March 13, 2016: I Went Down to the River....

Oakland, CA
Oracle Arena

It's taken a full day to recover from another epic, loud, rocking, raucous, high energy, three and a half hour marathon of a show. If you've never seen Springsteen live and you are a fan of rock and roll, you are seriously missing out on one of the best experiences in live music ever. This is not hyperbole -- there is no one else who puts on shows like this every single time out.

Sunday was a pretty rainy lazy day until it was time to head out the door to meet Cheryl who'd flown up to join me for the show. After grabbing a light early dinner and catching up on things, we hopped on BART and headed over to the Oakland Coliseum Arena (yeah, yeah, it's called Oracle Arena now, but it's always the Coliseum Arena to me.) The lines to get in were ridiculous and, naturally, it started raining while we were waiting. We kept looking at our watches as it was getting closer and closer to 8:00 and showtime. I thought that perhaps because it was a Sunday night the show would actually start on time. There was no way it would with the crowds of people still trying to get in at 7:45.

We got in and got to our seats behind the stage a little before 8:00 (even managing to grab a couple of bottles of water from a near empty concession stand!) and settled in for the show. I've had seats behind the stage for Springsteen several times and they're usually pretty good, but this time we were at the wrong angle and there were cables obscuring center stage most of the night. What that meant was I could see most of the E Street Band through the heads of the people in front of me, but Bruce was a bit hard to see. Ah well!

For those of you unaware of this tour, Bruce is out performing the entirety of his 1980 release The River -- a 20 song double album. That makes for a very strict set list, even for someone who routinely does three hour plus long shows! It also meant I needed to do some homework before the concert. When The River was released in 1980, I was twelve years old and just discovering different kinds of music than the things my parents listened to and simple pop music. "Hungry Heart" was the huge hit single from the album and probably the first Bruce Springsteen song I ever heard. Fast forward in time and Born in the USA comes out while I'm in high school and I really start listening to Springsteen, but it wasn't until I got a copy of Live 1975-1985 that I actually heard some of the other tunes from The River and fell in love with them. Still, when this tour was announced, I knew I had to go back and listen to it in full to remember all of the songs.

The band took the stage about 8:30 with the houselights still up and kicked off with "Meet Me in the City," an outtake from The River recordings. It's a great rocking song and feels a little like something The Ramones might have done. It's a high energy song and a great opener. Bruce then welcomed everyone to the show and explained what he was thinking about when he wrote and recorded The River. Then off we went, back in time 36 years to listen to that album in full. As a whole, it's interesting to listen to a whole double album performed live, but I do have to say that the sequencing of the songs makes more sense for an album than for a live show -- especially a live Springsteen show. Most of the uptempo, rocking songs were in the first part of the set and then things slowed down to a bit of a mellower pace.

Still, there were lots of great moments during the performing of The River. Two of my favorite songs from this album came early in the set -- "Two Hearts" and "Independence Day." Then came THE HIT -- "Hungry Heart." I don't know when it started, but somewhere along the way Bruce started letting the crowd sing the whole first verse and chorus before starting over himself with the band, and this show was no different with a loud singing crowd. During this point, Bruce walked out into the general admission floor and out to a small stage in the middle of the arena. After hugging and high-fiving fans along the way, he fell backwards and crowd surfed his way back to the stage.

My next personal high point was the title track, which is a song I absolutely love and is way up on the top of the list of favorite Springsteen songs. The line "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true/Or is it something worse" is one that grabbed me the very first time I heard it and is something that has always made me think.

The River wrapped up after two hours with "Wreck on the Highway" and then it was time for some more! After the briefest of pauses to let The River fade away, it was off to the rocking "Badlands" and from this point forward, there were several times where the crowd was singing along so loudly that Bruce and the band were drowned out -- truly impressive! Since there was only about another 90 minutes left for the show (!!) it was mostly the songs you would expect to hear, but all performed with the same amazing high energy. And all of it was performed in rapid succession. There were a couple of times when the video screens would show shots of drummer Max Weinberg and I'd swear he looked like he was about to have a heart attack with all the energy he was expending! I think that's probably one of the most impressive things about a Springsteen show -- he and the band performing 30+ songs with only the briefest of breaks between them.

