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Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Section 303, Row B, Seat 11
$57
I had never seen Bruce Springsteen in concert. I tried to once, twenty years ago on the Tunnel of Love tour. My best friend A was a big fan and we waited in line. That was back in the days when we were 13 and couldn't go to a concert without a parent chaperone. Tickets were selling fast, and they made the announcement that only single seats were still available. We couldn't sit by ourselves. We left the line at that point and gave up.
I wouldn't call myself a huge Springsteen fan, but I own Born to Run and like a lot of his songs that get played on the radio. I also respected how he's handled himself through the years and I knew of his reputation as a great concert experience. When this concert was announced, I realized that Bruce was on my list of "artists I'd like to eventually see in concert" and Roy and I bought tickets. It was more successful this time - we aimed for the second price level and got our goal seats. They were halfway back, a good angle to view the stage, and in the second row of the mezzanine level.
The night before the concert, Roy hurt his back. It is nothing serious, but he still wasn't feeling right on Saturday. He wasn't sure, but didn't think he'd be comfortable enough to go to the concert. The whole rest of my day on Saturday focused on finding someone to take his ticket. I e-mailed my neighbors, Roy's family, our concert-going friends. I wasn't successful. For some people, we only had their work e-mail addresses. For others, they're not e-mail junkies like we are and just didn't check their mail. People who would be interested already had plans for a Saturday night. Maybe I'm a social pariah and they didn't want to go with me. I was feeling desperate and called some coworkers and some people I had already e-mailed. No luck.
I don't know why I was so upset about this. I go to concerts alone all the time. But those are for trips no one else wants to go on or obscure bands that no one else would like. But it's a decision I make in advance. I think it does say something about me and how few friends I've made since moving to St. Louis that I couldn't find someone interested in seeing such a popular mainstream artist like Bruce Springsteen, even at the last minute. I thought about not going and just spending the evening home with Roy watching a movie, but he convinced me to go. The irony is, the first time I wanted to see Springsteen I couldn't because I couldn't sit alone, and now I had two tickets together, but was still sitting alone.
I don't like driving at night when I'm tired and I don't like dealing with the traffic downtown, so I took Metrolink to the Scottrade Center. I'm pretty public transportation-savvy, but there has been some crime on Metrolink lately and even an assault at my station a few weeks ago. I decided as a single woman walking around that the only safe thing would be to travel when everyone else did; as long as it was busy, it would be safe. So I had to wait until the concert was over to take the train, even if I got tired or something. I also asked Roy to meet me at the station after the concert so I wouldn't have to walk alone to my car. I couldn't even get on the first Metrolink train because it was full of people going to the football game downtown. I again thought of just giving up and going home, but I was able to get on the next train.
We had plans of my selling the extra ticket, but it didn't work out. There were still tickets available, and the scalpers wouldn't buy a single ticket. Just as I walked inside the building, I saw a guy pleading for a single ticket. He was missing several teeth and was wearing worn out clothes. I wondered if he was homeless. I had the extra ticket in my pocket, and I wondered for a moment if I really wanted to sit next to this guy for the concert. I gave him the ticket. He thanked me and seemed pleasant enough. He never did come to our seats. I don't know where he ended up.
Once I got inside, I bought a tour program and a bottle of water. I got to my seat and pulled out a magazine. The audience was fun to watch. The floor section was general admission. I love this idea. It gives the big fans the opportunity to wait in line and see the concert from close up, and it kills scalpers selling those front seats. The stage jutted right out to where people were standing. There was a barricade about 1/3 of the way back on the floor to have some sort of aisle and crowd control. Most of the audience were in the first 2/3 of the floor, crowded tight. Further back, people had a lot more room. I bet those people could still see the stage fine and they had lots of room. I wouldn't mind seeing Yes from a spot like that.
The ticket said the show was starting at 7:30pm. It didn't. Around 8pm, the blinking advertisements around the arena were turned off and I put away my magazine. It didn't start then either. In fact, the show started at 8:45pm, a full hour and fifteen minutes after I was expecting it to. I remember looking at my watch around 10:45 and thinking if the show had started on time, it would be over by then.
The band finally came out and all was forgiven. The show was thrilling. They opened with a cover of "Then He Kissed Me" reworked lyrically as "Then She Kissed Me". (Dumb trivia: When the Beach Boys covered this song, they changed it to "Then I Kissed Her" while KISS did it was "Then She Kissed Me".)
Bruce Springsteen deserves every accolade he gets as a great concert performer. Most of my show highlights were involving his energy and his interaction with the audience, rather than the music itself. It just amazes me that someone as famous as he is leaned over the crowd and let them support him and push him back up. Or crouch down close enough to let them strum his guitar. There was a lot of mutual love and trust going between Springsteen and the people down on the floor.
The stage itself was minimalist, with most of its design set up to get close with the fans. There was a video screen on either side of the stage. The camera operators did a great job, keeping out of the way but picking up everything. I split my time watching the screen and watching the real life band about 50/50. I had the option of getting seats a couple sections over, a little closer to the stage. I preferred these, with a more "front" view. This position actually made it easier to see the video screen, so I'm glad I had these seats.
Roy and I bought a copy of his new album Magic. With being kinda familiar with those songs, I knew maybe half the songs played. I only knew a handful of songs well - Thunder Road, Badlands, Born to Run, Jungleland, Cover Me, Dancing in the Dark, Because the Night, Spirit in the Night, and another cover Twist and Shout. Even the songs I didn't know were so ... accessible and so uptempo and energetic, I enjoyed the whole evening.
