February 21, 2023 - Return to the Hotel California

San Jose, CA
SAP Center

Including last night, I have tickets to six concerts already for 2023. It's been a long time since I've had that many shows lined up so far in advance. With any luck, I'll be adding at least one (and hopefully two) more tomorrow. After 2020 and the year of no concerts, I definitely don't take having shows lined up for granted. My first show after everything opened up again was the Eagles Hotel California show at Chase Center which soothed the soul more than I could imagine. So when it was announced that the Eagles would be back in San Jose with the same show, I jumped at the chance to see it again.

When I looked at the calendar to see if it made sense to take in a show on a Tuesday night, the only thing that stood out was my already purchased tickets for Bruce Springsteen in Portland on Saturday night. Nothing on my boss's calendar nor any of the managers I support, so yep, it should be fine. Buy.

Oh the best laid plans. Last month my boss decided he wanted to have a 2-day meeting with his team leadership for long term planning. The best option -- next week. So with Monday a holiday and Friday me being on plane to Portland, a Tuesday night concert was not the best option. Still, one of the upsides from the pandemic is that my job is now hybrid and I can work from home on a regular basis, so off I went to a weeknight concert knowing I could work from home the next day and thus sleep in a bit.

I went into the office yesterday since it's closer to the SAP Center than my apartment, but whew what a day to be out. It was extremely windy, so there were branches of trees all over the roads along with swirling leaves and other debris. The drive was fairly easy and I didn't even need to get on the freeway, but wow there was a lot of stuff to avoid. Grabbed some dinner in San Pedro Square which was interesting to see. I haven't been down there since before the pandemic and they've turned most of San Pedro street into street dining, which is a terrific idea. Had a yummy Mexican dinner and headed up to the venue where I encountered the world's stupidest bag policy. I bring a pretty small purse to shows, but apparently having a bag that's one-inch too wide (yet at least 4-inches shorter in height and depth) is too big to bring in. My options -- schlep back to my car and leave it in the trunk of my car or pay $10 to check it. I opted for the bag check and WHAT a pain in the rear that was as it required downloading an app which wouldn't work the first three times I tried it. Finally got it loaded, paid my $10 (plus an extra $0.59 in fees!) and put my now nearly empty bag in the locker having moved my phone, wallet, and glasses to my various pockets. Thank goodness it was a chilly evening and I was wearing my multiple pocketed jacket.

Purse frustrations resolved, I made my way into the arena, grabbed a bottle of water (at a self serve concession! Well, something has improved here!) Once I got settled in my seat, I focused on the pre-show music coming over the PA -- lots of Beatles tunes -- and they helped me calm down. At least until I looked at the time and saw the show was about to start, so I'd better pull out my new earplugs I'd bought. Shit. They're on my key chain, and thus in my purse. Fortunately, the opening notes of Billy Joel's "This Is the Time" started over the PA and I sensed that was the queue song before the show would start, so I focused on listening to that until the house lights went down and the Hotel California sign was lowered.

As before, the "butler" walked across the stage to put the Hotel California album on the turntable. The needle drops, curtain rises, and off we go. Don Henley was in good voice, but not as good as last time. Still, he doesn't sound like he's lost much over the years which is more than can be said for many of his peers. It was so appropriate that Vince Gill gets to sing "New Kid in Town." He does a fabulous job on it. As with the last show, my personal highlights were "Wasted Time" and "The Last Resort" which are two of my all time favorite songs and having the additional orchestra and choir just made them sound fantastic.

Once the Hotel California set wrapped up, about 50 minutes in to the evening, Don Henley stepped to the front of the stage and welcomed the crowd and talking about how "albums were only 40 minutes long" followed by a comment that 40 minutes would be too long for today's music, but he's "old and grumpy." I got a giggle since he's been old and grumpy since the 70s! The band then went off stage for a brief intermission.

Once the band returned, they kicked off the second set with "Seven Bridges Road," and though the line up has changed and aged since their 1970s prime, the harmonies are still amazing. We were then treated to a pleasant surprise when Deacon Frey joined the band on stage and sang "Take It Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling." He's officially stopped touring with the band, so it was great to see him once again. It's still scary how much he looks like his dad at the same age. His voice is different than Glenn's, but still quite good. 

