Right now, I should be at a Yes concert. I won a Ticketmaster auction and had front row center seats in Chicago. The entire tour was canceled due to Jon's illness. It made me think of all the wonderful Yes concerts I've seen so far.
Yes
Spectrum Arena
Philadelphia, PA
Tuesday, April 16, 1991
Section V, Row 16, Seat 14
$20
It's hard to separate my Yes fandom and love of the music from all the wonderful people I met through being a fan. I was a smart, socially awkward, non-drinking good kid who loved music, and I got to meet so many people 10 or 15 years older than me who thought this was a good thing and that I was headed in the right direction. They were past the partying phase, but still active music fans. Some of these friends I made became mentors to me.
The first of these older Yes friends was a guy named Bill. He worked, and later owned, the t-shirt shop at the mall where my friends and I hung out. I was 16 and Bill was 29. He and I were secure in our relationship - he was the older brother I never had - but other people around us wondered what was going on. He lent me out of print Yes solo albums, gave me advice on music to check out, and listened to my teenage drama. We saw each other less when I was at college and he got married. But he was the one who helped me put things in perspective when I had a huge blowout with my best friend A and ended my friendship with her. Bill came back into my life briefly just before I moved out to St. Louis - he even helped me deliver furniture to friends and helped load boxes into the U-Haul for my move.
Anyway, I ordered something at his store Way Out at the mall, and he had my phone number on the order form. Bill called me one night to tell me that the new Yes lineup had formed, with the 70s and 80s lineup joining in a union. They were coming to Philly, tickets were going on sale, and we should go together. My mom was not thrilled that I wanted to camp out all night for concert tickets with some older guy she barely knew. She definitely wasn't happy that I also wanted to go to the weekend shows in Atlantic City with Bill and his friends. I knew it would have been fine, but I can see where it would look weird. So the Philly show it was. (Ironically, when I went to camp out for tickets to the next tour, I convinced my mom it would be okay *because* Bill would be there. And it worked.)
Tickets went on sale in February. I had a cold that day and I imagined how sick I would get. My parents wouldn't let me actually stay out all night to wait for tickets, so we had a compromise. I was waiting for tickets at Strawberry's record store on Cottman Avenue. My friend Debbie's grandmother, our families were so close the woman was practically my bubbe (Yiddish for grandmother) too, lived around the corner from the record store. I would establish my position in line, then go there for the hours I shouldn't be out, and then get back in line in the morning. The way it usually worked was, I intended to stay out all night. I'd still be the only person in line around midnight. I'd get freaked out being alone, and go to Bubbe Edith's house. In the early morning, I'd get back in line, with several people in front of me. This time around, I thought I'd be fine waiting in Bill's van. But he changed his mind and didn't get in line til the next morning. So it went the usual way I mentioned above. My mom still remembers seeing me in line wearing stocking cap and looking "like a homeless person". All that time waited the day before for nothing, because I could have just showed up at 5 in the morning and gotten the same position in the ticket line.
This was the first concert I had bought tickets for with the concept of "golden circle" seats. The very best seats were being sold directly to fans, but at $40 per ticket. The rest of the tickets were half that price. When I got to the front of the line, I still had the option to get the golden circle tickets. I was going to the concert with my friend A, who didn't even like Yes, and she would never agree to pay that much to see them. Plus, I don't think I had enough cash on me to buy two of those expensive seats. The seats we got were pretty good - on the first level about half way up. The stage was "in the round", a rotating stage in the center of the floor, and our section was pretty close to the center. I don't know why A even decided to go to this with me. She refused to see them on the previous tour, and I went without her. Either she didn't want to miss out, or she thought that hanging out with Bill and his friends was cool.
I was so excited. This would be my first time actually seeing the band "Yes". The last tour had been former band members playing under their own names, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. A and I met Bill at his store at the mall, and we drove down to the Spectrum. Another guy from Way Out and Bill's ex girlfriend were with us as well. Bill had seen Yes a few nights earlier in Atlantic City, and told us how wonderful the show was. Except, they didn't play Starship Trooper. That was one of my favorite songs at the time and such a highlight of the ABWH show.
The show opened with the finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, just like on Yessongs. It's difficult for me to separate my memories from the show from the live recordings I have of it and other shows on the tour. I do know this show took place two weeks before their new album Union was released. They played two songs from Union - Lift Me Up, which I had previously heard on the radio, and Shock to the System, which was new to me at the concert. The rest of the setlist was a mix of 70s and 80s material.