The first big moment for me was actually a very intimate moment enjoyed by the whole crowd. Bruce pulled a young boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old, out of the audience during Spirit in the Night. He squatted down and had the kid sit on his lap and sang to him. The boy just nodded his head along to the music and acted like it was perfectly normal for this to happen. He even got to sing the "all night" backing vocals. Later on in the song, Springsteen walked to the right, to a part of the stage that jutted out into the audience. He lay down on the stage and then moved, still laying down, into the audience and let the crowd prop him up.
One big thing this tour was the requests. I had read about this in the paper before the show, where he was doing a number of requests at each show. Seeing it in work was really cool. It's not just that people held up signs with song requests. Springsteen made an announcement and collected a bunch of the signs and he laid the signs on stage. He'd choose a song and show the band, and then they'd play it. I didn't recognize most of these. It was so just cool that the show was so loosely structured to allow this, and that someone of Springsteen's stature would risk playing unrehearsed songs. There were six or so requests played, a few grouped together near the beginning of the show, one later in the set, and one in the encore.
For one song, Springsteen said the request was going to stump the band. He told us the audience was getting sassy and requesting songs they hadn't played live in 25 or 30 years. Stump the band, it also might be stump the audience. But not Bruce Springsteen. "I'm an elephant," he said, pointing to himself. "An elephant never forgets."
The cynical part of me could say it was easy to play all these requests because the songs are so straightforward, except for knowing the lyrics and vocal melody of course. I really only have two complaints about the show: one is the delay in starting and subsequent late night. The other was the sound. There were nine people up on stage, and I could clearly hear Springsteen's vocals and whoever was soloing at the time loud in the mix. Everyone else seemed to be playing rhythm, and it was a mushy muddy sound. Did there need to be that many people on stage playing rhythm? I know the E Street Band is iconic and all, but the only real musical moments that caught my attention were Clarence Clemons' solos. This concert was different from so many smaller ones I see because it was more about the energy and the give and take between Springsteen and the audience than about the music itself.
The main set ended around 11pm. I was getting tired, but I did not want to leave this show early. I know Springsteen is famous for 3 hour or longer concerts, and it had been just over two so far. Maybe he'd let me get to sleep soon? No, it was an hour long encore. At one point, they turned the venue lights on, and I think the light gave me a second wind. I knew Rosalita is the famous Springsteen concert ending, so I kept waiting for it. I can't believe how long the encore was. The general admission floor was obviously standing all night. I noticed the first level area standing mostly too. My section was seated, up until partway through the encore. While I'm making fun of myself for being tired here, I was still enjoying it and cheering. It's fun to stand and sing along to songs like Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark, and Twist and Shout that I've known for as long as I've been a music fan. To my surprise, the show ended with Twist and Shout, and they never did Rosalita.
I can't believe how much energy that man put out during this concert. Even towards the end, he was jumping down to the floor with the audience or running across the stage and falling to his knees, sliding the rest of the way there. I went to a bunch of metal concerts when I was a teenager, but I don't think that even those match the energy level of this concert. And the crowd was fascinating. There weren't many breaks between songs, but whenever there was a break, you'd just hear this "ooooooo" sound, like so many people were in the middle of yelling "Bruuuuuuce".
The show ended around midnight. I hightailed it out of there to get to the Metrolink station. I didn't have to wait too long. Roy met me at the station, but I would have been fine without him. Quite a few people got off at the Delmar stop, even with the recent trouble there. (No sign of security, even though the incident happened around midnight on a Saturday.) Roy on the other hand felt a little uncomfortable waiting by himself until the train got there. I even stayed up late enough to tell him about the show.
I am glad I went. Once the show started, I didn't feel like I was by myself at all.
Think Fast, Steely Dan
Fox Theater
St. Louis, MO
Monday, August 18, 2008
Section: Mezzanine 03, Row EE, Seat 11
$85
I've always liked Steely Dan. They have a distinctive sound - sophisticated jazz-rock punctuated with unique sounding chords and good lyrics. I had one of their compilation CDs, A Decade of Steely Dan. Roy has some of their LPs, and I gave them all a few listens. I never had a chance to see them live though. I think they came to St. Louis a couple years ago, but it was at Riverport, a venue a I don't like too much, and I think they were playing a double bill with a band I didn't want to see and it was the day we were flying home from some trip. Not doable for many reasons. This time, they were playing at the much nicer Fox Theater and it seemed like a good time to go. We got seats in the 5th row of the balcony, so it offered a pretty good view.
We went out to dinner before the show. I always want to leave enough time to deal with crowds to buy something to drink and get to our seats. The show was sold out, but the lines weren't bad. We got to our seats early and chatted with a guy a few seats over in our row. I was wearing a Yes tshirt and he commented on it. We all liked the same bands - Yes, King Crimson, Renaissance, Return to Forever. I felt a little awkward because there was a woman sitting with him who wasn't joining our conversation and looked bored. I didn't want to leave her out, but the guy had recently moved to St. Louis and looked so enthusiastic to meet other progressive rock fans. Now, I know I go to a lot of concerts and I try not to sound braggy or show-offy about it. But he mentioned seeing Genesis last year and was just assuming we didn't go, since they didn't play St. Louis. We said we had. He asked if we saw them in Chicago, and I almost felt like we had to apologize "No, we saw them in Montreal, but we were there for other things and it was our big vacation for the year". The guy was friendly enough.
The opening act was a jazz quartet that really did nothing for me. It was a Hammond B-3 player, drummer, and two guys on horns that also played with Steely Dan. They played four pieces. It was well-performed and didn't sound bad at all, but it didn't hold my attention and I got bored sitting there waiting for it to end.
Maybe I should have gotten up to take a walk in the lobby during that time. I dislike leaving my seat during intermission. I'm always afraid the lines will keep me from getting back to my seat in time, and I'll miss part of the show and have to get to my seat when it's dark and crowded. This happened to Roy. He went out to get some drinks, and missed the beginning of Steely Dan's set.