Vince Gill continued to impress me, and as he sang "Tequila Sunrise" it occurred to me that I should have that to drink for dinner instead of my margarita! I need to spend some time on Spotify listening to his own material. Joe Walsh had the line of the night as he introduced "Life's Been Good" by saying "it was a lot more fun being in your 20s in the 70s than being in your 70s in the 20s." That got a great response as did the song.

As is often the case when I see the Eagles, the crowd was pretty laid back and mellow, sitting almost entirely through the show. It wasn't until the last song of the main set -- "Heartache Tonight" -- that everyone got on their feet, clearly recognizing the show was nearing the end.

It was, of course, not the end. Out for the encore and my absolute favorite Eagles song "Desperado." I will never tire of that song and love that I get to hear it live and have quite a few times now. Deacon Frey came out once again and joined for the final two songs, taking lead once again on "Already Gone." The show closed out with Don Henley introducing "Best of My Love" by saying it was a song written about a couple falling apart, but he wanted to dedicate it to the "Dis-United States of America" as things have come more divisive over the years. With that preamble, the lyrics hit me differently and tears welled as I thought about how "we try to talk it over, but the words come out too rough." We really do need to give the best of our love.

Set list

Hotel California
Hotel California
New Kid in Town
Life in the Fast Lane
Wasted Time (w/ orchestra)
Wasted Time (Reprise) (orchestra)
Victim of Love
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Try and Love Again
The Last Resort (w/ orchestra)

-- Intermission --

Seven Bridges Road
Take It Easy (with Deacon Frey)
Peaceful Easy Feeling (with Deacon Frey)
One of These Nights
Take It to the Limit
Witchy Woman
In the City
I Can't Tell You Why
Tequila Sunrise
Lyin' Eyes
Life's Been Good
The Boys of Summer
Funk #49
Heartache Tonight

Encore:

Rocky Mountain Way
Desperado (w/ orchestra)
Already Gone (with Deacon Frey)
Best of My Love (with Deacon Frey)

 

July 10, 2019: Mid-Week McCartney

San Jose, CA

SAP Center

My night out to see Paul McCartney did not start off well... I had a mediocre dinner (how someone can screw up a grilled ham and cheese sandwich is beyond me!) and then after walking the 10-15 minutes from the restaurant to the SAP Center I was greeted by a new policy that restricted bags to 5"x8" or smaller. If they were larger they needed to be clear bags or you had to check them for $5 and get a clear bag in return. I briefly considered checking my bag, but when I saw how long the line was to check bags I knew it'd be ten times worse retrieving it after the show, so I turned around and walked the 10-15 minutes back to my car to lock my purse in my trunk after taking out the essentials I'd need for the evening. I'll save my rant about the stupidity of this security theater for another day, but will just say this -- how hard is it to send an email to people who bought tickets in DECEMBER for this show to inform them of a new policy enacted on July 1?! Annoying as hell.

With the need to trek back to my car and then return to the arena, it was nearly 8:00 by the time I actually got inside. I wasn't too concerned -- I've seen Paul often enough to know that he doesn't start his show a the stated ticket time. I grabbed a bottle of water and made my way down to my seat. I knew when I bought the ticket that I'd gotten a pretty good seat, but I had rather forgotten where it was when I got to the arena. Third row up from the floor, right near the stage! Wow! Definitely the closest I've ever been for McCartney. As I worked my way down to my seat, I passed a couple of women who were in a bit of a tizzy. I assume that they, like pretty much every other woman I chatted with on my way in to the arena, were annoyed by the new bag policy. Nope, they had gotten seriously scammed on scalped tickets and had lost several thousand dollars! Yikes! It all ended well as they wound up with pretty decent seats, but also learned a really valuable lesson.

Paul took the stage about 8:25 and kicked off the show with "Hard Days Night" and everyone was on their feet singing and dancing along. Being so close to both the floor and the stage meant it was an up on my feet show most of the way through. Fine by me, though brutal for a school night, I was gonna pay the next day at work! Paul's got a new album out which I received a copy of when I purchased the concert ticket, and he played a few songs from it to an okay response from the crowd. While everyone appreciates his talent, folks are there to hear songs they've known and loved for decades. I will say, however, you know you're a rock god when you can get Meryl Streep (among many other A-list celebs) to dance around a recording studio for your music video (from an album released a few years ago.)