The band was literally two bands thrown together. There were two guitarists, two drummers, two keyboard players, and one singer and one bass player, who had been with both eras of the band. We joked that it was a good thing we were seeing the band so early in the tour. Even I knew of the lawsuits an arguments between the different lineups. They might break up before the tour is over.
Everyone did solos. The opening song Yours Is No Disgrace had a long guitar solo by Steve Howe, and then another by 80s guitarist Trevor Rabin. They both did solo guitar pieces later on in the show as well. The bass solo was really exciting - it was based on the bass showcase "The Fish" from Fragile, with snippets of other songs thrown in. The highlight of it was Chris playing Amazing Grace on bass guitar with Jon Anderson singing along. Chris does these same tricks for every bass solo, but it was my first time seeing it, so I thought it was pretty cool. I still think the mixing of Jon's beautiful high voice with the low notes on the bass sounded good together.
For the encore, Yes played Roundabout. Would that be it? I told A that I still hoped Yes would play Starship Trooper. She tried to bring me back down to earth. They didn't play it a few days earlier in Atlantic City, and they weren't going to play it here. Well, Jon Anderson spoke to the audience after Roundabout. "I think we've got time for one more song." They played Starship Trooper. They played it just for me. Yes weren't my favorite band yet, but they made me love them even more that night.
I purchased a tour program and t-shirt. In the program, they listed tour dates for this US tour and more dates in Europe. Another US tour would follow in the summer. I was excited that Yes would be coming back. My friend A once again tried to instill reality into me: Yes would be playing other cities in the summer, since they had already played Philly. But that very week, there was a Yes ad in the paper. I hadn't seen it, but several of my classmates told me about it. Yes were coming back to the Spectrum in July and tickets were going on sale that Saturday. And I will be there.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The Man Band
Return to Forever
Corea/Clarke/DiMeola/White
Fox Theatre
St. Louis, MO
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Orchestra Pit Section 3, Row 2, Seat 113
$74.50
Drummer Lenny White thanked the audience for supporting instrumental music. "In the era of boy bands", he said, "we are a man band". If boy bands are the epitome of style over substance, Return to Forever's set was the alternative: with all the talent on stage, I was more taken aback by the melodic strength and how well they played together than flashy solos. Substance, but with a lot of style too.
Roy was so excited to hear that Return to Forever was ... returning. This was their most famous lineup reuniting, all musicians who have become legends over the years. Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White. They hadn't played together since the mid 1970s. Roy never had a chance to see them back then, but he'd seen Corea, DiMeola, and Clarke separately. I'm sure we would have traveled somewhere to see this tour, but they came to St. Louis. Even played one of the nicest venues, the Fox Theater. Jazz fusion can get a bad rep, but that's for the noodly stuff. This is the good stuff. I was only familiar with the Romantic Warrior album, but we were both expecting to be blown away by this show.
Roy wanted to sit up close for this show. We decided not to do their ticket package that came with a guaranteed good seat, but we lucked out and got tickets in the 2nd row in the orchestra pit. On the day of the show, we went out to dinner at Vito's. It was nice enough outside that we walked around the Saint Louis University campus and the Grand Center district before the show. We got to the Fox around 7:30.
I never noticed the Fox security to be strict before, but they needed to see both of our tickets every time we entered the orchestra pit area. The seats were really good, maybe even better than the front row would have been. The stage was about 3 feet high and there were audio monitors right in front of us. I think it blocked part of the view for the people in front of us, but we were far enough back that it was fine for us. We were on the audience left side, directly in front of Al DiMeola. Roy loved this view - at our angle, he could see the entire band at once. The seats themselves were nice for removable seats, comfy and wide. Lots of leg room too. The guy next to me noticed my Yes tshirt and we chatted about music for awhile. The show was not sold out; there were large areas of empty seats along the sides in both the back of the orchestra section and in the balcony.
The lights dimmed and the band came out on stage. I've seen so many different ways of bands starting a show. Yes will come on stage while Firebird Suite is playing and play along with it before going into the first song of their set. Sometimes the stage will be dark as a band gets positioned, and then bam, the lights go up and they're playing. Return to Forever took a much lower key approach. They all walked to the front of the stage and greeted the audience. We gave them a standing ovation to thank them for coming and for the potential of the show. They earned it. Chick Corea took the microphone and welcomed us. He told us to relax and enjoy the show, or not relax if that's what we wanted.
