Sing us a song - for free

Billy Joel
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Section 315, Row M, Seat 18
$0.00

I like a lot of Billy Joel's songs. And I hadn't been to a big arena concert in a while. I'm on the mailing list for Scottrade/Savvis/Keil Center. I got an e-mail for a Billy Joel pre-sale. Tickets were $85, just more than I wanted to pay to see him. Roy and I decided to wait until the regular sale and pick up tickets in the cheap seats.

"Cheap seats" is a relative term, since the seats were $50, and they all seemed to be behind the stage. I didn't want to do that. I was mildly frustrated with myself - I would have bought $50 tickets if they were better seats, I could afford another extra $30, I've easily paid that much for concerts before, I wanted to see the show, but I just didn't want to pay that much for this concert. So we didn't get tickets.

A lot of other people must have thought the same thing. A few weeks before the show, the local paper started giving away tickets. Two people won per day for two weeks. I registered on-line. I wasn't one of the published winners, but I got an e-mail saying the following:

Congratulations! By submitting one of the first entries last week into our Billy Joel ticket promotion, your name has been randomly chosen in our special "early-bird entrants" drawing as a winner of four (4) tickets to the Billy Joel concert Wednesday, April 25, 8:00 p.m. at the Scottrade Center!

I went down to the Scottrade Center to pick up my tickets. There was a multi-page printout of winners. I'm pretty close up in the alphabet, but my name was several pages back. Did we all win 4 tickets each? These were the $85 seats, so that's $340 worth of tickets. In March alone, we spent over $1200 on concert tickets, so I think this is good concert karma coming back to me. (Tickets were for the Police, Genesis, Crossroads Guitar Festival, Asia, Jon Anderson, a prog festival in Montreal, and the Bears. These are for concerts through September, but they all went on sale in March for no reason. (Did anyone get that reference?!))

Roy and I asked Roy's cousin Roger and his wife Debbie to go with us. Roger is Roy's closest friend and was best man at our wedding. We met up for dinner beforehand at Union Station and went to the concert. Debbie sent us a handwritten thank you card which was really sweet. The sections near us were only about 2/3 filled. I wonder if they were all filled with freebies. Our seats were really high up and the section was steep. I got into my seat and sat - no dancing or standing ovations from me this night.



The concert started with Angry Young Man, a song with fast piano playing. Good sound for a big arena. The light show was great, and made the stage look different with every different set of lights. We discovered that Joel's keyboard player was David Rosenthal, who is also a member of Happy the Man, and played at our wedding! Small world.

The setlist was pretty comprehensive, missing my favorite songs of his - The Stranger and Summer Highland Falls - but playing lots of others. Some lesser known songs too; Roy was really excited to hear Zanzibar from 52nd Street.

I was impressed with Billy as a frontman too. He was pretty funny. He also gave good introductions to songs, often giving what album and year they were from. For a lot of artists, the years all blur together, and they couldn't give detailed info like that. His piano was facing one side of the stage, so his back was turned to people on the other side. But every couple songs, they'd rotate the piano so he'd be facing the other side. Later on in the show, he stood up at the front of the stage and sang from there. He could still hit the high notes in An Innocent Man, but had a backing singer do the high parts of River of Dreams.

What is the last song you'd expect to hear at a Billy Joel concert?

There was an "American Idol" portion of the show. Billy brought up a roadie who was going to sing a "religious song" for us. The roadie comes up, and the bands breaks into Highway to Hell from AC/DC! Roy just cracked up at the incongruence between this song and the rest of them. The crowd really seemed to enjoy rocking out for a song.

I enjoyed the show, but didn't get the feeling that I needed to see it again the next night. Actually, this was my third time seeing Billy Joel in concert. I hadn't seen him in over ten years, and it was good to see these songs again. But this will probably be the last time I go.

Roy and I took the Metrolink light rail train to the Scottrade Center. Even though the concert and a Cardinals game were taking place that night, there was still only one train running every half hour. The train was beyond full when it got to our stop, but I didn't want to wait another half hour, so we squeezed in. The crowd was taking this in good spirit, and it was friendlier than it would have been if it were less crowded.

