It's Creed!

Last Friday night I went just outside of Sacramento to see post grunge rockers Creed at the Thunder Valley Casino. It was the first time I had been to that venue and see a band that started after the 80s. A rock band with members younger than me? Does such a thing exist?

It was a mildly hot summer day, a factor I didn't think would matter much until I got to Thunder Valley and saw the bands were playing at an outdoor stage. So much for air conditioning! The Thunder Valley venue was one of the most confusing I've been to despite it's very simple floor plan (the seating area is essentially box shaped). There are two entrances, one for VIP and the other for general admission. The problem is the tickets are sold with section and seat numbers, usually the opposite of general admission. So we (I went with my brother in law Brian. Hi Brian!) couldn't tell right off which entrance to take since it seemed we were neither VIP or general admission. It took a venue worker to explain there was no assigned seating, only assigned seating sections. You bought a ticket to sit in a certain area, but where in that area was a free for all. So we (and I'm sure others) took our time getting into the show thinking we have seating reserved only to find out we don't. We still were able to get seats we wanted though.

That's because we arrived ahead of the crowd, even though we went in a few minutes after the 7:30 start time. Surprisingly, we had already missed the first opening act. But we caught all of the 2nd opening act, Eve To Adam. Even with the terrible band name, E to A wasn't bad. They played perfectly competent hard rock in the vein of headliners Creed. The growly vocalist was a decent showman, but the guy that really made that band go was the bell bottomed guitarist. E to A's axe man had a steady variety of riffs and some nice sizzling solos. As a band there wasn't enough there to truly stand out, still their performance won me over and I liked their set.

During Eve To Adam's show the two video screens started a text scroll that many fans took as their opportunity to be Maury Povich. A lot of funny messages about how someone wasn't really someone else's father or dumping a person at the show went by.

As night began to fall Creed took the stage. Creed exists in a rare space of the music world - a successful group that is absolutely detested by their detractors. Just about a month ago the guy on the TMZ tv show was slamming Creed as the worst music ever - and that's not even a music program. They stand with artists like Michael Bolton or Winger, considered overblown and cheesy beyond redemption.

For me personally, when it comes to Creed I like the hits and a handful of album tracks. I don't love everything they do, some of their music sounds like generic post grunge and the tone of constant struggle (which is the main feeling I get from all their music) can get wearing. But when they get it right, I have a good time. Fortunately for me the band played a lot of the songs I liked that night. Creed's set list was:

Are You Ready / Torn / Wrong Way / What If / My Own Prison / Unforgiven / Beautiful / Bullets / Say I / Faceless Man / A Thousand Faces / One / What's This Life For / With Arms Wide Open / Higher
encore: One Last Breath / My Sacrifice

Creed opened fittingly and predictably with "Are You Ready" from the Human Clay album. Ah, the sound of 2000. We had just survived Y2K, 9/11 hadn't happened yet and the economy wasn't tanking. The audience got on their feet and more or less stayed there throughout the show. "Torn" followed before slowing things down with "Wrong Way". I had read online before the concert that they were focusing on songs from the first two albums, which worked great for me since I barely remember much from the second two albums. Still "Wrong Way" was starting to bore me, which is why I'm glad they kicked into "What If".

"What If" is one of Creed's songs that I like a lot, it has a monster swaggering groove. The song answered a question I had about the texting crawl on the bottom of the screen, I wondered if someone could get the chorus of the song on screen while it was still playing. To put me out of my misery, I saw the words "WHAT IF WHAT IF WHAT IF WHAT IF" scroll by during this song. Awesome.

Though it wasn't really needed, lead vocalist Scott Stapp mentioned something about the 90s before going into "My Own Prison". You know, as much slagging as Scott Stapp has gotten in the past decade I've gotta say that live Stapp is the show. He is the only guy on that stage (except maybe the drummer but that guy is hidden behind a drum kit) that works the crowd and puts energy out to the audience. Yes, that energy is overblown and sometimes made me laugh a little but still he gets a crowd going. When the music would get all thrashy Stapp would crouch down and sharply move his arms about like one of those guys that signals airplanes with flags. Then if the music got soft, Stapp would sort of sway and cup his hands together like a ballerina holding a flower. While the rest of the band played fine, they more or less alternated walking left or right on stage. The guitarist even gave away most of the solos to an unnamed 2nd guitarist. Man, when you can afford to hire someone to do your guitar solos for you, you know you've made it.

Stapp made a comment that the next song once represented his outlook on life but now he feels it's the opposite...sorry...antithesis before ripping into "Unforgiven". Which made me wonder why they played it, tho it was nice to hear a fast song. "Beautiful" followed, which reminds me that I was surprised by how many women were there to see Creed. In my head, I thought their audience would be a bunch of aging frat guys mixed with some holy rollers (Creed used to be known to have a Christian following at one time. Though that part of the audience may have been turned off by the famed Stapp sex tape.) In reality, about half the crowd were women who wanted to party. That's not a bad thing, just different than what I expected.

"Bullets" shot by (yes, intentional bad pun!) as the first song from the Weathered album made it's appearance. Then things got snoozy with the run of the mill heavy rocker "Say I" and slower jam "Faceless Man". I was more bored with the live version of this song than the album take, something about it just didn't connect live although Stapp added a little extra emotion in his vocal towards the end.

The pace stayed slow for "A Thousand Faces", the lone representative of the Full Circle disc for the evening. And then we hit the 7th inning stretch. It was hitsville after this.

"One" got things revving again as the sold out crowd held their pointer finger in the air in unison. Then Stapp made a plea for the children on "What's This Life For". Then Stapp made a dedication to his own child before starting off the monster hit "With Arms Wide Open" (A song that to this day makes me think of that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Captain Picard is trapped on a planet with an alien captain who can only communicate in metaphors. Darnak and Tanagra on the water. Darnak and Tanagra on the ocean. Darnak and Tanagra in the sea. You know which one I mean?) People were singing along like crazy through this patch which raised the energy to its peak on "Higher".

Seeing the band play "Higher" reminded me that it had been a long time since I'd seen a group this young play. Creed were able to plow through their set pretty handily, Stapp himself kept his energetic delivery up and his voice showed no weakness until this song. Even then it was just a slight weakness, I'm used to old guy bands that need to pace themselves between fast songs and singers who can't hit their most powerful notes anymore. Pretty cool to see a young band again in that respect.

After a break the group's encore was a one-two punch from Weathered. "One Last Breath" went well as Creed ended the show with their epic smash "My Sacrifice". Visions of Jeff Hardy doing a swanton bomb off the top an extremely high ladder went thru my head (the song was heavily featured during a WWE pay per view one year).

And that was the end of the concert. My only disappointment was that "Overcome" wasn't played, since I really like that one. Creed gave a good concert, if I was a Creed superfan who lived for every song I probably would have given the show 9 Dixie barks. But as I said I'm more of a hits guy when it comes to Creed, the album tracks left me staring at the text message board for entertainment no matter how well they were played. Which means I give the concert a

Lindsey Buckingham - Seeds We Sow live and on CD

When I first started buying records and tapes, listening to music intently beyond just what was on the radio, one of the first bands that I got a lot of was Fleetwood Mac. My best friend's parents had bootlegged HBO off a satellite dish and I asked them to make a recording of the Mirage tour concert for me. They did and I became a Fleetwood Mac super fan.

That taped concert made a huge impression on me on what I thought rock music was. Lindsey Buckingham in particular had an impact because he was the lead guitarist and singer (and later I'd find out producer, songwriter, artist, and so on). The way he played guitar (no pick), the herky jerky body language (like the air humping thing he does when he solos on "I'm So Afraid")...I just thought that was what all rock stars did. I didn't realize it was something unique to him.