They opened with a quiet piece that never really gelled for me. After that, the first set was heavenly. The main speakers were way above our heads, to provide sound to the whole theater. There were monitors on stage, which can provide a funny mix. We sometimes sacrifice sound quality for a good view at concerts. Not that night. The sound was perfect. I didn't even need to wear my earplugs. Everything was clear, no distortions, perfect volume, good timbres from the instruments. What a pleasure to listen to this band. I don't know their material well enough to name song titles, but my favorite part was a call and response type of duet from Corea and DiMeola. My general rule at concerts is not to applaud over music, wait til the song is over and the band stops playing. But there were so many good parts I wanted to acknowledge. I cheered at the end of the call and response bit and wished I could have given it a proper standing ovation. There was no front man in the band. During the first set, both Stanley Clarke and Lenny White took the microphone to address the audience. Both mentioned how beautiful the theater was and how happy they were to play as a band again and to play for us. The whole band looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Sadly, I was getting a little tired. It had been a long day at work, and as nice as the concert was, it wasn't the type to pump me full of adrenaline and energize me. I asked Roy to buy me a Coke during the intermission, and he suggested I get up and walk around a bit. On my way to the lobby, another person stopped me to comment on the Yes tshirt. This guy had listened to Relayer on the way to the show. There was a long wait at the concession stand. I studied the audience. Just as few women as I was expecting. Maybe 15-20% of the audience. More young people than I figured would be there, but still not a huge percentage. Roy saw a young girl who was there with her parents and told me I wasn't the youngest woman in the audience. The audience was a whole lot more racially mixed than at other concerts I go to. I don't think this band sounds that different from progressive rock, but they are tapping into a whole different demographic. Roy pointed out that this might be because the band is 50/50.
There had been a bit of heckling during the show. A drunk woman behind us was calling out all the band members' names as they were talking to the audience. I yelled out something at this point, but I think it was appropriate. After the intermission, Chick Corea talked to the audience again, and was mentioning the jazz documentary done a few years back. He couldn't remember what it was called and even walked over to some of his bandmates to ask them. I yelled out "Ken Burns' Jazz", and I heard other people yell it after me. He must have heard one of us. His point was that the documentary covered up to the first half of the 1900s and maybe there would be a follow-up to cover the modern era. He dedicated the next part of their set to Miles Davis, who he had played with and was from the St. Louis area. (It's sad to think that Miles Davis has a star on the St. Louis walk of fame that used to be at the entrance to Streetside Records. Now it's by a Noodles and Company.)
Our seats got even better during the second half. The two guys in front of us got tired of their half-blocked view and asked the usher if they could sit off to the side, without the monitors in the way. When the band came back on, Al DiMeola sat down. The people in front would have blocked my view of this, but we were completely unobstructed now. For this part of the show, we had the best seats in the house.
DiMeola played a solo guitar piece on acoustic guitar. The whole second set was more jazzy and more acoustic than the first half. Stanley Clarke played an upright bass and Corea played more piano. The next piece was really beautiful and Roy and I gave it a standing ovation. Corea played not just the keys of the piano, but also plucked and hammered the strings. It all worked for the music.
The only missteps for me were the solos towards the end. I know Stanley Clarke is one of the best bass players ever. He did his solo on the upright bass and it was impressive and he got great sounds out of the instrument. But I felt it went on too long and didn't really build in intensity or flow. I would have liked it a lot better had it been half as long. And I've never been a big fan of drum solos.
After the solos, the band played another song and then came to the front of the stage to say their goodbyes. The band members started shaking hands with fans. I moved up front and got to shake Stanley Clarke's hand. They said they had one more song. I would have stayed up front if everyone had remained standing, but I'd rather sit back at my seat with a better viewing angle. Some people from further back took the empty seats in front of us. Towards the end, Corea gestured for us to stand. I moved up to the stage again. After the show, I got to shake hands with Al and with Stanley again. The guy standing next to me got Al's guitar pick.
