Yes
House of Blues
Chicago, IL
Friday, February 19, 2010
General Admission / Dinner Package
$114.50
There's something about singing "Twenty-four before my love, you'll see, I'll be there with you" at a Yes concert and knowing that in twenty-four hours, I'll be seeing my favorite band again. (I've even changed the lyrics to forty-eight to make it work.) I saw Yes at the House of Blues in Chicago on Thursday night, and I'd get to see them there again on Friday. At the time the tour dates were announced, only Thursday was on the schedule. The Friday show was added later, quietly. Tickets went on sale before it was even listed on YesWorld.
For the Thursday night show, I bought a premium ticket package, which offered early entry into the general admission club. But since those tickets had gone on sale, House of Blues made a change. Their tickets were now on sale through Live Nation instead of Ticketmaster. And there was no mention of a premium package for either show. The only way I enjoy general admission standing shows is to be right by the stage, and I'm certainly willing to wait in line to get there. But if other people found out how to get premium seating and I was left out... I called the House of Blues and paid for a reserved stool. It was my fail-safe; if I couldn't stand in the front of the pit, I'd have a place to sit in a raised section giving me an unrestricted view. It cost $50 over the price of the concert ticket, but it also came with a $50 voucher at their restaurant.
For general admission shows like this, Roy and I usually have a late lunch before getting in line. That would have worked great time-wise on this trip, I'd eat at the House of Blues restaurant before getting in line. However, on Thursday, I had lunch-time lunch with an old friend. And on Friday, I needed to get some deep dish pizza. I ended up having a very early breakfast, lunch at 11, and "dinner" at 2-ish. I thought to myself that I'd be going from one meal to the next, but it worked out alright. Didn't eat a whole lot of pizza, and did do a whole lot of walking. I woke up by six each morning without an alarm, ready to see the city. I forgot to wear my pedometer, but I estimate I walked about seven miles on Thursday and five on Friday. That's not counting standing in line and standing during the shows.
Last time Roy and I were in Chicago, we ate at this pizza place Bacino's in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The main activity of my morning was walking back there, stopping at some shops along the way. I took a cab back to the hotel to take a nap, and then walked over to the House of Blues.
I asked the lady at the box office what to do about my seat. If I could get in early enough, I wanted a repeat of Thursday night, standing in the front row. She told me that the dinner package "trumped" the pass-the-line early entry, so I'd be able to enter first. Just in case, I got in the pass-the-line line. I was the only person in line for over an hour. Later on, an usher told me that the pass-the-line line was the place to be; we'd get in before the reserved seat people. I figured that most people with reserved seats wouldn't be trying for front row, and most people in the pass-the-line line would; better to be in front of them. I did find out that the Foundation Room VIPs trump everyone. When the doors opened, one guy was already standing by the stage.
On Thursday, I waited with a guy who was friendly, but kinda intense and too clever. Someone asked us if we knew where an employee was, and he answered that we were Experienced Concert Goers and could answer the guy's questions. I cringed at being included in that, but I was reminded of it in line on Friday. The premium package coordinator spoke with the box office trying to figure out why there were no people signed up for premium packages that night. I overheard and walked over to tell him about the switch to Live Nation, with no packages on sale for this show. I would've bought one too. And Yes' tour manager (who I also bumped into during breakfast and dinner) had a question about the venue setup. The box office attendant was busy, so he came over to ask me.
I saw a couple of the band members while I waited. Alan White walked in by himself. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him I planned to be in the same spot today as last night. He told me there was an entrance in back for the band members to come in privately, but he didn't know where it was.
Benoit David went into the restaurant by himself. When he left, he saw me waiting in line and talked to me on his way up to the club level. He asked if I was coming to the show this night. (What else would I be doing here?) He asked me where I lived and how far away it was from here. "Do you remember playing the Pageant in St. Louis? I live about a mile from there." Benoit replied that he remembered playing there, and that's where he met me. I'm always touched when musicians who must meet so many fans, remember something about me, and want to show off that they remember. I couldn't correct him that I first met him in Bloomington, the night before St. Louis. After that exchange, all I could do was turn to the people waiting in line behind me, and say that guy who was just talking to me was the new singer.
I was in line by the stairs. The line behind me looped around another hallway. People just walking over couldn't tell how many people were in line. It might have looked like I was standing there by myself. One couple sat on the steps, thinking they were first in line. My friend Kurt walked over and asked me to join him and his friends for dinner. Some other people didn't realize that everyone in this line had a pass-the-line voucher, not just them, and they couldn't waltz in in front of us. When the doors opened, there was one guy already there by the stage. I grabbed the spot right next to him, right where I was standing the night before.
The wait felt different this time around. People were friendly, but it didn't have the camaraderie of the night before. All the premium ticket package people stood together, and we were all big fans. It was also more crowded, like more people were pushed up against the barricade. There'd be less room to dance in this tight spot.
The concert started, and I was right in front of Chris Squire. The previous night, I was standing just inches away from where I was now, and I got such an interesting sound mix. Lots of bass, just sounding wonderful, and lots of guitar. I was basically standing in the same spot, but the mix was different this time. More balanced, where I could hear everyone, but muddier. Squire's bass didn't pop out as much.
Steve Howe seemed like he was in a bad mood. There were a couple guys with press passes taking photos. They stood in between the barricade and the stage. They both stood by Steve at one point during Siberian Khatru. He turned around and squatted down, the effect was sticking his butt in their cameras. I wasn't sure if I really saw that, but both Chris and Benoit were laughing. They must have seen it too. Later on, Steve kicked his leg toward one of the photographers, not close enough to actually kick him. He either needs to warn people not to crowd him or stand further back on the stage if this bothers him so much. At their closest, they were standing on the floor three feet below the stage level and their cameras were several feet away from him.
When Chris introduces Tempus Fugit, he's been saying they're going to do two songs from Drama. This night, he specifically said one song from Drama. I hoped this meant they were going to add back in South Side, but nope. One song shorter than the previous night. I missed Machine Messiah. It was a highlight on Thursday night, standing out even among a whole setlist of highlights.
On Yours Is No Disgrace, I noticed how Chris punctuates bars of Steve Howe's solo with a couple bass notes, making the guitar line sound more dramatic. The guy I was chatting with on my left turned out to be a whistler. High piercing whistle during the quiet part of And You And I. Chris made eye contact with me and gave me a big smile. I don't know if he heard the whistle and saw the annoyed look on my face, but I smiled back and felt much better. We shared another smile later on in the show.
Steve did To Be Over as his solo piece. I love that song and I love his version of it, and this was my first time seeing him play it live. After the song, Chris came out and introduced it as an excerpt of To Be Over from Relayer, the first time I've heard him (or Jon) talk about the songs in Steve's solo set. It was a nice moment. Unfortunately, there was some commotion in the audience by the stage during Steve's solo and he didn't look happy about the noise.
People standing in the front row were talking during Steve's solo, and Steve looked right at them and said "Thank you" sarcastically. Then, the incident happened. Some woman walked up behind me and touched me on the back. She said "Is he yours?", I guess referring to the whistler. She then walked by the other people in the front center section, touching or putting her arms around everyone. Whistler turned to me and told me to make sure I still had my wallet. I didn't think she was trying to pickpocket; she had her hand on the barricade and I think she wanted someone to let her stand in the front. People got loud trying to fend her off. She walked back to me, and put her arm around me. I told her to go away, and she walked back towards the bar. Something very similar happened a previous time I was at this venue, enough that I wonder if it was the same person. All the touchy-feely stuff was creepy.
