September 9, 2023: Let's Groove Tonight!

Chase Center
San Francisco, CA

When tickets went on sale for Lionel Richie with Earth, Wind, and Fire earlier this year, I thought "oooooh that would be a cool show to see!" However, I'd just bought a bunch of other tickets for other shows and my credit card was melting. Throw in buying a new car and some travel, I decided to wait a bit and see if I could get a ticket later on once my immediate expenses calmed down a bit. I went back and forth for a several months on whether or not I'd get a ticket and would periodically check availability and pricing. Tickets were still generally available and not too outrageous, so I'd wait and see.

About three weeks ago I finally bit the bullet. I wanted to go to the show and the only thing that was stopping me was money which I now had, so what the hell get the ticket! I am SO glad I did!

I took the train up to San Francisco after clocking out from work a little early. As has seemed to be the case every time I've gone to Chase Center directly from the CalTrain station, I missed the Muni light rail connection as the cars pulled in just as I was exiting the train station with no way to get across the street to catch the light rail. This time I actually missed TWO light rail trains because of timing and street lights! No matter, it's a relatively short walk from the CalTrain station to Chase Center and it was a pleasant evening, so I walked the 15-minutes or so it takes to get there.

The doors hadn't opened yet when I arrived, so I debated -- stand in line for something to eat at Gott's Roadside, or just stand in line to get into the arena and eat something there. The line for Gott's looked like it would take as long as getting in, so I just opted for arena food and waited on the doors. The wait for the doors was a bit longer than I anticipated, but soon enough I was in the arena and off to grab something to eat in the lounge area behind my seat.

Once I finished eating, I headed in to my seat which was in the last row of my section. That turned out to be a pretty good thing as there was more space between my row and the row in front of me than the other rows, and only two seats to my left before the next section which was designated for wheelchairs. That meant there was a lot of room to move around and the couple sitting next to me and I took full advantage of that once the show began.

Now, I can't say I was ever a huge Earth, Wind, and Fire fan, but I always enjoyed the songs I knew and figured it would be a fun, upbeat show. I wasn't wrong. They took the stage to "Shining Star" and I was up on my feet dancing along immediately and within a minute I thought "Oh I am SO GLAD I got this ticket!" I was rather surprised to see the entire section to my right was seated. Sure, this wasn't a young crowd my any means, but Earth, Wind, and Fire play music you dance to! Get up and dance dammit! You can sit when Lionel Richie comes out and plays all his ballads!

I knew I probably wouldn't know all of their set going in, but I knew about half of the set. An early highlight was the bass solo by Verdine White. The stage had been set up with a catwalk out to the middle of the arena and dang if he didn't dance on down to the secondary stage to play his solo! I don't think I've ever seen a bass solo before -- it was funky!

I loved their cover of "Got to Get You Into My Life" and I was reminded of hearing it as a kid. I may have actually heard the Earth, Wind, and Fire version before I heard the Beatles original (not totally sure on that one though.)

About half way through the show I got to wondering how many members of the band were still original members as the only one I could remember and recognize was Phillip Bailey and that was in part due to the fact he was a donor when I worked at the SETI Institute. Never fear, shortly after this thought crossed my mind, Phillip introduced the band. It turns out there are only three original members left - Phillip, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson. I should have guessed they were the only three original members as they were all dressed in gold suits while the rest of the band was wearing black suits with gold embroidery. (Oh yeah, they still LOOK like Earth,Wind, and Fire with their costumes even if the platform boots have been replaced by sequined sneakers!)

Once the band got to "Boogie Wonderland" everyone was finally up on their feet and dancing through the end of the show. When "Let's Groove" followed "Boogie Wonderland" I was pleasantly surprised -- I had completely forgotten that it was an Earth, Wind, & Fire song! I appropriately danced along until the set ended a little over an hour after it had begun.

Time to sit and relax until Lionel took the stage, and I found myself really enjoying the between acts tunes playing over the PA. Lots of classic Motown and R&B. Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, and so on. It really fit the mood. (And, yes, duh, I know Lionel Richie and the Commodores were Motown acts.)

The lights went back down about 9:15 and out on the secondary stage, a trap door opened up and up came Lionel Richie on a rising platform and he immediately launched into "Hello." I laughed to myself and thought "I should have expected that to be the first song!" I also immediately noticed he was wearing a white tuxedo jacket with tails and laughed again -- someone has been taking fashion advice from Steve Perry!

Again, I was immediately delighted that I had decided to get a ticket for this show as Lionel went through hit after hit from both his solo and Commodores catalog. So many hits that I kept thinking "oh gosh, I forgot about that one!" But with the exception of a couple of Commodores songs I knew the words to every single one of the songs.

A couple of personal highlights -- "Three Times a Lady" which is probably the first Commodores song I remember hearing as a kid and being somewhat annoyed by it as a ten-year old. I forget exactly why it annoyed me then, but I laughed at the memory. "Sail On" got stuck in my head once the show was over, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Brick House" (which might be neck and neck with "Three Times a Lady" for first Commodores song.)

Lionel also performed a bit of "Endless Love" after teasing the audience into thinking Diana Ross would be joining him to sing (despite opening with "I've been asking Diana Ross to come sing this with me for 37 years and she always says no.) So the audience took on the Diana half of the duet. It was quite fun.

Towards the end of the show, a piano came up on the secondary stage (in addition to the one that had been on the main stage all night) and Lionel sat down and played "Still" which I absolutely loved. 

The main set closed out with a song I did not expect at all -- "We Are the World" -- which he introduced by reminding the audience that "those people" are human beings and we all share family, love, and loss. I got quite teary-eyed as he sang the whole song through. (I simultaneously did a mental check off of who sang which lines in the original version, which was helped by recently being sent a video of a rehearsal take.)

The last song of the night was one I had expected much earlier -- "All Night Long" -- but it was a fun way to dance away the end of the show.

I made my way out of the arena fairly quickly and almost made the first Muni train back to CalTrain, but it was too full, so I waited a few minutes for the next one being too tired to walk all the way back. Of course, CalTrain has a weird schedule and there isn't a train between 10:45 p.m. and 12:05 a.m., so with the show ending around 11:00 it was a bit of a wait for the train back home. Thank goodness it was a Friday night! I think they actually added a second train after the 12:05 because the line was REALLY long by the time I got to the station (there had been a Giants game that night also, so some lingering folks from the game were also in line) but I was able to get a seat easily. Finally got home a little after 1:00. The long day rather blew up my plans for Saturday, but it was worth it!

Always buy the tickets.

Set Lists

Earth, Wind, & Fire

Shining Star
Let Your Feelings Show
Serpentine Fire
-- Verdine White bass solo --
Sing a Song
Got to Get You Into My Life
Departure
Reasons
After the Love Has Gone
That's the Way of the World
Fantasy
Boogie Wonderland
Let's Groove
September
In the Stone

Lionel Richie

Hello
Running With the Night
Easy / My Love
Truly
Stuck on You
Sail On
You Are
Dancing on the Ceiling (Snippet of Van Halen’s “Jump”)
Three Times a Lady
Fancy Dancer
Sweet Love
Lady (You Bring Me Up)
Just to Be Close to You
Zoom
Endless Love
Brick House / Fire
Still
Say You, Say Me
We Are the World

Encore:

All Night Long (All Night)

August 20, 2023 -- Oh It's 80s Night!

