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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2025 7:43 pm 
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Boney Fingers Jones

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Checked for a cheap-ish ticket for GHOST at Madison Square Garden and found one under $100 and not far from the stage! SeatGeek to the rescue.
Wasn’t planning on going but at that price and the fact they are doing one of my favorite songs “Darkness At The Heart Of My Love” and also “He Is”, I am going. :headbanger:

Anyone else seen this tour?

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2025 9:25 am 
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JohnG wrote:
Checked for a cheap-ish ticket for GHOST at Madison Square Garden and found one under $100 and not far from the stage! SeatGeek to the rescue.
Wasn’t planning on going but at that price and the fact they are doing one of my favorite songs “Darkness At The Heart Of My Love” and also “He Is”, I am going. :headbanger:

Anyone else seen this tour?

There wasn't a Toronto date for this one, but I strongly encourage going to see Ghost. good times.


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2025 2:53 pm 
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Boney Fingers Jones

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GHOST was awesome, great sound and visuals, totally on top of their game!

No cell phones allowed so no pics but you can only imagine what a show it was, even included fireworks and fire like KISS.

I had a great seat side stage with a nice view of all the fun! And yes Tobias mentioned Ozzy and we all chanted his name for a minute, made me emotional I have to say.

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2025 3:09 pm 
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Tuesday night at the Budweiser stage for another 70s icon I’d never seen before – Rod Stewart. I wasn’t sure about going, but on the day that Ozzy Osbourne passed, it helped to reinforce the fact that getting to see these musicians before they call it a day has been a good idea. Better to go and not have a great time, than to regret not going.

I knew I was going to have to suffer through some songs; but I was not really expecting a full Vegas show. Since I’m not the biggest fan of Sir Rod, I had no idea what to expect from his stage show, but it was something. A really good 4 piece band (keys, drums, bass, guitar), supported by 6 quite lovely young women doing the matching outfit and moves thing – a vocal trio, and 3 traditional multi-instrumentalists (harp, fiddle, drum, xylophone) and who all got their chance to shine during the 105 minute set. And multiple gaudy wardrobe changes, both for Rod, and the girls.

The most frustrating thing for me – not being a Rod Stewart fan girl in the late 70s / early 80s – is that I could tell that there was still an emotive singer attached to the blues, soul, and R&B of his youth in there. Some of his performances – The First Cut is the Deepest, Forever Young (dedicated to Ozzy), It Takes Two (with one of the singers gamely trying to cover for Tina) – connected. Ooh La La was the only Faces tune we got, but it was good. Maggie May was also strong, but more up tempo live. You’re In My Heart was a love song to Celtic.

Of course, we got the “disco” songs – Infatuation as an opener, Do You Think I’m Sexy and Hot Legs as the closers– but the crowd really liked them. I’m not sure Rod did – very by the numbers. And I do like that he had the backing singers sing the chorus to Do You Think I’m Sexy, solving one of the concerns I had. But it had the most jarring transition I’ve ever seen as the song before – Rhythm of My Heart – was dedicated to Ukraine, and full of war imagery on the video screens, before jumping immediately into Do You Think I’m Sexy? Not great

Speaking of the back up singers, they did 2 songs without Rod – covers of Lady Marmalade (really not my thing), and Proud Mary, which was okay. They used the Turner arrangement of Proud Mary and highlighted her talent again; it took 3 energetic vocalists on different parts of the song to try (and fail) to match Tina’s performance.

Rod also did 3 non-standard covers – Etta James’ I’d Rather Go Blind, Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ and Tumblin, and The O’Jays’ Love Train. The first two were okay, but the last one was by far the worst song of the night. I also wasn’t fond of his take on It’s a Heartache, but that’s because it’s such an iconic song for Bonnie Tyler. And thankfully, we didn’t get his version of Donna Summers’ Hot Stuff, which an earlier tour date had.

