321 -- Nine Inch Nails -- Saturday, February 14, 2025 -- Prudential Center -- Newark, NJ

--- Bizarre one-hour line outside the arena was fine because I met a couple that doesn’t see 100 movies a year — they see 150!!! Apparently the delay was because the band didn’t like the lighting, so everyone had to go outside as they adjusted it?! Talk about biting the hand that feeds…

--- “Wish”: so intense! 

--- “March of the Pigs”: doesn’t it make you feel better? Hank would say yes. 

--- “Reptile”: love the quiet piano intro after the rabid “Pigs.” The quiet doesn’t last, as it rips into visual and aural power lines that shimmer up the stage but the contrast is great. Oooh, then it moves again to “please don’t hurt me.” Wow. “Oh, what a beautiful liar.” The surprise that I can make out most of the lyrics is great!!

--- “Heresy”: “God is dead. And no one cares.” The 16,000 people here seem to. They love it! Heh: “If there is a hell, I’ll see you there.”

--- “Copy Of A”!!!! I don’t think it’s famous, and maybe people think it’s too repetitive,  but it was my favorite on the albums and, so far, live. Lyrics, build, look = hypnosis.

--- “Gave Up”: fine.

--- Oooh, the smoke pit they move to mid stage for “Vessel” is TOUGH.

--- "Closer": Hahaha at the existence of these two lines in the same song: “You get me closer to God” and “I want to ---- you like an animal”?!?! YES how it slows to a crawl and then reverbs the f out at the end!!!

--- Not sure what that ~instrumental was, but it sounded a LOT like Challengers.

--- “As Alive As You Need Me To Be”: Woo, dig the different beat. “Everything for a reason.” Apparently a new song. Keeps ripping to new riffs — nice!

--- Moronic that they have not said a single word to the audience, but it adds mystique I suppose, and the variety of  sounds is so strong, it down technically need it.

--- “Mr. Self Destruct” pounds until a high-pitch screech. Wow.

--- Um, “Less Than” suggests we “add a little violence”…

--- Wish I connected more to the band an individual songs and Bob Reznor said ANYTHING to the audience, but the rest was a rocket. 

--- Hahaha, that almost everything I said becomes irrelevant. (1) “The Perfect Drug” is a BANGER that ends with a helluva whimper!!!! So cool. (2) He talks to the crowd for two minutes, including saying how meaningful they are as life becomes fleeting. Aww.

--- Heh at David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans.” Can’t imagine what could had made them choose it…

--- “The Hand That Feeds”: aww, so much blue jumping!!

--- “Head Like Hole”: woo at the “bow down before the one you serve” full-crowd hands-up section and multi-instrument coalition at the end!!!

--- “Hurt”: woo for a tender number. It’s NIN, so it features the line “I wear this crown of s---,” and it ends with a rattle and roar, but still lol.

Grade: A+

Eternal “Copy Of A” validation from a 52-year-old mother and her 20-year-old blue-haired daughter!!!!! Ready to walk all the way to my hotel. Earns the plus.

320 -- Iam Tongi -- Saturday, November 1, 2025 -- The Hamilton -- DC

Glad Kate, Emrie, Hark, Brody, Riley, and I got to see Iam Tongi -- the winner of Season 21 of American Idol and hit Lilo and Stitch song "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride." 

The end of this album has pictures and videos from the concert.

Here's an annotated setlist of the songs:

--- Whoa: the biggest opener / main act transformation in a while. What a difference being close, able to move, and a full band make!!!!

--- “Good For My Soul”: a song he wrote, for his girlfriend, who’s here tonight, is the best so far. Simple, sincere, has drive!!

--- Awww, he’s playing “Stuck On You,” clearly a tribute to his judge, Lionel Ritchie!! Omg, he directly responded to my Ritchie reference, saying he had no clue it was him his whole childhood. “Shoutout to Lionel Ritchie though.”

--- Hahaha, correctly pronounced ukulele, which apparently means “jumping fleas”!!

 --- “Unbroken Heart,” a song he wrote for his dad has power!!! He apparently debuted it at the Grand Old Opry.

--- Aww at the Verbicar roller coaster ride during the Lilo and Stitch song!!!