Concord Pavilion
Concord, CA

A few months ago my friend Barbara sent a message to our Mercy Girls group text -- she had a Groupon for tickets to see Culture Club with Berlin and Howard Jones at the Concord Pavilion, was anyone interested in joining her? It was a pretty good deal, so I said what the heck. Our friend Lora said she'd go too so long as she didn't have to drive. I volunteered to be the chauffeur for the evening, and the three of us made plans to go to the show.

I haven't been to the Concord Pavilion (current sponsor name "Toyota Pavilion") in over fifteen years. It is a major hassle getting there from the San Francisco Peninsula as it's over an hour-long drive without traffic, and there's always traffic. The absolute worst stretch is the last 8 miles through Concord on the one road that leads to the venue, and after a nightmare experience getting there for a Stevie Wonder concert, I swore I'd never go back unless it was my ONLY option for seeing someone I really wanted to see. Other than a show I already had tickets for that same year, I haven't been back. I've flown to Los Angeles and Las Vegas rather than drive to Concord to see a performer I really wanted to see. So, knowing it was a pain in the rear to get there, my friends and I set out early and arrived shortly after the parking lots opened and managed to get an excellent parking spot in the general parking area that was just the other side of the premiere parking. Score! However, we arrived so early we had to wait about 45 minutes for the gates to open! I can't remember the last time I was that early for a show (recent Matchbox Twenty pre-show event not included.) Eventually the gates opened and we got in with plenty of time to grab something to eat before the show.

One side effect of Barbara getting our tickets via Groupon was she wound up with extra lawn seats in addition to our reserved seats. After multiple attempts to get friends or family to take them, I was able to connect with my cousin Denise and she and a few of her friends took the lawn seats. While we were waiting for our food, I happened to see Denise walking past, so a quick hello and a hug before she headed off to get her spot on the lawn. 

While waiting for the show to start, I had to laugh at the various band t-shirts I spotted on fans in the crowd -- the Go-Gos, the Cure, Duran Duran, Human League -- yep, this was a night for us 80s kids!

Going in to the show, I figured I would know about half to two-thirds of the songs by each act. I enjoyed all of them back in high school, but none were a huge favorite. I was most concerned about Berlin because I could only remember the names of two songs off the top of my head, but knew I probably knew a few more, so I did something I seldom do -- looked up the set lists from earlier in the tour to see what they were playing. I remembered a few more songs after that and was looking forward to hearing them live.

Berlin took the stage right on time at 7:00 and launched into "Masquerade" which, once I heard it again, I remembered, so OK this was going to be better than I thought! Our seats were in the 200 section of the venue, so a bit further from the stage than I would normally get for myself and it meant looking at the video screens a bit more than I normally do. Not a huge problem except that during Berlin's set it was still fairly light out so it was hard to see the screens. It appeared they were playing a lot of their 1980s videos while performing the matching songs. Early in their set, I was a bit distracted when an owl started flying around! Never seen that before! Terri Nunn sounded fantastic and it was great hearing her on "The Metro" and "No More Words." Of course the big highlight of their set was THE HIT -- "Take My Breath Away" (obviously) and everyone was singing along. Berlin played for about half an hour and the stage was quickly turned over for Howard Jones.

Going to a show with two of my high school friends was going to be a blast except there was one problem -- Mary, our resident Howard Jones fanatic, had moved to Portland and Ana Gloria, expert in all things Culture Club, is living in Denver. Well WHAT a bummer to be heading to a fun show with out our two friends who would really love it and definitely would have come if they still lived in the area. I texted them both and asked "What song do you want a for a concert call?" If they couldn't be with us in person, at least they could have a virtual participation. With Howard about to take the stage, I did a quick look up of his set list to see when I could expect Mary's request -- two of the three were the last two songs of his set. Perfect.

After seeing the multitude of '80s band t-shirts and hearing an eclectic mix of 1980s tunes being played over the PA between sets I should not have been surprised when HoJo took to the stage with a keytar! I thought they were extinct! The other notable instrument on stage was what I could only guess at the time was some kind of bass guitar which was the strangest thing I can remember seeing because it clearly had too many strings to be an actual bass guitar and looked like a long stick. (It's apparently called a Chapman Stick and puzzled me all night.)

Unusual instrumentation aside, I was really looking forward to this set as I was more familiar with the HoJo hits. This was only in part due to sharing the exact same class schedule as Mary our junior year of high school when she would supplement her "Cure Fact of the Day" with a periodic "Howard Jones Fact of the Day!" I didn't recognize the opening song "Pearl in the Shell" (despite the fact that it apparently comes from his album Human's Lib which I had on cassette and is likely stuck in a box in storage.) This was soon followed by "I'd Like to Get to Know You Well" which is an excellent song to have early in the set. A fun point about midway through the set was when he covered "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo which was written by the bass player with the weird looking Chapman Stick, and an easy sing along for the crowd at the chorus. (I am shocked it didn't get stuck in my head all night!)

"Too Shy" was followed by my personal favorite Howard Jones song -- "No One Is to Blame." I mentioned this being my favorite HoJo song to Mary a while ago and she was quite surprised I even had a favorite! It's just one of those songs that hit at the right place and time and still has a special place in my heart, so it was fantastic to hear it live.

His set wrapped up with "What Is Love?" and "Things Can Only Get Better" which he tied together nicely by referencing a line from the third verse of "What Is Love" -- "And maybe love is letting people be just what they want to be."

Another break to turn over the stage for Culture Club. Lora was a little perplexed when she didn't see things getting set up as we had between Berlin and Howard Jones. I pointed to the big black curtain hanging over part of the stage and reminded her that headline acts have their set prepared and hidden while the openers perform. (She doesn't go to concerts as much as some of my other friends.) A quick check of the phone to see when to anticipate Ana Gloria's concert call -- second song in, got it!

Boy George (or "Man George" as he later joked) and the band took the stage about 9:15 and opened with an excellent cover of "Sympathy for the Devil." They really had a good bluesy sound to them which surprised me somewhat since I generally put them in the reggae-influenced pop category. Covering the Rolling Stones was unexpected (checking out the set list not withstanding.)

Again, this was a set list I knew I would be relatively familiar with overall thanks to Ana Gloria's undying fandom back in high school. When we all turned 40, I put together some mix CDs as a gift for each of my friends. One of mixes included answers to 10 questions including "What song reminds you of [name]?" I had to laugh when I looked at the responses for Ana Gloria -- 3 responses "Karma Chameleon", 1 response "Love Is Love." So, we all associate AG with Culture Club, but none of us guessed "It's a Miracle" as her song of choice, which she got to listen to through a muddy mobile phone connection. 

Boy George sounded fantastic, though he was singing in a lower key than he was 40 years ago. And of course he looked stylish as always with a red hat jauntily atop his head and an interesting jacket. (And of course fabulous eye makeup!) Though I must say it was a bit weird seeing him with a goatee. It looked fine, just different!

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was a definite highlight of the set as it was slowed down and more acoustic than the original. I did laugh at myself while standing up and dancing along -- I found myself dancing rather like Boy George did in the video. Quite unintentional! But the biggest highlight for me was towards the end of the set when "Church of the Poison Mind" turned into Wham!'s "I'm Your Man." I'd been up and down in my seat all night, but absolutely could not stay sitting for that. Wham! was my first concert back in 1986 and "I'm Your Man" was one of two new songs they performed that night. I was already in an '80s nostalgia mood, so that was just a perfect tie in for me.