His encore was Some Guys have All the Luck, followed by a really political Pro Canada / Anti-Trump video to send the crowd home very happy. Me? I’m glad I saw him, and some of it was okay. But there were some songs I actively disliked, but I knew that was going to happen when I bought the ticket.

Openers Cheap Trick put on another solid set that covered the usual bases. We did get their cover of Ain’t That a Shame this time, and the crowd participation in I Want You to Want Me was definitely lacking, but they still sounded good. Unfortunately, though, the signs are there that they are getting old. A drum solo 15 minutes in, a bass solo at 30 minutes, taking a couple minutes before starting the Flame. Zander still sounds good, but it’s not effortless anymore, and while Neilson still plays well, he’s developed the old man shuffle instead of striding about since I saw them last.

Setlist, spoiled for length
Spoiler: show
Infatuation
Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)
It's a Heartache
It Takes Two
The First Cut Is the Deepest
Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
Forever Young
Ooh La La
Young Turks
Maggie May
I'd Rather Go Blind
Rollin' and Tumblin'
Lady Marmalade
Mandolin Wind
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
Have I Told You Lately
Proud Mary
Love Train
Rhythm of My Heart
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Hot Legs
Encore:
Some Guys Have All the Luck


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2025 3:15 pm 
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Boney Fingers Jones

Joined: 03 Aug 2006
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Location: Sunny Massapequa Park, NY
Great review Jason, you know who I have never seen? Rod the Mod!

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Jul 27, 2025 10:52 am 
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Boney Fingers Jones

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From the Jones Beach website:

Click for full size

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Jul 27, 2025 12:05 pm 
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JohnG wrote:
Great review Jason, you know who I have never seen? Rod the Mod!

Thanks; I'm not hugely familiar with the Mod movement, but if it was anything like what was displayed in the Quadrophenia movie, I'm pretty sure I haven't either...


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 3:47 pm 
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Saw Iggy Pop last night in his natural element: broad daylight. I last saw him with the Stooges twenty years ago which was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t quite as energetic now that he’s almost eighty, but still rocked the no shirt and leather pants look, even if his nipples are now down around his waist. Three quarters of the set was Stopges and solo recognizable songs and he finished with the track from the new Superman movie, which Iggy claims to have not seen. Actually, he finished with Louie Louie, which he said was required since he was in Seattle. Good concert.

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 12:18 pm 
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Friday night at Scotiabank Arena, for the return of one of the seminal bands of the early 2000s, Linkin Park. Of course, since they were last here more than a decade ago, they lost the band’s emotional heart, and another member decided he couldn’t come back as a result. But there was too much desire, talent and will in the members who were left to leave it alone forever, and so they carefully brought in a new co-lead singer, released a new album that showcased her skills, and finally hit the road.

The decision to hire Emily Armstrong has been controversial due to some offstage positions – and the fact that they brought back the Linkin Park name at all has upset some people. But onstage, she certainly has the musical chops, both as a singer, and as the screamer of the band. And while the comparisons to Chester Bennington are inevitable, I think as people get used to her and some of the early songs can safely be eased out of the set, that will fade. On the older material (IMO), it ranged from just as good (Faint, Where I Belong, New Divide), to strong cover version (Numb especially but also Bleed It Out and In the End), to her only “nope” decision, where she completely let the crowd take the lyrics to Crawling. But on most of the new material, she sounded incredibly strong and like she was in 3 different bands; Casualty is a hardcore punk song, Up From the Bottom is country-ish, and both the Emptiness Machine and Heavy is the Crown – my favourite song of the night , with an incredible ending howl from Emily - fit the Linkin Park mold perfectly.

For most of that creative variety, I credit Mike Shinoda, who definitely struck me as the driving force of the band; guitarist, keyboards, singer, and rapper. A great songwriter able to tailor his songs to his partner’s strengths, while still giving the other musicians the opportunity to shine.