Still, the highlights are always the Beatles' classics, and while I didn't get "Michelle," I did get a lot of my favorite tunes. Personal highlights included "Let 'Em In" -- the first solo McCartney song I recall hearing as a kid, his tributes to John and George ("Here Today" and "Something"), and of course the finale of the show "Let It Be," "Live and Let Die," and "Hey Jude." Being so close to the stage when all the pyrotechinics went off during "Live and Let Die" was amazing. And HOT! Wow! Lots of flames (including one that didn't quite go out at the end of the song and kept burning a bit at the beginning of "Hey Jude".) While there are always songs you wish you could hear when someone has a catalog like Paul McCartney, I was a bit surprised not to hear "Yesterday" at all. Especially with the new movie out.

The show ended about 11:30 -- so a solid three hours of a well paced show, which considering Paul is 77 is impressive as hell. I hiked back to my car humming songs that are older than I am and appreciative of another opportunity to see an absolute legend at work.

Set List (courtesy of setlist.fom)

A Hard Day's Night
Junior's Farm
All My Loving
Letting Go
Who Cares
Got to Get You Into My Life
Come On to Me
Let Me Roll It  (followed by "Foxy Lady" jam)
I've Got a Feeling
Let 'Em In
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
Maybe I'm Amazed
I've Just Seen a Face
In Spite of All the Danger
From Me to You
Dance Tonight
Love Me Do
Blackbird
Here Today
Queenie Eye
Lady Madonna
Eleanor Rigby
Fuh You
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore:
Birthday
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
Helter Skelter
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

May 7, 2018: U2 Experience

San Jose, CA

SAP Center

It's a little strange to be writing about a U2 show a little less than a year after my LAST U2 show, but that was an anniversary tour; last night was a new album tour. Fortunately, in addition to the ticket to the show, a copy of the new album, Songs of Experience, was included for download or CD with each ticket. Being back to work, I spent much of the last two weeks listening to U2's latest. I enjoy it, but nothing really leaped out for me as a must listen song. Hearing the songs performed live, however, definitely made them more impactful.

The show was set up with the same stage and video screen that they used for their Songs of Innocence tour a couple of years ago. While the "wow that's cool" factor of having Bono and the band appear inside the raised screen isn't the same as the first time I saw it, it is still a pretty neat way of staging the show. 

My friend Mary and I had seats behind the main stage, so it was an interesting way to watch the big screen. In general, I've never had an issue with sitting behind the stage. Sure, there are the occasional blocked views due to cables and such, but overall it's an up-close experience with the added perspective of seeing what the performer sees from the stage. Unfortunately, the sound was distorted most of the night which I suspect was due to the speakers directed towards our seats being a bit too much for the short distance to the back wall and thus caused an echo.

Getting the one and only complaint I had with the show off the list, on to the many different high points. We'll start with the opening of the show. Because of our seat location, we were able to see the band exit the backstage area and enter the space beneath the stage just before the show began. I kept watching to see where they'd come up on to the stage and wondering why they hadn't come out yet. Well soon the video screen, which had been showing images through out the pre-show time, began to change and the lights went down and the music started.  Then there they were -- the whole band standing and performing inside the video screen singing "Love Is All We Have Left" (the opening track to Songs of Experience) with loads of energy. They followed that up with another new track, "The Blackout" before the band returned to the stage leaving Bono inside the screen for one more new song.

It's always tricky when an established act is out on tour with new music. Long time fans are always waiting for their favorites and playing a bunch of new songs, especially right off the top of the show, can be tricky. Some performers can grab the audience with the new songs and bring them along, some can't. Fortunately U2 has Bono as a front man and he remains as dynamic as ever and the crowd was really into the new songs. This was a good thing as the show continued since the set list was heavy on newer material. (I suspect after having just done the Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Tour which was all about the older, classic, beloved material, it was a deliberate choice to stick with newer songs.) That's not to say older songs weren't performed. I was stunned a little while later when "I Will Follow" was followed by "Gloria." It took me a minute to recognize it (mainly due to the distortion issues) and another few seconds to call up the lyrics from my mental database of songs. The crowd ate it up.

