I swear the fluid pooling in the kayak is from the river and not the inevitable result of a long concert. I was part of a floatilla of freeloaders who watched John Fogerty play his hits from his Creedence Clearwater Revival days and his solo career, like this one.
It was a beautiful night to see a concert for free and save 60 bucks, but it led me to consider this ethical conundrum.
When I saw Fogerty was coming to the area to play a venue just 20 minutes away, I knew I would be seeing him. I loved CCR as a young lad. This was the first tour by Fogerty in decades after recently regaining control of his CCR songs. He was visibly joyful to play his CCR hits again. So, shouldn’t I have supported his tour and bought a ticket? Instead, I kayaked offshore and stole a seat to the show.
My summer concert season started last weekend with a fizzle instead of some sizzle. But it rebounded nicely the very next day as I caught a local group calling themselves Classical Blast for 2/3 of their show on my way to a hospital to see a family member who has since been released. Thanks for the cards and flowers you sent. They combine modern music with classical to create delightful versions of songs. Try to follow this one – lyrics from “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails sung to the tune of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” mashed up with Adagio for Strings.
I don’t know about you, but the highlight of the video for me is when backward-hat, flamingo-shirt guy makes his appearance and awkwardly tries to lean on the cannon.
This weekend was supposed to be my Rolling Stones concert, but I called an audible to see these guys.
Because of a family issue, I took the easiest of my 3 concert choices from my last post, and went to see Three Dog Night (hereafter known in this post as 3 Dog Night for brevity, although I realize that I wasted a lot of words explaing this) in concert this weekend. I purposely went late, but unfortunately, I still arrived too early and had to sit through Asia featuring John Payne. You remember Asia, right? They were a supergroup featuring members of Yes, ELP, and King Crimson that hit it big with “Heat of the Moment” and a couple other tunes. Well, that’s not the Asia I saw. When original members started to leave Asia, John Payne came aboard. Eventually, the final original Asia member left to … reform the original Asia with all the founding members, but they gave John Payne the right to continue on with his band as Asia featuring John Payne. And so, the original Asia continues to perform, although they are down to one original member, as well as Asia featuring John Payne. Kudos to you if you can follow that. And by the way, Asia featuring John Payne is bad.
But 3 Dog Night had to be better with a setlist like this from a recent show:
Well, the swinger’s party I was sure I was attending yesterday turned out to be nothing more than a birthday party. With kids! What happened to adults only on the invite? Regardless, I had another opportunity last night for some other adults only fun. I was headed to a concert last night as part of a reciprocal concert attendance agreement that a friend and I hammered out with the help of our attorneys and a board of arbiters.
The way it works is that my friend treats me to a concert that his wife does not want to attend, and then I will treat him to a concert that my wife will not attend. Both our wives are younger than us, so their musical tastes skew more recent.
That may just sound like going to a concert with a friend, but there is a subtle and important difference. The concert chooser pays for both tickets. That way, the concert guest can’t bitch about the price of the ticket to a concert that may not have been their first choice. It’s a good system.
Anyway, this concert promised an adults only time.
That’s right, Don McLean, the American Pie guy, was scheduled to give an adults only show. What did that mean? Lots of profanity? Gratuitous nudity? I saw an elderly Fee Waybill of The Tubes with his shirt off and pants down when they came to town at the end of 2023, and I didn’t want to see a similar show. Instead, we got Don McLean looking like the ghost of Roy Orbison who had eaten a few too many American pies.
About this time of the year, I’m getting emails about all sorts of summer concert announcements. This one caught my eye.
Not so much for Three Dog Night, but the supergroup Asia sounds interesting. But who is this John Payne? He wasn’t in Asia, was he? And with that question, I found myself down a rabbit hole chasing musical dogs in Asia (featuring John Payne). Come join me.