The main set closed out with "Thunder Road" (more audience participation and drowning out the band) before what would probably be called the encore if the band had actually left the stage (there was just a longer than usual pause.) Using a request from the audience Bruce and the boys kicked into "Growin' Up" before heading into "Born to Run." He pulled a young man out of the audience to sing along with him for "Growin' Up" as "it's a young man's song" and the kid had a blast. For "Dancing in the Dark," Bruce pulled up a girl about 12-14 years old who proceeded to whip, dab, and nae nae on stage, much to Bruce's befuddlement! The next to last song was "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" and when they got to the important part -- "and the Big Man joined the band" -- up on the video screens appeared pictures of Clarence Clemons and a few of Danny Frederici, the missing members of the E Street Band. One of the things that crossed my mind throughout the show was what an excellent job Jake Clemons did on all the saxophone parts there were. He's really come a long way from the first time I saw him in the band as part of a larger horn section who stepped out front from time to time. The Big Man is irreplaceable, but Jake does a great job honoring his uncle.

The set list closed out with a cover of "Shout" and that's when Cheryl and I made our early exit about half way through the song. It was 11:45 by that point and there would soon be a mad dash for BART so everyone could catch their train. Cheryl and I said our goodbyes at the BART station and I hopped on a train as soon as I got to the top of the platform for the hour plus ride home. As always after a Springsteen show I was exhausted and energized at the same time and it was so worth a long late night on a "school night." (I wisely took Monday off work!)

Set List: (courtesy of brucespringsteen.net)

Meet Me In The City (The River: Outtakes)
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush on You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I'm a Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the Highway
Badlands
Prove It All Night
Lonesome Day
Candy's Room
Because the Night
She's the One
The Rising
Thunder Road
Growin' Up
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Shout

The Playlist

April 2018: I originally posted this on Facebook after having made a series of running updates about pulling together a play list for the family picnic my brother and I put together for our parents' 50th anniversary. We held the picnic several weeks before their anniversary so that as many members of our extended family as possible could attend. I decided this would be a good fit for this blog too. (It is also a good fit for my family history/genealogy blog, but decided to keep it with the music blog.)

August 14, 2015 marks my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. About a year and a half ago my brother, sister-in-law, and I started talking to Mom & Dad about how they wanted to celebrate. We’d thrown them a surprise family picnic for their 40th – a fairly last minute kind of thing that was really the brain child of my aunt Diane. Mom said she didn’t want a big fuss and another picnic would be perfect. Dad was fine with whatever Mom wanted. (Hmmm… maybe that’s part of the secret?) In order to try to make sure we could have as many family members attend, we decided to hold the picnic in late July so as to not run into early starting school dates for the youngest generation.

Once we got the dates and details together for the picnic, my brother called me and said “We’re going to put you in charge of the music.” While I should have expected that assignment, I was a little unprepared. Fortunately, since I’m a geek of the highest order, I have a collection of books covering popular music from 1960-2009. That will cover most of what I need and, as luck would have it, I have one older book that covers 1958-2008. Perfect – Mom & Dad met in 1958.

I sat down and pulled out my 1960s Billboard charts and checked out the songs for 1965. I laughed to myself more than once as I saw all kinds of classic rock songs that were completely NOT what my parents were listening to in 1965. No “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, no “Mr. Tambourine Man”, no “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, no “Positively Fourth Street”, no “Get Off of My Cloud”, no “Turn, Turn, Turn”, and absolutely no “Satisfaction”! Sigh. There’s classic Motown that might work, there’s always The Beatles who though they really weren’t what Mom & Dad were listening to (much) at the time, they definitely listened. Fortunately the 1965 charts are also filled with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Peter, Paul & Mary, Barbra Streisand and the like. I found some stuff from that year that would definitely work.

Then it was combing through the pop singles book and going artist by artist. Yep, nope, nope, nope, maybe, yep…

I picked songs from 1965, the year they were married. I picked songs from 1958, the year they met. Then I picked song after song after song that I remember listening to as a kid in the '70s. Mom and Dad played a lot of records back then. If we were home, it was likely the stereo was on playing something. There are lots of things I remember listening to that I wonder if Mom and Dad remembered playing over and over back then. When I was finished, I had an 11 page list written out. I stopped by my parents’ house and said “I’m in charge of the music, so I need to borrow some of your CDs.” I left with about two-thirds of them! And I still had to download a bunch (which resulted in downloading entire albums in some cases because I wanted them for myself!)

The first pass of the playlist had 367 songs and a running time of over 19 hours. The picnic was only scheduled to last 5 – gotta trim somewhere! So, I hit “play” on my iTunes and listened to everything I picked out. I discovered I’d added a couple of songs by the same performer twice, so I eliminated those. I also remembered other songs while I was listening, so had to add those to the list.

I printed out a copy of the playlist and marked each song “Yes”, “Maybe”, or “No” as they played. Some songs were automatic “Yes” songs regardless of my personal opinion of them. Some songs got “Maybe plus” and some got “Maybe minus.” Not a whole lot got an automatic “No” and the ones that did either were truly stupid/insipid songs from the 1950s or ones that just didn’t quite fit the vibe of a 50th anniversary. Any song that made me cry got an automatic yes. We’ll see if they make Mom cry (I’m guessing yes, but probably not at the picnic while people are talking and visiting and not listening closely.)

