In a Mother’s Day whirlwind weekend extravaganza, I took my wife to see Chicago at the legendary Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on Friday, then the following night we went to Patchogue to catch what may be the world’s premier Chicago tribute band, by way of Russia, Leonid & Friends.

Chicago was back in action after a brief hiatus during which they have replaced three touring members. The core of the group is starting to look more grey and a little ragged, particularly standing next to the new “youngsters” at keyboard, guitar and bass, but they give their fans what they want, hit after familiar hit. The band, that seemingly never takes a day off, Chicago is touring through the summer and beyond, this time playing the sheds with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys opening. I do not know how the founding members will survive the daunting schedule that lay in front of them in 2022, but Chicago has always seemed to find a way to rock on.

We had never seen Leonid & Friends before this past Saturday night and my balcony seats at the Patchogue Centre for Performing Arts was worth every penny of the $40 bucks per ticket I paid. After a speech about the Ukrainian invasion and how music can bring us all together, the band pretty much followed Chicago’s successful performance formula to a tee, mixing those familiar Chicago tunes with Blood, Sweat snd Tears “ Vehicle”, Earth, Wind & Fire, and a few other songs to break up the Chicago tribute nicely. I think I counted eleven in the band total; brass section with the saxophone player providing entertainment snd reprising the Jimmy Pankow vibe, guitar, drums, keyboard, four different vocalists including a female and a young gypsy fellow singing the Peter Cetera parts (and yes, according to the emcee, a real gypsy). Leonid plays bass snd oversees the festivities. After introducing the band, Leonid introduced the road manager and a few others which made me wonder how they made any money at all on tour. Like Chicago, Leonid has been plugging in replacement players with one member in Kiev and unable to travel, a trombone player on paternity leave, and the Gypsy fellow stepping in as Cetera. Other than missing the Kentucky Derby (a story I would rather not get into) Leonid & Friends delivered an excellent and, reasonably priced, night of entertainment. I have never been a proponent of seeing tribute bands since I have attended do many original shows and act through the years, but musically Leonid & Friends was spot on, particularly on the Chicago arrangements, and once you got passed the Russian accents on some songs, they were nearly as good as the originals.

Make Me Smile

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GQ

The iconic James Taylor played the Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York on Saturday, July 27, 1996. I have seen Mr. Taylor perform many times to include a free Central Park concert and an impromptu Newport Folk Festival appearance; “Sweet Baby James” never fails to deliver with hit after glorious hit (as heard in heavy rotation on SiriusXM “The Bridge”) Taylor’s catalog of music is obviously tremendous, and when he plays the summer shed circuit it always makes for a great night out.

How Sweet It Is

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GQ

The Who performed the double album masterpiece “Quadrophenia” in its entirety at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, July 20, 1996. If memory serves me correctly, this was the tour that Gary Glitter performed on before he allegedly got jammed up with authorities in a faraway land resulting in complicated legal entanglements.

Rock ‘n’ Roll ( Part 2)

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GQ

I have no particular recollection of the Marshall Tucker Band, Leon Russell with Georgia Satellites concert at the Westbury Music Fair in July, 1996 although I wish I did. Leon Russell is a legend who was touring to pay the bills, and somewhat under appreciated until Elton John collaborated with him resurrecting his profile before Leon passed. The Georgia Satellites were a fun rock and roll outfit in their day and Marshall Tucker Band, of course, had so many FM radio friendly tunes back in the heyday of 1970’s country rock and roll. The Marshall Tucker Band will be on a 50th anniversary tour in 2022 which will bring them to the Beacon Theatre in New York soon.

Heard It In A Love Song

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GQ

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

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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

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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

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GQ

One week to the day after catching Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band at the Coca Cola at Jones Beach Theatre, I went to see Ozzy Osborne with Filter & Stuttering John at the same outdoor venue. I vaguely remember seeing Filter perform from my dead center stadium seat and I think their song “ Hey Man Nice Shot” was being played pretty regularly on the radio at the time. Stuttering John is best known for being on the Howard Stern Show and whose best bit was asking Ringo Starr at a press conference “What did you do with the money?” What money? “ The money your mother gave you for singing lessons”. Now you can catch The artist formerly know as Stuttering John on various podcasts sadly bashing all things Stern.
Shot in the Dark

I Don’t Know

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GQ

While I have always appreciated the Bob Seger System, my wife’s second favorite band after Chicago is Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band so we have always gone to see them whenever they were in town. I have no particular recollection of this Saturday, June 8, 1996 concert, but I am intrigued by the name of the opening act (Bone Pony). We last saw Bob Seger perform at the Jones Beach Theatre, then finally at Madison Square Garden on his “ farewell tour” just before the pandemic shut everything down. Seger’s timing was perfect as the live music industry came to a screeching halt just after he concluded his final tour.

Turn the Page

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GQ

Mr. Nut, AKA Mr. Vegas, and I drove to the Nassau Coliseum on a Friday in February, 1996 during a snowstorm, a borderline blizzard as I recall, to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the first time. I had been introduced to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ music years earlier when my childhood friend Mike came back from a trip to California with a cassette tape telling us how great the band was. I thought the band’s name was ridiculous and dismissed them as I was firmly committed to my preferred rock and roll musical artists at the time; unfortunately I did not give this, as far as I was concerned, unknown California band the time of day.
On this particular wintery Friday night, the drive to the Nassau Coliseum during the snowstorm was something else, the roads were a bit treacherous, and we were kind of surprised the show was not postponed or canceled. We were pleased upon arrival to find out that the concert would go on as scheduled, with Silverchair opening. Other than the snowstorm, the most memorable part of the evening was when the Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to the stage for the encores wearing nothing but their birthday suits and well placed socks. This routine was somewhat infamous and predictable but still a shock to watch in person. I got to see the band again a few years ago at Madison Square Garden with my son, and these days the rock and roll hall of famers sell out arenas and stadiums on a regular basis. not bad for an unfamiliar band that was introduced to me by my friend from Queens, New York with a beat up looking cassette tape that he brought back with him from the West Coast many moons ago.

Under the Bridge

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GQ