All Grrrr, No Arghhh

The Bears
Blueberry Hill - Duck Room
University City (St. Louis), MO
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
General Admission
$17.50

I have a confession to make. I don't think I've ever heard the first two Bears albums. I didn't own them, until I moved in with Roy, and there were so many things to listen to. Then Car Caught Fire was released and we listened to that a lot. We saw them in concert a couple times in 2002, so I learned a lot of the catalog from hearing it live. And listened to the live album and DVD. And the new one, Eureka! But I haven't gone back to those studio albums yet. Weird.

The Bears are fun. They're accessible enough that I can lend their live CD to people at work, and they don't look at me funny. But they have great songs, great melodies, great musicianship... Roy said he enjoyed the Bears shows we've seen more than recent Crimson shows, because of the happy fun factor. The Bears are Adrian Belew, Rob Fetters, both on vocals and guitars, Chris Arduser on drums, and Bob Nyswonger on bass.

This was a general admission show, and as usual, I took that as a personal challenge to be first in line. I left work an hour early and walked all three blocks from home to Blueberry Hill with Roy. Our friend Ralph joined us for dinner at 4:30. I figured, if it looked like any other fans were around, I'd get right in line and eat there. We were safe. We were first.

It's a great place to wait for a concert - indoors, temperature controlled, with bathrooms, free refills on sodas. I've done worse. Good place for a concert too when it's non-smoking, like this one was. There were some other fans in the restaurant at this point. Through the picture windows facing Delmar, we could see the Bears walking down the street. Soon afterwards, they came in. Adrian Belew said hi to us and "nice tshirt!" to Roy, who was wearing his Big Electric Bear shirt from the last tour. Chris Arduser pointed out that I was also wearing a nice tshirt, King Crimson's Discipline. We could hear a little of the soundcheck. The wait was really painless; we talked for a while and I read the Riverfront Times.

Different setup at the concert than we expected. There's usually several rows of seats, but this time the seats were off to the side and the front was a dance floor. Yay for me, I love to dance at concerts. I grabbed the spot in front of Adrian, while Roy and Ralph sat at the table to my left. I was too far away to continue my conversation with them, but I chatted with the guys standing near me. Opening act had a great bass player with a seven string bass, I don't remember too much else about them.

Finally, the Bears started. It was 10pm, my usual bedtime. They opened with Complicated Potatoes. I could see the setlist, but the songs were shortened to the point I couldn't really figure them out - CP was listed as Pot. The setlist focused on songs from Car Caught Fire, which I know well, and Eureka, which I'm learning. Couldn't sing along with the Eureka songs yet. I could barely sing at all without popping cough drops - still getting over strep throat from March. Older songs included: None of the Above, Superboy, Figure It Out, Fear Is Never Boring. I think I've decided Under the Volcano is my favorite Bears song.

It was a high energy, fun show. I kept looking over at Roy, making eye contact with him and singing to him. It's such a treat to see the band play so close in front of me, I was feeding off their energy. I've seen the Bears from this same position all three times I've seen them, all four if you count the Here tour. I'm lucky Adrian does so many of these small club shows, I've been in the front row more than my fair share. It was one of those shows that, when it ends, you just want to go somewhere else and see and hear and feel it all over again. I'm low on vacation days from my other recent exploits, and traveling for the one weekend one this tour just didn't work out for us. So it was just this one. I hope they are able to tour again with this album.

Roy was on call that night, and had to leave right when the show was over. Ralph wanted to get autographs, so I stayed with him and he gave me a ride home. I used to be such an autograph collector, but I've kind of gotten away from that, so I didn't bring anything. Still nice to say hi to everyone. I've talked to Adrian a number of times, but never the other Bears. Chris said he saw me from on stage and that it looked like I had a fun time. Yeep.