Yesterday I stepped back in time to the 80s and 90s, when giant indoor shopping malls were destinations that were for more than just shopping. We went there to meet friends, eat at the food court, see movies, entertain ourselves and our kids. Our local indoor mall closed over 6 years ago, so I took my 15-year-old daughter and her friend to the Yorktown Mall about 40 minutes from our house. Sure, some consider me a hero for doing that, like my wife who texted me this …
Well, I can’t argue with the first part of the text. As for the second part, I do need soap. I found these interesting scents in a mall store …
I don’t remember mall soap like that in the 80s and 90s. I was trying to decide which soap fit me best when my eyes wandered over to an old concert poster reproduction which stopped me in my tracks. I had to find a store manager to discuss this atrocity …
It’s not often that you can see a classic band from the 60s or 70s with more than one original member. A notable exception are The Rolling Stones with original members Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Charlie Watts lasting from 1963 through 2021 until Charlie passed away. Add Ronnie Wood in 1975 until now, and that’s a group with history, legacy, legitimacy, and longevity.
So, it was with some excitement that I saw The Tubes from the mid-70s coming to my little hometown theater advertised with 3 original members including wacky frontman Fee Waybill, known for his many wild costume changes during a concert. That’s how their extended tour that appears to have started in 2022 was touted. Sadly, along the way, one of the three original members passed away. Down to 2, but quite a duo, Fee Waybill and Roger Steen, writer of their cheeky song “White Punks on Dope.”
I was all in to see The Tubes. Please note that I didn’t say I bought a ticket. Not many others did either. I was convinced the theater had done a ticket giveaway as they sometimes do to at least get sales of their concessions, and that I had missed the email for the free tix. I went to the box office and mentioned that I heard (from me talking to myself) that they were giving away free tickets to fill seats. Uh, no. But as long as I was there, they gave me a free ticket. I was encouraged to sit anywhere I wanted. Open seats were plentiful.
I arrived just in time to hear “Sushi Girl,” a very 80ish tune and favorite of mine. That was kind of the highlight of the show. For me, it was downhill from there. I don’t want to disparage Fee, Roger, and the other new Tubes band members. They are still out on the road touring and living the rock & roll dream. Good for them. But Fee as the frontman is 73, looks 83, and moves around like he’s 93. It was hard to watch at times. At least he brought his “nurse” to assist him with his costume changes.
Can someone please help The Tubes change the digital graphic projected onto the screen to reflect a 2023 tour rather than 2022. Aren’t digital graphics free?
And about those costumes? At the end of “Wild Women of Wongo,” Fee had stripped down to this.
The pantheon of greatest male rock voices which includes such names as Presley, Orbison, Plant, Perry, Daltrey, and Mercury may someday need to make room for Chicago’s own Wes Leavins. Leavins is the lead vocalist for local band Brigitte Calls Me Baby. Take a listen to “Impressively Average” and I think you will hear vocals that are impressively well above average and trending toward outstanding.
I had a great opportunity to see Brigitte Calls Me Baby this week at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago opening for the UK’s The Last Dinner Party. I seem to recall a free ticket giveaway from radio station @93XRT. I declined to enter. I know I could have talked my oldest son into attending the concert with me. Tickets were priced at under $20 each. But I never asked my son or purchased even one ticket. It turns out that those were quite fortuitous decisions.
But after raising 5 kids and 11 dogs, I want to be alone. It became obvious to me last night as I took some video (more audio than video since I had an obstructed view) of The Hooters in concert that none of us are alone. They’re here, watching us, and last night they were enjoying some 40 year old music. Who is here? Aliens, of course. And not the kind of aliens the MAGA crowd is always bitching about. I’m taking about the extraterrestrial kind of aliens.
Last night I passed on seeing Tommy Tutone (no original band members!) and Rick Springfield at an 80’s concert. I caught Paul Young singing this song to conclude his set, but his vocals no longer sound like they do in that video. Hey, 40 years is a long time. And I can’t confirm if he can still dance like in the video, since I chose a spot to sit across the river with better sound but a somewhat obstructed view. I was there to partially see & hear The Hooters as I indicated in yesterday’s post.