Now decades later I've learned that Lindsey Buckingham is a unique talent and I've been a fan of both his solo work and Fleetwood Mac. This was my first time seeing Buckingham live on his own. I got held up at work and was late for the show, so the set list from what I saw was:

Go Insane / Trouble / Never Going Back Again / Big Love / Under The Skin / All My Sorrows / In Our Own Time / Illumination / Second Hand News / Tusk / Stars Are Crazy / End Of Time / That's The Way Love Goes / I'm So Afraid / Go Your Own Way
encore: Turn It On / Treason / Seeds We Sow

Napa's Uptown theater was pretty much a sold out crowd and they were pumped for a rock show. So pumped there was dancing in the aisle and random shouts of "Yeah!" during the acoustic first half. Buckingham wisely front loaded his hits at the start. Performing alone with his guitar and Art Garfunkel haircut, Buckingham was able to reveal added levels of desperation and wistfulness to his familiar tunes like "Trouble" and "Go Insane".

After "Big Love" a three man band joined Buckingham on the stage to allow for more of a band performance. With a lot of momentum built up the set list alternated between his pure solo stuff and remaining Mac hits to make sure no one got bored. Not that boredom is an option at Uptown, the small converted movie theater makes for a more intimate setting where people can yell things at the performer and actually get a response (like when some guy yelled "How many guitars you got?" between songs and Buckingham replied "Too many").

"All My Sorrows" was a major treat for me, Out Of The Cradle is one of my all time favorite albums by anybody anywere. It was nice to drink in the languid tone and pretty melody during live performance. His new disc Seeds We Sow was strongly represented with six songs performed live and in a switch from the norm, the audience seemed to enjoy new material. "In Our Own Time" in particular thrived with Buckingham stooping down for his jagged little guitar fills. Also away from the norm, the crowd seemed to appreciate the artist's abilities beyond being a human jukebox, revelling in Buckingham's intricate guitar work (so intricate he has to shake his hand loose before many songs. Repetetive motion injury?) and howling vocals.

That appreciation is probably why the place went ape shit when Buckingham went full throttle into a classic rock smash like "Second Hand News". It was one of those perfect concert moments where the audience and performer feed off each other as Buckingham's insistent "Do it! Do it! Do it!" in between "bom bom bom bom"s increased in intensity. Buckingham reached out to his fans now, pointing at some dancers and shaking hands with the front row. The extended solo at the end of "I'm So Afraid" gave us the guitar God moment, ending with women literally grabbing at his legs. And how could "Go Your Own Way" not go over well?

After firing off all his major hits I wondered if there would be an encore and if there was would it include "Holiday Road". The answer turned out to be yes and no. Got another treat in form of the Out Of The Cradle track "Turn It On" before discovering a new appreciation for "Treason" off the Gift Of Screws album. Buckingham ended the evening solo acoustic on "Seeds We Sow".

Concert Rating:


Lindsey Buckingham's new disc Seeds We Sow arrived with some minor buzz around it a few months ago. Most of that buzz was about it being self released and sounding under produced. When I first played the album, I thought it was under produced too initally but have found Seeds We Sow to be a -wait for it - slow grower. Where Lindsey Buckingham's work can often be described as lush or layered, Seeds We Sow has an approach closer to Fleetwood Mac's Tusk where the music was stripped down to guitar, bass, voice and drums.

After playing this in my car a few weeks, the each of the songs started to resonate more. On initial listen I enjoyed the 80s pop flavored "Illumination" and the speedy "One Toke Over The Line" influenced "One Take". The electric version of the title track (an Amazon bonus cut) also sounded great. It was the slower numbers that took time to appreciate. "End Of Time" has become one of my favorite Lindsey Buckingham songs, beautiful chorus matched with just enough lush accompanyment to make it shine. And the jerky rhythms to "In Our Own Time" cannot be done by anyone other than Buckingham. The spare sound becomes refreshing over time and actually becomes one of the album's strengths.

If I reviewed Seeds We Sow a few weeks ago I would have given it a seven. But now, I'll bump it up to

Album rating:

A Foreigner's Journey Into The Night

Last nite got to see the all killer no filler triple bill of Night Ranger, Foreigner and Journey at the Sleep Train Pavilion. It had been raining hard and often over the past few days, but last night there was no rain. The show had a start time of 7pm, the pavilion was still sparsely populated when Night Ranger promptly took the stage.

Night Ranger set list:
Lay It On Me / Sing Me Away / High Enough / When You Close Your Eyes / Don't Tell Me You Love Me / Sister Christian / (You Can Still) Rock In America

Night Ranger opened with a heavy rock track from their recent Somewhere In Californa disc "Lay It On Me" which was a brilliant choice considering the crowd's hit heavy mood. Throw the new song on at the start before the audience has time to realize they don't recognize it! As bassist/vocalist Jack Blades, guitarist Brad Gillis and more recent addition guitarist Joel Hoekstra scampered, spun and tandem posed for the fans it became clear Night Ranger still worked a high energy attack. At least for guys their age.

Jack Blades made clear the Bay Area roots of the band while mentioning the last time they played this venue was in 1987 when they headlined with opening act Tesla (funny enough that was the last time I saw Night Ranger). This led to an enjoyable run through their early pop rocker "Sing Me Away". Then Blades said he was on the phone with Tommy Shaw the other day and Shaw insisted Night Ranger play Damn Yankee's power ballad smash "High Enough". Although I liked Gillis' guitar solo (it was great and nothing like Ted Nugent's original) the fact is that the song needs a high pitched singer like Shaw to pull it off. And it seemed kinda lame to include "High Enough" when Night Ranger had all those hits from the 7 Wishes record that wasn't played at all (including the Top 10 "Sentimental Street"). But they played it. Oh well...

Blades reminisced more about when Night Ranger played Day On The Green supporting Journey in '83 before bouncing into "When You Close Your Eyes".

It was time to rock again as Night Ranger barn stormed through their classic "Don't Tell Me You Love Me". Guitarist Joel Hoekstra started to wow me at this point with his blazing playing and easy camaraderie with Gillis. Blades told everyone they would be singing along a lot this evening and worked a little bit of The Eagles' "Hotel California" in the middle of "Don't tell Me You Love Me". Drummer Kelly Keagy got to walk out from behind his kit for a little - singing lead on that other power ballad classic "Sister Christian". That definitely got the sing along crowd, um, motorin, so the band broke out the red, white and blue guitars for "(You Can Still) Rock In America". Couldn't have been happier hearing Night Ranger dish out their best jams in rapid succession.

True to their rep, Night Ranger delivered a great set. Yet their opening act status meant no encore. Bummer.

After the normal stage reset for the next band on the bill, Foreigner jumped on stage. A lot of the audience had arrived by now and were ready to rock.

Foreigner set list:
Double Vision / Head Games / Cold As Ice / Waiting For A Girl Like You / Dirty White Boy / Feels Like The First Time / Urgent / I Want To Know What Love Is / Hot Blooded
encore: Juke Box Hero

I had read online that band leader and only remaining original member Mick Jones had not been touring due to his health. This meant a serious shortage of star power for Foreigner as both Night Ranger and Journey boasts three originals (defining original as being from the 80s lineups of these bands not necessarily founding members) to Foreigner's none. Zero. Zilch. Not even an original bass player (though ex-Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson is always great). The responsibility for driving this whole thing rested squarely on vocalist Kelly Hansen's shoulders.