--- The first original song he released after Idol, “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Such clarity and, by the end, echo!!!!

--- His latest single, “Sugar,” is not for me.

--- This drummer-driven song definitely is. It’s good swing and sounds great!!

--- “Why Kiki” is so catchy!!

--- The electric guitarist is from Madagascar, and the drummer is from Kate’s bedroom heartthrob calendar.

--- The first song he wrote for his girlfriend, “Mercy Mercy Mercy” is the most lyrically driven. It’s got funk and chill. I DIG IT.

--- Wow, the band didn’t know the last two songs and went with it.

--- His favorite song off the new record, “I Do.” SO SMOOTH.

 --- “Don’t Let Go,” by Spawnbreezie.

 --- “Monsters”!!!! “This song changed my life.” Nailed it.

Grade: A

319 -- James Taylor -- Thursday, August 25, 2025 -- Wolf Trap -- Vienna, VA

--- “Wandering”: love how the title and lyrics fit my musical journey. I move through and experience all genres!

--- “Walking Man”: “kind of about the changing of seasons and some s---.” Lol at the unexpected profanity. Interesting overlap with “You’ve Got A Friend” from a later album, down to the video backdrop of falling leaves for autumn. It’s so unusual for me to be at a concert where every song is smooth!! 

--- Hahahah at people tittering at some random guitar change: “You people are easily entertained. You need to get out more.” 

--- It’s a Lovely "Stretch of the Highway”: it’s from our most recent album, which is not very recent — almost ten years ago. HA! Woo for the road trip pictures. Maybe it seems clipart-y, but it really adds to it!! Cool little clicking sound from a small drum adds to it.

--- Wooo for the variety of ages,  instruments, genders, and races. Perfect intro to “Mexico”!!! Hope Danny and Senora Gela know it. 

--- Heh, that last one wasn’t really a traveling song, more of a destination song. This one’s back to the theme: “My Traveling Star.” The lyric video in the backdrop makes me connect!! Points for the violin as well.

--- “Changing to an extra identical guitar. It’s a union thing.” Ha!

--- Hahahah at “yes, we’ll get to ‘Streamroller’ — later, about halfway through.” He goes on to show the actual setlist lol!! “That may not seem very spontaneous. It's okay; it ends up better.”

--- “Carolina in My Mind”!!!! It goes to another LEVEL when you know the song. I’m awash in ease. I involuntarily stand up to applaud, as does half the rest of the crowd. SO ORGANIC. 

--- “Only a Dream in Rio”: He tells this gripping story of his biggest concert ever, a 300,000-person crowd at Rockin’ Rio, the day after Brazil finally rod themselves of a dictator wielding a military junta, which the United States supported. “Not that we would ever do that now.” Ha/woo!!!

--- “Up on the Roof”: “This is a song by Carole King… No Kings” (yes!!!!). Not the one you’re thinking of. That’ll come later.” 

--- God Have Mercy on "The Frozen Man": cool piano.

--- “You’ve Got A Friend”!!!!! Profoundly emotional. Hahaha at “you write a song, and it becomes I’m Going To Play This Every Night For The Rest Of Your Life. At least it’s not “Monster Mash.” Whoa, Carole King wrote the song inspired by a line in ‘Fire and Rain’! I record the entire video — something I can’t remember doing before. The wedding, Wonder Years, and Brody/Riley connections demand it. Yesss at the vast vocal changes throughout. THIS SHOW.

--- Wooo for the message and son solo in “Shed A Little Light.”

--- Aww at the submitted fan video gallery during “Shower The People.” The sheer whiteness of the submissions and audience is awkward, but it is what it is.

--- Yessir at the black gospel guy. 

--- Yay, electric!! Heh, NOW “Steamroller.”

--- Ooh at the trumpet and ~Roy Bittan keyboard. Hahahah at his R+B squeal and scat at the end.

--- Heee at the inclusion of a sax, Wolf Trap, and everyone for “How Sweet It Is.”

--- Awww at the guy next to me: “If you strike it rich, you can have him play at your anniversary”!!!

--- “You Can Close Your Eyes”: subdued, well done.

