Once again, I am looking forward to attending the 2021 Newport Folk Festival. It is always an extraordinarily unique event that this year is scheduled to take place over SIX days due to capacity restrictions. Some in my party have encountered some changed plans so I have two extra three day pass tickets for the Monday through Wednesday session July 26-28, 2021.
What I am hoping for is an even swap for two three day passes for the Friday through Sunday session July 23- 25, 2021 (for my personal use and yes I can, and hopefully will, attend all six days of the festival). If you should be interested, contact me through this site and we can see if we can make this happen.

Folk on!

GQ

As I was a huge Yes fan, going to see the great Steve Howe with his new band Asia was a no brainer. I never did get to experience Emerson, Lake & Palmer but I did get to see the extraordinary drummer Carl Palmer perform on top of a unique silver pyramid-like set up on the Capital Theatre stage in New Jersey. With John Wetton and Geoff Downes filling out the supergroup lineup, and a hit album with songs in heavy rotation on the radio, this was heaven for progressive rock fans in the tri-state area. Asia was a little poppier than the group members’ prior groups, and the music has not really held up as well either, but at the time no one knew what the future would hold for these great musicians, so any opportunity to catch them in concert was a must attend. Asia would evolve through the years with different players coming and going, but the original line up is iconic. In a unique double bill years later, Asia opened for Yes (without Jon Anderson which is a long story in and of itself) at the Westbury Music Fair, in the round, with Steve Howe playing guitar with both bands.

Heat of the Moment

Rock on!

GQ

Dead & Company tickets go on sale today at noon. The last time I saw the band, with John Mayer on guitar and vocals, was at Citifield. It was a lot of fun sitting to the left of the pit watching bald guys with pony tails dancing themselves into a frenzy on the verge of giving themselves heart attacks. I kind of prefer Phil Leah & Friends myself, but it is all fun and somewhat nostalgic. I have been listening to the Grateful Dead channel on Sirius a bit lately where, besides the music, you get to hear some fascinating reminiscences of what seems like a bygone era. The ticket prices for this next Citifield concert seem a little steep for a stadium show so, for me, attending this one will have to be a game time decision.
New Speedway Boogie

Rock on!

GQ

I discovered U2 after reading a record review of the album “October” in Esquire magazine which basically made the band sound like the next big thing. I purchased the album and found that they were indeed different than anything else out there at the time. I do not remember how we actually ended up at The Ritz in New York City on Saint Patrick Day to see this up and coming rock and roll band from Ireland, but I do remember seeing them on stage that night in this very cool club downtown that is now Webster Hall. For some reason I kept missing the band for many years after that night on tours that followed, but I have always thought it was cool that I did see the great arena, then stadium, act U2 in a club on a Saint Patrick Day in Manhattan. I did catch their most recent U.S. tour at the Nassau Coliseum; the band performed on a stage that cut right down the middle of the orchestra with an elaborate high tech screen set up quite different then the low tech Ritz show when they were still evolving from a punk act to rock stars.

I do like this one joke about Bono that I will share:

What’s the difference between Bono and God?

Answer: God does not want to be Bono

Songs of Innocence

Rock on!

GQ

This was a case of seeing a relatively unknown, for me, act at a venue I liked on a Saturday night on Long Island. Mink DeVille was a name I recognized from the ads in the Village Voice which advertised many of the shows in the great New York City club scene and occasionally with a full page spread for a big show at Madison Square Garden or other large scale venue. For a kid from Queens, reading the Village Voice was like taking a sneak peek into the Manhattan cultural scene with a decidedly different political spin than could be found in mainstream media outlets. I have no particular recollection of the Mink DeVille concert at My Father’s Place but this may give you an idea of the diversity of acts and variety of venues I am constantly looking to experience on my journey down the sonic exploration highway.

Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl

Rock on!

GQ

What better way to close out 1981, or ant year for that matter, with an Allman Brothers Band concert at the Nassau Coliseum. After the show, my future bride and I were traveling westbound on the Northern State Parkway heading back to Queens when a young reveler, wearing his finest New Year’s Eve cardboard party hat, was seen walking the white striped line in the middle of the roadway with cars passing on either side of him. I have often wondered if the young man made it safely home that night and further considered whether or not hitting the road on a New Year’s Eve was really worth it. In any event, the excellent Molly Hatchet opened for the Enlightened Rogues and a festive audience welcomed 1982 in fitting rock and roll fashion.

Can’t Take It With You

Rock On!

GQ

What were the odds that after lead singer Bon Scott passed on February 19, 1980 legendary band AC/DC would achieve even greater heights with Brian Johnson on the stick, “Back in Black” and beyond. I have had the good fortune of seeing both versions of the band in concert through the years, from opening for other acts to headlining arenas, with the hard rock legends never wavering on their iconic sound. When Brian Johnson need a break from years of thunderous music damaging his ears, I also saw Axel Rose fill in for a different twist on a successful formula, and it worked.
Hey Hey, My My, AC/DC may never die.

For Those About to Rock

FIRE!

GQ

You can find my thoughts on the latest Genesis tour tickets going on sale in the blog titled-

“Ticketmaster Still Sucks”.

In any event, I managed to find a pair of reasonably priced tickets for the second night at Madison Square Garden in early December, 2021.
It is funny that I have no particular recollection of any of the Genesis concerts I have attended except for the fact they have two drum sets for when Phil Collins stops playing frontman and occasionally bangs on the drums. It is a night out, with many familiar tunes, so the shows serve a purpose I suppose.
Land of Confusion

Rock on!

GQ

Hall & Oates toured in support of the album “Private Eyes” with a stop at New York City’s Palladium in November, 1981. The only particular memory I have for this concert was that when the band came out to play the title cut from the new material, Mr. Hall and Mr. Oates came out dressed in trench coats like……private eyes!

I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)

Rock on!

GQ

As. I recall, there was a mail in lottery to request tickets for The Rolling Stones November, 1981 stint at the Brenden Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands Complex in New Jersey. I had “Exile on Main Street” postcards that came with the double album and I thought it might increase my odds to mail in the distinctive picture cards for the much desired tickets (in retrospect, I wish I had held on to the Exile postcards as they might be worth something today, but I did manage to obtain tickets so maybe it worked after all). Charlie Watts’ drum kit sat in front of a white rectangular backdrop which at some point during the two nights I attended, Ronnie Wood appeared playing guitar while staggering perilously above Mr. Watts’ head. Ronnie was apparently so legless I thought for awhile he might fall right off of the backdrop onto the stage and I could say “I was there!” Somehow miraculously Mr. Wood did not fall off, but found his way back onstage where, at some point, Mick Jagger was facing the orchestra section singing to the audience when out of nowhere Ron Wood jumped on Jagger’s back. Without missing a beat, Mick proceeded to flip Wood over his shoulder landing Ronnie flat on his back laughing hysterically. There was a photo in a Rolling Stone magazine sometime later of Keith Richards asleep backstage at Byrne Arena holding a bottle of Wild Turkey in his hand.
Now, THAT’S rock and roll.
Following one of the two shows I attended, after the lights came on, I saw Mick Jagger’s then wife Jerry Hall sitting in one of the glass enclosed luxury boxes at the top of my aisle on the left side of the stage.
I went to at least one of the two shows with my childhood buddy Mike who drove us there. We got separated at some point (I am prone to wandering off) and I could not locate the car after the concert. The parking lot was near empty when Mike drove up along side me and I hopped in for the happy ride home.

Gimme Shelter

Rock on!

GQ