The Hooters sounded great, but they played a bit too long. When you have to start playing covers to extend your set, that’s too long. But I’m glad they did! We were all waiting for them to wrap their set with “And We Danced,” except for the people next to me who had no idea about anyone who was playing last night.
And maybe “they” knew it was coming, too. They … them … the aliens. I took some video of the brilliant full moon over Aurora, Illinois last night as The Hooters ended their set. I thought nothing of it until this morning when I took a look & listen to the video. There it was. Sorry, there “they” were. No, not The Hooters. Remember, I had an obstructed view. Damn trees. No, they = aliens. Take a look if you don’t care if your mind gets blown.
I was recently listening to my wife’s old college radio station and fell in love with this song. It’s a pleasant pop song that reminds me a bit of They Might Be Giants doing a softer version of a Fountains of Wayne song. Although I prefer more power pop à la Nick Lowe, this new song is titled “The Power,” so there’s that. Enjoy new Diners music!
I love the simplicity of the song construction and the positivity of lyrics like:
“It ain’t too late to understand, too late to try Too late to recognize the power that’s inside”
Maybe those lyrics are referring to singer/songwriter Blue Broderick of Diners finding the power inside to transition from Tyler Broderick singing about being “Fifteen On A Skateboard” to Blue Broderick today. Regardless, it’s wonderful new music that caught this old rocker’s ear.
That wraps up a nice short post about new music with plenty of links to old music. But you may be wondering how this post is a “Concert Edition.” Well, if you want to go meandering down a concert rabbit hole with me, buckle up and read on.
While the rest of Chicagoland was attending Bruce Springsteen concerts at historic Wrigley Field on Wednesday and Friday nights, I was busy checking for loose change between our couch cushions. My summer concert budget has dropped to zero after some home repairs/improvements. Rather than spending my youngest daughter’s college fund for tickets, parking, concessions, and a Bruuuuuuuce t-shirt, I passed on making the always challenging journey to Wrigley. Just kidding. We don’t have a college fund for our daughter. By the way, it’s cool having a ballpark right in the middle of Chicago, but that makes for some transporation challenges unless one lives near a CTA train stop. We live at least 30 miles away from the closest.
It turns out that I could have saved on tickets by just sitting outside of Wrigley.
But it’s not like I didn’t see a concert. There was no challenging drive, train ride, bus transfer, etc. to see this show. I hopped on my bike to catch this group in our town’s downtown park.
It’s Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago, so here’s my Lolla report on the concerts I’ve seen so far. I haven’t seen any. It turns out that we needed not only a new refrigerator-freezer, but also a new hot water heater. For whatever reasons, my family insists on hot water. Bourgeois elitists. What’s next on their list of demands? Indoor plumbing?
Anyway, my concert budget plummeted to zero quicker than Trump’s chance at acquittal of all charges after another indictment. I am left with scrounging for free shows. I did get an email about a free Michael McDermott show for tonight. We have become fans, although we have seen him twice in the span of 9 months. Another time and we may graduate from fans to stalkers. And can they make this show sound a little better?
It sounds like he’ll be busking for loose change from commuters rather than headlining a free show at the Northbrook Days festival. It should be good, but it’s an hour away, so I opted for this local concert for which I “won” free tickets.
How in the bloody hell did I end up at this show over the weekend?
Some say it’s because I’m Father of the Year. I volunteered to take my 15-year-old daughter and her friend to see the feminist punk band Destroy Boys. You may remember them from their haunting ballad “I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m on Probation.” Anyway, I took these two lovely young ladies into Chicago to Metro to see the show.
Are you up for a one question concert quiz? Lovely! Please read on. We have an extended holiday weekend in the US with lots of concerts in town. A couple friends and I were choosing between these two free concerts.
I know you’re thinking, “Who the hell is Mark Farner?” He was a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for Grand Funk Railroad, so certainly a front man for GFR like Gramm was for Foreigner.
Frontier Days doesn’t really take place on the frontier, but in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. It’s not that far, but I wasn’t up for a drive on consecutive evenings. We had to pick one. The setlists were compelling. Here’s a link to Gramm’s setlist featuring a veritable hit parade of familiar Foreigner tunes. Here’s the link to Farner’s setlist featuring slightly older Grand Funk hits.
