The Concert Scene 2011: Elvis Costello & The Imposters: The Revolver Tour

Not since I hit the 3 of clubs and won a Kiss mirror at the Jersey Shore have I been so excited about a giant spinning wheel. Only this one was loaded with Elvis Costello hits and rarities - the latest in a series of gimmicks that has helped me justify buying concert tickets for acts I've seen multiple times (e.g. Ray Davies and his back-up choir + Steely Dan's Internet request night.)

What Elvis's "Spectacular Spinning Songbook" did was add a fun, campy vibe to the playlist, as Costello played sideshow barker and beckoned fans up on stage for a spin. About 7 or 8 lucky fans were invited up during the evening. After their spin determined how we would spend the next 5 minutes, they were served a cocktail and coaxed into doing their best shimmy in the go-go cage. Of course, the one show where I wanted to be called up on stage, Elvis's finger of chance never pointed to the second to last row of the balcony. Go figure.

Lucky spins resulted in my highlights of the night: "Watching the Detectives" and "Oliver's Army." And the fix was on to ensure that "Alison" made an appearance. Songs that were suspiciously missing from the wheel of chance were reserved for multiple encores, such as "Pump it Up" and "Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes." Of course, we couldn't escape without hearing "Peace, Love + Understanding," or as I like to sing, "What's so great about this song, I'm not understanding."

Elvis is a true showman who loves to include friends + family in his show. He brought his younger brother, Rowan McManus, out for 2 songs (what a voice on that guy!) And drummer Paul Thomas' daughter, Tennessee Thomas, came out to add some extra percussion to the louder hits of the evening. There was also an obligatory visit from Diana Krall that Dave enjoyed a bit too much.

All in all, Elvis rocked when we could hear his voice, which was too often drowned out by the keyboards (there was some BAD mixing going on there, Beacon staff) + theremin (although any band that tours with a theremin earns bonus points in our book.)

Predictably, our fun evening came to a close at home with us listening to the songs we didn't hear, such as "Veronica", "Beyond Belief", "Shabby Doll" and "Green Shirt." And I'm sure today will be spent on Pandora for the next 8 hours to hear more hits and rarities.

Next up: my boy, Roger Daltrey, playing 'Tommy' at the Prudential Center!

The Concert Scene 2011: Elton John

There are now 9 blocks between me and Madison Square Garden and I'm still not sure how I'm feeling about tonight's Elton John concert.

The show started strong, with a piano-driven set straight from the 70s that included some of my favorites: "Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding," "Levon," and "Philadelphia Freedom." But it quickly became apparent that Elton was compensating for what he has lost vocally with painfully long piano solos. "Rocket Man" clocking in at 15 minutes, really??

There are 2 things I love about concerts featuring senior citizens:

1) They usually don't have an opening act because they want to get home before midnight just as much as I do.

2) They are wise enough to know we really don't care about their new body of work.

Well, Elton forgot #2 and spent an hour playing his new duets with Leon Russell. Now, Leon seems like a nice rock and roll hall of famer, but that is an hour of my life I'll never get back that could have been filled with "I'm Still Standing" and "Pinball Wizard." And just to prove that he knows everyone in the music biz, Greg Allman was dragged out to sing along with them.

The show ended strong with the usual string of hits, such as "Your Song" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Never my favorites, but it was a thrill to see a rock legend still enjoying what he does so thoroughly. And Elton was kind enough to skip his body of work from the 90s, so that was a plus. Something tells me that when Ruffo and I recall tonight, we will remember the laughs we had at our fellow fans' expense more than the music.

Next up: Elvis Costello @ The Beacon

The Concert Scene

When you have forgotten seeing a legend such as Paul Simon in concert, it's time to piece together a list of the concerts you've seen, before other music memories (good, bad + cheesy) fade away.