The guy sitting next to Roy had come by himself. We talked to him for a little bit as the crowds were thinning out. He's just like us with concerts and festivals, but focusing on jazz rather than prog. Roy explained to him what kind of music we like, and he asked if we saw Genesis on their last tour. They didn't come to St. Louis. He seemed impressed when I said we saw them in Montreal. On our way out, some lady stopped us and it turned out that she was friends with Roy's brother Mark. She recognized us and even remembered our names, but I don't remember when I ever met her. I'm always surprised when I see people from real life at one of these shows. They all thought that Mark would have enjoyed this one.
We saw the bus outside the Fox and some people were waiting to try to meet the band. It was way too late for us. But sitting so close and seeing their reactions to the music, I feel like I got to see some of the personalities anyway. It was a wonderful performance.
Corea/Clarke/DiMeola/White
Fox Theatre
St. Louis, MO
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Orchestra Pit Section 3, Row 2, Seat 113
$74.50
Drummer Lenny White thanked the audience for supporting instrumental music. "In the era of boy bands", he said, "we are a man band". If boy bands are the epitome of style over substance, Return to Forever's set was the alternative: with all the talent on stage, I was more taken aback by the melodic strength and how well they played together than flashy solos. Substance, but with a lot of style too.
Roy was so excited to hear that Return to Forever was ... returning. This was their most famous lineup reuniting, all musicians who have become legends over the years. Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White. They hadn't played together since the mid 1970s. Roy never had a chance to see them back then, but he'd seen Corea, DiMeola, and Clarke separately. I'm sure we would have traveled somewhere to see this tour, but they came to St. Louis. Even played one of the nicest venues, the Fox Theater. Jazz fusion can get a bad rep, but that's for the noodly stuff. This is the good stuff. I was only familiar with the Romantic Warrior album, but we were both expecting to be blown away by this show.
Roy wanted to sit up close for this show. We decided not to do their ticket package that came with a guaranteed good seat, but we lucked out and got tickets in the 2nd row in the orchestra pit. On the day of the show, we went out to dinner at Vito's. It was nice enough outside that we walked around the Saint Louis University campus and the Grand Center district before the show. We got to the Fox around 7:30.
I never noticed the Fox security to be strict before, but they needed to see both of our tickets every time we entered the orchestra pit area. The seats were really good, maybe even better than the front row would have been. The stage was about 3 feet high and there were audio monitors right in front of us. I think it blocked part of the view for the people in front of us, but we were far enough back that it was fine for us. We were on the audience left side, directly in front of Al DiMeola. Roy loved this view - at our angle, he could see the entire band at once. The seats themselves were nice for removable seats, comfy and wide. Lots of leg room too. The guy next to me noticed my Yes tshirt and we chatted about music for awhile. The show was not sold out; there were large areas of empty seats along the sides in both the back of the orchestra section and in the balcony.
The lights dimmed and the band came out on stage. I've seen so many different ways of bands starting a show. Yes will come on stage while Firebird Suite is playing and play along with it before going into the first song of their set. Sometimes the stage will be dark as a band gets positioned, and then bam, the lights go up and they're playing. Return to Forever took a much lower key approach. They all walked to the front of the stage and greeted the audience. We gave them a standing ovation to thank them for coming and for the potential of the show. They earned it. Chick Corea took the microphone and welcomed us. He told us to relax and enjoy the show, or not relax if that's what we wanted.
They opened with a quiet piece that never really gelled for me. After that, the first set was heavenly. The main speakers were way above our heads, to provide sound to the whole theater. There were monitors on stage, which can provide a funny mix. We sometimes sacrifice sound quality for a good view at concerts. Not that night. The sound was perfect. I didn't even need to wear my earplugs. Everything was clear, no distortions, perfect volume, good timbres from the instruments. What a pleasure to listen to this band. I don't know their material well enough to name song titles, but my favorite part was a call and response type of duet from Corea and DiMeola. My general rule at concerts is not to applaud over music, wait til the song is over and the band stops playing. But there were so many good parts I wanted to acknowledge. I cheered at the end of the call and response bit and wished I could have given it a proper standing ovation. There was no front man in the band. During the first set, both Stanley Clarke and Lenny White took the microphone to address the audience. Both mentioned how beautiful the theater was and how happy they were to play as a band again and to play for us. The whole band looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Sadly, I was getting a little tired. It had been a long day at work, and as nice as the concert was, it wasn't the type to pump me full of adrenaline and energize me. I asked Roy to buy me a Coke during the intermission, and he suggested I get up and walk around a bit. On my way to the lobby, another person stopped me to comment on the Yes tshirt. This guy had listened to Relayer on the way to the show. There was a long wait at the concession stand. I studied the audience. Just as few women as I was expecting. Maybe 15-20% of the audience. More young people than I figured would be there, but still not a huge percentage. Roy saw a young girl who was there with her parents and told me I wasn't the youngest woman in the audience. The audience was a whole lot more racially mixed than at other concerts I go to. I don't think this band sounds that different from progressive rock, but they are tapping into a whole different demographic. Roy pointed out that this might be because the band is 50/50.