The main set closed out with "Miss Me Blind" and then we had to wait a bit for the encore. Not terribly long, but longer than I typically expect. As I has suspected, Boy George had a bit of a wardrobe change and returned to the stage now sporting a yellow hat and black and yellow jacket. The band launched into a cover of "Bang a Gong" which was excellent and towards the end of the song both Terri Nunn and Howard Jones returned to the stage to sing along which was great fun. It turned out that last night was the last night of the tour with both HoJo and Berlin. (There are a couple of shows left in LA with just Berlin opening.)

Terri and Howard stayed on stage for the finale -- "Karma Chameleon" (naturally) and it was a fun way to end a trip back in time.

The show wrapped up a bit before 11:00, but with general exiting delays and stopping for some water, it was 12:45 when I dropped Lora and Barbara back at Barbara's house and headed for home. A late night before a work day AND one where I needed to be in the office made for a bit of rough Monday, but all in all a fantastic night out with good music and good friends.

Set Lists (courtesy of setlist.fm.)

Berlin

Masquerade
No More Words
The Metro
Animal
Transcendance
Take My Breath Away
She Sells Sanctuary (The Cult cover)
Sex (I'm a...)

Howard Jones

Pearl in the Shell
Like to Get to Know You Well
Everlasting Love
New Song
Too Shy (Kajagoogoo cover)
No One Is to Blame
Celebrate It Together
What Is Love?
Things Can Only Get Better 

Culture Club

Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones cover)
It's a Miracle
I'll Tumble 4 Ya
Melodrama
Everything I Own (Bread cover)
Let It Go
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
Eyeliner Voodoo
Angel of Mercy
That's the Way (I'm Only Trying to Help You)
Church of the Poison Mind / I'm Your Man
Time (Clock of the Heart)
Miss Me Blind
 
Encore:
Get It On (T. Rex cover)
Karma Chameleon

August 2, 2023 -- Music on the Mountain

Mountain Winery
Saratoga, CA

I wasn't planning on writing up my Wednesday night trip to the Mountain Winery to see Chris Isaak. I have a really hard time judging how much interest people outside of the San Francisco Bay Area have in Chris. I suspect most people know him as the guy who sang "Wicked Game" and had a fun TV show in the early 2000s and that's about it.

Meanwhile, I remember talking about Chris Isaak with my friends when we were in high school. He was popular on the San Francisco music scene and his first album Silvertone came out when I was a junior in high school. None of us were able to actually see Chris in those early days as he was usually playing clubs we weren't old enough to get in to (and even if any of us had tried to use a fake ID we all looked younger than we were anyway and it would have never worked!) Still, we knew who he was and I have followed his career ever since, including referring to guitarist Hershel Yatovitz as the "new guy" in his band. (Hershel's been in the band since 1995, about the same time I could finally afford to go see Chris.)

It had actually been quite a while since I'd last seen Chris. The usual vagaries of conflicts with time and money had a lot to do with that, but I was quite surprised to realize it had been over 10 years since I'd seen him last! So when I saw him once again on the Mountain Winery calendar I grabbed myself a ticket.

The Mountain Winery is a gorgeous venue in the hills above the Santa Clara Valley (aka "Silicon Valley") but it is a chore getting there. Driving up the narrow winding roads is nerve wracking in the daylight and downright scary at night. Still, it's worth the trek up the mountain to a scenic venue with a great view of the South Bay. It's a bit hard to believe that we're still in the heart of the Bay Area and it feels miles away.

Located where it is, you're generally stuck either bringing a picnic dinner or grabbing something from one of the various eateries on site. You can grab a quick salad or pizza from the concession stands or get a nice sit down 3 course dinner on one of the patios, just depends on how much you're willing to spend. I went for a salad this time and sat beneath some trees while I ate and could hear a band playing off by one of the dining areas. A nice relaxing way to start the evening.

Most shows at the Mountain Winery usually include an opening act. Sometimes it's an act touring with the main performer and others they're booked separately. That seems to be the case for this show. I didn't even notice the name of the opening act before the show other than to note that I didn't recognize the name and figured it would be some forgettable act as so many similar acts I've seen over the years. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The fellow who opened the show was named David Luning (I had to text a friend to look it up for me since I couldn't connect to the internet after his set ended) and he and his band mate Ben Dubin (also had to look that up) were absolutely fantastic! The best way to describe his music is probably with the catch-all "Americana" -- a little folky, a little country, a little bluesy. He played about a half dozen songs with just him on an acoustic guitar while Ben played a stand up bass, harmonica, and tambourine -- AT THE SAME TIME! The tambourine was taped to the floor and played using drum pedals in case you were wondering. It's rare that I see an opening act I've never heard of and immediately want to find more of their music, but that was the case here. I'm definitely going to be checking out more of his stuff! (Interestingly the last time I remember seeing a new act and wanting to find their music was also at a Chris Isaak show. The Wallflowers opened for him right when their first album came out -- my friend Mary and I headed to the Virgin Megastore right after the show ended to find their album. Not sure if either of us bought it that night, but we had it soon afterwards if not!)

After being thoroughly entertained by David Luning, it was time for Chris and his band to take the stage. I had a great seat to the side of the stage and could see them entering from back stage and it was great to see his familiar band take the stage before Chris appeared in a light blue suit with paisley rhinestones down the sides of his pants and on the lapels of his jacket. No one looks like Chris Isaak on stage!

Since it had been so long since I'd last seen Chris, I'd rather forgotten just how much fun his shows are. With his quirky sense of humor and his melancholy songs it's always a fun night. The show kicked off with the song he used as the theme song for his television show "American Boy" which is a fun little romp. Then a few songs in, Chris wandered out into the audience while singing "Don't Leave Me on My Own" and I was pleasantly surprised when he started up the stairs next to my section!

"Wicked Game" came along surprisingly early in the set which I thought was great. He's got so many excellent tunes that getting the biggest hit out of the way early allowed everyone to enjoy the rest of the set. Chris was influenced quite a bit by Roy Orbison and he told a story of opening for Roy at the Mountain Winery early in his career and Roy calling him over to stand next to him while being photographed by the press. It was a great way to open his cover of "Only the Lonely." Another highlight was his cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love." If you can't have Elvis sing that song for you, Chris is a damn good replacement. Beyond that, I again have a hard time choosing my favorite moments as he played so many of my favorite songs. "Dancin'", "Blue Hotel", and "San Francisco Days" probably top the list.

A brief intermission and Chris and the band were back for their encore. Chris now in his mirrorball suit that I always wonder how he gets it cleaned! The whole encore was a highlight. From hitting and holding the high notes in "Can't Do a Thing to Stop Me" to paying tribute to Paul Rubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) with a bit of "Tequila" to having his brother Nick join him on stage to sing a song in Spanish to the soft close out of "The Way Things Really Are."

I need to make sure to not take so much time between seeing Chris again!