The backing band came on first - a four-piece horn section, guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboard player. Eight people is already a pretty large band. I was wondering exactly what Walter Becker and Donald Fagen would need to do with all these other people on stage. The backing band played an instrumental version of "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" and another song I didn't recognize. Roy got back to our seats just as Fagen, Becker and three female backing vocalists came on stage. I'm glad he didn't miss any of the "real" Steely Dan.
The first song the whole band did together was The Royal Scam. It's here where my knowledge of Steely Dan is limited. I had previously heard most of the songs in their set, but I didn't know them well. There were a bunch of songs where I only knew the refrain. That was true with the first three numbers, The Royal Scam, Two Against Nature, and Show Biz Kids. I thought Show Biz Kids stood out because of the backing vocalists, but otherwise it was a slow start to the evening.
I was wondering what kind of frontman Donald Fagen would be. The only time I've ever heard him speak was when Steely Dan won a Grammy for Two Against Nature some years back. He looked annoyed at talking and like he didn't want to be there, but I don't know if he was being serious or not. Here, he spoke to the audience after Show Biz Kids. He said "Hey kids, welcome to the Think Fast Steely Dan Orchestra 08" and mentioned that they'd be doing songs from throughout their magnificent career. The presentation was sarcastic, but friendly too.
The show picked up for me after that. The next song was Bodhisattva, which was uptempo. I needed that change of pace. I don't remember the order of the rest of the songs, but we heard Peg, Hey Nineteen, Babylon Sisters, Black Friday, Gaucho, Josie. There was no need to worry about where the two main guys would fit in - Donald Fagen played a Fender Rhodes electric piano throughout the show. Becker played guitar, sharing about half the leads with the other guitarist, and sang on one song. He also did a weird spoken word thing in the middle of Hey Nineteen, leading up to the "the cuervo gold, the fine Colombian" part of the song.
Given that there were 13 people on stage playing and singing, I thought the sound was good. I needed to wear my earplugs, but it was never muddy or distorted. Roy told me later that he noticed the band would get into a groove and stay in that same groove for large sections of a song. I guess we're used to listening to Yes, because he felt like the groove kept happening over and over again and he'd prefer more variety. The stage set was interesting; there was an odd-shaped screen (I don't know if it was abstract or some symbol I didn't recognize) where they showed images or just colors. Also nice use of lighting. I don't know if it's because I saw King Crimson so recently, and they didn't use any lighting effects at all, but I really noticed the effects of the colors.
Aja was another song that I had heard a few times and kind of knew, but not well enough to know every part of the song. Maybe that made it a bigger surprise, because it was beautiful. The highlight of the show for me. The next day, I pulled the album out and listened to the song again. I liked it better live. It was played with more intensity live and really became this grand effort. Roy gave it a standing ovation.
The last song of the main set was My Old School. This was a fun one, with most of the audience singing along. It looked like everyone on the floor was standing up and dancing to it. In the balcony, we had one enthusiastic fan up and getting into it. I sang along and watched him. It's like seeing myself at Yes concerts, getting so excited about the music. I always think of the college I went to for my freshman year before I transferred to Penn. California tumbles in to the sea. That'll be the day I go back to Collegeville.
Roy and I were trying to decide what the encore would be. I hoped to hear Reeling in the Years and Roy thought it might be Rikki Don't Lose That Number. The band came back out and played Kid Charlemagne. I think I had heard enough of their "distinctive sound" by then, because I couldn't place the song at first and wondered if it were something they already played! Afterwards, Fagen, Becker, and the backing singers left the stage. The lights came on, but the backing band was still playing. Exit music! It mirrored the overture we got at the beginning of the show and it was a nice touch. We stayed to watch them and wait for the crowds to thin a bit before walking downstairs to the theater exit.
I liked a lot of the songs, and I was happy with the production quality of the show - the setlist, musicianship, sound, lights, and the comfort of the Fox Theater. All in all, it was a pleasant evening and I'm glad I got the chance to see Steely Dan.
King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Friday, August 8, 2008
$67.50
General Admission
Friday night might have been the best King Crimson concert I've ever attended. In fact, the whole day was a delight.
Our downstairs neighbors, Gwen and Michael, went to Chicago last month. Michael raved about a walking tour that combined architecture and tastings at local restaurants and foodie places. He gave us some information on it - the tour started on the exact same block as our bed & breakfast and ended on Armitage, down the street from the Park West. The timing worked out too. We booked the 11AM tour, which would drop us off in line at 2.
It was another beautiful day, perfect for walking around the city. The tour went through the Gold Coast, Old Town, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods. We sampled olive oils, cheese, chocolates, black tea, spices, and stuffed pizza. Our guide told us the tour might run long, and I was worried about getting in line early enough to get our seats again. The tour walked by the corner of Armitage and Clark around 1:30, and we could see the Park West from there. No one was in line yet. But the next-to-last stop took a while, and it was well after 2. I decided to skip the last stop and get in line from there. Roy could pick up some more chocolates for me while I secured our place in line.
I'm glad I got in line when I did. Our new Swedish friends Karen and Kit were first in line and another guy was behind them. Shortly after that, two more guys got behind me. This group was just about the friendliest, most interesting to talk to, no-attitude people I've met at a concert. Karen and Kit spent all day so far tracking down another ticket for Friday's show. Roy and I found one ticket for them after the prior night's show, and they were able to find someone with an extra ticket on Craig's List. I'm glad it worked out for them after traveling so far for the shows. Kind of puts a 5 hour bus ride in perspective. The dog lady came back again. She has two huge woolly dogs. I don't normally like big dogs, but they were docile and looked like they were enjoying the attention from everyone in line.