• ABC - midnight show on Long Island, compliments of Greg Markowitz
• Bryan Adams - Brendan Byrne Arena
• Air Supply (2x) - BB King's + Nokia Theatre
• The Allman Brothers (2x) - PNC Arts Center
• America - Bergen PAC
• B-52s - Radio City
• Beck - Beacon Theatre - (opening act: The Flaming Lips)
• Bjorn Again - Irving Plaza - supposedly the next best thing to seeing ABBA live
• Blind Melon - Rutgers University
• Blondie - Nokia Theatre - a spontaneous evening of BBQ + music w/ Caryn Dubelko
• Boston - PNC Arts Center
• Jimmy Buffett - Brendan Byrne Arena
• David Bowie (5x) - Roseland, MSG, Jones Beach, Beacon Theatre, Radio City
• Eric Burdon & The Animals - BB King's
• David Byrne - Royal Festival Hall, London
• Natalie Cole - Bergen PAC
• Phil Collins - MSG
• Elvis Costell0 (2x) - Mix Fest '98, Boston, MA while visiting Nisha Raghavan in law school + Beacon Theatre w/ Dave
  
• Cream - MSG - scored some scalped tix for this reunion show
• Sheryl Crow - Shepherds Bush
• Culture Club - PNC Arts Center
• Roger Daltrey - Prudential Center, performing 'Tommy' in its entirety
• Ray Davies (2x) - Beacon Theatre, Town Hall
• Depeche Mode (4x) - Giants Stadium, MSG (opening act: The The)
• Neil Diamond - MSG
• Donovan - Royal Festival Hall
• The Doobie Brothers - PNC Arts Center
• Dread Zeppelin - House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
• Duran Duran (3x) - PNC Arts Center (opening act: Terence Trent D'Arby), Radio City (opening act: James)
• The Eagles - Brendan Byrne Arena
• Echo & The Bunnymen (2x) - Irving Plaza, Radio City, both times w/ Deborah Schkolne
• John Entwhistle (2x) - BB King's, Irving Plaza
• Erasure - Hammerstein Ballroom
• The Eurythmics - MSG
• Fleetwood Mac - Brendan Byrne Arena
• Philip Glass - Bergen PAC
• Hall & Oates - State Theatre, New Brunswick
• Human League - PNC Arts Center
• Huey Lewis - Bergen PAC - I think he left 'The News' at home
• The Indigo Girls - Rutgers University
• Bryan Ferry (4x) - Kenwood House, London + Beacon Theatre x 3
• Franz Ferdinand - Roseland Ballroom - a dream come true for Jihan Crowther and me
• Peter Gabriel (3x) - Brendan Byrne Arena x 2, Radio City w/ Janet Abrams
• Dave Gahan - Hammersmith Apollo, London
• Genesis - MSG - VIP suite, compliments of Lauren Ruffo + Instinet
• Gods of Fire - Arlene's Grocery - to watch Nisha writhe on stage
• Don Henley - PNC Arts Center
• Chris Isaak - PNC Arts Center
• Janet Jackson - MSG
• Lisa Jackson & Girl Friday (2x) - Arlene's Grocery + somewhere in Brooklyn
• Billy Joel (5x) - MSG x 3, Nassau Coliseum, Giants Stadium
• Elton John - MSG x 2
• Howard Jones - PNC Arts Center
• Human League - PNC Arts Center
• Meat Loaf - MSG
• John Cougar Mellencamp - Brendan Byrne Arena
• George Michael - MSG - tix for this one were over $200!!
• Howard Jones - PNC Arts Center
• Keane - Irving Plaza
• Liberace - Radio City
• Little River Band - NJ State Fair
• Live - Rutgers University
• Sarah McLachlan - Beacon Theatre w/ Karen Seiferheld
• Madonna - MSG
• Barry Manilow (2x) - PNC Arts Center, Radio City
• Bette Midler - Radio City
• Steve Miller Band - PNC Arts Center
• Liza Minelli - The Palace Theatre
• NIN - Brendan Byrne Arena - double bill w/ Bowie
• Gary Numan - Irving Plaza
• Pet Shop Boys - Hammerstein Ballroom
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Brendan Byrne Arena
• The Police - MSG - great reunion show
• The Pretenders - Radio City
• The Artist formerly known as Prince - MSG - (opening act: Chaka Khan)
• REM - MSG, with a cameo by Jeff Lynne
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Brendan Byrne Arena
• The Rolling Stones - Giants Stadium - (opening act: The Pretenders)
• Roxy Music (2x) - Theatre @ MSG (opening act: Rufus Wainwright), Beacon Theatre
• Scissor Sisters - Hammerstein Ballroom
• Paul Simon - PNC Arts Center
• Spinal Tap (2x) - Carnegie Hall, Beacon Theatre
• Steely Dan (2x) - Beacon Theatre, PNC Arts Center
• Rod Stewart - MSG
• The Stills - Glasgow, Scotland
• Sting - PNC Arts Center
• Tears for Fears - Beacon Theatre
• Tanya Tucker - Sussex County VoTech
• Van Halen - Brendan Byrne Arena
• Rufus Wainwright - Royal Festival Hall, London
• Dionne Warwick - Mohegan Sun
• The Who (6x) - Royal Albert Hall, PNC Arts Center x 2 (opening act: Robert Plant), MSG x 2, Brendan Byrne Arena (performing 'Quadrophenia' in its entirety)
• Paul Weller (2x) - Town Hall
• Brian Wilson - PNC Arts Center
• Neil Young - Theatre @ MSG

