Aerosmith
Opening Act: Guns N Roses
Spectrum Arena
Philadelphia, PA
Friday, August 5, 1988
Section 26, Row 9, Seat 7
$16.50
AC/DC
Opening Act: Cinderella
Spectrum Arena
Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, October 8, 1988
Section 30, Row 9, Seat 12
$17.50
I don't even like any of these bands anymore. I saw Aerosmith on the Permanent Vacation tour. I knew that album, and maybe I was familiar with Walk This Way. Keep in mind, I was still only 13 at this time, and had only been watching MTV for a little over a year. A's mom Debbie was our chaperone. I think she liked some older Aerosmith songs, but hated GN'R.
Guns N' Roses were just starting to get popular, I knew Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child of Mine, but that was it. I didn't like them yet. By the time their next studio albums Use Your Illusion I&II were released, I was a fan and saw them again on that tour. Then I started to dislike them again, and that seems to have stuck. I bought a (bootleg?) tshirt with Aerosmith on the front and GN'R on the back and a program. Years later, I found out that my young cousin Naomi was an Aerosmith fan, so I mailed all my Aerosmith stuff to her.
AC/DC - I have no idea on this one. Wikipedia tells me it was a tour for the Blow Up Your Video album. I think A wanted to go, and we went to all concerts together. A's dad took us to this one. Cinderella was a Philly area band that signed to a major label, so they were like local heroes done good. Cinderella had already released their debut album Night Songs. This tour was for their second album Long Cold Winter. I had copies of both albums and was excited to see them.
Both of the headliners in these concerts put on good shows, lots of spectacle. But my next few concerts were much more exciting.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Hysteria in Allentown
Def Leppard
Opening Act: Europe
Allentown Fairgrounds
Allentown, PA
Wednesday, July 27th, 1988
General Admission
$17
So a lot of what I do for concerts involves traveling to other cities. Sometimes it's a band that I follow around and need to see as many times as possible. Other times, it's a band that isn't playing my town and I need to see them. Who was that first band that made me want to travel to see them?
It was Def Leppard for my only third concert ever.
You have to start somewhere. Hysteria was one of the first compact discs I ever bought, the day I got my CD player. I think they've aged the best of the hair metal bands, with the nice harmonies and two lead melodic guitarists. I'll still sing along when they're on the radio. Def Leppard played Philly early on the first leg of the tour, almost a year earlier, but I wasn't familiar with them yet. They came back to the US for a summer shed tour and set a date for Allentown, but not Philly. Allentown was about an hour and a half away.
I had to see Def Leppard. I remember being at synagogue one Saturday, telling Debbie and Sue they were coming. Europe was Susan's favorite band, so she was in. My dad said Allentown wasn't too far away, and he could take us. When I told A about it, she was in too.
The day of the show, we dressed my poor dad in a tiedyed tshirt and jeans so he would fit in. The show was general admission, with standing on the "floor" of the fairgrounds and seats back in the grandstand. I don't know why we needed a chaperone at this show, dad let us stand in front while he got a seat. We met up after the show.
It looked there were two lines of people waiting to get in the venue. We stood in the shorter line. Ha! This line circled around the parking lot and became the longer line. There was a mass of people up by the stage, but we found a spot right behind the handicapped section - a raised portion on the floor. We could see great, because the section in front of us were sitting and we were above the rest of the crowd.
I really enjoyed the songs from both bands. They played all the songs we expected them to. I'm sorry I don't remember any of the details of the performance.
Shortly after the concert, we found out that Def Leppard was coming back to Philly, on the day before my birthday. I didn't go to that one, because I had just seen them in Allentown a few months earlier.
Opening Act: Europe
Allentown Fairgrounds
Allentown, PA
Wednesday, July 27th, 1988
General Admission
$17
So a lot of what I do for concerts involves traveling to other cities. Sometimes it's a band that I follow around and need to see as many times as possible. Other times, it's a band that isn't playing my town and I need to see them. Who was that first band that made me want to travel to see them?
It was Def Leppard for my only third concert ever.
You have to start somewhere. Hysteria was one of the first compact discs I ever bought, the day I got my CD player. I think they've aged the best of the hair metal bands, with the nice harmonies and two lead melodic guitarists. I'll still sing along when they're on the radio. Def Leppard played Philly early on the first leg of the tour, almost a year earlier, but I wasn't familiar with them yet. They came back to the US for a summer shed tour and set a date for Allentown, but not Philly. Allentown was about an hour and a half away.
I had to see Def Leppard. I remember being at synagogue one Saturday, telling Debbie and Sue they were coming. Europe was Susan's favorite band, so she was in. My dad said Allentown wasn't too far away, and he could take us. When I told A about it, she was in too.
The day of the show, we dressed my poor dad in a tiedyed tshirt and jeans so he would fit in. The show was general admission, with standing on the "floor" of the fairgrounds and seats back in the grandstand. I don't know why we needed a chaperone at this show, dad let us stand in front while he got a seat. We met up after the show.
It looked there were two lines of people waiting to get in the venue. We stood in the shorter line. Ha! This line circled around the parking lot and became the longer line. There was a mass of people up by the stage, but we found a spot right behind the handicapped section - a raised portion on the floor. We could see great, because the section in front of us were sitting and we were above the rest of the crowd.
I really enjoyed the songs from both bands. They played all the songs we expected them to. I'm sorry I don't remember any of the details of the performance.
Shortly after the concert, we found out that Def Leppard was coming back to Philly, on the day before my birthday. I didn't go to that one, because I had just seen them in Allentown a few months earlier.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Classical Gas
John Williams and John Etheridge - Together & Solo
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
The Sheldon Concert Hall
St. Louis, MO
Center Section, Row A, Seat 6
$40
I don't have too much to say about this one. We bought tickets ages ago, back in August 2006 for this show. Roy wanted to go. I had never heard of either of them. John Williams is a famous classical guitarist, and John Etheridge is a jazz and rock guitarist who used to play with Soft Machine.
