Concerts thread: Best/Worst/Next/Last one you attended?

Arcade Fire in Boston in September. Saw one of their recent Euro shows on Twitter...still in shock that after seven years, they've rolled out "In the Backseat" as an encore.

 

On Friday I saw Bonnie Raitt at the Jubilee Auditorium and it was truly one of the best concerts I've seen. Every song was a classic, done her way.
She covers these fantastic songs created by her favourite writers and puts that soulful bluesy spin on them. Her voice sounds as good as ever despite it being dry here in Calgary, which she mentioned a number of times. The lighting was the best I've ever seen at any show and the sound mix was perfect. She's starting a stadium tour in 10 days opening for James Taylor. Her set will be different, I'm sure, but the show here was a great blend of her at her best.
A month ago saw Jason Bonhams Led Zeppelin Experience and I doubt you will find a better Zep cover band. The singer and guitarist were fantastic as was the whole show. Loud. The crowd was into it.
August 17 is Tom Petty in Vancouver.

 

Dwight Yoakam was amazing. I couldn't stop smiling, seeing an absolute icon in a club setting. Opened with a Chuck Berry song, played a bunch of Merle Haggard covers, too.

Next on the schedule is Rodney Crowell at the Telluride Americana Music Fest in July.

 

I will be seeing Tom Petty in Toronto on July 15.

 

Speaking of Petty, saw him at the New Orleans Jazzfest at the end of April. Almost didn't happen. Stormed like a bitch all morning into the early afternoon and the gates to the Fair Grounds didn't open until 3 p.m. But it was worth the wait. He's doing a 40th anniversary tour, and if it wasn't quite as jamming as some Petty shows, he hit most of the high points and trotted out a few obscurities. You'll enjoy it. It's what a professional rock performance ought to look like.

Also saw Widespread Panic for the first time on the Thursday following, preceded by the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars, an occasional gathering of South Louisiana stalwarts led by Tab Benoit, who perform to raise awareness of the vanishing wetlands along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Widespread was very good, but it started to drag after about 1 1/2 hours, plus it was pretty cold (mid-50s with a 25-30 mph wind out of the north), so we bugged out a little early.

 

Hall and Oates and Tears for Fears last night at a sold-out Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

H&O was 90 minutes - I bet to the second - of corporate rock at its finest (Tears for Fears probably played for 70 and got an encore, not always the case for openers)...didn't seem to be any spontaneity for H&O, same set they have played every night, even Darryl Hall's canned stage banter of what a great night it was and how great it was to be in Toronto was greeted half-heartedly....but Hall was in great voice and their band was very solid...Tears for Fears really connected with the fans (and to these ears had a much better sound mix than H&O), their big hits (and a pretty good cover of "Creep") had the place jumping and the reminisced about the shows and venues they had played here over the years, including the filming of the "Head Over Heels" video

Next: Petty at the ACC on July 15, Metallica at the Rogers Centre the next night

 

"Creep" seems well-suited to the style of Tears for Fears, at least in their 80s incarnation. I'll have to look for it on YouTube.

Next: The Revolution — Prince's 1980s band, with some guests — in Seattle, July 15.

 

Just got tickets to U2 with Beck in September.

 

Indianapolis?

 

Phoenix.

It's funny - I'm seeing Jason Isbell two nights earlier in LA because he didn't have a Phoenix date on his tour. He added one after I got the LA tickets... and it's the same night as U2. Dodged a bullet there.

I assume it'll be an almost identical setlist to the show I saw at the Rose Bowl, but that's fine.

 

It was, Roland Orzabal did a great job on the vocal.

This was from last night.

 

I just finished Gregg Allman's autobiography, which included this:

What's the difference between a pig and a musician?

A pig won't fuck a musician.