A great concert holiday in California this past January... All three nights of Ian Hunter & The Rant Band tour... the Fillmore in SF, the Roxy in LA, and the Coach House in SJC. Steve Wynn was the opener... and Chuck Prophet was a surprise guest for the encore at the Fillmore. Then to top it off... Handsome Dick and the Dictators at Slim's in San Francisco... my ears are still ringing.
Couple weeks ago. Dengue Fever at The Independent, a small-ish club (500) with great sound. $16 ! ! ! I could even afford a beer. And the new CD. Good small-club gigs are so gratifying, even if a little rough on feet that are six-decades-and-then-some old. But this band was underpaid. They are phenomenal live, oozing with Southeast Asian atmosphere. Now I see why they get the buzz they do. This live-in-studio vid is nice, but it's at half-strength compared to what I experienced. They light up when the heat's on.
Sleater-Kinney in Philadelphia tonight...front stage center. (I guess technically last night.....just got back from it)
Tom Cochrane last Monday in Vernon, BC. Great show. Great backing band. I got to meet him backstage before the show. Very nice guy.
Terri lyne Carrington at San Francisco Jazz, Valentines day 2 weeks ago. Helen Sung on piano...amazing. SF Jazz is such a great venue for jazz. Designed for great sound at volumes that do not make you deaf, theater style seats with great sight lines, no food or drink served in the performance area..so no servers, no drunks, no yappers...all about the music.
Yusef/Cat Stevens at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. A very good show, really great to see the man enjoying himself before an audience. The sound quality was very good too, so far the concerts I've seen at that venue (Leonard Cohen, Aretha Franklin) and it's smaller sibling Club Nokia (PIL, Buzzcocks, Glen Campbell) have had excellent sonics.
Judas Priest, November 2014 at The Tacoma Dome, final date of the US tour. I'd never seen them before and thought I might just be checking a box on my wish list. Instead, I was blown away...the new guitar player has really reenergized the band as they sounded really tight! Halford still has the scream, and of course Glen Tipton is one of the all time heavy metal greats. They had the crowd on its feet, fists pumping in the air through the entire show. Tipton came down in the pit to mingle with the crowd for a few minutes at the end of the show, which was kind of cool. You just never know how many ore opportunities we'll have to see these guys. All in all, it was up there with the best hard rock shows I've ever seen.
Jeff Beck - Essex, England - May 2014 - £50 - We were front row and he blew the roof off the place. As good now if not better than 30 years ago.
Gruff Rhys in Bath. He was promoting the excellent 'American Interior' album with a themed set, complete with large cacti! More importantly, he had a great band, including the drummer Kliph Scurlock (Ex Flaming Lips.) It was a great night.
Friday, 27 Feb... an evening of "Live Jazz @ the INN featuring Matt Villinger Quartet w/sax-man Freddie Washington" Mr. Villinger on the Rhodes leading this group of jazz technicians...joined by St Louis premier saxophonist Freddie Washington, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Micah Walker...we're very delighted to welcome this group back to the Inn and continue our Winter Jazz series...as always...doors open at 6pm...show starts at 9pm...enhance your jazz and cigar experience...we encourage you to arrive early to get a seat...get ready to be put in another jazz trance...we promise you'll have a great time...bring your sweetie...we'll take care of the rest...COME SWING WITH US...$5 cover An amazing show with outstanding jazz musicians. http://cigarinn.net//
Nickelback(!) here last week. That was the most fun I've had at a concert (and I go to a slew of them) since they were here several years ago. Chad is the funniest guy in music (next to Michael Buble) and he has 5 times the charisma that Axl Rose does (and that bird is in the RandRHOF). For the life of me I can't understand the hatred for Nickelback......great vocals, hooks and melodies, pile-driving rock, a load of fun ......what more do you want?!
Interesting. I live about 10 minutes from the venue and never seriously considered seeing her. I am down for Mastodon and Clutch at the Music Hall in May, however. I'm glad you had a good time!
A local blues trumpet player named Doug Woolverton. He's in Roomful but does a Miles Davis side project. He and his band (almost all Roomful) did KOB in order and then a review of Miles songs from the 50's to the 90's. It was an EXCELLENT show, they nailed all the eras pretty well. http://www.dougwoolverton.com
Stile Antico last night at large Gothic-style church on 46th Street near Times Square. Too much reverb. (Kidding - it was great)