The Sheldon is a nice place for concerts. It's very close to the Fox Theater in the Grand Center midtown neighborhood near St. Louis University. It has great acoustics, and it is attached to a free art gallery. Nice atmosphere for going to a show. We got there early enough to have dinner at Vito's and take a look at the gallery.
The music was very pretty and Etheridge had a dry sense of humor in his stage announcements. But this was my 4th concert in 6 days, only three days after getting home from a long trip. I was tempted not to go, and I was too tired to really listen to it properly.
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
The Sheldon Concert Hall
St. Louis, MO
Center Section, Row A, Seat 6
$40
I don't have too much to say about this one. We bought tickets ages ago, back in August 2006 for this show. Roy wanted to go. I had never heard of either of them. John Williams is a famous classical guitarist, and John Etheridge is a jazz and rock guitarist who used to play with Soft Machine.
The Sheldon is a nice place for concerts. It's very close to the Fox Theater in the Grand Center midtown neighborhood near St. Louis University. It has great acoustics, and it is attached to a free art gallery. Nice atmosphere for going to a show. We got there early enough to have dinner at Vito's and take a look at the gallery.
The music was very pretty and Etheridge had a dry sense of humor in his stage announcements. But this was my 4th concert in 6 days, only three days after getting home from a long trip. I was tempted not to go, and I was too tired to really listen to it properly.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Sing us a song - for free
Billy Joel
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Section 315, Row M, Seat 18
$0.00
I like a lot of Billy Joel's songs. And I hadn't been to a big arena concert in a while. I'm on the mailing list for Scottrade/Savvis/Keil Center. I got an e-mail for a Billy Joel pre-sale. Tickets were $85, just more than I wanted to pay to see him. Roy and I decided to wait until the regular sale and pick up tickets in the cheap seats.
"Cheap seats" is a relative term, since the seats were $50, and they all seemed to be behind the stage. I didn't want to do that. I was mildly frustrated with myself - I would have bought $50 tickets if they were better seats, I could afford another extra $30, I've easily paid that much for concerts before, I wanted to see the show, but I just didn't want to pay that much for this concert. So we didn't get tickets.
A lot of other people must have thought the same thing. A few weeks before the show, the local paper started giving away tickets. Two people won per day for two weeks. I registered on-line. I wasn't one of the published winners, but I got an e-mail saying the following:
Congratulations! By submitting one of the first entries last week into our Billy Joel ticket promotion, your name has been randomly chosen in our special "early-bird entrants" drawing as a winner of four (4) tickets to the Billy Joel concert Wednesday, April 25, 8:00 p.m. at the Scottrade Center!
I went down to the Scottrade Center to pick up my tickets. There was a multi-page printout of winners. I'm pretty close up in the alphabet, but my name was several pages back. Did we all win 4 tickets each? These were the $85 seats, so that's $340 worth of tickets. In March alone, we spent over $1200 on concert tickets, so I think this is good concert karma coming back to me. (Tickets were for the Police, Genesis, Crossroads Guitar Festival, Asia, Jon Anderson, a prog festival in Montreal, and the Bears. These are for concerts through September, but they all went on sale in March for no reason. (Did anyone get that reference?!))
Roy and I asked Roy's cousin Roger and his wife Debbie to go with us. Roger is Roy's closest friend and was best man at our wedding. We met up for dinner beforehand at Union Station and went to the concert. Debbie sent us a handwritten thank you card which was really sweet. The sections near us were only about 2/3 filled. I wonder if they were all filled with freebies. Our seats were really high up and the section was steep. I got into my seat and sat - no dancing or standing ovations from me this night.
The concert started with Angry Young Man, a song with fast piano playing. Good sound for a big arena. The light show was great, and made the stage look different with every different set of lights. We discovered that Joel's keyboard player was David Rosenthal, who is also a member of Happy the Man, and played at our wedding! Small world.
The setlist was pretty comprehensive, missing my favorite songs of his - The Stranger and Summer Highland Falls - but playing lots of others. Some lesser known songs too; Roy was really excited to hear Zanzibar from 52nd Street.
I was impressed with Billy as a frontman too. He was pretty funny. He also gave good introductions to songs, often giving what album and year they were from. For a lot of artists, the years all blur together, and they couldn't give detailed info like that. His piano was facing one side of the stage, so his back was turned to people on the other side. But every couple songs, they'd rotate the piano so he'd be facing the other side. Later on in the show, he stood up at the front of the stage and sang from there. He could still hit the high notes in An Innocent Man, but had a backing singer do the high parts of River of Dreams.
What is the last song you'd expect to hear at a Billy Joel concert?
There was an "American Idol" portion of the show. Billy brought up a roadie who was going to sing a "religious song" for us. The roadie comes up, and the bands breaks into Highway to Hell from AC/DC! Roy just cracked up at the incongruence between this song and the rest of them. The crowd really seemed to enjoy rocking out for a song.
I enjoyed the show, but didn't get the feeling that I needed to see it again the next night. Actually, this was my third time seeing Billy Joel in concert. I hadn't seen him in over ten years, and it was good to see these songs again. But this will probably be the last time I go.
Roy and I took the Metrolink light rail train to the Scottrade Center. Even though the concert and a Cardinals game were taking place that night, there was still only one train running every half hour. The train was beyond full when it got to our stop, but I didn't want to wait another half hour, so we squeezed in. The crowd was taking this in good spirit, and it was friendlier than it would have been if it were less crowded.
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Section 315, Row M, Seat 18
$0.00
I like a lot of Billy Joel's songs. And I hadn't been to a big arena concert in a while. I'm on the mailing list for Scottrade/Savvis/Keil Center. I got an e-mail for a Billy Joel pre-sale. Tickets were $85, just more than I wanted to pay to see him. Roy and I decided to wait until the regular sale and pick up tickets in the cheap seats.
"Cheap seats" is a relative term, since the seats were $50, and they all seemed to be behind the stage. I didn't want to do that. I was mildly frustrated with myself - I would have bought $50 tickets if they were better seats, I could afford another extra $30, I've easily paid that much for concerts before, I wanted to see the show, but I just didn't want to pay that much for this concert. So we didn't get tickets.