All of this was going on when I was trying to listen to To Be Over. Steve couldn't tell what was causing the disruption, just that the people right in front of him were being loud. Steve normally introduces the next song, Owner of a Lonely Heart. This time, he told us we were being quieter in between songs than we were during his solo. The band went right into Owner.
This show didn't live up to the night before's. I don't know if it was the mix, the crowdedness, the cumulative effect of bad night's sleep the last two nights. I hesitate to say the band was playing with less energy. It could have been my frame of mind. I wasn't even paying attention as fully. A couple times I noticed that I lost my place in the song and had to listen to some of the lyrics before I could sing along. I wanted to relive the night before and I wasn't in the same place figuratively.
After Roundabout, Yes left the stage before the encore. Whistler whistled non-stop. One shrill sound after another, right by my ear. Did I mention I didn't need to wear earplugs during this show? I finally snapped: I elbowed him and told him to knock it off. At least he was nice about it and apologized. My poor ear hurt for a good hour afterward.
The concert ended, and I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't pumped full of adrenaline, but I wasn't ready to go back to the hotel either. I'd normally hang out and try to meet the band, but I wasn't sure what entrance they'd use, and it didn't look like anyone else was waiting. And I'd just seen them so often. I called Kurt, and met up with him. Kurt and his friend Arlene were going to the bar at the Yes hotel, so I joined them. We hung out and talked for a while. They were both more cynical than I am about Yes' performance. I wonder what they would have thought if they'd seen Thursday's show instead. I'm glad I joined them. I did this trip by myself, but I found a good balance between alone time and socializing.
I finally slept well Friday night. It was lightly snowing on Saturday morning. I went out to breakfast and then took a cab to the bus stop. I have to admit, after dealing with airports for so many trips, it amazed me that I could leave my hotel 45 minutes before my departure. I got to the bus stop with plenty of time. The bus trip was non-eventful and went by quickly enough. (I have to mention somewhere that roundtrip to Chicago, I paid only $11.50 on Megabus!) Roy picked me up at Union Station. Even though I missed him, I am so glad I went on this trip.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Yes is at the House of Blues!
Yes
House of Blues
Chicago, IL
Thursday, February 18, 2010
General Admission / Premium Ticket
$184.50
When a new Yes tour is announced, Roy and I look at all the tour dates to see which shows will work for us. Are they doing a local show? What shows are on the weekends? How many concerts do we want to do? We decided on two concerts, and the two in Florida would make for a nice warm trip in February. It would have been enough, except for one thing. I love being able to stand and dance throughout a Yes concert, and they were playing a general admission, standing room only concert in Chicago. I'd get that opportunity. Roy didn't want to, so I made arrangements to go to Chicago myself.
The Chicago concert was on a Thursday. I'd have to take a day off from work that Friday to travel home. Just for fun, I decided to stay an extra day up there. I could do touristy stuff. I booked my hotel and transportation. And then, Yes added another show at the House of Blues in Chicago for Friday night. Suddenly, I'm going to four shows on this short tour.
I took the bus up to Chicago on Wednesday night. I got really lucky with the weather. Thursday was the warmest day in Chicago all year so far, great for walking around. I made plans to meet an acquaintance for lunch, and I planned to get to the House of Blues by three. I was doing so much of this trip by myself, so it was good to see Jen and do something social. We both relocated to the midwest, but were out of touch for fifteen years before finding each other on Facebook. I had a light lunch, because I'd be having "dinner" at the House of Blues not too long afterward.
This was a general admission show, and I had to be in the front row. I had to be. Seriously, I'm five foot two, and anyone standing in front of me would block my view and I wouldn't be able to see. But also, given the opportunity to see my favorite band in the front row, I had to go for it. Ticketmaster offered a premium ticket package with early entry, and I had to do that. The House of Blues offers "pass the line" entrance to anyone eating at their restaurant that day. Just in case something went wrong with the premium entry, I had to be in front of the "pass the line" line too.
It was actually a lot of fun waiting there. The band was staying at the hotel in the same complex as the House of Blues, and the band members were walking right into the lobby and up the stairs to the stage area. Another fan was waiting there, who I think I met at a previous show in Chicago. He and I talked for most of the time. I was standing there for three hours, and I only read two pages in my book.
I spoke to Benoit David, the singer for this lineup of the band. I was just walking out of the restaurant and I saw him in the lobby. I called out his name, and he recognized me and stopped. I told him I was getting in line for the show, and he asked me how early it was. It was 4pm. I find it charming when musicians I'm a fan of try to show not just that they remember me, but they remember something personal about me. The last few times I saw Yes, my friend Greg was also there. Greg has a blog about an imaginary jackalope, and he brings a small stuffed animal jackalope to concerts. Benoit remembered that and must have thought of us as together, and asked if I had the jackalope with me. Between his accent and me not expecting to hear that word, I had to ask him to repeat himself. Ah, that's what he's talking about. No, that belongs to a friend of mine. (Greg and I have only met on three occasions, but they've all been recent Yes shows, where Benoit has seen us hanging out.) The next morning, I sent Greg a message about this exchange, and he replied that I made his day.
Chris Squire walked down the steps and caused a big stir. One guy got to shake his hand, another took a picture with him. I just hung back and watched their interactions. Both fans were talking about how nice Chris was. Alan White walked in with Yes' tour manager; they were talking to each other and didn't see us. When Alan walked back down, he talked to our group. He said his feet were tired and he was going back to the hotel to watch a movie. I love seeing the band in a city where the hotels, restaurants, and concert are all close by. I hope they appreciated being able to get around easily too.
Shortly before the doors opened, the premium ticket people were all grouped together. There were two levels of premium tickets - ones that came with a meet and greet with the band and ones that didn't. I bought a meet and greet package for Yes' tour in 2004, but I didn't need to for this lineup. I can usually meet them after the show just by hanging out, and I am more concerned about the front row seat. We were all together, without really being in a line. There were about a dozen people there. Security people brought us to another staircase where we stood single file. I was halfway back in line, no longer first. Security led us up to the club level, and then it got confusing. The employee leading us up walked around the perimeter of the club around the back, and people followed him. But they walked right past the entrance to the pit, the quickest way to get to the front of the stage. Was I supposed to follow the people in front of me or use my instincts? I broke from the line and grabbed the front row center spot. Everyone walking behind me followed my lead.
My goal was to stand in the center one night and in front of Chris Squire the other night. But there was a curtain covering the stage, and I couldn't see where the microphone stands were. This would be my night to stand front and center, and I could judge where to stand to be in front of Chris the next night. I made a misjudgment though, which worked in my favor. Oliver Wakeman's keyboards took up a huge portion of the stage, in front and audience right. The rest of the front-line was squished into the remainder of the stage. By standing in the center, I ended up right by Chris.
The premium package people mostly got front row positions. One couple decided to stand in the center, in the second row behind me. The guys I waited with in the "pass the line" line were also able to get front row, near where Steve was on the far left. We weren't right up by the stage. There was a metal barricade a couple feet from the stage, leaving room for cameramen and security people between the audience and the band. More nice, unintended consequences. The barricade had a metal floor going back about two feet into the audience. The people in the front row could stand on it, but there wasn't quite enough room for two rows of people on it. The rest of the floor stood back, so they weren't partly standing on the metal and partly on the wood floor. It meant we weren't being crowded and shoved up front. The barricade was also a good height to lean on and rest my arms on it. I think the people who chose the second row position regretted it as the floor got crowded. We had an hour to wait before the show started, and we all chatted. Nice group of people, all big fans.
