Concert Schedule (Updated)

Roger Waters - The Wall - Austin 5/3/12
Van Halen - Dallas 6/20/12
Boston - Grand Prairie 7/10/12
Tenacious D - Dallas 7/20/12
Iron Maiden - Dallas 8/17/12
Australian Pink Floyd- G. Prairie 10/4/12
Joe Bonamassa - Dallas 10/30/12
Rush - Dallas 11/28/12

Just recently saw Opeth/Mastodon/Ghost at the Palladium in Dallas. It was a good show overall. I enjoyed all three sets, but definitely enjoyed Opeth the most. The biggest con were the truncated sets since they were dual headlining. Mastodon played about 80 or so minutes and Opeth was shorter than that. It was a decent set list, mostly from the new album and a few select cuts from the past, most of which were regular vocals. They played a couple growl tunes at the end for their long term fans. They closed out with "The Grand Conjuration" from Ghost Reveries which is a pretty cool tune. I wish they would have played something from Blackwater Park, but hopefully I'll get another chance to see them when they're performing a full set.

Mastodon was high energy, but it was near impossible to understand the vocals, or even sus out exactly what the guitars and bass were doing at any given point. Loud and distorted but lacking a little on the clarity. Not that I was surprised by that. I think most of the fans (and it was a young crowd) were there for Mastodon and probably less than half were there for Opeth.

Concert season is warming up

March is dry for concerts, but starting in April we'll have a regular run of at least one concert a month until August. Coming up in two weeks is Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame on his solo tour supporting his second album. He'll be playing the HOB Dallas and the only real negative is that it's on a Monday night, which along with Tuesday night are the least desirable concert nights. I like to combine concerts with a long weekend and those two nights are the least ideal.

The next week (Thursday, yes!) it's Opeth/Mastodon/Ghost for some metal mayhem at the Palladium. Aeyong will be skipping that one, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't enjoy it that much. A couple weeks after that it's Roger Waters performing "The Wall" in it's entirety (and apparently nothing else) in Austin. I had skipped the last few Roger Waters tours because I've always held out hope I could see David Gilmour and he has always been my preferred member of the band. But I came to realize that if I don't see Roger Waters now, I'll most likely never have seen any member of Pink Floyd live in my life, and that's a huge void in my concert going history. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Queen are probably the 3 biggest omissions that I wish I could rectify, but it isn't likely to ever happen. If Queen tours with Paul Rodgers (or even Adam Lambert) I'll go see them, because I love Brian May and Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers is awesome (actually saw him twice with Jimmy Page in the Firm) and I can tolerate other singers if the band founders find them suitable.

Case in point would be Yes with Benoit David (although I'm not sure if he got fired now). We have seen the more recent lineup with Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Oliver Wakeman, and Benoit David and I think they did a fantastic job. I think the "Fly from Here" album is the best thing Yes (the more classical-ish, non Trevor Rabin lineup) have done since ABWH. I love the Trevor Rabin Yes as well, it's just a different band with him in it. Trevor is such a strong musical force, that the magnetic poles in Yes shift when he's in the band, more than with Steve (and I love Steve and consider him a primary influence).

Anywhoooo....

Roger Waters is in early May, and then about 6-7 weeks later is potentially the highlight (for me, anyway) of the summer with Van Halen at AA center in Dallas for the "A Different Kind of Truth" tour. A new album, with David Lee Roth. A really good, no great VH album, with David Lee Roth. Let that sink in. Have you bought it? Listened to it? No, I mean, LISTENED to it? If not, go do that and come back. Take a couple weeks of heavy rotation. Preferably on a good home stereo if you have one of those. No, not those crap logitechs next to your monitor. I mean a home stereo. Not the $199 HTIB that you got on black friday 7 years ago at WalMart. Ok, if necessary, go make some money, buy a respectable home theater speaker system (or go old school stereo if you want, that's perfectly acceptable, and you get style points from the audiophiles if it's a good set of speakers) and then listen to the cd or make sure you're listening to a lossless or high resolution audio format. Lather, rinse, repeat.