A lot of other people must have thought the same thing. A few weeks before the show, the local paper started giving away tickets. Two people won per day for two weeks. I registered on-line. I wasn't one of the published winners, but I got an e-mail saying the following:
Congratulations! By submitting one of the first entries last week into our Billy Joel ticket promotion, your name has been randomly chosen in our special "early-bird entrants" drawing as a winner of four (4) tickets to the Billy Joel concert Wednesday, April 25, 8:00 p.m. at the Scottrade Center!
I went down to the Scottrade Center to pick up my tickets. There was a multi-page printout of winners. I'm pretty close up in the alphabet, but my name was several pages back. Did we all win 4 tickets each? These were the $85 seats, so that's $340 worth of tickets. In March alone, we spent over $1200 on concert tickets, so I think this is good concert karma coming back to me. (Tickets were for the Police, Genesis, Crossroads Guitar Festival, Asia, Jon Anderson, a prog festival in Montreal, and the Bears. These are for concerts through September, but they all went on sale in March for no reason. (Did anyone get that reference?!))
Roy and I asked Roy's cousin Roger and his wife Debbie to go with us. Roger is Roy's closest friend and was best man at our wedding. We met up for dinner beforehand at Union Station and went to the concert. Debbie sent us a handwritten thank you card which was really sweet. The sections near us were only about 2/3 filled. I wonder if they were all filled with freebies. Our seats were really high up and the section was steep. I got into my seat and sat - no dancing or standing ovations from me this night.
The concert started with Angry Young Man, a song with fast piano playing. Good sound for a big arena. The light show was great, and made the stage look different with every different set of lights. We discovered that Joel's keyboard player was David Rosenthal, who is also a member of Happy the Man, and played at our wedding! Small world.
The setlist was pretty comprehensive, missing my favorite songs of his - The Stranger and Summer Highland Falls - but playing lots of others. Some lesser known songs too; Roy was really excited to hear Zanzibar from 52nd Street.
I was impressed with Billy as a frontman too. He was pretty funny. He also gave good introductions to songs, often giving what album and year they were from. For a lot of artists, the years all blur together, and they couldn't give detailed info like that. His piano was facing one side of the stage, so his back was turned to people on the other side. But every couple songs, they'd rotate the piano so he'd be facing the other side. Later on in the show, he stood up at the front of the stage and sang from there. He could still hit the high notes in An Innocent Man, but had a backing singer do the high parts of River of Dreams.
What is the last song you'd expect to hear at a Billy Joel concert?
There was an "American Idol" portion of the show. Billy brought up a roadie who was going to sing a "religious song" for us. The roadie comes up, and the bands breaks into Highway to Hell from AC/DC! Roy just cracked up at the incongruence between this song and the rest of them. The crowd really seemed to enjoy rocking out for a song.
I enjoyed the show, but didn't get the feeling that I needed to see it again the next night. Actually, this was my third time seeing Billy Joel in concert. I hadn't seen him in over ten years, and it was good to see these songs again. But this will probably be the last time I go.
Roy and I took the Metrolink light rail train to the Scottrade Center. Even though the concert and a Cardinals game were taking place that night, there was still only one train running every half hour. The train was beyond full when it got to our stop, but I didn't want to wait another half hour, so we squeezed in. The crowd was taking this in good spirit, and it was friendlier than it would have been if it were less crowded.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
All Grrrr, No Arghhh
The Bears
Blueberry Hill - Duck Room
University City (St. Louis), MO
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
General Admission
$17.50
I have a confession to make. I don't think I've ever heard the first two Bears albums. I didn't own them, until I moved in with Roy, and there were so many things to listen to. Then Car Caught Fire was released and we listened to that a lot. We saw them in concert a couple times in 2002, so I learned a lot of the catalog from hearing it live. And listened to the live album and DVD. And the new one, Eureka! But I haven't gone back to those studio albums yet. Weird.
The Bears are fun. They're accessible enough that I can lend their live CD to people at work, and they don't look at me funny. But they have great songs, great melodies, great musicianship... Roy said he enjoyed the Bears shows we've seen more than recent Crimson shows, because of the happy fun factor. The Bears are Adrian Belew, Rob Fetters, both on vocals and guitars, Chris Arduser on drums, and Bob Nyswonger on bass.
This was a general admission show, and as usual, I took that as a personal challenge to be first in line. I left work an hour early and walked all three blocks from home to Blueberry Hill with Roy. Our friend Ralph joined us for dinner at 4:30. I figured, if it looked like any other fans were around, I'd get right in line and eat there. We were safe. We were first.
It's a great place to wait for a concert - indoors, temperature controlled, with bathrooms, free refills on sodas. I've done worse. Good place for a concert too when it's non-smoking, like this one was. There were some other fans in the restaurant at this point. Through the picture windows facing Delmar, we could see the Bears walking down the street. Soon afterwards, they came in. Adrian Belew said hi to us and "nice tshirt!" to Roy, who was wearing his Big Electric Bear shirt from the last tour. Chris Arduser pointed out that I was also wearing a nice tshirt, King Crimson's Discipline. We could hear a little of the soundcheck. The wait was really painless; we talked for a while and I read the Riverfront Times.
Different setup at the concert than we expected. There's usually several rows of seats, but this time the seats were off to the side and the front was a dance floor. Yay for me, I love to dance at concerts. I grabbed the spot in front of Adrian, while Roy and Ralph sat at the table to my left. I was too far away to continue my conversation with them, but I chatted with the guys standing near me. Opening act had a great bass player with a seven string bass, I don't remember too much else about them.
Finally, the Bears started. It was 10pm, my usual bedtime. They opened with Complicated Potatoes. I could see the setlist, but the songs were shortened to the point I couldn't really figure them out - CP was listed as Pot. The setlist focused on songs from Car Caught Fire, which I know well, and Eureka, which I'm learning. Couldn't sing along with the Eureka songs yet. I could barely sing at all without popping cough drops - still getting over strep throat from March. Older songs included: None of the Above, Superboy, Figure It Out, Fear Is Never Boring. I think I've decided Under the Volcano is my favorite Bears song.