Around 8:15, the room darkened and Firebird Suite began to play on the loudspeakers. The curtains parted and there was Yes! Seats up by the stage are great for seeing the band, paying attention to details, interacting with the bandmembers; the only thing they're not great for is sound. The speakers are over our heads pushing the sound back. What I'm hearing is coming from the on-stage monitors. (The flip side is, I could be further back by the soundboard and surrounded by people talking or constantly adjusting my spot to try to see.) I had a seat once before at a Yes concert directly in front of Chris. All I heard was the bass all night. I was expecting the same thing from this position.
Chris Squire is my favorite bass player in the world and his melodic lead lines are one of the things I love most about Yes music. I could hear every note Squire played like it was turned up for a solo. His tone was beautiful. I got to hear every bassline highlighted and played right in front of me. I thought nothing would take my attention away from Chris, but Steve also had on-stage monitors and I could hear him clearly, particularly on the solos of Siberian Khatru and Yours Is No Disgrace.
I was in my happy place for the whole show. In the zone, in the present, the music had my rapt attention the entire time. I could barely hear the vocals, but I sung along, singing along with Chris' harmony parts whenever he was singing. Float your climb! He almost came in early on the vocals during Onward, but caught it. I felt the music rather than hearing it all. I wouldn't want this mix for every show, but it was fascinating to hear everything Chris played so clearly. I later wrote on Facebook that it's not the same band I fell in love with, the balance of delicate beauty versus power is off, but they rocked. And I danced along to that glorious bass for the whole show. I was thrilled.
Here's a few funny / interesting moments that I caught being up front:
There was a waitress making the rounds of the pit carrying a case of beer up over her head back and forth through the crowd. Chris said before he introduced Steve Howe's solo that he was wondering about that Bud Light case the woman was carrying. He said it looked like weight training. Someone in the crowd asked Chris if he wanted one. Someone tossed a can on stage during Machine Messiah. Chris saw it and laughed. During Owner of a Lonely Heart, Benoit moved to that part of the stage. He saw the can, and offered it to a couple people in front, and tossed it back to someone.
Steve Howe rotates the songs he does in his solo portion of the show. For this show, he did All's a Chord and Diary of a Man Who Vanished. Some people standing near him were talking during the songs. Steve announced what songs he had played, and then said "and I wish those talkers would vanish". Aside from this part, Steve looked like he was in a great mood. Steve was more animated than I've seen recently, even smiling a few times. As he came back on stage for the encore, he did the duck walk across the stage.
One song that particularly stood out was Machine Messiah. I had never seen Yes play in until this lineup formed. I thought during the performance that if some other band in a prog festival played a song that sounded like this, we'd all be going nuts for it. The instrumental parts of the song sound so Yes-sy and fit in so well. I'm glad they're doing it again. One thing different on this night's performance was that they didn't use dry ice to fill the stage. I was standing so close, I hoped to be able to play with it.
After the show ended, the band came to the front of the stage for their bows. One guy in the audience was hoping to get a setlist, and was pointing at it to Alan. Alan saw him, but didn't do anything. Just after the band left the stage and the curtains closed again, a roadie came out to hand the fan a setlist. I don't know if Alan asked him to or if he saw the exchange, but it was a nice thing to do.
Everyone who purchased the premium ticket package got a letter from the box office, saying to meet after the show by stage left. Most people were doing the meet and greet, and got black laminates. I hadn't spent the extra $100 to do that, but I was still getting a souvenir t-shirt and poster. I remembered reading that people buying the lesser package could also be "upgraded" to the meet and greet. We were all brought up to a little room where the meet and greet would be held. The coordinator calmly went through his list and distributed the t-shirts. I thought there were more people downstairs, but at this point there were three people with the lesser package. The coordinator said if we wanted, we could meet the band too! We'd have to wait until the meet and greet was over, and wait with the people with regular backstage passes. This was wonderful!
It wasn't coordinated very well. Just as the official meet and greet ended and those people left, someone turned off the lights. We were brought into the dark room. Oliver Wakeman and Alan White were there. Oliver tried to make the best of it, going to a part of the room with indirect lighting, and offered to do any autographs from there. I went over and asked him to sign my new poster. Alan waited for the lights to come on. At some point, Steve Howe walked by, but he looked like he was on his way out, so I didn't stop him.
Usually my ideal spot at concerts is one where I can be in front, but out of the way, in the aisle dancing. I don't get a great view of Alan White that way, but I did this night. And the reverse was true. After the light situation was fixed, Alan told me that he saw me dancing along. He said I knew the words better than he does. If this had been a different lineup of the band, I would have joked that I know the words better than Jon, but I didn't want to bring his name up now. I asked Alan to sign a couple CDs for me. I brought House of Yes: Live from the House of Blues and Magnification.
House of Yes has autographs from Roger Dean, Steve Howe, Alan White, and Chris Squire
Magnification has been signed by Alan White and Chris Squire
Chris Squire came out a little bit later. I told him his playing sounded wonderful. He also told me he watched me dancing during the show. Here are two of my idols, musicians whose talent I admire so much, and they both went out of their way to tell me they saw me enjoying the show. Speaking of which, someone on the Yesfans site wrote, "Seeing you dance has become part of the Yes concert ritual for me; you so echo the joy of the music."
I couldn't get cell phone reception inside, so I went outside to call Roy and tell him what just happened. Nights like this one are a gift, and I'm so glad I was able to take full advantage of it.
House of Blues
Chicago, IL
Thursday, February 18, 2010
General Admission / Premium Ticket
$184.50
When a new Yes tour is announced, Roy and I look at all the tour dates to see which shows will work for us. Are they doing a local show? What shows are on the weekends? How many concerts do we want to do? We decided on two concerts, and the two in Florida would make for a nice warm trip in February. It would have been enough, except for one thing. I love being able to stand and dance throughout a Yes concert, and they were playing a general admission, standing room only concert in Chicago. I'd get that opportunity. Roy didn't want to, so I made arrangements to go to Chicago myself.
The Chicago concert was on a Thursday. I'd have to take a day off from work that Friday to travel home. Just for fun, I decided to stay an extra day up there. I could do touristy stuff. I booked my hotel and transportation. And then, Yes added another show at the House of Blues in Chicago for Friday night. Suddenly, I'm going to four shows on this short tour.
I took the bus up to Chicago on Wednesday night. I got really lucky with the weather. Thursday was the warmest day in Chicago all year so far, great for walking around. I made plans to meet an acquaintance for lunch, and I planned to get to the House of Blues by three. I was doing so much of this trip by myself, so it was good to see Jen and do something social. We both relocated to the midwest, but were out of touch for fifteen years before finding each other on Facebook. I had a light lunch, because I'd be having "dinner" at the House of Blues not too long afterward.
This was a general admission show, and I had to be in the front row. I had to be. Seriously, I'm five foot two, and anyone standing in front of me would block my view and I wouldn't be able to see. But also, given the opportunity to see my favorite band in the front row, I had to go for it. Ticketmaster offered a premium ticket package with early entry, and I had to do that. The House of Blues offers "pass the line" entrance to anyone eating at their restaurant that day. Just in case something went wrong with the premium entry, I had to be in front of the "pass the line" line too.