It’s really not like me to turn down a free concert. I’ve gone and seen some pretty crappy concerts, because they were free. But this one had promise. The group is pretty hip with a Lumineers-like sound. They have a new album out. And I really like this new song which was their first release off the new album.
While I prefer my summer concerts to be outdoors, I kicked off my 2023 summer concert series with my wife at an indoor show at City Winery in Chicago where I recently saw some of XTC perform as EXTC. The great thing about venturing out in Chicago to do anything is that there are never any Fox News viewers out & about in Chicago. One of the great cities of the world is just a bit too scary for them. My message to Fox News viewers is to listen to Steve Perry of Journey and “Don’t stop believing” that nonsense. We really don’t miss having you around.
We had just seen Michael McDermott around Halloween last year do his annual Halloweensteen show where he pays tribute to Bruce Springsteen. It was a great show, and it was free, courtesy of local radio station WXRT, which made the show even greater. But I had never seen McDermott perform his own music. In fact, outside of absolutely loving one of his songs and having heard a few others, I was somewhat unfamiliar with his catalog. So, it was with some trepidation that I bought tickets to see McDermott perform his album Gethsemane on the 30th anniversary of its release.
Well, the gamble paid off. First, his Gethsemane album is a gem from beginning to end. No wonder he was being hailed as the next Dylan. You can listen to the whole album here.
But there have been big changes in McDermott in the 30 years since Gethsemane was released.
I challenge you to say that title 3 times fast. It almost didn’t happen for me. I have been recuperating from a nasty bout of acute bronchitis. Take my word for it that there’s nothing (a)cute about it. I spat something up onto the driveway from the depths of my diseased bronchi and watched in horror as it scurried under my car. I think it has latched onto the undercarriage of my vehicle and is tracking my travels, waiting for an opportunity to pounce.
But I felt just good enough to make the trip into Chicago to meet my oldest son for a concert. Yes, I survived yet another trip into Chicago, aka a crime-infested hellhole per Fox News. I parked on the street for free and had a pleasant walk to City Winery where we had a delightful dinner and saw EXTC in concert.
Before I get to EXTC, I pointed out to my son that the band from his first ever concert would be playing a show soon at City Winery.
He was unimpressed and claims he can’t recall the concert from when he was two years old. Sounds like someone is running from his past rather than embracing it. Anyway, back to last night’s show …
Nobody is exempt from the ravages of time and aging … except maybe for QB Tom Brady. Nobody can cheat death … except maybe for Rolling Stone Keith Richards. I am no exception. As I age, I am finding that even my wrinkles have wrinkles. I get it. We get old. We get gross.
I accept that fact as I go concerting, seeing a mix of new and old acts. The old acts show some mileage and tread wear. That’s right, they look tired. See what I did there? I used some tire analogies and then the word tired?
Editor’s Note: He thinks he’s so clever. He’s not. Those “clever” tire references are nothing more than retread puns. See what I did there?
Anyhoo, Iggy Pop came to town this weekend. I would have liked to see one of the pioneers of punk, but he played the Salt Shed, a new music venue with no seating unless one wants to pay a lot more. I don’t. It’s probably for the best.
If I ever walk around the house without a shirt, my youngest daughter will cry out in despair, “Put a shirt on!” Now I know why. Here’s 75-year old shirtless Iggy on stage at the Salt Shed.
It happens to me twice a year. When the weather turns cold, I gain weight. When the weather warms up, I gain weight. I’m not quite sure why it works that way, but I am sure that it is damn annoying. It’s especially hard to accept in the spring after I have been doing this all winter with slices of pizza.
Springish weather has arrived early in Chicagoland this year (thank God), so I’m trying to get a jump on that weight gain as the seasons change. I don’t ever remember cycling in February before, but I made it out 4 times on my bike last month on my way to a planned 500 miles this season. How far did I get?
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 