The Concert Scene 2009

2009 was a great year for me in so many ways, but it was definitely a low point in the world of live music. In years past I've seen 20+ concerts, but this year I only made it to five! There are a number of factors I blame for this:
1) There were times that I was so busy with work this year that I forgot to buy food, let alone concert tickets...
2) I don't discover as many new artists as I used to, so the pool of concerts worth seeing has greatly diminished...
3) Most of the aging acts I see over and over and over - Bowie (7x), The Who (8x) - took the year off - maybe they were touring nursing homes instead of popular NYC venues...
4) MJ was on my must-see list when I was heading over to London, and we all know how that turned out...
5) I may have seen more shows and just don't remember. If that is the case, please let me know if I attended a concert with you in 2009!

Here was the set list for 2009 - let's hope 2010 sees more concert-going activity!

Air Supply, 20 Feb 2009
The year started out with a soft rock bang as we saw these Aussie "rockers" at the Nokia Theatre Times Square (my first time there). This evening can be blamed on the bucket list we started at 4am at Brandy's Piano Bar in January - who ever thought they would actually be touring when we declared them a must-see event? Ruffo, Cindy and I had a great evening - they sang every one of our favorites and we got to meet them after the show, where they were freely giving out autographs, kisses and hugs.

Little Russell is my favorite, but the other guy kept sneaking into our pictures

Franz Ferdinand, May 2009
This band hit the scene when I was living in London and back in 2004, Jihan and I vowed we would see them live some day. Thanks to Stub Hub for making this dream come true! Although I am getting way too old for standing-room only concerts - and the elbowing, pushing, bumping and foot stepping that come with them - this show was fantastic. The Scottish cuties rocked all of our favorites and played almost the entire new album.

Spinal Tap: Unwigged & Unplugged, May 2009
Thanks to my brother's absent-mindedness, I inherited his 2 free tickets to this show at the newly restored (and fabulous) Beacon Theatre, and what a great show it was! I tried not to rub it in but had to tell him all of the highlights from the night: songs from all of Christopher Guest's movies, lots of witty banter in between songs, and a stunning rendition of "Saucy Jack" (which we just downloaded for our Xbox Rock Band - naughty, naughty, naughty). Ruffo was such a sport for coming to this show with me, especially since she has never seen "This is Spinal Tap". We'll have to remedy that in 2010.

Steely Dan: Takin It To The Seats Internet Request Night, 11 Aug 2009
Back at the Beacon again, this time for my second time seeing Steely Dan and to drag Ruffo to another concert. Steely Dan was never known for being a live band or enjoying the tour scene - painfully obvious when Donald Fagen told an audience member to 'fuck off'. He was as annoyed as I was that people were shouting out requests at an all request show. We all were given the opportunity to vote for the set list online after we purchased our tickets. I tried to vote for 'Dirty Work' 20 times, but was only allowed one vote per song. Luckily, a few others must have voted for it, too, because it was played alongside all of my other faves.

Ray Davies, 20 Nov 2009
A fantastic show that I gushed about in a previous post:
http://lowhitesbargrill.blogspot.com/2009/11/music-melodies-memories_21.html
and, surprisingly, the only concert Dave and I made it to together this year. He's obviously gotten a lot better at saying 'no' when I buy tickets to a show he's just not that interested in.

There were two shows I would have liked to have seen but missed out on. The first is Kylie Minogue. Jihan and I talked about seeing this show when we first heard about it, but I blame the launches of www.ivillage.com/entertainment and www.ivillage.com/food for this totally falling off of my radar. The second was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame anniversary show. I came so close to winning a pair of tickets but ended up with two bottles of Top Chef wine instead. Hardly makes up for the chance to see Lou Reed and Simon & Garfunkel, but will come in very handy when celebrating the start of 2010.