--- Surprisingly, there was no "Fire and Rain" or "Sweet Baby James," but I was able to listen to both on the way home, and the "Sweet Baby James" book I bought Brody, Riley, and James was amazing. Best pop-up ever.

Grade: A+

 

318 -- Goo Goo Dolls -- Sunday, July 27, 2025 -- Wolf Trap -- Vienna, VA

--- Daniel Park, a former student who now works at Wolftrap, recognized me (from Driver’s Ed??) and enthusiastically says hello. 

--- I also met a couple who immigrated from the Philippines in 2022. I recognized the Tagalog!

--- Frontman John Rzeznik: “Everyone, get off your ass”: amen!!!

--- “Naked”: the vocals are lackluster, but it’s great to hear straight guitar, and we’re just getting started.

--- “Slide”: cool mini solo and aww at the crowd choruses.

--- “Think About Me” is forgettable — too mid-tempo.

--- “Here Is Gone” soars more, so it’s better. It’s surprising he’s barely said anything to the audience yet, when that was such a strength last time. I’ll be patient.

--- “Black Balloon”: “I think you guys know this one.” “Oh yeah” from Manuel. That, the actual floating black balloons, and a lower rhythm makes it official: the concert has begun!!

--- “Miracle Pill” is newer (from 2011) and has a cabaret vibe. It sounds great and earns the guitar battle at the end!!! Manuel shouts, “ROCK AND ROLL.”

--- Hahaha at “this is a new one.” His inflection feels like it adds scorn. “Nothing Lasts Forever,” including, fortunately, this song.

--- The second guitarist croaks out “January Friend.”

--- “Big Machine” retains its catchy melody.

--- “Dizzy” shifts from red darkness to “everything you are” in a distinctive way I don’t remember. I approve.

--- “I might be losing my voice a bit, but we’ll ride it out.” 

--- “Sympathy”!!! Intriguing ACTUAL INTRO where he describes in a room for 30 days. 

--- HA: “We have the nicest fans in the whole world. Except that guy -- he’s a d---.” That’s the NY I remember!!

--- “I f’d up. I didn’t remember the words. Can you forgive me? I don’t believe you.”

--- “That’s where the s--- hit the fan, or the s--- hit our fans.” 

--- “Name”!!!! “I’m incredibly lucky, but every time I want to quit, I meet you guys. This song was at my wedding; I heard this song when my arm came off in Afghanistan. Everyone’s so on edge right now. This is what’s it about: humanity.” YES. The vocals finally sound great -- and the way it brings other instruments back. Perfect. HA at “oh, and F AI.” “Thank you for keeping this band alive.”

--- “Over and Over” from 2016 lacks an intro.

--- “Reverse” pushes the show forward — a new plinky, edgy vibe. By far the best new one!! 2016, but still.

--- “Run All Night” flies — especially by the end!

--- The frog croaks out “Life’s A Message” and “Bringing on the Light” in tune. The latter brings an “oh yeah” from Manuel, which is followed by an “oh yeah” in the song’s lyrics?!

--- Heh, “you still here? This is a sticky love song.” “Come To Me” has solid momentum.

--- “Broadway”‘s “dark tonight.” In reality, it’s bright! The keyboardist kills it — then harmonica and electric — such variety!!!

--- Cool warm electronic heading out of a seven-second wait for the encore.

--- Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” followed by . . . "Iris"!

Grade: B+

317 -- Dashboard Confessional -- Sunday, July 27, 2025 -- Wolf Trap -- Vienna, VA

--- Running into Michelle Sheble Capozzoli and Michelle Maxey, minutes after telling Manuel about GGD, Buffalo, and Michelle’s parking tip about The Barns?!!!

--- “The Best Deceptions”: builds and builds and frontman Chris Carrabba knows how to project!! 

--- “The Sharp Hint of New Tears”: they changed the song order from earlier on tour. Nice. Keeping me and my Setlist.FM self on my toes. 

--- Loving how, sonically, they’ve expanded wayyy beyond the albums. I was confused by the acoustic near-monopoly of recordings I heard beforehand. Then, in concert, almost all numbers were accompanied by a full band! Plus, the times they pulled back, it sounded better.