WARNING - MINI VH ALBUM REVIEW FOLLOWS THEN CONCERT DISCUSSION RESUMES LATER
This new Van Halen album is easily the best thing they've done since 1984. Sure, it would be different than the SH (or even Gary Cherone if you include him) era because of DLR and Wolfie, but it's not the novelty of having DLR back. I honestly considered DLR peripheral to most of the VH stuff I really loved, because it was always about 80% Eddie, 10% Alex, and 10% of the other two for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Michael Anthony sings great backing vocals and is a "decent" bassist (staying out of Eddie's way is his best skill), and DLR is the ultimate showman. Yada, Yada, Yada. I just always felt like VH could have been a Zeppelin equivalent (in importance, not as a successor to their sound) for me if EVH had a vocalist/lyricist and bassist that were in the same league as him. Imagine if Eddie had musicians as talented as John Paul Jones and Robert Plant or Freddie Mercury in Van Halen. Think of all the great music and imagine if you had someone like Roger Waters writing lyrics for it. See?

But all criticisms aside, DLR has truly gained some wisdom and honed his craft as a lyricist and singer since we last saw him and the VH boys. It's amazing because he's still the same vaudevillian/showman that he has always been, but he's gotten really good at it and his lyrics are so much beyond what they were in the past. Funny, irreverent, insightful, obscure, random. These are just some of the qualities to his new lyric writing. "Swapmeet Sally, Trampstamp Tat, Mousewife to Momshell in the time it took to get that new tattoo, tattoo, tattoo". I don't care what anyone says, those are perfect VH lyrics. It reminds me of Alice Cooper and some other great cerebrally funny lyricists through the years.

DLR manages to reference current popular culture (social media, music, mid life crises, etc) and mix it with classic Vh tropes (sex, drugs, and RnFR baby) while ensuring that it fits the feel of the music perfectly. This album actually makes me feel like the perfect VH lineup was always there, but in DLR and wolfie's (more about him soon) case, it just needed to mature (literally in Wolfie's case, he was an infant in their heyday).
On the subject of Wolfgang, or Ed Jr. (probably either is appropriate) he has really developed as a musician. We first saw him during the VH 2004 tour where he came out during EVH's solo (it was a running gag, EVH stops playing and the solo continues on the PA. A few seconds later, out comes a mini-Ed playing a Frankenstrat and it's Wolfgang, sounding like his Dad). Fast forward to 2011 and he's been the bass player since 2007 (maybe much earlier, not sure how long he's been playing bass). This dude has chops. He's a chip off the old block and now Eddie finally has a bass player that can keep up with him. It's actually changed the dynamics in the band quite a bit now, and I even think Eddie is approaching his tone differently (wah, anyone?) because of Wolfgang. More on VH later. Suffice to say, the new album is what the VH diehards have been hoping for all these years. All the people whining about the exclusion of Michael Anthony are seriously lacking in musical taste. And I think Michael's a respectable bassist and great backup singer. Wolfie's better, much better. And now it's the new and improved Van Halen. With 25% more Van Halen than ever before (see what I did there?). I don't know if any other living Van Halen's are musical (their Dad was, but I think he's probably passed on by now) but it would be interesting to see if they could pull off a VH quadfecta just for laughs.

BACK TO CONCERT CALENDAR DISCUSSION

VH in mid June followed by Boston in early July. Tom Scholz is essentially the only original member of the band now as far as I know, but that's fine with me, since Tom Scholz is Boston to me. Brad Delp is definitely out since he committed suicide several years ago. I haven't really kept up with them, but Boston and Scholz's guitar tone were defining sounds for me early in my guitar fandom. Don't Look Back was one of the earlier albums I purchased and really got into, replaying it on my turntable over and over. I know I definitely air guitared my ass off to that album. And, as established by Whitehead/Russell in Principia Mathematica, Air Guitar Worthy=Concert Worthy. It's in the appendix, look it up.

Closing out the presumably sweltering summer in August will be Iron Maiden back at the Smirnoff, I mean Superpages, I mean, whatever the hell they're calling it now shed. Iron Maiden is supposedly going to feature a big chunk of the set list from the "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" tour, so that should be cool. I was a bit letdown by the last set list in 2010, but I'm going to make sure I'm more familiar this time around. I have always been a Number of the Beast through Somewhere in Time era fan, but there are some other great Iron Maiden albums in there as well.

And hopefully concert season will be closed out by Rush in the early fall for their Clockwork Angels tour. All in all, it's going to be a good concert season.

