195 / 196 -- Weezer / Panic! at the Disco -- Friday, July 1, 2016 – Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY

Thursday night, I saw Paul Simon with my dad.  Friday night, I saw Weezer with my mom. Not a bad way to start the summer!  



If you're interested in the Paul Simon show, click this link.

If you're interested in the Weezer show, read below.

The concert started with Weezer's opening band, Panic! at the Disco:

--- Somehow my mom has never heard of “Bohemian Rhapsody”?!?!  Regardless, the band and frontman Brendon Urie covered it well.    

--- Sigh at there being more Panic! shirts than Weezer ones...

--- “This is Gospel” was way more meaningful after hearing about Urie’s friend’s addiction – especially since he’s been sober for two years now.  Good for him.

--- Urie apparently thinks he's Flea, running around tattooed and shirtless the whole time.  

---  I love Urie’s genuine enthusiasm for Weezer -- especially Pinkerton!  He tried to act all cool around them backstage, but his inner teenager was starstruck.  I'd be too!

--- Overall, not my type of music, but a feel-good start to the night.

Grade: B




Weezer

--- Wish they hadn’t started with “California Kids,” but there's very little vocal dropoff from the album, so that’s good news for the night!

--- Hahaha: “What is that I smell?” – live music newcomer Nadine Curley Verbesey.  Followed thirty seconds later by the song “Hash Pipe”!

--- “If You’re Wondering”: bouncy as ever.

--- “Hello.  Welcome to the Weezer family.”  Ha.  For Rivers Cuomo, still probably a terrifyingly long interaction. 

--- To my surprise, “Pork and Beans” rocks.

--- Love how authentic Geek-Rock-y Rivers looks this time.  The awful mustache and cowboy hat of the Red Album Borgata show is a relic of the ancient past.

--- The crowd around us is awful, but whoa-oh prompts up wake them for “Perfect Situation.”

--- “Beverly Hills” makes it hard for me to hate it.  Why must you be so catchy?

--- Lol, Beyonce gets more cheers than Rosa Parks or Michelle Obama during the “Thank God For Girls” montage!

--- Inspired idea: mashup of five songs in one!  On the one hand, I want to hear all of “Dope Nose,” “Sweater Song,” “Surf Wax America,” and, the inspiration for this blog, “The Good Life” (!!!).  On the other hand, when you have 11 albums worth of songs to choose from, it’s a smart idea to lump songs so you can play as many as possible.  The clever changing-channels visual on ‘Weezer TV’ was a nice touch.     

--- “Only in Dreams”!!!!  The unquestionable high point of the night.  Never fails to inspire. 

--- Whoa, the useless crowd is up out of their seats? “Say It Ain’t So”…

--- Rivers reads hilarious, self-depreciating tweets on stage.  He follows them up with an awesomely strange version of “El Scorcho”!! 

--- At last, it’s time for “Buddy Holly” – and all the confetti that comes with it.  I didn’t get to hear “Buddy Holly” or any Weezer song at my wedding last year, so this made up for it. 

Grade: B+ / A-
 

194 -- Paul Simon -- Thursday, June 30, 2016 -- Forest Hills Stadium -- Forest Hills, NY

The best part of this Paul Simon show, potentially the final one of his career: getting to see it with my dad, a lifelong Paul Simon fan.  The intermittent, at-times-torrential downpours that came with the concert were another plus – it made it more intense.  I wish he played more old-school Simon and Garfunkel songs, shared more stories, stayed away from so many calypso remixes, and shared but overall, I’m glad my dad and I got to share it.   

--- I wonder if there was rain like this at Forest Hills Stadium in 1970, the last time Paul Simon performed here, the last time Simon and Garfunkel performed together…

--- “The Boy in the Bubble” is an odd song to start with.  The titles strikes me as the state of Virginia’s male education plan…  The song is improved by the prompt clap and the “cry-y-y” section.

--- 50 [lackluster] “Ways to Leave Your Lover.”  [Not so] “Dazzling Blue.”

--- Yay, “That Was Your Mother” is upbeat!  Heh, “a little less conversation, a little more red wine.”

--- “Hello, my rain-soaked friends.  I think because of that delay, we should play a few more songs.  I think we're going to have a good time.”  We exist!

--- Heh, “Slip Sliding Away” is funny in these conditions.  “My Hometown” lyrics elicit woos.  The constant lightning in the background creates suspense. Coo-y falsetto ending!

--- “Mother and Child Reunion.”  Meh.

