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)

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

October 23, 2021: Welcome (back) to the Hotel California

San Francisco, CA
Chase Center

 

Two years and four days. That's what I was thinking all day Saturday -- it had been exactly two years and four days since my last concert. I can't quite remember when I'd gone that long between shows, but it's probably at least 25 years ago. After having all my shows canceled last year due to the pandemic, I was hopeful that this year would go a bit better. Alas, we're still grappling with COVID-19 and what is and isn't open still in flux. 

Granted, things have been a bit more open this year than last -- especially since mid June here in California. There were a few other shows that I considered attending in recent months but either the combination of poor scheduling (e.g. a Tuesday night) or at a venue I know to be cramped as a normal process kept me from buying any tickets. Even before 2020, I never really liked club/general admission shows as I felt my personal space was too invaded most times, so avoiding those now was an easy call.

This Eagles show was originally scheduled for last year and I considered buying tickets when the shows were announced, but that was around March 2020, so I decided to wait until closer to the show date to make a call since things were shutting down and shows were getting canceled left and right. I then completely forgot about it.

Last week I was reading the newspaper and there was a mention of the upcoming Eagles concerts, so I hopped on line to see if I could snag a ticket. Two shows on Friday and Saturday nights -- perfect. I grabbed a great seat for Saturday night and breathed a sigh of relief -- I wasn't going to go another entire year with out a show.

The Chase Center is the new Golden State Warriors arena and opened in September 2019. I was able to get there once to see Elton John that month. It was still in an almost-but-not-quite ready to go state, so I was looking forward to seeing what it would be like after it had been opened for awhile (though with out people in attendance for much of it's life span thus far.) COVID protocols in place for the venue required all attendees over 12 to be fully vaccinated and masks worn indoors at all times. That was another factor in my decision to go. I've been to a few big events in recent months, so getting more accustomed to being in big crowds again, but after 18 months of caution it's still a big leap.

I took CalTrain up to the city, and since trains run on limited service on the weekends, I decided to head up early and grab something to eat near the arena. I wound up going in to the arena and grabbing a chicken sandwich there as the line at Gott's was huge and the seating limited especially as our first rain in ages started coming in and the outdoor seating was uncovered. That meant I was sitting in my seat a full hour before the show was due to start, but I killed the time enjoying the pre-show music piped in through the PA and chatting with a couple of folks sitting nearby.

This tour, the Eagles are playing their classic album Hotel California in its entirety to open the show, and it was a great production. My seat was at the side of the stage, so I couldn't really see the neon sign at the front of the stage curtain with the Hotel California album lettering, which was a little bit of a bummer. The show started with a fellow who looked like an aging butler coming up on the stage and walking across carrying a copy of the Hotel Calilfornia album. Once he got across the stage, he took the album out of its sleeve and placed it on a turntable at the front of the stage. The crowd roars. He picks up the needle to place it on the spinning album, and the crackle of vinyl sounds. Curtain drops, and the band launches in to the title track.

There's a reason Hotel California is the Eagles most iconic album. It's consistently good from track to track, so listening to the band play it in full was a huge treat. Glenn Frey's role in the band has been handed to his son Deacon and Vince Gill since his death in 2016, and both did a great job filling those shoes. Vince took the lead on "New Kid in Town" and sounded amazing. Side one of Hotel California ends with my favorite track "Wasted Time" and for this an orchestral string section came up on the risers behind the drum kit to play the key melody. Incredible and Don Henley's vocals were in prime condition and he sounded absolutely amazing. Perhaps even the best I've ever heard him.

At the end of the song, everyone on the stage paused as a young woman dressed in Mexican/Spanish style dress crossed the stage in the same manner as the "butler" in the opening. Once she arrived at the turntable, she turned the album over and the string section launched into the "Wasted Time (Reprise)" instrumental. Amazing.