There had been a bit of heckling during the show. A drunk woman behind us was calling out all the band members' names as they were talking to the audience. I yelled out something at this point, but I think it was appropriate. After the intermission, Chick Corea talked to the audience again, and was mentioning the jazz documentary done a few years back. He couldn't remember what it was called and even walked over to some of his bandmates to ask them. I yelled out "Ken Burns' Jazz", and I heard other people yell it after me. He must have heard one of us. His point was that the documentary covered up to the first half of the 1900s and maybe there would be a follow-up to cover the modern era. He dedicated the next part of their set to Miles Davis, who he had played with and was from the St. Louis area. (It's sad to think that Miles Davis has a star on the St. Louis walk of fame that used to be at the entrance to Streetside Records. Now it's by a Noodles and Company.)
Our seats got even better during the second half. The two guys in front of us got tired of their half-blocked view and asked the usher if they could sit off to the side, without the monitors in the way. When the band came back on, Al DiMeola sat down. The people in front would have blocked my view of this, but we were completely unobstructed now. For this part of the show, we had the best seats in the house.
DiMeola played a solo guitar piece on acoustic guitar. The whole second set was more jazzy and more acoustic than the first half. Stanley Clarke played an upright bass and Corea played more piano. The next piece was really beautiful and Roy and I gave it a standing ovation. Corea played not just the keys of the piano, but also plucked and hammered the strings. It all worked for the music.
The only missteps for me were the solos towards the end. I know Stanley Clarke is one of the best bass players ever. He did his solo on the upright bass and it was impressive and he got great sounds out of the instrument. But I felt it went on too long and didn't really build in intensity or flow. I would have liked it a lot better had it been half as long. And I've never been a big fan of drum solos.
After the solos, the band played another song and then came to the front of the stage to say their goodbyes. The band members started shaking hands with fans. I moved up front and got to shake Stanley Clarke's hand. They said they had one more song. I would have stayed up front if everyone had remained standing, but I'd rather sit back at my seat with a better viewing angle. Some people from further back took the empty seats in front of us. Towards the end, Corea gestured for us to stand. I moved up to the stage again. After the show, I got to shake hands with Al and with Stanley again. The guy standing next to me got Al's guitar pick.
The guy sitting next to Roy had come by himself. We talked to him for a little bit as the crowds were thinning out. He's just like us with concerts and festivals, but focusing on jazz rather than prog. Roy explained to him what kind of music we like, and he asked if we saw Genesis on their last tour. They didn't come to St. Louis. He seemed impressed when I said we saw them in Montreal. On our way out, some lady stopped us and it turned out that she was friends with Roy's brother Mark. She recognized us and even remembered our names, but I don't remember when I ever met her. I'm always surprised when I see people from real life at one of these shows. They all thought that Mark would have enjoyed this one.
We saw the bus outside the Fox and some people were waiting to try to meet the band. It was way too late for us. But sitting so close and seeing their reactions to the music, I feel like I got to see some of the personalities anyway. It was a wonderful performance.
(Dweezil) Zappa Plays (Frank) Zappa
Zappa Plays Zappa
Accept No Substitutes
The Pageant
St. Louis, MO
Monday, June 9th, 2008
Balcony-Center, Row A, Seat 14
$31.50
Roy and I are everyone's concert buddies. If you want to go to a show and don't know any other fans, call us and we'll probably be up for it. I can appreciate live music and a good performance even if I'm not familiar with the music. (After I moved from Philadelphia, three different people told me they stopped going to so many concerts because I wasn't there to go with them.)
Roy and Mitch used to be coworkers. He's still at our company, but in a different department. I first met Mitch when we all went to Yes' Masterworks show in St. Louis eight years ago. Mitch is a big Zappa fan, so he asked if we wanted to go to the Zappa plays Zappa tribute band. It was right by us at the Pageant. I love the Pageant when I have reserved seats with an unobstructed view and the show is non-smoking. It was, and the balcony was reserved - we got seats in the front row center balcony. I only like a couple Zappa songs and there's a lot I don't know of his material. The band was led by Frank Zappa's son Dweezil and had some other of Frank's bandmates in the band with him. I was looking forward to the evening.
