I have a Lou Reed entry in my concert archive as Lou having played on Monday, February 13 at some unknown venue somewhere in New York. I checked the date to find that a 2/13/06 concert scheduled at the Crobar (a place that I do not believe that I ever seen a show at) was canceled due to “illness” as reported by the Brooklyn Vegan. I have no recollection of this, or a rescheduled date, but I have been fortunate to catch Mr. Reed through the years at the Bottom Line, Studio 54, Beacon Theatre (a benefit show with Peter Gabriel), a Broadway theatre, Madison Square Garden “Bobfest”, and one of two other shows along the way. Lou Reed was an all time great and he was always one of my favorite artists with a great band backing him. This trip down memory lane with Lou somehow reminded me that I once saw Andy Warhol seated at a table at the Bottom Line for what I think was an early Joan Jett “solo” performance following the release of “ Bad Reputation”.

Sally Can’t Dance

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GQ

Ted Nugent has officially retired from touring, but on a Monday night in August, 2005 the Motor City Madman rocked the house at the the theatre formerly known as Westbury Music Fair.

Wang Dang Sweet Poontang

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GQ

To celebrate Judy Collins 85th birthday, The Town Hall presents “85 years of Music & Protest” with special guests that include Richard Thompson and Stephen Stills.
My wife and I just recently saw a Judy Collins performance at Westbury Music Fair; many of the stories between songs have been told and heard before, and the Mae West references are severely dated, but Ms. Collins can still sing.

I am pumped to see Stephen Stills perform as his touring days are likely over and apparently spends much time on the West Coast these days (his annual “Light Up The Blues” benefit, with Neil Young and Billy Idol pitching in this year, will take place the end of April at the Greek Theatre).

it is a windy, chilly March Saturday night in Manhattan; it is good to be inside the cozy confines of The Town Hall for what should be an interesting evening of stories and songs.

Both Sides Now

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GQ

The last concert of 2024 was a Christmas gift for my wife; Billy Joel performed at the New York Islanders’ home , UBS Arena. Personally, I have seen Billy Joel so many times at this point I do not really need to see him again. We were supposed to attend Billy Joel’s last Madison Square Garden residency show in July but my wife threw her back out and we could not go. I managed to get rid of the pretty expensive tickets in the nosebleeds at the last minute and this New Year’s Eve concert was partly to make up for the show we missed. For this concert, I had managed to purchase a pair on the first row on right side of the stage and we were pleasantly surprised that the previously unannounced Jason Bonham JBLZE opened the show. The ticket said that the concert would begin at 9:30 PM( and we assumed Joel with his band was playing by himself) but Bonham hit the stage at the mostly empty arena, at that point, at 9:10 PM. I had seen Bonham perform at Westbury from the first row over a year or so ago so I knew what to expect, but the view from the side provided me a better view of Bonham drumming; it was a nice start to the evening’s festivities. Billy Joel hit the stage around 10:00 and it seemed to take awhile for the band to hit its stride this night. I do not know if Joel was sick, or if age is catching up with him, but I was not feeling it and found myself a bit bored at times. The energy picked up toward the end but much of the show felt rote as if on cruise control through much of the night. There were no additional special guests, and Billy’s band playing a Led Zeppelin tune with Bonham on drums seemed anticlimactic and not as good as the JBLZE versions that opened the program. While I have always liked Joel’s music, my wife is the bigger fan and even she expressed that the show was not quite as good as was anticipated. All things considered, it was still a good night out, being New Year’s Eve and all; we got to watch the Times Square ball drop on the Jumbotron, and it was not quite as bad getting out of the Emerald parking lot and home than I was expecting. The arena was built for hockey and I am not a fan of seeing a concert there without really good seats; we had pretty good orchestra seats for Eagles, not great seats for Journey with Toto but those were freebies. UBS Arena is too big and cavernous, with too many bad views and inconvenient parking at $54 bucks; it will have to be someone I really want to see to return to this venue.