The band wrapped up the album with the string section appearing again for "The Last Resort", this time joined by a choir. Another amazing moment. When they finished, Don Henley introduced these musicians as the "San Francisco Freeway Orchestra" and the choir having been from San Francisco State (my alma mater for better or worse!) All local musicians who did an amazing job.

The band took a break for "a smoke and a pancake" which allowed me time to discover Perry Pal Liz was also at the show and seated one section over from me in the same row! We managed to connect and chat briefly between the sets and it was so great to see her after who knows how many years.

Deacon Frey playing Peaceful Easy Feeling

The band came back out about half an hour later, and kicked off the set with their gorgeous harmonies on "Seven Bridges Road." Then it was hit after hit after hit. So many good songs. This was my first time seeing the band since Glenn died and wow did Vince Gill and Deacon Frey do an amazing job covering his various lead vocals. One of the highlights was Deacon singing "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and looking so much like his dad at the time Hotel California was released right down to the mustache. As the song ended a family photo of Deacon and Glenn popped up on the video screen where Deacon looked to be about 4 or 5. HUGE lump in my throat.

Glenn Frey, circa 1976

Vince Gill took most of the Glenn Frey parts though and just nailed them. I remember seeing him years ago at an ARF benefit and really enjoying his set and his great comment that he would have been a rocker "if I weren't so fat." He definitely was able to rock out -- I was especially impressed with some of his guitar playing. He and Joe Walsh went toe-to-toe during "Rocky Mountain Way" and it was great.

Throughout the show, there were moments I just teared up -- it was so good to be at a concert again and that feel of live music. I've missed it so much. The show was too consistently good to pick one single highlight, but as always the encore of "Desperado" was a favorite. It's my favorite Eagles song and as I said above, Don Henley was in great voice last night so it sounded so so good. They brought the orchestra up for that song too making it sound amazing.

I left the show grinning behind my mask (which stayed on through most of the show until the encore. I've gotten used to wearing a mask for 8-hours on days when I'm in the office, but whew, it was tough for a 3-hour concert!) The rain had gotten heavier while the show went on, so it was a bit of a clog at the exits as people pulled out their umbrellas, but I had opted to not bring one, so just put up the hood of my jacket and squeezed my way out and was able to hop on the first Muni car to the CalTrain station. Muni was packed with people, but I happened to notice a couple of young people standing next to me who had instrument cases on their backs. I tapped the shoulder of one of them and asked if she had been part of the orchestra. She said she was, and I told her how much I enjoyed their contribution to the show -- it was a really great enhancement to all the songs they played. I asked how much rehearsal they'd had for the show and she told me "None." Wow! That made the performance even more incredible. 

It was 1:00 by the time I got home with that tired and wired feeling after so many concerts, but god did I miss that feeling. Right now, I don't have any other shows on the calendar until May, but I definitely got my much needed fix and should be able to make it another seven months if needed. We'll see what else comes up between now and then.

Set list:

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 & choir)

--intermission--

Seven Bridges Road
Take It Easy
One of These Nights
Take It to the Limit (w/ orchestra)
Lyin' Eyes
Witchy Woman
In the City
I Can't Tell You Why
Peaceful Easy Feeling (Deacon Frey lead)
Tequila Sunrise (w/ orchestra)
Those Shoes
Life's Been Good
Already Gone (Deacon Frey lead)
Funk #49
Heartache Tonight

Encore:
Rocky Mountain Way
Desperado (w/ orchestra)
The Boys of Summer
Best of My Love

September 21, 2018: The Prelude to 50 Begins

San Francisco, CA

AT&T Park

When the dates for Journey's tour were announced earlier this year, I took a look at the calendar and found that they'd be playing in San Francisco just a couple of weeks before my birthday. I shot off a message to Ana Marie who, like me, would be turning 50 within two weeks of the show. Ten years ago, we similarly celebrated a milestone birthday with a Journey show, but that one had a lot of mixed emotions to go along with our birthdays. This time, we could celebrate and be in a much happier place than we were for that show.

