Do we still go to concerts? What concerts have you attended in the last few years?

Midpack said:
I posted earlier but I had the occasion to recall all the big name concerts I've been to. All were good, some incredible. The biggest surprise was Bryan Adams - he and his band blew us all away unexpectedly, great songs and the highest energy I've ever seen on stage - no tricks or lights, they just 'blew the roof off the place.'
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I had a similar experience when gf and I went to see Journey at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater in 1978. This was a smaller venue, maybe seats 1,500 people. We were sitting 5th row center. The opening band was Van Halen (had never heard of them) and they started with "Running with the Devil". Blew us away. They basically played their entire first album. Eddie Van Halen's guitar work was a style that I'd never heard before.

The second act was Montrose. While they made an impression, nothing like Van Halen. By the time Journey rolled around we were spent.
 
Saw Burton Cummings last night, 3rd time. His voice is still in pretty good shape at 77, but did not strain to hit some of the highs (I am sure wisely).
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BTW, I was surfing YouTube last week and I saw a Pat Benetar concert from last year. I decided I'd watch the first couple of songs just to see if she still had it (she's 72). I ended up watching the whole thing! She still has it! How does so much voice come from such a tiny woman? Her husband is lead guitarist and is very, very good.

It's from Austin City Limits so it's got good production, sound quality, and nice camera work. It's not someone's shaky phone from 25 rows back.

I dare ya to watch the opening song and then try to turn it off the next song! And the next...


 
Saw Kiss in ‘74. Stayed for three songs… Crappy garage band dressed like cats or something.
 
Saw this group a few ago. California Guitar Trio, doing a version of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes”.

 
Have seen Al five times, three solo, including the electric tour in 2010 (I think), plus once with Return to Forever, and with Rite of Strings, a trio with Al, Stanley Clarke, and Jean-Luc Ponty.
 
Last concert about two years ago. Don McLean, horrible. That sweet voice that sang American Pie left his body long ago.
Last good concert about four years ago. Bruce Cockburn. In his 70’s still plays a mean guitar and he voice sounds like it did 30 years ago.
 
COcheesehead said:
Last concert about two years ago. Don McLean, horrible. That sweet voice that sang American Pie left his body long ago.
Last good concert about four years ago. Bruce Cockburn. In his 70’s still plays a mean guitar and he voice sounds like it did 30 years ago.
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One reason I’ve seen all of the classic rock shows I want to. Very few survived with an intact voice.

“If I had a rocket launcher, some son of a bitch would die.”
 
Checked out Rush Tribute Project in El Cajon, CA earlier this year. They exceeded expectations. They tour all over.

Saw Greta Van Fleet at Royal Albert Hall in London last year. We saw them in Lisbon at a bullring the previous year and it was great.

Going to see Beck with the Pacific Symphony this summer.
 
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We go to a local jazz bar to hear live music from time to time. No big names, but the plus for us is that it's a ten minute drive from our house. Most recent in-person big concert I saw was Vampire Weekend about a year ago. Anymore if we go to a rock concert venue I bring earplugs and sit in the back away from the soundsystem. For bigger events lately, we've just been watching them online. We watched a few acts from last year's Lollapalooza via one of our streaming subscriptions and recently watched the Garden State soundtrack 20 year anniversary concert on an app called Veeps for $20. Cheaper than in-person tickets and nice to watch in our own living room with volume set to a comfortable level. I will check out some of the Austin City Limits performances that were mentioned above.
 
CardsFan said:
Side note:
I saw Chicago and the Beach Boys in Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, MA. 1975 I think. The Beach Boys were considered "Oldies" and Chicago was thought of a band on its last leg, maybe the final tour. :facepalm:

Currently we go to see local bands. Some are tribute bands (for CSNY, Bob Seeger, etc). Others are local players that have been around and play cover songs and some original music.

The last "name" concert we went to (8 years ago) was Santana opening for Rod Stewart. Santana was SANTANA. Great.

Rod Stewart was not good. No, really bad. He even apologized.
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1976...I seen the Beach Boys with Frampton and Gary Wright at Three Rivers Stadium, Pgh. Amazing concert. BB were the headliners. When they hit the stage, everybody stood up and sang every song with the band. Very surreal, fun and on a very sunny, hot day...yes it's not always rainy and grey in Steel town USA.
 