In the end, I wound up with 139 songs lasting 7 hours and 21 minutes. I’m pretty pleased with it and thought I’d share the final list (not necessarily in order) and a quick comment or two about why I picked it.

The Quick Picks

1. I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Tony Bennett
• This was the easiest of the bunch, it’s their song.
 
2. The Long Hot Summer, Jimmie Rodgers
• Theme song from the movie. It was their first date.

3. All I Have to Do Is Dream, The Everly Brothers
4. Let It Be Me, The Everly Brothers
• The first was the #1 song the day Dad took Mom to his Senior Prom, and the second is also a 1958 hit. When I took Mom and Dad to see Simon & Garfunkel a few years ago, the Everly Brothers were part of the show and Mom said she was more excited about them than Simon & Garfunkel. There ya go then.

5. Twilight Time, The Platters
• The #1 song the day they met.

6. Tequila, The Champs
• The #1 song on their first date (and, okay, one of my favorite old time classics.)

7. I Got You Babe, Sonny & Cher
• Not really their thing, but the #1 song on the day they got married.

8. Daniel, Elton John
9. Older Sister, Carly Simon
• Both songs remind my folks of an older sibling. “Daniel” for my dad’s older brother Dan (for whom *my* brother is named) and “Older Sister” for my mom’s older sister Pat. Dan was killed in a car accident in 1960 and Dad bought the Elton John album “Daniel” was on when it came out back in the 70s. Pat passed away in 2007, and Mom always said “Older Sister” reminded her of Pat. (And, interestingly enough, it reminds Mom’s youngest sister of her.)

10. Girls in Their Summer Clothes, Bruce Springsteen
• This is probably the most incongruous song on the list, and definitely the most contemporary, but Mom asked me if I would put it on, so I did.

Songs from 1958 (more or less)

11. The Twelfth of Never, Johnny Mathis
12. Chances Are, Johnny Mathis
13. Wonderful! Wonderful!, Johnny Mathis
• A bunch from San Francisco’s own, Johnny Mathis. Like many of the songs to come, chosen because they’re ones I like by someone Mom & Dad played a lot.

14. Little Things Mean A Lot, Joni James
15. There Goes My Heart, Joni James
• One of Mom's Dad’s favorites and very much of the time.

16. Rockin' Robin, Bobby Day
17. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
18. It's Only Make Believe, Conway Twitty
19. Good Golly Miss Molly, Little Richard
20. Put Your Head on My Shoulder, Paul Anka
21. Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream), The Crew Cuts
22. Fever, Peggy Lee
23. It's All in the Game, Tommy Edwards
• Picked solely because of when they were released and fairly well known in 2015.

Songs from 1965

24. My Girl, The Temptations
25. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch), The Four Tops
• Had to include some Motown! (Okay, “My Girl” is technically 1964, but close enough!)

26. Summer Wind, Wayne Newton
27. What's New Pussycat?, Tom Jones
• I thought these would be fun.

28. Dear Heart, Andy Williams
• When I stumbled on this one in the reference books, there were about three different versions and I was trying to figure out which one to pick. Mom & Dad don’t use a whole lot of endearments, but “dear heart” is one I remember hearing over the years. When I told Mom I was working on this playlist, she said “Well, I put together an anniversary list a couple of years ago” and showed it to me there was the Andy Williams version. Yep, I know my parents!

29. Here I Am, Dionne Warwick
30. Make the World Go Away, Eddie Arnold
31. What the World Needs Now Is Love, Jackie DeShannon
32. California Girls, The Beach Boys
33. Do You Believe in Magic?, The Lovin' Spoonful
34. King of the Road, Roger Miller
35. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, The Righteous Brothers
• Again, songs picked mainly because they’re from the same year Mom & Dad got married and are still pretty well known. (Perhaps the Dionne Warwick one less so, but I know she’s someone Mom & Dad liked.)

The Frank Sinatra Collection

36. Theme from New York, New York
37. Love's Been Good to Me
38. Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day)
39. Fly Me to the Moon
40. The Best Is Yet to Come
41. Autumn in New York
42. Come Fly With Me
43. All The Way
44. I've Got You Under My Skin
45. You Make Me Feel So Young
46. Love and Marriage
47. I Get a Kick Out of You
48. They Can't Take That Away from Me
49. I've Got the World on a String
• The whole playlist could have been Frank Sinatra tunes. I think of all the music my parents played when I was growing up, by far the artist I heard the most was Frank Sinatra. As a kid, I really didn’t appreciate it much. It was “that sappy music” that made me roll my eyes. Picking which songs to include was tough. Mostly they are ones I know and like best (and know Mom & Dad played a lot.) “Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day)” is one I picked solely based on it being released in 1965 and being a good fit for a 50th Anniversary playlist.