--- “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”!  Ha, nice “Queen of Corona” shoutout.  “Is anyone actually from Corona? Get out as soon as you can.”  The crowd’s loving the upbeat vibe.  Heh, nice scat section.  

--- “Spirit Voices” apparently about a trip up the Amazon where he met a mystic native. Midtempo = meh.

--- “The Obvious Child” comes from a Brazilian band.  Tepid, then a really cool drum section.

--- Gah, “Stranger to Stranger.”  How is this the song he chooses off the new album?!

--- “Homeward Bound”!  I could do without the calypso tempo, but still cool to hear.  Takes me back to runs home from the Malverne train station, Francis' Pledge CD, and Adam Eckstein in Paris… 

--- “Diamonds” into “You Can Call Me Al” amidst a downpour!!!  If these are our last moments, considering all the lightning, at least we’ll have had fun.

--- Encore: “Wristband.”  “Graceland.”  “Still Crazy After All These Years.”  Elvis’ “That's Alright Mama.”  “Late in the Evening” [like that it’s upbeat and lyrically, well-placed.]

--- “The Boxer”!!!  Haunting, worthy finale.

--- “The Sound of Silence”!!!!!  A genuine, flashbulb moment.  That’s Art Garfunkel’s song, not his, so I can’t believe he played it.  Chills the entire time.  

“Bridge Over [Tropical] Water”...  Sigh.  Why throw a genre at something that does not remotely fit it?  As your last song?!  The concert goes down half a grade for that, but “Boxer” and “Sound of Silence” were gorgeous, so it still ends well above the C range it started in. 

Grade: B

192 / 193 -- Guns ‘n Roses / Alice in Chains -- Sunday, June 26, 2016 -- Fedex Field -- Landover, MD

I was excited for this show it was the first show that I was able to join various Rock Club families at…without any pressure. There was no chance of a sound debacle like Givers, and there was no expectation to organize anything or make a comeback like Muse. I just met up with families and had fun.

Here’s a live iPhone breakdown of the show:

Alice in Chains

--- Ha, the bands’ ‘colorful’ language begins immediately.  Two times in the first two minutes.  As a Giants fan, I appreciated that it was at least directed at the Philadelphia Eagles…  

--- “Them Bones,” “Rooster,” “Man in the Box,” and “Would” all sound fine.  If I had prepped more, or if they weren’t saddled with Opening Band status, I might be connecting more.  As is, I’m left a bit cold.    

Grade: B-




Guns 'n Roses

--- Guns ‘n Roses continues the verbal fireworks Alice in Chains started… Actual fireworks go off during “It’s So Easy” a minute later!

--- “Mr. Brownstone” features intense Axl hand action, a mini solo, and this quote: “It's a beautiful night.  And you make it so much better.”  For a man known to get in physical fights with fans, this was encouraging.

--- Just found out that AR didn't get any of the rock interest from his parents – that he developed it totally on his own the last two years!  Genuinely surprised.  
--- Impressed to find out that AR’s brother’s favorite movie is 2001.  This kind of wisdom beyond his years makes me consider starting a Film Club when he arrives at Frost…

--- “Welcome to the Jungle”!!!!!  So many varied parts!  It’s enhanced by the green race unfolding on screen, and memories of CS’ unforgettable rendition in class.  Weeeeeee.  

--- “Estranged.”  Decent breather so the uptempo songs sound better.

--- Heh, songs like......“Live and Let Die.”  Actually, there’s a good balance of tempos.  “We've got quite a bit of real estate up here.”  Yeah, you do.

--- “You Could Be Mine” from Terminator 2 brings out fire -- and the crowd.  Man, Axl's pouring everything into the vocals.

--- “This I Love” -- whoa, falsetto.  Phantom of the (Rock) Opera?  Outstanding Slash solo / pacing!!  Surprise champ of the night.

--- “Civil War”’s got some smoke -- and everyone singing along.  (Note: If you are reading this review, and have somehow not seen Captain America: Civil War, you should correct that.  Netflix it.  In my mind, it's tied with Avengers for the best Marvel movie ever.)

--- “Coma” fits the title – and takes forever to end...

--- How about they talk to the crowd?  More than one band member's name every ten minutes... Woo for Slash though.

--- Yay, back to Slash flamenco for five minutes.  Brilliant slow-play intro to “Sweet Child”!!!

--- Something useless.

--- “Out To Get Me”!  Nice “innocent” part.  Lol at profane crowd pleaser at the end.