Somewhere in the early part of the show (I think three or four songs in) Bono was out on the smaller stage at the opposite side of the arena from where I was sitting and he did what I can only describe as "the Bono strut" and my brain flashed on the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" video. We're all a lot older now, but that was an instant flash back to youth. With a crowd mostly in their 40s and 50s, it was nice to go back in time like that. From my viewpoint behind the stage, it was great seeing the people on the general admission floor jumping up and down all night long. I'm sure there was a lot of Advil consumed afterwards, but for a night everyone ignored their physical age and felt their emotional age. (I swear, I'm still 30!)

The show moved on with more of the Innocence/Experience songs, with Bono heading back inside the video screen for "Cedarwood Road" which ran with animations similar to the Innocence tour.  When the song ended, Bono descended from the screen on a little platform at the end stage. Larry grabbed his snare drum and started beating on it as the band walked out to the catwalk. A slow, measured version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" followed. The video screen for this was filled with a combination of messages about peace and messages about when Ireland gained independence from England in 1916 and the "troubles" that followed. This was followed by "Raised by Wolves" a companion piece to the theme. One of the things Bono kept mentioning throughout the show is how Ireland finally found peace when they found compromise. Much of the show was from the perspective of someone from the outside holding up a mirror to America and saying both "take a good look at yourselves" and "remember who you are." There was an even more poignant moment in this regard later in the show I'll mention shortly, but with that theme running through out the show it really drew attention to the new songs and what they're about. Light in the darkness. Love is difficult but necessary for change.

There was a brief intermission while a recorded version of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" played and the road crew set up on the small stage for the next set.  That opened with "Elevation" and Bono sporting a top hat, some white make up on his face, and no glasses. Energy levels rose with the tune and continued on the high end when the band launched into "Desire." Then Mephisto made an appearance in a very interesting animation for "Acrobat."

My next two favorite moments came up next. With Larry and Adam back under the main stage for a brief break, Edge and Bono remained on the smaller stage for an acoustic version of "Staring at the Sun" which was amazing. Watching them I just imagined a couple of kids sitting in a garage somewhere in Dublin working out their first songs. I can't even say what evoked that feeling but it was likely a combination of the acoustic guitar and seeing a band I've loved since high school with a friend I've known since we were freshmen talking about music we loved.

In contrast to that feeling, however, were the images on the video screen. Foremost among them were the images of the marches in Charleston from last year. All kinds of images of hatred and bigotry. They were really hard to watch, especially since I just don't understand that kind of feeling. That was compounded by a conversation I had with a friend's husband on Sunday. He's from Syria and we had a long talk about politics, religion, racism, and tribalism and how they're impacting everyone on all sides. In the end, we agreed that true freedom comes when we all recognize each others freedoms.

So this was then followed up with a bit of "This Is Not America" as the band moved on to "Pride." I cried while singing my heart out on that one. Bono reminded us that it was 50 years last month that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and that his work still remains unfinished. The images on the screen were much more positive and encouraging including several that just said "Vote." 

The band worked their way back to the main stage (Edge and Adam having been on small platforms on the sides of the arena) for "Get Out of Your Own Way" and "American Soul" which I heard with different ears. The main set closed off with "City of Blinding Light" with a lot of colorful lights around the stage.

Back out for the encore with more encouragement to compromise and love one another and to listen to the lessons of the past. "One" was followed by two new songs, "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way" (which Bono introduced by saying "this is the best line I've got") and "13 (There Is a Light.)" Both brought a lump to my throat, especially "13" which is a variation of "Song for Someone" from Innocence. It is a message we need to remember.