For me going in - without a real emotional attachment to the band – I thought they were a decent modern nu metal band with a lot of mainstream crossover appeal, who’s songs of isolation and anger were meant for someone I’d stopped being years before they broke out. But seeing them live with an audience a generation younger than me? They were the voices for the voiceless – the freaks, the outcasts, and the lost; the kind of shelter that Nirvana was; the absolute peak of a relationship between artists and their fans. One of the biggest cheers of the night came between songs, as the cameras showed a fan holding a sign that said “thank you for being there when no one else was”. And how the crowd did roar.

After seeing them live, they deserve all the accolades, and the sales, and fans, and the right to keep doing whatever they want to do, how they want to do it. If they stick together, it will be a strong new chapter for Linkin Park

Opening act PVRIS was the kind of opening act I sometimes like – musically similar to the headliner, but doing their own thing, and not afraid to be themselves. I don’t feel the need to run out and buy anything of theirs, but for a 45 minute opening set, they were high energy and put on a decent show.

Full set list, spoiled for length
Spoiler: show
Somewhere I Belong
Lying From You
Crawling
New Divide
The Emptiness Machine
Creation Intro A
The Catalyst
Burn It Down
Up From the Bottom
Where'd You Go
Waiting for the End
Castle of Glass
Two Faced
Joe Hahn Solo
Empty Spaces
When They Come for Me / Remember the Name
Casualty
One Step Closer
Break/Collapse
Lost
Over Each Other
What I've Done
Kintsugi
Overflow
Numb
From the Inside
Heavy Is the Crown
Bleed It Out

ENCORE
Resolution Intro A
Papercut
In the End
Faint


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 12:41 pm 
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Boney Fingers Jones

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Nice review, I’ve seen Linkin Park with Chester multiple times with my son over the years and was lucky to see Chester up close at NYC’s Irving Plaza when he was part of the Kings Of Chaos Tour. Not sure if I would see Linkin Park without Chester but I’m glad they still are out there.
They did play the Barclay’s in Brooklyn a week ago but I had my daughters wedding that weekend.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Chaos_(band)

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 4:54 pm 
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JohnG wrote:
Checked for a cheap-ish ticket for GHOST at Madison Square Garden and found one under $100 and not far from the stage! SeatGeek to the rescue.
Wasn’t planning on going but at that price and the fact they are doing one of my favorite songs “Darkness At The Heart Of My Love” and also “He Is”, I am going. :headbanger:

Anyone else seen this tour?

I’ll be seeing it later this week.


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 7:15 pm 
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JohnG wrote:
Nice review, I’ve seen Linkin Park with Chester multiple times with my son over the years and was lucky to see Chester up close at NYC’s Irving Plaza when he was part of the Kings Of Chaos Tour. Not sure if I would see Linkin Park without Chester but I’m glad they still are out there.
They did play the Barclay’s in Brooklyn a week ago but I had my daughters wedding that weekend.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Chaos_(band)

Never saw them with Chester; by the time i was thinking about catching them, they hadn't done anything for a while, and then everything happened. so this was my first real opportunity since I expanded my concert going..


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 7:18 pm 
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In any collaborative art, one of the great speculations is what each artist brings to the group. And last night, we got a great example of that in action, as the guitar section of Aerosmith took to the stage with the rhythm section from Stone Temple Pilots and the lead singer for the Black Crowes under the long existing but rarely used banner of the Joe Perry Project for his first appearance in Toronto in 13 years.

Left to Perry and Whitford to define the feeling of the set, it’s obvious that they and I share the opinion of the material Aerosmith has released since their 1987 rebirth; we can do without it. Focusing on songs draw from their 70s heyday through 1985’s Done With Mirrors, it was a hard rocking slice of what made Aerosmith America’s answer to the British Rock invasion

They opened with the JPP’s biggest hit – Let the Music Do the Talking (I don’t know which lyric set they used), before following it up with My Fist, Your Face. I was then ecstatic to get Mama Kin, which has been my favourite Aerosmith song for decades. After a couple more deep cuts, we got the first of two Black Crowes songs. Chris told about the feeling he got in 1990 when opening for Aerosmith on the Pump tour, Joe would stick the guitar riff for this song in his solo, and it made him go <insert mind blown noises>. And now, playing it with him, it still makes him go <insert mind blown noises>. And Perry certainly delivered on Twice as Hard, giving the song a swampy Mississippi Delta feel without losing its rock bite. A great take on the song.

