A decidedly odd place to attend a concert, a mall in downtown Manhattan was the location for a three day David Bowie Berlin Trilogy free event and it was surprisingly really good. A nice crowd gathered for night one to hear Bowie’s Lodger album and the band did the music justice. I had forgotten how good the Lodger album was for me. Lodger was the follow up to the Heroes collection however,  as I recall, it did not break out nearly as big. The Lodger album’s biggest “hit” had the catchy “I am the DJ, I am what I play” and the album was adventurous but it did not reach the mass appeal Bowie would later enjoy with the wildly popular “Let’s Dance” phenomenon. The performance at the mall was a curiously interesting first evening of the Bowie/Eno Berlin collaborations in reverse order of their release. It is highly unlikely that I shall ever see the Lodger album played live again which made it an even more fascinating exercise to take in and enjoy.

Look Back in Anger

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GQ

At MSG

They suck

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GQ

Okay, maybe I overreacted during the decidedly not sold out Eagles concert at Madison Square Garden last night. The Eagles continue on without the late Glenn Frey and plug in his son Deacon Frey and country artist Vince Gill to attempt and replace their founding member. The band sounds pretty good during most of the two and a half hour show. Deacon Frey seems to be in the revamped lineup seemingly more to assuage any conscience Don Henley may have left during this latest money grab than Deacon’s lackluster musical prowess. Vince Gill has musical talent that complements some of what losing Glenn Frey brought to the table but he does not possess Glenn Frey’s history or pedigree. The mellower soft rock Eagles tunes were professionally and accurately played beneath huge screens and the crowd seemed pleased but it was the Joe Walsh solo tunes that rocked the house and the Hotel California selections are iconic.

Expensive tickets for shows like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John are nostalgic for many so the aging rockers tour on and fill their coffers. The true artists like Robert Plant and Neil Young scale down the venues and play their newer creations for true fans along for the musical journey. Classic rock stations are fine but have stifled creative artists who seek to grow and whose new albums are rarely heard except by those of us truly driven to find and hear it. 

Neil Young solo in Philadelphia at the Tower Theatre following two nights in Port Chester with Promise of the Real was amazing and yet another incredible chapter for the past and present king of rock and roll. Who will be the future of rock and Roll remains to be seen but they are somewhere on the road at a venue near you.

As far as the Eagles are concerned, Hell Freezes Over again and again until a higher priced “Farewell Tour” takes shape somewhere down the line.

Life in the Fast Lane

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GQ

I’ve never been the biggest Dire Strairs fan, and I will admit I attended last night’s Dire Strsits Legacy concert with some trepidation, but I found myself having a new found respect for the band and it’s musical “legacy”. Since much of the Legacy lineup are Dire Straits players, with former Buggle and Yes member Trevor Horn on the bass, the band primarily stuck with excellent renditions of the familiar Dire Straits classics while throwing in a new song that fit right in to the playlist. There was no Mark Knofler, and the vocals were sometimes buried in the mix, but I thouroghly enjoyed the  show that was  performed embarrassingly in the half round to a sparse house.

Trevor Horn sang lead on the Yes Classic “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, which he produced for the band, as the Legacy first encore.

Money for Nothing

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GQ