If there is a light you can’t always see
If there is a world we can’t always be
If there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt
And there is a light, don’t let it go out

Set list (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Love Is All We Have Left

The Blackout

Lights of Home

Beautiful Day

I Will Follow

Gloria

All Because of You

The Ocean

Iris (Hold Me Close)

Cedarwood Road

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Raised by Wolves

Until the End of the World

-Intermission-

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

Elevation

Vertigo

Desire

Acrobat

You're the Best Thing About Me

Staring at the Sun(acoustic)

Pride (In the Name of Love)

Get Out of Your Own Way

American Soul

City of Blinding Lights

Encore:

One

Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way

13 (There Is a Light)

March 1, 2017: 2017 Kickoff Concert -- Bon Jovi

San Jose, CA
SAP Center 

So my 2017 Concert Season kicked off last night with yet another trek down to San Jose to see Bon Jovi out in support of their new album This House Is Not For Sale. When the tickets first went on sale, it was a bit uncertain if I was going to go as I didn't have anyone to go with. While I've long since gotten over going to shows by myself, some shows are just more fun with friends.  Fortunately Emerson and Nicole decided to go a few weeks after the tickets first went on sale and were able to snag us some pretty decent seats right before Christmas.

Apparently Bon Jovi is hiring local acts to open for them around the country, and last night's show kicked off with a 20 minute set by Thadeus Gonzalez and his band from Oakland. They weren't exactly my thing -- a rather hard rock band that just bombarded my ears. Thank goodness Nicole had a spare pair of earplugs I was able to borrow or I don't know if I could have sat through their whole set. I'll just leave it at that it's pretty cool for Bon Jovi to bring on small local acts to their massive arena show and that it's nice to see that there are still some younger long hair rock bands out in the world!

Bon Jovi took the stage around 8:15 and opened up behind a curtain/screen thing that had the album cover projected on it which appeared after a fun video of "arriving" in San Jose. It was a pretty cool look.  They kicked off the show with "This House Is Not For Sale" and followed up with another new track before hitting "You Give Love a Bad Name." On my way into the show, I chatted with the people behind me in line (having gotten separated from Emerson, Nicole, and a few other friends), one of whom was a little boy about 9 or 10 years old. He was really excited since this was his first concert and he told me "My mom's been playing their music for me. I hope they play 'You Give Love a Bad Name', that's my favorite!" I told them they probably would, so I was happy for him that he got to hear it early in the set. I love it when kids get really excited about music!

The set list was filled with a lot of new tracks and several from Lost Highway which had me pleasantly surprised. I'm enjoying the new album, so didn't mind the set list being top heavy with new tunes. The crowd was generally into them too as people were on their feet for most of the show, but the set list probably could have been mixed up a little differently so there were more classic songs surrounding the newer ones. I think I've mentioned this before, but Jon Bon Jovi definitely studied at the School of Springsteen with the way he exhorts the audience to participate in the show and keeping the energy level up high enough to keep people on their feet for most of the night, even when playing mostly new material.  It's a skill not every performer has. And, as always, I do get a kick out of his whole "I AM A ROCK STAR!" shtick. He's well aware of his magnetism and works it for all he's got while also being aware that the audience knows that's what he's doing. I will say though it's still weird seeing him with grey hair. I've seen the DirecTV ads enough so it's not like it was some kind of shock and surprise, but damn it does make me feel old seeing Jon Bon Jovi with totally grey hair! (I do give him all kinds of kudos for it though -- there are a LOT of rock stars out there who really need to give up the bad dye jobs and just let it go!)

Keeping with the grey hair theme -- Jon seems to be feeling his age a bit these days, or maybe it was just due to his birthday coming up the following day. He gave a long introduction to "God Bless This Mess" that generally covered the ups and downs of 30 plus years in the limelight. While he didn't overtly mention Richie Sambora, he alluded to their long partnership and the good and bad times that came along with it. "God Bless This Mess" was followed by "Scars on This Guitar" and kept the world-weary feel. "Scars on This Guitar" is one of my favorite tracks from This House Is Not For Sale (just behind "Reunion" which I LOVE, but was not played at the show) and the slow ballad allowed fans to light up their phones for a field of stars. Jon commented on how cool the lights looked and said something to the effect of "back in my day it was lighters" (uh, Jon, your audience is in your peer-group, it was back in everyone's day!) at which point a few Bics were flicked and caused him to say "put those out, I'll get arrested!" Not in California you won't!

