Jesse Paris Smith’s mom is Patti Smith of the Patti Smith Group. City Winery continues to reinvent the New York concert scene with cool acts and innovative events. Although when pressed at the Relix Music Conference at Brooklyn Bowl recently, owner Michael Dorf said that they catered to the “viagra and wine drinking” crowd (some offense taken, as I neither take viagra or drink wine), the venue is always a great place to see a show.

There are various guests tonight but the obvious draw is seeing the Patti Smith Group play in an intimate space that is not the Bowery Ballroom.

Patti and her children, Jackson and Jesse Paris, will play a show later this year at Central Park Summerstage (yet another great New York City concert venue)  in a tribute to her husband Fred “Sonic” Smith of the MC5 from Lincoln Park, Michigan.

Kick Out the Jams

Happy Birthday and Rock on!

GQ

Elvis  Costello took the Central Park Summerstage last night with his Imperial Bedroom and other chambers tour for what   turned out to be a 2 and a half hour marathon that ran the gamut from hits, ballads, and a Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

The Imposters, as I learned from Rolling Stone magazine, are the Attractions with a different bass player/background vocalist and the addition of two female singers. 

Elvis was resplendent in a red hat that complemented longtime mainstay Steve Nieve’s grand piano.

It was a long show to be sure and the pacing was somewhat questionable at times that resulted in some of the crowd talking through some of the quieter moments, but it was an excellent retrospective of an artist with a vast catalogue of music.

The Summerstage is a uniquely New York City venue nestled in the park.

But I must digress. Tears for Fears at Forest Hills just killed if opening for Hall and Oates. Despite the cattle car-like crush to enter the old tennis stadium and missing a good part of the set, the joyous crowd danced and sang along to 90’s hits like “Shout”. 

Next up, Hall and Oates.

Private Eyes

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GQ

Jethro Tull was my favorite band in high school and the first album that I actually purchased myself was Tull’s “Warchild”.

I do not really recall seeing U.K. for either show and, to be honest, I do not believe they were even on my musical radar screen at the time.

As far as Jethro Tull is concerned, the only recollection I have from (hopefully) these shows is that I was quite impressed with Ian Anderson swinging the length of the stage with a rope in his best theatrical fashion.

I do have one Jethro Tull MSG story but I am not sure which show or tour that it actually occurred. As I was wandering through the Garden during the show,  I happened upon an unattended elevator and I got in  As luck would have it, the elevator took me right behind the stage, stage right, and I tucked myself behind a curtain for a bit and watched Ian Anderson perform on stage. I stayed in that spot for a few minutes when a security person finally saw me and asked me what exactly I was doing backstage. Without any realistic explanation at my disposal, I was then escorted from the area but was thankfully not removed from the building for my curiosity.

Wond’ring Aloud

Rock on! 

GQ

The “No Nukes” Rally in Battery Park was a free event in New York City. and a large crowd gathered, in part, to see some of the big names in rock and roll and protest music and primarily to be part of a political movement.

Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raite, John Hall, Carly Simon, Pete Seager, Jane Fonda, Tom Haydn and Ralph Nader were some of the most prominent names who took part in the rally. It is somewhat amazing that many of the participants have remained true to their beliefs and are still vital societal voices to this day.

Lives in the Balance

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GQ

It’s an overcast fall evening at Jones Beach Theatre tonight this June 6, 2017 but at least it’s not raining. I’ve seen Dave and Tim at a couple of Farm Aid Concerts where Mr. Matthews is a board member with Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp. Mellencamp will play Forest Hills Stadium next month behind his excellent new album and Willie Nelson returns to the beach with his second annual Outlaw Festival with, among others, Sheryl Crow and the Avett Brothers.

It looks like no opening act and the smoke is starting to envelop the stage.

The boys just hit the boards.

Under the Table and Dreaming.

Rock on!

GQ

The Who’s “The Kids Are All Right” dfocumentary film was released in 1979 and on its heels the band played a multiple night stint at the World’s Most Famous Arena. My first reaction when The Who hit the stage was shock as the visual image that I had in my head was that of lead singer Roger Daltrey with his flowing locks but this was immediately forgotten as a close cropped short haired Dsltrey sporting a tight black t-shirt was seen. Once the initial shock of Mr. Daltry’s new look wore off, the Madison Square Garden gigs became a celebration of the band and the power of rock and roll. During one of the shows, Pete Townshend cut his hand on a guitar while performing his iconic windmill move. It was also the first tour by The Who with Kenney Jones from the Small Faces on the drums as Keith Moon had famously passed in 1978 following the “Who Are You” album with Moon ironically photographed sitting on the “Not To Be Taken Away” chair. 