Like 39, 49 has been a year of a bit of turmoil for me. Unlike that year, however, the changes have been mostly for the better. When the tickets for this show went on sale, I was unemployed for the first time since I was 19 years old. I got the ticket anyway, figuring that I'd have a job by the time the show rolled around and would figure out the logistics of a Friday night show when it finally did. I did find a new job not too long afterward and the negative of 49 quickly turned in to a positive as I'm really enjoying the new opportunity. As the show approached, I arranged my schedule with my manager -- I'd work from home in the morning and take the afternoon off so I could meet Ana Marie and Mary Ann who was flying in from Memphis for the show.

Then I got a message from my mother. My uncle Will had passed away and his funeral was going to be the same day as the show. Will had been ill for a while, so his passing wasn't a surprise, but now I had to figure what I was going to do about the show. If I had been going by myself, I most likely would have skipped the show -- it would be a very long day to do both. Since I had planned to meet friends, I had to figure out the logistics of attending the services for my uncle and then getting back to the city in time for the show. So, I threw a change of clothes in my backpack and left it in the trunk of my car to change into at the end of the reception. That my family, and especially my cousins who had just lost their father, were all saying "Great! Enjoy the show!" made me feel better about the whole thing. In the end, I realized, that life is meant to be lived and even in sadness you can find joy.

I got to the show in plenty of time to meet up with Mary Ann and her son and soon Emerson and Nicole swung by and we all got to chat for a while before it was time to head to our seats for Foreigner who were opening the show. It was only 6:00, but I was already pretty wiped out from a long day so we mostly sat through Foreigner while they did their brief set. It's been a while since I'd seen them and, as often happens, I had forgotten just how much I enjoy their music. I need to pull out their greatest hits more often.

Def Leppard was scheduled to start at 7:30, so Ana Marie, her friend Leona, and I were up and on our feet as soon as the opening notes to "Rocket" started. Then the stage went dark. Hmm. That's not supposed to happen. There was some kind of power failure on stage and we had to wait about five minutes for things to get rebooted and start all over. Once things got rolling again, Def Leppard put on the kind of show I have come to expect from them. Big, loud, high energy, and just an all around rock show. I probably haven't seen them since the last time they toured with Journey 12 years ago, but the energy of their show is still great. While I never was a HUGE fan, I did always enjoy their music and seeing them again after a while was fun.

A couple of highlights from Lep's set included the acoustic "Two Steps Behind" which was fantastic, and I can't help but be enthralled by Rick Allen's drum solo. It really never ceases to amaze me that he has managed to remain a drummer despite only having one arm. It's truly mind boggling. Their main set closed out with everyone's favorite stripper song -- "Pour Some Sugar on Me" -- which is always great live. They came back out quickly for a two-song encore of "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph" which are probably two of my favorite songs of theirs. Having the crowd sing along with "Rock of Ages" is always a cool thing.

Another short break between sets and Journey came out around 9:40 to their hometown crowd. The second song of the set was "Only the Young", and at just two weeks away from 50 I can't really call myself young any more, but I definitely still feel young at heart when I hear that song. The chorus of that song has always put a big smile on my face. That I feel I'm in a good place in my life right now is also a good thing, and that song kind of reminds me of that. 

One thing I was wary of going in to this show was the memory of how Def Leppard totally blew Journey off the stage the last time they toured together. Their stage production just didn't hold up and the crowds were way more into the Lep's set than Journey's. This time around, Journey had a much improved production with a lot of animations of the old album covers that made for an interesting background. It wasn't quite as eclectic as Def Leppard's production, but it matched it fairly well I thought.