David Luning set list (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Bad Idea
Almost Sounds Like Laughing
Ain't Easy
Danger
I Won't Cry (Janiva Magness cover) [someone else I need to check out!]
Give Me Back My Keys
Ain't Life a Beautiful Thing 

Chris Isaak set list (courtesy of setlist.fm)

American Boy
Somebody's Crying
Waiting
Don't Leave Me On My Own
I Want Your Love
Wicked Game
Go Walking Down There
Speak of the Devil
Oh, Pretty Woman
Forever Blue
Two Hearts
Blue Spanish Sky
Only the Lonely
Dancin'
Killing the Blues (Rowland Salley vocals)
Can't Help Falling in Love
Blue Hotel
San Francisco Days
Big Wide Wonderful World
Notice the Ring
 
Encore:
In the Heat of the Jungle / Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing / James Bond Theme/ Bye Bye Baby
Can't Do a Thing (To Stop Me)
Tequila
La tumba será el final (with Nick Isaak)
The Way Things Really Are

July 30, 2023 -- Oh Thinkin' About All Our Younger Years

Chase Center
San Francisco, CA

At the beginning of the year I got a list of the promotional events for the San Francisco Giants. One of them included Sesame Street Day with an Elmo bobble head giveaway. I checked the list of games included in my 22-game Thrill Pack to see if it included that game. Yep, there it is, July 30 vs. the Boston Red Sox. So I shot a note off to Ana Marie to see if she wanted to join me and get her very own Elmo bobble head. Well, of course she wasn't going to miss out on that! (If you know, you know. If you don't, sorry, inside joke.)

A week or so later, I see an announcement for a concert at Chase Center on the same day -- Bryan Adams with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts opening. I shot a text off to Ana Marie -- wanna do a double header? She was in, so off I went to grab a couple of tickets and we planned to spend a day and night in San Francisco.

Fast forward to last week when I mentioned my weekend plans to my manager and a co-worker. My manager asked if I was going to see Taylor Swift at Levi's Stadium. When I told him no, but Bryan Adams and Joan Jett, he let out a laugh at the difference.

So, yes, the big concert in the Bay Area last weekend was Taylor Swift's two sold out shows at Levi's Stadium. I couldn't help but think that the reason Taylor Swift can sell out multiple nights at football stadiums in 2023 is because Joan Jett kicked down a bunch of doors and banged a few heads around in the 1970s and 80s to blaze the way for others who came behind her.

I remember when I fist saw and heard Joan Jett back in the early '80s. I was 12 or 13 and she absolutely fascinated me and completely scared me at the same time. She exuded a raw toughness that was just impossible to miss. To me, she was someone you did not want to cross because she'd quickly show you who was in charge. Her music had the same intensity. I was a shy awkward kid and the idea of having that much inherent power was amazing.

So heading into the show Sunday night I was really looking forward to seeing Joan Jett and the Blackhearts even though I knew I'd really only know the early '80s hits out of her set. She's such a trail blazer and that she's still at it at 64 is fantastic.

Ana Marie and I met up Sunday morning at the hotel I booked and dropped off our things in our room that was surprisingly ready for us at 11:00 am. We crossed the street to Oracle Park and got right in picking up our Elmo bobble heads before settling in for a tight game between my beloved Giants and the Boston Red Sox. We enjoyed the in-game Sesame Street promos as much as the game and the Giants emerged victorious after 11 innings.

Back across the street to our hotel to freshen up and change clothes before heading up to the roof top bar for some post-game pre-gaming. Terrific view from the top of Hotel Via, and something I definitely want to do again. We decided to head over to Chase Center about 6:15 and after a 15 minute walk we arrived just as the doors opened. 

We grabbed some swag and drinks and hung out in the lounge area behind our seats for a bit before heading down to our seats. I really like Chase and the way they have the concessions in a lounge area for the sections that run parallel to the floor in the lower bowl. Feels very comfy. Once we got to our seats, I noticed the entire upper level was empty, so I figured they didn't even try to sell those seats. That made sense to me since the last time I saw Bryan Adams was at the Shoreline Amphitheater and they didn't sell the lawn seats -- just the seated sections -- and I was mildly surprised he was playing at Chase which is our fancy new arena for the Warriors that has only been open since late 2019.

Joan Jett hit the stage about 7:40 and kicked into her set. It was as intense and ferocious as I had expected. As I had also expected, I didn't recognize the song, but appreciated the energy. The second song in was "Cherry Bomb" from her time in the Runaways. I have a passing familiarity with the Runaways catalog, but can't say I know it well so it took a minute to recognize. The first set continued with songs I was less familiar with, but I definitely enjoyed a new tune called "(Make the Music Go) Boom" which really summed up a lot of the attitude I associate with Joan Jett. Another highlight was a cover of "Everyday People" which was quite different from the Sly Stone classic.

The second half of her set was full of the big hits and I was up on my feet for "I Love Rock and Roll." That was followed by "Crimson and Clover" which I had totally forgotten about and sounded terrific. Throughout her set I just kept thinking "Yeah, she's a bad ass!" and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I really enjoyed the last song of her set too which was a more country tinged song called "Whiskey Goes Good" which is another new song and had a nice melancholy feel to it.

Joan wrapped up about 8:45 and the road crew came out to get the stage ready for Bryan Adams. While we waited for the show to start, a drone controlled inflatable car came drifting out and around the arena promoting Bryan Adams' new album. It was an amusing distraction.

Bryan and his band hit the stage about 9:15 and I was almost immediately thrown back to my teens and early twenties. So many of his songs were part of the soundtrack of my life at that time. Not the main themes, but part of the constant background music to life as those years went by. With the exception of a couple of new songs and one album cut I'd quite forgotten about it was a blast to the past.

With so many hits and so many memories flashing through my brain, it's hard to pick the highlights. When he introduced "It's Only Love" he talked about collaborating with Tina Turner and what it was like as a young musician getting to play with someone of her stature. He naturally dedicated the song to her and I could hear her vocals singing along in my head. 

Another highlight was when he went into "Heaven" and the audience took the entire first verse which reminded me so much of the audience participation when Bruce Springsteen performs "Thunder Road." Like the the loud audience singing "Maybe we ain't all that young anymore", the opening line "Oh thinkin' about all our younger years" really rang true and hit just right as so many memories were flying through my brain. What was really impressive was that with half as many people as would be at a Springsteen show in the same arena it was equally as loud. In fact, throughout the show the audience singing along was loud and clear. I haven't heard that in a long time other than at Springsteen shows. It was great!

"(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" reminded me of my cousin Eileen's wedding. "18 Til I Die" put a smile on my face and added a laugh when the video screen flashed "18 goin' on 64" instead of "65" as he'd been singing (and "55" from the original lyric!) Towards the end of the main set, he opened up the set list for an audience request, which got us "Do I Have to Say the Words" and the comment "oh you're a romantic then."

He closed off the main set with a cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" which again had a loud audience participation. (And promptly got stuck in my head for the rest of the night! Ninety minutes of Bryan Adams, and I go home with Frankie Valli singing in my head!)

Back out for the encore and it was a solo acoustic rendition of both "Straight from the Heart" and "All For Love" (with my brain inserting Sting and Rod Stewart as needed.)

All in all an enjoyable day doing two things I love most -- watching baseball and going to a concert.

Joan Jett set list (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Shooting Into Space  
Cherry Bomb  
Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)
You Drive Me Wild
(Make the Music Go) Boom
Fake Friends
Everyday People
If You're Blue
Fresh Start
I Love Rock 'n' Roll
Crimson & Clover
I Hate Myself for Loving You
Bad Reputation
Whiskey Goes Good

Bryan Adams set list (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Kick Ass  
Can't Stop This Thing We Started  
Somebody  
Take Me Back  
Please Forgive Me  
One Night Love Affair  
Shine a Light
Heaven
It's Only Love
This Time  
You Belong to Me  
I've Been Looking for You  
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You  
Here I Am  
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
Back to You
18 til I Die
Summer of '69
Do I Have to Say the Words?
Cuts Like a Knife
So Happy It Hurts
Run to You
Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Encore:
Straight From the Heart
All for Love

May 24, 2023 -- I'm Finally 52 and Ridiculously Excited to go to Fresno!