Now lucky for me I saw Foreigner last year, so this time around I was prepared for Hansen's Steven Tyler stage presence and adapted to it easier. And I have to say Hansen pulled it off, leading the band with energy and powerful vocals. Even when Hansen's mic cut out during "Dirty White Boy" he handled it like a pro, going to the side of the stage to trade out mics and then picking up where he left off in the verse. Equally impressive, on one of the fast songs (don't remember which) Hansen sang a verse section while running a lap around the inner seating section without getting winded.

Foreigner also had the best staged show out of the three. Their usage of the background video screen was impressive with flashing lights and dynamic use of colors (except of "Juke Box Hero" where they decided to employ computer graphics from 1993 to show people with stars in their eyes). The dizzying box images on "Head Games" or the flames for "Hot Blooded" really got me. And for "I Want To Know What Love Is" the group brought out a local choir to handle the background vocals.

It was because of these factors that Foreigner got over the most with the audience. By the end of the set it was nearly a packed house (save the row in front of us, more on that in a minute) who were all kinds of Foreigner crazy. For me, the lack of original members of any kind was noticeable (I've seen Foreigner in '85, '99 and 2010) so while the performance was good it was hard to shake that tribute band feeling (maybe if they played something off Can't Slow Down it might have felt less that way). But I didn't feel like anyone else noticed, or maybe just didn't care. Thought it was funny some in the audience were bemoaning the lack of Steve Perry with Journey but nobody missed Lou Gramm. Why no love for Lou?

Another stage redress and Journey were on their way!

Journey set list:
Separate Ways / Ask The Lonely / Send Her My Love / City Of Hope - Only The Young / Faithfully / Guitar Solo / Stone In Love / Escape / Lights / Wheel In The Sky / Keyboard Solo / Open Arms / La Do Da / Be Good To Yourself / Lovin' Touchin Squeezin
encore: Any Way You Want It / Don't Stop Believin'

"Separate Ways" always makes a good set opener as Journey split the cool night air with that familiar synth intro. Guitarist Neal Schon literally kicked things off with a kick to the sky. Singer Arnel Pineda hit the stage and was still in good voice (although some of his high notes were boosted with an echo effect). They kept things rolling with an excellent take on "Ask The Lonely" as bassist Ross Valory mugged for the camera.

A nice set list surprise with the quiet ballad "Send Her My Love", it's been so long since I've heard it live I didn't recognize it at first. Pineda dug into the haunted sentiments and displayed an open sensitivity not seen since the Perry days. It was the musical high point of the evening for me.

Keyboardist Jon Cain addressed the crowd and did the usual "Are you ready to rock?!" stage patter garnering a strong audience response until he asked if we were ready to hear some new music. Think I heard some crickets chirping after Cain asked that question. "City Of Hope" was introduced as being about Manila in the Philippines, it's a pretty good song. Too bad the audience wouldn't even do the "tolerate the one new song" courtesy most bands get, they were stone dead silent throughout save for a guy two seats down from me booing. It was like watching a band perform in a vacuum. Journey must be getting this reaction a lot because "City Of Hope" cuts into "Only The Young" without a break in between.

Pineda got the lead vocal nod on "Faithfully" which was nice, I was expecting the mic to pass to drummer Deen Castronovo (who sounds more like Steve Perry than anybody) at this point. In fact Castronovo got no lead vocals this show, the first time I can remember that happening since...Arrival tour? It was good to see the vocals center on one guy again.

Neal Schon's guitar solo I can't recall exactly where it was in the set so I'm guessing it was here. It was as spectacular as always. "Stone In Love" amped up the fans, Castronovo's ability to beat the hell out of his drums really came across here. Also Arnel Pineda's familiarity with the material from touring is paying off as he came across earnestly during the all important "I've got dreams I'm livin' for" segment of "Escape".

"Lights" got the audience swooning in a waving sea of cell phones and bic lighters (I guess the stoners were good for something after all) before they crushed "Wheel In The Sky". Schon freshened up that charged guitar riff he kicks into towards the end and Cain showed off some likeably sloppy harmonica adding a bluesy charm.

Jon Cain then handed in a marvelous piano solo, probably the most extravagantly classical keys solo I've heard since Rick Wakeman. Predictably this led into "Open Arms".

Journey then blew my mind by pulling out one of my all time favorite songs of theirs that I've never heard from them live, "La Do Freakin Da". Well, really "La Do Da". This is late 70s rock at it's face melting best. Then it was back to the "dirty dozen" with "Be Good To Yourself" which was memorable because someone distracted Arnel Pineda to the point he missed the start of the second verse. I think he was laughing at someone in the front rows. Though it was technically a goof, the humor added to the positive messaging of the song.

"Lovin Touchin Squeezin" closed out the main set, a song I recently found out was inspired by a Sam Cooke song (thank you wikipedia). Just a bit of trivia I never knew. Na na na na boo boo, stick your head in doo doo.

I make it a point to leave before the final encore to beat the traffic. There was some opening guitar parts that sounded like the start to "Lay It Down" before they snapped into "Any Way You Want It". I heard that and "Don't Stop Believin" on the way to the parking lot. From the crowd noise those two went over big and sounded great.

Night Ranger rating:


Foreigner rating:


Journey rating:

Wake Up Sunshine

Last night at what the tour shirt calls "Napa Valley" I saw the long running horn rock band Chicago. As I've written before, I was a big fan of Chicago in the 80s. Those Peter Cetera / David Foster ballads were works of art to me. During that decade I saw Chicago a total of 5 times (well, one was in 1990 so technically 4 times) and they often delivered a polished set of slow songs and mildly energetic rock. Not having seen them in twenty years I went into the show with modest expectations. These guys have been on the road just about every year for almost as long as I've been alive, figured they must be tired by now. I had a slight fear they might do what I saw on the Chicago 19 tour and lazily phone in their performance (they covered some horn parts with synthesizer that night!). But it was a show at a local intimate venue called the Uptown so it sounded like it might be an enjoyable night.

We had great seats in the third row. One thing about the Uptown, when it gets crowded it gets warm in there and I was pretty exhausted from the week to start with so I got a bit drowsy. Opening act Dave Sheil hit it off with the audience delivering a warm set of friendly James Taylor styled soft rock. I personally can't give an objective opinion of Sheil's talents since I cannot stand James Taylor's music. But I will say what he does, he seems to do well and won the crowd over with his earnest personality.

About a half hour later Chicago took the stage with a noticeable change in positioning the players from any other time I had seen the Chi-town pop rockers. Their normal set up throughout the 80s was bassist/vocalist center stage, horn section kinda off to the side, drums rear center flanked by keyboards on both sides. Here the horn section stood front and center at the opening and the bassist/vocalist was moved to the right. The audience was more excited than I had seen for any other Chicago concert I'd been to. I didn't pay close attention to the set list so the order of these songs were probably a little different than what I'm writing past the first few tunes. So what I remember went:

Ballet For A Girl From Buchanon (includes Make Me Smile and Colour My World) / Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? / Dialogue Pts 1 & 2 / Alive Again / Call On Me / Old Days / Along Comes A Woman / Wake Up Sunshine / If You Leave Me Now / I've Been Searchin So Long / Christmas Tree Song / Baby What A Big Surprise / Hard Habit To Break / You're The Inspiration / Beginning / I'm A Man / drum solo / Street Player / Just You N Me / Saturday In The Park / Hard To Say I'm Sorry - Get Away / last part of Feelin Stronger Every Day

encore: Free / 25 or 6 to 4

I've only heard the full "Ballet" live once, on the Chicago 17 tour, and I loved it. So I really liked that they played it with all the different sections. The switch to moving the horn section to the front instantly paid off as woodwind / sax man Walt Parazaider worked the crowd more than any of the band's front men ever had. Tag teaming with trumpeter Lee Loughnane (who took a surprisingly good lead vocal turn on "Colour My World") the horn section stepped ahead of the singers in firing up the audience with dynamic stage presence and constant directions to clap your hands.