It was actually a lot of fun waiting there. The band was staying at the hotel in the same complex as the House of Blues, and the band members were walking right into the lobby and up the stairs to the stage area. Another fan was waiting there, who I think I met at a previous show in Chicago. He and I talked for most of the time. I was standing there for three hours, and I only read two pages in my book.
I spoke to Benoit David, the singer for this lineup of the band. I was just walking out of the restaurant and I saw him in the lobby. I called out his name, and he recognized me and stopped. I told him I was getting in line for the show, and he asked me how early it was. It was 4pm. I find it charming when musicians I'm a fan of try to show not just that they remember me, but they remember something personal about me. The last few times I saw Yes, my friend Greg was also there. Greg has a blog about an imaginary jackalope, and he brings a small stuffed animal jackalope to concerts. Benoit remembered that and must have thought of us as together, and asked if I had the jackalope with me. Between his accent and me not expecting to hear that word, I had to ask him to repeat himself. Ah, that's what he's talking about. No, that belongs to a friend of mine. (Greg and I have only met on three occasions, but they've all been recent Yes shows, where Benoit has seen us hanging out.) The next morning, I sent Greg a message about this exchange, and he replied that I made his day.
Chris Squire walked down the steps and caused a big stir. One guy got to shake his hand, another took a picture with him. I just hung back and watched their interactions. Both fans were talking about how nice Chris was. Alan White walked in with Yes' tour manager; they were talking to each other and didn't see us. When Alan walked back down, he talked to our group. He said his feet were tired and he was going back to the hotel to watch a movie. I love seeing the band in a city where the hotels, restaurants, and concert are all close by. I hope they appreciated being able to get around easily too.
Shortly before the doors opened, the premium ticket people were all grouped together. There were two levels of premium tickets - ones that came with a meet and greet with the band and ones that didn't. I bought a meet and greet package for Yes' tour in 2004, but I didn't need to for this lineup. I can usually meet them after the show just by hanging out, and I am more concerned about the front row seat. We were all together, without really being in a line. There were about a dozen people there. Security people brought us to another staircase where we stood single file. I was halfway back in line, no longer first. Security led us up to the club level, and then it got confusing. The employee leading us up walked around the perimeter of the club around the back, and people followed him. But they walked right past the entrance to the pit, the quickest way to get to the front of the stage. Was I supposed to follow the people in front of me or use my instincts? I broke from the line and grabbed the front row center spot. Everyone walking behind me followed my lead.
My goal was to stand in the center one night and in front of Chris Squire the other night. But there was a curtain covering the stage, and I couldn't see where the microphone stands were. This would be my night to stand front and center, and I could judge where to stand to be in front of Chris the next night. I made a misjudgment though, which worked in my favor. Oliver Wakeman's keyboards took up a huge portion of the stage, in front and audience right. The rest of the front-line was squished into the remainder of the stage. By standing in the center, I ended up right by Chris.
The premium package people mostly got front row positions. One couple decided to stand in the center, in the second row behind me. The guys I waited with in the "pass the line" line were also able to get front row, near where Steve was on the far left. We weren't right up by the stage. There was a metal barricade a couple feet from the stage, leaving room for cameramen and security people between the audience and the band. More nice, unintended consequences. The barricade had a metal floor going back about two feet into the audience. The people in the front row could stand on it, but there wasn't quite enough room for two rows of people on it. The rest of the floor stood back, so they weren't partly standing on the metal and partly on the wood floor. It meant we weren't being crowded and shoved up front. The barricade was also a good height to lean on and rest my arms on it. I think the people who chose the second row position regretted it as the floor got crowded. We had an hour to wait before the show started, and we all chatted. Nice group of people, all big fans.
Around 8:15, the room darkened and Firebird Suite began to play on the loudspeakers. The curtains parted and there was Yes! Seats up by the stage are great for seeing the band, paying attention to details, interacting with the bandmembers; the only thing they're not great for is sound. The speakers are over our heads pushing the sound back. What I'm hearing is coming from the on-stage monitors. (The flip side is, I could be further back by the soundboard and surrounded by people talking or constantly adjusting my spot to try to see.) I had a seat once before at a Yes concert directly in front of Chris. All I heard was the bass all night. I was expecting the same thing from this position.
Chris Squire is my favorite bass player in the world and his melodic lead lines are one of the things I love most about Yes music. I could hear every note Squire played like it was turned up for a solo. His tone was beautiful. I got to hear every bassline highlighted and played right in front of me. I thought nothing would take my attention away from Chris, but Steve also had on-stage monitors and I could hear him clearly, particularly on the solos of Siberian Khatru and Yours Is No Disgrace.
I was in my happy place for the whole show. In the zone, in the present, the music had my rapt attention the entire time. I could barely hear the vocals, but I sung along, singing along with Chris' harmony parts whenever he was singing. Float your climb! He almost came in early on the vocals during Onward, but caught it. I felt the music rather than hearing it all. I wouldn't want this mix for every show, but it was fascinating to hear everything Chris played so clearly. I later wrote on Facebook that it's not the same band I fell in love with, the balance of delicate beauty versus power is off, but they rocked. And I danced along to that glorious bass for the whole show. I was thrilled.
Here's a few funny / interesting moments that I caught being up front:
There was a waitress making the rounds of the pit carrying a case of beer up over her head back and forth through the crowd. Chris said before he introduced Steve Howe's solo that he was wondering about that Bud Light case the woman was carrying. He said it looked like weight training. Someone in the crowd asked Chris if he wanted one. Someone tossed a can on stage during Machine Messiah. Chris saw it and laughed. During Owner of a Lonely Heart, Benoit moved to that part of the stage. He saw the can, and offered it to a couple people in front, and tossed it back to someone.
Steve Howe rotates the songs he does in his solo portion of the show. For this show, he did All's a Chord and Diary of a Man Who Vanished. Some people standing near him were talking during the songs. Steve announced what songs he had played, and then said "and I wish those talkers would vanish". Aside from this part, Steve looked like he was in a great mood. Steve was more animated than I've seen recently, even smiling a few times. As he came back on stage for the encore, he did the duck walk across the stage.
One song that particularly stood out was Machine Messiah. I had never seen Yes play in until this lineup formed. I thought during the performance that if some other band in a prog festival played a song that sounded like this, we'd all be going nuts for it. The instrumental parts of the song sound so Yes-sy and fit in so well. I'm glad they're doing it again. One thing different on this night's performance was that they didn't use dry ice to fill the stage. I was standing so close, I hoped to be able to play with it.
After the show ended, the band came to the front of the stage for their bows. One guy in the audience was hoping to get a setlist, and was pointing at it to Alan. Alan saw him, but didn't do anything. Just after the band left the stage and the curtains closed again, a roadie came out to hand the fan a setlist. I don't know if Alan asked him to or if he saw the exchange, but it was a nice thing to do.
Everyone who purchased the premium ticket package got a letter from the box office, saying to meet after the show by stage left. Most people were doing the meet and greet, and got black laminates. I hadn't spent the extra $100 to do that, but I was still getting a souvenir t-shirt and poster. I remembered reading that people buying the lesser package could also be "upgraded" to the meet and greet. We were all brought up to a little room where the meet and greet would be held. The coordinator calmly went through his list and distributed the t-shirts. I thought there were more people downstairs, but at this point there were three people with the lesser package. The coordinator said if we wanted, we could meet the band too! We'd have to wait until the meet and greet was over, and wait with the people with regular backstage passes. This was wonderful!
