Rock concerts are good for the soul

[topspeed]

My wife and I try to attend 3 or 4 concerts a year and unlike most of the more refined members on this board (this means you, Wooch), none of them are orchestral in nature. Heresy you say? Perhaps, but keep in mind that where I live isn't exactly the last bastion of culture unless you consider bovine flatulence to be the pinnacle of sophistication.

No, for us it's rock concerts. Loud, heart thumping, beer drinking rock with lots of fire and brimstone. Last night we enjoyed the Journey/Def Leppard show even though Steve Perry and Steve Smith are no longer with Journey (some would question whether this is actually Journey in this guise, much like G'nR is Axel with a back-up band...but that's for another thread).

Brothers, that was a good time! I haven't seen Journey in concert since their heyday in the '80s and lemme tell ya, they can still bring it! Not only does the new lead singer sound exactly like Steve Perry, but he can hit the high notes that Perry can't anymore. Good stuff, indeed.

Def Leppard was fun as well, although Joe Elliot can't wail as forcefully as before. Watching a bunch of old guys bound all over the stage amid fireworks and flames is a sight to behold. Oh yeah, the music rock'd too!

Anyway, the point to all of this is...well, there is no point! I just wanted to share a good time with you guys. I've come to the realization that while I enjoy jazz shows, a good blues guitarist, or even the fun of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (my next show), I'll take a great rock concert over any of 'em.

Now if AC/DC would just start touring again!

[cam]

This Saturday I'm going to see Headpins, Streetheart, and Nazareth. For $30 a ticket, what the hell. I went and saw Judas Priest last October, first real concert in 10 years. If ACDC ever comes my way, I'll be there.

[SlumpBuster]

I saw Priest that time around, too. Fall last year. Great stuff.

I had a pretty good concert season this year. But, I couldn't convince my wife to do the Def Lep concert, even though she got Goo Goo Dolls/ Counting Crows for her birthday. I like the Goo Goo Dolls (third time seeing them) but they suck live. But I gotta say, Counting Crows were brilliant. They really surprised me. Recommend highly. I love to see alot of the bands that have been around for years and have honed their skills

As for AC/DC, check out Jet live and your halfway there.

[topspeed]

As for AC/DC, check out Jet live and your halfway there.

No doubt. I heard a lot of AC/DC in Get Born, with a little Beatles thrown in for good measure. Their first album was brilliant. Thanks for reminding me that I need to pick up their latest...along with The Killers, Evanescence, and Level 42.

Hoo boy, gonna be an expensive trip to Target.

[bobsticks]

Level 42 still puts out albums?

[bobsticks]

...Okay not really. As a fan of live music I have been priveledged to see countless good and great performances. They are good for the soul.
I remember a day, several years ago, seemingly ordinary. I'm opening up my bar and immediately several SUVs hit the parking lot. About a dozen of my crew crash the place for some early afternoon frivolity. After a few rounds, someone gets the bright idea that we need to go see the Family Values Tour which was in town. A few rounds after that, it is firmly decided upon as a course of action.
Skating the line, we make it in to enjoy Orgy and Limp Biscuit and a few more rounds. Three of us head to the restroom and are quickly jumped by a group of 17 year old skatepunks for being the only ones stupid enough to show up in buttondowns and/or suits. Several thrashings culminating in a chase through Rammstein's mosh pit had us thirsty. Heading to the upper levels, we met up with the rest of the crew who had abandoned any respect for regulatory maximums and had seventy or eighty beers ordered and were firmly entrenched in front of the beer window blocking any further commerce. More violence ensues, at which point, realizing that discretion is the better part of valor and that the local gendarmerie were probably on the way we bade a hasty retreat...back to my bar which we promptly destroyed as well (those bar tables aint cheap!!).
Not a night that was good for the soul, but very enjoyable as I remember. I distinctly recall having two thoughts:
a) that for one night I lived life like Hunter S. Thompson did every day, and...
b) I was never so sure that I would die at the hands of somebody with a mohawk

Good times...




uuummm, what's the staute of limitations on something like that?

[topspeed]

Level 42 still puts out albums?

Yup, released 9/11/06. First one in 10 years. Most importantly, this is the first one in God-knows-how-long that finally has the original bandmates. I was a huge fan of Level 42's earlier stuff such as True Colors, Physical Presence, and of course World Machine. They started to loose their way on Running in the Family and were toast by Staring at the Sun. I'm hoping the reviews are right and the new album is a return to their old sound. Mark King is one of, if not the best bass player I've ever seen live.





BTW, great story!

[Woochifer]

Refined?! Me?! S'cuz me while I wipe off the wine and caviar that I just spit all over my computer screen!

I'll wholeheartedly agree with you that these kinds of cathartic group gatherings are a great release. In fact, I used to attend rock concerts all the time, but nowadays I seem to better enjoy live music in smaller settings where there's more interaction with the audience. Stadium and arena shows just haven't done it for me lately, and I don't listen as much to the classic rock that still dominates the arena and stadium circuit. In more recent years, whenever I've wanted to totally let loose with abandon and extreme prejudice via music, I would go to a dance club or a rave. In the hands of a great DJ, the experience can be every bit as cathartic as a good rock concert, except that it's a lot more participatory.

Yup, released 9/11/06. First one in 10 years. Most importantly, this is the first one in God-knows-how-long that finally has the original bandmates. I was a huge fan of Level 42's earlier stuff such as True Colors, Physical Presence, and of course World Machine. They started to loose their way on Running in the Family and were toast by Staring at the Sun. I'm hoping the reviews are right and the new album is a return to their old sound. Mark King is one of, if not the best bass player I've ever seen live.

No kidding? Level 42 is back?! I looked them up a few months ago, and the websites mentioned nothing about a new album in the works. First, the Brand New Heavies reunite with their original lineup, and now Level 42's gotten back together. Quite a year for some of my old stalwarts to return!

Saw Level 42 ages ago at a street festival and you're totally right about Mark King, awesome bass player. What he showed in concert was at least the equal of anything that I had seen in person from Geddy Lee. (For pyrotechnics on the fingerboard, Brian Bromberg is the most jawdropping bassist I've ever seen -- too bad his songwriting doesn't come close to matching his raw playing ability!)

I guess now I'll know what to look for when I drop by Tower Records' store closing sale later on.

[Dusty Chalk]

If concerts are good for the soul, I'm going to heaven!