I had a bit of a dilemma. I wanted *my* seats again, since we sat in the same place the first two nights, but we weren't first in line. I didn't feel like I could just ask though. Eventually I made a joke out of it, and Karen said since we got her a ticket, we could sit anywhere we wanted. Just to cover my bases, I offered the other person in front of me $20 to keep out of my seat. He wouldn't take my money, but said he'd leave our seats open.
I saw some of the band members before the show. I had been going to the Subway down the street whenever I needed to use a restroom. I always bought a water or cookies or something and left a tip, so they didn't seem to mind. Anyway, I saw Pat Mastelotto on my walk back to the line. He was walking down the street carrying some equipment. We said hi to each other. Tony walked back into the club actually carrying a sandwich from Subway. It surprised me that he'd eat there and get the food himself no less, instead of going someplace nicer. I also wondered what I would have said if I bumped into him there. We also saw Adrian leaving the club and getting into a waiting cab. I get the feeling he doesn't like talking to fans before the show, but he waved to us from the cab.
The two guys behind me in line had a nice story. One guy had purchased a ticket from a scalper, but he thought it was a scam. The scalper told him he couldn't pick up the ticket until 6:30 the night of the show. After the doors opened. He didn't find this out until after he bought the ticket. We thought it was a scam and that the scalper would never show up. Coincidentally, the guy behind him had an extra ticket. So the guy behind me ended up buying the ticket from the guy behind him. Everything worked out. (And the scalper hadn't showed by the time the doors opened.) These two sat at our table behind Roy, so we were able to continue the conversation while waiting for the start time.
After a concert ends, there's often some sort of freebie mementos - guitar picks, drum sticks, setlists. I saw Tony give someone his setlist after the first night. The second night, the roadies weren't going to give the setlists away, but some fans bribed them. Gave them $5 or so. I can't be jealous of people getting picks or sticks, because I've gotten them in the past from Adrian and Pat. But I did want a setlist. I saw the roadie walking by outside before the show and asked if I could buy a setlist from him tonight. He replied "You can't buy them. You have to earn it!" However, once we were seated, he walked over and asked if I was the one who wanted a setlist. He handed me a setlist from the previous night's show that was still laying around. Wow! That was so nice. I don't know whose it was, but it has a piece of tape on it, so I assume it's a genuine band setlist.
There was something different about this show from the beginning. Just a sense of fun. I noticed that I was getting into the music itself more than observing. This was the first night where I didn't watch Tony play his new parts on The ConstruKction of Light. Every song was just spot on performance-wise. The highlights for me this night were Talking Drum and Larks, Frame by Frame, Dinosaur, Thela Hun Ginjeet and Indiscipline. These songs were incredible every night, but this night was something special. Pat's and Gavin's drumming was fascinating, always in-step with each other. Sleepless wasn't quite up to the night before, but they still did the drum part. I missed hearing Indiscipline live the last 12 years, and Adrian did a great job with the vocals on it. Dinosaur had a much longer break after the false ending, and did it come at a weird spot in the song?
The other highlight was a slight change in the setlist. King Crimson doesn't play completely different sets from night to night, but they've always played with the order of the songs and substituted a song here and there. You never know what's coming next. Crimson played two songs in Nashville that they didn't play the first two nights - Walking on Air and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, both from Thrak. On Friday, we got Walking on Air. This song always brings me back to 1995. I was working at my college radio station, and this song got so much airplay. Every time I'd turn on the radio that summer, I'd hear it. It was like an alternate universe from commercial radio, that's for sure. When I saw Crimson on the Thrak tour, they ended with Walking on Air, and the soundscape was still playing as the band left the stage and the audience filed out. It made it feel like the music would last forever.
The band looked like they were enjoying themselves too. I saw Fripp laughing a number of times, during Thela, the break in Dinosaur, Larks. I tend to not pay so much attention to Robert, mainly because everyone else in the band has so much stage presence and is more fun to watch. But Fripp's playing was great all three nights, whether it was textural background stuff, the lead in One Time, the crazy sounding stuff during Indiscipline. I noticed Adrian playing towards me a lot. It's not quite the same thing as standing right in front of him, singing along, but I'm being a little ridiculous here. I saw one of my favorite bands three nights in a row from the front row. The band didn't even look surprised to see me in the same place the third night. Tony looked down and mouthed "Thank you" towards the end of the show.
One of the best concerts of my life was winding down. King Crimson were on their final encore Vrooom and Coda: Marine 475. I got a little silly and tried to figure out the setlist. They did a new song this night, Walking on Air, but what did they leave out? I couldn't figure it out. I asked Roy after the show, and he laughed at me. They left out One Time, the other quieter song from Thrak. Dumb moment from me. The two previous nights, the Coda ended with some quiet playing from Robert Fripp. I never gave it a standing O because it lost momentum by the time it ended. Tonight, people started to stand and applaud as soon as the proper part of the song ended. I don't like applauding over music, but I stood and joined them that night. Wow, just what an incredible string of concerts.
Adrian Belew did something cool after the show. He came out into the audience as everyone was leaving to greet people and sign autographs. He is so great. He was standing on the stairway up to the balcony and people were crowding around to meet him. I was actually trying to get through the crowd to run to the bathroom, but I couldn't get through all the people. Unfortunately, it wasn't too organized and the crowds were blocking the exits. The venue security people started telling everyone we had to move and clear up the exits. I had just gotten up to Adrian, and got to shake his hand. I told him "I wish I could go to Philly to see you again". He left to go backstage before I could ask him to sign my tour box.