It wasn't coordinated very well. Just as the official meet and greet ended and those people left, someone turned off the lights. We were brought into the dark room. Oliver Wakeman and Alan White were there. Oliver tried to make the best of it, going to a part of the room with indirect lighting, and offered to do any autographs from there. I went over and asked him to sign my new poster. Alan waited for the lights to come on. At some point, Steve Howe walked by, but he looked like he was on his way out, so I didn't stop him.
Usually my ideal spot at concerts is one where I can be in front, but out of the way, in the aisle dancing. I don't get a great view of Alan White that way, but I did this night. And the reverse was true. After the light situation was fixed, Alan told me that he saw me dancing along. He said I knew the words better than he does. If this had been a different lineup of the band, I would have joked that I know the words better than Jon, but I didn't want to bring his name up now. I asked Alan to sign a couple CDs for me. I brought House of Yes: Live from the House of Blues and Magnification.
Chris Squire came out a little bit later. I told him his playing sounded wonderful. He also told me he watched me dancing during the show. Here are two of my idols, musicians whose talent I admire so much, and they both went out of their way to tell me they saw me enjoying the show. Speaking of which, someone on the Yesfans site wrote, "Seeing you dance has become part of the Yes concert ritual for me; you so echo the joy of the music."
I couldn't get cell phone reception inside, so I went outside to call Roy and tell him what just happened. Nights like this one are a gift, and I'm so glad I was able to take full advantage of it.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Reacquaint Yourself with My Style
KISS
Alive 35 Tour
Opening Act: Buckcherry
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Section 425, Row F, Seat 17
$25
KISS was my favorite band in high school. It's not that I stopped loving their music, I just discovered a world of other music that I loved more. KISS became less and less relevant. Now, I'd call them a guilty pleasure. I saw them three times as a teenager, and once more on their 1996 reunion tour. I thought it would be fun to see them one more time, but it hadn't worked out yet.
So Roy and I were planning a trip to New York and Philly to see the Renaissance reunion tour. We had a day off on Saturday, and Roy suggested looking at other bands playing that night. I wanted to spend Saturday in Philly, visiting friends and seeing my hometown. But the most intriguing show for me was KISS at Madison Square Garden that night. My best friend Angela wanted to go to a concert with me again, for old times' sake. I called her up and asked if she'd see KISS with me in New York. This was becoming more of a New York trip than a Philly one, but at least I'd get to spend more time with a Philly friend.
The whole day felt like one reunion after another. Roy and I were able to meet up with my friend Dawn and her daughter Sarah. They were in the city before flying out to London the next day. The night before, they saw a live performance of the first Lord of the Rings movie score at Radio City Music Hall. Roy was heading to that show this night, as he didn't want to see KISS with us. We met up with Dawn by some steps near Times Square and just sat talking for an hour.
We left to walk back to Penn Station. Angela took the train up. I hadn't seen her in over a year. She doesn't get to Manhattan often, so we walked back to Times Square and went to the MTV store and Toys R Us with the big ferris wheel. Everywhere was so crowded that day. We took a cab to dinner at Mustang Harry's, near Madison Square Garden. Angela made reservations, so we didn't have a wait. Plenty of people there were going to the concert, judging from the t-shirts. They were playing KISS music. After dinner, Roy left to go to his show at Radio City, and Angela and I walked over to the Garden. We weren't going to try to meet up afterward, just head back to the hotel in Newark.
This is the first concert I've gone to where I've had accessible seating. I've gone with Angela to a number of concerts over the years, and she's always managed with steps or standing in crowds. But here, Ticketmaster offered options not just for wheelchair seating, but "Patron W/Disability" seats, on an aisle with minimal steps. Tickets had already been on sale for awhile. I got the cheap seats - $25 for seats in the top level, but they turned out to have an excellent view.
We even got to use a special entrance, near 8th Avenue and 33rd. A woman from their accessibility office called me to see what accommodations we needed. She took Angela's name, and gave me all sorts of warnings about needing her ID. In reality, the guards took one look at her crutch and leg braces and let us in. We didn't even get searched. She obviously belonged there. This was also the entrance to the backstage area. I think one of the members of the opening act was on the elevator with us. He was escorting some people to the backstage level. We got off on the top floor. Our seats were on the aisle, but three steps down with no railing. It was still hard for Angela to get up to the bathroom and back. There was no merchandise on this level either. I ran down a few flights of steps to buy a program and pick up a t-shirt for Angela.
We watched the crowds come in. Quite a few families were there, including a dad and son next to me. Later on during the show, the boy got tired and fell asleep, partially leaning on me. The dad looked over and smiled. I guess he was glad I looked relatively responsible and safe, not drunk. They left partway through the show, and strangely enough, the seats were filled by another dad and son. Our seats might have been in the second row from the top, but they were at a good angle. We could see the whole stage and it didn't seem like we were that far away. (Ironically, the only other time I was at this iconic venue, my seat was in the second row from the stage.) Other kids in our section were wearing the KISS makeup. Years ago, Angela and I dressed up as KISS members for Halloween.
I didn't know anything about the opening act Buckcherry. After their first song, I noticed Angela and I both politely clapping. I whispered to her, "Are we old?" Later on in their set, they did a cover of Deep Purple's Highway Star. Finally a song we both recognized! We laughed.
Seeing KISS was so much fun. I knew more of the words than I thought I would, after not listening to them for so many years. The tour was billed as the Alive 35 tour, and most of the songs they did were on their first live album, originally on their first three studio albums. They were releasing a new album that week, and did one new song called "Modern Day Delilah".
The guys in the row in front of me were all standing, so I stood for most of the show. Because she was sitting on the aisle, Angela could still see while sitting down. I joined her during Rock and Roll All Night, so we could sing it together.
I thought Paul Stanley did a great job as a frontman. He managed to play this larger-than-life character, but still connect his personal experiences to the audience. Perhaps it worked so well because he and Gene Simmons are from New York and got their start here. Stanley told the audience how he used to be a cab driver, and would drop people for shows here at this very venue. He said KISS got their start at the intersection of 23rd and 5th. I just ate around there for dinner the night before, at a restaurant called Live Bait. I was even more surprised to look online and see that KISS rehearsal space was described as being "above the Live Bait Bar". Nice connection I didn't know about!
Most of the concerts I go to these days are just about the musicianship, with maybe a light show. This concert had a lot of special effects. Gene Simmons was on wires, which carried him up to the lighting rig to sing Calling Dr. Love. Paul Stanley stood on a small platform that flew like a Sky Ride above the crowd to a small stage near the back of the floor, where he sang Love Gun. It wasn't nearly as charming as the Coldplay concert, when the whole band walked back to a small stage to play a set, but it was still a nice touch to let the people in back have a good view.
KISS did bits and pieces of other bands' material, but not any fullblown cover songs. Paul Stanley had a bit of solo guitar part before Black Diamond, and he started playing Stairway to Heaven, going so far as to sing part of the first line. Later on, during the encore, the band was doing a long instrumental part in Lick It Up. It morphed into The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again, complete with Paul Stanley doing Roger Daltrey's great scream. I had a thrilling time, but mostly for the nostalgia factor.
After the show, Penn Station was packed. Angela and I managed to see Roy, so the three of us waited for the train together. Madison Square Garden was so good from an accessibility perspective. At Penn Station, they didn't announce what track the train would be on until 10 minutes beforehand, and then there's a rush down the steps to the platform. We didn't see any signs for an elevator, and someone told us that there wasn't one. It was crowded from all the concert-goers, and late enough that we couldn't find any staff to direct us.