A long drive to Colorado, Rush, and back

We returned home Friday after driving 16 hours both ways to see Rush in Colorado. We spread the drives out over two days each time, staying over at the posh Amarillo La Quinta, home of musty air conditioning and pet droppings in the grassy patches. The long drives and seedy motel stays were worth it since we got to see Rush in what's probably one of the best venues in North America, Red Rocks in Colorado.  Built out of a natural amphitheatre in the mountains outside of Denver, Red Rocks is a mixture of natural beauty with a man made venue overlaying it in seamless fashion. The staggered stadium style seating means that everyone in the place has an unobstructed view of the stage, a rarity for most concert venues. 

The weather was mild and beautiful, and the crowd were fully energized for a night of classic progressive rock from its pre-eminent power trio. The set list didn't disappoint with their typical mixture of old and new (including two songs from their forthcoming album) with the classic "Moving Pictures" being the feature of their second set. "The Camera Eye" is a song I never expected to see Rush perform, and it was a truly moving experience to hear it live for the first time.  The show featured all the requisite Rush lights, video, sound, pyrotechnics, with a set list to satisfy everyone who came to the show.  They played all the expected hits but threw in enough deep cuts to satisify their stalwart loyal.  In addition to TCE, they played La Villa Strangiato, Leave That Thing Alone, Stick It Out, Presto, Faithless, and several other deep cuts. Their two new songs "Caravan" and "BU2B" were ideally suited to live performance since both are pretty hard rocking tunes.  A fantastic show as always and we're looking forward to seeing them again in Houston next month.

2010 Summer Concert Series

is shaping up to be a good one. Iron Maiden & Dream Theater in Dallas tomorrow. Tool in Georgetown on June 22nd. Rush at Red Rocks (Denver) on August 18th, Asia at the Paramount in Austin on August 22nd, Billy Idol in Dallas on August 24th, Rodrigo & Gabriela in Austin on September 3rd, Tommy Emmanuel in Austin September 16/17th, Rush in Houston September 25th.  July is rather bare at this point but hopefully something will come up worth seeing that month. I'm especially looking forward to Maiden, Dream Theather, Tool, & Rodrigo/Gabriela since these will be first time shows. It goes without saying that Rush, BIlly Idol & Tommy Emmnauel will be great. This will be our 7th/8th time seeing Rush, my 3rd time seeing Billy Idol, our 4/5th time for Tommy.  This will be the 2nd time we've seen Asia but this should be a longer set than last time when they opened for Yes in Fort Worth.  The Rush shows should be great since they'll be playing two new songs as well as Moving Pictures in its entirety. 

Recent developments

Time is slowly chugging along here at FOB Blessing. Nothing of great import has transpired since last update with the exception of my removal from ADVON which means I will be coming home in late June or early July as opposed to late May. That change has its pros and cons with the main negative being more time away from home but almost everything else is positive. The ADVON providers have to setup the medical footprint and get everyone at home ready for the return of the brigade so it’s a lot of coordination that can be somewhat of a pain. The other positive is that it will be one or two more months of the extra combat pays so that will come in handy.

Of most significant import on the musical front is that yesterday we got tickets to see Yes with Asia (Steve Howe will be pulling double duty) July 15th at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. Of all the concerts and musicians I have been able to see over the years, there are still a couple of my all time favorites that I have never seen live and Steve Howe is at the top of the list.  I was able to catch Yes on the 90125 tour with Trevor Rabin (a fantastic show and I was very happy to see that lineup) but I have always felt I missed a great opportunity to see Steve Howe with the classic lineup, playing the more classic era song list. Unfortunately (depending on your viewpoint) Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman have both had some medical issues that have kept them from performing so Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White have enlisted the duties of Oliver Wakeman (Rick’s son) on keyboards and Benoit David (a Yes tribute band member) on vocals. According to reviews from a short tour last winter, David sounds like the Jon Anderson of the 70’s and does an incredible job on the old tunes. Another benefit of this lineup is that they can perform tunes from Drama which Jon Anderson always refused to do. So it’s possible this set list will be about the most varied and interesting they have performed in a long time. I’m fairly sure they will perform Close to the Edge in entirety and that’s worth the price of admission alone. I’m really looking forward to Machine Messiah or pretty much anything from Drama.