I still hoped to get Gavin's and Adrian's signatures on my tour box. One of the guys Joe who had sat with us waited along with us. He had never met the band and was amazed that we were successful. Gavin came out first from the side exit. There were more people waiting out, probably because it was a Friday night rather than during the week. Gavin signed autographs for a dozen people. I didn't get to talk to him other than "Can you sign this for me please?", but Roy told him he liked the double-drumming. The real surprise was a little while later. Robert Fripp came out, and all the fans behaved. Someone called out "Good show" to him, but no one walked up to him or asked for an autograph. When Fripp got to the passenger door of the car, he smiled and waved at us.
Tony Levin came out the same side door. Someone asked him for an autograph, and he asked us to wait until he loaded his equipment. He was loading his own equipment into his own car. I didn't need an autograph from him, but I wanted to talk to him again. Like I had said to Adrian, I told Tony I wish I could go to Philly to see them again. He said "Why??" These three shows were the best. Tony said he thought this night was the best of the three, and I agreed. I didn't think he had played the Keswick before, so I told him it was a nice venue. Since he was driving himself, I mentioned that it was outside of Philly. He already has it programmed in his GPS.
Roy asked Tony about driving. Tony said he can only drive because of their tour schedule - multiple nights in each city with time off between towns. He needs his car instead of a motorcycle to carry his equipment and coffee machine. Tony went back into the club after he signed autographs for everyone.
We saw our Swedish friends again. They had gotten backstage again. Karen asked for my e-mail address earlier, so I hope she follows up on it and sends me an e-mail or looks at the blog. They were going to leave, so we all hugged and wished each other a safe trip home.
Roy, Joe, and I were still waiting by the corner when we saw Adrian leave out the front door. I walked over and asked if he would sign something for me. He was loading something into a car, but then turned around to talk to us. I got my tour box signed! Adrian said the band consensus was that this was the best show of the three. I brought up the Keswick Theater being a nice place and he said he'd played there before. I forgot about that, I think it was Fripp and Adrian opening for Porcupine Tree. I told him I grew up not too far from there. He's excited about Philly because his other bandmates Eric and Julie will be there. He's also excited about touring again with the power trio - they'll be going to Russia and Australia. Some other people came up for autographs, so we said goodbye. I saw Pat leave as we were talking to Adrian, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him that night.
Roy and I took a cab back to our room. It was just about 11PM and I wanted my big fancy dinner. There were a bunch of restaurants on Rush Street, so we looked at their menus and chose a place. My steak was really good. We didn't end up going out to dinner on Saturday night, so I'm glad I insisted on it for Friday.
Saturday was our tourist day. For all the times I've been to Chicago, this was the first night that I was there and not going to a concert. We went to the Field Museum and took a boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. I met another fan there. I saw someone with a King Crimson sweatshirt. Turns out, he came from Venezuela for these shows. He was very happy about the shows. So am I. This is one of the best concert trips I've ever done.
King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Thursday, August 7, 2008
$67.50
General Admission
Even though I went to bed the night before around midnight, I woke up at 6:30am. It was another beautiful day outside, a full 15 or 20 degrees cooler by the lake than it would be in St. Louis. The weather was such a relief. I got ready for the day and went for a walk down and back up Michigan Avenue before Roy woke up. Most of the stores were still closed, but I got to do some window shopping before the street got too busy. I'm wearing a pedometer for a walking contest at work, and I ended up with over 23,000 steps that day.
Once Roy got up, we went out for the day. We didn't have any real plans. Vague ideas to go to a modern art gallery that Roy visited last time we were in the city. Maybe just walk around until it was time to get in line. We did find the gallery, but decided not to go in. Roy said it had been free last time, and that was part of the charm. I didn't want to pay and only be there a short time. We walked down Lake Shore Drive and ended up at the Navy Pier. It's a big tourist attraction, but I had never been there before. Part of it was a touristy mall, and the outside part reminded me of the boardwalks along the Jersey shore. We walked outside to the end of the pier, and then we sat and looked at Lake Michigan for awhile. There's a museum of stained glass that we walked through.
I wanted to get in line by 2. We took a cab back to the b&b and rested a bit, which we both needed. We walked to the Park West and we were first in line. I was happy and we high-fived each other.
It's fun to play "spot the Crimson fan" at events like this. You look at the people walking by, and try to figure out if they are there for the concert or not. Two college-aged women walked past us, talking in a foreign language. I didn't think they were King Crimson fans. I was proved wrong when they got in line behind us. They came from Sweden just for these concerts in Chicago. It turned out that they had been to the Park West earlier that day and no one was in line yet, so they went to the petting zoo in Lincoln Park for awhile. They saw Roy and me do our high five and decided to get in line behind us.
Roy had gone back to the diner he found Wednesday to get some lunch for us. One of the Swedish women asked me a question, which helped to break the ice. We talked for a good part of the day. Their names were Karen and Kit, and Karen was the more talkative one. I don't know if Kit didn't speak English as well or if she was just shy, but they were both very friendly. They only had tickets for Wednesday and Thursday. The Friday show went on sale afterwards, and they weren't aware of it until they got to Chicago, and the show was sold out. They often went to shows in Europe, but this was their first visit to the US. They never had the chance to see King Crimson before, but they had seen Porcupine Tree a number of times.
I had to laugh hearing them trying to order some food. It can be confusing enough to order for a delivery when you're waiting in line outside a concert venue. They were trying to explain it over the phone. But when they were asked for their phone number and had to explain it was an international phone number where you had to dial +42 first... I was half expecting the restaurant to think it was a prank. However, the food got delivered.