Happy New Year Piano Man!

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GQ

I have a better recollection of Hall & Oates with Tears for Fears opening at Forest Hills Stadium than this show at Jones Beach Theatre on Friday, August 26, 2005. Quite frankly, I had completely forgotten that I had seen this concert line up at least twice. Hall & Oates has a million hits and Tears for Fears has a bunch of songs that you know, with both being pretty damn good in concert. I have seen Hall & Oates, together snd separately, a number of times through the years, but my favorite moment was at the Beacon Theatre (or was it The Paladium?), after the album “Private Eyes” was released, the duo came out for the encore in detective type trench coats to sing the title song; kind of corny but it worked at the time.

Wait For Me

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The date on this Chicago concert might be incorrect as it may have been July 8th or 9th, 2005, and it may be the show where I purchased the meet and greet for my wife (which I swore I would never do but it was a birthday or anniversary gift for her at the time). The photo with the band is actually pretty cool and a Chicago show never disappoints.

Feelin’ Stronger Every Day

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GQ

The Steve Winwood performance “in the round” at the Westbury Music Fair on Tuesday, June 21, 2005 was. a great one for me. My wife and I sat about five rows from the rotating stage giving us an incredible view of one of my favorite performers in concert. While I cannot remember exactly what was performed that evening, the memory of Winwood playing keyboards from that vantage point is forever etched into my memory.

Arc of a Diver

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The great frontman of the Cult, Ian Astbury, joined the remaining members of The Doors on a tour that landed at the Jones Beach Theatre on Saturday, June 18, 2005. Replacing the late Jim Morrison is a near impossible task, but Astbury is a rock star and was probably the best choice at the time for the band to pull off a proper tour. Drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger are still with us, 80 and 78 years of age respectively, but keyboardist Ray Manzarek has passed on so any future “reunion” tours as “The Doors” is not going to happen. While not “The Doors” in their Jim Morrison heyday, the 2005 tour with Ian Astbury was the next best thing and I am glad that I had the opportunity to attend this unique performance close to home at the outdoor Jones Beach venue.

Riders on the Storm

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On a Saturday in May, 2005, my wife and I went to the Jones Beach Theatre to see Velvet Revolver. Part Guns N Roses, part Stone Temple Pilots, this band kicked ass. The late Scott Weiland was a undeniably a rock star, and when at one point during a song he went into the audience with his megaphone, I remember thinking that we were watching something special. Some years later, I saw Scott Weiland perform a solo show at Irving Plaza where he left the stage while singing and climbed up to the left above the club audience where he was obviously not meant to roam; you could feel the sense that anything might happen tonight as rock and roll danger mixed with the possibility of unexpected unscripted magic that the great artists can produce might be imminent. When you see the real thing, the undeniable living spirit of rock and roll in the flesh, it is an adrenaline rush. Velvet Revolver was an uncontainable force of nature and Weiland was a front man for the ages.

Slither

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The Eagles performed at the Nassau Coliseum on a Sunday night in April, 2005 and I believe my wife and I sat to the right of the stage for this one, while at the same time my buddy Sandy and his wife sat across from us in a similar location to the left of the stage. Like most Eagles concerts that I have attended, the great guitarist Joe Walsh pretty much took over the show by the end of the evening with his arena ready solo rock anthems to kick the tempo up a notch. I have seen the Eagles a number of times through the years, and the band’s line up has transformed for a variety of reasons over time. It is hard to argue against the Eagles being one of the greatest rock and roll acts of all time, with my wife being a bigger fan of them than I have been, and it has always been an enjoyable night out when we have had the opportunity to catch them on the road. We last saw them at UBS arena for what was supposed to be unofficially the “final” world” tour but I believe they may still be continuing a Vegas residency at the Sphere (as is Dead and Company) so who knows of it was really the last time we see the Eagles perform live in concert. Hell, even Gene Simmons is going back on the road with his solo band; never say never (as Peter Frampton also reminded us).

The Last Resort

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GQ