--- “Southbound and Sinking”: instruments cut off for a vocal halfway through. Cool.

--- Manuel: “Every time I come to one of these concerts, I think, God I love this country.”

--- “Saints and Sailors” is apparently an older song.

--- Woo that Carrabba has an explanation despite the lack of time. He was halfway across the world, feeling lonely, he heard this song, and he felt seen.

--- “Remember To Breathe”!!!!! An unexpected game changer. It was specifically underwhelming when I heard it a few days ago — when I could barely breathe on a treadmill. This time, it had other instruments. Carrabba also held out a note for ~20 seconds as sang ‘remember to breathe.’ He referenced a girl from Virginia mid song without stopping before revealing what she said was the basis for the lyric. He did this by having ‘her’ sing the lyric. It was an Idol MOMENT.

--- Manuel compares them to U2.

--- It’s hard to make out “Stolen”’s lyrics, but its drive works.

--- Heh, Carrabba jokes about young people getting XL merch for later.

--- “Again I Go Unnoticed”: wow, impressive manipulation. He starts the crowd with their hands up and then a clap, which makes standing natural for everyone. “If your legs cramps from a lack of use when you get to GGD, that won’t work.” HA!!

--- Heh at his lack of enthusiasm for the lackluster call-and-response for “No More Bad Days.” 

--- His best friend from high school is at Wolf Trap. So much individualization!!!

--- “Vindicated”: aww at Manuel’s vindication that they played his song from Spider-Man 2 — and the young guy who nearly leaped over the seat when they started playing it!!

Awww at:

--- A bunch of the crowd singing along to “Screaming Infidelities.”

--- Carrabba closing with “a song about the best day of my life,” “Hands Down.” 

--- The bass guitarist bolting back and forth throughout. They really don’t know they’re an opening band!!

Grade: A-

316 -- Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band [Toto, Men At Work, Average White Band] -- Tuesday, June 17, 2025 -- Wolf Trap -- Vienna, VA

 --- Wow, this is the most packed I’ve seen the lawn at Wolftrap. Well, there are only two Beatles left!

--- “Saturday Night, Sunday Morning” by Thelma Houston: oooh, they’re switching up the setlist. Fine by me, as this is upbeat, catchy, and includes a sliiiide on the keyboard.

--- Swingin’ sax on Ringo’s “It Don’t Come Easy.”

--- Toto’s “Rosanna” features sections for drums, sax, harmonica, and electric!! It would have been better if they circled back to the melody, but it’s my favorite so far.

--- Aww, Toto frontman keeps introducing people as his heroes. This time it’s Hamish Stuart playing Average White Band’s “Pick Up The Pieces.” Heh, “This is a tune you’ve all heard, you just don’t know it.”

--- Hahaha, Men At Work frontman’s Colin Hay on “Down Under”: “It took 40 minutes to write, now it’s lasted 40 years…I used to get recognized a lot, now not so much. 99% of the time, that’s great. When I’m getting my medication at CVS, however, I want to say, ‘Don’t you know you’re looking at the Grammy-winning multi-platinum 80s hitmaker?! Instead, I say 6-29-53.” LOL!!! That’s a vocally impressive “ayyy-oh.” Woo for the flute climax! 

--- I hadn’t been sure, but I confirmed it’s the same Colin Hay who did the haunting ballad “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You.” Garden State is still my all-time favorite soundtrack.

--- Ringo’s cover of “Boys” by The Shirelles passes the time.

--- Heh, John Lennon wrote it and said to Ringo “You can have it. It’s about why I’m the greatest” lol. It’s called “Back to You Bugaloo.” 

--- “Yellow Submarine”!! Simple, silly fun. Love when the non-Ringo drummer (Greg Bissonette) plays the trumpet mid verse!!

--- Average White Band’s “Cut The Cake” has motormouth funk charm.

--- Heh at the interlude that teases “We Will Rock You,” “Purple Haze,” Led Zeppelin, and ~ten others. It sounds great and transitions directly into the next song!!!

--- Hahaha, Ringo asks “was it musical” when he comes back from his spot of tea.

