seats are unsold at the moment. The somewhat overpriced event should have taken place in the sheds but the Coliseum must be paying good money to get a buzz flowing about the venue as they have quite a few shows lined up in the next couple of months. The added bonus of Chryssie Hynde and The Pretendrs makes this a great double bill worth checking out.

Neil Younf bailed on inducting Pearl Jam in to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame due to illness. Secondary market tickets for this event are sky high so even though Yes will be there, I almost surely will not. I think the E Street Band is still giving their acceptance speeches. Brutal.

Back on the Chain Gang

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GQ

It’s times like last week that one realizes how great it is to be living near the greatest city in the world for entertainment. Eric Clapton played two nights of what amounts to a tour for Slowhand  these days. Gary Clark Jr. And Jimmie Vaughn played opening sets before Clspton and his band mixed some bluees and greatest hits around his “unplugged” acoustic set that includes “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven”. Ticket prices were predictably outrageous to see a legend in the flesh but I left the arena wanting just a little bit more from the one hour forty five set.

Wilco’s four night stint at the more intimate Beacon Theatre was an Allman Brothers like celebration of the band’s music by diehards most of whom attended more than one performance  ( I was fortunate enough to be at three).

Jeff Tweedy snd the band are on top of their game, tight, and one of the best live acts around these days. The show’s set lists varied keeping the intensity high and the fans on their feet throughout the stay.

Roll Another Number

Passenger Side

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GQ

Jeff Tweedy and Wilco finish up a four night stand under the Btoadway inspired woodsy stage at the Beacon Theatre tonight. It’s been a busy week of rock and roll in New York City for me with Eric Clapton with Gary Clark Jr. and Jimmie Vaughn playing Madidon Square Garden in between three of four nights of Wilco.

The band is in top form and clearly enjoying the love of appreciative fans.

Make Wilco Great Again

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GQ

Following a couple of postponements and Eric Burdon & the Animals unfortunate inability to perform on this rescheduled date, Johnny Rivers and the Lovin’ Spoonful take the Westbury stage tonight on Saint Patrick’s Day. 

Secret Agent Man

Erin go bragh

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GQ

Art Garfunkel took the City Winery stage Wednesday night dressed in black, his hair cropped short, looking more rabbinical then rock star and accompanied by acoustic guitar, grand piano, and organ flourishes. 

I went to this show with trepidation as much of his solo catalogue is well intentioned but lackluster and he has been known to be a bit cantankerous at times in his career. The 75 year old self proclaimed crooner did not disappoint the attentive audience as he squeezed out every ounce of vocal prowess during the roughly one and three quarter hour performance while interspersing prose from his soon to be released forty plus years in the making autobiography. 

The Simon and Garfunkel hits like “Sounds of Silence” we’re obvious crowd pleaders but even the solo selections worked well this evening and the show had a great flow to it. Art seemed to be genuinely pleased to be singing for an appreciative spellbound audience and he hid his annoyance with the food being eaten at tables up front and the occasional rattle of tableware with kitchen crashes intermingled better than one might have expected considering his temperament and reputation. 

Me. Garfunkel closed the show proper with  the Simon and Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which was touching and somewhat sad that he can no longer hit those incredible high notes at the end of the song due to age and his vocal limitations at this point in his career but was still awe inspiring.

Gregg Allman just canceled his scheduled run of shows in July for the second time due to health reasons. Art Garfunkel proved on this night that he still had the desire to continue and perform despite the occasional health issues and a true love of singing that resonated throughout the room during his performance.

Garfunkel expressed gratitude to Paul Simon for writing the songs, provided a few anecdotes regarding the early years, and a personal highlight was the mention of the Forest Hills boy’s Main Street synagogue in Queens as this was close to where I grew up. 

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

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GQ

I have mixed feelings in regard to attending Art Garfunkel’s scheduled performance at City Winery tonight. On one hand he is the Garfunkel in the iconic duo Simon and Garfunkel.and he was completely mesmerizing during his take on “Ruby Tuesday” at a Rolling Stones tribute concert at Carnegie Hsll a few years ago.

On the other hand , in anticipation of the City Winery show I purchased his 2cd greatest hits collection “The Singer” and, quite honestly, a few songs in I was bored. There was a pleasant sameness to much of the solo material bordering on elevator music. While Mr. Garfunkel has a lovely voice, there is a reason his greatest successes came while working with Rhymin’ Simon.

Tonight Art makes the commute to downtown from his residence overlooking Central Park

The diva has decreed that there will be no food service during his performance. 

Bridge Over Troubled Waters?

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GQ