There was a line of people to talk to Adrian. Had an interesting conversation with him - he pointed out my Discipline tshirt and said it looked like an original. I said no, but he insisted. I said I wasn't old enough to go to that one. I was tempted to mention that I was only 6 in 1981, but I didn't. He asked me if I wanted something autographed, and I replied that I think he's already signed everything I have of his. Only a slight exageration. I told him that Roy and I had gone back to Philly to see the School of Rock again and they put on a great show again. He said they were good musicians to play with. Then he gave me a hug(!) I love the fact that all these years of going to concerts and hanging out for autographs is leading some of my favorite musicians to know who I am.

We're really getting spoiled with all these Adrian shows. Roy and I are going to Nearfest this year, in Bethlehem, PA. Adrian is playing in Sellersville, 40 minutes away, that Saturday night. We're going to blow off the headliner Hawkwind and see him again. Three shows, once every seven weeks, completely different bands and setlists. Can he keep this up all year?

Jon, Part IV

Part IV - Nous Jon du Soleil (long, just like a certain topographic album)

Paul Green School of Rock All Stars
with Special Guest Jon Anderson of Yes
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Symphony Space - Peter Jay Sharp Theater
New York, New York
Section Center Orchestra, Row A!!!!, Seat 105
$46

Jon's website listed the show at Symphony Space, but it was not on their website. When were tickets going on sale?! I kept checking the websites. Finally, on March 8th, I saw the show listed on the Symphony Space site. Still no link to buy tickets or an on-sale date. At least they were acknowledging the show was taking place. Over lunch at work, I called their box office. Tickets had just gone on sale, with no advance warning. For some reason, they weren't available on-line yet either.

"Where would you like to sit?" the box office lady asked me.
"As close to the stage as possible" is my standard reply.
"How about front row center, then?"
"Yes, please."

Roy and I slept overnight at Linda's. We took her out to breakfast the next morning, and then journeyed to New York City - we had to return the rental car at Newark and then take the train into the city. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Our hotel was right by Penn Station. We walked a couple of miles, over to Times Square, on Broadway, then Central Park. Enjoyed the people-watching, window shopping, and just soaking in the atmosphere. One of my New York things is that I must get pizza at least once. We found a little hole-in-the-wall deli that served pizza around 72nd and Columbus. Delicious. Took a cab from there to Symphony Space at 95th and Broadway.

We arrived about 15-20 minutes before the doors opened. Roy and I scoped out the area for likely stage door exits, but we couldn't find any candidates. I really wanted to talk to Jon on this trip. We walked back to the front doors. There were other groups of people standing around before the show. And then, I see Jon coming out of an SUV. It was like nobody else saw him. I walked up, called his name, and he walked over and put his arm around me. "Heyyyy, good to see you," he told me. Roy told Jon that we saw him last night as well. Jon shook Roy's hand. Someone asked him for his autograph, and Jon took her inside the lobby to sign it. That was it. At least a dozen people wearing Yes tshirts didn't notice Jon Anderson walking right by them.

The doors opened and we got to our seats. Nicer venue than the night before, this one is a theater and not a club. I can't believe that Jon is just standing in the auditorium chatting with people. I can't help it, I walk over by him. As he walks by, I said something dumb, "Enjoy the show". I think I meant I hope you enjoy doing the show tonight, but I only got those three words out. Jon did that thing where he brushed his face up to mine, but no kiss this time. He replied, "Really". Short sentences. I don't know what either of us meant.

I noticed that Jon was standing just outside the auditorium again, a little later on. He walked back into the auditorium, this time with his wife Jane and the woman he calls the Divine Mother. Paul Green and his wife were there too. They were standing right in front of the seats to our left. Roy and I tried to look like we weren't eavesdropping, but it was impossible not to hear them. There were some introductions, and showing Jon and Jane where she'd be sitting. Which was next to me. When Jon walked by us, he gave us a little wave.

I knew Jon was not going to make eye contact with me or barely notice me, sitting so close to Jane. I had a very different experience at this show - more analytical and outside of the performance. I was sitting so close we could see all sorts of things on stage. I was really paying attention to all the communication going on between Jon and Jane, little gestures and mouthed words back and forth. I described this show as fascinating, in a Spock sort of way.

The crowd was really good. At one point during And You And I, when just a guitar was playing, I could hear the motor of Jon's fan. It's got to be the equivalent of hearing a pin drop.