--- “An Octopus’s Garden”: hope they feature it in the upcoming adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures.

--- Apparently “Look Up” comes from Ringo’s newest country (?!) album. It’s dull until it turns dark at the end.

--- Interesting: 1974’s “No-No Song” plays tongue-in-cheek with Ringo’s history of contraband. He apparently became sober in 1989. 

--- At start, Men at Work’s “Overkill” is more my vibe. As it continues, it’s too mid-tempo.

--- Hahaha at Toto’s Joseph Williams pretending he was doing the deeply-serious ~“Jazz Exercise Number 3” before starting “Africa.” Tbh, I would have preferred more of the jazz one, as it would have been distinctive. The initial “Africa” vocals are weak, and the racial aspects of the song still seem awkward. Once Colin Hay, the keyboard, and the flute join in though, it picks up.

--- Aww, Hamish looking in the mirror shaving the other day and asking, “Wait, dad, what are you doing there?” 

--- The Isley Brothers’ “Work To Do,” from “that other White Album” and The Beatles’ “I Wanna Be Your Man” are fine.

--- Oooooh, this intro sounds like Wilco’s “Spiders (Kidsmoke).” I would’ve died if they covered it. “Who Can It Be Now?” is better than becuase of Colin Hay. He and Gregg the drummer rise above the otherwise average white men. Yay, this time the sax doesn’t just jam — it fuels the song!! 

--- Joseph was 19 when “Hold The Line” was recorded. Love how he (tries) to get the crowd to stand! Best lyric of the night: “love isn’t always on time”!! Woo for the guy in the crowd with the long reggae hair who’s standing, filming, and living — in the loge!!

--- Awww, individualization. “It’s great that you came out in your best . . . t-shirts. [To snazzy guy in the front row] You, man, you’re trying — with a 1965-67 Beatles jacket. I used to know them, you know.” HA!!

--- Sound-wise, “Photograph” isn’t much. The lyrics fit the late stage of life though.

--- The honky-tonk “Act Naturally” is an unnatural choice for second-to-last song.

--- “With A Little Help From My Friends” is natural! HA at the Zeppelin fakeout and “if you don’t know this song, you’re in the wrong venue.”

Grade: B+

315 -- AC/DC -- Monday, May 12, 2025 -- Northwest Stadium -- Landover, MD

Arriving at my seat for this AC/DC was a saga and a half. I had enjoyed AC/DC in DC the first time, and my Peruvian teacher friend Manuel and his family were excited for me to join. The concert was scheduled during what I call the Molten Hot Lava section of the year – when a volleyball tournament, athletic awards, the Fitness Hall of Fame, and a sprawling theater/poetry variety show come together at the same time. It’s a three-ring circus with little wiggle room. 

I thought I could work it all out. Manuel could drive, and I could copy and paste a listserv for variety show parents from my phone when we arrived. Then, once we got to the parking lot, I discovered the phone would not allow it. I knew that if I didn’t send the message to those parents that night, the event would not happen. It really was dependent on that moment. So, then it became this absurd logistical pretzel. Manuel, his family, and I had to exchange phones, so they’d be able to get in the arena, and I’d be able to get in the back to the car. I then tried moving all over Landover to get enough bars of laptop Wifi to send the message. After I finally did (thanks, McDonald’s!), there was a separate saga trying to find the alternate seats Manuel and his family went to.

Ultimately though, more than halfway through the set, I made it, and it was all worth it. The variety show at Busboys and Poets was a smashing success weeks later, and I saw Manuel and his family flip OUT the rest of the night. It was hilarious seeing Manuel call “Let There Be Rock” before it happened, a fan bow down after “Thunderstruck,” and a guy try to take our picture all night long…  

Worthwhile Exhaustion vibes continued the next day when I found out that a bleary-eyed Marcus Berry, Amy Hansen, and two of my students had been there as well! My eyes were less tired than my ears, which felt shot after being directly next to the cannons. The cannons KEPT EXPLODING at the end. To quote Mark Hamill in The Life of Chuck, “the worst part was the waiting,” never knowing when the next blast would come…  

I didn’t get the usual live notes, but these pictures capture the excitement. 

Grade: B+