It was scary thinking about Angela possibly getting pushed off balance by all these people rushing passed us. Roy and I formed a buffer around her as she went down the steps. I walked in front, and Roy walked behind her to keep people from crowding her. There was room for people to walk down beside us, which would have been fine, but another lady saw what we were doing, and kept the same pace. We made it down the steps. The train was packed, with people standing in the aisles. I called out that my friend needed a seat, and people got out of the way and someone scooted over to give a seat to her. (I guess it's easier for someone to make a request like this on behalf of a friend, rather than having to do it for yourself. I realize that Angela was perfectly capable of taking the train up to New York by herself. I just became protective with all those people around.)
With so many people on the train, we got separated. The crowd thinned out at the first stop, Secaucus Junction. Roy and I were able to meet up with Angela and even get seats by her.
Angela said this day was like reliving her teen years again. We spent so much time together and went to so many concerts. It was good to add another one to the list.
Alive 35 Tour
Opening Act: Buckcherry
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Section 425, Row F, Seat 17
$25
KISS was my favorite band in high school. It's not that I stopped loving their music, I just discovered a world of other music that I loved more. KISS became less and less relevant. Now, I'd call them a guilty pleasure. I saw them three times as a teenager, and once more on their 1996 reunion tour. I thought it would be fun to see them one more time, but it hadn't worked out yet.
So Roy and I were planning a trip to New York and Philly to see the Renaissance reunion tour. We had a day off on Saturday, and Roy suggested looking at other bands playing that night. I wanted to spend Saturday in Philly, visiting friends and seeing my hometown. But the most intriguing show for me was KISS at Madison Square Garden that night. My best friend Angela wanted to go to a concert with me again, for old times' sake. I called her up and asked if she'd see KISS with me in New York. This was becoming more of a New York trip than a Philly one, but at least I'd get to spend more time with a Philly friend.
The whole day felt like one reunion after another. Roy and I were able to meet up with my friend Dawn and her daughter Sarah. They were in the city before flying out to London the next day. The night before, they saw a live performance of the first Lord of the Rings movie score at Radio City Music Hall. Roy was heading to that show this night, as he didn't want to see KISS with us. We met up with Dawn by some steps near Times Square and just sat talking for an hour.
We left to walk back to Penn Station. Angela took the train up. I hadn't seen her in over a year. She doesn't get to Manhattan often, so we walked back to Times Square and went to the MTV store and Toys R Us with the big ferris wheel. Everywhere was so crowded that day. We took a cab to dinner at Mustang Harry's, near Madison Square Garden. Angela made reservations, so we didn't have a wait. Plenty of people there were going to the concert, judging from the t-shirts. They were playing KISS music. After dinner, Roy left to go to his show at Radio City, and Angela and I walked over to the Garden. We weren't going to try to meet up afterward, just head back to the hotel in Newark.
This is the first concert I've gone to where I've had accessible seating. I've gone with Angela to a number of concerts over the years, and she's always managed with steps or standing in crowds. But here, Ticketmaster offered options not just for wheelchair seating, but "Patron W/Disability" seats, on an aisle with minimal steps. Tickets had already been on sale for awhile. I got the cheap seats - $25 for seats in the top level, but they turned out to have an excellent view.
We even got to use a special entrance, near 8th Avenue and 33rd. A woman from their accessibility office called me to see what accommodations we needed. She took Angela's name, and gave me all sorts of warnings about needing her ID. In reality, the guards took one look at her crutch and leg braces and let us in. We didn't even get searched. She obviously belonged there. This was also the entrance to the backstage area. I think one of the members of the opening act was on the elevator with us. He was escorting some people to the backstage level. We got off on the top floor. Our seats were on the aisle, but three steps down with no railing. It was still hard for Angela to get up to the bathroom and back. There was no merchandise on this level either. I ran down a few flights of steps to buy a program and pick up a t-shirt for Angela.
We watched the crowds come in. Quite a few families were there, including a dad and son next to me. Later on during the show, the boy got tired and fell asleep, partially leaning on me. The dad looked over and smiled. I guess he was glad I looked relatively responsible and safe, not drunk. They left partway through the show, and strangely enough, the seats were filled by another dad and son. Our seats might have been in the second row from the top, but they were at a good angle. We could see the whole stage and it didn't seem like we were that far away. (Ironically, the only other time I was at this iconic venue, my seat was in the second row from the stage.) Other kids in our section were wearing the KISS makeup. Years ago, Angela and I dressed up as KISS members for Halloween.
I didn't know anything about the opening act Buckcherry. After their first song, I noticed Angela and I both politely clapping. I whispered to her, "Are we old?" Later on in their set, they did a cover of Deep Purple's Highway Star. Finally a song we both recognized! We laughed.
Seeing KISS was so much fun. I knew more of the words than I thought I would, after not listening to them for so many years. The tour was billed as the Alive 35 tour, and most of the songs they did were on their first live album, originally on their first three studio albums. They were releasing a new album that week, and did one new song called "Modern Day Delilah".
The guys in the row in front of me were all standing, so I stood for most of the show. Because she was sitting on the aisle, Angela could still see while sitting down. I joined her during Rock and Roll All Night, so we could sing it together.
I thought Paul Stanley did a great job as a frontman. He managed to play this larger-than-life character, but still connect his personal experiences to the audience. Perhaps it worked so well because he and Gene Simmons are from New York and got their start here. Stanley told the audience how he used to be a cab driver, and would drop people for shows here at this very venue. He said KISS got their start at the intersection of 23rd and 5th. I just ate around there for dinner the night before, at a restaurant called Live Bait. I was even more surprised to look online and see that KISS rehearsal space was described as being "above the Live Bait Bar". Nice connection I didn't know about!
Most of the concerts I go to these days are just about the musicianship, with maybe a light show. This concert had a lot of special effects. Gene Simmons was on wires, which carried him up to the lighting rig to sing Calling Dr. Love. Paul Stanley stood on a small platform that flew like a Sky Ride above the crowd to a small stage near the back of the floor, where he sang Love Gun. It wasn't nearly as charming as the Coldplay concert, when the whole band walked back to a small stage to play a set, but it was still a nice touch to let the people in back have a good view.
KISS did bits and pieces of other bands' material, but not any fullblown cover songs. Paul Stanley had a bit of solo guitar part before Black Diamond, and he started playing Stairway to Heaven, going so far as to sing part of the first line. Later on, during the encore, the band was doing a long instrumental part in Lick It Up. It morphed into The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again, complete with Paul Stanley doing Roger Daltrey's great scream. I had a thrilling time, but mostly for the nostalgia factor.
After the show, Penn Station was packed. Angela and I managed to see Roy, so the three of us waited for the train together. Madison Square Garden was so good from an accessibility perspective. At Penn Station, they didn't announce what track the train would be on until 10 minutes beforehand, and then there's a rush down the steps to the platform. We didn't see any signs for an elevator, and someone told us that there wasn't one. It was crowded from all the concert-goers, and late enough that we couldn't find any staff to direct us.