While we were waiting in line, I got to meet Sid Smith, the author of the King Crimson biography and webmaster for DGM Live. He was taking pictures of people in line. I pointed out we were three women in front of the line, so he interviewed us about that. I don't see that part on-line yet, but check out DGM Live News. You can see us at the front of the line in "DGMLiveTV Episode XII: Turning This World Around". Roy is interviewed at the start of "DGMLiveTV Episode XIII: On The Frontline" talking about Adrian Belew. When Karen was interviewed, she wisely mentioned that she needed tickets for Friday. She didn't ask for help, but maybe someone would be able to help her out.
The doors opened, and I was a little frustrated to see there were already people sitting in the theater. Some people were friends of the band and had access to the theater before the doors opened. They grabbed the front center seats. Thankfully, our seats in front of Tony were still available. It just bugs me that I waited in line so long and other people can walk right in. I just think the general admission shows should be more fair.
This show took a while to hit me. I talked to Roy about it later, and he described it better than I could. It's like we were spending too much time listening to the individual instruments than the show as a whole. While I could hear all the instruments clearly, the bass was loud in the mix. I had to concentrate on the various instruments, and it was pulling me outside of the full impact of the band.
It wasn't until towards the end of the show that it really became transcendent for me. It was Sleepless, which surprised me. It's a song I enjoy, but I don't expect to be blown away by it. But they reworked it from the night before. It had a drum duo and bass part in the middle that really lifted it and made it exciting. The rest of the show kept up this momentum.
This is the setlist, although I got the physical sheet of paper the next night. I'll tell that story in my next blog.
I've been trying to work out what my goals are in a concert. I certainly enjoyed the entire show, but I was observing the performance rather than being in the moment for the first part of the show. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I want that adrenalized rush from a concert. It's a lot easier for me to reach that and focus on the music when I'm moving to it. Sitting, especially so close that I can see all the little details, puts me into observing analytical mode. Some people want that at concerts and I like being able to do it sometimes. But I'd rather have the rush of feeling like I'm part of the music, and that wasn't happening for a lot of this night.
I had some good contact with the band. Adrian and Tony both saw me in the same seat as the show started, and they both acknowledged me. Did Tony take a picture of me? He was holding his camera and I thought he mouthed the words "I got you" to me. He's uploaded his pictures of the Thursday night show and I'm not in them. Roy is though. Here is the link. I can see Roy on the left in the two last pictures of the audience on this page. Pat gave me a little wave after the show as well. Adrian spoke 50% more words this time: "Thank you very much, thank you".
We had a bit of action near us. The seats were set up by long tables running perpendicular to the stage. There was a slight aisle near my seat. Right before the encore, some guy ran up the aisle, crouched down in front of the stage, and held up his iPhone to take a picture of Tony. People were telling him he wasn't allowed. Tony shook his finger no at him. The guy was still holding the camera up. Finally, Tony leaned down over the stage and said "You can't do that". He put the camera away but stayed next to me, crowding us more. He's lucky he didn't get thrown out.
The show ended and we decided to hang out again to try to meet the band. There were two guys trying to sell an extra single ticket for the next night. They had gone to Thursday's show and planned to see Friday, but decided to see the Smashing Pumpkins instead. I knew our Swedish friends needed tickets, and I wasn't sure if they had been able to procure them yet. We waited a while, and then decided to just buy the extra ticket. Even if the girls didn't need it, someone else would want it, and it would save these guys from having to come back the next day to sell it. They gave it to us below face value, for $60.
Robert Fripp's sister Patricia was at this show. After the concert, she was outside mingling with fans and signing autographs. I didn't get anything signed, but I lent her my Sharpie pen to sign autographs with. She's fun to listen to.
We met another guy, who I think was an autograph seller. He hadn't gone to the show, and peppered us with a lot of questions like, what time did the band leave the night before, what doors, who signed things, and not a single question on what songs the band played or how the shows were. And then later on, he had to ask which one Pat was.
Roy was waiting towards the back of the venue, and I was waiting on the corner. I saw Pat Mastelotto walk by. This was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. He didn't stop to sign anything the night before, but I was the only person there this time. I asked him if he could sign something for me. He did, and he asked me more questions and carried the conversation more than I did. It was a very nice feeling, like he wasn't being bothered at all by me.
Pat knew I had been sitting in front of Tony both nights. He asked me about my tshirt. It was a Crimson shirt from the double trio era, that has pictures of album covers in circles. He knew it was older and asked if I got it from the DGM website. No, I bought it at a show in 1996. He signed my tour box. I told him I thought Sleepless was really good that night. His response was something like "oh, you liked it?" like he was surprised.
The next part got surreal for me. Pat was holding a cup. It was full of M&Ms, and he told me to take some. I grabbed a few, and Pat told me "No, you have to take more. Otherwise I'll eat them all." He poured M&Ms into my hand overflowing. He left at this point. I had a cupped hand full of M&Ms and my other hand was full too. I found Roy, told him the story, and we ate the M&Ms. This is when the autograph guy asked me which one Pat was and runs after him. He got a signature too, but not any candy.
We saw Tony Levin leave from the front door. The autograph guy had a bunch of things for him to sign. It worked out well, because we got to chat with Tony while he was signing things for this guy. Roy asked him if the Tony Levin Band will tour again soon and later if he'll tour for the Stick Man album. Tony is putting a new band together with another stick player in order to play the Stick Man material. I hope we get a chance to see it. I told Tony that I thought Sleepless was my favorite that night. He said "Sleepless? We did the drum bit on that one" Hm. It was like he was collecting data on everyone's favorite song and processing my answer.