--- “November Rain”!!!!  Who knew they had this side to them?  The literal cool breeze for most of the song and the literal fire at the end made it even better.

--- Ooh, “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” -- nice.  Heh, did Slash always have a double guitar? Some girl says, “This is dope.”  Heh, at Axl's old-guy intonation.  Who knew a Bob Dylan song could be a call-and-response?  Nice!

--- “Night Train” is a solid screecher.  

--- “Patience” is smooooth.  Heh, the lights they shine SO BRIGHT -- nice.

--- A cover of The Who's “The Seeker,” “Paradise City,” and that’s a wrap.  Deeper lyrics would have taken it to the next level, but solid entertainment nonetheless.

Grade: B+ / A-

 

191 -- Here For The Moment -- Wednesday, June 8, 2016 -- FMS -- Fairfax, VA

Here For The Moment earned the distinction of being Frost’s first ever live rock concert.  Technically, there were nine Rock & Cole concerts that preceded it, but those all involved listening to songs on headphones, not guitars, amps, drums, and an actual live band!

Serious props go to drummer Chad Creason, my former student, for making it all happen.  He had been chained to my most notorious period ever nine years earlier, so he could have easily have ignored any school contact.  Instead, though, Chad, who also happens to be Dave Grohl’s godson, committed himself from the outset.  He met once with me to brainstorm ideas, once with Rock Club kids for a jam session, and once with his entire band for the concert.  

Band members’ work schedules made setting up the staging and all the instruments before late buses arrived a very tense process.  Somehow, though, thanks to the quick work of Chad, guitarist Cory Creason, guitarist/vocalist Andrew Canoyer, bassist Zach Monday, and pianist Zach Bosco, they were able to play the whole setlist!  

The first song was one Chad played for me on the guitar weeks before, one I titled “Shades of Sunshine.”  It had hopeful elements, but there was a push-and-pull of conflict – more shaded than blazing sun.  The second song reminded me of Red Hot Chili Peppers’s “Road Trippin,” particularly the chill part.  The third song felt aligned with Foo Fighters' "February Stars" -- not the same song, but connected to it.  Their cover of The Lumineers’ “Ophelia” featured some nice tambourine action and reminded me of Scrizzly Adams, a New Jersey band who was originally scheduled to be the first ever Rock Club concert this year.

All things considered, it was a great afternoon.  The Rock Club kids joined in for during the last minute of "Everlong" -- a perfect end to the year's last meeting.  Thanks, Chad, Cory, Andrew, Zach M, and Zach B, for making it possible.  

[Note for the clips below: The 'titles' of the first three tracks are not official song titles.  They just describe my interpretation.  The last two are covers.] 

190 -- Pearl Jam -- Sunday, May 8, 2016 -- Madison Square Garden -- NYC

I did not expect this concert.  I mainly decided to listen to Pearl Jam and go to the show out of respect for the musical cred of Luke Durney and certain members of Rock Club.  Much as I enjoyed certain tracks and the overall Pearl Jam vibe, I did not expect much as I entered Madison Square Garden.  

What I got was incredible.  Not since the first Rise Against at Roseland Ballroom have I seen an audience as ferociously into a band’s songs.  My section was a football field away from the stage, yet they tore through every song Eddie Vedder offered.

Check out the live blog below to see what song got it all started:
     
--- “Even Flow.”  HA at the giant crowd/band “yeah!” party and the extended riff halfway through.  Love how pumped everyone is by the “hey hey hey!”s toward the end.

--- “I Got ID.”  Solid cooldown.

--- “In Hiding.”  Heh, clearly a newer song the crowd doesn't know.  HA, I take it back by the lights-on ‘in HIDING’ chorus.

--- Vedder shares how his first New York show was in 91 at the Marquis Club, and how the song goes out to some fallen New Yorker.  Yay, personalization.  

--- “Wishlist,” inspired by Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, gets me out of my seat.  Solid message song.  “Wonder what Zinn would think of us today.”  He follows that with a colorful description of Donald Trump / Ted Cruz and admits that he “feels the Bern.” 

--- “Jeremy”!!!  How can a song about a killer be this engaging?!  He runs up and down the stage while the crowd chants.  It’s…….uncomfortable.  Undeniably great though.

--- “Do The Evolution.”  I absolutely will, bayba!

--- “Why Go (Home)”: more high energy.

