I did not attend the sold out solid Luke Bryan concert at the Northwell at Jones Beach Theater last night but it must have been some show!

I was a out and about early this morning and saw two crunched Luke Bryan tractor trailers being towed that apparently had not exited the Wantagh  Parkway at Merrick Road. Bryan’s equipment did not quite make it under the overpass st Sunrise Highway resulting in it to getting wedged underneath. The trucks and tour buses usually get off the Wantagh Parkway at Merrick Road and head east to the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (135) on their way to parts unknown. Perhaps Luke can make lemonade out of these lemons and write a sad country hit tune about how GPS done him wrong.

Take the Higheay

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GQ

I passed on the Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Edgar Winter concert at the Jones Beach Theater last night to attend a different sort of show on the north end of the Wantagh Parkway in Westbury. 

Singer- songwriter Kenny White opened the sold out NYCB Theatre at Westbury in the ” “half round”. Mr. White seems like a really nice guy and a working musician who I remembered seeing with Peter Wolf at City Winery. You find yourself rooting for the talented Kenny White whose somewhat meandering songs solo on keyboards had the mature crowd primed for what was to come.

Stephen Stills and Judy Collins have known each other since the early 1960’s and Stills said he met Ms. Collins at the Whisky A Go Go while Eric Clapton was on stage. You had the immediate feeling that the night was going to be something special when the two performers unexpectedly opened with the Traveling Wilbury’s “Hanfle With Care”. Collins and Stills played mostly together, and solo, backed by bass, drums and keyboards with both playing guitar throughout. Collins’ harmonies and angelic voice were perfect counterparts to the seemingly invigorated Still’s time worn vocals. The two chatted (and flirted) between songs trading off on stories about Leonard Cohen, Crosby,  Stills, Nash and Collins’ Joni Mitchell like inspiring of her male admires to artistic heights. “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” was famously about Judy and Stills intimated that two other songs played last night, including the Buffalo Springfield’s “Bluebird”, were written about her also.

The 78 year old Collins sounded and looked incredible in a white outfit and her long grey hair pulled up. Her voice sounded extraordinary and she recovered well after tripping over a monitor and falling on her back after the last song of the evening (she’ll undoubtedly be sore this morning).

It is for night’s like this one that I find myself going to so many shows. Sometimes musical legends let you down and continue touring well past their time but Judy Collins and Stephen Stills provided a special night making all who took their musical journey this night feel glad that they came.

The two icons are releasing a new collection of musict soon that should be well with purchasing in any format (including the promised vinyl) and this tour continues into October.

Treetop Flyer

Both Sides Now

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GQ

Hank Williams Jr. Is an interesting cat but I felt like I was growing old during his hour and a quarter set. The multi instrumentalist is obviously a talented musician with an interesting backstory but the rowdy friends catalogue did not really do it for me at the half filled amphitheater tonight.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is up next. The band keeping the Skynyrd brand alive usually puts on a good show and the crowds are generally enthusiastic. 

Cat Scratch Fever

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GQ

For some unknown reason my wife has always wanted to see the Bacon Brothers in concert so in my endless quest to make her dreams come true we went to City Winery in New York City last night. The evening started for me when heading to the rest room located in the lower level I nearly walk into Kevin Bacon as he and the band walked over to the “meet and greet”. When I told my wife of my close encounter with Mr. Bacon she excused herself to stalk the handsome actor who resembles a young Re Re. The show was supposed to begin at 8 and end at 10 PM so when the opening act did not hit the stage until 8:15 it did not seem like a good sign. Farewell Angelina are four pretty young ladies from Nashville harmonizing to some forgettable country tunes  likely dreamed up in a dorm room somewhere. 

I had no interest in seeing the Bacon Brothers perform (ever) so the lengthy break between acts was a little annoying especially since it had appeared the Bacon Brothers pristine equipment should have been ready to go as they had at least three roadies, with one overseeing the action with a tablet in hand, working through the “technical difficulties”. You would have thought Led Zeppelin was back in town with the amount of guitars on stage. This band was clearly an expensive hobby for the rich actor The band finally came on at 9:15 and proved to be a competent bar band somewhat reminiscent of Jimmy Buffett at times. Top notch equipment and techs, along with professional musicians, made the show entertaining. Kevin Bacon seems like a cool guy who enjoys playing music with his friends and helping his brother pay the bills with his musicical aspirations. It clearly was an enthusiastic crowd enjoying their night on the town in New York City and the band seemed to genuinely appreciate the positive vibe in the room.

Mystic River

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GQ

I’m sure the Goo Goo Dolls mean something to a certain demographic out there somewhere but I have no idea what they sing.

Phillip Phillips was on American Idol.

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GQ

When Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats hit the stage last night shortly after 7:15 PM at Jones Beach Theater, the venue was as empty as I had ever seen it. Fortunately an enthusiastic group in the pit at the front of the stage gave the band someone to aim their songs at. Mr. Rateliff resembles Zach Galifanakis (the chubby funny version of Zach) and has the front man swagger reminiscent of a Joe Cocker or Van Morrison with happy dancing feet. The band had just played the Newport Folk Festival this past weekend (in front of larger crowds I am sure) and provided a horn, organ, and tambourine filled set of what bordered on The Band and what house party music could be.

Kings of Leon provided a multi media audio visual assault on their late arriving fans who filled up much of the theater by showtime. The songs were good and enhanced by a video presentation worthy of U2. 

During the Kings of Leon performance I noticed a menacing looking gentleman dressed all in black, black jacket and black cap. This dude looked completely out of place so I kept my good eye on him in case he was an active shooter incident waiting to happen (Jones Beach security has been drastically beefed up this year but I still had my doubts) Three young guys and a pretty girl stood in front of my wife and me in the pit and a girl nearby asked to take a photo with the guy who was with the girl. I do not know who he was but the man in black, who apparently was the bodyguard, watched their every move as the happy group melted into the crowd. They seemed like nice kids, right out of a scene from the HBO series Entourage, I only wish I knew who it was that garnered such attention.

Taper Jean Girl

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GQ

I have to admit that other than their name I know next to nothing about Kings of Leon. Isomehow seem to know that Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, fresh off their Newport Folk Festival appearance, should be good. There are a lot of tickets available for this show tonight; the weather is perfect so hopefully they get good walk up business at the beach.

The weather today is much like it was for the eecond night of The Classic East- absolutely beautiful. Earth, Wind and Fire were the perfect opening act and had much of the crowd up and dancing to the best of their abilities. Journey was up next and we’re surprisingly good playing their incredible catalog of hits. The “new” singer  Arnel Campanella Pineda from Manila was nothing short of extraordinary with an amazing vocal range and seemingly endless high energy.

Fleetwood Mac seemed to genuinely enjoy ending the weekend’s festivities and gave the crowd a hit filled set. Lindsay Buckingham is an underrated guitarist and shone on an solo acoustic “Big Love” and Stevie Nicks did her Stevie Nicks thing which was literally magnified by the giant video screens that overlooked the playing field giving those of us in the upper deck a great vantage point to what took place on stage. I must admit that I initially did not want to go, but the Classic East proved to be a worthwhile investment in time and energy and was an overall enjoyable experience that ended with fireworks during Fleetwood Mac’s encore. I would expect that The Classic will be brought back next summer in some form or another as it was successful as far as the attendees were concerned as well as,  I am sure, financially.

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

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GQ