I figured there would be more emphasis on 70s material than when I had seen them last, Chicago did not disappoint following up with "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?". Keyboardist / vocalist Robert Lamm has an unbelieveably healthy head of hair for his age, I was like "Damn!". His voice has held up surprisingly well too.

"Dialogue Pts 1 & 2" was next, there was one semester of college where I played this song a lot (around the time of the first Iraq War) so I dug it. Because he was included in the group photographs I thought trombonist James Pankow would be there but instead it was a guy I think he was named Antonio Velasco. Or maybe it was Alberto. Anyway, in addition to doing a fine job there was a noticeable change in the horn section dynamic. Velasco liked to clown around which fit in with Parazaider and Loughnane's get down and have fun approach.



Finally got to hear some late 70s Chicago live with "Alive Again", bassist/vocalist Jason Scheff finally getting a lead turn. During this and "Dialogue" his voice didn't come through that well and I thought maybe he had lost it (Scheff would sound better later in the show). Not that it mattered too much 'cause now the man has groupies, women bouncing and grinding begging for his attention. I had no idea Scheff had gained such a following. And I was surprised Scheff could see them, with a switch to a wireless headset his physical approach to singing seemed different. His eyes shut tight, Scheff would concentrate on his vocal while rocking back and forth like a man on a roller coaster.

Other songs I had not heard live before were the mid 70s hits "Call On Me" and "Old Days". Always liked "Call On Me" and the bongo attack gave more attention to the "pixie" like percussionist Drew Hester. Watching this guy in action was sort of like watching a mix of Glee and Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream. To say he was fired up is an understatement. The newest member Lou Pardini got the lead vox nod and I gotta say he is a real good singer. Nails that rough soul voice perfectly. "Old Days" gave guitarist Keith Howland a shot at lead singing (like Journey, Chicago has become a big pass the mic kinda band).

After stating to the audience that you would hear a lot of music, the 80s made their first appearance with "Along Comes A Woman". It was hard not to miss Peter Cetera as this is such a Cetera kind of jam and I was surprised that the set list had only one post Cetera song (and that was a Christmas song). In fact, every original song from the Jason Scheff era was ignored including Top 10 hits "Will You Still Love Me", "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love", "You're Not Alone", "What Kind Of Man Would I Be" and the #1 hit of 1989 "Look Away".

The band went deep for an album cut, the pleasant "Wake Up Sunshine". It's funny, with all these hits it's this song that is stuck in my head afterwards.



Robert Lamm gave an explanatory monologue for the next part, seems you can go to Chicago's web site and bid in an auction to sing with Chicago. A lady who I had heard won with a $1500 bid walked up to sing "If You Leave Me Now". No need to criticize the lady, she was just "living her dream" and for laying out that kind of cash why not?

The band went into "(I've Been) Searchin So Long" and Jason Scheff hit his vocal stride here. He dug in deep to hit the gospelish ending with some authority, inspiring the groupies to grind and bounce away. Lamm plugged the band's upcoming Christmas CD (I think their second one) as Howland took lead vocal again on a rockabily tinged "Rockin Round The Christmas Tree".

It was a Cetera era big ballad trifecta starting with "Baby What A Big Surprise" next. Watching trumpeter Lee Loughnane blare his instrument around Scheff while he sang was pretty funny. Scheff and Pardini made a good combo on the power ballad classic "Hard Habit To Break" and guiarist Howland got to shine on an extended solo at the end of "You're The Inspiration".

Robert Lamm seemed to spend a lot of time in the background so it was noticeable when he took center stage for his warm fuzzy classic "Beginnings". Then the band got into serious jam mode as they motored through their cover of "I'm A Man" culminating in an awesome drum / percussion solo with Tris Imboden and Hester. The audience started to go nuts at this point...until Chicago pulled out their forgotten disco miss "Street Player". As a fan I got a kick out of hearing live the song that was said to cause the band such embarassment back in da day. But it stopped the audience dead in their tracks.

The sunny 70's continued with "Just You N Me" and "Saturday In The Park". In a long standing set list tradition (at least what I recall in the 80s) "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" closed the main concert part out with a lead in to the ramped up "Get Away". "Get Away" shifted into the last part of "Feelin Stronger Every Day" with Howland again getting lead singer nod on that part. The audience was psyched now leading to a brief break before encore time.



One of my favorite Chicago songs is "Free" so it was a pleasure to see the encore lead off with this jam, even if it was played a little slower. Then it was time to close the show down with "25 or 6 to 4" burning away.



The other five times I saw Chicago the closest they had to this type of intensity was on the Chicago 17 tour just as "Hard Habit To Break" was climbing the charts. But I had never seen them like this, the old guys threw down. As Parazaider did his one handed sax solo while high fiving the front row it was clear that Chicago tours like a never ending retirement party. If it wasn't for the absence of Cetera, it was the best Chicago concert I had ever seen. One last note, thank you for the pictures to my wonderful wife.

Rating:

Midnight Madness - Dokken Edition

I've spent the week trying to put together a review of the Dokken show I saw at the County Fair last Saturday. I wrote it out, posted it for a second, and then thought maybe I was being a little too harsh on Don Dokken so I took it down. Don Dokken's voice isn't quite what it used to be. The best I can say about the show is that I can check Dokken off the wish list of concerts I hadn't seen before. And my wife takes nice pictures, which I'm including in this post.

Heaven isn't too far away...- Sad to read Jani Lane was found dead at age 47. While I'm not a huge Warrant fan I liked their music generally. R.I.P. Jani Lane.

Footloose - is every movie I saw in the 80s going to be replaced with a new one? Since when did film memories become like Windows upgrades?

Destination Unknown? - It's a time for the most over advertised movie on tv this week, Final Destination 5. I've never watched any of these Final Destination movies, does anyone ever survive these movies? I take it that death is never represented other than maybe by Candyman, are these characters always killed by an unseen force? Guess I'm saying I don't understand the point of these movies.

A little bird told me - I am totally hooked on Angry Birds on my phone. Damn those pigs!

Some Kind Of Monster - lots of speculation going 'round that Metallica and Megadeth will form a new group together. You can't ever say never, yet I can't see this happening.

Weatherman says it's going to be hot tonight - Heather Locklear, yes Stacy Sheridan herself, is engaged to "All I Need" Jack Wagner. Locklear seems to be getting a lot of good press lately thanks to the engagement and the promising modeling career of her daughter. After a lot of news stories in recent years portrayed Locklear as falling apart at the seams, nice to see her rebound.

Did I Do That? - I am diggin' Jaleel White's appearance in the new Cee Lo Green video. Didn't realize how much I missed Urkel.

Those Memories Come Crashing Through...

In 1982 I went to my first concert of a real band, Air Supply. Yes, those wonderfully sappy purveyors of Carpenters style balladry that came to define adolescent images of romantic love in the early 80s. For a two year period they were unstoppable, casually lobbing one carefully crafted soft rock ditty after another onto the radio. Then the 80s really took hold and Air Supply had run out of oxygen, unable to compete with the macho power ballads flooding the airwaves. By 1986 Air Supply couldn't even muster a minor Top 40 hit.

Last night I wondered how Air Supply would fare 29 years after I had first seen them. Could Russell Hitchcock still belt out those soaring sustained high notes? Would they sound tired of playing the same 'ol songs for nearly three decades? Does their appearance at the Solano county fair signal the end is near for the Australian group?