Ana and I were both surprised when Neal began his introduction to "Lights" fairly early in the set. We had both expected it to show up later for the home town crowd. As he has been doing recently, he dedicated the song to Steve Perry, which I can't decide is touching or amusing. Maybe a little of both -- I've spent a long time in Journeyland. AT&T Park lit up their cell phones and it's a pretty cool sight to see. I always love hearing "Lights" in my backyard, that it's the third time I've heard it sitting a little over a hundred yards from San Francisco Bay just made it more special. Jon's solo later in the set was nice and it was fun to hear snippets of "When You Love a Woman" and "Send Her My Love." Ana and I both held our breath when the opening notes from "When You Love a Woman" showed up. The last time we'd heard Journey perform it was at that show 10 years ago. I've been listening to Trial by Fire a lot lately in anticipation of Steve Perry's new album, so it would have been great to hear it live again.

I really love that Steve Smith is out on the road with Journey again. As much as I love Deen, there's just something special about seeing Smitty play and his drum solo was incredible once again. Some of the bits he included I've seen him do before in his solo shows, but that doesn't make his drumming any less spectacular.

The show wrapped up a little after 11:00 with "Faithfully" and "Don't Stop Believin'," and for all that DSB has gotten overplayed everywhere in recent years, I can't not love hearing it. It's given me goosebumps for 37 years now, so I don't expect that to stop anytime soon.

Ana, Leona, and I walked out of the show and parted ways a few blocks from AT&T Park as they headed to BART and I headed to my car. It was a very long day for me and I was completely wiped out by the time I got home (and took all of yesterday to recover, hence the Sunday RRR.) While the day started off sad, it ended in smiles and celebration and that's how life should be.

And this party's just getting started... a few more fun times coming up as the countdown to 50 continues. Stay tuned!

Set lists (courtesy of setlist.fm)

Foreigner:

Long, Long Way From Home
Cold as Ice
Feels Like the First Time
Urgent
Juke Box Hero
I Want to Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded

Def Leppard:

Rocket
Animal
Foolin'
When Love and Hate Collide
Let's Get Rocked
Armageddon It
Rock On
Two Steps Behind (acoustic)
Man Enough
Love Bites
Bringin' on the Heartbreak
Switch 625 (with drum solo.)
Hysteria
Pour Some Sugar on Me

Encore:
Rock of Ages
Photograph

Journey:

Separate Ways
Only the Young
Escape
Stone in Love
Be Good to Yourself
--Neal solo #1 --
Lights
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
-- Jon solo --
Who's Crying Now
Open Arms
La Do Da
-- Steve Smith drum solo --
Any Way You Want It
-- Neal solo #2 --
Wheel in the Sky
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'

February 9, 2018: Neal Schon's Journey Through Time Featuring Deen Castronovo!

San Francisco, CA
The Independent

Next month will mark the twentieth anniversary of the first time I ever saw Neal Schon play live. That was the first thought that hit me last night at The Independent. The show was about two or three songs into the first set and I was standing a couple people away from Neal's side of center stage when I looked up and had an instant flashback to that night in 1998. Then, it was a slightly bigger club featuring a night of reggae music. Now, it was Neal and Gregg Rolie pulling out the whole Journey catalog with Deen Castronovo doing double duty as drummer and lead vocalist for the Perry-era tracks. Marco Mendoza took the role of Ross Valory with John Varn handling some of the keyboard parts that Gregg's Hammond B3 couldn't quite manage.

When this show was first announced, I wasn't sure I could make it. Tickets were $100 and went on sale right before Christmas when the budget's always a little tight, but I knew this wasn't a show to miss, so I dove in and got myself a ticket. That the funds are going to fire relief in the Napa/Sonoma area was definitely a push too. Show day rolled around pretty quickly, and it was up to the city to meet Leslie, Cheryl, Jenn, and Teresa for a pre-show visit and quick bite to eat. After some adventures in parking, we finally arrived at the Independent about 5:00 and found Hope and Sandi at the front of the line. Teresa and Leslie joined them while Cheryl, Jenn, and I went to grab a bite to eat. On our way to the cafe, Deen popped out of the club. He was dashing to his car, so we didn't get to chat, but he did go over and say hi to Teresa and the others after we'd left.