YellowSubmarine said:
1976...I seen the Beach Boys with Frampton and Gary Wright at Three Rivers Stadium, Pgh. Amazing concert. BB were the headliners. When they hit the stage, everybody stood up and sang every song with the band. Very surreal, fun and on a very sunny, hot day...yes it's not always rainy and grey in Steel town USA.
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Similar to a Stones’ tribute band some friends and I saw at a bar. I think the crowd knew the lyrics better than the singer.
 
We saw Garrison Keillor do a Lake Wobegon return in Palm Beach. It was terrific to see him, though my wife (an immigrant) didn't "get" the nostalgia the audience was feeling. Garrison was noticeably older and, sad to say, his road show obviously suffered from the lack of production support he always got from Minnesota Public Radio. The acts were fewer, not quite as talented, and went on longer than before.
High point: the audience stood and joined in Battle Hymn of the Republic -- all three verses.
What NPR did to a national treasure like Keillor was criminal. It is ironic that he wrote a book about a liberal radio guy who was ruined by accusations from feminists without recourse to defense -- and that is precisely what happened to him in real life.
If left to me I'd shut down the entire NPR funding program as payback for the way they railroaded Garrison K. We lost five or six good years of great programming that showed us Americans at our very best -- a kind & generous people, humorously flawed -- that we might always strive to be.
 
The last few concerts I've seen...

Yes/Deep Purple (2024) - *excellent* show, though DP played too many songs from their new album (at the expense of some classics). Steve Howe (Yes) is still a fantastic guitarist!

Buddy Guy (2022?) - surprisingly good concert from one of my all-time favorite blues guitarists (at 85 years old!).

Heart/Joan Jett (2019?) - Heart was spot-on... Ann's voice was great, Nancy and the band were great as well. Jett was better than I thought she'd be.

Ian Hunter ("Mott 74" tour) (2019?) - I couldn't believe how good Ian Hunter's voice was (at ~79 years old)... and he's released two CD's since then (both are top-notch).

Judas Priest/Saxon (2018?) - I went with my son. The loudest concert I've been to since the 70's. It was JP's first tour after they announced founding member Glenn Tipton has Parkinson's. Apparently he showed up and played a song or two at some of their shows, but unfortunately not the night we saw them. All in all a fun evening.


On my "hoping to see in 2025" list: Robin Trower, Michael Schenker (The UFO Years tour), Joe Bonamassa, ZZ Top
 
Love Willie G, but ZZ Top has been phoning it in for too long.

This from a long-time fan who has seen them five times. Still is a tone monster!
 
HFWR said:
Love Willie G, but ZZ Top has been phoning it in for too long.

This from a long-time fan who has seen them five times. Still is a tone monster!
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I agree, and it's not going to be the same without Dusty on bass, but I've never seen ZZ Top before. I'm more interested in seeing Trower and/or Schenker.
 
HFWR said:
Love Willie G, but ZZ Top has been phoning it in for too long.

This from a long-time fan who has seen them five times. Still is a tone monster!
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Well, I must be the only one who had tickets to see them twice, and both times missed the show. First time we skipped the show because there was a tornado and bad storm in an outdoor venue, the second time when Dusty broke his hip - our tickets were for the show that week.
 
Went to see Mannheim Steam Roller over the holidays. One and done for me. Still like the music but it was so LOUD I had to use ear plugs. Same thing when we went to a theater a few months ago. I didn’t have ear protection and used bits of a napkin. Since then, I carry plugs. What’s with the super loud sound? I already have tinnitus and don’t care to worsen it.
 
Sanstar said:
Went to see Mannheim Steam Roller over the holidays. One and done for me. Still like the music but it was so LOUD I had to use ear plugs. Same thing when we went to a theater a few months ago. I didn’t have ear protection and used bits of a napkin. Since then, I carry plugs. What’s with the super loud sound? I already have tinnitus and don’t care to worsen it.
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Has to be louder than the tinnitus!

I find earplugs dampen the treble too much, but yeah, some shows are just too effing loud. And I’m from the “made loud to be played loud” contingent, which might explain the tinnitus. 🙄

Something else I hate is when the light show includes blinding the audience…
 
HFWR said:
Saw this group a few ago. California Guitar Trio, doing a version of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes”.

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We saw these guys about 10 years ago at a small venue. Fripp students, they were excellent. I recall them doing "Apache."
 
Here's a guy who is touring a lot these days. Saw him in February, he'll be back in my area sometime in July. Not a big name, but very good (along with his band).
 
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