But if that wasn’t enough, they are being joined by Asia with the original lineup and they should be able to draw tunes from the first two albums as well as the most recent studio album “Phoenix” which was released a couple of years ago. Asia comes from a unique genre in that it’s the closest thing to Progressive Pop, definitely the most successful next to the 90125 Yes of that era. The nice thing is that the “Phoenix” is actually a great album in their catalog and it seems like the album they should have released after the first two. Asia had many forgettable lineups and albums in the intervening years between “Alpha” and “Phoenix” but this tour is shaping up to very promising.

Robert holds the bone…

but declines to throw it.  Reports were widespread that an ultimatum from Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones had resulted in Robert Plant relenting and agreeing to tour with Led Zeppelin next year. I bought it enough to tell my wife to plan for a trip or two and a new bank loan to pay for the tickets next year.  Today I wake up to see a report that Robert Plant posted an announcement on his web page that he will not be touring, but wishes the other members well in their future endeavors. The rumors were that the band was auditioning another, younger singer to take Plant's place and that this is what motivated him to relent.  Apparently, it isn't to be.  If Zeppelin does tour with a different singer, I'll probably still go see them. After all, it will still be Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones with John Bonham's son and they will play a pretty solid setlist if they repeat what they performed at the O2 show. 

I have to wonder if Plant or other parties will sue the band if they try to tour under the Zeppelin name. Whatever they call it, I'll still be motivated to see them. I last saw Jimmy Page when he was with the Firm in 84-85. I saw them before they had a name at the British Invasion tour show in Dallas, and then again a year later as the Firm. It was a decent show, but not Zeppelin. Jimmy did play a very drunken instrumental version of Stairway at the first show and I was close enough to jump up and touch his doubleneck (his guitar, you pervs) although I also declined. Paul Rodgers is good with Bad Company, and I really like what he has done with Queen but he didn't really gel with Jimmy Page back then.  I'll be very happy if they can get someone with Robert's old vocal range and play the songs like they were played back in Zeppelin's heyday.

Belated Rush Reviews…

It's been nearly a month since I saw Rush in Houston and Austin on a Saturday and the following Wednesday (Apr 19/23rd).  The delay is more work/life related on my part than a lack of desire to post a review.  Both shows were great, and I won't post as detailed a review as from last August as the show was mostly the same with the exception of a few set list changes and a new video before the second set.  I am probably in the minority of people who aren't as happy with the set list changes because I really was happy to hear Entre Nous and Circumstances as I had never heard them live before (and they are both great tunes).  They decided to go back to a few classic staples since this second leg was hitting several cities that hadn't been on the tour itinerary in several years.  The other deletions are Secret Touch and Distant Early Warning. I'm a big fan of Vapor Trails (and Snakes & Ladders) so I was also disappointed for them to remove Secret Touch. 

 I recently read Neil Peart's book "Ghost Rider" which took place in the interval between the death of his daughter & wife (both occurring within a year's span) and details how he rode his motorcycle for thousands of miles over the next few years as part of his recovery process. In the text of the book are many literary references, but the main focus of the book is sort of an autobiographical travelogue with intermittent flashes of his grieving process in the form of narrative as well as reprints of many letters he wrote during that time. Dispersed throughout the tome are several slices of what would eventually turn into the lyrics of the next album (VT). After reading it I gained a new appreciation for many of these songs (as well as his lyrics in general).  Gives me a new level of disgust at the blogger who ranked him (Neil) as the second worst Rock lyricist of all time. 

Here's the new setlist:

Setlist:

Video Intro (features all 3 band members)
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro)
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

Intermission

Video Intro (What's That Smell? features all 3 members, Jerry Stiller)
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer (with South Park intro)

Encore:

One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ
Video Outro (Alex, Neil, Jerry Stiller)

It was great to see them, especially in Austin. They played the Frank Erwin Center in the theatre setup which seats about 8000 total. The acoustics and the intimacy of the indoor environment allowed for a perfect live setting.  I think it will be better to space the shows apart because the novelty did wear a little bit since it had only been 5 days between shows. I think the perfect schedule would be to see them about three times per tour with at least a month between shows. I would also try and see them in as different an environment as possible. I think for the next tour (I feel like they have at least another album/tour in them) I will try to see them somewhere like Red Rocks or The Gorge in Washington, Vegas, and somewhere in Texas.