Support was Bright Eyes - thought they were excellent and showed some good promise. Conor Oberst is obviously talented and plays a mean guitar. Will re listen to my copy of I'm Wide Awake It's Morning and will probably now enjoy it as I will see it in a new light.
REM far exceeded my expectations. We had great seats up front and they showed a freshness and keenness that surprised me. They obviously enjoyed themselves.
Best tracks of the night were "Orange Crush" and "The One I Love" with the strobe lighting used to full effect.
Michael Stipe is an impressive frontman and the voice was spot on.
A couple of weeks ago I saw the Scorpions and Judas Priest at Hammersmith. Scorpions were brilliant and the sound really good then after the interval Judas Priest came on and the sound engineer had turned it up to 11 and it was just distorted. Couldn’t hear the Vocals either. I gave up after 5 songs and went back and stood next to the engineer under the balcony! Did sound a bit better there but still couldn’t hear the vocals! But he was happy as he and his mate were having a laugh.
Saw Rush last year at Wembley and had the same problems Vocals swamped by every thing else.
Seen Alterbridge recently brilliant gig and Nightwish again a good gig.
Off to seen the Musical Box soon at The Royal Albert hall they are re-enacting the Genesis Lamb lies down on Broadway tour.
Then later in April seeing Alanis Morrisette.
Waiting for dates for a few other bands like Within Temptation who I hope will tour the UK
Good gig marred by poor sound, too much one note bass that you could feel rather than hear, apity because Colin Edwin's a bloody good bassist. The keyboards were too far back in the mix too and were only really evident on the 'quieter' passages.
They played much of the new album Deadwing, which hasn't been released yet (delayed by the record company!) but bought a copy at the gig (its on the CD player now).
Posts: 2023 | Location: The South | Registered: Wed 27 February 2002
Saw Jack Johnson last Thursday night at Memorial Drive (open-air grass court tennis stadium in Adelaide, Australia). Fantastic show, balmy evening (34 degrees). 2 great supports in "Xavier Rudd" and "G-Love and Special Sauce". Not one dud moment in the 4 and a half hours of entertainment (Cold Coopers Ale-icing on the cake)
Steve Hacket, Last night in Wolverhampton. First half he was his own 'support' act, playing purely acoustic guitar, & many classical pieces, along with a few others that were from his own writing. Second half as a trio, with his brother John on flute & alto flute, & Roger (?) King on keyboards. I have to say we were captivated from the first piece. The second half was so 'laid back' that it was like sitting on your sofa listening to some very beautiful music being played oh so well. Never have I heard the flute played like that before... (to many memories of J.Gallway) it was very, very good.
Have now finished listening to his new album. How different do you want to be!! 100% classical. 80 piece orchestra, recorded & played to perfection.
Posts: 839 | Location: West Mids | Registered: Thu 12 February 2004
Saw Ken Stringfellow in a small Adelaide pub last night. This was the 4th time I've seen him. Not only is he one of the most talented songwriter/singer/musician's of the 20th century, but he has a great ability to interact with the audience. He walked off the stage and into the audience to sing a couple of songs without the mike and his voice carried right through the pub and caused a few of the raucous barflies to shut-up and listen. Mesmerising! He has a great sense of humour too. This is one of the advantages of living in a small city-you occasionally get to see amazing musicians perform as if they were in your loungeroom, and you can buy them a drink and have a chat between sets. Cheers, Shaun
Motley Crue I saw them just last night. This was the first time I saw them with the original members. Mick Mars still cranks out the guitar riffs with aplomb, and Tommy Lee's drumming is entertaining to watch. The show had an "evil carnival" theme.
They played their classics (Shout at the Devil, Live Wire, etc.) with their two new songs, plus they included their best from the Dr. Feelgood and Girls, Girls, Girls albums. Overall, an entertaining show.
Posts: 17 | Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA | Registered: Thu 13 November 2003
GianLuigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscia presenting their "Round About Weill" programm in "Frankfurter Hof" in Mainz, yesterday evening. Good venue, great concert full of humour, tons of quotes and simply too bloody good players.
Friday night, the Anvil in Basingstoke. Bournemouth SO, Marin Alsopp, Tasmin Little. Bruch Violin Conceryto plus Stravinsky "Petruschka", Debussy "L'apres midi d'une faune" and Ravel "Daphnis and Chloe". A tremendous evening of music.
Posts: 3316 | Location: Middlesex, UK | Registered: Thu 20 January 2005
I've seen tons of live music this year so far, but last night was a real highlight. Mike Peters (ex-Alarm front man) doing a solo acoustic gig to maybe 80-100 people. It was superb, personal, magical. Talented and extremely likeable guy. I'd be surprised if I see anything better this year.
Posts: 5458 | Location: just around the corner actually | Registered: Wed 22 January 2003
A bit strange, thought that KM was a bit 'detached'. Apart from saying 'HELLO BIRMINGHAM' a couple of times there was no inter-action with the audience at all. Absolutely note perfect though, like listening to her records or watching her videos. Didn't move around much because she was wearing those elaborate costumes. Did a 'cracking' cover of Locomotion'. Enjoyed the show but just wished she had moved around and engaged with the audience a bit more.
Mahler's 6th Symphony, CSO, Slatkin conducting, April 26.
Did anybody else hear this concert?
I was disappointed. I had heard this the last time it was given (apparently conducted by Eschenbach) and was tremendously moved. Last night, I was mainly unmoved.
If you were there, how did you respond?
I'm trying to figure out waht I wanted...I hypothesize that the beat was too regular, the dynamics too unvaried, and maybe it was a little too fast, at least/especially the 1st movement.
I'd be delighted to hear from anyone else who went to this concert.
Regards.
Phil
Posts: 1796 | Location: Evanston, IL, USA | Registered: Wed 02 August 2000
E.S.T. at Mousonturm in Frankfurt - Not at all brain focused trio Jazz. Instead: A very energetic performance on the edge between Jazz and Pop. Perfectly produced, Charismatic players. All too perfect, at times. A good evening, though.
Bryn Haworth - small venue, say 80 people. This guy was always regarded as the best home-grown slide guitar player and he has just got better since I last saw him in the late 70's. Magical. I had a chance to chat with him after which was great. It doesn't get much better than this.
Posts: 5458 | Location: just around the corner actually | Registered: Wed 22 January 2003
Buzzcocks at Exeter Phoenix. Guitar/vocals of the original line up - very impressive.
Mightily pissed off though - they had the gumption to play "Breakdown" while I was at the bar. At least I didn't miss "Boredom", "Oh shit!" and "Orgasm addict"
Posts: 1856 | Location: Exeter UK | Registered: Mon 06 January 2003
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and it was just distorted. Couldn’t hear the Vocals either. I gave up after 5 songs and went back and stood next to the engineer under the balcony! Did sound a bit better there but still couldn’t hear the vocals! But he was happy as he and his mate were having a laugh.
