I wrote the following before discovering that a drug overdose resulted in the cancelation of the Smashing Pumpkins July two night stand at Madison Square Garden and that the shows were rescheduled for September, 1996 with replacement players on board. To say my memory of the events surrounding these shows is a bit foggy would be an understatement. Since I am not the biggest Smashing Pumpkins fan in the world, and I did not recall the tragic events that had transpired, feel free to comment and clear this up for all the kids out there (and me, as I had a duplicate entry in the archives for one of the September gigs which I apparently did attend). Rock on! GQ

Garbage opened up for Smashing Pumpkins at Madison Square Garden on a Saturday in July, 1996 so Mr. Nut, AKA Mr. Vegas, and I made the trek into Manhattan to check them out. The Smashing Pumpkins were clearly “pumped” to play the iconic Garden and had their “made it” moment by playing a Led Zeppelin song on the MSG stage where some of the greatest rock and roll acts have performed through the years. While I can appreciate what Billy Corgan and the band have accomplished in their careers, the Smashing Pumpkins were never my thing, although I have enjoyed the shows every time that I have had the opportunity to see them play.

We Only Come Out at Night

Rock on!

GQ

Crosby, Stills & Nash co- headlining with Chicago on a Friday night in July, 1996 was a damn near perfect double bill for me as Chicago is my wife’s favorite band to this day, and I love all things Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young). Graham Nash will be on a tour that brings him to The Opera House in Brooklyn, and Chicago has a shed tour this summer with Brian Wilson opening.

Just a Song Before I Go

Rock on!

GQ

I had no intentions of attending the Eagles “Hotel California” tour again, but my wife loves them and I found a nice StubHub deal about 21 rows back in the orchestra with a parking pass that saved me 50 bucks; so with not much else to do on a Saturday night we went. I had only gone to the brand new UBS Arena once before for the Journey/Toto concert with mixed feelings about the Islanders new home. The arena is somewhat cavernous but the concessions are plentiful. The seats right center orchestra on the aisle were pretty good and I could have thrown peanuts at the back of heads who spent $499 face value, or even more for special packages that came with lanyards advertising how much they spent to see the show. The “Hotel California” album was played in its entirety, then after the intermission they performed hit after Eagles hit with a few solo songs interspersed. Glenn Frey’s son is no longer on the tour with no discernible difference making one wonder how, and on what terms, they parted ways. Bassist Timothy B. Schmidt’s voice was pretty shot and he mangled “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, but other than that misstep it was an overall excellent concert with the happy crowd having a great time. The band played with an orchestra for a few of the songs, and when the Hofstra University chorus was introduced they received an extended ovation causing Henley, apparently not appreciating the Long Island connection, to remark “ I’m starting to worry about you guys”.
Toward the end of the three hour plus performance the mood became a bit melancholy when Don Henley said May 1st would be the fiftieth anniversary of the bands first release, his appreciation for the fans should they not pass through this way again, and he thanked the audience for years of support. I have never been a fan of Henley’s personality or apparent greed, but you would be hard pressed not to have have felt a twinge with the acknowledgement that the rock and roll merry-go-round for the over 70 members will grind to a halt some day and this might happen sooner than we may have thought.

Joe Walsh had the funniest line of the night as usual; he said he had more fun being 20 in the 70’s then 70 in the 20’s.

True dat, but it won’t stop some of us to keep on trying…..

Best of My Love

Rock on!

GQ