--- Some solid song I don’t know.  God, I wish I knew them better.  If I knew all the riffs, if this were Foo Fighters or Wilco, it'd be unreal.  “Just breathe”?  I barely can.  (Turns out it's "Rearviewmirror."  Somewhere, Luke shakes his head that I did not immediately recognize it...)

--- I came in thinking I could multitask for a few minutes during the show.  Nope.  Demands your attention.

--- Heh, after mini intermission, Vedder starts croaking to the audience: “Looks like have Mookie Wilson up here, a guitarist from Slater Kinney, and this girl’s 26th birthday.”  He’s riffing on people like it’s a 9:30 Club show.  That’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone do that in an arena show.  Why don’t more singers do that!!! 

--- “The End”: outstanding.  Well written, well sung, and put in a perfect slot.  “I'm here, but by much longer”…*abrupt end.*  Nice.

--- Vedder spends three solid minutes talking about autoimmune disorders.  His wife fights for it as well.  It’s all an intro to “Future Days,” a romantic rarity about a couple fighting disease.  Pearl Jam has cred for dayyyys.

--- “Off He Goes” is a clever tonal transition back to rock.  

--- Same with “Footsteps.”  The guy next to me's enthusiasm and knowledge of each word is awesome.  Love the smooth harmonica halfway through!



--- “Chloe Dancer” / “Crown on Thorns” [a Mother Love Bone cover].  This riff and show are such a metaphor for the weekend: so unexpected, so chill.

--- "Nothingman" weaves in and out well!

--- Heh, everyone knows “Better Man.”  Great Journey guitar solo!  Wheeeeeeee.

--- “Porch”!!!  I know no lyrics, at all, yet I'm shaking!!  This is the song that gave the concert’s overall grade a plus.  IIIII can flyyyyyyyyy!

--- Colin Curley O’Neill!!!!  Colin Curley O’Neill is this huge Irish guy next to me who’s been singing and jumping most of the show.  We high five after “Porch,” he asks me my name, and flips out when we realize we have the same first name.  We exchanging driver’s licenses to prove it haha.  We then realize his middle name is my mom’s last name, and his last name is one of my best friend’s last name.  After discovering we also both attended a Springsteen concert in New York City last month, we flip out further and realize that if you wait long enough, life can be pretty darn good.

--- “Elderly Woman.”  Look at everyone around me: an entire undiscovered community.  This is not fadddding away any time soon.

--- “Lightning Bolt”: meh new song.

--- “Black.”  Awww at the audience ‘whyyyy’s.  Builds well -- really well!  Awww again at the crowd's ‘do do do’s.  Hahahah, Vedder joins in with the crowd.

--- “Alive” / “Rockin’ in the Free World”!!!  

--- “Indifference.”  Unusual finale.  A mid-tempo close with the lights on feels shaky, but the fans like it.  Oh well – after a show like that, they earned it!

Grade: A+

 

189 -- Bruce Springsteen -- Monday, March 28, 2016 -- Madison Square Garden -- NYC

More time, money, and prep went into this concert than any other.  James Porter, my Aunt Mary, my sister, and my mom participated in a Bruce Email Countdown for weeks before the show – just as Hark had before the Bruce Charlotte show.  This group thread finished with 79 messages!  Musically, this show may not have been as strong as Charlotte because Bruce had to slog through every last River track.  Emotionally, though, it was incredible.  To share that many moments with that many important people in my life felt special.

Some of those moments appear in the live blog below…   

--- As we wait for Bruce to come on stage, we snack on my mom’s chocolate Easter bunnies.  My mom shares that she has never heard of Rock Paper Scissors, and we attempt to tutor her.  Oh, Nadine Curley Verbesey…  

--- Bruce’s first line: “Hello, my snow people!”  This was a funny, necessary acknowledgement.  Snowstorm Jonas canceled the original show three months earlier.  Finding out that he “may now have to play a few more songs” made up for it!!  

--- “Meet Me in the City Tonight” is much better than in DC.  Maybe it's NY crowd, the closer seats, or the fact that they now have all the kinks worked out.

--- Bruce begins the album with an earnest, ambitious speech.  Pretty sure Ke$ha does not do the same thing at the start of her shows.

--- “Sherry Darlin’” party.  Aww, NCV grabs my hand and tries to dance -- even though she hates the song.

--- Two acoustic “Hearts” are better than (an electric) one.

--- “Hungry Heart” / “Out in the Street”!!!

--- The Bruce Stevie call-and-response always works.