It was a strong turn out for them in terms of crowd, the largely Filipino audience eagerly awaited the beginning of the show. Then the group hit the stage to deliver their message of love. And after a quick smooch between principal songwriter / guitarist / singer Graham Russell and vocalist Russell Hitchcock the band went off to the races with this set list (at least what I remember of it):

Even The Nights Are Better / Just As I Am / Here I Am / an upbeat song / Chances / The Power Of Love / A Little More Time / I think an upbeat song here / The One That You Love / Lost In Love / I think a song I didn't know / Every Woman In The World / Making Love Out Of Nothing At All

encore: an upbeat song something about a Big Idea / All Out Of Love

Air Supply kicked off with a rocked up take on their final Top 10 single "Even The Nights Are Better". Hitchcock seemed in clear voice, retaining a surprising amount of power considering how long they've been around. Right from the start Hitchcock's stage mannerisms started with pointing at the crowd and blowing kisses at them, he had not lost a beat since the last time I saw them. The band was energetic and filled with talented musicians, yet they had trouble throughout the night trying to pull off some hairpin turns in their arrangements.

Giving "Nights" a heavier rock edge made more sense as they led into "Just As I Am" from 1985 - a time period where Air Supply tried to rock harder (I use that phrase modestly, Air Supply never rocks hard). One of my favorite Air Supply songs, even though my most lasting memory of it was attending a youth group meeting senior year of high school and sitting in a circle on the library floor while "Just As I Am" blasted on the tape deck as our touchy-feely theme song.

The hits kept comin' with "Here I Am", more memories of borrowing my best friend's Mom's two Air Supply records back in the day. "Here I Am" also featured a big Air Supply tradition: milking the big note. When I saw them way back when they would stop playing before the big vocal note and not continue until Hitchcock felt he had enough audience applause to do it. Well, they still do that on almost every ballad. In fact, the pause was so long on this song that when the singer paused on "It's just no good without..." the audience began yelling "You! You! Yooouu!" before they resumed. Air Supply likes them some applause.

Graham Russell addressed the crowd, asking them if they were ready for a night of love. The word "love" is invoked with near religious reverence in the Air Supply lexicon. He then made one of several comments thru the evening of how beautiful a place the audience lives in. Next up was some upbeat song, you know the Supply gotta have those so it's not just one long ballad fest. At this point I was really impressed with the professionalism of Air Supply, these guys commit to putting on an entertaining show. Graham Russell does his waddling boogie dance, Hitchcock works the crowd, they give their supporting band numerous shout outs and let them strut their stuff. I was impressed by their guitarist with the Mike Reno headband, he wasn't a bad axe man. Nailed those soaring solos.

The highlight for my night was "Chances", a song I heard the first time when I saw them in '82 (it latter was released on the first Greatest Hits Lp). Such a great song. They followed up with "The Power Of Love" which is probably best known in the U.S. as a Celine Dion song although it was a remake of a Jennifer Rush song. Supply had covered this in '85 so they had a credible reason to perform it and it was rendered nicely. Their version is the one I like the most anyway.

I hit the head at this point and came back in time to see Graham Russell stand up straight like a soldier to a military style marching beat. My wife filled me in that Russell had performed a moving song about a soldier's wedding he had performed at. The soldier was later killed in action and the widow said their last words to each other was "A little more time".

Pretty sure another upbeat song happened next. Then Air Supply made a move that caused the crowd to go nuts. Hitchcock and Russell walked through the seated lawn area while performing an acoustic take on "The One That You Love". Cameras and throngs of people surrounded them as they slowly made their way around. Women were crying and shouting "I Love You!" right to their faces. Yeah, that sealed the deal. Air Supply owned this audience.

It was time to score some insurance runs, so Air Supply followed up with "Lost In Love". While I find it personally humorous, the concept that someone is "lost" in "love" like a person would be lost in a haze trying to find a way out, it is undeniably a monster in the soft rock catalog. And so many great 80s movie soundtrack memories to boot.

I don't remember if there was a song between "Lost In Love" and "Every Woman In The World", I was just going with the flow of the concert now and not keeping track of the setlist closely. It might have been band introduction, where we were told the names of Mike Reno headband wearing guitarist, Jersey Shore drummmer and keyboardist Amir. "Every Woman In The World" is another treasured Air Supply song that went smoothly. I really like the Love Boat / Fantasy Island view of romantic love this song has.

To close the set, Russell Hitchcock started a capella with "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" before launching into the full band version. This was the only song where Hitchcock's vocal skill couldn't overcome age as he had to take a lot of breaths to get through the long windy Jim Steinman penned verses. To be fair, Jim Steinman songs are built tough, tough enough to make Meat Loaf faint. For a reason I couldn't quite figure out, they did the 2nd verse twice. Didn't seem like an accident, maybe to stretch out the song? The band wound up the show and trotted off stage.

Shortly after, the group returned for the encore. An upbeat number ensued, something about a "Big Idea". Followed by band introduction #2 of each member 'cause Air Supply likes to get their props. Apparently Graham Russell really liked his 2nd introduction because he then gave Russell Hitchcock a kiss on the cheek. Then Graham Russell said this would be the last song of the evening, that they could not leave without playing this song.

"All Out Of Love" rolled out, the bands biggest and baddest hit. Yet another wave of gooey soft rock swooniness took over the audience (during this show I saw enough swaying arms in the air to fill a season of American Idol) and all was right with the world until...UNTIL...BLAM! A big ass drum solo by the Jersey Shore looking drummer two thirds of the way thru. The band left the stage while the drummer who I will now refer to as The Situation blasted through a thundering solo which was fine for what it was, by why in the middle of "All Out Of Love"? It was your standard epic rock concert drum solo that crushed all the sentiment out of the song, it was like watching someone paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa (OK, that metaphor was overboard but you know what I mean). The Situation then went to the front of the stage to throw his sticks out to the audience, like we're going to impress other people with a stick from the drummer of Air Supply (sorry, if you're not the original drummer Ralph Cooper I don't care). Like I'm supposed to say "Yay, you destroyed 'All Out Of Love' good job!"

As easy as it is to ridicule Air Supply (and it is easy...) I am at heart a fan of their music. And as a fan I have to say Air Supply delivers a good show, committed to creating an energetic environment to which people can feel their brand of ...er, love. I guess you can say (please, don't say it) they made love...out of nothing...at all...

Rating:

Rush Says It's Time

Rating:

They say the third time's the charm - last night I successfully sat through an entire Rush concert. The other two times I saw the band were marred by alcohol and bad luck, so I didn't see (or remember seeing) a full show from the long running Canadian power trio. I wasn't interested in seeing them this tour because I figured something would happen and I'd miss a big part of the show but my wife insisted I should go. She was right. Thank you honey :)

So for the third time we made our way out to the Concord Pavilion (I know it's called Sleep Train Pavilion but it'll always be Concord Pavilion to me). The weather was warm, pleasant. We got good VIP parking. The pre concert music over the PA was a dream mix of classic prog - King Crimson, U.K., Genesis, etc. Had some time to people watch, and some of the crowd's antics bled over into the actual concert (more explanation in a moment).

This show was said to be sold out and judging the crowd size during the show I'd say that's about right. The mix of people there I would probably best describe as what you would see at a big city park. You've got your families with small children there for a group outing, couples there for a night out, homeless looking folk with unkempt appearances and stoners puffing the hell out of their hash pipes. When night fell some took to hiding in the bushes and trees to do whatever, probably more drugs. A fight almost broke out in my seating section because this young wanna be tough guy kid and his girl insisted on standing when everyone else was sitting and shouting at them to stop blocking their view. If he didn't look like a skinny teen kid in over his head trying to look badass in front of his loudmouth girl, he probably would have got beat down.

