Your Last Concert (or two)

My daughter and I saw Soundgarden at the Fox Theater in Atlanta 2 weeks before Chris Cornell died. She has been in mourning since.
 
June 30, 2017, McMenamins Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR

Ogikubo Station
Jenny Owen Youngs
Streetlife Manifesto
 
June 24, 2017, McMenamins Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR

Dru Hill feat. Sisqo, Nokio, Jazz & Tao

with Special Guests Chante Moore & Howard Hewett
Hosted by Speedy of the Jamie Foxx Radio Show
Music by Seattle's Own DJ Kole
Benefiting homeless families of Greater New Hope
I would've given a finger or a toe to see Chanté Moore perform any track from A Love Supreme (I'd pass out if she sang "Thank You for Loving Me" live). Even though I overwhelmingly prefer Howard Hewett with his band mates in Shalamar, I'd reckon his performance wasn't too shabby either. Dru Hill performing "Beauty" from 1998's Enter the Dru would've been the icing on the cake.
 
King Crimson at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay in San Diego. Nice venue and even better music. Robert Fripp has a great band for the tour, including three drummers! Highly recommended for any prog fan.
 
Went to see Tony Bennett in Glasgow last night. Thought it was never going to finish. My goodness, the man has some stamina for any age let alone 90 years old! It started with the quartet playing for a while and they were really good. The drummer played for Count Bassie. I had a moment of panic, though as I sat in the cafe before the show. I was looking at the ticket and noticed that it was in my wife's name because she bought the ticket for me as an aniversary present. I remembered reading somewhere that some venues don't allow you in unless your own name is on the ticket. I went down to the desk at the front door to ask the woman if it would be a problem but she said it'll be ok and it was phew!
 
I would've given a finger or a toe to see Chanté Moore perform any track from A Love Supreme (I'd pass out if she sang "Thank You for Loving Me" live). Even though I overwhelmingly prefer Howard Hewett with his band mates in Shalamar, I'd reckon his performance wasn't too shabby either. Dru Hill performing "Beauty" from 1998's Enter the Dru would've been the icing on the cake.

I walked right past Chanté Moore backstage as she was getting ready to go on. Howard Hewett was out on the floor right in front me for about 5 minutes shaking hands and giving out hugs. Part of the job I guess, it was really hot inside the BR that night, I was doing breaks so co-workers could get out for a while and have a cold water.
 
Roger Waters - Jun 1 Tulsa BOK
Norah Jones - Jun 9 Tulsa Brady Theater
Toto - 1 Jul Salina Kansas Stiefel Theater
All 3 were great concerts
 
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit last night at the SumTur Amphitheater in Papillion, Nebraska. My first time at this venue, and I really enjoyed it. It's a smaller outdoor venue, but the sound quality was outstanding and there isn't a bad spot in the entire place to see the show. Reserved seats are up front, with a grassy hillside behind for general admission. We got there early and set up lawn chairs at the very front of the gen admission area. http://sumtur.org/events-gallery.php for some photos of the place.

A friend of mine from work and I both took our mid-20's aged daughters. It was hot as Hades early in the evening - mid 90's and no breeze. Fortunately, we had easy access to 7 dollar beers... It was a gorgeous summer night after the sun went down.

Opening act was John Darnielle's band, "The Mountain Goats"- an unusual indie folk band. I thought they were great and would see them again in a minute. They are doing a swing though the upper mid-west right now. Des Moines, IA tonight and St. Paul, MN tomorrow. Darnielle was having fun through the whole show, and made lots of references to Pro Wrestling for some reason... A highlight for me was the playing of Matt Douglas. Guitars, Keyboards, Woodwinds - the guy played everything!

Isbell and band were fricking amazing. If they are appearing anywhere near you - go see them. Tight band - great songs. Isbell's singing and guitar work were top notch and he seemed to enjoy the crowd. His wife Amanda Shires played fiddle and did backing vocals. She was fantastic, the fiddle adds an authentic and soulful sound to the mix. Sadler Vaden was impressive on guitar. Jimbo Hart and Chad Gamble laid down a groove that didn't stop. Derry DeBorja was a master on "Keys and Squeeze" as Isbell put it - keyboards and accordian. They played a lot of the songs from the new album, "The Nashville Sound" with a notable exception - they didn't play Cumberland Gap, which is a house rocking number. I'm still disappointed in that song not being included, but I'll forgive them after the BLISTERING cover of The Allman Brother's "Whipping Post" they did. Vaden and Isbell really showed off their guitar chops on that one.

A nice review from the Omaha World Herald is here - http://www.omaha.com/go/music/with-...cle_f7b62cfe-3df8-5b14-9b0a-67cceb8d36a4.html
 
kinda bummer line up this year
they are blaming exchange rates for the no US acts
no blues at all really some rock blues tho
but were out the door for it in a couples hours
gonna be a long few days

bluesfestposter_2017_final_march15.jpg
 
Went to the Garbage/Blondie/X concert a couple of nights ago. Garbage and X (well, it was just John and Exene) were great. Blondie was less impressive, but still enjoyable enough.
 
Went to the Garbage/Blondie/X concert a couple of nights ago. Garbage and X (well, it was just John and Exene) were great. Blondie was less impressive, but still enjoyable enough.

would be awsesome to see them "true love pt 2"
 
Just scored Front Row seats for the Oct 29 King Crimson show at Lisner Auditorium
(they are playing here Sat 28th & Sun 29 in an acoustically lush small local venue at George Wash Univ)
Its where Little Feat's "Waiting For Columbus" was recorded

"The current 8-piece lineup - its ninth since 1969 - includes founder Robert Fripp on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, singer-guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, and Mel Collins on flute and saxophones alongside the drummers and multi-instrumentalists, Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Bill Rieflin. This iteration of the band has been touring since 2014, honoring the band's strong reputation with three albums and sold out shows across the globe - a testament to the band's timeless and original sound."
 
Opening act was John Darnielle's band, "The Mountain Goats"- an unusual indie folk band. I thought they were great and would see them again in a minute. They are doing a swing though the upper mid-west right now. Des Moines, IA tonight and St. Paul, MN tomorrow. Darnielle was having fun through the whole show, and made lots of references to Pro Wrestling for some reason... A highlight for me was the playing of Matt Douglas. Guitars, Keyboards, Woodwinds - the guy played everything!

I'm buying tickets to the see The Mountain Goats at The Orange Peel in Asheville in September, so that'll probably be my next show. Their 2015 album Beat the Champ was a concept album about old school regional pro wrestling, including Darnielle's relationship with wrestling and his step-father back when he was a child. The new album Goths is pretty great too, a look back at his teenage years and a consideration of what happens to the members of a youth subculture as they age. Oh, and full disclosure, I'm a distant cousin of their drummer Jon Wurster.

My last show was June 7th, seeing Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville. They performed all but one song off their most recent album Skeleton Tree, and a good number of past "hits" as well. I also got some more tea towels from the merchandise table to add to my collection of Nick Cave tea towels.

I guess the connection between the two is how literary both Darnielle and Cave are, both in their song lyrics as well as having published novels.
 
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