Music: Melodies + Memories, pt. 2

*Spoiler alert for those who haven't seen Ray Davies on tour yet!*

My expectations couldn't have been more incorrect last week because last night's set list at the Ray Davies' show was a huge surprise. What a phenomenal show! The evening started with Ray and his collaborator playing an acoustic set that included some oldies but goodies. After a brief intermission, he continued the show with a great backing band and started rocking Town Hall. But the highlight of the evening was definitely the 24 member choir joining him on stage for the rearranged Kinks' tunes.

The first song sung with the choir was "Shangri-La." Although it has never been one of my favorites, it truly blew me away. The beauty of the 24 backing voices was overwhelming and it suited the song perfectly. "Victoria" was also fantastic and got everyone on their feet.

The songs of "Village Green Preservation Society" are also perfectly suited to the new choral arrangements and what a set they did! Not only did they play "Johnny Thunder", "Days", "The Village Green Preservation Society", "Picture Book", "Big Sky", and "Village Green", but they also played "Do You Remember Walter?" - fantastic! This exceeded my wildest expectations. This album, released on November 10th, is most definitely on my Christmas list.

It was a tie for best song of the evening: "Lola" or "Waterloo Sunset" - two songs that couldn't be more different. But I'd have to say "Waterloo Sunset" edges it out due to its sheer beauty. Dave had put this song on a mini-disk (ha!) he made for me when I moved to London; therefore, it will always hold special memories for me.

Music: Melodies + Memories

I can't remember the last time I sat down to write and not test a web site or log tech bugs, so am thrilled to sit and do nothing at this moment but write while listening to one of my favorite albums.

Dave has rigged up an amazing AV system in our house which allows me to access hundreds of movies and 700+ CDs without moving from the couch, yet I turn on the same CD all the time: The Kinks' 'Village Green Preservation Society'. It is my background music for everything I do in or outside of my home - cooking, cleaning, gardening, tanning, working. What is it that keeps drawing me to this album? It is literally driving Dave crazy that it is always the first CD I ask him to put on when he has worked tirelessly to catalog our huge music collection.

Three songs in particular make me smile and/or cry:
1. Do You Remember Walter?
What a fantastic song reminiscing about childhood, times when things were easier and finding lost friends. Oh how Facebook has killed the mystery of waxing nostalgiac about lost friends and where they are now, since you can now find everyone you've ever known and no longer have to wonder how they have changed. It's almost as if I love this song because it makes me think of my childhood in a charming British village; funny, since I grew up in suburban NJ. Actually, a psychic in Trafalgar Square once read my aura as I soaked in the sights + sounds of London after an extended absence and told me I led a previous life in England. I don't believe in psychics or auras, but the thought of that possibility definitely made me smile and would explain a lot.



















2. Animal Farm
Upon first seeing the title of this song, I thought of one of my top 5 books - Orwell's 'Animal Farm'. Not such a far-fetched concept since David Bowie had once tried to write a concept album based on Orwell's '1984' but was not given the permission to do so. '1984' and 'Big Brother' are amazing songs, but I digress. I love this song even though I'm not keen on animals or farms, it's just sweet and fun. It also brings back great memories of taking an illicit long lunch from Art Ren with Mike + Gregg to see Ray Davies speak at J&R Music World. Gregg was so shocked that I knew, let alone loved, this song.

3. Days -
This may actually be an extra track on this extended version CD and one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I probably listened to it a hundred times before realizing its true beauty. It took Bob Geldof talking about it on a Ray Davies rockumentary to make me give it another listen. I've also seen clips of it being performed live back in the day and now have this lovely image of Ray in his big purple shades and shaggy hair singing this while tickling the ivories.

We're seeing Ray Davies perform at Town Hall in NYC on Friday night and I know that, just like last time we went to see him, I'll wish for more songs to be played from this album and it won't happen but the show will still be great. He did sing 'Days' last time, so a girl can dream. I'll get to hear my favorites in other ways - like putting this CD on for the zillionth time next Saturday or watching 'Hot Fuzz' again. What a great soundtrack that movie has, but I digress yet again...