Mitch drove to our place, and then we walked to a new pizza place called Pi. It's right across the street from the Pageant, and we could see people lining up for the general admission area while we ate. There's a new store attached to the venue. They were selling merchandise there, rather than in the room itself.
Once we got to our seats, I pointed out to Mitch that there was still space open by the stage. He could stand in the front row if he wanted to. I was mostly joking, and we kept our seats. The show started very low key. Dweezil Zappa came out and spoke to the audience before playing. And then they opened with a bit of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. I enjoyed the first couple songs, but it got old after a while. I only knew two songs "Joe's Garage" and "City of Tiny Lights".
This is Mitch's review:
OMG (as the kids type these days).
What a show!
I found the torrent for the Minneapolis show and spent the day Monday listening to it over and over, and i was still totally blown away last night - the show was (IMHO) much better than any of the recordings i've heard of ZPZ before. TIGHT. If they're jammin and crankin like this at the beginning of the tour, i can only imagine how it will be for the rest of you who get to see them later. The solos were phenom. DZ really let the rest of the band play too - there were two different times where he went round the band (King Kong and Cosmik Debris) letting them play and play. And i really enjoyed the last bit where he and Sheila dueled it out. Relistening to the Minneapolis show i can say we got more extended solos in many cases and i am hoping for a CD of this tour from the ZPZ crew!
We were in the front row of the balcony and had a perfect view. Couldn't ask for better (didn't want to stand in the front on the floor - heck i'm 51 and it was way past my bedtime LOL!). It was fun to see DZ's reaction - again, i've never seen them before, but he seemed genuinely surprised to see people grooving on the stuff. He was fascinated (or maybe it was another kind of reaction) by the guy dancing so strangely on the side of the stage late in the show.
The sounds were amazing. The guitar work phenom. The band was just tight! Ray was wonderful to watch. Sheila had her own little cheering section and rocked us all... I don't know all the other guys in the band, but there wasn't a slacker in the bunch. Drumming wonderful and energetic.
The extended solos were just incredible. The new sounds out of DZ's guitars just can't be imagined. You have to see this show!
Would have loved the Inca Roads to be in this show too.
Only thing that disappointed me was that the show wasn't sold out! There were quite a few empty seats but they still played as if there were millions.
Dweezil had a laid back stage presence. He certainly wasn't a slouch, but the bass player, percussionist, and singer Ray White were a lot more interesting to watch. I just kept feeling that I'd enjoy this more as background music. I liked the music itself, but it didn't hold my attention. If it were daylight and outside and I had to book to read, I would have liked it better.
I guess I wasn't too in tune with the music. At one instrumental part, Roy told me they were playing Yes' Owner of a Lonely Heart. The bassline had the same rhythm, but I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not. After the show, both Roy and Mitch told me it was it and they did more of it than just the bass line. How could I be sitting there and miss a song from my favorite band?
Dweezil did something seriously cool after the show. As the band was leaving the stage, they were shaking hands with the people up front, throwing out guitar picks, and such. Dweezil signed a couple autographs for people. Then, he jumped off stage to the orchestra pit to continue meeting fans and signing autographs. I've seen a lot of musicians greet fans after the show, but never immediately afterwards. They usually need to take a break to freshen up or rest a bit. We stayed up in the balcony for a little bit while the crowds thinned out just watching him interact with the fans down there.
We walked back home afterwards. It's interesting watching the crowd. Quite a few people from the concert were walking westbound on Delmar along with us. It usually thins out by the time we get to my street. Mitch, Roy, and I talked about the show. How does a tribute band play tribute to a band known for improvisations? Do they play famous solos or do they do their own thing in the spirit of the original? I couldn't tell what they did that night.
Accept No Substitutes
The Pageant
St. Louis, MO
Monday, June 9th, 2008
Balcony-Center, Row A, Seat 14
$31.50
Roy and I are everyone's concert buddies. If you want to go to a show and don't know any other fans, call us and we'll probably be up for it. I can appreciate live music and a good performance even if I'm not familiar with the music. (After I moved from Philadelphia, three different people told me they stopped going to so many concerts because I wasn't there to go with them.)
