Summer Concerts plans

[Mr Peabody]

I have tickets to 2 shows this summer. Should make for a fun weekend as one is Saturday and the other Sunday of the same weekend in July. First, it's the old timers, I think it's billed as Rock Hall of Fame show with Heart, Cheap Trick & Joan Jett. The next night Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin.
I saw Heart is about to release a new album, they released a video on Facebook via Rolling Stone with them and James Hetfield. Not sure why anyone thinks he can sing. If you haven't heard Disturb's cover of Sound of Silence, you should check it out, just to have the comparison. They did pretty good and people are liking it, the original is tough to beat though. Disturbed is one of my favorite Hard Rock bands.

[ForeverAutumn]

Here you go. I love this cover...

https://youtu.be/u9Dg-g7t2l4

I can't get the video to imbed so you'll have to click the link and go to YouTube. Go directly to YouTube. Do not pass Go and do not collect $200.

We saw Cheap Trick last summer. They still put on a great show and Zander's voice is still as good as ever.

At this point, we have NO concert plans for the summer. I don't think this has ever happened before!

[topspeed]

Unbelievably, I'm in the same boat as FA; no plans! I caught Tears for Fears in the Spring and New Order a couple of months ago at the Shrine in LA, but nothing else has really caught my eye. James Taylor is playing 1/2 hour away, but it's on a Tuesday and I can't get anyone to join me! Last year was the monster year for concerts with U2, AC/DC, and Foo Fighters all touring.

[Swish]

I haven't been to a show is quite some time, but next Friday (the 22nd), I'll be seeing Super Furry Animals in Philly! The show was slated for May but was postponed for some reason. Anyway, I freakin' love this band and Rings Around the World is among my all-time favorite CDs.

[ForeverAutumn]

I bought tickets today to see KT Tunstall in September. Does that count as a "summer concert"? It's technically still summer.

[sjtm]

Was just handed two tickets for Dead & Company concert tonight at Fenway Park. In a luxury box, not on the field, so might be a little less "in the moment", but free tickets are free tickets...

[Mr Peabody]

Does Canada have a summer for summer concerts, LOL

[Mr Peabody]

One down. Actually Cheap Trick was the opening band, and after seeing the show, rightfully so. They were a bit of a disappointment, playing a lot of unfamiliar stuff, they about lost the audience then toward the end hit Dream Police, I Want You & Surrender. Joan Jett had the best sound quality and put on a good show, opening with I Don't Give A Damn About My Bad Reputation. She reached back and did Cherry Bomb from the Runaways day. Heart was great, they opened with some of the 80's hits, Nancy did a song with her at the piano, I liked it but my daughter says, "I don't like slow songs at concerts" LOL. Yes, it was Nancy, not Ann. They played a couple songs off the new album and I thought they were pretty good, plan to check it out. Of course, they ended with Barucuda & Crazy On You, then encore was Magic Man. The crowd was huge, it had to be nearly sold out. You could tell the audience was a bunch of older rockers as many decided to remain sitting opposed to standing the entire show, LOL

I hate to keep dissing but Cheap Trick's sound was terrible which was unexpected from veteran rockers. It was loud but I could talk to the person next to me with a slightly elevated voice. I've determined what hurts our ears at these shows is the high level of distortion opposed to the loudness. I mean, of course, too loud is too loud, but Cheap Trick almost had me reaching for the ear plugs when it wasn't really, that, loud, it was just very distorted. I was thinking if anyone heard an audio system sound like this no one would buy it.

[Finch Platte]

Cool review, Mr P. Sorry CT's sound sucked. Hopefully they'll read your review and rectify it.

[ForeverAutumn]

Does Canada have a summer for summer concerts, LOL

Very funny. We had a couple of 100+ degree days last week. The length of summer varies depending where in Canada you are, but in Toronto it's typically considered to be early June to mid-September. Sometimes we'll get lucky and have hot weather into October, but it usually starts to get cooler in September.

I'm sorry to hear that Cheap Trick didn't put on a good show. We saw them last summer and thought they were very good. We knew almost all the tunes. The sound wasn't great, but that had more to do with our seats as we were way off to side. When we moved to the middle of the venue, it was much better.

[Mr Peabody]

Actually Sunday's show was 4 bands. Opening was Saint Asonia who is the former singer for Three Days Grace, a guy from Staind, and I forget who else. They were a good opening act. They sang, I Hate Everything About You from TDG but Andy says he wrote it.

Then there was Altar Bridge who did good but not a lot of interaction with the crowd, and, like I said, Saint Asonia rocked pretty well.

Next up was Breaking Benjamin, who absolutely killed it. I'm not sure what I expected from them but they were great. They did a cool little medley midway through the show starting off with Star Wars, then into, Tool's Pieces Fit, Pantera's, Respect and a stretch of Nirvana's, smells Like Team Spirit. All very well, and to hear Star Wars theme played by rock band was pretty cool.

Disturbed was great. They played a good while, not sure how long but they covered a lot of their songs. Interestingly neither them or Breaking Ben did encores. Both did cover their catalog well, BB ended with Diary of Jane and Disturbed ended with Sickness. Maybe they played all they were going to and skipped the space where you beg them to come back for time sake.

[sjtm]

FWIW Dead & Company likely my only live concert this summer ( although Boston has a lot of great summer concert venues I need to make time for). My hosts surprised me with a second pair of tickets for my son and I in the VIP section 20 rows back and center stage. Best seats I have had in a very long time. We also watched from the box ( 95 degrees made ac very attractive. No comparison to the experience down front).

Music was great if you love the Dead. Mayer was very good although a bit restrained by the music and, frankly, Bob Weir was the real treat.

Having two very different seating perspectives, there is no question the sound system is taxed to maintain the sonic quality present when you are dead center. Actually a bit of echo somewhat muddied the music when sitting upstairs.

BTW - missed Dylan who played the night before at a much smaller outdoor venue, but a friend said he put on a great show.