The band followed that up with Fortune One, cowritten by Joe and Chris a couple years ago. But after that we got to the low point of the evening. God bless him, Chris Robinson has a great blues rock voice, a showman’s persona on stage, and has written multiple classic songs. But he really can’t sing like Scott Weiland; the vocal tone is all wrong. Worse, 4 shows into the tour, he’s still working off a teleprompter for the lyrics to Interstate Love Song. So while I get they wanted to include songs from every band, this performance was not good. Vaseline a couple songs later was slightly better, but still not great, and jarring for a couple of grunge songs in the middle of all this blues rock.

Brad Whitford took the guitar lead on the other Black Crowes song of the night, Jealous Again. And while the work was good, I discovered that on that song, having a good guitarist play the same notes in the same time signature, it can still feel off. Didn’t feel that way on Twice as Hard but definitely missed Mark’s playing on this one.

After Bright Light Fright, we built to the powerhouse conclusion of the evening. Whitford ripped on Last Child – seeing them live in a big bar, not from halfway down the football field 35 years ago really helped highlight what each guitarist does on the Aerosmith catalogue, and after all this time, they work together seamlessly. Alternating leads, double rhythm, synchronized riffs. Though a different genre, it was way closer to what Judas Priest does than what Angus and Malc did, or Keef and his partners do.

Chip Away the Stone also kicked a lot of ass, rocking guitars, a great vocal, and an audience that was all over it; an Aerosmith deep cut that anchored the Pandora’s Box release. It also helped highlight that in this case, their old stuff was better. And then the chose to Draw the Line and close the main set.

After a short break, we then got the same two songs that Steven Tyler did at the Ozzy tribute concert; Train Kept A Rollin’ was another audience singalong, but the guitar interplay was the real highlight. They can both still really go, and live, the song has so much more energy than the studio version. After that, we got Walk this Way, almost perfunctorily; Joe’s vibe said “we have to, but I’m kind of tired of this”. A good performance but lacked the fire of most of the rest of the Aerosmith songs. And Chris was just okay, but that’s more an issue of Steven’s performance on this being so iconic.

They didn’t play all my favourite Aerosmith songs, but they played a lot of them. And I understand the choices – Dream On and Sweet Emotion are the band’s early ballads; Back in the Saddle is the band’s road anthem. Same Old Song and Dance is being used on this tour but doesn’t really fit – it’s not the same old thing - and Toys in the Attic was the title track from their breakout album. But looking at the Aerosmith sets over the last 20 years, I still think I got more of the songs that I like than if I’d actually seen Aerosmith as I intended before Tyler’s injury. So overall, it was a great night, with a couple of bumps.

Opener Charlie Edward is an emerging talent on the Toronto retro rock scene; struts like Freddy, sounds like Jason McMaster from Dangerous Toys, plays like George Lynch from Dokken, and writes middle of the road rock songs like Bon Jovi. I’m not sure he’s earned the persona he’s adopted, and he’s got to develop some musical depth, but at least his parents played him some rock music growing up.


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2025 11:22 am 
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A rainy Tuesday saw 79 year old legend Neil Young take the stage with his new backing band the Chrome Hearts for 2 hours and 15 minutes of a career spanning view of one of the most important careers in Canadian music history. And while I was intensely disappointed to yet again not hear Rockin’ in the Free World, he still played a lot of classic songs with force. Even if I’m not sure he walked 100 steps on stage.