It was a high energy, fun show. I kept looking over at Roy, making eye contact with him and singing to him. It's such a treat to see the band play so close in front of me, I was feeding off their energy. I've seen the Bears from this same position all three times I've seen them, all four if you count the Here tour. I'm lucky Adrian does so many of these small club shows, I've been in the front row more than my fair share. It was one of those shows that, when it ends, you just want to go somewhere else and see and hear and feel it all over again. I'm low on vacation days from my other recent exploits, and traveling for the one weekend one this tour just didn't work out for us. So it was just this one. I hope they are able to tour again with this album.
Roy was on call that night, and had to leave right when the show was over. Ralph wanted to get autographs, so I stayed with him and he gave me a ride home. I used to be such an autograph collector, but I've kind of gotten away from that, so I didn't bring anything. Still nice to say hi to everyone. I've talked to Adrian a number of times, but never the other Bears. Chris said he saw me from on stage and that it looked like I had a fun time. Yeep.
There was a line of people to talk to Adrian. Had an interesting conversation with him - he pointed out my Discipline tshirt and said it looked like an original. I said no, but he insisted. I said I wasn't old enough to go to that one. I was tempted to mention that I was only 6 in 1981, but I didn't. He asked me if I wanted something autographed, and I replied that I think he's already signed everything I have of his. Only a slight exageration. I told him that Roy and I had gone back to Philly to see the School of Rock again and they put on a great show again. He said they were good musicians to play with. Then he gave me a hug(!) I love the fact that all these years of going to concerts and hanging out for autographs is leading some of my favorite musicians to know who I am.
We're really getting spoiled with all these Adrian shows. Roy and I are going to Nearfest this year, in Bethlehem, PA. Adrian is playing in Sellersville, 40 minutes away, that Saturday night. We're going to blow off the headliner Hawkwind and see him again. Three shows, once every seven weeks, completely different bands and setlists. Can he keep this up all year?
Blueberry Hill - Duck Room
University City (St. Louis), MO
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
General Admission
$17.50
I have a confession to make. I don't think I've ever heard the first two Bears albums. I didn't own them, until I moved in with Roy, and there were so many things to listen to. Then Car Caught Fire was released and we listened to that a lot. We saw them in concert a couple times in 2002, so I learned a lot of the catalog from hearing it live. And listened to the live album and DVD. And the new one, Eureka! But I haven't gone back to those studio albums yet. Weird.
The Bears are fun. They're accessible enough that I can lend their live CD to people at work, and they don't look at me funny. But they have great songs, great melodies, great musicianship... Roy said he enjoyed the Bears shows we've seen more than recent Crimson shows, because of the happy fun factor. The Bears are Adrian Belew, Rob Fetters, both on vocals and guitars, Chris Arduser on drums, and Bob Nyswonger on bass.
This was a general admission show, and as usual, I took that as a personal challenge to be first in line. I left work an hour early and walked all three blocks from home to Blueberry Hill with Roy. Our friend Ralph joined us for dinner at 4:30. I figured, if it looked like any other fans were around, I'd get right in line and eat there. We were safe. We were first.
It's a great place to wait for a concert - indoors, temperature controlled, with bathrooms, free refills on sodas. I've done worse. Good place for a concert too when it's non-smoking, like this one was. There were some other fans in the restaurant at this point. Through the picture windows facing Delmar, we could see the Bears walking down the street. Soon afterwards, they came in. Adrian Belew said hi to us and "nice tshirt!" to Roy, who was wearing his Big Electric Bear shirt from the last tour. Chris Arduser pointed out that I was also wearing a nice tshirt, King Crimson's Discipline. We could hear a little of the soundcheck. The wait was really painless; we talked for a while and I read the Riverfront Times.
Different setup at the concert than we expected. There's usually several rows of seats, but this time the seats were off to the side and the front was a dance floor. Yay for me, I love to dance at concerts. I grabbed the spot in front of Adrian, while Roy and Ralph sat at the table to my left. I was too far away to continue my conversation with them, but I chatted with the guys standing near me. Opening act had a great bass player with a seven string bass, I don't remember too much else about them.
Finally, the Bears started. It was 10pm, my usual bedtime. They opened with Complicated Potatoes. I could see the setlist, but the songs were shortened to the point I couldn't really figure them out - CP was listed as Pot. The setlist focused on songs from Car Caught Fire, which I know well, and Eureka, which I'm learning. Couldn't sing along with the Eureka songs yet. I could barely sing at all without popping cough drops - still getting over strep throat from March. Older songs included: None of the Above, Superboy, Figure It Out, Fear Is Never Boring. I think I've decided Under the Volcano is my favorite Bears song.
It was a high energy, fun show. I kept looking over at Roy, making eye contact with him and singing to him. It's such a treat to see the band play so close in front of me, I was feeding off their energy. I've seen the Bears from this same position all three times I've seen them, all four if you count the Here tour. I'm lucky Adrian does so many of these small club shows, I've been in the front row more than my fair share. It was one of those shows that, when it ends, you just want to go somewhere else and see and hear and feel it all over again. I'm low on vacation days from my other recent exploits, and traveling for the one weekend one this tour just didn't work out for us. So it was just this one. I hope they are able to tour again with this album.
Roy was on call that night, and had to leave right when the show was over. Ralph wanted to get autographs, so I stayed with him and he gave me a ride home. I used to be such an autograph collector, but I've kind of gotten away from that, so I didn't bring anything. Still nice to say hi to everyone. I've talked to Adrian a number of times, but never the other Bears. Chris said he saw me from on stage and that it looked like I had a fun time. Yeep.