The Rest of the Rat Pack (and similar)

50. Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin
51. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You, Dean Martin
52. I've Gotta Be Me, Sammy Davis, Jr.
• Gotta include Frank’s pals of course. There was more Dean Martin than Sammy Davis played when I was growing up, but had to include both.

53. That Old Black Magic, Louis Prima/Keely Smith
54. Jump, Jive, an' Wail, Louis Prima
55. Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody, Louis Prima
• Louis Prima was one of Dad’s favorites. I can not explain just how traumatized I was when David Lee Roth covered “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” in 1985 and had a huge hit with it. The lead singer from Van Halen is singing Louis Prima?! That was wrong in so so many ways! I handled Brian Setzer’s cover of “Jump, Jive, an’ Wail” in 1998 much better.

56. Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darin
57. Mack the Knife, Bobby Darin
58. Hello, Dolly!, Bobby Darin
• Bobby Darin was another favorite, so went with the two biggest hits and one from 1965.

59. I Wanna Be Around, Tony Bennett
60. The Best Is Yet To Come, Tony Bennett
• Two of my personal favorite Tony Bennett songs.

61. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart, Judy Garland
• From her Live at Carnegie Hall album. One of Mom & Dad’s favorites, it was hard to pick which song(s) to choose and being a live album, they didn’t all work well in a mixed playlist, so I went with the one that seemed right for a 50th Anniversary.

The Barbra Streisand Collection

62. Evergreen
63. Memory
64. People
65. Why Did I Choose You?
66. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf
• There was a lot of Barbra Streisand being played when I was growing up. I picked a couple favorites. “Why Did I Choose You?” was a 1965 tune and fit the 50th Anniversary theme. “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” is one I remember hearing a lot as a kid and loved it. (Who didn’t love the Three Little Pigs?)

The Peter, Paul, & Mary Collection

67. Leaving on a Jet Plane
68. The Song Is Love
69. I'm in Love with a Big Blue Frog
70. I Dig Rock and Roll Music
71. Kisses Sweeter than Wine
72. For Baby (For Bobbie)
• Mom & Dad played a lot of folk music too. None more than PP&M. These are just some of my favorites.

73. Puff (The Magic Dragon)
74. Going to the Zoo
75. The Marvelous Toy
• These three are all from the Peter, Paul, & Mommy album that Danny and I probably made Mom play 1,000 times (a week.) We liked the “Zoo Side” better than the “Toy Side,” but it’s still one of my all time favorite records. Over the years I’ve given many copies of it to friends and family when they have their first child.

76. Wedding Song (There Is Love)
• Technically, this is just Paul Stookey solo, but I think it’s one of the loveliest songs ever written. It probably got over played to death at weddings in the 1970s, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

The Other Folkies

77. M.T.A., Kingston Trio
78. Scotch and Soda, Kingston Trio
79. Tom Dooley, Kingston Trio
• The Kingston Trio was probably the second most popular folk act Mom & Dad played after Peter, Paul, & Mary. Picked a couple of their best known songs (and personal favorites.) I never did understand why Charlie’s wife never put that extra nickel in with the sandwich she gave him in “M.T.A.” though.

80. Blowin' in the Wind, Chad Mitchell Trio
• This album is and was played every Easter due to the song “Easter Morn.” That song didn’t fit the theme, so picked the Dylan classic. (Yes, Dad did like Bob Dylan, just, ya know, not when Dylan was doing the singing.)

81. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel
82. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), Simon & Garfunkel
• Simon & Garfunkel were pretty popular too. I know I listened to the Bridge Over Troubled Water album a ton growing up – and that was before the summer I spent in Alaska babysitting my two younger cousins who kept asking me to “play the bridge song” over and over and over!

83. Baby the Rain Must Fall, Glenn Yarbrough
84. That's an Irish Lullaby (Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral), John Gary
• Glenn Yarborough and the Limelighters were another bunch of folk albums Mom & Dad would play. I picked “Baby the Rain Must Fall” as it was another 1965 hit. Every St. Patrick’s Day, out would come the various Irish folk songs by the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem and this John Gary album. Couldn’t fit everything in, but those songs (along with Chad Mitchell) are a sure fire sign of Spring to me.

The Musicals

85. Miracle of Miracles, Leonard Frey (from The Fiddler on the Roof)
• Mom & Dad listened to A LOT of musical soundtracks. Fiddler on the Roof was one of their favorites, but the thing I will always remember is my dad and his brother Jerry dancing in the living room to this song after the 49ers won Super Bowl XVI!