We hadn't seen anyone else in the band leave, and we hadn't seen the Swedish girls. Some guy who had been backstage was outside and told us everyone in the band had left. I didn't know whether to believe him or not. (Someone had told me the same thing before Pat and Tony left.) I told Roy I wanted to wait a little longer. We waited, and we saw Karen and Kit again. They had gotten backstage passes and had been able to meet the band. They still needed tickets, but said Pat was going to see if he could get any extras for them. I told them we had a ticket for them, and they were so relieved. Now they only needed to find one more. It was below face value too. Kit tried to give me some extra money for it, but I didn't take it. I'm glad we waited long enough to see them, and I believed them when they said the band had left.
Roy and I walked back to the bed and breakfast. It seemed to take a lot longer than our walk there this afternoon. I felt safe though. We walked through a lot of busy nightlife type areas in Old Town and on Rush. I had thoughts of going out to dinner after the show, but it was almost midnight and we were too tired. We ended up raiding the fridge in our room and eating some muffins that were there for our breakfast. Not quite what I planned, but I had had those M&Ms to tide me over.
King Crimson
Park West
Chicago, IL
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
$67.50
General Admission
What if you could go back in time and relive your favorite moments over again? Bands relive their glory days all the time with hits heavy reunion tours. King Crimson never fit that mold. Too forward looking, too edgy. They did what they wanted and hoped the audience would follow. But here they were on their 40th anniversary tour, playing no new material. They hadn't toured since 2003 and I was so happy to be seeing them again, but would Crimson lose something by becoming a little more like every other band?
On the other hand, when a band progresses their sound with every new album and lineup, as a fan, I liked some eras more than others. My feelings about the Crims changed over time. When I first saw them live, it was for their then-current album Thrak, one of my all-time favorites. Crimson could do no wrong. I never liked the double-duo albums ConstruKction of Light or Power to Believe as much. I saw them live seven times during this period, and the concerts themselves had a different vibe than before. Every show I saw during this period was general admission, standing up close by the stage, my favorite concert environment. While the band focused on their new material, I'd still get to hear a few of my favorites. But for this set of shows in Chicago, it was like going back in time. I saw the setlist they had played at a warm-up show, and it would be heavy with songs from the 80s albums and Thrak. Even if (in theory) King Crimson were slightly less cool for reliving the past, they were going to be celebrating my favorite time of the band.
I was so excited about these shows and the trip to Chicago. Roy and I had found out that Crimson would be doing a short tour this year - multiple nights in Chicago, Philly, and New York. This is what I save vacation days for! After the Yes tour was canceled, my mantra was "At least we'll get to see King Crimson". We decided to take the whole week off from work and spend some extra time in Chicago. We booked a nice little bed and breakfast in the Gold Coast neighborhood - close enough that we could walk to and from the Park West each day.
We took Megabus up to Chicago instead of driving. We wouldn't have the hassle of driving or having to pay for parking or gas, but it had some downsides. The Megabus trip takes the same amount of time as driving, but that doesn't count walking to the train station in the rain, taking the train downtown, and other waiting. It also meant we lost some flexibility in timing. We watched some of the fan interviews on the DGM Live site, and people were getting in line early! We had always had luck getting in line around 4, and that's the earliest we'd be able to on Wednesday. I wasn't sure that would be early enough.
The Megabus trip provided a bit of excitement. We went to St. Louis' Union Station to pick up the bus. We got something to drink inside at a Starbucks, and heard from the cashier that Paul McCartney stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel at Union Station that night before. This is the first I heard of his Route 66 vacation and it was exciting to think we were in the same building and we could possibly run into him that morning. Turns out, he was there several days earlier, but it's been fun following the story.
We got to Chicago, checked in, and walked to the Park West. We got to the line a little after 4, and there were a dozen people in front of us. I assumed the front area by the stage would be all standing, and that some people in front of us would opt for seats further back. That's how it was all the other times we'd seen Crimson here. We'd still be able to get to the front row. Of all the people in line at that time, only one couple was from the Chicago area (or Illinois for that matter). Everyone else had traveled. Roy found a diner on Clark Street and bought some food. We ate food from there each day. I recognized some people in line and the time passed quickly.
The doors opened. I was dumb-founded to see seats! In the orchestra pit! I wanted to stand and dance, like I had the previous times at the Park West. There were long tables perpendicular to the stage. Amazingly, with all the people in front of us, Roy and I were able to grab front row seats. Some people waited in line all that time, and then went to the merchandise booth before securing seats. Some others grouped together at one table rather than spreading out to all the front seats. My seat was directly in front of Tony Levin. Roy was to my left, between Tony and Adrian.
The show started on time, and we stood and applauded them. The first piece was a drum duet. It was new and it quieted some of my fears of the "greatest hits oldies tour". King Crimson has had dual drummers before, and this was the first tour with the duo of Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison. This piece was new, but it made me realize that all of the songs had to be rearranged for this configuration. While it was going on, I saw Adrian Belew look at me and recognize me. I waved hello to him and he smiled and nodded back.
The next song was ConstruKction of Light. This is one of the songs I like best from the double duo era of the band, so I'm glad they included it. Tony had never played this song live before this tour, and he wrote on his website how difficult it was to learn. I mostly paid attention to his playing. I don't know the song well enough to say if he nailed it, but it sounded great to me.
I feel like I say this at every general admission concert, but sometimes the price of an excellent view is a poor mix. We hear the sound mostly from the monitors rather than the loudspeakers. This time, it was excellent. I could hear Tony, Adrian, and Robert clearly. In fact, it wasn't too loud from where I was sitting. I only used an earplug in my right ear to filter Gavin's drums a bit. My view was great too. Fripp has been sitting with a giant effects box in front of him, blocking any view of him from a lot of the audience. But we could see him easily at our angle. He was even well lit! In fact, Roy and I liked these seats so much we decided to try for them each night. I usually like standing right in front of Adrian, but this gave a good view of the whole band and good sound.
