Paul McCartney plays the Nassau Coliseum tonight and tomorrow to finish up what have been reported to be an extraordinary set of shows in the tri-state area.
Based on the average age of the Coliseum audience, we have become our parents.
Paul McCartney is this generation’s Frank Sinatra!
New York, New York
Rock on!
GQ
I think I own one Collective Soul CD and as I remember the collection was chock full of radio hits and memorable tunes. One of their big hits wafted through the Jones Beach parking lot and I told my wife they must be pretty confident to be leading with that song early on. They were confident and those guys can rock on an arena scale. Collective Soul is a very good rock and roll band and I would not mind seeing them in a smaller venue like The Paramount in Huntington in front of a rabid fan base. There was a gal a couple of rows down from us clearly loving Collective Soul and singing along to every song.
Sammy Hagar up next.
Rock on!
GQ
The Jones Beach Theater concert schedule ends on a high note this weekend with a return to summer-like weather, the late Gregg Allman’s Laid Back Festival Sunday and Sammy Hagar tonight.
Sammy Hagar is a rocker. I first saw him at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands when he fronted Van Halen (with opening act Bachman Turner Overdrive), Now I was always in the David Lee Roth camp during the Van Halen wars and while this version of Van Hagar had some good tunes, I did not fully appreciate Sammy’s talents.
A few years ago I picked up a ten dollar ticket to see Hagar’s band Chickenfoot at Webster Hall (formerly The Ritz) with Joe Satruani on guitar and VH banished for Wolfgang bass player Michael Anthony (who will perform tonight with The Circle).
The band Chickenfoot kicked ass; a completely unexpected great old time rock and roll show. I would expect the same tonight. Jason Bonham, who was at the Beach this summer with his Led Zeppelin tribute band, will be on drums.
Collective Soul had hit or two back in the day and should be a fine opening act on what should be a beautiful evening.
Tomorrow the Laid Back Festival takes over the Northeell Health at Jones Beach Theater. I was supposed to see Gregg Allman at City Winery before he passed so it turned out the last time I attended a Gregg Allman performance was st his festival a few years back. A great classic rock line up with Jackson Browne, Steve Winwood (supporting n excellent live greatest hits collection just released) and the incredible, (hopefully) soon to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, J. Geils Band singer, Mr. Peter Wolf taking the main stage.
Yes featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakemam will play the Tilles Center tomorrow night on a football Sunday.
5150
Rock on!
GQ
As the great poet David Lee Roth once said, “I live my life like there’s no tomorrow” and this week feels like it.
On Sunday night after watching the New York Jets sputter and lose to the Buffalo Bills on television, I attended Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia at the Metropolitan Opera. A British opera singer, Billy Idol, Pete Townshend, and a full orchestra performed the legendary double album in its entirety and it was pretty amazing. Those songs in that venue had the audience enthralled. The opera star, Alvie Boe, had a powerful voice as would be expected and the only time I personally missed Roger Daltrey was during “Love Reigb O’er Me” when you could see. hear, realize, and appreciate just how important Mr. Daltrey has been to Pete Townshend’s genius being realized in this, one of several Townshend masterworks.This was a different experience than any rock and roll show that you could attend and it was a fantastic concert experience.
Speaking of fantastic, Roger Waters at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn was a sonic and audio visual extravaganza with the obligatory floating pig in attendance during the second half of the show. Mr. Waters played songs from “Meddle”, “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Animals”, “Wish You Were Here”, “The Wall” with a nod to his solo work. Roger and the band sounded great giving spot on performances of the iconic Pink Flod catalogue and even after navigating through some pro-Israel protesters and enduring videos of Donald Trump’s head attached to pig bodies I was blown away by the show. Roger Waters “Us and Them” tour continues in the New York City area this week with Nassau Coliseum slated for Friday and Saturday.
Yesterday brought my son and I to the Sirius studios in Manhattan for a Town Hall event with Scorpions hosted by metal maven Eddie Trunk. The interview was short on audience questions but interesting nonetheless as Trunk managed to have the amiable, and clearly loving what they do, Scorpions give us a glimpse of into their fifty plus year history, struggles during the 1990’s and non stop worldwide touring schedule. Even more interesting than the interview though was the celebrity sights as Gene Simmons was spotted in the building lobby before the Town Hall, we walked into former Howard Stern radio foil Artie Lange waiting for the elevator as we exited, and Tom Morello was wandering the halls promoting his latest project, Prophets of Rage.
After the Town Hall my son and I headed to Shake Shack and while waiting to cross the street a naked man was seen sprinting down the middle of Broadway with a police van and NYPD’s finest in a variety of foot pursuits.
I left my son at Penn Station and was waiting outside Madison Square Garden to meet my daughter after work when Win Butler was seen hanging out and taking photos with a few surprised fans as he was heading in for the Arcade Fire concert last night. After the couple of photos were done he non chalently strolled in between the Long Island Railroad entrances by himself. He looked up at the MSG arena building for a minute then turned around and took a selfie with the Madison Square Garden sign above him. After he had his “Mary Tyler Moore Show” moment, he disappeared toward the tractor trailers and into the Garden.
My daughter and I never ended up going to the Arcade Fire concert as intended but since we saw the band in a warehouse in Brooklyn during the Reflector tour we figured that show could never be topped anyway. so we will catch them next time around.
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
Rock on!
GQ
The weather for Lady Gaga,s Tuesday concert at Citifield could not have been much worse as it rained steadily throughout the event. Word had it that Lady Gaga did not hit the stage the night before until 10 PM but thankfully emails were sent out reporting the show would start at 9 (which turned into 9:30 due to “technical difficulties”). I had purchased the cheapest seats up top which turned out to be unintended genius as we were underneath the overhang keeping us dry for the most part. Right off the bat something did not seem quite right as the bare black stage seemed unusually spacious and empty as Lady Gaga and her dance crew went through their routines. Lady Gaga gave a little speech that the stage was broken and it was raining but that her voice was fine. There was a small stage with a piano into the audience in the elements and the show went on with Lady Gaga performing in the pouring rain which was pretty cool. While I can appreciate the “show must go on” attitude, unfortunately she really did not do her fans any favors as it was cold, rainy, and I’m sure the special effects were not what they could have been in a perfect world. I had seen Lady Gaga perform at Roselamd with my daughter and the show was entertaining; she is extraordinarily talented and can really sing but everyone would have been better served had the Citifield date been rescheduled. Now the word is that Lady Gaga has had to reschedule dates due to illness apparently brought on from singing in the rain.
Obviously you cannot control the weather but the money was already in the bank so a soaked crowd was given a memorable but flawed experience.
Poker Face
Rock on!
GQ