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

Thanks — how cool would it be to see Gaz and the “lads” tear into “Caught by the Fuzz” next May in the UK? I better start saving my pennies …

 

Also … random SJ.com fun fact: After lurking on here for a few months, I went to create an account in early 2009.

As a huge Rush fan, I wanted to use one of their songs as a handle. But the first two I tried, YYZ and Xanadu, were taken. So it was on to Supergrass, whose CD I just happened to be listening to at the time.

 

Pretty sure Xanadu is Songbird.

Just like Flaghokie is Cosmo.

 

As I get older, I guess this event last night counts as a concert: "Remember When Rock Was Young: The Elton John Experience."

So you get a pretty good Elton John imitator (Craig A. Meyer) who sings, plays piano and even physically resembles Elton. A four-piece rock band with two ladies on backing vocals (one of whom did the obligatory Kiki Dee duet part). All backed by the local symphony orchestra.

The result? An enjoyable night out with Mrs. Coco, who has seen Elton John himself a couple times in the past two decades. Unfortunately, I did not make either of those shows, and with the real Elton retired, this is as close as I'll get.

Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding worked really well with the orchestra, as did a couple of other songs actually recorded and/or performed with one (Philadelphia Freedom and Tiny Dancer). Take Me to the Pilot, a relative deep cut, also was stretched out a bit allowing the orchestra to show off.

 

Saw my musical lighthouse for the 20th time last night: Paul Weller. For a 66 year old - hell for a 36 year old - his pipes sounded great and his 6-piece backing band was tight. He spoke more than I’ver heard him before, and he was clearly in good spirits. It was the last show of his North American tour and he had his wife and kids just off the stage. Of the 33 songs he played, 7 were from his 2 most recent albums and the crowd was happy with the choices.
The show was at the historic Orpheum Theater on Broadway downtown, which I hadn’t visited since its renovation. Great place, can’t wait to go again (my next show is The The at the Shrine dumpatorium.)

 

One of the best parts of catching some of the old-timers' concerts is when they tell stories from years gone by. Roger McGuinn and John Sebastian come to mind. Years ago we stumbled into a concert featuring Roy Bookbinder. He sang some folk songs, but the best part of the show was when he recalled hanging out with Dave Van Ronk and working as a chauffeur (and guitar protege) for The Rev. Gary Davis.

 

I saw him two nights earlier in Anaheim. I've been a huge fan for 40+ years but never saw him until now. He was absolutely great. (And I was right up at the front, which didn't hurt.) The band is terrific and the setlist was wonderful. I damn near teared up watching him play "That's Entertainment" -- I've loved that song since I was too young to drive.

The night before that I saw Father John Misty at Pappy and Harriet's, a western saloon in the middle of nowhere near Joshua Tree. Just an incredibly cool experience, seeing him in a small place outdoors in the middle of the desert. Great, great show.

My feet and back weren't terribly thrilled with me, going to two standing-only shows on back to back nights. Still, totally worth it.

 

@TigerVols, tell The The to play “Hanky Panky” in its entirety. No dancing on top of the Chrysler Building this time.

 

Wow, killer set list. indeed. I know he's got quite a catalogue but to me, "That's Entertainment" is the best thing he's ever done, the version on Dig The New Breed is damn near perfect.

 

Saw the Billy Joel/Sting concert last week in St. Louis. Love them both and have seen both several times. The pairing is what drew us out this time.

Probably a 3-hour concert, and the setlist shows they played 40 songs total, so no complaints there. If anything was a letdown, it was that they only performed 2 songs together.

But well worth the $$$.

 

What songs did they play together on?

 

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic started the show, then later on it was Big Man on Mulberry Street, which Joel said he wrote with Sting in mind.