There were a few differences between this show and the night before's. This time, I couldn't go buy a new bottled water during shred, because Jon was still on stage. He played a theremin and drummed on a teapot. Very fun to watch. (Roy bought me a new water during the intermission.) They added a song introduced as both Dreams and Screw Yourself. And Jon invited the Divine Mother up on stage, and she made us all chant "Om". On Got to Get You Into My Life, the singer jumped off stage and sang right in front of us. That part was exciting!

I was careful not to bother Jane. During intermission, she went backstage. Some woman walked up to me and asked me if I was sitting with Jane. I pointed out Jane's seat. She then asked me if I could take her book and ask Jane to ask Jon to sign it for her. "I'm just a fan with a really good seat. I'm not even going to ask for one myself." It's true, and I hope she believed me.

I really got into Close to the Edge, bopping around in my seat. For the encore, Roundabout, Jon told us all to stand up and dance. I didn't need to be asked twice! I was happy to be doing my thing. Jon finally made eye contact with me. During the instrumental section, Jon, 62 year old Jon, jumped off stage (!) and started dancing with Jane. Right next to me. I was watching them, partly because there's Jon Anderson one foot away from me, and partly because I didn't want to bump into them. Some other woman ran up to them. Jon looked at me, maybe to make sure I wasn't the one crowding them, and we made eye contact again. He finished dancing with Jane. I was so hoping he'd stop in front of me for a moment, but he walked past. Stopped to shake hands with a little girl next to Roy and then went back on stage.

But wait, there's more. Roundabout is still going on. Paul Green took one of the microphones and held it up to specific people in the audience to sing the backing vocals. People like Jane and some kids. And then he held the microphone right up to me! People who know me know I have an awful singing voice, but I make up for it with lots of enthusiasm. Roy came to my rescue by joining me at the microphone. We both sang with Jon Anderson!!!!! I so need to find a tape of this.

After the show, I talked with Jon's webmaster John Amick, who I knew way back when. I'm still most jealous of him because he got to meet Trevor Horn and I never have. Also saw his friend Richie, who used to be in the Yes tribute band Yesterdays. Roy and I went back outside and waited. Talked to John and Richie some more. Well, it turned out the front door was the stage exit door. Jon walked right by me. I had a question in mind for him this time. I asked him how his work with the California Guitar Trio was going. He continued walking, so I followed him, and he said Paul [Richards] would be coming to his house this summer. I replied that we had seen CGT playing Jon's piece, but he didn't reply.

Shortly after that, Jon left and so did we. Took a cab to the hotel, had a snack there (rice pudding, yum!) and flew back home the next morning. We didn't get a lot of time in Manhattan, but this gave me more time to rest before going back to work the next day. I had been away from home for eight nights.

Jon, Part III

Part III: Jon Under the Sun
The Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars
with Jon Anderson of Yes
Starland Ballroom
Sayreville, NJ
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
$48 + $8.55 convenience charge
Table 2

The first show scheduled with the School of Rock in February was canceled because of the bad weather. There were rumors that it would be rescheduled, and maybe even more shows!

I checked Ticketmaster, Pollstar, and Jon's website religiously. My friend Scott told me the Falls Church, VA show was rescheduled to April 24th, a Tuesday. And Ticketmaster listed a show in Collingswood, NJ. It was also on a weekday, but a almost whole week earlier. Who knows how many shows would be added? Finally, the other dates were announced. Saturday night in northern New Jersey and Sunday in Manhattan.

I had such a dilemma. I switched to a new department at my company last September, and this one involves working with people all over the country, not just focused on St. Louis. While I love and sometimes hate traveling for concerts, I hate/hate business travel. And I was going to be on the west coast all week for a conference during the week the tour started. We had just booked the travel too, I was flying home the day of the Sayreville, NJ show. Why couldn't this conference had been on the east coast? I was upset about not getting to see Jon again and so soon. Could I do anything about it?

The next day, I talked to my boss. I need to be in NYC that weekend. Work travel already booked my flight, but they were able to cancel it, and fly me into Newark, and then fly me home on Monday. All I had to pay was the difference in airfare. After a couple days, (I tried not to nag too much) Roy decided to join me.