With such a deep catalogue, it took a few songs to get one of the hits, but I’m the Ocean and Be the Rain were both really good songs before he launched into Cinnamon Girl for the first real crowd pop of the night. There are few times now that I’m on the young side of the average crowd now, but this was one of them. He followed up Cinnamon Girl with Southern Man and then Mr. Soul from his time in Buffalo Springfield. All of which were done well. The anti-Trump sentiment wasn’t really overt, but fairly constant in the set. But his anger keeps him young. After doing Tumbleweed on the ukulele, the band did a great job on Ohio. But it was Harvest Moon a couple songs later that got the crowd on their feet for the first time. I knew Harvest Moon was a big comeback hit for him, but that still surprised me.

After some more songs I wasn’t familiar with, he closed the main set with a great version of Like a Hurricane – which seemed apropos as the rain intensified to its worst part of the evening – Name of Love, and Old Man.

After a longer than normal encore break (he doesn’t move real quick anymore), he gave us This Note’s for You – no doubt a rebellion about being at the Budweiser Stage – and his timeless rock anthem of Hey, Hey, My My (Into the Black) to close out the night, setting the audience free to move out from cover into the much needed rain.

As I said, I was disappointed not to get Rockin’ in the Free World, but in the grand scheme of things, the songs I did get were objectively just as classic, highlighting just how long and how deeply Neil Young has fought against those issues which he feels need fighting.

I skipped the opening acts – Reverend Billy is a faux revival preacher minstrel show focused on Environmental causes, and Astrid Young took to the stage at 7 pm, which was too early to make for someone I don’t know.

Full setlist, spoiled
Spoiler: show
Ambulance Blues
Cowgirl in the Sand
I'm the Ocean
Be the Rain
Cinnamon Girl
Southern Man
Mr. Soul
Tumbleweed
Ohio
Looking Forward
One of These Days
Harvest Moon
Daddy Went Walkin'
New Mama
Sun Green
Like a Hurricane
Name of Love
Old Man

ENCORE:
This Note's for You
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2025 12:37 pm 
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Friday night in the Cavernous Rogers Centre (with the roof closed) for My Chemical Romance’s full concert playthrough of their seminal album The Black Parade, with support from the Pixies. Going in, I knew the band’s big singles, but was not intimately familiar with the whole album, or much of their other catalogue. But given their reputation as one of the biggest bands of the 2000’s, I decided to go see them.

I was expecting a kind of smash up of pop punk, emo, and some hardcore, and I did get that – in the second half of their set. What I was not expecting was realizing that The Black Parade itself is basically Orwell’s 1984 for Swifties. A pop zeitgeist of a rock album that crossed over into the teen girl crowd in a big way. I was also expecting an audience in their 30s – it’s a 20 year old album after all – but the crowd was in their mid 20s. So obviously, The Black Parade has become timeless for a certain type of fan.

The performance of the concept album itself was great, with its militaristic imagery (the faux uniform look was everywhere), the crowd was hooked on every word – and the band’s sound was very good. Its performance included a fairly graphic mock firing squad pyro scene early on and ended with him being stabbed to death and overthrown at the end by a clown. The clown later blew himself up with a pyro rigged suicide vest, and it did manage to shock me in its imagery. The Wall for the 21st Century, but written from Citizen Kane’s POV.

But, in my opinion, the audience seemed to be missing the irony, and the warning – in the live setting, it became clear to me that he’s the bad guy. The Black Parade song itself is about how to gain authoritarian power through control of the masses, not about becoming a champion of the downfallen (“the broken, the beaten and the damned”). House of Wolves is about the lack of trust required to keep your position; Teenagers is a warning about who you need to watch out for – meant to encourage the audience to be those kinds of teens. And Disenchanted, which the crowd screamed along to, is a love song with literally nothing to say. It’s a warning about watching for those who disenfranchise people and keeping them numb to it. And the fact that there is no rage anywhere to be found highlights that it’s from the oppressor’s – not the oppressed’s – point of view. Forget the political anger of Neil Young or Rage Against the Machine, it lacks the undirected frustration and anger of Slipknot or much of Linkin Park’s work. It’s an amazing piece of art, though, with way more subtext than I expected for a California pop punk band

After a break where they moved to the small central B stage, they then played more of the kind of music I was expecting – the pop punk / hard rock mix with overly emotive lyrical delivery that came to be called emo. Not really my thing – I prefer anger to whining, but I’m Not Okay, Helena and The Ghost of You were all decent songs. And Closer Na Na Na Na had the crowd going home happy. Well, as happy as I suspect MCR fans can get.