The set wound down with a bunch of the hits before the four song encore that included, of course, "Dead or Alive" and "Livin' on a Prayer." Having seen Bon Jovi on the last tour after Richie quit, it wasn't AS odd to not have him singing on "Dead or Alive" and the audience pretty much drowned out Phil X who handled Richie's usual vocal, but it was still a little weird. Actually, that's one thing I forgot to mention about the crowd -- wow whenever there was a sing along bit the crowd really took it. Good and loud.

Next road report -- coming to ya from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in New York City! Woooo! (Okay, no, I'm not excited at all.  Nope, not one bit!)

Set list (courtesy of setlist.fm)

This House Is Not for Sale
Knockout
You Give Love a Bad Name
Lost Highway
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Roller Coaster
We Weren't Born to Follow
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
We Got It Goin' On
Who Says You Can't Go Home
It's My Life
We Don't Run
God Bless This Mess
Scars on This Guitar
The Devil's in the Temple
Lay Your Hands on Me
Born to Be My Baby
Have a Nice Day
Bad Medicine
Keep the Faith

Encore:
Living with the Ghost
Because We Can
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

July 14, 2016: Sting. Peter Gabriel. HOLY CRAP!

San Jose, CA
SAP Center

I so totally don't have time to write anything big up tonight as I've really got to get to bed since I'm on a plane to Denver in the morning, but OH MY GOD I had to write SOMETHING about this show tonight. I've seen both Sting and Peter Gabriel solo a few times each (though many more Sting shows than Peter's) and was going to pass on this show, but my good friend Emerson talked me into it and I am so glad he did!

As we were walking to the show, we were speculating on how it might go -- who's on first, who's closing, what songs might they both perform. What we did not expect as we rushed into our seats with minutes to spare was that BOTH Sting and Peter Gabriel would perform at the same time! MASSIVE band on stage since it was essentially two solo bands blended together. Three drummers, two keyboard players (not counting PG) a violin, a cello, back up singers, guitars, bass. Peter opened the show then Sting came on for the second song and that's pretty much how the show went all night back and forth. Sting sang some PG songs, Peter sang some Sting songs. Loads and loads of fun.

My personal highlights: early on "Invisible Sun" and "Games Without Frontiers" played back to back; "Don't Give Up" -- the female lead on this was fantastic and that's not an easy part to cover since Kate Bush has such a unique sounding voice; "Fragile" dedicated to the people of France and all the recent tragedies.

I could probably go on and on, but it's past midnight and I really need to get a couple of things done before I get on that plane tomorrow. Definitely an excellent way to start my vacation!

I didn't write down a set list and it's too early for one to be posted online it seems. Did find this set list from Denver a couple of nights ago and it looks to be the same. [Update: San Jose set list.]

And in light of recent events let's include this here.

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

July 1, 2014: Killer Queen!

San Jose, CA
SAP Center

It's taken me a bit longer to put this together than I'd expected, so with out further ado.

Last Tuesday night I met up with Leslie, Todd, and Emerson to take in Queen + Adam Lambert in San Jose. All I can say is "Wow!" Totally amazing night. Before we get to that, however, a little back story. I was never a huge Queen fan "back in the day." They were a band that was more popular with friends' older siblings than me or most of my friends. I knew who they were and a handful of songs of course, but for the most part if anyone asked me about them my response would have been along the lines of "yeah, they're OK I guess" and then would have promptly forgotten about it. I really had no opinion one way or the other about them and, all things considered, I only really remember hearing "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" and "Another One Bites the Dust" on the radio when I was a kid. (I'm sure I heard other tunes, I just have no recollection of them at all.) So, clearly, I came very late to the Queen party. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it wasn't until I heard/saw the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in my early 20s that I really registered what an incredible band they were. Better late than never I suppose.

Now, add in to this mix that I have probably watched a grand total of 15 minutes of American Idol in my life. Reality television just isn't my thing and I'm not overly interested in talent shows any way. Since I don't live under a rock, I had heard of Adam Lambert and vaguely knew who he was, but beyond that he was on my radar about as much as Queen was when I was 10.