It was scary thinking about Angela possibly getting pushed off balance by all these people rushing passed us. Roy and I formed a buffer around her as she went down the steps. I walked in front, and Roy walked behind her to keep people from crowding her. There was room for people to walk down beside us, which would have been fine, but another lady saw what we were doing, and kept the same pace. We made it down the steps. The train was packed, with people standing in the aisles. I called out that my friend needed a seat, and people got out of the way and someone scooted over to give a seat to her. (I guess it's easier for someone to make a request like this on behalf of a friend, rather than having to do it for yourself. I realize that Angela was perfectly capable of taking the train up to New York by herself. I just became protective with all those people around.)
With so many people on the train, we got separated. The crowd thinned out at the first stop, Secaucus Junction. Roy and I were able to meet up with Angela and even get seats by her.
Angela said this day was like reliving her teen years again. We spent so much time together and went to so many concerts. It was good to add another one to the list.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Renaissance - Live at the Concert Hall
Renaissance
The Concert Hall
New York City, NY
Friday, October 9, 2009
Section Left Balcony, Row Q, Seat 36
I'm on the mailing lists for a number of concert promoters around the country. I usually ignore the e-mails. But on August 26, I got an e-mail from a Philly-area promoter with the subject line "Renaissance 2009 at the Keswick presale". Nah, it can't be my Renaissance. Can it? I opened the e-mail and saw the Renaissance logo. What a surprise!
This was wonderful news for two reasons. I've been a fan of Renaissance for fifteen years. My friend Scott raved about this band, and I bought the Live at Carnegie Hall LP at the Roosevelt Mall flea market one Sunday. I'd seen singer Annie Haslam in concert many times, but never the band itself. They broke up long before I discovered them. They did some reunion shows in England and Japan a while back, but I didn't go. I assumed they would make it to the states, and missing those shows is one of my big concert regrets. The other reason I was so happy is that I hadn't made it home to Philly yet that year, and this would be my excuse to visit my hometown.
Roy is also a big fan, but he got to see Renaissance at least five times. Annie played a role in our relationship, back when we first started dating. Our first trip together was to a show Annie did at Summerfest in Logan, Utah. Back during our long distance relationship, we planned trips around concerts, and quite a few of them were to see Annie. Annie and I had a mutual friend, who would pass on news. At one point talking to her after a show, she asked when we were going to get married!
Tickets went on sale before we knew much information, like even who was taking part in this reunion. We found out there'd be a show in New York on a Friday, and then the show in the Philly suburbs on Sunday. Only two members of Renaissance would be in this lineup, Annie and guitarist Michael Dunford. But another of my favorite musicians would be joining them: Tom Brislin, the keyboard player who played with Yes on the YesSymphonic tour. The Philly part of the trip kept getting shorter; we decided to spend Saturday night in New York, with my best friend Angela joining us that night.
We flew out to New York on Thursday night. We were staying in Newark, in a hotel right by the train station. (I breezily told Angela to stay with us Saturday night, not realizing that a hotel room for the three of us would be out of my price range in Manhattan.) It didn't seem too different than the old days of going to a show and taking the train afterward to Long Island to stay with my aunt or a friend.
Roy hadn't finished a project at work, so he had to bring along his work laptop. He worked long after I fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up early and was eager to get to Manhattan. Roy left a note saying how late he planned to sleep, and said I should have breakfast without him. I was up four hours before him, so I did one better: I took the train up to New York by myself. I figured Roy wouldn't mind. The whole reason we flew in the night before was to have more time in the city. That morning in Manhattan was one of my favorite times of the trip. It wasn't too crowded. I walked from Penn Station to 5th Avenue, all the way to Central Park, hitting a few shops along the way. We met back up at Penn Station in time for lunch.
We took a cab to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex museum in SoHo. This happened to be John Lennon's birthday, and the museum had free admission to celebrate. Roy in particular liked the museum. There were exhibits on the history of rock music, New York City's musical heritage, and a large gallery devoted to Lennon. (No mention of Alan White there, unfortunately.)
Roy and I walked from SoHo to Greenwich Village and Washington Square to Gramercy Park. My friend Dawn was in town for another show that night. We hoped to meet up for dinner, but she was running late, and we couldn't make it happen. I remembered a restaurant nearby from the last time I was in New York, near the Blender Theater on 23rd, so Roy and I ate there for dinner. We took a cab to the venue, located just off of Central Park in an Ethical Society building.
I try to get to concerts early, to make sure everything is okay and there's time to get settled and fix things before the show starts. This was a perfect example of it. We had third row seats, off to the side. I thought these would be good seats, until we found them. This was a very wide venue, and these seats were really far from the stage. Worse than that, the stage was a semi-circle, with all the instruments turned towards the center. Our view would be the back of the piano player, and he'd be blocking the rest of the band. I didn't come this far for a bad view. Roy and I spoke to the box office, and they were able to give us tickets in the balcony with a better view. The new seats were in the front row of the balcony, still off to the side, but with an unobstructed view. I actually really liked these seats, no one was around us, so it was like our own private space.
I didn't think the sound was all that great during the opening act. We thought it was like the sound was focused on the main floor. Jann Klose sang and played guitar, and it was pleasant, but nothing special. The day caught up with Roy, and he fell asleep during the opening set.
We were wide awake when Renaissance came on stage. Annie Haslam so impressed me. I feel like I've taken her talent for granted. I'd seen her solo shows a dozen times over the years. While they were always fun, they were laid-back and homey. It was easy to separate the singer at these shows, who I got to know over the years, from the legendary talent on the Renaissance albums. I got to see a different Annie Haslam live at this show, and she was incredible.
I was happy for the whole show, but especially for my favorite Renaissance songs Prologue and Running Hard. La la lalalalalala la! Their sound is so refreshing, with a lead acoustic guitar. I finally got to see Michael Dunford play live. Our friend Krista was touring with the band, helping them sell merchandise, and taking pictures. She found us in our new seats and sat with us for a song. Ashes Are Burning was another highlight, with Tom Brislin getting to play a solo.
I was hoping to talk to the band after the show. Annie does signings after her solo shows. Not too long after the show, she and Michael Dunford came out to the merchandise table to meet fans. Too bad Tom wasn't there, I wanted a chance to say hi to him too. I met Michael Dunford for the first time. I told him I'd been a fan for years, but this was my first time getting to see him. He asked my name, and signed my new CD of Live at Carnegie Hall and a live King Biscuit release.
I didn't get a chance to tell Annie how amazed I was at her performance. She said hi to me, and that she hadn't seen me in a while. I saw her at NEARfest a few years ago. (And to think, she told me then that she was done with singing live!) That is a long time, she said. She asked how we were doing, and that was it. I've known her for fifteen years and our conversation reflected it, but I wish I was able to express how tonight was different.
Roy talked to Annie and reminded her of the times we saw her back when we were dating. We've been married seven years now.
The first time I saw Annie in concert, she signed my Carnegie Hall LP. Getting the CD signed this time seemed to fit.
Some of the other band members were walking around the lobby, but still no sign of Tom Brislin. The security guard didn't like us standing around waiting, so we went outside. Even though we were seeing the band again on Sunday, we'd have to leave right after the show. This was our only opportunity. Do we stand outside and look like stalkers waiting for the band to leave? Or give up?
Thankfully, we didn't have to make that decision. Tom saw us and came out to chat. I told him, "You keep joining my favorite bands!" He was going to have a crazy couple of days. While the band had the next day off from performances, Tom was doing a solo set at a prog festival...in California. He'd fly out the next morning, play at CalProg, and then take a redeye back in Philly, to be in town for the Keswick Theater show on Sunday. Tom caught us up with Spiraling, his work with Francis Dunnery, and some other stuff. It was good to see him, and I'm glad we had time to have an actual conversation. Roy wanted to leave before it seemed like we were monopolizing his time too much, so we said our goodbyes (and see you in a couple days).
