NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote: 
sounds fabulous, there is a tremendous tradition of classical music in your part of the world and it's good to see that it is alive and well

This country still blows me away sometimes, even though I've lived here so long.

Just got back from a performance of Mozart's Requiem put on by my niece's school and local orchestra in some God forsaken little village in the middle of the Black Forest. Absolutely jaw-dropping. The quality was way up there with the best (will upload a sample to prove it).. Nothing like hearing two hundred voices launch into the Dies Irae when the storm winds are whipping up outside and the trees are being lashed about by the storm. Mind-bogglingly good. One of the best concerts I've been to.

 Proclivities wrote: 

See, you learn something new every day here at RP!

 aflanigan wrote: 
I didn't know they were still playing.  I saw them about 25 years ago.

 aflanigan wrote: 
How dare you post about music on this site....

Saw Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes last night.  Great show, even though he wasn't in very good voice due to a head cold, he made up for it with energy and charm.  Band was lean and mean (just one guitar, bass, keyboardist, sax, trumpet, trombone).

Show lasted just shy of 3 hours, lots of old hits from his back catalog plus some great covers; three Little Steven songs, Rolling Stones, the Band, etc.

A couple of local amateurs had apparently sent in a video request to perform with the band; they were invited up on stage during the first encore and played with the horn section.  Very enjoyable show!

One evening in late 1973, my bandmates and I put some kitchen chairs from the house we rented in the back of our van and headed out to see a Tower of Power concert on their Back to Oakland tour. It was held in the Met Center, an arena in Bloomington, MN where the Mall of America now stands. The concert was pretty good as I remember (the pot fumes were thick) and it ended as so many did with the ubiquitous cigarette lighters held high.

Last night, I went to my second Tower of Power concert, 38 years after the first. The venue was no arena, but a dinner club where the band was playing two shows a night for three nights. The room was mostly full although there were a fair number of empty tables in my section, perhaps because it was a Tuesday night and the seats were $70. Not surprisingly, many there were of an age that would have allowed them to have been in the audience for the 1973 concert although there were plenty of folks in their 30s and 40s.

The show was short, not much more than an hour, but the band was hot and the horn section was as tight as ever. They began with a medley of their hits and had enough hit songs that they didn't even play ToP staples such as "What is Hip?" The highlight of the show might have been a cover of Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" from their most recent album. Amazingly, of the ten players, five were original members from 1968, although not all their body parts were with them then. At the end of the show there were no lighters held aloft—who carries a lighter anymore?—nor even waving cell phones, but there were a lot of happy people, one of whom was thinking about what a long, strange trip it's been.

 Rod wrote: 
Very cool, thanks.

We went to see Roger Waters perform The Wall last night at Staples Center. (13th row)

Note: If you are waiting to see the show and don't know what you are in for, don't read any further.

I was one of the lucky few who saw the original Wall tour in 1980 when they only played LA, New York and London, and it was unlike anything I had ever seen, really blew me away. In a way, I was kind of prepared to be unimpressed, since I had seen this before, but they did not disappoint. Everyone of us on the floor were on our feet for the whole show.

Roger and his amazing band recreated pretty much this same show, but with leaps in technology in the last 30 years, the creativity, video and props were even more impressive. From the 3D graphics appearing on the huge wall that was slowly being built in front of the band, to the 40' tall puppets and the giant pig flying through the arena, to the airplane soaring from the back corner of the building and then crashing into the corner of the wall, it wasn't just a concert, it was a visual and aural feast!  

By the time the intermission hit, there was a 40 foot wall of huge white bricks built in front of the band.  If any of you has seen the movie, The Wall, you know of the incredible animation that was constantly coming and going. To start the second half, Roger appeared in a small window through wall, and various band members would appear up on top of the massive wall, or pop out in front of the wall for their solos. At the climax of "The Trial", to the screams of "Tear down the wall", the whole wall collapses onto the stage.

They finished with "Outside the Wall" on stage in front of the collapsed wall, and Roger introduced the band as each one walked off the stage. He said  "You know, 30 years ago, when we last did this show here, I was a disaffected little fucker, and didn't understand what I had. Now I feel like I'm in heaven being able to play this for you, and I just want to thank you all so much for coming out to see us."

If you get a chance to see this tour, you will not forget it. 

 ptooey wrote: 



I also find the quality of dylan's performances to be a wildcard. over the last 20 years of various dylan shows, I've found his outside shows to be quite good, while inside performances (in the typical hockey rink/bball court) not so good. Performances in 94 Hollywood bowl and 2004 (i think) at university of southampton come to mind.

