In my heavy metal Queens neighborhood, judas Priest ruled the day for quite some time (at least until Van Halen landed on the scene).

Hell Bent for Leather and British Steel propelled the band to the top of the metal heap (Rush was a different sort of animal altogether).

The leather clad Rob Halford was a bad-ass lead singer who could hit unearthly high notes while the dual guitar attack drove the music forward. The band was loud and in your face. Judas Priest were somewhat theatrical and put on a great stage show but they also had the songs to back up the bravado.

Judas Priest albums are chock full of great songs and never disappointed (well maybe they jumped the shark with “Nostradamus” but they had a great run before that).

My greatest memory from The Paladium show was going with my girlfriend/wife and us stopping at a dive bar in NYC with her ordering, for the first and only time, a “sloe gin fizz” from a bartender who had probably never made one before. This exotic cocktail was a strange blood red color and my future bride drank it quickly like a trooper. She never did feel quite right the rest of the evening and she learned a valuable lesson that day; 

Do not order a proper cocktail from a guy who appears to know only how to open beers and pour shots. 

Through the years Judas Priest consistently produced great albums that still hold up today and the live album “Unleashed in the East” is still one of my favorites. The band broke up, Rob Halford announced that he was gay and said that if you look at Judas Priest’s lyrics the clues were there all along, and after various other projects, the band eventually reunited to headline arenas.

What a long strange heavy metal trip its been indeed.

The Green Manalishi (With the two-pronged crown)?

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GQ

Steve Forbert Is an interesting case study on how hard it is to have a lengthy successful career as a working musician.

Steve Forbert broke into the national consciousness in 1978 with the album “Alive on Arrival” and the catchy hit single “What Kinda Guy?”.

The baby face singer songwriter played the fourth floor of the Queens College Student Union in April 1979. Now the fourth floor of the Student Union building was not an ideal place to give or see a musical performance as it was basically a big empty room with chairs set up In it as I recall. However a young musician sometimes has to go where the people are and what better place is there than a college campus to find and win over new fans.

I remember being impressed with Forbett but thinking while I watched him that he needed something more to break really big. He was obviously talented but he needed a band, he needed a Crosby, Stills, Nash to his Young.

Sure enough, this many years later, Steve Forbert is still on the road touring, even playing the occasional local comedy club, and he has released many albums along the way. Unfortunately, just as I thought then, Steve never did make it as a consistent headliner in the larger venues. 

That being said, I have much respect for working musicians who manage to make a living following their passion and doing what they love to do.  It is an admirable pursuit and talented musicians like Steve Forbert should be supported. These tireless inspirational artists are meant to be discovered and enjoyed for their music, vision, and efforts.

Jackrabbit Slim

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Santana is playing the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens on Friday, August 14, 2015. Santana played at Woodstock and continues to record and tour to this day continuing the extraordinary musical journey and adding to their well documented accomplishments with the upcoming tour.

The Forest Hills Stadium is a unique outdoor venue and a great place to see a show. After years of neglect, the tennis stadium which is located smack in the middle of the neighborhood that is Forest Hills had fallen into disrepair. A businessman had the place refurbished for the purpose of bringing concerts back to Queens. Part of the deal is that the shows must end by 10 PM as there is a curfew.

Years ago I had the pleasure of seeing Genesis in Forest Hills and also when the Talking Heads brought their Stop Making Sense tour to Queens. Last summer I saw the Zac Brown Band tear it up at the somewhat legendary tennis stadium. The Who supposedly broke sonic records in Forest Hills way back when and return this summer to see if they can once again rattle the local neighbors’ windows.

While I have much respect for Carlos Santana and his music, and I’ve seen the band in concert several times, I cannot claim to be a huge fan. However I cannot resist the opportunity to see them this August at what will undoubtedly be a very special concert event.

Corazon

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GQ

The sold out Kate Pierson album release show at City Winery started out SLOW with a forgettable opening act called Sky consisting of a female singer romanticizing Sunday and all of our future demise with a male guitarist who deserved better and at times reminded me of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere era Neil Young on the electric guitar.

An enthusiastic Kate Pierson, who said she was from New Jersey and now lives in Woodstock, said she was going to play her new solo material as it appears on the CD. It took a little bit to take in Kate and the somewhat overly polished group of musicians after the opening act but she hit her stride with, what she referred to as, the somewhat controversial “Mister Sister” which she dedicated to a friend of hers who got sober and moved back with his mother. Kate said that when she called her friend, who starred in Wigstock, his mother answered the telephone and told her in a southern drawl “my son is not a woman”. 

The City Winery show, which Pierson played guitar throughout for the first gigs since the early B-52 days, showed off Kate’s vocal powers and provided for an overall entertaining evening.

Guitars and Microphones

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Kate Pierson of the B-52s will play a show tonight at City Winery New York City celebrating her first solo album release “Guitars and Microphones”.

Wild Planet

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Madison Square Garden 1/8/1979
Nassau Coliseum 1/11/1979

I have always liked the Grateful Dead’s music but I would never consider myself to be a “Deadhead”.

The Grateful Dead show is like no other. The entire venue, including the parking lot, is part of the concert experience and the music being performed at times feels like a soundtrack to the seemingly otherworldly antics happening all around you. The hallways were always particularly interesting as there would inevitably be individuals whirling dervish dancing with the music while those who may have mistimed their cosmic enhancers or over-imbibed were shuttled past on stretchers. It is truly a unique communal event complemented by the extended jams of the Grateful Dead. 

 The Grateful Dead 50th anniversary tour will consist of a three night stint at Soldier Field in Chicago this Fourth of July weekend. 

I will not make the trek to Chicago but I have seen Bob Weir on Halloween in Westbury a few years back and I more recently saw Phil Lesh and Friends with Warren Haynes this past summer in Central Park . Phil seemed to be in good spirits, the band sounded great, and the crowd was having a lot of fun. 

Phil Lesh is yet another rock star who is the beneficiary of a liver transplant. 

It was good to see Phil looking healthy and apparently ready for one last go round with the Grateful Dead in July.

I am sure that the Deadheads who will converge on Chicago this summer will have a blast.

What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been 

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 GQ

The Motor City Madman invaded the Nassau Coliseum on New Year’s Day, 1979 .

Ted Nugent was the driving force of the band that recorded one of my favorite singles, The Amboy Dukes “Journey to the Center of the Mind”.
The Sunday newspaper would publish the top ten singles of the week and I would check off the ones I owned and plot future record purchases. Even as a youth the rock and roll bug had taken hold of me. I had the rockin’ pneumonia and the boogie woogie flu early on.

I attended the Lenny Kaye Nuggets show at City Winery last year and the band played “Journey to the Center of the Mind” which was one of many great tunes in the Nuggets collection that was compiled by Lenny Kaye who is best known for being the guitarist in the Patti Smith Group. Someone in the Nuggets band asked if Ted was still cool. I’m assuming the crack was made because of Nugent’s Republican politics and his hunting lifestyle.
Is Ted still cool?
Is rock and roll still cool?
Is kick ass guitar playing still cool?
Yes, Ted Nugent is still cool.

Happy New Year indeed!
Double Live Gonzo

GQ

Jorma Kaukonen has just released a new solo CD “Ain’t in No Hurry”.

Keep on Truckin’

GQ