Save Mart Center
Fresno, CA

 

It's January 2020 and Matchbox Twenty announces their summer tour. I take a look at the schedule and they're playing in Las Vegas on September 27 -- just a couple of days before Ana Marie's birthday and a week before mine. Show is on a Sunday -- let's do a birthday trip to Vegas! I grab a pair of VIP tickets for us and we plan to have a fun girls trip for our 52nd birthdays.

It's March 2020 and COVID has taken over the world. Stay at home orders and restrictions on large gatherings are rolling out. The SF Bay Area starts with a six-week shelter in place order, and I start working from home. Events I have tickets for in May and June are canceled. Still, September is six months away. Sure, I don't expect the shelter in place to actually lift in six weeks, but surely it won't last six months.

It's May 2020 and things seem to be getting worse instead of better. Matchbox Twenty announces that their tour will be postponed. Stay tuned for the rescheduled dates.

It's June 2020 and Matchbox Twenty announces the rescheduled tour dates and tour is pushed to the second half of 2021, but there is no Las Vegas date on the new schedule, so our tickets are refunded. Sigh, OK what are the NorCal dates? They're playing at Shoreline in Mountain View and there are three VIP seats available, but stupid Ticketmaster won't allow a purchase of 2 tickets. OK, we're still a year away let's wait and try again closer to tour time.

It's March 2021 and Ana Marie and I look for tickets again. We still can't get two decent seats for a Saturday night show at Shoreline, so all right, let's do Fresno. It'll be a three and a half hour drive for each of us from different directions, but we are able to snag second row VIP tickets. Bonus the show is once again on a Sunday before our birthdays.

It's April 2021 and Matchbox Twenty announces that the tour will be postponed to 2022. The show at Shoreline is dropped from the schedule, so we're pleased we decided to opt for Fresno. Of course now the show is on a Tuesday in May rather than a Sunday in September. 

It's February 2022 and things have finally started trending towards "normal." I have tickets to see an almost 80-year old Paul McCartney in Oakland in May, and I'm looking forward to baseball season. Finally, I'm getting to do things I love and haven't been able to do for nearly two years. Alas, the 50-something year old members of Matchbox Twenty again decide to postpone their tour and now my random Tuesday in May becomes a random Wednesday in May -- a full year later. Sigh.

It's December 2022 and I see a tweet from Matchbox Twenty -- Rob Thomas is on a talk show for Christmas and announces that Matchbox Twenty has finished recording a new album. Well hot damn, maybe that means the tour really will actually happen this time! It's been three years, I don't think I could take another postponement.

It's March 2023 and Matchbox Twenty releases the first single from their new album. Wow. This might really be happening! And they've added a couple of shows -- Concord on the Sunday before our scheduled Fresno show, Vegas on the Saturday after. Alas, I can't do the Concord show due to work obligations the following day and Ana can't go to Vegas. OK, we'll have our mid-week Fresno show. 

So you can see why when Wednesday finally rolled around Ana and I were excited to go to Fresno! No one is ever excited to go to Fresno! But three loooooooooong years of waiting does create a build up of anticipation. Still, in the back of my head I remembered the previous time Ana Marie and I had seen Matchbox Twenty -- our Friday night show got pushed to a Tuesday due to a sinkhole at Shoreline that prevented them from unloading their equipment. Please don't let us get this close and have another sinkhole-like issue! (Later that tour another show had the start delayed due to bees! No bees either please!)

I hit the road for the nearly 200 mile drive about 8:30. That should put me in Fresno around noon where I'd meet Ana at the hotel. I set up Apple Car Play in my new car -- Google Maps for directions, Apple Music to play my MB20/Rob Thomas playlist. Everything is going well until I hit Pacheco Pass and Car Play crashes. Great. I knew how to get to Pacheco Pass... it's from there on I needed help! I pulled over at one of the many fruit stands to get everything reset and grab a snack. Back on the road with only one more pit stop and I arrive at the hotel about 12:30, just a few minutes after Ana. We get checked in and fortunately our room is ready, so we can drop off our stuff and get changed before going to grab some lunch and pick up our tickets at will call. Yep -- real actual paper tickets! I can't remember the last time I had a real ticket to a show.

We killed some time before heading back to the Save Mart Center at 4 for our soundcheck/Q&A/photo opportunity. When we got to the arena, the crowd outside was pretty small -- maybe 60 or so people. Well this is going to be a treat. We checked in and got our VIP badges and mingled for a bit until our host Maggie called everyone together to go over the protocols. While explaining that the photo would be socially distanced (not surprising at all) she made the comment that "the guys are a bit older" which got a good laugh from the similarly aged crowd. We headed in and settled into seats in the second row -- just about where we'd be sitting for the show.

photo courtesy
Ana Marie Sotuela

Almost as soon everyone was sitting down, out comes Rob Thomas, Kyle Cook, and Paul Doucette. I've been to soundchecks before, so I'm immediately surprised when Rob starts talking to the collected crowd and let's us know that bassist Brian Yale is sick and won't be performing (oh no! Sinkhole! Bees!) but they were able to call up a replacement from LA (whew!) and the show will go on. He then let's us know they won't be doing a usual soundcheck, but hey we'll play a few songs. Paul disappeared back stage, but Kyle grabbed an acoustic guitar and he and Rob play two songs for us -- "Unwell" and "If You're Gone." Well AWESOME!

Paul returned to the stage and there was a brief Q&A and there are clearly some die hard fans in the group as Rob knew a couple of the people asking questions. It reminded both Ana and me of so many different Journey moments. Next up was the photo op. The guys sat down at the edge of the stage and small groups of fans would get their opportunity to go up to the stage, while remaining behind the barricade, for a brief chat and a photo. Ana and I chatted with fellow fans in line and it was fun as always. It's amazing how sharing a common love for music leads to these encounters.

Soon enough it was our turn, and we let the guys know that we are now officially 52 and Rob joked about being in a time machine. Ana and Kyle had a quick chat about his fedora. We could see Maggie creeping up on our side, so it was time to turn towards the photographer and get our picture taken. (Still waiting for it to be posted at the time of this writing.)

Our pre-show experience was over quickly, but a great treat. We still had a while to wait until show time, but we didn't have to leave the arena, so we hung around until the swag booth opened and waited to purchase some souvenirs for ourselves. We'd both already pre-ordered the show recording, so it was a couple of new t-shirts. While in line, the woman in front of us turned around to Ana and made a face thinking it was her friend behind her. This resulted in great laughs and chatting again with our fellow fans. We ran into them again a short time later after we grabbed some food and drinks and shared a table while we noshed.

We headed inside and grabbed our second row seats. I haven't had seats that good for a big show in a very long time. We chatted some more with people we'd met earlier while we waited for the opener, Matt Nathanson, to come out and perform. I knew of him and liked the couple of songs I'd heard so I was looking forward to what his set would be like. 

Matt came out and put on a hugely entertaining set. Between the catchy tunes of his own, he was extremely gregarious and amusing. It was a really fun set. One highlight came when he picked up a 12-string guitar and made a comment along the lines of "it's hard to hold a 12-string guitar and not think of Poison" which got a laugh and he strummed the opening of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Suddenly it turns into a sing along of the first verse. Yeah, this was a crowd of 80s kids! He also threw in bits of Tina Turner songs ("What's Love Got to Do With It" and "Private Dancer") in the middle of his songs as a tribute to the legend who'd passed away earlier in the day. 