The don’t have a consistent opening act on this tour, but for Toronto, we got the Pixies, and I was quite happy for it. On the early 90s atmosphere alternative rock bands, they succeeded in capturing that stoner vibe with a tinge of darkness that was prevalent in that era. While Where is my mind and Wave of Mutilation were the expected draws going in – it was the hard slap in the face reminder of the opening chords and first lyrics of dark obsessions song Cactus that reminded my why the Pixies had been on my want to see list for some time.


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2025 1:51 pm 
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Puppy Monkey Alan!

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Friday night was Kansas and Jefferson Starship.

First time for seeing JS (not to be confused with Mickey Thomas's Starship, which has also been around here recently). I was never a huge fan, but I liked a few songs. About all I knew about the band was that Grace Slick was no longer with them and Marty Balin was dead. They came out with no bass player, doing the Doors thing with Chris Smith covering that on keyboards. Cathy Richardson may not have the legend that Grace Slick does, but she was excellent all night, as was David Freiberg. They opened with "Find Your Way Back", which I'd kind of forgotten about. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was one I'd completely forgotten about. They did "We Built This City", which I expected, and a couple going back to Jefferson Airplane, "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love". I was a little stunned that they did "Runaway" and "Miracles" without Marty Balin, but I was very glad to hear them. The big shock was that they did "Jane", with Freiberg covering the lead vocals and doing an outstanding job period, without even considering that he's 86 (a couple weeks away from 87). And they tossed in a snippet of "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" because the drummer played on it. When this tour was announced, I was initially disappointed that JS was the opener because other shows had the Outlaws or Blue Oyster Cult, but I didn't walk out disappointed - they were a very pleasant surprise.

Friday was the first Kansas show since Rich Williams announced he was stepping back from touring, and the first show since Scott Bernard was announced as an official member. With Phil Ehart still recovering, that made this the first Kansas show I've seen with no original members. The performance and setlist were both great, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little different vibe, but that was more on me than anything. I will give Ronnie Platt credit - he never referred to "us" or "our" when talking about the earlier Kansas music, like some bands do. All his references were on the order of "this goes back to the first album" or "this was the first Kansas song that hit". That's a pet peeve of mine - I hate when a singer says something like "this goes back to our first album" and doesn't mention that it was recorded 15 years before he was in the band. Slightly shorter show than the 50th anniversary tour - 90 minutes - but hit all the highlights, including a few deep cut favorites.

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2025 3:22 pm 
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Sunday night at the new 50,000 person temporary stadium at Downsview Park for one of the biggest concert events of the season – Oasis’s reunion and first North American show in 17 years. And for a lot of people around me, this was a lifetime in the making. GnR called their reunion tour Not in this Lifetime, but it also fit for the wildest and most out of control band of the 1990s.

While it was certainly an event, it wasn’t a spectacle. When compared to recent shows from Linkin Park, or My Chemical Romance, the Gallagher boys brought a stripped down, simple performance, dominated by a massive video screen that they used to project the band and visuals related to the songs they played. There wasn’t a huge amount of crowd chatter, and almost no intra-band interplay, but what they had going for them was the ability to wash away 30 years of history for the fans, and bandage over 20 years of warfare between the brothers to give the fans something they never thought they’d get to see.

And while they are older, their performance style and ability hasn’t changed one bit – Noel’s playing and straight-ahead vocal delivery, Liam at the mic, hands behind his back belting out the songs. I can see the reason for complaints from certain types of rock critics – minimal interpretation or differing arrangements, minimal interplay, just the catalogue, performed flawlessly. And the set itself – dominated by their first two albums – was full of classic material.