86. Try to Remember, Jerry Orbach (from The Fantasticks)
87. The Impossible Dream (The Quest), Richard Kiley (from The Man of La Mancha)
• Dad has walked around the house singing one or the other of these songs pretty much every day for as long as I can remember; how could I not include them?

88. If Ever I Would Leave You, Robert Goulet (from Camelot)
• This is from the Broadway production, not the movie. Mom always said the Broadway album was better.

89. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke
90. The Sound of Music, Julie Andrews
• The first from Mary Poppins, the second from the movie of the same name. Both were hit songs in 1965. And favorite family movies.

The 1950s & 60s

91. I'm Yours, Elvis Presley
92. Can't Help Falling in Love, Elvis Presley
• Had to include some Elvis! “I’m Yours” is a 1965 single. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” fits the theme.

93. Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair), Harry Belafonte
94. A Hole in the Bucket (Live), Harry Belafonte
• Mom & Dad would play a couple of Harry Belafonte albums when I was a kid. I chose this version of “Scarlet Ribbons” over the Kingston Trio one because I liked the feel. “A Hole in the Bucket” was a song I loved as a kid – lots of humor.

95. I Can't Stop Loving You, Ray Charles
96. Come Rain or Come Shine, Ray Charles
• Like Elvis, couldn’t leave out Ray Charles. These are just two classic songs that are of the time and fit the theme.

97. You Were Made For Me, Sam Cooke
98. You Send Me, Sam Cooke
99. Having a Party, Sam Cooke
• The first two are circa 1957-58 and timely for when Mom & Dad met. The third… well, duh, we were having a party!

100. Michelle, The Beatles
101. Yesterday, The Beatles
102. Help!, The Beatles
103. Hey Jude, The Beatles
• The first three were all 1965 hits (and “Michelle” – duh!) “Hey Jude” was the #1 song when I was born (again, duh!) I probably could have included more Beatles tunes, but that would have been more about what I listened to than Mom & Dad.

104. Rise Herb Alpert
105. This Guy's in Love With You, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
• Somehow, Mom & Dad wound up with a lot of Herb Alpert albums due one of those old Columbia House record memberships, so I thought I’d include a couple of his biggest hits.

106. What a Wonderful World , Louis Armstrong
107. Save the Last Dance for Me, The Drifters
108. Lemon Tree, Trini Lopez
• Just some songs of the era, and there were a couple of Trini Lopez albums around the house. “Lemon Tree” was another 1965 tune.

The 1970s

109. (They Long to Be) Close to You, The Carpenters
110. Everything Is Beautiful, Ray Stevens
• Carpenters albums were among the most played when we were kids. “Close to You” is the song Mom & Danny danced to at Danny & Stacy’s wedding. I assume Mom sang it to him when he was a baby. “Everything Is Beautiful” was the #1 song when Danny was born.

111. You've Made Me So Very Happy, Blood, Sweat & Tears
112. Spinning Wheel, Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Another favorite album from childhood. Picked my two favorite tunes.

113. Mockingbird, Carly Simon/James Taylor
114. Beautiful, Carole King
115. I Feel the Earth Move, Carole King
• Mom played Carly Simon’s Hotcakes and Carole King’s Tapestry a lot! Had a hard time picking which songs from Tapestry to pick – such a classic album!

116. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce
117. Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce
• Another oft played album. “Time in a Bottle” seemed a great fit for a 50th Anniversary playlist.

118. Poems, Prayers and Promises, John Denver
119. Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver
• Dad used to play the heck out of John Denver. Two of my favorites.

120. Song Sung Blue, Neil Diamond
121. Play Me, Neil Diamond
• I probably could have included more Neil Diamond; he was pretty popular back in the '70s! Just a couple more favorite/oft played tunes growing up.

122. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, Paul Simon
123. Still Crazy After All These Years, Paul Simon
• “Still Crazy After All These Years” of the album of the same name was an apt choice for the playlist (as well as being another oft played tune.)

124. Just the Way You Are, Billy Joel
125. New York State of Mind, Billy Joel
• A couple more for Mom and for Mom & Dad’s upcoming trip to the East Coast which includes a couple of days in New York.

126. You and Me Against the World, Helen Reddy
• I remember Mom playing this album a lot and I probably hadn’t heard this song since I was a kid, but started crying as soon as I listened to it again. Instant add.

127. You Needed Me, Anne Murray
128. Drift Away, Dobie Gray
129. Laughter in the Rain, Neil Sedaka
130. Times of Your Life, Paul Anka
131. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Roberta Flack
132. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), James Taylor
133. You've Got a Friend, James Taylor
• Some songs of the era that I thought would be a good fit by artists Mom & Dad like.