After a brief intermission to change over sets, it was time for Matchbox Twenty to hit the stage. Lights down and the stage backdrop lights up. The band takes the stage and open with a new track "Friends" which while not totally surprising meant it took me a moment to process and I couldn't form much of an opinion as I listened. (The new album was released today and I'm listening to it as I write this, and the more I hear "Friends" the more I like it.) That was quickly followed by "How Far We've Come" and got the crowd really going.

Rob welcomed the crowd to the show and let everyone know (again for those of us in the VIP group) that Brian Yale was sick and that they called up a session player from LA -- Joe Ayoub -- who had learned their set list with about 4-hours notice. This led to a spontaneous chant of "Joe! Joe! Joe!" in the crowd which amused the band and became a recurring bit during the show.

My first highlight in the set was "If You're Gone" -- again a bit stripped down with just Rob and Kyle, though this time with an electric guitar. It's one of my favorites and it was great to hear it live twice in one day! The next highlight was "These Hard Times." It's a song that's taken on a new meaning over the past three years and I got a bit teary eyed.

We got a nice treat towards the end of the set when Kyle took over on lead for "The Way" which is one of my favorite tunes from their album North. I think it's the first time I've seen Kyle sing lead in a Matchbox set, so the fact our seats were right in front of his microphone made this an extra special treat.

In addition to opening with a new tune, there were three other new songs in the set: "Wild Dogs (Running in a Slow Dream)" which has been out for a bit as their first single and is quite catchy; "Don't Get Me Wrong" (no, not a cover of the Pretenders tune); and "Rebels" which was the last song of the main set and I liked immediately. It may be my favorite from the new album so far.

The band headed off stage after "Rebels" and I turned to Ana and we ran down the list of songs they'd yet to play. Pretty much the biggest hits. And soon enough they were back on stage for the encore of "3 A.M.", "Unwell", "Push", and "Bright Lights." I will never ever tire of hearing "Bright Lights" and they nailed it again.

Leading up to this week, I'd been listening to my Matchbox Twenty/Rob Thomas playlist which includes several live shows from over the years and what amazed me as I listened was how consistent Rob's voice has been. It was the same on Wednesday night and as good as it ever was.

After a three year plus wait for this show, it's hard to believe it's done, but boy was this show worth the wait!

Set List (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Friends*
How Far We've Come
Real World
Disease
Wild Dogs (Running in a Slow Dream)*
She's So Mean
All I Need
If You're Gone
Mad Season
Don’t Get Me Wrong*
These Hard Times
The Way (Kyle Cook lead vocal)
Parade
Bent
Back 2 Good
Long Day
Rebels*

Encore:

3 A.M.
Unwell
Push
Bright Lights

*new song from Where the Light Goes

March 10, 2023 -- Legends in LA La Land

Inglewood, CA
SoFi Stadium

 

not the greatest shot, but it will have to do

Early in November, my cousin Denise sent me a text -- Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks were playing a co-headlining show in Dallas. Wow, cool, but damn, Dallas. That's just a bit too far to go. The next day she texted again -- two new shows, including one in LA. Now that's much more doable! I texted our cousin Eileen -- the show was in her backyard -- wanna go? She said she did and so did her husband. Denise was iffy pending kid obligations.

Tickets went on sale about a week later and since I've never been to SoFi stadium before, I logged into Ticketmaster late the night before to check out the seating chart and see if I could figure out where the best seats might be. In doing so, I somehow managed to stumble into some kind of pre-sale. Denise hadn't decided yet on getting a ticket, but I couldn't let a great opportunity like that pass, so I jumped on the pre-sale and got three tickets. The next morning, about half an hour before the general on-sale, Denise texted me -- how much were tickets and what are your plans? I told her what had happened the night before and how much I'd paid for the tickets, and she decided she was in. The only problem was, she was in the car on the way to Fresno, so I logged in to Ticketmaster again and in a texting relay was able to grab her a seat next to the ones I'd already purchased and billed her credit card directly instead of mine. Yay modern technology and voice command texting!

Ticketing settled, we waited until after the holidays to sort out travel planning. That was complicated a bit by my plans to see Bruce Springsteen in Portland two weeks before. It got further complicated when I came back from Portland with COVID. Three years in, I finally got hit with it. To be honest, I'm surprised I hadn't contracted it earlier -- between concerts, baseball games, two trips to Las Vegas, and a couple of known exposures it was only a matter of time before I came down with it despite being fully vaccinated and boosted. Fortunately all my symptoms were fairly mild and by last Sunday all I was dealing with was lingering congestion. I checked the CDC to see what the current restrictions/recommendations are for a post-positive COVID test, and so long as I wore a mask in crowds, I was good to go. Even if I tested negative by Friday (I didn't), I was planning to wear a mask -- I didn't want to get a rebound case!

Denise and I flew down to LA from separate airports, but arrived at LAX a few minutes apart. Since LAX is huge and we were on different airlines, when we landed I texted Denise to meet me at the car rental. I got there first, which was good since the car was in my name. It was a bit confusing figuring out where to go to pick up the car, but I eventually made my way to the right counter and got in line. Denise arrived just as I was talking with the agent, so I told her to stay where she was and I'd come find her once I was done. A few minutes later I had the key to a Polestar 2 -- an electric car from Volvo. I met Denise and went off to find the car. Naturally our car wasn't under the covered shelter, which meant getting in the car in a pretty good rain. It's been a wet winter in California, but it was just grey and cloudy when we left the Bay Area and I expected the weather to be similar in LA. Nope. That made getting in the car more complicated, and I finally had to find someone to help me figure out where the trunk release was and how to turn on the defogger. Eventually we made our way out of the car rental and got checked in to our hotel. 

Eileen and Doug were going to pick us up about 5:30 for the 7:00 show, so we freshened up and then hung out in the hotel lobby chatting until they arrived. I hadn't seen Denise in person since last summer, so it was nice to catch up face to face rather than via text. Eileen and Doug arrived more or less on time and we were off to the show.

SoFi Stadium is the new football stadium in Inglewood where the Rams and Chargers play. It's only been open a couple of years, and I was curious what it would be like. Wow! The place is huge. Luckily, Eileen had purchased a parking pass, so we were able to park relatively close to the stadium and it was a short walk in the now drizzle to find the right entry gate. We had to ask staff, check the stadium map, and get a little bit lost before we found our seats which were about the 50-yard line and 9 rows up from the field. Pretty decent for a stadium (and pretty pricey!) We hadn't had time to grab something to eat before leaving for the stadium, but luckily we could access the field club concession area so we were able to get some decent snacks before showtime without having to wait in line too long.

I'd gotten several emails saying the show would "start promptly at 7:00", but I've been to enough shows to know that was unlikely. Still, it wasn't much of a wait until Stevie Nicks came out about 7:15 and kicked into her set. I wasn't familiar with the opening song ("Outside the Rain") but the set quickly became familiar with "Dreams." Just a few songs in, Billy Joel came out to join her for "Stop Dragging My Heart Around." I thought this would be likely since the last time I'd seen Stevie, she was touring with the Pretenders and Chrissie Hynde joined her on the Tom Petty part. Billy did a pretty good job and it was an enjoyable duet.

