Bands and concerts in retirement

I saw the Eagles, Sanatana, Lady Gaga and Katie Perry in the last year and 1/2 or so. Couple of them in Vegas. You can almost always find a fun musical event in Vegas.
 
Tailgate said:
Tops on the list of ER activities my DW identified prior to pulling the plug was 'travel based on going to concerts and festivals'.

I think we've hit our groove with this summers tours.. so far have seen or have tickets to go to:

Doobie Brothers, Don Felder (Felder kicked ass)
Jimmy Buffett
Rolling Stones
Steely Dan
Alabama Shakes

anyone else touring that you'd recommend?
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The Grateful Dead - June 27-28 in San Jose & Chicago July 4th;
Jackson Browne - playing many venues;
DW and I saw the Rolling Stones in San Diego last weekend. We had good seats but the sound echoing from behind home plate was terrible.
We saw Steely Dan, Eagles and Fleetwood Mac last year. All were great shows. :dance:
 
For the Canadians - we saw Jesse Cook last year. He plays "New Flamenco" - all night l;ong DW leaned over and shispered "I can't believe a tall skinny white guy can play Flamenco like that". :) He's touring Canada (his homeland). He'll also be back in Chicago late fall.
 
I was sorely disappointed to miss Beck when he came to Charleston, but friends said it was an amazing show.

My parents got tickets for the Rolling Stones Orlando show. Mom is a huge fan and they are (ok, she is) very excited about it. She's seen them twice, once just a few weeks after her kidney transplant!
 
BBQ-Nut said:
I gave up on concerts in my 40's - too many rude people, people end up standing even in reserved seating venues so everyone ends up standing.


And this
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Oh - and get off my lawn, too!:D
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Well BBQ, I can clearly see why you have a problem with concerts. You should have waited until 50 and start going and then watch the "aging baby boomer" performers. I went an seen John Cougar last week on the 8th row and didn't stand that often. Everybody is too damn old to stand the entire concert.
I read in an online newspaper concert review last week Robert Plant chastised his crowd for not getting up and yelling. Sorry Bob, but we are all old also and spend good money to sit comfortably and watch YOU entertain us. :)


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frayne said:
Have a friend who just saw the Stones in San Diego and swears it was worth every penny.
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It was. Mick is 20 years older than me, and there is no way I could have kept up with him dancing all over that huge stage.

We got the Amex preferred seating in the 2nd pricing tier, so we were in regular baseball seats at about $200 per ticket, but had a very good view of the stage. Not something we would do every week, but it's the only time we'll see them and it was worth it.

Other bands a family member is seeing for her "summer of concerts" this year are AC/DC, Rush, the Dead.
 
Avocadorunner said:
DW and I saw the Rolling Stones in San Diego last weekend. We had good seats but the sound echoing from behind home plate was terrible.
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I really noticed the echoes during the warm-up act, but couldn't hear them during the Stones set at all. I'm sorry the problem persisted into the main show for you.
 
We're going to a jazz concert at a winery, featuring Chris Botti, earl Klugh, Bob James and his son, Morgan. I'm not that big on concerts because physical issues make it difficult to sit for long periods of time. Couldn't pass up the venue, though. Haven't been to this winery, but they are usually beautiful places. Plus wine!
 
Just booked Van Halen on a whim. 20K capacity venue. I probably have as much fun going to see a local band at a dive bar, but it's who we're going with, you know, that makes the difference.
 
Stevie Wonder was my most recent big venue concert. Great show. He played the entire Songs in the Key of Life double album, with just few extras and old favorites at the end. An amazing band and back-up singers. And I was blown away by how little his voice has changed at age 70+.

Minus one on the skeptical Los Lobos comment. I've seen them 4 or 5 times over thirty years. Their best show was the last one I saw.
 
explanade said:
EC and Los Lobos were hip in their time but I doubt they have the same drive -- artistic, anger, political -- that they used to have.

I remember the old movies from the '50s where rock music pit generations against each other.

It's the music of youth and rebellion.

It's not your father's oldsmobile!;)
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They may not have had the anger/drive... but they put on great shows... and could still sing well. Like wine, they've aged well. And I also don't have the anger/drive I did back in the day.
 
Last concert was right after I retired 2 years ago. Styx, REO Speedway, and Ted Nugent. Very nice show in a small outdoor theater. This month we go see the Stones. I always wanted to see them, now I can. Yes, the AMEX deal worked well for that concert.

🐑
 
I'm not really a classical guy, but my nephew plays with the LSO, so when they played here in SF a couple of months ago, I couldn't pass up the chance to see them. What fun seeing him on stage playing with the orchestra. It was all I could do to stop myself from standing up in the middle of the concert and yelling his name!
 
