concert reviews

So, here's the a quick review of Guns 'n Roses/Alice in Chains. It was a very strange concert. Pretty fun but Spinal Tap comes to mind. My friend brought her 15 year old daughter & friend. They sat away from us so that they could say went to concert on their own but were close enough they could come find us if there was a problem. The show was scheduled to start @ 7:30 & we arrived about 7 after a nice old, school Chinese feed. Much to our surprise, the first band was just finishing. Duff McKagan's 17 year old daughter has a group & they must have played to a nearly empty stadium. I didn't hear anyone talking about them. Alice in Chains came out about 7:15 & were incredible. I guess because they were home town boys, they got to play an hour rather than 45 minutes. Really great sound & they played all of the stuff you wanted to hear. The material from "Dirt" was stellar. Jerry Cantrell is really under appreciated. AIC was always really his band. Good songwriter & musician.
Now to the main event. G 'n R came out about 10 minutes before scheduled start. Things got really loud. There was a really strange energy with them. Watching Axl Rose, it becomes appearant that he is totally out of his mind. He was totally playing to the camera not the crowd directly. My friend & I both said wow, he sure does look creepy. Appearantly the band thinks so too. It really looked like they were all trying to stay away from him as much as possible, especially Slash. I think they have Axl on some really potent psycho-active meds. That being said, Slash was amazing on guitar the whole night. Clearly he's not enjoying playing the "Chinese Democracy" stuff though. He & Richard Fortus did a really great duet on "Wish You Were Here" which was then kind of spoiled by a lame version of the coda from "Layla". Axl was giving off a Liberace vibe during that. They played all the hits except for "Patience" which was kind of disappointing. We got another Democracy song & "Don't Cry" instead. There was a lot of spectacle involved. Totally over the top pyro at the end. The pyro did dud out during "Live & Let Die" though. We could see behind the stage & there was stuff going off but the rockets didn't take off. They played almost 3 hours & it felt too long. The Cure shows were that long & I still wanted more. That wasn't the case here. It just didn't feel like a band. More like a bunch of musicians together to make a big payday. I don't think its going to last in a meaningful way. Probably worth going if you're a fan of the old stuff but if you're not I wouldn't spend the money.

The "new" singer for AIC is quite good. He's respectful of Layne but puts his own spin on those songs. The band is tight! If you ever get the chance to see them gongoro73, I don't think you would be disappointed in the least.

Great review chuckrh. I think fiveswinglive's lovely lady saw GnR recently...wonder if this was her experience as well? Can't say I'm a fan, but I like hearing people's reviews on live shows. There are a handful of bands I used to like but they were so dead when I saw them live, it took away all my enthusiasm for them. And likewise, bands whose records were just ok to me, then they win me over live. Never underestimate the power of a crap or spectacular live performance!

The last night of Jeff Beck's NA tour was last night @ the zoo in Seattle. I posted a couple of vids in currently listening to. I've seen Jeff many times over the last 40 years (good Lord!) & this was among the best. He's always different & always has a top flight band. I'm trying to think but I don't think I've seen him in the same venue twice. Some unusual settings, including the zoo. The set list last night ran the gamut through all phases of his career from "Shape of Things to Come" ("Truth" version) & "Beck's Bolero" to several songs from his current record. We got a couple of nice surprises including "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (!!!) during "Rollin' & Tunblin". I've only heard that once on a bootleg prior to last night. Also, in memory of Hendrix, the only playing of "Little Wing" this tour. It was phenomenal. "A Day in the Life" to end the show was stellar. I've seen him play that live several times & I think this was the best one I've seen. The show was sold out & he truly seemed to be enjoying himself. Really admire Jeff as a guy who has followed his muse & done musically what he wanted rather than chase the big money. He could've been Led Zeppelin but stayed true to his vision. The songs he did from "Blow by Blow" were amazing, too. "Since We've Ended as Lovers" still brings chills. Truly a master & I'm lucky to have seen him play so much. I read that he is playing Royal Albert Hall in October with Van Morrison. I would be at the show if I were in the area! Next up: Guided by Voices on Friday.

coming tomorrow: a write up of the 2 seattle wilco shows. night 1 was amazing & am looking forward to the show tonight!

A delayed review of Ray LaMontagne Monday night. I over did it this weekend (3 shows in 4 nights) & haven't been feeling super hot. Anyway, this show was pretty good but for me maybe paled a little after the 2 Wilco shows. This show was more for my friend as she is a fan. She did think Wilco might've been the best show she's ever seen though, haha. Part of it was the venue, a winery in the suburbs. It's a pastoral setting for a show & pretty chill. The problem is a lot of people come to socialize rather than listen to music. In fact, a lot of folks left after the 20 minute solo acoustic set before My Morning Jacket came out! They performed the whole new Ray record straight through & then some other material by him. Musically it was more about MMJ than Ray, which is fine. There was a definite Pink Floyd vibe to the arrangements & visual presentation. A giant round screen behind the band projected phases of the moon & other sort of psychedelic images. I think they must've used the guy who does the lights, etc for MMJ. I believe he used to work with the Floyd. It was pretty cool. I'd say go if you like MMJ, don't if you don't care. Next up, Tedeschi Trucks in a week. With a brief sojourn into the world of the NFL on Sunday. Opening day for REAL football (haha). It's a holy day with a big party thrown in for good measure. Over & out.

Nice review, Sang! I'm glad someone else is posting on this thread. It's kind of fun to write about shows. I saw Jenny a year ago, opening for Wilco. I was a bit underwhelmed. She was ok & I didn't hate her but I wasn't feeling compelled to go out & get the record. I liked some of the Riley Kilo stuff & probably saw them at some point. I'm a bit fuzzy on that one. Next up for me is Tedesci Trucks on Tuesday, then Tears for Fears next weekend.