Cheryl and I took our time after dinner since neither of us was all that excited by the prospect of standing in line until 8:30 when the doors would open and headed over to the club about 7:00. When we arrived, it was time to do the "meet and greet" -- I walked down the line and ran into friends about every 5 feet, both those I knew would be there and a few I didn't. That is the one advantage to a general admission show -- you have to line up well in advance, so you get a chance to see people you weren't expecting to see. There was a pretty good crowd of the old Journey gang and lots of visiting while we waited to get in.

Once we finally got inside, everyone kind of clustered in different areas. There was a group of us pretty close to center stage. A few off to the side. And a few others lost among the crowd. Before the show, I figured the set list would include some pre-Perry era Journey, some Santana tunes, some pre-Escape tunes, and maybe some covers. That's not at all what we got. It was a show full of Journey tunes from all eras. There were songs I've never heard live before. There were songs I thought I'd never hear again. It was surreal. And the star of the show was Deen on vocals. He was just amazing. He's always been the closest to sounding like Steve Perry among all the guys who've sung lead for Journey in the post-Perry era, and the way he sang last night was just more evidence of the fact.

The show opened with three songs from the pre-Perry era which, fortunately, I was able to identify pretty quickly. I like those albums, but listen to them so seldom that it always takes a while for me to remember which song is which. Then we got the first stunner of the night when they launched into "Daydream" out of "Kohoutek." Daydream! It took me a second to actually recognize it because I was so stunned. It was just amazing to hear live with that otherworldly sound it has. It's a totally underrated gem in the Journey catalog. That was followed by "La Do Da" and "Line of Fire" which have appeared in recent Journey sets since Steve Smith returned to the drums. Then came the next highlight -- Deen doing his best at copying Steve Perry's Captured introduction of Neal and Gregg going in to "Walks Like a Lady" (it was pretty close, but not quite.)

By this point in the show, I figured, OK, it's going to be pre-Perry through Captured era Journey, so you can imagine my surprise when a few songs later Deen launched in to "Still They Ride" out of "Lights!" (As always, "Lights" got a great hometown reception.) I was amazed. Escape is my favorite Journey album, and "Still They Ride" has always been near the top of my list of favorite Journey songs. I had thought they were going to play "Stay Awhile" out of "Lights" because Deen had mentioned rehearsing it when he chatted with Teresa before the show, so "Still They Ride" was a pleasant surprise.

The guys had been playing for about an hour and a half when they wrapped up the set with "Wheel in the Sky." I was hot, thirsty, and my knee was beginning to ache, so thought "great show, I need to get some water before I drive home." Then Neal said "stick around, we'll be back in a little bit for our second set." Second set?!! Oh my god! I'm gonna die! I had to get some water, so I said goodbye to the gang at the front of the stage and worked my way back to the bar to buy some. I found Emerson and Nicole and chatted with them for a little while before going back and buying a second bottle of water, having guzzled the first in less than five minutes. (The place was HOT! Not quite House of Blues Hollywood hot, but pretty close. No one fainted this time at least!) Prior to the show, Teresa had arranged for a couple of seats due to her recent surgery. Cheryl was in one, but Teresa stuck at the front of the stage all night, so I was able to join Cheryl at the second seat for the second set. Thank goodness! It was cooler there and I could sit and rest my knee. (As I said to Darryl on Facebook the morning of the show, we may be young at heart, but we're old in the knees!)

The second set started about 11:00 and just blew my mind. Deen and Neal came out first and Deen stepped up to the front of the stage and did an AMAZING medley of "Patiently", "Trial by Fire", and "Stay Awhile!" My jaw just dropped when "Patiently" turned in to "Trial by Fire." Deen was clearly emotional after that one too, and after all the crap he's been through over the past few years, I'm so glad he seems to have gotten everything turned around. He clearly appreciated what he was doing last night and "Trial by Fire" really cemented it.