There was a line of people to talk to Adrian. Had an interesting conversation with him - he pointed out my Discipline tshirt and said it looked like an original. I said no, but he insisted. I said I wasn't old enough to go to that one. I was tempted to mention that I was only 6 in 1981, but I didn't. He asked me if I wanted something autographed, and I replied that I think he's already signed everything I have of his. Only a slight exageration. I told him that Roy and I had gone back to Philly to see the School of Rock again and they put on a great show again. He said they were good musicians to play with. Then he gave me a hug(!) I love the fact that all these years of going to concerts and hanging out for autographs is leading some of my favorite musicians to know who I am.
We're really getting spoiled with all these Adrian shows. Roy and I are going to Nearfest this year, in Bethlehem, PA. Adrian is playing in Sellersville, 40 minutes away, that Saturday night. We're going to blow off the headliner Hawkwind and see him again. Three shows, once every seven weeks, completely different bands and setlists. Can he keep this up all year?
Jon, Part IV
Part IV - Nous Jon du Soleil (long, just like a certain topographic album)
Paul Green School of Rock All Stars
with Special Guest Jon Anderson of Yes
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Symphony Space - Peter Jay Sharp Theater
New York, New York
Section Center Orchestra, Row A!!!!, Seat 105
$46
Jon's website listed the show at Symphony Space, but it was not on their website. When were tickets going on sale?! I kept checking the websites. Finally, on March 8th, I saw the show listed on the Symphony Space site. Still no link to buy tickets or an on-sale date. At least they were acknowledging the show was taking place. Over lunch at work, I called their box office. Tickets had just gone on sale, with no advance warning. For some reason, they weren't available on-line yet either.
"Where would you like to sit?" the box office lady asked me.
"As close to the stage as possible" is my standard reply.
"How about front row center, then?"
"Yes, please."
Roy and I slept overnight at Linda's. We took her out to breakfast the next morning, and then journeyed to New York City - we had to return the rental car at Newark and then take the train into the city. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Our hotel was right by Penn Station. We walked a couple of miles, over to Times Square, on Broadway, then Central Park. Enjoyed the people-watching, window shopping, and just soaking in the atmosphere. One of my New York things is that I must get pizza at least once. We found a little hole-in-the-wall deli that served pizza around 72nd and Columbus. Delicious. Took a cab from there to Symphony Space at 95th and Broadway.
We arrived about 15-20 minutes before the doors opened. Roy and I scoped out the area for likely stage door exits, but we couldn't find any candidates. I really wanted to talk to Jon on this trip. We walked back to the front doors. There were other groups of people standing around before the show. And then, I see Jon coming out of an SUV. It was like nobody else saw him. I walked up, called his name, and he walked over and put his arm around me. "Heyyyy, good to see you," he told me. Roy told Jon that we saw him last night as well. Jon shook Roy's hand. Someone asked him for his autograph, and Jon took her inside the lobby to sign it. That was it. At least a dozen people wearing Yes tshirts didn't notice Jon Anderson walking right by them.
The doors opened and we got to our seats. Nicer venue than the night before, this one is a theater and not a club. I can't believe that Jon is just standing in the auditorium chatting with people. I can't help it, I walk over by him. As he walks by, I said something dumb, "Enjoy the show". I think I meant I hope you enjoy doing the show tonight, but I only got those three words out. Jon did that thing where he brushed his face up to mine, but no kiss this time. He replied, "Really". Short sentences. I don't know what either of us meant.
I noticed that Jon was standing just outside the auditorium again, a little later on. He walked back into the auditorium, this time with his wife Jane and the woman he calls the Divine Mother. Paul Green and his wife were there too. They were standing right in front of the seats to our left. Roy and I tried to look like we weren't eavesdropping, but it was impossible not to hear them. There were some introductions, and showing Jon and Jane where she'd be sitting. Which was next to me. When Jon walked by us, he gave us a little wave.
I knew Jon was not going to make eye contact with me or barely notice me, sitting so close to Jane. I had a very different experience at this show - more analytical and outside of the performance. I was sitting so close we could see all sorts of things on stage. I was really paying attention to all the communication going on between Jon and Jane, little gestures and mouthed words back and forth. I described this show as fascinating, in a Spock sort of way.
The crowd was really good. At one point during And You And I, when just a guitar was playing, I could hear the motor of Jon's fan. It's got to be the equivalent of hearing a pin drop.
There were a few differences between this show and the night before's. This time, I couldn't go buy a new bottled water during shred, because Jon was still on stage. He played a theremin and drummed on a teapot. Very fun to watch. (Roy bought me a new water during the intermission.) They added a song introduced as both Dreams and Screw Yourself. And Jon invited the Divine Mother up on stage, and she made us all chant "Om". On Got to Get You Into My Life, the singer jumped off stage and sang right in front of us. That part was exciting!
I was careful not to bother Jane. During intermission, she went backstage. Some woman walked up to me and asked me if I was sitting with Jane. I pointed out Jane's seat. She then asked me if I could take her book and ask Jane to ask Jon to sign it for her. "I'm just a fan with a really good seat. I'm not even going to ask for one myself." It's true, and I hope she believed me.
I really got into Close to the Edge, bopping around in my seat. For the encore, Roundabout, Jon told us all to stand up and dance. I didn't need to be asked twice! I was happy to be doing my thing. Jon finally made eye contact with me. During the instrumental section, Jon, 62 year old Jon, jumped off stage (!) and started dancing with Jane. Right next to me. I was watching them, partly because there's Jon Anderson one foot away from me, and partly because I didn't want to bump into them. Some other woman ran up to them. Jon looked at me, maybe to make sure I wasn't the one crowding them, and we made eye contact again. He finished dancing with Jane. I was so hoping he'd stop in front of me for a moment, but he walked past. Stopped to shake hands with a little girl next to Roy and then went back on stage.
But wait, there's more. Roundabout is still going on. Paul Green took one of the microphones and held it up to specific people in the audience to sing the backing vocals. People like Jane and some kids. And then he held the microphone right up to me! People who know me know I have an awful singing voice, but I make up for it with lots of enthusiasm. Roy came to my rescue by joining me at the microphone. We both sang with Jon Anderson!!!!! I so need to find a tape of this.