It was still daylight when Rush hit the stage, it was kinda cool how they nonchalantly walked out there once the opening comedy video ended. The videos showed the band's fake history in a comic light and were pretty amusing. At the end of the first video was the opening to "The Spirit Of Radio" which the full band then started live. The set list went:

The Spirit Of Radio / Time Stand Still / Presto / Stick It Out / Workin Them Angels / Leave That Thing Alone / Faithless / BU2B / Freewill / Marathon / Subdivisions
intermission
Tom Sawyer / Red Barchetta / YYZ / Limelight / The Camera Eye / Witch Hunt / Vital Signs / Caravan / Drum Solo / Closer To The Heart / 2112 / Far Cry
encore
La Villa Strangiato / Working Man

Rush opening with "The Spirit Of Radio"? Can't go wrong. One of their biggest hits, blam! In yo face. To say the band sounded tight goes without saying, when doesn't Rush sound tight? The only negative point I can make is it's the end of the tour and G goes well with the whole time machine theme. "Presto" was eddy Lee's voice sounds like it. He had to really push his voice to try to hit notes and at times would lose enunciation as a result. But hey, these guys aren't exactly young and he has been on the road for a year so I cut him some slack.

I purposely didn't look up the set list before going so things would be a nice surprise. So I enjoyed the trio serving up 1987's "Time Stand Still" from the Hold Your Fire album. Kindaa real left turn, I hadn't heard that one since I first got the Cd. It was around here the fight almost broke out in my seating section. "Stick It Out" continued the song's timeline progression from 1987 up thru the 90s culminating in 2007's "Workin Them Angels". While the band sounded fine the drama of the potential fight mixed with some pot heads lighting up next to me made it difficult to focus on the music.

"Leave That Thing Alone" allowed the band to push forward some of their instrumental magic, ending with Geddy Lee tearing it up on his bass. Even though I like "Faithless", I started to feel that the Snakes And Arrows album was getting a bit over represented. Oh well, it was one of my favorite tracks off that disc so I lived with it.

The band then previewed one of two tracks for their in progress new disc, the song was called "BU2B". It reminded me a bit of the Snakes And Arrows approach slightly more developed and even more guitar heavy. So like that album I'd have to hear the song a few times to get how it really hits me, as it was I thought it was just OK. I was impressed that the band would included unreleased material in their main set, it's been ages since I've seen anyone do that. That was cool.

With the lack of big hits being played the audience was respectfully appreciative until they kicked into "Freewill". Maybe they were pumped by the crowd response or just hitting their groove, but 1985's "Marathon" became positively transcendent. The lyric "Like a streak of lightning that flashes and fades in the summer sky" as the sun began to set on the outdoor venue made for a perfect concert moment. A planned mid song explosion gave the crowd a jolt. Then Rush closed out the first half of the show with "Subdivisions". 'nuff said.

During intermission I entertained myself reading the text message board underneath the upcoming concert announcements. My favorite text from the evening? Somebody sent in a Rick Roll "Never gunna give you up Never gunna let you down". Too funny.

A lot has been made of Rush performing the entire Moving Pictures album this tour which is fine by me, it's my favorite Rush album (even though I haven't owned it since the mid 80s). Once they began the second half with "Tom Sawyer" I knew what I was in for. It's "Tom Sawyer", let the air drumming begin! Even though it's largely regarded as a Neal Peart showcase, I really enjoyed how Alex Lifeson switched up some of the guitar solo a little. Not a lot, but just enough to make it stand out as different from the record. And Lee had intermission to rest his voice so he was able to push his vocal a little harder on the band's definitive song.

True to album sequence "Red Barchetta" roared up next. Followed by that beast of an instrumental, "YYZ". I freakin LOVE "YYZ". Always have. So to say I marked out to this jam is an understatement. It was just too bad I had to rely on the video camera coverage to see what drummer Neal Peart was doing. His drum kit is so tall that the only thing visible to the naked eye was his left arm hitting the snare drum or when he tagged the cymbals up top. Still, things couldn't get much more perfect with Geddy Lee hopping all over the stage playing off Lifeson and Peart. Oh yeah, "Limelight" was next so I guess it could get more perfect.

Now I haven't owned Moving Pictures since about 25 years ago. That's how long it's been since I've heard anything from side 2 of that esteemed album (except for when I wrote a brief review of Moving Pictures a few years back, I played snippets of the songs online to job my memory). Although I remembered some of the keyboards on "The Camera Eye" I had forgotten how awesome a piece of music it is. A long form prog piece, "The Camera Eye" was damn good. "Witch Hunt" pleased the hardcore fans, as the voices that sang along with the band got noticeably less but clearer here. And "Vital Signs". Totally forgot that one. Maybe because the band knew they were playing lesser known material at this point in the show, the lighting mechanism lowered down over the band and moved it's mechanized arms up and down like an electric octopus.

With the sold out crowd in rapt attention following the Moving Pictures part, Rush threw out their second unreleased song "Caravan". It was slightly better than "BU2B", the song was a touch more memorable and the instrumental break killed. Neal Peart's drum solo was up next. It was epic. Peart is one of the best rock drummers of all time, his solo started on his massive regular drum kit before it rotated to a smaller kit. It finished with a big band part displaying Peart in his element.

Had to take a whizz and missed most of "Closer To The Heart". "2112" got fans fists pumping as Rush continued to dig into their 70s catalog. The band announced this would be the last song before returning to the Snakes And Arrows era for "Far Cry".

We left during "Far Cry" to dodge the traffic so I didn't see "La Villa Strangiato" and "Working Man". Fortunately, "Working Man" is one of the songs I recall from the first two concerts so I can say I've seen it.


I'm happy to say I've seen Rush in concert now without feeling like it needs an asterisk next to it. Saw it from start to finish. Their performance was near perfection. And all of Moving Pictures? Can't put that down. Sure I can quibble on Geddy Lee's vocal more or on having too many songs from Snakes and Arrows (3) but when all is said and done, I loved it.

Wonderful Tonight

Rating:

and a half.

Last Thursday I got to see the legendary Slowhand in action at the Arco - wait - Power Balance Arena in Sacto. We had floor seating (nice!) so we could have a good look at EC in action. One note about floor seating, they really need to start compensating for the obesity problem in America when doing these events. The chairs were so small I had trouble fitting on it and then I was crowded out of the left side of my chair by the larger guy next to me. He wasn't even trying to crowd me, he was actually trying to not do that throughout the show (which was very considerate of him). I was sore for days from having to sit like a contortionist for 3 or so hours.

When the show started first up was opening act Los Lobos. Los Lobos has been around for decades and is a respected act that I like yet know very little about. I have How Will The Wolf Survive and the La Bamba soundtrack and that's about the depth of my Los Knowledge. I have such limited knowledge of their music that my memory of the set list is like this:

Some song with a loping shuffling groove / Another song with a loping shuffling groove / Evangeline? That name seemed to be in the chorus/ A song in Spanish that wasn't La Bamba I think by the dude that always wears sunglasses / A song they said was their new song which was really good, one of those slow bluesy number thingys / I don't remember what happened next / I think a song in Spanish that still wasn't La Bamba / Don't Worry Baby / Another song I think it was a cover of something/ La Bamba - Good Lovin

Poor Los Lobos, I couldn't fill a thimble with what I know about them yet judging from the audience reaction I was their biggest fan there. I was impressed with their tight performance and tasteful blending of old school rock n roll with Spanish music. In particular, the big dude that sings lead most of the time and lead guitar was really good. Had no idea he could play like that, very soulful guitar from that guy. The sunglasses guy, probably as close to a visual trademark as Los Lobos has, sang lead a couple of times. Sunglasses guy tried hard to get the audience to engage and sing or clap along mostly to no avail. Probably because the crowd had no idea what they were playing, even when they covered other people's songs (like Good Lovin). So Los Lobos likely didn't make any new fans that evening judging from the smattering of applause they got as they left the stage, too bad as they came across as a very good band.