After opener Hello, and Acquiescence, we got the first big song – and my favourite track – Morning Glory. I love the vocal performance in it, and it has a rockier edge. Not being a huge Oasis fan, Cigarettes and Alcohol was a surprise song, a kick ass track that the crowd was super hyped for. They followed that up with Fade Away and Supersonic – both really well done – before moving into a section from their later albums. For me, it was time to go get another bevvie and get back to my place. I didn’t miss hearing anything, but it was a bit of a hike. Do You Know What I Mean was another mid set highlight amongst some “newer” songs

The rain started somewhere during Cast No Shadow, and we got an honest-to-God quip from Liam about “here’s your little bit of chaos from Oasis” and “As for the rain, don’t worry we’re from Manchester”, he pulled his hood up and kept going. After a couple more songs, they closed out the main set with Live Forever, and Rock and Roll star.

They did some stage work before the encore, drying some things off, but after Masterplan, we got all 3 of the big ballads. And when I say big, I mean massive – tracks that dominated rock for more than a year; Don’t Look Back in Anger (much better live than on the album), Wonderwall – with the crowd singing the choruses instead of Liam – and closer Champagne Supernova, ending with a brief fireworks show. A quick wave from the guys, Liam’s thanks for supporting this f*cking band and given them a chance to come back; they know it’s not easy, a quick wave from Noel, and it was time to zombie shuffle to the subway.

Openers Cage the Elephant put on a decent show, with big hit Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked, and lesser hit Cigarette Dreams anchoring their 11 song set. They’re an okay band, but kind of bland.

Barring some sort of festival, I don’t think I’ll feel the need to see Oasis again; the performances were great, but by the numbers. Given their live reputation, I’m not sure seeing them again, the performances would be any different. High quality, memorable, but not mine. And so while I’ve seen another band who was at one time was the biggest rock band in the world, they won’t join the list of mandatory repeat acts


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2025 4:29 pm 
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I saw Neil Young in Chicago last night. It was a great show. Having seen him quite a few times since he toured with International Harvesters in early-mid 80's, I was not sure how he'd be holding up, but was very happy.

With Chicago next on the hit list there was quite the overwhelming positive response to the new song he apparently wrote in yesterday's sound-check and premiered last night: 'Big Crime'.
As a song its 'okay' by Neil's standards - which is not a bad thing. Kindda like 'Big Change' - some great lines with a very simple, to-the-point chorus. No subtlety at all, which is perfect. Not going to win any awards, but not the point.
What was amazing was the reaction. The videos do not give it justice. It received one of the most significant applauses of the night. It was as if the audience released a collective pressure valve: 'about damn time, call it as it is'.

A lot of other highlights throughout the night.

And of course, another beautiful, peaceful and joyous night in the city.


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2025 9:09 pm 
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Boney Fingers Jones

Joined: 03 Aug 2006
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Location: Sunny Massapequa Park, NY
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Thrilled I got to see the final show ever of The Who at MSG (where they played their 36th concert). A very long history of The WHO and the Garden and NYC, a real love affair. It really is the only place to see The Who. They always deliver in that building and we were treated to Long Live Rock (not played since 2014).

I’ve been seeing them since Sept 1979 where I saw them at the Garden for the first time and that show remains one of my favorites of all time. That’s the one where Pete cut his hand and had to leave to be taken care of and instead of the group leaving the stage, Roger continued on without Pete and saved the day. Ab libbing at its finest!

If this was good bye forever then it was a fitting farewell. :)

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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2025 10:29 am 
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Joined: 22 Aug 2004
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Location: Toronto
JohnG wrote:
Thrilled I got to see the final show ever of The Who at MSG (where they played their 36th concert). A very long history of The WHO and the Garden and NYC, a real love affair. It really is the only place to see The Who. They always deliver in that building and we were treated to Long Live Rock (not played since 2014).