Stevie went back and forth through her set performing solo songs along with songs from her Fleetwood Mac catalog, and all sounded warm and familiar. The crowd would cheer whenever she would embark on her trademark twirl -- a bit slower than it once was, but she is in her mid-70s now! A personal highlight from the main set was her tribute to Tom Petty when she sang "Free Falling" with lots of images of Tom on the video screen -- including many of them performing "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" over the years.

The set was pretty brisk and she wrapped up the main set by about 8:30, but of course there would be an encore. Denise and I briefly guessed what she might play, then Stevie reappeared launched into "Rhiannon" which made me think "oh, duh!" But the highlight of the night was the finale. Stevie closed out the set with "Landslide" while pictures of Christine McVie scrolled through the video screens showing the decades long friendship the two shared. Tears came to my eyes immediately and remained throughout the performance. The audience did a great job singing along, and hearing all those voices join in was amazing. Just as the song was ending, Stevie put her head down -- she was too emotional to get to the final note. It was a heartbreaking moment. She kept her head down for a bit, and when she raised it again it was with tears on her face and a comment along the lines of "damn, I didn't want to screw that up." She didn't. It was a real emotion and everyone felt her grief.

Stevie took her final bow and it was time for a brief intermission while the set was changed over for Billy. We chatted a bit about the set and speculated on whether or not Stevie would come out and join on one of Billy's songs, and if so, which one.

We didn't have to wait too long -- Billy took the stage about 9:20, so about 30 minutes after the end of Stevie's set. He kicked off his set with Beethoven's Ode to Joy before launching into "My Life" -- woo hoo! the song that introduced me to Billy Joel at age 10! (I'm fairly sure I heard/knew some of his earlier songs, but "My Life" is the one that hooked me.) Up on my feet singing along under my mask!

Like Stevie's set, Billy played hits along with some deeper album tracks. I'm a bigger fan of Billy's than Stevie's, so have all his albums and thus really enjoyed the album tracks like "Vienna" and "Zanzibar." (Not that I didn't enjoy Stevie's, I just didn't know them all that well.) About half-way through the set, Stevie did indeed come out to join Billy on "And So It Goes." It's one of my favorite ballads of Billy's and unfortunately probably not the right song for Stevie to sing as a duet. Her trademark warble was a little rough on such a delicate melody. I think something a little more mid-tempo like "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" might have worked a bit better. Still, it got an enthusiastic response from the crowd.

A few personal highlights of Billy's set were "An Innocent Man" and "Only the Good Die Young." For the former, Billy joked how when he recorded it back in the early 1980s he recognized he was hitting some high notes that weren't coming as easily as they once were, so beware 40 years later! Billy managed to pull off the high notes, in part by starting the song in a lower key than the original. When "Only the Good Die Young" hit, I grabbed my cousins on either side and made them stand up -- can't have the Catholic school girls sitting for that one! (The crowd was a bit up and down all night, so were we.)

Throughout Billy's set he featured various members of his band in extended solos from his trumpet player on "Zanzibar" to multi-instrumentalist Crystal Taliefero singing "River Deep, Mountain High" in the middle of "The River of Dreams" (she's awesome!) Probably the most amazing part was when one of his guitarists came out and sang "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's Turandot (and yes, I had to look that up.) Absolutely incredible - what a voice! My mother's been trying to get me to go to the opera (or more accurately watch in-theater live streams of the Metropolitan Opera) for a few years now, maybe I'll finally take her up on it! This brief operatic interlude was followed by "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and worked wonderfully.

Billy's set closed out of course with "Piano Man" and having 60,000 people singing along for the chorus felt epic. He did change up the second to last verse singing "It's a pretty good crowd for a Friday" and the crowd roared in response.

It was close to 11:00 by the time the main set ended, so I expected that we'd only get one or two more songs for the encore, but he managed to play five more! He kicked off the encore on guitar for "We Didn't Start the Fire" while the video screens behind him scrolled through photos of all the people/places/things he mentions in the lyrics. It was pretty clever and made it look like scrolling through photos on your phone. 

The show wrapped up about 11:20 and we made our way through the crowd to the parking lot. It took a while to wind our way out and back to the hotel. Denise had an earlier flight home than I did, so we met for breakfast the next morning then I dropped her at the airport and went off to meet Eileen for lunch before I too needed to get on a plane home. A quick fun trip to a wet and cloudy SoCal with my cousins! (And COVID negative as of Sunday.)

{You can check out cousin Denise's take here.}

Set lists courtesy of setlist.fm

Stevie Nicks:

Outside the Rain
Dreams
If Anyone Falls
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (w/ Billy Joel)
Fall From Grace
For What It's Worth
Gypsy
Wild Heart
Bella Donna
Stand Back
Free Fallin'
Gold Dust Woman
Sara
Edge of Seventeen

Encore:
Rhiannon
Landslide

Billy Joel:

My Life (w/ 'Ode to Joy' intro)
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Vienna
Zanzibar (Carl Fischer on trumpet)
An Innocent Man
Don't Ask Me Why
Just the Way You Are
Allentown
And So It Goes (w/ Stevie Nicks)
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
Sometimes a Fantasy
Only the Good Die Young
The River of Dreams (w/ 'River Deep, Mountain High' interlude sung by Crystal Taliefero)
Nessun dorma (Giacomo Puccini cover) (sung by Mike DelGuidice)
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Piano Man

Encore:
We Didn't Start the Fire
Uptown Girl
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Big Shot
You May Be Right (w/ 'Rock and Roll' by Led Zeppelin interlude sung by Mike DelGuidice)

February 25, 2023 -- Concerts Are REALLY Back!

Portland, OR
Moda Center

In 2020, when all my concerts were canceled and ultimately led to a two-year-long gap in seeing live music, I longed for a show full of life and energy. With all that was going on -- staying home, isolation, fear of the unknown -- the top thought in mind was "God, I need a Springsteen show." I had to get out of the house and feel alive, and that was the fastest, surest way I knew. In October, 2020, Bruce released a new album with the E Street Band, Letter to You. The first song I heard from that album was "Ghosts" and my immediate first reaction to hearing it was "oh man, this will sound so good live!" I hoped I wouldn't have to wait too long.

I only saw one concert in 2021, towards the end of the year as things became less restrictive and vaccinations more available, and it felt so good to feel like life was getting closer to "normal." I saw more shows in 2022, and even traveled to Las Vegas for a couple. Still, the one show I was really waiting for wasn't on the agenda. Yet.

Finally, in July 2022 Bruce Springsteen announced tour dates. First were shows in Europe, then shows in North America. But wait... there isn't a single show in California?! Oh hell no, I'm not waiting any longer than I have to for this. What's the closest show? Portland? Cool I have friends and cousins in Portland so at least a place to stay if no one wants to go with me. Sure, I figured there would be more North American dates scheduled later in the tour, but it's been too long to wait already. I texted my cousin Laura and friend Mary to see if either were interested in joining me, and Mary took me up on it. Ok off to register for tickets.

I won't go into the whole mess of getting tickets and I get why Springsteen fans are upset about the ticket prices for this tour, but after decades of being under market rate for an act of his stature I'm not going to begrudge him this time. (How Ticketmaster handles tickets and marked up prices on their internal resale market is a WHOLE different scenario.) Tickets were definitely more expensive than I expected, but I was able to get two behind the stage for only slightly more than I'd planned for.