After the show, I talked with Jon's webmaster John Amick, who I knew way back when. I'm still most jealous of him because he got to meet Trevor Horn and I never have. Also saw his friend Richie, who used to be in the Yes tribute band Yesterdays. Roy and I went back outside and waited. Talked to John and Richie some more. Well, it turned out the front door was the stage exit door. Jon walked right by me. I had a question in mind for him this time. I asked him how his work with the California Guitar Trio was going. He continued walking, so I followed him, and he said Paul [Richards] would be coming to his house this summer. I replied that we had seen CGT playing Jon's piece, but he didn't reply.
Shortly after that, Jon left and so did we. Took a cab to the hotel, had a snack there (rice pudding, yum!) and flew back home the next morning. We didn't get a lot of time in Manhattan, but this gave me more time to rest before going back to work the next day. I had been away from home for eight nights.
Paul Green School of Rock All Stars
with Special Guest Jon Anderson of Yes
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Symphony Space - Peter Jay Sharp Theater
New York, New York
Section Center Orchestra, Row A!!!!, Seat 105
$46
Jon's website listed the show at Symphony Space, but it was not on their website. When were tickets going on sale?! I kept checking the websites. Finally, on March 8th, I saw the show listed on the Symphony Space site. Still no link to buy tickets or an on-sale date. At least they were acknowledging the show was taking place. Over lunch at work, I called their box office. Tickets had just gone on sale, with no advance warning. For some reason, they weren't available on-line yet either.
"Where would you like to sit?" the box office lady asked me.
"As close to the stage as possible" is my standard reply.
"How about front row center, then?"
"Yes, please."
Roy and I slept overnight at Linda's. We took her out to breakfast the next morning, and then journeyed to New York City - we had to return the rental car at Newark and then take the train into the city. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Our hotel was right by Penn Station. We walked a couple of miles, over to Times Square, on Broadway, then Central Park. Enjoyed the people-watching, window shopping, and just soaking in the atmosphere. One of my New York things is that I must get pizza at least once. We found a little hole-in-the-wall deli that served pizza around 72nd and Columbus. Delicious. Took a cab from there to Symphony Space at 95th and Broadway.
We arrived about 15-20 minutes before the doors opened. Roy and I scoped out the area for likely stage door exits, but we couldn't find any candidates. I really wanted to talk to Jon on this trip. We walked back to the front doors. There were other groups of people standing around before the show. And then, I see Jon coming out of an SUV. It was like nobody else saw him. I walked up, called his name, and he walked over and put his arm around me. "Heyyyy, good to see you," he told me. Roy told Jon that we saw him last night as well. Jon shook Roy's hand. Someone asked him for his autograph, and Jon took her inside the lobby to sign it. That was it. At least a dozen people wearing Yes tshirts didn't notice Jon Anderson walking right by them.
The doors opened and we got to our seats. Nicer venue than the night before, this one is a theater and not a club. I can't believe that Jon is just standing in the auditorium chatting with people. I can't help it, I walk over by him. As he walks by, I said something dumb, "Enjoy the show". I think I meant I hope you enjoy doing the show tonight, but I only got those three words out. Jon did that thing where he brushed his face up to mine, but no kiss this time. He replied, "Really". Short sentences. I don't know what either of us meant.
I noticed that Jon was standing just outside the auditorium again, a little later on. He walked back into the auditorium, this time with his wife Jane and the woman he calls the Divine Mother. Paul Green and his wife were there too. They were standing right in front of the seats to our left. Roy and I tried to look like we weren't eavesdropping, but it was impossible not to hear them. There were some introductions, and showing Jon and Jane where she'd be sitting. Which was next to me. When Jon walked by us, he gave us a little wave.
I knew Jon was not going to make eye contact with me or barely notice me, sitting so close to Jane. I had a very different experience at this show - more analytical and outside of the performance. I was sitting so close we could see all sorts of things on stage. I was really paying attention to all the communication going on between Jon and Jane, little gestures and mouthed words back and forth. I described this show as fascinating, in a Spock sort of way.
The crowd was really good. At one point during And You And I, when just a guitar was playing, I could hear the motor of Jon's fan. It's got to be the equivalent of hearing a pin drop.
There were a few differences between this show and the night before's. This time, I couldn't go buy a new bottled water during shred, because Jon was still on stage. He played a theremin and drummed on a teapot. Very fun to watch. (Roy bought me a new water during the intermission.) They added a song introduced as both Dreams and Screw Yourself. And Jon invited the Divine Mother up on stage, and she made us all chant "Om". On Got to Get You Into My Life, the singer jumped off stage and sang right in front of us. That part was exciting!
I was careful not to bother Jane. During intermission, she went backstage. Some woman walked up to me and asked me if I was sitting with Jane. I pointed out Jane's seat. She then asked me if I could take her book and ask Jane to ask Jon to sign it for her. "I'm just a fan with a really good seat. I'm not even going to ask for one myself." It's true, and I hope she believed me.
I really got into Close to the Edge, bopping around in my seat. For the encore, Roundabout, Jon told us all to stand up and dance. I didn't need to be asked twice! I was happy to be doing my thing. Jon finally made eye contact with me. During the instrumental section, Jon, 62 year old Jon, jumped off stage (!) and started dancing with Jane. Right next to me. I was watching them, partly because there's Jon Anderson one foot away from me, and partly because I didn't want to bump into them. Some other woman ran up to them. Jon looked at me, maybe to make sure I wasn't the one crowding them, and we made eye contact again. He finished dancing with Jane. I was so hoping he'd stop in front of me for a moment, but he walked past. Stopped to shake hands with a little girl next to Roy and then went back on stage.
But wait, there's more. Roundabout is still going on. Paul Green took one of the microphones and held it up to specific people in the audience to sing the backing vocals. People like Jane and some kids. And then he held the microphone right up to me! People who know me know I have an awful singing voice, but I make up for it with lots of enthusiasm. Roy came to my rescue by joining me at the microphone. We both sang with Jon Anderson!!!!! I so need to find a tape of this.