--- Never knew that he and Patty met in Chelsea.  “‘I Wanna Marry You’ is a daydream about love, a love that doesn't exist…”  Oh!  It just occurred to me the thematic contrast between that and "The River": Innocence vs Experience!  “Marry You” is usually dull, but it’s is so much better this time with Stevie’s soul scatting intro.

--- “The River” itself!!!  Patty doing half, the coos, and new harmonica at the end = great additions.

--- “Point Blank”: ultra moody intro improves it.  Still overlong though.

--- “Cadillac Ranch”!!!  So friggin’ catchy.  James makes a good point: it does sound a bit like Fleetwood Mac.

--- Yay, Bruce is back in the crowd again for “I'm a Rocker.”  The guy in front of us says, “He's 66?!”

--- Best version of “Ramrod” ever since Bruce’s 90-year-old mother Adele comes on stage for it.  They do a mutual booty shake halfway through!!!

--- “Drive All Night”!!!!  Every phone in the arena organically rises and lights by the end.  It’s like there are 18 parts in one song.  Magical.  

--- More wisdom in the half-sung, post-“Wreck,” album-ending speech.



  --- “Badlands”!!!!!  I think I ripped a hole in my shoe from all the jumping.  Six years since I last heard it.  Maybe the last time I'll get to hear it.  It'll have to live on in memories now.  

--- “Brilliant Disguise.”  Mehhhh, waste.

--- Cool Patti Smith "Because The Night" complete with a sickkkk guitar spin solo. 

--- Literally, a TEN SECOND pause to catch their breath before the encore.  After that, four audience members join the band on stage, including his dancing mom, two random guys, and one relentless white-sweatshirt queen.  Incredibly, I wrote nothing for the encore -- through eight straight songs: “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” “Rosalita,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “10th Avenue Freeze Out,” “Meeting Across the River,” and “Jungleland[!!!!]”  There was no need to write anything.  Memories of those moments, shared with those people, will last…      

Grade: A+ 

188 -- Wilco -- Sunday, February 7, 2016 [Super Bowl Sunday?!] -- DAR Constitution Hall -- DC

Jeff Tweedy is all about artistry.  No two Wilco albums sound exactly the same nor do any two Wilco concerts.  This show was no exception.  It was not a perfect show, but it was certainly a bold one.  I am glad Hark was there to take it all in…  

--- New songs “EKG” and “More” are nothing to write home about.  

--- “Random Name Generator” is better.  Cool rhythm, and I've never seen shimmery lights at a Wilco show.

--- “You Satellite” and “Taste the Ceiling” are ultra meh.  “Pickled Ginger”’s got a decent rhythm.  “Where Do I Begin,” “Cold Slope,” “King of You,” and “Magnetized” have small moments, but they fade instantly because there are no intros, no connections, no buildup of audience goodwill.  

--- The next moment, though, Tweedy finally speaks, and the entire rest of the concert turns: “Thank you for letting us play our whole new album -- and for coming out on a national holiday. We are all Jews in a Chinese food restaurant.  You are all our people...That said, what's the score?  Actually, I don't care -- mostly."  HA!

--- For the record, I did care, recording the whole Super Bowl telecast, and listening to it over the next two days.  My American citizenship can be retained…

-- Lol at “I don't believe in touchdowns” during “I'm Trying to Break Your Heart”!  Brilliant timing!

--- “Handshake Drugs” is a thousand times better than anything on the new album!!

--- Whoa, that’s a RADICALLY different "Kamera."  It bludgeons the original -- yikes.

--- “Art of Almost”!!!!   The insistent drum ‘went on too long’ until it made sense.  It made the transition to psychedelia that much more insane.

--- “Sunken Treasure” has a decent sound and more-than-decent lyrics: “Music is my savior; I was made by rock and roll.”

--- “Hummingbird”!!  Aww, swaying with Hark.

--- Heh, Wilco refers to the Coldplay halftime show.  Not hard to tell who most of the audience prefers.

--- “Box Full of Letters” is way better live than on the album.

--- “Heavy Metal Drummer”: Chuck Abbott nostalgia!!!

--- “I'm the Man Who Loves You”: mini aww.

--- “Forget the Flowers”: barely know the song, really liked it.

--- “Impossible Germany”!!!!  Hark's arm is a lasso.

--- Love that they added a few extra beats to “The Late Greats.”  Made it pop even more when the chorus kicked in.

--- “Spiders”!!!!!  Hark: “they played my song.”  Man, I'd forgotten how why Spiders was my JAM.  Incredible clap-silence-fakeout-FLIPOUT!