The last concert we saw was Muse in a big auditorium. Almost all the concert goers, well at least everyone in front of us, stood the entire time so we had to stand too to see anything.

We're seeing a play in an outdoor amphitheater surrounded by Redwoods this week and I'm going to enjoy sitting and drinking. Beer and Shakespeare - what is not to like? (Actually I'm not sure my husband likes the Shakespeare part, but he goes anyway for me.)
 
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I'm in for the Stones, also Neko Case at the end of this month and My Morning Jacket at the end of July.

Robert Plant is touring with the Pixies, which is an interesting combo on paper, at least.
 
DH and I are going into our small city convention center today to check out best available tickets for an upcoming James Taylor concert. The thing I notice about our current event attending preferences is "we like good seats" close to the front so that we can see and hear without too much effort. We missed the boat on early ticket sales and unless we want to pay $450/ticket we may be relegated to the nosebleed section. I expect that the event will be attended mostly by boomers all singing along happily. We saw Judy Collins a few weeks ago at our local symphony hall so that was a smaller venue. And we saw Tom Rush at an even smaller venue. All were great experiences.
 
Saw Joe Bonamassa about a month ago, 2nd time in the last year. He puts on an excellent show, one of the best guitar players I've ever seen/heard. He's usually all electric in concert but if you get a chance watch his concert video "An Acoustic Evening At The Vienna Opera House", and see what he can do with an acoustic guitar.
 
There aren't many "classic rock" bands that I haven't already seen, sometimes multiples, and even fewer that I'd pay hundreds of dollars to see...

The past few years/concerts have been in smaller venues. Recent shows include Junior Brown, Mike Stern/Eric Johnson, Trampled by Turtles, The Wallflowers, Steely Dan, Zappa Plays Zappa, Jeff Beck, and two rounds of Return to Forever.

If it lasts longer than a couple of hours, and doesn't involve a Lazy Boy section, I'd rather watch it on youtube.
 
HFWR said:
There aren't many "classic rock" bands that I haven't already seen, sometimes multiples, and even fewer that I'd pay hundreds of dollars to see...

The past few years/concerts have been in smaller venues. Recent shows include Junior Brown, Mike Stern/Eric Johnson, Trampled by Turtles, The Wallflowers, Steely Dan, Zappa Plays Zappa, Jeff Beck, and two rounds of Return to Forever.

If it lasts longer than a couple of hours, and doesn't involve a Lazy Boy section, I'd rather watch it on youtube.
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DH's band (Points North) opened up for Johnson/Stern in January near San Diego. He loved Stern and Johnson's set. Johnson is a huuuuuuge influence on PN's guitar player, who also happens to be named "Eric"
 
zinger1457 said:
Saw Joe Bonamassa about a month ago, 2nd time in the last year. He puts on an excellent show, one of the best guitar players I've ever seen/heard. He's usually all electric in concert but if you get a chance watch his concert video "An Acoustic Evening At The Vienna Opera House", and see what he can do with an acoustic guitar.
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DH went to see him and said it was awesome. Kind of sorry I didn't go now, but it was "man date" night and I didn't want to be the third wheel (plus I was trying to save money) Next time I'm going!
 
Concerts would be great if not for all the people and the noise.

Now where is my cormudgeon card?
 
Only Rush this year so far and that's probably going to be it (for this year and possibly for Rush as well :()

I love going to concerts but DW doesn't like to so it's harder especially for those concerts in mid week since my concert going friends still work :p
 
Mango1956 said:
DH's band (Points North) opened up for Johnson/Stern in January near San Diego. He loved Stern and Johnson's set. Johnson is a huuuuuuge influence on PN's guitar player, who also happens to be named "Eric"
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That's some pretty hefty company he's keeping!

Have been an EJ fan for years, but I felt he was out of his element playing jazz. Maybe with more practice. Stern, on the other hand, looked totally relaxed, and his playing was stellar.
 
Originally Posted by BBQ-Nut
I gave up on concerts in my 40's - too many rude people, people end up standing even in reserved seating venues so everyone ends up standing.

You really need to be in the right state of mind when going to a large concert. Yes, people will stand, shout and wave their arms/cell phones. It annoyed us at first - then we wisely decided to go with the flow. A young couple tapped me on the shoulder at the Fleetwood Mac concert at the Hollywood Bowl while DW and I were up dancing at our seats - he said that he and his girlfriend wanted to be just us someday. It pissed me off at the time b/c I thought this youngster was an interloper at a Boomer concert, but now I think it was funny.

Recently a scowling guy who was seating behind us yelled at me for blocking his view. I turned, smiled and told him "not to act his age". Hey, grab a drink, take a puff or do whatever it takes to re-live the days when these groups had top hits. After all, isn't that why we go to these concerts anyway? It certainly isn't because they still have great voices! :dance:
 
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