We bought our tickets for both shows. I picked up my ticket for the Starland Ballroom before Roy decided to go. We paid extra for quasi-"reserved" seats, assigned to tables, but not individual seats. The other tickets were standing, general admission, and further back. Roy was at Tina's table, next to mine.

The thought of these shows is what got me through that awful conference. I used some frequent flier miles to upgrade to first class for the long, transcontinental flight - that was quite an experience! My flight didn't get into Newark until 4:40pm. Roy arrived earlier and met me at the gate. It was sooo good to see him again. This is the longest we've been apart since we've been married. We were able to rent the car, and join Linda for dinner by 6:00pm. She decided not to go to the show, but drove up to Sayreville for dinner with a friend. I was grateful for the reserved seats; otherwise I would have wanted to get in line earlier. The tickets said the show was starting at 7:30. Since there was an opening act, we had a little buffer time. Dinner wasn't too rushed.

The situation we were expecting at Starland was very different than what we saw. Doors were opening at 7:30, with the show not starting for another hour. Plus, they did away with the assigned tables concept. The people with the more expensive tickets got to sit at the tables, but were seated first come, first serve. In a weird way, it was better that I didn't know in advance. I would have come straight here instead of our nice dinner, and the seats we ended up with were not bad at all. And if I had known about the start time being later, I would have stayed longer at dinner and also missed out on these seats.

The usher took us to a table in the back of the seated area. It was right by the soundboard, and the last seats were dancing seats - back of the seated area and not blocking the standing section. Roy grabbed these while I looked for closer candidates. Tina was sitting closer, half way up, but way on the side by the bar. Could get noisy there. Why not go for good sound sitting by the soundboard?

Gene Ween from the band Ween was the opening act. This was a rare solo performance, so there might have even been some Ween fans here, just to see him. I remembered liking one of the songs about a party, the rest were okay. More to my taste than some metal or prog-metal band.

There were a different set of musicians than last time - this was the New York school instead of the Philly based kids. I recognized some of the musicians from the Belew show last year, especially the little boy who played saxophone on Glad. This time, Jon sang on all the Yes songs, but the SOR did some non-Yes songs as well.

Jon and the School of Rock came on and opened with Perpetual Change. It took until the instrumental section in the middle and a great keyboard solo for me to really feel it. The highlights for me were Survival - a very faithful performance, down to the different instruments playing the main theme at the song's end - and Close to the Edge. Damn, these kids played it with more power than Yes has in recent years. I think Yes has gotten too awed by what a great piece of music it is, and give it lots of grandeur and breathing room. These kids played it fast and heavier, like Yes used to. I like it! I stood up and danced for the whole show, and it was exhilarating! What a release!

The rest of the songs were: And You And I, All Good People, Long Distance Runaround, The Fish, Roundabout, Starship Trooper, Owner, Give Love Each Day. The non-Yes songs were Mustang Sally, Got to Get You into My Life, You Never Give Me Your Money, My Old School, and a Joni Mitchell cover. Jon stayed on stage for The Fish, even doing the Schinderlia Praemataurus chorus, and he often played percussion during the cover songs. There was also a shred portion - playing as fast as possible with no emotion - what is the point?

I was amazed at all the songs I've seen so many times in the past - sometimes I might be "sick" of them in concert, but it's been so long since Yes has toured, I could really appreciate them again. I'm thinking particularly of And You And I. There was a girl doing the backing vocals, but she was just repeating Jon's lyrics, didn't do the Turn Round Tailor, Float Your Climb harmony part that Chris sings. And there's nothing better than singing along to "twenty-four before my love, you'll see I'll be there with you", knowing you'll be doing the exact same thing in another 24 hours.

After the show, people were mingling a bit. We saw Tina again. I noticed Paul Green, the founder of the School of Rock. I pulled out my boarding pass to show him I flew in from LA to make this show. He remembered us from some of the previous shows. It's always good to be known to people. We waited outside to talk to Jon, but he must have snuck out another exit.