After the stage changed over the lighting changed to resemble that of a smoky bar and living legend Eric Clapton walked out. The set list ran as:

Key To The Highway / Going Down Slow / Hoochie Coochie Man / Old Love / I Shot The Sheriff / Driftin' / Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out / River Runs Deep / Same Old Blues / When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful / Layla / Badge / Wonderful Tonight / Before You Accuse Me / Little Queen Of Spades / Cocaine

Encore: I guess it was Crossroads, we were leaving to beat the traffic at that point.

Clapton opened with "Key To The Highway" and the audience got their butts off their chairs to greet the guitar God. The gently upbeat tone of the song matched that of most of his solo work - meaning it was time to get excited in a laid back sort of way with occassional fireworks. That's not a bad thing, that seems to be his demeanor and music should match the artist. Still I got a kick out of the set list going right to "Going Down Slow" as song two, all but ensuring the enthusiastic crowd would sit back in their seats.

The guitarist is known for being somewhat reticent about being a STAR which made for a refreshing approach from what is normally an ego driven format (Rock music). Clapton gave plenty of room for his accomplished sidemen to strut their stuff and noticeably did not have a key spotlight shining on him from the front. He was lit from the back like the rest of the band. The sharing of the limelight also probably allowed EC to rest up for his big moments, at his age he likely doesn't have the energy to go all Joe Satriani on us and blaze away for two hours nonstop (the exception being Mick Jagger to this statement since he works out a lot and all).

After "Hoochie Coochie Man", the show really hit it's stride with a lengthy "Old Love". Starting with just Clapton playing and then sliding into a slow building cresendo of keyboard / guitar solo magic, "Old Love" was the highlight of the evening for me. When Clapton would get psyched on his solo he'd lift his left leg up while fluidly zipping up and down his fret board. Keyboardist Tim I think he said last name Cowans matched Clap with a blazing solo on a synth with a Stevie Wonder "Superstition" sound.

Despite being crowded by the guy next to me, I have to admit I was OK with it because the dude was a true fan. He sang along with the lesser known songs like "Old Love" and knew his stuff. What I wasn't OK with was the douche sitting behind me. This guy ran his mouth throughout the whole show, his dumbass voice cutting through the concert sound system (which was mixed evenly and to perfection which is saying a lot for a Sacto show, Power Balance Arena formerly Arco Arena has long held the nickname "Echo" Arena.). The guy went on and on about how he was here for one song, "Cocaine", and talked about it through all the other songs. Even big hits like "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight" weren't immune to his yapping. Douche.

Meanwhile, EC started what seemed like random scratching on his guitar before the band kicked in to "I Shot The Sheriff". They were on a strong roll after "Old Love" culminating in Clapton shouting an inspired "If I am guilty I will pay!!" towards the end.

Not to be ageist, it's no secret that Clapton is an old guy now. It wasn't too surprising the middle section of the concert was a lengthy sit down performance of mostly slow blues numbers ("Nobody Knows You...", "River Runs Deep", "Same Old Blues"). EC did use this time wisely to include selections from his recent self titled album and some lightness ("When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful"). It was interesting to see the guitar ace's knee bounce all over while playing, kind of wobbling about. The sit down session culminated in the unplugged arrangement of "Layla" though Clapton was playing an electric guitar.

The rest did EC good as he stood up for a fiery "Badge". The crowd, restless from sitting through slow jams and replentished from their bathroom break, lept up to their feet. There was fist pumping, cheering and middle aged women reverting to teenage "Heeyy, that's my jaaammm" mode. For a moment it felt like how it must have been like to see Clapton 30 years ago. Standing before the audience delivering powerhouse guitar work. Again, Clapton doesn't want people to stand up for too long as he switched moods again to the prom stand by "Wonderful Tonight".

It was back to the blues with one of Clap's favorite covers the rollicking "Before You Accuse Me". And again to slo jam mode for Robert Johnson's "Little Queen Of Spades".

To close his main set, EC dished out the long awaited "Cocaine". The audience got all fired up again and rightfully so. Even the douche had to shut up for a moment.

We left at this point I've read online that the encore was "Crossroads" with a slightly mellower take, I'm sure it was great.

My only complaint about the concert itself was that it felt a bit short, then again citing Clapton's age it's probably not realistic to expect too long a show (or for him to play "Bell Bottom Blues" I guess). Eric Clapton sang and played excellently and his backing band was very good. Even after all these years, Clapton can still be considered God.

Asia in Napa, or is it Napa in Asia...

Tonight I saw one of the greatest things ever, the original lineup of Asia powering through a killer set playing with a fired up fervor rarely seen on the oldies circuit. The first supergroup of the 80s flew into wine country and turned in a magical performance. And we had third row seats!

The set list:

I Believe / Only Time Will Tell / Holy War / Never Again / Through My Veins / Don't Cry / Steve Howe solo / The Smile Has Left Your Eyes / Open Your Eyes

intermission

Go / Time Again / An Extraordinary Life / End Of The World / The Heat Goes On / Carl Palmer Solo / Sole Survivor

encore

Days Like These / Heat Of The Moment

I've been to a lot of concerts and it's rare that there is one that I felt was perfect, but Asia got pretty close to perfection on a warm Sunday evening. In the remodeled Uptown Theater in Napa, I sat mere feet away from the four British gentlemen whose music I worshipped through my formative years.

The band came blasting out with a set list that mixed classic Asia with a fair amount of tracks from their past two reunion albums Phoenix and Omega. It's rare to see an "oldies" band play more than two modern songs in a show, let alone six cuts. This is the type of set list you would hear bands in their prime play, inspired by recent material and trying to push their record sales via live performance. Thunderous tracks like "I Believe" and "An Extraordinary Life" flew high on the backs of these talented guys. And who would doubt the total awesomeness of "Only Time Will Tell" or "Heat Of The Moment".

There were some amazing surprises in store as well, with two post Steve Howe tracks "Go" and "Days Like These" getting play. "Go" is one of my fave Asia songs and I was ecstatic to hear it live. "Days Like These" was also great, it had been so long since I'd heard it I didn't recognize the song until the chorus. Two Alpha songs got fine treatments with just keyboardist Geoff Downes and vocalist John Wetton on "Don't Cry" and "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes". The latter cut blew my mind when the ending switched from Wetton / Downes to a full band reprise. I'd dreamt of hearing a full band version of "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" and now there it was.

Steve Howe's acoustic guitar solo (that included his classic "Mood For A Day") was mesmerizing. Howe was the most fired up I'd ever seen him, pulling out all the spastic awkward stage moves he's known for. Carl Palmer remains a beast on the skins even post heart surgery. His epic drum solo had me flashing back to Asia in Asia. Keyboardist Geoff Downes got short shrift from the soundman, his twinkling synths were buried under a wall of sound. Meanwhile, John Wetton sang excellently and impressed me with his nimble bass work.

Anyone who doubts Asia's ability should check out "Time Again", the old guys nailed the fancy instrumental interplay with gusto.

In terms of record sales Asia's time is gone, but in terms of inspired arena rock their time is now.