--- Beautifulllllllll “Misunderstood.”  So different / great.

--- “War on War” features another awesome shift – this time to spacey acoustic.  Such excitement.  "You have to die in order to be alive."  Still don’t know what that means, still love the song.

--- The backup guitars leads a beautiful “It's Just That Simple.”  Bold ending.

--- “A Shot in the Arm”!!! 

--- Pitch perfect tribute to David Bowie: zero intro (needed) for “ground control to Major Tom”!  Awwwww at Hark singing/wooing the whole thing.

Grade: A+ (warts and all)

Endnote: That may seem like an undue grade for a concert with a terrible start, but emotionally, it deserves it.  The transformation that occurred halfway through was incredible, and I’ll forgive the first half because Wilco’s always willing to take risks.

187 -- Bruce Springsteen -- Monday, February 1, 2016 -- Verizon Center -- DC

The best part of this Bruce concert: seeing it with Jim Andrukonis.  So often shows get marred by lifeless ‘fans’ around you.  This show got made by Jim, a lifelong fan who ended up singing, dancing, and jumping even more than me!    

Below is an annotated breakdown of the night, the 4th night on the year-long River tour: 

--- “Meet Me In The City.”  It wasn’t easy to meet Bruce there, considering the snafu on the metro, and the long, cold lines to get in, but we made it.

--- Hushed story intro to the River album.  “I wrote it to contain all -- for everything to belong.” “You belong here!” screams the row in front of us.

--- Yay, lights go down for “The Ties That Bind.”  

--- The nosebleed crowd around me is awesome, including Jim.  “Sherry Darling” is the rip roar it's supposed to be.

--- “Jackson Cage”…happened.

--- Should have done the acoustic version of “Two Hearts,” but the extended Stevie ending was cool.

--- Yay, story intro to “Independence Day.”  Felt good to pull back and reflect.

--- “Hungry Heart” crowd surf!!!  At 67!

--- “Out in the Street”!  Forget “Meet Me in the City”; this is the start of the show.

--- “Crush On You” is more spirited/enjoyable than anticipated.  He's throwing down!

--- HA, great verbal sparring with Stevie during “You Can Look.”
--- “I Will Marry You” features a moving intro.  “I wrote this song in a daydream.  I wrote this about a life without consequence.  That life doesn't exist, but hey, that's youth.”

--- A minute from now, I will hear the first Bruce Springsteen song I ever heard performed live for the first time.  This is going to be one long minute.  Thanks, Jim for sharing the moment here tonight, and Mike for first sharing it all those years ago. 

--- The higher-pitched coos and harmonica added at the end of “The River” are great additions.

--- “Point Blank”: whoa, dark instrumentation's way better than expected.  

--- “Cadillac Ranch”: so! catchy!

--- “I'm a Rocker”: much more energetic than the album.  “Fade Away” still fits its title.  “Stolen Car” has a much clearer vocal and vibe. 

--- “Ramrod” always feels like a watered-down “Cadillac Ranch,” but Jake Clemons makes it fun.  As does Bruce telling us (no, commanding us!) to “shake our booty.”

--- “The Price You Pay”: meh until halfway through when the backing stops, his two fingers go up, and it gets real.  Love how Jim is playing all the instruments with his hands!

--- “DRIVE ALL NIGHT.”  Thanks to Mary Verbesey Fehse, the emotional high point for me.

--- “Wreck on the Highway”: yes, the 20-song album march is done.  How's he going to bust out with the first non-album song?  The suspense...




--- HA, as a young man, Jim heard “Darlington County” as Arlington County as he drove into Arlington!

--- I'm starting to get swept up, so I even like “Prove It All Night.”  Great Nils guitar solo!!

--- “Promised Land” is no “Badlands,” but the harmonica and “go away” parts are great.

--- I don't even know or like “Tougher than the Rest,” but I love that he's not just churning out predictability.  He probably made some fan's day by playing it.

--- “Wrecking Ball,” “The Rising,” and “Thunder Road” trifecta!

--- Bruce shares that some guy pushed a wheelchair 70 miles across America.  Whoa.

--- “No Surrender”!  Great electro shift halfway through.  “Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Rosalita” followed.  Not a huge fan of the alternate “Shout” ending, but the show overall, as usual, was a pleasure. 

Grade: A

 

186 -- Muse -- Monday, February 1, 2016 -- Verizon Center -- DC

The road to Muse was the most stressful concert road I have ever traveled.  If you're interested in the harrowing backstory, feel free to message me, but no time to get into that now...