We saw a couple other acquaintances, and then left for Linda's near Trenton. She was putting us up for the night. She gave us very good directions from the turnpike, but we still managed to get lost finding the road to take us to the turnpike. Don't all roads lead there in New Jersey?

Jon, Part II

Part II - Dance of the Jon
Jon Anderson/Paul Green School of Rock
Friday February 16, 2007
The Ridgefield Playhouse
Ridgefield, CT
Section Right, Row A, Seat 6
$57.50 (including all charges)

I get worried when I'm running late. I pad my travel estimates to give me plenty of time. Roy and I had to drive from Philly to Ridgefield, CT with a stopover in New Jersey to visit some friends for lunch. Google maps said it would only take 2.5 hours, but it included going through the north tip of Manhattan on a Friday. If we left anytime in the afternoon, we would hit rush hour. If it had been up to me, we would have had lunch at 11 and left by noon.

My dear friends Debbie and Susan didn't think like that. I hadn't seen Susan in a couple of years, and I had never met either of their new babies. Susan would pick her oldest up from nursery school and be back just before noon. We'd have lunch then and visit afterwards. It would still give us 5 hours to get there. It was great to see them, they had been my best friends since birth, and we can still pick up our relationship like sisters. Well, they really are sisters and I'm practically one. I have most in common with Debbie's husband Buzz, and we talked politics until I pulled myself away to hang out with the girls.

We left around 2:30. Susan lives right off the NJ turnpike, so it wasn't out of our way at all. We did have 5 hours, afterall, so I should stop worrying. Anyone who went to the show knows what happened - the traffic was beyond awful. The "express" lanes of the turnpike were down to one lane. We finally stopped at a gas station once we got to upstate NY so Roy could take a break. Dinner was out of the question, but he grabbed some food at the convenience store and we ate in the car. We got into town at 7:30, ran into the B&B to check in, circled around to find the venue, and got to our seats maybe ten minutes before the concert start time. Roy bought some popcorn, for the second part of our dinner.

We found to our delight that we were sitting two seats away from Krista! I didn't know anyone who would be there, so this was a nice bonus. We also found that Jon was stuck in the same traffic, and had not arrived yet. That could have been us. The other musicians and organizers must have been freaking out. I was just trying to calm down after our travel ordeal.

The concert did start relatively on-time. Paul Green, the organizer, came onstage and explained the situation. The setlist was rearranged (as truth is gathered). All the non-Jon songs were performed first. They also threw in a cover of Led Zeppelin's Travelling Riverside Blues - the lemon song. Bit strange hearing a woman sing those lyrics. There was an intermission until Jon was there and ready. All in all, I thought they did a good job handling a tough situation. This turned out better than holding off the show until he arrived.

The Jon songs were pretty much the same as the night before. From our seats this time, we could see the keyboard players better, but couldn't see anyone on stage right standing back a bit. I can't even remember which show I liked better now. The security guard was even getting into it.

After the show, we talked to the security guard a bit, and he told us where the band exit door was. Quite a few people waiting to meet Jon. We were out there for a while when Jon came out.

Ladies, the magic words are, "It is so good to see you with a band again."

I said that to Jon and he moved closer to me. I thought he was trying to hear me better. But no, he leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek!! OK, it was just an air kiss, but I could feel his beard brush against my cheek. Very intimate.

He shook Roy's hand and told us that "Yesterday was a good show." What did that mean? Was he not happy with that night's performance? or the travel situation? Or just acknowledging that we had been at both?

He shook a lot of hands and walked through the crowd. We walked back to our rental car. Jon's van rode by and beeped at us. We waved as Jon drove past. Afterwards, Roy and I found a pizza place that was still open and had dinner part three. (I am tactfully leaving out the dumpster diving incident.)

Next day, we drove back to Philly and still had problems on the damn turnpike. The snow had cleared up enough so that Angela was able to get around. She drove down to our hotel and we caught up for a while and then joined up with Linda for dinner. I relayed my Jon stories to Angela - life is still like high school where I had a crush on a singer and get so happy from any little bit of attention. In high school, the crush was all-encompassing and probably kept me from some real relationships. Now I have my wonderful husband who also loves Jon and patiently listened to my gushing.