The Country Phase

134. She Believes in Me, Kenny Rogers
135. Always on My Mind, Willie Nelson
136. On the Road Again, Willie Nelson
137. Heroes and Friends, Randy Travis
138. Mountain Music, Alabama
139. The Devil Went Down to Georgia, The Charlie Daniels Band
• Sometime in the 1980s or so, Mom & Dad went on a bit of a country kick. The Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson made some sense as they were pretty popular outside of the country scene. The other three all come from CDs in Mom & Dad’s collection that I totally forgot they owned. They did go to an Alabama concert sometime in the late 80s/early 90s. I think I may even have a t-shirt from that show!

May 19, 2015: U2sday!

San Jose, CA
SAP Center

Amazing. Outstanding. Incredible. Stunning. I really don't have enough superlatives to describe last night's U2 show in San Jose. I've been a fan of the band for a long time, but it took me until 2005 before I finally was able to see them in person. After that epic night, I swore I'd never miss another U2 show when they came to town. I mean, I knew they were fantastic live before then, but experiencing it in person was so much more. So when this tour was announced, of course I was going to get tickets and go. After a concert not long before then my friend Emerson had mentioned to me that he'd never seen U2 live and that he wanted to cross them off his list, so I kept that in mind when keeping an eye out for the on-sale date. Naturally, Emerson was in China when the on-sale was announced. Fortunately he had enough access to email to say "yes, get me a ticket." So, with only a minor snafu of completely blanking on the day of sale, I managed to grab two tickets for the second of the two shows in San Jose. The tickets cost a bit more than I had planned to spend, but I didn't have a lot of concert plans for this year so I figured I could squeeze it out of the budget. After last night, I wish I could have squeezed the budget a bit more and gotten tickets to the Monday night show as well!

All day Tuesday I was listening to KFOG who were doing U2 "twin spins" at the top of the hour and hearing the DJs and others commenting on how good the show on Monday had been. Between that and listening to their new album, I was quite excited for the show. I really like the new material and think is one of their better collections of recent vintage. By the time I ducked out of work a bit early and got to San Jose to meet Emerson, I was in the right mood for a great show. We got to the arena a bit before the 7:30 stated start time, knowing full well that the show wasn't going to start at 7:30. Getting there early, though, allowed us to take in the stage set up. Our seats were slightly behind and to the left of the main stage. The stage had a catwalk that ran the full length of the arena to a smaller secondary stage at the opposite end. Above the catwalk was the video screen which was about as long as the catwalk. The weird thing, though, was that we could see through the screen to the other side of the arena -- how the heck was that going to work? I looked at the folks standing on the floor and flashed back to my 2005 experience inside the ellipse, but wasn't too wistful to be down on the floor -- I wanted to really take in the production which is much easier above the floor.

The mostly 40-ish crowd settled in and shortly after 8:00 the house lights went down, the music went up, and the crowd went wild. From our seats, we could see the band entering from behind the stage, so our section and the ones behind the stage were the first to get on our feet and cheer. The guys took the stage and kicked in to "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)", the first single from Songs of Innocence. That then segued into "Electric Co." which got everyone very amped up (pun only slightly intended.) For the first few songs, the staging was simple -- just the band and lights, though with this giant bulb shaped light hanging from the rigging above Bono.

After the fourth song of the set ("I Will Follow" which got a huge response) Bono welcomed the crowd and explained how the new songs are about life when the band was growing up in Dublin as a way to go into a 3-song set of new tunes. This is when my mind got blown. A set of steps was lowered from the video screen and Bono started climbing them to a catwalk that ran between the video screen! While Bono was singing, there was animation on the screen that made it look like he was walking through the streets of Dublin. It was very cool. Eventually, he wound up going down steps at the opposite end of the main stage and on to the smaller secondary stage. This led to what was probably the most goose-bump raising moment of the show for me.

The band went into a slowed down version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which was followed by the new song "Raised by Wolves." I've always had a passing knowledge of Irish history, but in the last few years of doing research on my Irish ancestors, I've looked at it a bit more in detail (though not as much as I need and want to) and listening to those two songs back to back really hit me what living in late 20th century Ireland must have been like. It was a very powerful moment in the show. There was one more song before the mid-show "intermission," and it struck me just how well the old songs blended with the new ones and had a strong narrative. The way the whole production was put together for this part of the show -- song order, video animation, presentation, etc. -- made it really feel like the first act of a play with a solid story behind it. It was extremely well done.