After the show, I talked with Jon's webmaster John Amick, who I knew way back when. I'm still most jealous of him because he got to meet Trevor Horn and I never have. Also saw his friend Richie, who used to be in the Yes tribute band Yesterdays. Roy and I went back outside and waited. Talked to John and Richie some more. Well, it turned out the front door was the stage exit door. Jon walked right by me. I had a question in mind for him this time. I asked him how his work with the California Guitar Trio was going. He continued walking, so I followed him, and he said Paul [Richards] would be coming to his house this summer. I replied that we had seen CGT playing Jon's piece, but he didn't reply.
Shortly after that, Jon left and so did we. Took a cab to the hotel, had a snack there (rice pudding, yum!) and flew back home the next morning. We didn't get a lot of time in Manhattan, but this gave me more time to rest before going back to work the next day. I had been away from home for eight nights.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Jon, Part III
Part III: Jon Under the Sun
The Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars
with Jon Anderson of Yes
Starland Ballroom
Sayreville, NJ
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
$48 + $8.55 convenience charge
Table 2
The first show scheduled with the School of Rock in February was canceled because of the bad weather. There were rumors that it would be rescheduled, and maybe even more shows!
I checked Ticketmaster, Pollstar, and Jon's website religiously. My friend Scott told me the Falls Church, VA show was rescheduled to April 24th, a Tuesday. And Ticketmaster listed a show in Collingswood, NJ. It was also on a weekday, but a almost whole week earlier. Who knows how many shows would be added? Finally, the other dates were announced. Saturday night in northern New Jersey and Sunday in Manhattan.
I had such a dilemma. I switched to a new department at my company last September, and this one involves working with people all over the country, not just focused on St. Louis. While I love and sometimes hate traveling for concerts, I hate/hate business travel. And I was going to be on the west coast all week for a conference during the week the tour started. We had just booked the travel too, I was flying home the day of the Sayreville, NJ show. Why couldn't this conference had been on the east coast? I was upset about not getting to see Jon again and so soon. Could I do anything about it?
The next day, I talked to my boss. I need to be in NYC that weekend. Work travel already booked my flight, but they were able to cancel it, and fly me into Newark, and then fly me home on Monday. All I had to pay was the difference in airfare. After a couple days, (I tried not to nag too much) Roy decided to join me.
We bought our tickets for both shows. I picked up my ticket for the Starland Ballroom before Roy decided to go. We paid extra for quasi-"reserved" seats, assigned to tables, but not individual seats. The other tickets were standing, general admission, and further back. Roy was at Tina's table, next to mine.
The thought of these shows is what got me through that awful conference. I used some frequent flier miles to upgrade to first class for the long, transcontinental flight - that was quite an experience! My flight didn't get into Newark until 4:40pm. Roy arrived earlier and met me at the gate. It was sooo good to see him again. This is the longest we've been apart since we've been married. We were able to rent the car, and join Linda for dinner by 6:00pm. She decided not to go to the show, but drove up to Sayreville for dinner with a friend. I was grateful for the reserved seats; otherwise I would have wanted to get in line earlier. The tickets said the show was starting at 7:30. Since there was an opening act, we had a little buffer time. Dinner wasn't too rushed.
The situation we were expecting at Starland was very different than what we saw. Doors were opening at 7:30, with the show not starting for another hour. Plus, they did away with the assigned tables concept. The people with the more expensive tickets got to sit at the tables, but were seated first come, first serve. In a weird way, it was better that I didn't know in advance. I would have come straight here instead of our nice dinner, and the seats we ended up with were not bad at all. And if I had known about the start time being later, I would have stayed longer at dinner and also missed out on these seats.
The usher took us to a table in the back of the seated area. It was right by the soundboard, and the last seats were dancing seats - back of the seated area and not blocking the standing section. Roy grabbed these while I looked for closer candidates. Tina was sitting closer, half way up, but way on the side by the bar. Could get noisy there. Why not go for good sound sitting by the soundboard?
Gene Ween from the band Ween was the opening act. This was a rare solo performance, so there might have even been some Ween fans here, just to see him. I remembered liking one of the songs about a party, the rest were okay. More to my taste than some metal or prog-metal band.
There were a different set of musicians than last time - this was the New York school instead of the Philly based kids. I recognized some of the musicians from the Belew show last year, especially the little boy who played saxophone on Glad. This time, Jon sang on all the Yes songs, but the SOR did some non-Yes songs as well.
Jon and the School of Rock came on and opened with Perpetual Change. It took until the instrumental section in the middle and a great keyboard solo for me to really feel it. The highlights for me were Survival - a very faithful performance, down to the different instruments playing the main theme at the song's end - and Close to the Edge. Damn, these kids played it with more power than Yes has in recent years. I think Yes has gotten too awed by what a great piece of music it is, and give it lots of grandeur and breathing room. These kids played it fast and heavier, like Yes used to. I like it! I stood up and danced for the whole show, and it was exhilarating! What a release!
The rest of the songs were: And You And I, All Good People, Long Distance Runaround, The Fish, Roundabout, Starship Trooper, Owner, Give Love Each Day. The non-Yes songs were Mustang Sally, Got to Get You into My Life, You Never Give Me Your Money, My Old School, and a Joni Mitchell cover. Jon stayed on stage for The Fish, even doing the Schinderlia Praemataurus chorus, and he often played percussion during the cover songs. There was also a shred portion - playing as fast as possible with no emotion - what is the point?
I was amazed at all the songs I've seen so many times in the past - sometimes I might be "sick" of them in concert, but it's been so long since Yes has toured, I could really appreciate them again. I'm thinking particularly of And You And I. There was a girl doing the backing vocals, but she was just repeating Jon's lyrics, didn't do the Turn Round Tailor, Float Your Climb harmony part that Chris sings. And there's nothing better than singing along to "twenty-four before my love, you'll see I'll be there with you", knowing you'll be doing the exact same thing in another 24 hours.