Jon, Jon, Jon, and more Jon!!!

Part I - The Revealing Science of Jon

Jon Anderson & Paul Green's Allstars
Performing Music of Yes
Thursday February 15, 2007
Keswick Theater
Glenside, PA
Section Left, Row G, Seat 27
$39

The Adrian Belew and Umphrey's McGee show I wrote about earlier was surrounded by four very special concerts - two we attended in February and two this past weekend. Roy and I flew out to the East Coast twice to see Jon Anderson with the School of Rock.

The School of Rock is music class for teenagers that teaches rock music instead of classical. These students put on concerts, like other music students would have recitals. They are good. Recently, they have been doing concerts with well-known musicians - they are able to learn a lot from the process and do higher profile shows. And it's so heartening to see these young kids really get the music that I love. We had seen the School of Rock last year, playing with Adrian Belew. I'll write about that some other time. I'll just say that it was February, snowing, and a really fun time.

I found out towards the end of last year that Jon would be doing these shows. At first, we only knew Philly would be on a Thursday and NYC on a Sunday night. To see both would take three vacation days - too much. We had to choose and buy tickets before knowing the rest of the itinerary. I decided taking two vacation days to spend some time in Philly would be worth it. Maybe they'd add another show on Friday that we'd get to see.

The Philly show was actually out in the burbs at the Keswick Theater in Glenside. We got seats about 14 rows back, on the far left aisle. I love seats on the aisle - you can stand up and dance without getting in anyone's way. Dancing seats. Everyone wins.

A Friday show was added, in Connecticut. Tickets went on sale unannounced, but I checked the website regularly, and was able to pick up front row, way off to the side, tickets. I put out some feelers to our friends, and we would be able to get together with lots of people. Our personal itinerary was to fly into Philly on Valentine's Day night, see Angela and Kathy on Thursday day, dinner with Dian and Tina and family before the Thursday show. Visit with Debbie and Susan and families on Friday, then drive up to Connecticut to see Jon again. Saturday, we'd drive back to Philly, dinner with Linda. Fly home Sunday afternoon. Not much time in Philly, but lots of Jon.

It snowed. Lots. The day we were supposed to fly out. Half the flights into Philly got cancelled. We didn't have a direct flight, but we were able to take an earlier flight into Chicago - it would give us more chances of being able to reach our destination. Linda says I have good concert travel karma - we got the earlier flight and it arrived in Philly early.

The snow did change our plans. Angela and Kathy had to cancel. Roy and I walked to the South Street diner for breakfast and then took the El to Penn. Walked around campus for a bit and had lunch at Allegro's. It really wasn't too bad walking in the snow - I'd rather have this than ice anyday. We picked up the rental car and drove out to the Keswick.

Dian, Tina, and we were all late. It took forever to get up Broad Street. But we all got there around the same time. As usual, I couldn't wait to be there already. Dinner was good conversation with nice people. And then, our reason to be here.

I bumped into a few more people inside the Keswick, but none that I really wanted to see. One I actively try to avoid. I got my bottled water, program, and got to my seat. whew. We made it. My only disappointment was not seeing Philly friends that were at the last Jon Keswick show - especially Mark and Bill.

The show had a great setlist, with some true rarities. Since the night before's concert had been cancelled due to the bad weather, this was Jon's premiere live performance of one Yes song from 1971. Jon sang on about 2/3 of the songs, the rest were sung by vocalists from the School of Rock - girl vocalists, because they could hit Jon's notes! And so could Jon, his voice is so amazing.

Jon sang A Venture (first time ever), No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (first time since 1970 and it was the show highlight for me), Give Love Each Day, Long Distance Runaround, Roundabout, All Good People, Yours Is No Disgrace, America, Starship Trooper, Owner, Time and a Word. The School of Rock also did We Have Heaven (all those layers of vocals completely live. Yes can't even do that), South Side of the Sky, Clear Days, Siberian Khatru, The Fish,... Going for the One was really cool. The girl singing was doing a fine job, and then Jon came out and did backing vocals for it.