QUESTION:

My friend in Michigan is inviting us to this concert.  Will it be crazy fun?  Or like a marathon of has-beens?    I can bring earplugs for the Sax part :bleah!:...

I'm thinking we'd have more fun at something that's not quite such a long commitment.  Maybe I"m feeling too tired today to thing about this...

=========

“MOTOR CITY ALL STARS” CONCERT TO ROCK FILLMORE! Star Studded Thanksgiving Weekend Show Will Celebrate Detroit’s Amazing Music Legacy Portion of Proceeds to Benefit Goodwill Industries

MAJOR LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT - Rock's Most Famous SaxMan Alto Reed, The Master of Rock Mitch Ryder, Motown Great Martha Reeves, Rock ‘n Roll Legend Spencer Davis of the Spencer Davis Group, Nashville Recording Artist and Member of the Muzik Mafia Cowboy Troy, Canadian Singer/Songwriter Steve Dickinson, Reed & Dickinson Band

Motor City AllStar performances by The Howling Diablo’s, Jimmie Bones, Motor City Horns, Brothers Groove, Julianne and the Rogues, David Shelby, Jill Jack, Barbara Payton and Alto Reed’s Motor City AllStars, featuring The Groove Council 

 ptooey wrote: 

Oh, I think you are right about that.

It is not unusual for his shows to vary in quality from night to night.  

And the 3 songs I mentioned below — alone — were worth the price of admission. 

 

 steeler wrote: 
Huh.  I saw him for the 3rd time in August, and it was a really excellent show.  His vocals have definitely changed, but the band was tight, and I really enjoyed it.  I'd go again, if given the chance.  You might have caught him on an off night.

Dylan at George Washington University on Saturday (November 12)

Started out with Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35.  Jumbled.  Some mumbling; lots of gravel in the voice; enunciating the word "stoned" to cheers, but that really only added to my rising sense of melancholy.  Not a particularly good omen, I thought, but not unusual for Dylan to start out of synch, and then build and build. 

Not so much this night.  In partial defense of Bob, the accoustics inside the Charles Smith Center were not the best. Still, he seemed out of synch with his band much of the evening.  And then there was the gravelly voice. At times, I thought I was listening to Tom Waits without the magic of Tom Waits — or of Dylan.  

On the plus side:  He did hit Ballad of a Thin Man. Best vocals of the evening, by far.  And there were decent versions of Highway 61 Revisited and Rolling and Tumbling.  

And he looked pretty good. At the end, he did the Nixon-like, raised arms salute.

I don't know if I'll go see him again, but I probably will (he was much, much, much better when I last saw him, about 10 years ago).  Still an icon. Hard to pass that up.     

 

Saw Watson Twins and Laura Veirs on Friday at the Birchmere.

It was mostly accoustic for the Watson Twins; just the 2 of them and a keyboard player.  Nice harmonies; nice blending of voices, music, and personalities.

Laura Veirs obviously has a lot of talent.  I think it takes a while to get on her wavelength.  She strikes me as very, very cool. 

I usually come up with some kind of review, but have not had time so far.
   

Found this review of the Hiatt show in the Billings newspaper.  Apparently it wasn't just me. 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Nice.

The Babcock Theater in Billings Montana is still being refurbished... they uncovered this ...hope they save it:
 

No Loafing

 ptooey wrote: 

Funny but Riding with the King is one of my favorites of his...
 
If the Gourds weren't in town last week (at the Babcock) we would have gone to Hiatt this week. I've seen him before—20 years ago, about—and had a great time then too, but I've sort of fallen out of step with him lately and didn't get too worked up about missing the show. Now I'm having second thoughts!
 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
I'll see what I can bodge together on short notice.  Should leave it to Xeric, as he's approximately one buttload better with the words 'n' such than me, but...

Hiatt rocks.  I can honestly say that this was one of the best shows I've ever had the pleasure of taking in.  He's completely at ease on stage, the band he's got playing is fantastic, and his choice of setlist was as good as anyone could have asked for.  The Babcock is an extremely intimate 800-seat venue, complete with all the old theater charm and acoustics that you would expect from a room of that vintage.  The sound was close to perfect, and it wasn't too loud, yet loud enough that we felt like we were at a concert.  They closed with "Riding with the King", which was never one of my favorites of his, but the band lit into an extended jam at the end of the song that will stay with me forever.