I’ve been seeing them since Sept 1979 where I saw them at the Garden for the first time and that show remains one of my favorites of all time. That’s the one where Pete cut his hand and had to leave to be taken care of and instead of the group leaving the stage, Roger continued on without Pete and saved the day. Ab libbing at its finest!

If this was good bye forever then it was a fitting farewell. :)

Glad you had a good time. One of these years, I'll make it to MSG for a show. Did Pete make his crack about dropping My Generation from their set when they turned 25 because they thought they were getting too old for it?


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2025 10:32 am 
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Location: Toronto
My last concert review was about a group of hooligans who came out of England 30 years ago like a Supernova to become one of the biggest bands of their generation. Well, 30 years before that, another band of hooligans came out of England, the loudest of the British Invasion, warning parents that not everything was all right with their generation. And they became one of the biggest bands of any generation. Tuesday marked the second to last time that Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend will bring the Maximum R&B of The Who to Toronto, and it was a fairly emotional night for a lot of the people in attendance.

Of course, without the rhythm section heart of the band, it’s not the same as it was, but the brain and the voice are still there, bringing classic after classic, and showing why, some 60 years after their first album, they could fill multiple nights at a 15,000 amphitheatre. While Pete has slowed down physically, it’s added some depth to his playing. But the real eye-opener was Daltry, who’s powerful vocals and range is still there. Absolutely amazing for a man in his 80s. Amazing for a man half that.

The main part of the set moved in cycles – play some classic hits, a deeper track, a bunch of songs from a rock opera, more classic hits, another rock opera, then more classic hits, before closing with a couple of slower parting songs, and gratitude.

I was happy that it wasn’t a replica of the last set I saw in 2016; openers I Can’t Explain and Substitute were new live hits for me, as was the Real Me later on. Deeper cuts Long Live Rock, Cry If You Want, and Going Mobile proved there was still more music to discover. Tommy gave us Pinball Wizard, See Me, Feel Me, and a chunk of Listening to You; Quadrophenia gave us The Real Me, I’m One, 5:15, and Roger’s vocal powerhouse performance of Love Reign O’er Me. There aren’t a lot of bands whose mid set “lull” of songs are as big as Behind Blue Eyes, Eminence Front, and first single My Generation.

After the quad from Quad, they played a great version of Won’t Get Fooled Again – with that iconic powerful howl from Roger – and ended the main set with Baba O’Reilly. After the introductions of the band, they played the Song is Over, the band exited and left the two original members alone to finish up with Tea & Theatre. It wasn’t a melancholy finish to the night, but a reflective one. They thanked Toronto for their years of support and left the stage.

Over the last few years, I’ve seen several nostalgia acts; this wasn’t that. They weren’t going through the motions, they were closing out of the iconic careers in rock and roll by giving everyone what they wanted.

As an opening act, the Who (from their perspective) gave a 50 minute opportunity to up and coming local act, 72 year old Order of Canada member Tom Cochrane. Still supported by Ken Greer and Jeff Jones of Red Ryder among others, they gave us a 7 song overview of their own hall of fame career. They opened with Boy Inside the Man and Big League, before playing Sinking Like a Sunset as, well, the sun set at the amphitheatre. After doing a kick ass version of Red Ryder’s first single White Hot, they invited another local guitarist out to join them for the rest of the set – Alex Lifeson. Having a third guitar on Human Race added depth; he and Ken traded the solo in my favourite song Lunatic Fringe, before they closed with the impossible to ignore song of the summer in 1992, Life Is a Highway.

Tom’s lost a little of his wind, but still moves around on stage well, and he was stoked to be opening for The Who. After all, who wouldn’t be? Honestly, I think they added him to juice local ticket sales a bit, but you add these two acts together, and that’s 3 ½ hours of hall of fame worthy material; not bad for a Tuesday.


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 Post subject: Concerts 2025
PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2025 11:50 am 
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Boney Fingers Jones

Joined: 03 Aug 2006
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Location: Sunny Massapequa Park, NY


Nice audience video of the Who at Madison Square Garden the other night!

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Someone get me a ladder."


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