After the show, people were mingling a bit. We saw Tina again. I noticed Paul Green, the founder of the School of Rock. I pulled out my boarding pass to show him I flew in from LA to make this show. He remembered us from some of the previous shows. It's always good to be known to people. We waited outside to talk to Jon, but he must have snuck out another exit.
We saw a couple other acquaintances, and then left for Linda's near Trenton. She was putting us up for the night. She gave us very good directions from the turnpike, but we still managed to get lost finding the road to take us to the turnpike. Don't all roads lead there in New Jersey?
The Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars
with Jon Anderson of Yes
Starland Ballroom
Sayreville, NJ
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
$48 + $8.55 convenience charge
Table 2
The first show scheduled with the School of Rock in February was canceled because of the bad weather. There were rumors that it would be rescheduled, and maybe even more shows!
I checked Ticketmaster, Pollstar, and Jon's website religiously. My friend Scott told me the Falls Church, VA show was rescheduled to April 24th, a Tuesday. And Ticketmaster listed a show in Collingswood, NJ. It was also on a weekday, but a almost whole week earlier. Who knows how many shows would be added? Finally, the other dates were announced. Saturday night in northern New Jersey and Sunday in Manhattan.
I had such a dilemma. I switched to a new department at my company last September, and this one involves working with people all over the country, not just focused on St. Louis. While I love and sometimes hate traveling for concerts, I hate/hate business travel. And I was going to be on the west coast all week for a conference during the week the tour started. We had just booked the travel too, I was flying home the day of the Sayreville, NJ show. Why couldn't this conference had been on the east coast? I was upset about not getting to see Jon again and so soon. Could I do anything about it?
The next day, I talked to my boss. I need to be in NYC that weekend. Work travel already booked my flight, but they were able to cancel it, and fly me into Newark, and then fly me home on Monday. All I had to pay was the difference in airfare. After a couple days, (I tried not to nag too much) Roy decided to join me.
We bought our tickets for both shows. I picked up my ticket for the Starland Ballroom before Roy decided to go. We paid extra for quasi-"reserved" seats, assigned to tables, but not individual seats. The other tickets were standing, general admission, and further back. Roy was at Tina's table, next to mine.
The thought of these shows is what got me through that awful conference. I used some frequent flier miles to upgrade to first class for the long, transcontinental flight - that was quite an experience! My flight didn't get into Newark until 4:40pm. Roy arrived earlier and met me at the gate. It was sooo good to see him again. This is the longest we've been apart since we've been married. We were able to rent the car, and join Linda for dinner by 6:00pm. She decided not to go to the show, but drove up to Sayreville for dinner with a friend. I was grateful for the reserved seats; otherwise I would have wanted to get in line earlier. The tickets said the show was starting at 7:30. Since there was an opening act, we had a little buffer time. Dinner wasn't too rushed.
The situation we were expecting at Starland was very different than what we saw. Doors were opening at 7:30, with the show not starting for another hour. Plus, they did away with the assigned tables concept. The people with the more expensive tickets got to sit at the tables, but were seated first come, first serve. In a weird way, it was better that I didn't know in advance. I would have come straight here instead of our nice dinner, and the seats we ended up with were not bad at all. And if I had known about the start time being later, I would have stayed longer at dinner and also missed out on these seats.
The usher took us to a table in the back of the seated area. It was right by the soundboard, and the last seats were dancing seats - back of the seated area and not blocking the standing section. Roy grabbed these while I looked for closer candidates. Tina was sitting closer, half way up, but way on the side by the bar. Could get noisy there. Why not go for good sound sitting by the soundboard?
Gene Ween from the band Ween was the opening act. This was a rare solo performance, so there might have even been some Ween fans here, just to see him. I remembered liking one of the songs about a party, the rest were okay. More to my taste than some metal or prog-metal band.
There were a different set of musicians than last time - this was the New York school instead of the Philly based kids. I recognized some of the musicians from the Belew show last year, especially the little boy who played saxophone on Glad. This time, Jon sang on all the Yes songs, but the SOR did some non-Yes songs as well.
Jon and the School of Rock came on and opened with Perpetual Change. It took until the instrumental section in the middle and a great keyboard solo for me to really feel it. The highlights for me were Survival - a very faithful performance, down to the different instruments playing the main theme at the song's end - and Close to the Edge. Damn, these kids played it with more power than Yes has in recent years. I think Yes has gotten too awed by what a great piece of music it is, and give it lots of grandeur and breathing room. These kids played it fast and heavier, like Yes used to. I like it! I stood up and danced for the whole show, and it was exhilarating! What a release!
The rest of the songs were: And You And I, All Good People, Long Distance Runaround, The Fish, Roundabout, Starship Trooper, Owner, Give Love Each Day. The non-Yes songs were Mustang Sally, Got to Get You into My Life, You Never Give Me Your Money, My Old School, and a Joni Mitchell cover. Jon stayed on stage for The Fish, even doing the Schinderlia Praemataurus chorus, and he often played percussion during the cover songs. There was also a shred portion - playing as fast as possible with no emotion - what is the point?
I was amazed at all the songs I've seen so many times in the past - sometimes I might be "sick" of them in concert, but it's been so long since Yes has toured, I could really appreciate them again. I'm thinking particularly of And You And I. There was a girl doing the backing vocals, but she was just repeating Jon's lyrics, didn't do the Turn Round Tailor, Float Your Climb harmony part that Chris sings. And there's nothing better than singing along to "twenty-four before my love, you'll see I'll be there with you", knowing you'll be doing the exact same thing in another 24 hours.
After the show, people were mingling a bit. We saw Tina again. I noticed Paul Green, the founder of the School of Rock. I pulled out my boarding pass to show him I flew in from LA to make this show. He remembered us from some of the previous shows. It's always good to be known to people. We waited outside to talk to Jon, but he must have snuck out another exit.
We saw a couple other acquaintances, and then left for Linda's near Trenton. She was putting us up for the night. She gave us very good directions from the turnpike, but we still managed to get lost finding the road to take us to the turnpike. Don't all roads lead there in New Jersey?
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