There were 24 SOR musicians, switching off between songs. The violinist was just awesome - such stage presence for a high school student! They rearranged The Fish to play the main riff on the violin instead of bass guitar, and she was all over No Opportunity. A guitarist did Steve Howe's two usual solo pieces - Clap and Mood for a Day.

Tina's daughter Sara was in the audience, and she really enjoyed seeing people her own age up on stage. After the show, she went around getting autographs from all the kids.

The previous times I'd been to a concert there at the Keswick, the bands did meet and greets afterwards. I never had to hang out to meet someone. But Jon wasn't coming out for autographs. Tina showed me where to wait outside. The SOR kids were coming in and out of backstage with their equipment, so we congratulated them. I didn't know if Jon had left already or not. It was freezing out and I was wearing my long wool coat with a ski jacket over it. We were really only there about 15 minutes when Jon came out. There were only half a dozen fans waiting for him.

Jon was going to get into his car. Didn't he see us? I think one of the other women with us called him over. He was in a really good mood. The first woman walked over and gave him a hug and a kiss. I thought that was a bit too forward - I never invade his space like that, but follow his lead. He posed for a couple pictures with people. When he saw me, he made eye contact, and took my hand in his. "Good to see you again." He had gloves on. We told him we'd be at the show the next night as well. I think we were the only people he recognized. He stayed chatting for a few more minutes. Roy asked him about the song selection. I can't remember Jon's response, but I think it was that it was hard to relearn all these old songs. He hugged another woman, and then the first woman said something about Jon hugging all the girls. So he walked over and gave me a hug too.

David Lee Roth and Poison

David Lee Roth
Opening Act: Poison
Sunday, April 17th, 1988
Spectrum Arena
Philadelphia, PA
Section 12, Row 11, Seat 4
$16.50

Almost seven months after my last concert. A lot had changed since then. I'd had MTV access for a year now. I was almost finished 8th grade. My music tastes had changed from Top 40 and MTV pop to the hair-metal hard rock late 80s style. My new favorite band was KISS - not so much for their makeup wearing history, but for their then-current 21st album Crazy Nights. It got regular airplay on MTV and fit right in with the hair-metal genre. My friend A led the way with us being metalheads. Her favorite bands were Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne. Susan's favorite was Europe. Debbie was not into this at all. My parents bought me a CD player, and my first CDs were Kiss' Crazy Nights, Def Leppard's Hysteria, and Poison's Look What the Cat Dragged In. Ah, 1988.

Van Halen was entering my vocabulary. David Lee Roth had just released Skyscraper, with This Must Be Just Like Living in Paradise on it. VH was about to release OU812. A, Sue, and I got tickets to see Dave with Poison opening. A's dad was our parental chaperone. He had left A's mom earlier that week, and this was the first time A saw him since he moved out. I remember sitting outside my house with Sue, waiting for A and her dad to pick us up for the show, and telling Sue about what had happened. A's parents were quite a bit younger than mine, and they were fans of some rock music.

Our seats were much better for this show. Still on the second level of the Spectrum, but with a full view of the stage. Er, stages. Roth had a main stage and then a smaller stage further back on the floor, looking almost like a boxing ring. He did a song or two back there to give the people with the back-floor seats a close up view. I think that was a good idea.

I liked Poison back then. They did a cover of Kiss' Rock and Roll All Nite. I just told Roy about this, and that they pronounced "every" in two syllables, instead of "ev-er-y" in three syllables like Kiss did. I think this was before their second album came out, but I definitely remember buying an "Open Up and Say Ahh" shirt. We horrified a couple teachers at school the next day wearing the shirt. Later on, I bought the original uncensored cassette of Open Up...

David Lee Roth was fun. He had Steve Vai on guitar, and Steve played the triple necked heart shaped guitar from the Just Like Paradise video. There was a drum solo, with the drummer Gregg Bissonette jumping over the drum set and playing from in front of the drum set. Exciting. I couldn't tell you what VH songs they did, I just wasn't that familiar with VH material yet.