Fortunately, the show itself was excellent – perhaps the best visual spectacle I’ve seen.  Muse’s spacey paranoia and lack of annotation may limit how much I can connect with their songs, but as a concert, it was top notch. 

Here’s a bulleted rundown of the night: 

--- All ten tickets BOUGHT.  Giant sigh of relief.

--- Whoa, Ed Walinsky and Tyler Branscome are here!  Tom Swindell and Aren Sharp too!  Who will show up next?  Apparently, on stage, Elliot, from Elliot in the Morning. 

--- “Psycho”: a light romantic ballad to start...  Awesome floating bubble drones.  Hark: “I like the visuals.”  I like that the words weren't fully audible, so there were fewer poisoned young ears! ;)

--- “Dead Inside”: nice change of pace.

--- “Hysteria”!!!  It's not even one of my favorite songs, and I'm flipping out.  Such pent-up anxiety after Givers.  Time to just kick back and enjoy it; this will deliver!

--- “Map of the Problematique.” Less good, still good.

--- Um, I can't tell what the song was, but I can tell it was not good.

--- “Isolated System.”  Meh.

--- “The Handler.”  The giant, manipulatable puppet was cool.  

--- “Supermassive Black Hole”!!!  I cannot sit.  I am propelled up.  Sickkk hook.

--- “Starlight”!!  Exploding concrete balls!  Love how the kids look on in suspense to see when they'll burst.

--- “Apocalypse Please.”  More like this, please. 

--- Some unknown amazing instrumental!!  Aww at TK's head bob.

--- “Madness.”  Lies.  Sounds far too sane.  Picks up a bit by the end though -- soaring vocal -- nice.  Cool U2 360 vibe.  Totally brought me around.

--- “Resistance.”  Also strong -- well sequenced. 

--- “Reapers” is decent.  Lackluster verses, cool beats.

--- “Time is Running Out”!!  Lol, now JS is full head banging as well.

--- “Uprising”!  The vocals are oddly a little hard to hear.  Hark serves as a backup singer.  He is not hard to hear.  Hark is never hard to hear.
--- Silly that they haven't talked to the crowd once yet.  Really would move it to the next level.

--- “The Globalist.”  Awesome whistle intro.  So pure and cool.  I think it sounds like an intro to The Hateful Eight; Hark thinks it sounds like Titanic.  Our marriage...

--- Four minutes of Matt Bellamy's sleep-inducing drones...  The literal space shuttle that flies around stage redeems it.  As do the two minutes of red blasts that follow.  Gah, four more minutes of soporific drones.  Hark: “Beautiful.” Whoa, unexpected.

--- Equally unexpected?  Finding out that this is the last show of the North American tour.  Glad they made it to us.

--- “Mercy.”  Love that they put this on the tour setlist after the bombing in Paris.  Confetti!

Grade: A

185 -- Melinda Doolittle -- Saturday, December 19, 2015 -- Reston Town Center -- Reston, VA

Melinda Doolittle was the most underrated contestant in American Idol history. The sophistication in her songs, the care she showed interpreting each line, was unparalleled.  She never got the recognition she deserved during her season or subsequent seasons.
  

Fortunately, she was able to earn recognition for her post-episode commentaries with the inimitable Michael Slezak.  My Idol co-viewer James Porter and I would often enjoy their canny, lively recaps more than the actual episodes!  

You would think no one could top keen insights like “for me, for you, check it out, dawg.  This girl is bold right here.  She wants this.  Dude, you delivered, man!”  Somehow, though, she and Slezak were able to manage...  

In a moment, I will try to offer my own commentary on Melinda’s live show. Before I do, though, I had to share a final, glorious blast from the Idol past. “This is a crazy moment. No, no, this is weird. People are always saying we all agree. Actually this time we all disagree, but we actually all agree again. I didn’t like it either. Here’s why. Here’s why! Here’s why. Here’s why here’s why. Here’s why. Just such a subdued moment from you and you do those things in your sleep. It was just okay.”  Ladies and gentleman…Randy Jackson. :)   

Enough of that Randy foolishness, though -- back to Melinda.  

Without further ado, here are my iPhone observations from Melinda’s live show:

--- The control and restraint she showed during “I'm Still In Love with You” was remarkable.

--- “Try a Little Tenderness” had a sick scat section at the end.  If only the comatose Centrum Silver audience appreciated it!

--- Clever transition to the seated, soft “Let's Stay Together.”