The band was as great as was expected, John Entwhistle sang on “Boris the Spider” and “My Wife”, with Daltrey and Townshend in top form.

I remember that my father did not understand why I would spend the money to attend more than one night of The Who that week and he got mad enough that he skipped a Dick Haymes show at Westbury that I had gotten him and my mother tickets for as a gift. Duck Haymes was a favorite of my dad’s but as we both can be thick headed Irish he refused to go because of my multiple Who dates.

As bad luck would have it he’d never get to see Mr. Haymes in concert as Haymes passed the following year.

I would try to make it up to my father later on by taking him to see Frank Sinatra but that’s a story for another day.

The Who By Numbers

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GQ

I enjoy the Grateful Dead’s music but I was never a “Dead Head”. For three nights in September,1979 we immersed ourselves in the Grateful Dead experience. For me, the music being played was merely a soundtrack to a psychedelic field trip with the gyrations of a wild variety of participants and true believers exploding all around us. It was interesting to be sure, but ultimately this scene was not my bag. It was fun but we were truly spectators at somebody else’s happening.

I worked with a guy who used to follow the Grateful Dead around as a teenager, selling posters in the parking lots to support his road trips. He exhibits bipolar tendencies now and I have always believed that his brain is misfiring because of all the acid he took during these formative years.

I just saw Bruce Hornsby play at City Winery in New York on Friday. While his albums do not really do it for me for the most part, Mr. Hornsby and his band are extraordinary musicians who played the Grateful Dead’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Tooddloo” as a nod to Bruce’s years playing with the Dead after keyboardist Brett Mydland died in 1990.

I love the Grateful Dead, and they certainly have created the blueprint for just about every jam band to come down the pike since they invented the 45 minute drum solo, but they just have never been my preference for extensive musical exploration.

Feel free to discuss.

The Other One

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GQ

Greg Kihn is probably best remembered for his hit “Jeopardy” and for being parodied by Wierd Al Yankovic with “I Lost on Jeopardy”. 

The Dr. Pepper Concert Series in Central Park was such a great place to see and experience live music in a communal setting in the heart of New York City during such an extraordinary period of time in the history of rock and roll.

Hot Time Summer in the City

RocKihnRoll

GQ

Bruce Hornsby has been around quite awhile now and I first became aware of him in 1086 when he had his iconic hit “The Way It Is”. I bought that CD. and maybe one of two others over the years, however I have never really paid a lot of attention to his long diverse career and seeing him at City Winery tonight seemed to be the perfect venue to catch up with him. 

Mr. Hornsby got his Dead cred playing with the Grateful Dead periodically through the years and he is obviously an enormously talented musician in his own right who has played with some of the greatest musical acts of the 80’s and 90’s. He is no longer with the Range but the Noisemakers will be along on this beautiful Friday evening in New York City.

Scenes from the Southside

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GQ

The Cars had an incredible amount of radio play for their first few albums and the New Wave stars took the stage at Wollman Rink this Friday night in August.

Yet another of those Central Park Concerts that I have no particular recollection of but I have a brief story that likely did not happen on this particular evening.

There was a morning talk show host named Stanley Siegel who was quite popular in the New York metropolitan area in the 1970’s and was most known for having his psychologist sessions on the air. Mr. Siegel left everything on the table to create interesting television and the show was quite entertaining as he was obviously a bit of a character. It was as if Woody Allen was given a talk show and his real life was an open book to the viewers. Well there was one particular evening as I was hustling down 5th Avenue to get to Wollman Rink for what I think was s blues concert that I never got in to, when I saw Stanley Siegel walking toward me. Stanley was a suit and tie sort of guy and I would have had my shoulder length hair swaying as we passed. I loved his show and shouted “Hey Stanley love the show”. He asked where I was headed to and I told him to Central Park for the concert. We made a connection albeit brief as neither one of us ever broke stride. A New York Coty moment in time to be sure with many more to come. 

Moving in Stereo

Rock on

GQ