The "intermission" was a single song by Johnny Cash done on the video screen in animation. The key thing to note is that the video screen was completely opaque and colored yellow. When the animation was done, a black line ran through the middle of the screen and the music started up again. The black line got bigger in places and lo there is the entire band inside the video screen playing "Invisible." Now, getting Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton inside with their instruments isn't that challenging. Having a drum kit for Larry Mullen, Jr. is a bit of different animal. I have no idea how they did it.

The second set had more known songs than new ones and completely rocked the house. A lot of this part of the show was on the secondary stage. During "The Sweetest Thing" Bono pulled a gal up on stage with him and had her shoot the whole song on her phone! Yay technology!

The band headed back to the main stage for "Bullet The Blue Sky" which had a different talk/rap section than the original, but made it more contemporary. This was followed up by "Pride" which I managed to capture on my camera. (To be posted when I get some time to download it off my camera.)

As the set was winding down, Bono announced to the audience that they were going to add a song not on the prepared set list and then they launched into "Bad" to huge cheers and a huge sing along for the chorus. They closed off the main set with "With or Without You" which always gets a great response.

They changed the stage up a bit and added a bunch of white lights for the first song of the encore "City of Blinding Lights" during which Bono pulled a little boy who looked to be 8-9 years old to join him on stage for the song. The kid totally rocked out and made it so amazing. There was a hugely moving moment when Bono got down on one knee in front of the kid and sang "Can you see the beauty inside of me?/What happened to the beauty inside of me?" The kid was totally awestruck in the moment. It brought tears to my eyes -- just amazing.

The intro to "Where the Streets Have No Name" was a verse of Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" which is one of my favorites of his and worked so well. The night closed out with "One" which totally made my evening complete.

As we were leaving I asked Emerson "Okay, your first U2 show, what'd you think?" He said "I have to move every concert on my best concert list down a notch." That pretty well sums up the night. It was an incredible show.

Set List (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Set 1:
Intro
Beat on the Brat (Ramones) 

The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
The Electric Co.
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Song for Someone
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised by Wolves
Until the End of the World

-- Intermission --
(Johnny Cash animation on video screen)

Set 2:
Invisible
Even Better Than the Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
Desire
Sweetest Thing
Every Breaking Wave
Bullet the Blue Sky
The Hands that Built America intro
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Beautiful Day
Into the Mystic intro
Bad
With or Without You

Encore:
City of Blinding Lights
-- Mother and Child Reunion intro
Where the Streets Have No Name
One

August 14, 2014: And In The End, The Love You Take Is Equal To The Love You Make

San Francisco, CA
Candlestick Park

I'm not a huge fan of stadium shows. They're too big and even if you get a seat close to the stage, the stage is so high you're not really all that close. Seats on the lawn are looking at the backs of heads and the actual stadium seats are miles from the stage.

Candlestick Park is a decrepit dump. It's freezing cold with howling wind and located in the single most inconvenient location in San Francisco. Getting there is a nightmare. Getting home is worse. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to build a stadium on Candlestick Point back in 1958 is well beyond me.

But oh the memories....

Candlestick Park (and always Candlestick Park, any other name the place has held over the last 54 years was always irrelevant) was where Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, and Juan Marichal reigned supreme in the 1960s. John Brodie, Gene Washington, Jimmie Johnson and later Jim Plunkett and an aging O.J. Simpson brought football in the 1970s. Candlestick Park was home for Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Steve Young, and oh so many more stars for those 1980s championship 49er teams. Will Clark, Robby Thompson, and Matt Williams brought good, exciting baseball back to Candlestick in the late 1980s and in 1993 the best player in the game signed with his hometown team -- Barry Bonds came to play at Candlestick Park.

The Rolling Stones played concerts at Candlestick Park. I can vividly remember them coming to town in the early 1980s and the hype and hoopla surrounding these 40 year old guys playing a rock concert.

And, of course, the Beatles played their final concert at Candlestick Park. All reports have always been it wasn't a very good concert, but it was always a point of pride for that lousy old dump off Highway 101. Now that the 49ers have followed the Giants and moved on to greener pastures, it was only fitting that the final event to be held at Candlestick Park be a concert by Paul McCartney.

Talk about this concert began sometime last year after Sir Paul appeared at the Outside Lands festival, and as soon as I heard there were plans in the works to try to get him to Candlestick for one last hurrah, I planned to be there. When the concert was finally announced earlier this year, I made sure I knew every which way to get tickets. This was a hard ticket to get and I was in a panic while trying to buy seats -- nothing would come up over and over and over again no matter what I tried. After what seemed like days of selecting tickets and hitting enter on Ticketmaster, I was finally able to snag two tickets in the lower reserved section. My cousin Eileen would be coming up from L.A. to join me for the show.