Still, when the tickets went on sale for this show I thought "hey, that could be loads of fun!" I'd seen Queen in 2006 when they had Paul Rodgers handling the lead singer duties and had been blown away by their show. Despite not knowing much about Adam Lambert, I did know enough to think he'd be a better fit for Queen than Paul Rodgers was. Boy was I ever right!

I'm going to start off by saying despite finding an appreciation for Queen 20-some years ago now, I'm still mostly a "Greatest Hits" fan. I knew most of the songs in the set, but there were a handful that I wasn't all that familiar with. None of that mattered at all.

The show kicked off about 8:15 with all kinds of pomp and flair and when Adam Lambert walked out in his shades, leather jacket, black t-shirt, and leather pants I leaned over to Emerson and said "he's channeling his inner George Michael!" (Seriously, he looked like '90s era George Michael.) He came out with tons of energy and flair and early on in the show I thought how great it was that Brian May and Roger Taylor let him just be himself while performing. They easily could have told him to reign things in -- they're the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers after all. One of my favorite over the top moments came during "Killer Queen" when Adam Lambert was lounging on a purple fainting chair fanning himself off.

As a singer and general performer, Adam Lambert was fabulous. He didn't have that compelling magnetism that made Freddie Mercury famous and is a sign of a strong front man. That's not to say he wasn't fantastic, but just that he didn't have that vibe/energy that had everyone following what he does. I think it's probably a combination of his age and relative lack of experience (compared to the rest of the guys on stage) and the fact that he's the "fill in guy" and it's not his own stuff he's performing. There's a difference between great entertainer and compelling performer that's a little hard to describe/define; it's one of those "I know it when I see it" kind of things. Adam is definitely in the former category.

When I saw Queen with Paul Rodgers, the show was quite good, but there were songs that Paul Rodgers couldn't (or didn't) sing because he doesn't have the range that Freddie did. Adam Lambert, on the other hand, covered the whole range magnificently. My favorite Queen songs are mostly the slower ballads -- Freddie's voice is so amazing on many of them -- and Adam nailed them.

Overall, the show was the kind of show you remember going to (or wanting to go to) as a teenager. Loud, fog machines, multi-colored lights, laser lights, a spinning disco ball. All of it. Just amazing production. There was even a dual drum solo featuring Rufus Taylor (presumably) Roger Taylor's son on one kit while Roger was on the other. I can't remember the last show I went to that had an honest-to-god drum solo. Later in the show Brian May had about a 5 minute guitar solo. Again, I can't remember the last time I saw a show with a solo like that. Probably the last time I saw Queen!

Brian May and Roger Taylor each took a turn on lead vocals. Brian did a lovely acoustic version of "Love of My Life" and Roger took on "These Are the Days of Our Lives." The latter was accompanied with video of the band in their hey day. I've loved that song from the moment I first discovered it and the older I get the more I appreciate it. Brought a bit of a tear to my eye.

The climax of the show, of course, was the finale. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a bear of a song to sing and performing it live has got to be a huge challenge. It was handled beautifully. Adam Lambert started it, then it switched to Freddie's vocals on the video, and the multi-layered vocals were also the famed video. The song closed out with Adam back on vocals, but trading off the last few lines with Freddie. Adam totally nailed the song and it was AMAZING to watch. I shot some video on my phone and when I've gotten a chance to see if I can fix the orientation issues I'll upload it to my YouTube account and update this post. (Trying to find time to do that has already delayed this entry by 12 days!)

Of course the encore was the perfect ending to the show -- "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions." It was all over much too quickly, but it was a fun and hugely entertaining night out. I hope they come back around again soon.

Set List (courtesy setlist.fm):

Now I'm Here
Stone Cold Crazy
Another One Bites the Dust
Fat Bottomed Girls
In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited
Seven Seas of Rhye
Killer Queen
Somebody to Love
I Want It All
Love of My Life
'39
These Are the Days of Our Lives
-- drum solo --
Under Pressure
Love Kills
Who Wants to Live Forever
-- guitar solo --
Tie Your Mother Down
Don't Stop Me Now
Radio Ga Ga
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
The Show Must Go On
Bohemian Rhapsody

Encore:
We Are the Champions
We Will Rock You