--- Hilarious story about her speed talking her way out of the arms of a hot Atlanta guy.  It ended with a geisha bow!! She then brilliantly incorporates it into "The Man Who Got Away."  The syncopation during the last ten seconds, on the title line, is incredible.

--- An unnamed NFL player assumed she has a husband, then a boyfriend, and then a girlfriend.  This made for a fearsome transition into “That's Life”!!!  I am so in now.

--- Brilliant last-line edit of “Man's World” with “Without ME.”

--- HA at sing-speaking during “Don't Touch Me.”  Heh at ‘well, maybe you.’

--- I'm sadness, then anger, then I move on.  I call the anger "sass" though.  (HA.)  The rendition of “W-O-M-A-N” in the audience is fierce!!

--- Her spoken intro made “Home” lyrics more meaningful.  Intro: “When you find that person, I hear that you find that place, that safe place.”  Lyrics: “Brand new world, might be a fantasy, but it taught me to love, so I know that it’s real to me."

--- Encore with a stripped-down "Midnight Train."  Such elegance.

--- I was thrilled to talk to Melinda after the show.  I was able to offer specific positive feedback instead of a general “you were great” gush.  I was also glad to get a signed CD for James and explain what she had meant to us over the years.  Finally, I was glad she did not call security during my Donald Duck rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”  Guess control and restraint really are her specialties…    

Grade: A

184 -- Straight No Chaser -- Saturday, December 5, 2015 -- Meyerhoff Symphony Hall -- Baltimore, MD

My first introduction to Straight No Chaser had been their tracks on Hillary Bebko’s great Secret Santa mixed CD many years ago.  I listened to them more when I found out Hark was a big fan who wanted to go to one of their shows.  Once Kevin and Lisa Allgeier were on board to join us, I listened to more.  All that prep paid off, as I knew most of the songs we heard live.  

The first three songs, “Happy,” “Marvin Gaye,” and “Shut Up and Dance,” were just okay – fairly straightforward covers of pop songs.  Things improved with “Take Me to Church.”  It was  less overplayed, more dramatic, and featured a better solo.  “Big Girls Don’t Cry” continued the upward trend.  It was a quirky throwback song in general and included a strong intro. 
  
In between songs, the group showed genuine comedic chops, ‘firing’ one member for missing the show on account of having a baby.  There was also this deadpan exchange with a fan:
Straight No Chaser: “Where are you from, JT?”
Fan: “Buffalo, NY.”
SNC: “Are you *lost*?  We do perform in places closer to Buffalo.”  

Some other quick hits:

--- Rainbow spotlights into the audience enhanced the “Rainbow” / “I'm Yours” mashup.

--- “Creep”!!!  Wonderfully restrained, arranged, everything.  An Idol-esque MOMENT.

--- Lol at the bouncing, brow wiping, and break dancing during "In The Jungle."  Memories of our honeymoon in Soweto, where the song originated!

--- Hark, accurately: "It gets better each song!"

--- They play a "Bodyguard" theme. Somewhere, Nadine Curley Verbesey swoons.  

--- How do people in the audience not know Saturday Night Fever?

--- Movie theme songs!!  The multiple “Chariots of Fire” slow runs and one fast run are great.

--- Funny “let's all go to the lobby” animation leads out of intermission.

--- Hee at the mini tree lit at the end of “New Old Fashion Way.”

--- Awesome quiet whistling section of “Merry Christmas.”

--- Heh at the group becoming reindeers during “Merry Christmas St. Nick.”

--- “Carol of the Bells”: like Trans-Siberian orchestra, minus 1000 flames.

--- “Hey Santa”: jazzy, fine.

--- “On the Road Again”!!!  This song was deeply moving because it was the song my dad would play every time the Verbesey minivan (finally) pulled out of our driveway for a family trip.  The group’s descriptions of the changes in their lives since they first met each other at Indiana University made it even more meaningful.  The one ingredient that had been missing from the show had been sincerity/substance.  Now they had that too!

--- Gah, couldn’t keep up with all the quality jokes that led into "All About that Bass."  Take my word for it though: they were quality.  The actual bass in the song was as well!! 

--- “Uptown Funk” / “Thriller” mashup was a cool concept, but not hot enough for a finale.

--- The “12 Days of Christmas Can Can” / “Africa” mashup was totally worthy!!  

--- The hushed, Guster-like “Warm Embrace” left everyone with chills!!!  Perfect coda.

Grade: A+