The day of the show finally arrived and since Eileen was coming up, I had planned ahead and taken the week off. I picked Eileen up at the airport Thursday morning and after doing a quick hometown tour of Millbrae and dropping things off at my place, we were off to spend the afternoon in San Francisco before heading to the show. A yummy lunch was followed by a stroll down the Embarcadero through the throngs of tourists. Back to the car by 4:15 or so and over to Candlestick. Sure, the concert wasn't scheduled to start until 8:00, but the parking lots opened at 3:00 and the gates would open at 5:00. I'm no fool, I've spent a lifetime going to Candlestick and know it's best to get there early or you'll never get there on time.

We got to the parking lot around 4:45 and got out to the usual howling cold wind. The weather had been very pleasant with a slight breeze downtown. Not Candlestick Point. Popped the trunk and pulled out the sweatshirt and coat, grabbed the gloves just in case, and pulled my hair up. Now I'm ready for Candlestick!

The gates didn't open right on time at 5:00, so it was probably closer to 5:30 or so when we got in. A nice treat, everyone was handed a souvenir ticket as they entered. In these days of electronic and print at home tickets, that was a nice touch. (I had opted for the traditional ticket, so I have that souvenir too.) We found our seats easily through the early crowd and chatted there for a bit before heading off to check out the swag table and grab something to eat. We both picked up a t-shirt that listed only the Candlestick date on the back, but finding food was a trick. The concession stands were clearly not being operated by whoever ran them when the 49ers were still there, so there were lots and lots of options for wine and beer but trying to find a simple hot dog was a chore. Once we did find a vendor selling hot dogs, we had to wait a good 10 minutes for them to be ready!

Candlestick gradually filled up and I was pleasantly surprised to find that our seats were pretty well sheltered from the wind. It was howling like mad on the concourses, but where we were sitting (approximately behind the old third base visitors dugout) it was actually pretty nice. We were miles from the stage, which was set up in what had been the north endzone (home of "The Catch"), but the HUGE video screens would be fine for viewing.

The show didn't start until nearly 9:00 (which I had more or less expected despite the "promptly at 8:00" notifications I had been receiving) which was quite beneficial to those folks who were stuck in Candlestick traffic. I've seen Paul quite a few times by now, and this show was on par with all his previous performances. A mix of classic Beatles tunes, Wings hits, a few new songs that got polite applause, a few lesser known Wings tunes, and a couple of covers. As he so often does when in town, he played "San Francisco Bay Blues" which got a marvelous response.

The show was quite good and the audience enjoyed it quite clearly. There were many points when I could hear the 49,000 or so people singing along with those oh-so-familiar songs. A couple of personal highlights: "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" got people up on their feet dancing and singing along, "Here Today", Paul's tribute to John which always puts a tear in my eye, "The Long and Winding Road" reminded me of the first time I saw him in Berkeley in the early 1990s, and the fireworks show with "Live and Let Die" is always much more fun outdoors than inside.

But it was the songs you knew would be the cream of the crop that took the show. "Let It Be" with a galaxy of mobile phone "stars" throughout the stadium was amazing. "Hey Jude" and the massive sing-along chorus. And the simple mastery of "Yesterday" that always makes me think of just how young Paul was when he wrote this amazing tune.

Over two and a half hours later, the show was over. At 72, I gotta say that's pretty impressive. The show just flew by and it was sad to see it end. Eileen and I hustled back to the parking lot and were in the car by 12:00. Pushing through the traffic and pedestrians to get to the freeway, we managed to make it to 101 by 12:30 and home by 1:00.

Good ole Candlestick Park... you decrepit dump of ice cold, bone chilling wind. I'm not sorry to see you go. I will miss seeing the home of so many memories, but I will always have the memories. Glad I got to capture the last memory anyone will ever have of an event at Candlestick.

Set List (courtesy of setlist.fm)*

Eight Days a Week
Save Us
All My Loving
Listen to What the Man Said
Let Me Roll It
Paperback Writer
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
The Long and Winding Road
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen a Face
San Francisco Bay Blues
We Can Work It Out
Another Day
And I Love Her
Blackbird
Here Today
New
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
All Together Now
Lovely Rita
Everybody Out There
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the USSR
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore 1:
Day Tripper
Hi, Hi, Hi
I Saw Her Standing There

Encore 2:
Yesterday
Long Tall Sally (last song played by the Beatles at Candlestick in '66)
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

*There was a bit of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" played early on in the set I think between "Listen to What the Man Said" and "Let Me Roll It", but I'm not totally sure. That was followed by a nice tale of Jimi Hendrix playing songs from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" two days after it was released and Jimi asking Eric Clapton to help him re-tune his guitar.