Roy and Mitch used to be coworkers. He's still at our company, but in a different department. I first met Mitch when we all went to Yes' Masterworks show in St. Louis eight years ago. Mitch is a big Zappa fan, so he asked if we wanted to go to the Zappa plays Zappa tribute band. It was right by us at the Pageant. I love the Pageant when I have reserved seats with an unobstructed view and the show is non-smoking. It was, and the balcony was reserved - we got seats in the front row center balcony. I only like a couple Zappa songs and there's a lot I don't know of his material. The band was led by Frank Zappa's son Dweezil and had some other of Frank's bandmates in the band with him. I was looking forward to the evening.
Mitch drove to our place, and then we walked to a new pizza place called Pi. It's right across the street from the Pageant, and we could see people lining up for the general admission area while we ate. There's a new store attached to the venue. They were selling merchandise there, rather than in the room itself.
Once we got to our seats, I pointed out to Mitch that there was still space open by the stage. He could stand in the front row if he wanted to. I was mostly joking, and we kept our seats. The show started very low key. Dweezil Zappa came out and spoke to the audience before playing. And then they opened with a bit of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. I enjoyed the first couple songs, but it got old after a while. I only knew two songs "Joe's Garage" and "City of Tiny Lights".
This is Mitch's review:
OMG (as the kids type these days).
What a show!
I found the torrent for the Minneapolis show and spent the day Monday listening to it over and over, and i was still totally blown away last night - the show was (IMHO) much better than any of the recordings i've heard of ZPZ before. TIGHT. If they're jammin and crankin like this at the beginning of the tour, i can only imagine how it will be for the rest of you who get to see them later. The solos were phenom. DZ really let the rest of the band play too - there were two different times where he went round the band (King Kong and Cosmik Debris) letting them play and play. And i really enjoyed the last bit where he and Sheila dueled it out. Relistening to the Minneapolis show i can say we got more extended solos in many cases and i am hoping for a CD of this tour from the ZPZ crew!
We were in the front row of the balcony and had a perfect view. Couldn't ask for better (didn't want to stand in the front on the floor - heck i'm 51 and it was way past my bedtime LOL!). It was fun to see DZ's reaction - again, i've never seen them before, but he seemed genuinely surprised to see people grooving on the stuff. He was fascinated (or maybe it was another kind of reaction) by the guy dancing so strangely on the side of the stage late in the show.
The sounds were amazing. The guitar work phenom. The band was just tight! Ray was wonderful to watch. Sheila had her own little cheering section and rocked us all... I don't know all the other guys in the band, but there wasn't a slacker in the bunch. Drumming wonderful and energetic.
The extended solos were just incredible. The new sounds out of DZ's guitars just can't be imagined. You have to see this show!
Would have loved the Inca Roads to be in this show too.
Only thing that disappointed me was that the show wasn't sold out! There were quite a few empty seats but they still played as if there were millions.
Dweezil had a laid back stage presence. He certainly wasn't a slouch, but the bass player, percussionist, and singer Ray White were a lot more interesting to watch. I just kept feeling that I'd enjoy this more as background music. I liked the music itself, but it didn't hold my attention. If it were daylight and outside and I had to book to read, I would have liked it better.
I guess I wasn't too in tune with the music. At one instrumental part, Roy told me they were playing Yes' Owner of a Lonely Heart. The bassline had the same rhythm, but I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not. After the show, both Roy and Mitch told me it was it and they did more of it than just the bass line. How could I be sitting there and miss a song from my favorite band?
Dweezil did something seriously cool after the show. As the band was leaving the stage, they were shaking hands with the people up front, throwing out guitar picks, and such. Dweezil signed a couple autographs for people. Then, he jumped off stage to the orchestra pit to continue meeting fans and signing autographs. I've seen a lot of musicians greet fans after the show, but never immediately afterwards. They usually need to take a break to freshen up or rest a bit. We stayed up in the balcony for a little bit while the crowds thinned out just watching him interact with the fans down there.
We walked back home afterwards. It's interesting watching the crowd. Quite a few people from the concert were walking westbound on Delmar along with us. It usually thins out by the time we get to my street. Mitch, Roy, and I talked about the show. How does a tribute band play tribute to a band known for improvisations? Do they play famous solos or do they do their own thing in the spirit of the original? I couldn't tell what they did that night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)