Ghost, Opeth and Mastodon last night. Great show, even if I'm not as familiar w/the catalogs as I'd like.

Ghost opened - I've heard a fair bit about them, but had never actually heard them. Very melodic - more old-school metal than the cookie monster vocals so in vogue now. Picked up the CD today (didn't have the money to get it last night because of another purchase). Apparently they're a satanic metal band, but you couldn't have told at the show because the vocals didn't come through all that clearly. Not sure if it's a problem w/me or if the mixes are just that bad. But Opeth's vocals were pretty clear, so I'm going to take the usual musician route and blame the sound guy.

Opeth was awesome. The set tended towards the most recent stuff - more proggy than cookie. Mikael Akkerfeldt (if I spelled that even close to correctly) has a wicked sense of humor. Somebody (an idiot) yelled for "Freebird". Akkerfeldt said, "Freebird? What's that? Wouldn't it freak you out if we actually played it? Actually, this next song is based on 'Freebird'. And 'Working For MCA'. And 'They Call Me The Breeze'. See, I know." Later, before they played some early stuff, he said, "We're going to play a song now in the style we became known for." There was a loud cheer, and he said, "Oh, so you're fans of Swedish a cappella vocals? That's good, because this song goes on for two days." Before the last song, he said, "We have time for one more, then it's time for MASTODON! But first, this is a masterpiece by me." The reason I ran out of cash (besides paying cash for the ticket) was that I bought the Opeth CD bag they were selling - a pretty cool Opeth tote with the 3-disc version of Lamentations, the deluxe edition of Blackwater Park, and Damnation and Deliverance. All for $50.

Mastodon was very good - very tight. Very little crowd interaction, though. Focused on The Hunter - they played the whole album, but not in order. Surprisingly, the crowd was noticeably thinner when Mastodon took the stage than it was for Opeth. That surprised me a bit.

Alan

On my birthday this June, the family is taking me to SUMMERLAND at Mandalay Bay. That's the tour featuring:
Everclear
Sugar Ray
Gin Blossoms
Lit
Marcy Playground

What, the Spin Doctors were busy?

Looks like a good time with the family!

The 90's are now the oldies!

Bruce Springsteen tickets go on sale Friday for his September concerts at NJ's MetLife Stadium (where the Jets and Giants play).

I won't be going but I figured I;d let everyone know who wants to go.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/1233/860453

Grabbed some $10 seats for the annual Vegas JuneFest. This year's acts:

Commodores
Romantics
Eddie Money

Just picked up 2 tickets (for me and Jimbo) to see RUSH in Brooklyn this Fall!!!!

The Barclay Center is a brand new arena in downtown Brooklyn that will be the home of the now NY Nets!

It will be nice to see the inside of this new arena (and possible future home of the NY Islanders).

You mean BROOKLYN Nets!

I'm jealous. Enjoy the show and the new arena!

Going to see Matthew Sweet tonight at the Triple Door in Seattle (which is an awesome venue - it's all booths and tables and they serve Thai food).

He's doing a "Girlfriend" 20th anniversary tour, playing the whole album, followed by other favorites. Should be great!

Hope you enjoy the show, Hank. We saw him play live this past October, and he performed a "Girlfriend" mini-set (including "Winona" ), and a few new numbers. His current band sounds good, and his voice is still in fine form.

The first Matthew Sweet concert I caught was back in 1995, and he was incredible live (except, oddly enough, for the song "Girlfriend" which was played waaaaayyy too fast). The opening act, Juliana Hatfield , was body-surfing the crowd during Matthew's set !!

Love that album! Have a great time!

It's the missus' birthday weekend so Friday night we have Ray Manzarek/Robbie Krieger at Aliante Station and then Saturday the whole family sees Jerry Seinfeld at Caesar's!

Next weekend it's Ted Nugent/Styx/REO at Planet Hollywood.

My summer vacation is planned......
Ray Davies in Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland

Picked up tickets for 10cc in NYC on July 13th for me and Jimbo!! First appearance in 20 years.

This one is a surprise, didn't ever know if I would ever see one of my favorite bands in concert. I've been a fan since the very first 10cc album which had the hit "Rubber Bullets".

Kevin Cronin went to my HS...graduated way before me, I never new him, though.

OK, I think I now owe John about $35,000 for tickets to upcoming concerts!

It's only $$$$.

I'd think by now they'd just let you guys in for free.

Would love to see any incarnation of 10cc!

So is there a difference in when the Rush "Fan Site" pre-sale tickets go on sale and when the Citi-card pre-sale tickets do? I'm assuming I can still get tickets through the fan site even if I don't have a Citi card.

So did Jimmy Pardo, the comedian who warms up the crowd at the Conan show. They tease him about it on Bob & Tom whenever he's on. And about his height, of which he has very little.

The Cronin teasing comes about because Pardo told Cronin they went to the same school and he kind of played it off. I can't remember if it was actually on the show or not, but I think it was and they put Cronin up to it.

Alan

These days it pays to have at least on Citi card (I have several). Sometimes I get in early with a Citi card and sometimes with my AMEX card.

We got excellent seats to see RUSH at a reasonable price considering the venue and the proximity to the stage.

Should be an awesome night!