Waiting For Macca

Last night I made my way out to AT&T Park in San Francisco to see one of the two remaining Beatles in action, Sir Paul McCartney. The last time McCartney had played the Bay Area was in 1966, before I was even born! It was a cold evening in San Fran, overcast and chilly. Something that helped screen from the cold was the fact that the Park was overcrowded, walking on the concourse was like being shoved onto a conveyer belt of human beings carted from one place to another. Despite the 7:30 start time on the ticket, there was a longggg wait for the show to start. An endless scroll of McCartney memories went up and the huge rectangular video screens flanking the stage as a remix of Macca/Beatles hits jammed on and on. By 8:30 I would have been happy if Beatlemania hit the stage, I started to think that 7:30 was the time McCartney boarded the plane in England instead of a show time. Had enough time to grab a grossly overpriced Giants Dog (AT&T Park is where the San Francisco Giants play) and a Diet Coke. Once McCartney started playing around 8:40, I felt more like it was about time than excited. Macca's set list went like this:

Venus and Mars - Rock Show / Jet / All My Loving / Letting Go / Got To Get You Into My Life / Highway / Let Me Roll It / The Long And Winding Road / Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five / Let 'Em In / My Love / I'm Looking Through You / Two Of Us / Blackbird / Here Today / Dance Tonight / Mrs Vandebuilt / San Francisco Bay Blues / Eleanor Rigby / Something / Sing The Changes / Band On The Run / Ob La Di Ob La Da / Back In The USSR / I've Got A Feeling / Paperback Writer / A Day In The Life - Give Peace A Chance / Let It Be / Live And Let Die / Hey Jude

Encore 1: Day Tripper / Lady Madonna / Get Back

Encore 2: Yesterday / Helter Skelter / Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End

Opening with "Venus and Mars - Rock Show" would probably kill the start of most band's shows but with Sir Paul in the house people became unglued. "Jet" got the crowd more fired up as Mac proved his band was tight and capable of playing the big show. Macca was surrounded by a guitarist, a multi instrumentalist, a keyboardist and a large dramatic drummer. And then we did the time warp again as he launched into the first Beatles song of the night "All My Loving" complete with The Beatles: Rock Band graphics running in the background.

"Letting Go" slowed things down and let people sit before getting back up for a sharp take on "Got To Get You Into My Life". The bouncy ditty was one of the early highlights for me and showed how much of a workout the lone keyboardist was gonna have as he replicated the horn section parts on a synth. A surprise coda to "Life" was a brief instrumental run through Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" with some nice soloing by Sir Paul himself. He then told a nice story of meeting Hendrix and attending a show where Jimi asked Clapton to tune the guitar for him. Then it was back to obscureville for a song called "Letting Go". Dressed in a simple black suit, you could still see some hint of that cherubic youthfulness on Macca's aged mug.

"Let Me Roll It" was one I was looking forward to personally because it had that slow moving 70s rawk vibe I like. Mac then moved to a grand piano on the right of the stage to kick off the first of three (count 'em, three!) songs from The Beatles Let It Be album, "The Long And Winding Road". It was here I noticed how McCartney's voice was still in good shape for a man his age, still able to croon with some power and range. Also, it underlined how cold it was as you could see the steam from his breath as he sang. There was a misty condensation in the wet air, which happens in San Fran right next to the water.

The every-other-song-is-one-you-don't-know-unless-you're-a-true-fan pacing served up "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" next and continued Sir Paul's sit at the piano. Then another of my faves "Let 'Em In" (or as Keane likes to call it "Somewhere Only We Know") happily drifted through. The piano visit gave the crowd more time to rest in their seats as the lovely ballad "My Love" played. Since my wife didn't go to this show, I thought of her during this song.

Then it was flashback Beatles time again as the jaunty "I'm Looking Through You" came up complete with 60's organ sounds. At this point the mother of two young kids in front of me was getting hammered and dancing up a drunken swaying storm, which the boy started recording on his phone to probably plant on You Tube tonight (I saw the kid give the sign to his Dad that Mom had drunk seven beers midway through the concert). We then went to Let It Be track numero dos, "Two Of Us". And I went to the can.

The acoustics of AT&T Park carries sound well, though despite some clarity there was a bit of distortion and echo throughout the concert. So even in the can the acoustic "Blackbird" sounded very nice. I grabbed a small bag of popcorn on the way back to my seat. Maintaining the one for you-one for me pattern Mac strummed out "Here Today" .

Another highlight for me was hearing "Dance Tonight" from Mac's last studio effort Memory Almost Full, I like that song. And then "Mrs Vandebuilt". In a real nice touch, Mac and crew played "San Francisco Bay Blues" giving a nod to his location. At some point, not sure if it was here, Macca pointed to a crowd member with a sign saying "I was there at the Cow Palace in 1964 remember?" and jokingly reacted like he did remember that person.

An excellent take on "Eleanor Rigby", an all time classic song if there was one, took place. Macca busted out a ukelale and told a story about how he told George Harrison he had learned one of George's song on the ukelale. He then proceeded to kick off "Something" solo on the uke. It was sort of silly but had the intimacy of revealing an inside joke until it got to the guitar solo. The full band immediately kicked in with Mac's lead guitarist perfectly replicating Harrison's creamy tone as images of George faded in and out of the video screens, it was the emotional peak of the evening.

To pull it back there was one last pay-the-piper sort of tune with "Sing The Changes" before flying into hitsville with "Band On The Run". Macca took off his jacket and moved to a small piano in the front of the stage for a big audience sing along on "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da". Finally free of the one you know and one you don't section of the set list, the crowd got its groove on for a romping "Back In The USSR". Which I felt should have shifted to "Spies Like Us" at the end, but that's just me. A nice tale of Mac meeting the Russian government after a show and finding out Russians learned their English from Beatles records ensued. Apparently one Russian officer said this and shook Macs hand saying "Hello Goodbye".

The Beatles songs steadily racheted up the audience excitement level even with a false start on "I've Got A Feeling" and the nicely blended harmonies of "Paperback Writer". The ushers began to allow people to crowd the aisleways and it started to get packed with people in our area. I went to the can during "A Day In The Life". Which is quite a trippy song to take a whizz to. Got back in time for the John Lennon "Give Peace A Chance" crowd sing along.

The hymn like "Let It Be" unified the audience in time for the theatrical high light of the night, the James Bond theme "Live And Let Die". Out of nowhere, flashpots, pillars of flame and 4th of July fireworks broke out on and behind the stage. The near sold out crowd roared after the song, because it just kicked ass. With momentum at its peak, Mac moved to the center of the stage only to find his little piano was out of tune. So he moved to the big piano for "Hey Jude". The audience sang along to the "Na na na na" ending which closed the main part of the set.

A gaggle of tweens made its way next to our seating and with them high pitched screaming so loud it cut through my ear plugs and turned to white noise. So I was annoyed during the first encore of "Day Tripper", "Lady Madonna" and "Get Back" as the little girls danced, posed for pictures and excitedly rambled to each other throughout. I tried to remind myself this was probably what Beatlemania was like in its hey day. And was surprised that modern day tweens would love this music this much. Guess I'm just an old guy with no patience for youngun's.

For a second encore, McCartney played "Yesterday" acoustically which was great. I saw seagulls flying around the lip of the stadium in time with the song. We moved seats away from the screaming tweens to enjoy the last two songs, a hard rocking "Helter Skelter" and a triumphant "Sgt Peppers / The End".

All in all Paul McCartney put on a very good show. He himself had a good amount of energy and musical ability left, plus an easygoing demeanor in addressing the crowd. And now I can say I've seen royalty! Sir means royalty? No?