On the cab ride back to Penn Station, we passed Carnegie Hall, the home of the live album that turned me into a Renaissance fan in the first place. It was a good way to end the night.
The Concert Hall
New York City, NY
Friday, October 9, 2009
Section Left Balcony, Row Q, Seat 36
I'm on the mailing lists for a number of concert promoters around the country. I usually ignore the e-mails. But on August 26, I got an e-mail from a Philly-area promoter with the subject line "Renaissance 2009 at the Keswick presale". Nah, it can't be my Renaissance. Can it? I opened the e-mail and saw the Renaissance logo. What a surprise!
This was wonderful news for two reasons. I've been a fan of Renaissance for fifteen years. My friend Scott raved about this band, and I bought the Live at Carnegie Hall LP at the Roosevelt Mall flea market one Sunday. I'd seen singer Annie Haslam in concert many times, but never the band itself. They broke up long before I discovered them. They did some reunion shows in England and Japan a while back, but I didn't go. I assumed they would make it to the states, and missing those shows is one of my big concert regrets. The other reason I was so happy is that I hadn't made it home to Philly yet that year, and this would be my excuse to visit my hometown.
Roy is also a big fan, but he got to see Renaissance at least five times. Annie played a role in our relationship, back when we first started dating. Our first trip together was to a show Annie did at Summerfest in Logan, Utah. Back during our long distance relationship, we planned trips around concerts, and quite a few of them were to see Annie. Annie and I had a mutual friend, who would pass on news. At one point talking to her after a show, she asked when we were going to get married!
Tickets went on sale before we knew much information, like even who was taking part in this reunion. We found out there'd be a show in New York on a Friday, and then the show in the Philly suburbs on Sunday. Only two members of Renaissance would be in this lineup, Annie and guitarist Michael Dunford. But another of my favorite musicians would be joining them: Tom Brislin, the keyboard player who played with Yes on the YesSymphonic tour. The Philly part of the trip kept getting shorter; we decided to spend Saturday night in New York, with my best friend Angela joining us that night.
We flew out to New York on Thursday night. We were staying in Newark, in a hotel right by the train station. (I breezily told Angela to stay with us Saturday night, not realizing that a hotel room for the three of us would be out of my price range in Manhattan.) It didn't seem too different than the old days of going to a show and taking the train afterward to Long Island to stay with my aunt or a friend.
Roy hadn't finished a project at work, so he had to bring along his work laptop. He worked long after I fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up early and was eager to get to Manhattan. Roy left a note saying how late he planned to sleep, and said I should have breakfast without him. I was up four hours before him, so I did one better: I took the train up to New York by myself. I figured Roy wouldn't mind. The whole reason we flew in the night before was to have more time in the city. That morning in Manhattan was one of my favorite times of the trip. It wasn't too crowded. I walked from Penn Station to 5th Avenue, all the way to Central Park, hitting a few shops along the way. We met back up at Penn Station in time for lunch.
We took a cab to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex museum in SoHo. This happened to be John Lennon's birthday, and the museum had free admission to celebrate. Roy in particular liked the museum. There were exhibits on the history of rock music, New York City's musical heritage, and a large gallery devoted to Lennon. (No mention of Alan White there, unfortunately.)
Roy and I walked from SoHo to Greenwich Village and Washington Square to Gramercy Park. My friend Dawn was in town for another show that night. We hoped to meet up for dinner, but she was running late, and we couldn't make it happen. I remembered a restaurant nearby from the last time I was in New York, near the Blender Theater on 23rd, so Roy and I ate there for dinner. We took a cab to the venue, located just off of Central Park in an Ethical Society building.
I try to get to concerts early, to make sure everything is okay and there's time to get settled and fix things before the show starts. This was a perfect example of it. We had third row seats, off to the side. I thought these would be good seats, until we found them. This was a very wide venue, and these seats were really far from the stage. Worse than that, the stage was a semi-circle, with all the instruments turned towards the center. Our view would be the back of the piano player, and he'd be blocking the rest of the band. I didn't come this far for a bad view. Roy and I spoke to the box office, and they were able to give us tickets in the balcony with a better view. The new seats were in the front row of the balcony, still off to the side, but with an unobstructed view. I actually really liked these seats, no one was around us, so it was like our own private space.
I didn't think the sound was all that great during the opening act. We thought it was like the sound was focused on the main floor. Jann Klose sang and played guitar, and it was pleasant, but nothing special. The day caught up with Roy, and he fell asleep during the opening set.
We were wide awake when Renaissance came on stage. Annie Haslam so impressed me. I feel like I've taken her talent for granted. I'd seen her solo shows a dozen times over the years. While they were always fun, they were laid-back and homey. It was easy to separate the singer at these shows, who I got to know over the years, from the legendary talent on the Renaissance albums. I got to see a different Annie Haslam live at this show, and she was incredible.
I was happy for the whole show, but especially for my favorite Renaissance songs Prologue and Running Hard. La la lalalalalala la! Their sound is so refreshing, with a lead acoustic guitar. I finally got to see Michael Dunford play live. Our friend Krista was touring with the band, helping them sell merchandise, and taking pictures. She found us in our new seats and sat with us for a song. Ashes Are Burning was another highlight, with Tom Brislin getting to play a solo.
I was hoping to talk to the band after the show. Annie does signings after her solo shows. Not too long after the show, she and Michael Dunford came out to the merchandise table to meet fans. Too bad Tom wasn't there, I wanted a chance to say hi to him too. I met Michael Dunford for the first time. I told him I'd been a fan for years, but this was my first time getting to see him. He asked my name, and signed my new CD of Live at Carnegie Hall and a live King Biscuit release.
I didn't get a chance to tell Annie how amazed I was at her performance. She said hi to me, and that she hadn't seen me in a while. I saw her at NEARfest a few years ago. (And to think, she told me then that she was done with singing live!) That is a long time, she said. She asked how we were doing, and that was it. I've known her for fifteen years and our conversation reflected it, but I wish I was able to express how tonight was different.
Roy talked to Annie and reminded her of the times we saw her back when we were dating. We've been married seven years now.
The first time I saw Annie in concert, she signed my Carnegie Hall LP. Getting the CD signed this time seemed to fit.
Some of the other band members were walking around the lobby, but still no sign of Tom Brislin. The security guard didn't like us standing around waiting, so we went outside. Even though we were seeing the band again on Sunday, we'd have to leave right after the show. This was our only opportunity. Do we stand outside and look like stalkers waiting for the band to leave? Or give up?
Thankfully, we didn't have to make that decision. Tom saw us and came out to chat. I told him, "You keep joining my favorite bands!" He was going to have a crazy couple of days. While the band had the next day off from performances, Tom was doing a solo set at a prog festival...in California. He'd fly out the next morning, play at CalProg, and then take a redeye back in Philly, to be in town for the Keswick Theater show on Sunday. Tom caught us up with Spiraling, his work with Francis Dunnery, and some other stuff. It was good to see him, and I'm glad we had time to have an actual conversation. Roy wanted to leave before it seemed like we were monopolizing his time too much, so we said our goodbyes (and see you in a couple days).
On the cab ride back to Penn Station, we passed Carnegie Hall, the home of the live album that turned me into a Renaissance fan in the first place. It was a good way to end the night.
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