I don't remember the order of the rest of the songs. I do have to call out Frame by Frame and Three of a Perfect Pair. I've seen King Crimson do these songs, and I've seen the Adrian Belew Power Trio do them. But I so missed Tony Levin's backing vocals. The extra vocals and the parts where he's singing in unison with Belew add so much to the songs. It was also a really weird visual - I wish I could have gotten a picture of this. I was sitting right in front of Tony. With the stage height, my eye level was about up to his knee and I was looking straight up. Whenever he came to the microphone to sing, I got a view of his front teeth, mustache, nose, and glasses. It was an odd angle. I loved watching Tony play. I used to see him play often, but it's been years since we've been able to. He has such stage presence, without looking corny or staged. On Three of a Perfect Pair, during the "Complicated" and "Aggravated" lines, I was looking back and forth between Adrian and Tony, watching each of them sing.
The other songs that night were:
Level 5
One Time - Adrian had some trouble during this song
Dinosaur - There's a false ending to this song and then it picks up again. Some people don't know, and cheer when the band stops playing briefly. This time, Adrian seemed to wait until people applauded before starting up again. I never applaud during the false ending.
Vrooom / Coda: Marine 475
B'Boom
Red
Talking Drum
Larks' Tongue in Aspic II
Neurotica
B'Boom and Talking Drum are also songs that featured the drum duet. From reviews I've read of Nashville, a lot of people felt the drums were the star of the show. For me, I was paying so much attention to Tony and Adrian, it was the Tony and Adrian show. Adrian didn't talk much during the show. He said "Thank you very much" towards the end, and that was it. But his enthusiasm was conveyed well to the audience throughout the show.
Crimson did two sets of encores, which I've never seen them do. Roy called these in total "the greatest set of encores ever". Encore 1 was another drum duet, Thela Hun Ginjeet and Indiscipline. This was my first time hearing Indiscipline live since 1996. I thought of my friend Zoey. I took her to see Crimson in 96, and she was not yet familiar with the Discipline album. She left the show raving about Indiscipline, and for years, we would recite it in unison. Encore 2 was Sleepless and Elephant Talk. I noticed there were two songs played in Nashville that they did not do here - Walking on Air and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, both from Thrak.
I gave a lot of standing ovations. It felt weird - for years I've been standing at Crimson concerts and applauding. Now, I was sitting during the show and standing up for selected songs to applaud. I tried to be judicious and not stand up automatically for every song, but I did most songs anyway. The songs themselves deserved it and the performances were that good. At the end of the show, the whole band (except for Fripp) came to the front to receive applause. Tony gave his setlist to the woman sitting two people to my right. Pat was looking at the people up front. He saw me and waved. I haven't talked to him that many times, and the last time was 5 years ago. Did he remember me?
After the show, we hung out to watch the band leave. I bought a CD called the "tour box" and I was hoping to get it autographed. Roy walked over to CVS and the crowds in front of the theater started to taper off. There weren't many people there when I saw Gavin Harrison leave. Or was it not Gavin? He's kind of non-distinct looking so I wasn't sure even though I just saw him onstage. I opened up my tour box booklet to look at his picture again. It was him, but he got into a cab, and I wasn't able to ask for an autograph.
Pat left next. People applauded him, but he didn't stop and didn't acknowledge anyone.
Adrian came out, carrying a guitar. He saw Roy and me, and told us he was glad to see us there. Someone else interrupted him, so we didn't get to say anything to him. While he was talking to the other person, he said the band would be hanging out at their hotel bar, the Encore. Such a dilemma for me. With that info, do I find out what hotel it is and stalk them? My favorite band Yes never seem to mind, but I didn't want to cross any boundaries here. Besides, I didn't know where it was and didn't have internet access to find out. Adrian didn't sign any autographs, but we saw him walk to the corner and pose for a picture with some fans.
We talked to a fan after the show. Everyone going to King Crimson shows should know how Robert Fripp feels about autographs, recordings, and photographs. He finds the latter two distracting, and getting caught recording or taking a picture during a show can get you thrown out. There are signs up and announcements made. This guy who was behind us in line (wearing a Fripp t-shirt, so you'd think he'd know the drill) sat in front of Fripp. I saw someone hold up an album to the stage, hoping he'd sign it. It was this guy. He showed us that he took a picture of Fripp on stage. Why? I can understand secretly recording a show. I do think it's unobtrusive and usually undetectable, and it gives you a great memento. But the picture turned out lousy, there are plenty of legitimate pictures of the show on the official sites, and it's so risky. If Fripp had seen him, he would have been thrown out. I've been to other Fripp shows that ended early because of photos. He could have ruined it for everyone. Fripp fan was hoping to see Robert on his way out to get the autograph. I didn't know whether I should bother explaining that it wasn't going to happen.
Fripp fan did do us one favor. There are multiple exits from the Park West. Adrian, Pat, and Gavin went out the front door. There's also a side door. It's probably best to stand on the corner and keep an eye on both of them. Anyway, the Fripp fan told us that Tony Levin was signing autographs by the side door. I ran over. He signed my tour box booklet for me. Years ago, I had seen Tony in concert and talked to him so often, he remembered me from show to show. He even remembered that I was from Philly after I moved. But we last saw him five years ago, and I don't think he recognized me from back then. He did recognize us from sitting up front. I told him we were going to all the Chicago shows. I was amazed to see Tony leave by getting into the driver's seat of his own car. I'm used to seeing musicians being chauffeured around, not as in control of their surroundings as Tony was.
It was still relatively early. The band went on stage at 7:30, no opening act, and played until 9:20 or so. The band all made their exits by 10:30. Roy and I took a cab to Pizzeria Uno and finally ate dinner. Then we walked back to the bed and breakfast to rest up for the next day of Crimsonizing.