Mary and I have been friends since high school and have always shared a love of music, just not always the same music. Her tastes run more towards power pop/Americana while mine more mainstream rock. There is definitely some overlap and we mostly enjoy at least some of each others preferred genres, and that rigid "I'll only listen to what I like" mindset of high school is long long gone. This is my long-winded way of saying Bruce Springsteen isn't someone Mary usually listens too and had never seen perform, so I gave her some "homework" leading up to the show. Listen to Letter to You and Bruce's latest release Only the Strong Survive since he will surely do a bunch of new songs. Learn the first verses to "Thunder Road" and "Hungry Heart." She did that along with listening to a bunch of E Street Radio on Sirius, so she had a baseline for the concert (while driving her husband slightly nuts with the deluge.)

Finally, it was time to fly to Portland for the show. Just a few complications. Portland had gotten a record amount of snow on Wednesday. Roads were still closed and icy when I flew up on Friday. I assured Mary I could get myself from the airport to her house either using a ride share service or public transit, no need to pick me up. I got to the airport only to have my flight delayed 30 minutes as there was a substitute pilot coming in from Sacramento and he'd gotten stuck in traffic. Ok, that's not too bad. Board the plane, pull out of the gate, and.... sit on the tarmac. There was a problem with one of the navigation computers. Back to the gate to wait on a fix. I figured absolute worst case scenario, so long as I was in Portland by noon on Saturday, I'd be OK. Fortunately we were eventually able to take off, but about 2.5 hours later than planned. I got to Mary's by 7:30 Friday night and had a yummy dinner while we caught up. (Thanks Kai!)

Saturday we just hung out around the house as it was still cold with melting snow on the ground. Not a bad way to spend the day, though I know Mary wished we could have gone out and done stuff before the show. I didn't mind. Resting up before Springsteen is always a good idea. We grabbed an Uber about 5 and headed off to the show. It took us forever to get some dinner as the nearest place to eat by the arena was absolutely packed. I think everyone had the same idea as we did -- don't want to drive/walk around too much in the snow and ice, so just grab something at the arena.

The nice thing about standing around with a bunch of people waiting on a show is a chance to chat with them. I was rather surprised at the number of people who told me they were seeing Springsteen for the first time. Not young kids either, but people at least in their 50s if not older. Including Springsteen on Broadway, this was going to be my thirteenth show. A few weeks ago, my cousin Denise sent me a question from a Twitter account she follows -- "Which band or artist do you think you've spent the most money on?" Well, that one is kind of a "duh" question (and if you're reading this and don't know the answer take a look at the menu to the right) but I wondered who ranked number two, so did some counting of concerts and after eliminating performers whose count is inflated by having toured with Journey, Bruce Springsteen came out on top. Rather as I had expected. He's just someone I refuse to miss if he's in town and I can get tickets, which I have mostly been able to since the first time I got tickets in 1992.

We made our way into the show and found our seats relatively easily. Mary had never been to the Moda Center before, so it was a new experience for both of us. Our seats were behind stage left, which gave us a pretty good view. I've done behind the stage seats before and other than the chance of getting a bunch of cables blocking your view, they're usually pretty good. Sure, the performer isn't usually looking in your direction, but it's a close seat and really a cool perspective looking out at what the performer sees. 

Leading up to the show, I'd been checking out the various set lists of earlier shows. Normally, I wouldn't do this as I like to be surprised, but I was curious what new songs would be included. I really enjoy Letter to You, and even though the broad theme of the album is one of loss, it's also a celebration of life and friendship, and resonates so much. Most of the set lists had at least four songs from Letter to You and one or two from Only the Strong Survive, including my favorite from that album, "Nightshift."

Still, even knowing what to expect, I was thrilled when the band took the stage and kicked into "No Surrender," which is probably my favorite track from the Born in the U.S.A. album. I actually prefer the version from Live 1975-1985 and it's slower pace, but the original version has the high energy needed for an opening track. Thematically, it also works really well with the newer songs, so when the next song was "Ghosts" it was a great transition. As I mentioned above, this was the song I absolutely had to hear live once I'd first heard it. It's a song made to be played live and hearing "Count the band in, then kick into overdrive/By the end of the set we leave no one alive" live and loud was exactly what I was hoping it would feel like.

Contrary to their contemporaries in the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on a high energy non-stop performance. One song segued into another with very little down time in between, and absolutely no intermission! The core of the E Street Band are all in their early 70s, but clearly the energy they get by performing gets fed back out and keeps them young. There were a number of times when I would glance up at the screen and noticed just how much joy Bruce was getting from performing live with his long time friends and bandmates. You could just see how much he loves what he does.

We got a tour debut with "I'm on Fire" about half-way through the main set, which was a pleasant surprise. Alas, it took the slot of "Nightshift" which I had been really looking forward to. I love the original version by the Commodores and Bruce does an excellent job covering it. It's also a song that fit in thematically with the broader set. Between the new songs from Letter to You and the older selections from the catalog, many of the songs were about friendship, age, and loss. The deepest of those being friendship and the importance of those close life long relationships we form.

That theme carried on when Bruce got to "Last Man Standing" and he told the story of forming his first band the Castiles (which requires a hand gesture best described as "voila!") when he was in high school with his friend George Theiss. George's death a few years ago was the inspiration for Letter to You and left Bruce as the last living member of the Castiles -- the "Last Man Standing." This was followed by "Backstreets" and in combination they were powerful.

A few other highlights of the set included "Kitty's Back" which is one of his earliest songs. It's one I'm not actually that familiar with as it appears on his second album which I didn't own until a couple of years ago when I decided I needed to complete my catalog. It's mostly an instrumental tune and showcases the talent of the band fantastically. Everyone in the E Street Band, whether a long-time member or a more recent addition/hired for touring only are top notch. I was especially impressed with Jake Clemons over the course of the show. He's grown so much into his role in the band. While no one will ever replace Clarence, his nephew is doing an excellent job. He was really letting his personality show and that he feels like he's really a part of the band.

The encore came upon us quickly (without the band even leaving the stage, just a bow and back to work) and covered all the key points -- audience singing along to "Thunder Road," house lights up for "Born to Run," tribute to Clarence and Danny Federici with "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out." For the latter, Bruce went out into the audience to a secondary stage behind the general admission section to start it off. 

Finally, the band left the stage and it was just Bruce left for one last song. I knew what it would be since I had been reviewing the set lists. My favorite track from Letter to You -- "I'll See You in My Dreams." The song made me cry the very first time I heard it and has continued to do so nearly every time since. Bruce singing this one solo with just an acoustic guitar -- absolutely hammered me. Normally I would not be sitting down for the last song of the show, even a slow acoustic number, but I needed to for this one while I sobbed and smiled and sang along. It was excellent and so powerful.

Once the show was over, Mary and I headed out to catch our Uber home. While waiting in the cold Portland night, I asked her what she thought, and her first comment was "I've never seen so many people on stage at one time!" I got a big laugh out of that. Most of the bands she sees are four or five people and in smaller venues, so it's not surprising that there isn't a plethora of other musicians on stage. The horn section, percussionist, and backup singers alone were more than she usually sees at once. She definitely enjoyed them and can now add another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee to her list (which is one of our on-going conversations about music, I'm leading in that category.)

My 2020 concert longing is finally sated, and even better, I've got tickets to both of his San Francisco shows in December which went on sale last Thursday. They're the last two shows of the tour, so I'm really excited for what they might hold.

 

Set list:

No Surrender
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Letter to You
The Promised Land
Out in the Street
Candy's Room
Kitty's Back
I'm on Fire
Burnin' Train
Johnny 99
The E Street Shuffle
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because the Night
She's the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands

Encore:
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
I'll See You in My Dreams