2019 was a great concert year for me. I went to 11 concerts, maybe more but my memory fails me on additional ones. Here they are ranked from worst to first.
11) Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple – Imagine playing only Deep Purple songs from the time when you were in the band and the group was no longer making memorable music. I walked out.
10) Black Keys/Modest Mouse – Disappointing.
9) Mt. Joy – Fun.
8) War – Free concert in the park performed with enthusiastic joy.
7) Car Seat Headrest – An pleasant evening with my oldest son listening to music by a band I was unfamiliar with on Chicago’s beautiful lakefront.
6) Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw on lead vocals – Surprisingly good blending of talents.
5) Beatles White Album Tribute – Todd Rundgren, Mickey Dolenz, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland of Badfinger, and some guy formerly with the group Chicago performing all songs from the Beatles White Album with fun and style.
4) Heart/Sheryl Crow – Crow > Heart.
3) Foals – Excellent songs performed with a fury.
2) Strumbellas – Great music and fun in an intimate setting. Canadians, eh?
1) Spoon/Cage the Elephant/Beck – Cage performed the greatest concert set I have ever seen. Beck was not far behind.
But 2020? Off to a disconcerting start. I have had 2 chances to see concerts and have swung and missed on both.
I was planning on seeing my nephew perform under his artist name Proswell. He makes electronic music, and he is making a bit of a comeback after a recent triumph over some personal issues. I am so proud of him. He has released 2 albums in the past 3 months. Here’s a track from his latest release.
Everytime you hear a doorbell, you will bark like a dog. Now you will awaken. Hypnotizing mix of music and visuals, right?
So I had a chance to see him in his comeback concert in Chicago, but it was such a cold night and Proswell was not scheduled to take the stage until 10:30PM. Men of my age are not allowed to roam the streets of Chicago that late. It was live-streamed, so we got to watch it from home, but it’s not the same as seeing him live and in person.
This past week, I was in St. Louis again for “business,” and my oldest daughter recommended I see the band Joseph in concert. She thinks she has seen them 6 times and says they are better live than recorded. They sound pretty good to me. Take a listen from their latest album.
I have always been a sucker for female artists from Patti Smith to the Bangles to Bananarama to Indigo Girls to Madonna to Katy Perry to … Well, you get the idea. So I was definitely down with seeing them.
But it was cold and rainy with the rain freezing, and I would have had to drive 20 minutes, and then walk a quarter mile from parking, and I was tired after driving 300 miles that morning and working the afternoon, and Joseph had 2 opening acts so they wouldn’t be on stage until 9:30ish, and I had just eaten 2 Impossible Whoppers (no mayo) for dinner, and boo hoo hoo. I stayed in my hotel room and farted all evening. Thanks, Burger King for a 2 for $6 deal. My room was like this all night.
I regret not seeing those shows. I also regret eating 2 Impossible Whoppers (no mayo) at one sitting. Can a blog post about winter weight gain be far behind?
Anyway, looks like I will have to return to St. Louis for more “business” in March, so I am scouring the concert listings now. Let’s get the 2020 concert season started.
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 