The rest of the guys came out after that and on to more pre-Escape Journey. "Lovin' You Is Easy" was a big surprise, but then they went in to "Lady Luck" and it was just unreal. Seriously, it was so amazing to get a chance to hear these songs that I've never heard performed live before. Cheryl and I were just gobsmacked by it all. There was a fellow behind us equally gobsmacked and we all just said "wow!" Then came a stretch of pre-Perry songs that I had to guess at (thanks to setlist.fm for confirming/correcting my guesses) with Marco taking the lead vocal on "Hustler."

Then came "Mother, Father." ACK! My all time always and forever favorite Journey song! I was so happy to hear this one again, and only minimally weepy. Deen does such a great job on this, so it was great to be able to hear him sing it again. The set wound down with "Any Way You Want It" and "Don't Stop Believin'." Gregg had an amusing look on his face as it started and kind of waved his hands around like a conductor at the opening notes which were played by John Varn on keyboards since, obviously, a Hammond B3 sounds completely different than a piano!

The guys went off after that, but the house lights didn't come back on, so we knew they were coming back out. I turned to Cheryl and said "What do you think they'll do? This isn't a normal show where you can say 'well, they haven't played X' yet." The fellow behind us suggested it might be "On a Saturday Nite" on the theory that it was the only Gregg vocal that hadn't been done, but we didn't think so. You don't follow "Don't Stop Believin'" with pre-Perry Journey. One of us commented that we were surprised we hadn't heard any Santana and our new friend said "yeah, but I wouldn't expect it." Well, guess what? Santana set encore!

That truly closed out the night in amazing fashion. This was a show that you just don't get to see, and totally worth everything it took to get there. After the show was over, everyone hung around for a bit for a long farewell and I managed to spot Lora Beard and Cyndy Poon from Fan Asylum and went over to say hello/goodbye. A few last minute group photos, and we were all headed back to our cars for the ride back home (or hotel as the case may be for a few.)

A few final shout outs: Special thanks to Leslie and Linda for your thoughtfulness. The execution may have been bumbled, but the thought was there and I appreciate it. And special thoughts to CJ, you and Mark were with us last night too. I love my Journey family!

Set List:

Set 1:

I'm Gonna Leave You
Look Into the Future
Kohoutek
Daydream
La Do Da
Line of Fire
Walks Like a Lady
Feeling That Way
Anytime
Lights
Still They Ride
Separate Ways
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Wheel in the Sky

Set 2:

Patiently/Trial By Fire/Stay Awhile
Mystery Mountain
Of a Lifetime
Just the Same Way
Where Were You
Lovin' You Is Easy
Lady Luck
You're On Your Own
Hustler (Marco vocal)
Nickel and Dime
People
Mother, Father
Any Way You Want It
Don't Stop Believin'

Encore:

Black Magic Woman
Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va

September 4, 2016: San Francisco Fest on the Green

San Francisco, CA
AT&T Park

Wow.... Just, wow. What a great weekend. It was as trip back in time on so many different levels. Things started out on Saturday night when we managed to get a group of 13 Journey fans together for a night-before dinner at Rosa Mexicano in San Francisco. We had a pretty good mix of locals and out of towners and it was go great to spend time talking and laughing with friends. Once I stopped road-tripping for Journey after 2006, this was the thing I missed the most. Sure, I had a ridiculous number of opportunities to meet, talk, and visit with the various members of my favorite band, but that was never my goal -- it was the frosting. The cake was meeting and making new friends who had the same love for Journey that I did and along the way we were able to have so many happy times and make lasting friendships.

The gang at Rosa Mexicana

Saturday night was much like so many of the pre-show parties I attended between 1998-2006. So, Adriana, Jenn, Barb, Valerie P. it was great hanging with you all. Cheryl, remind Charles he is on our list for not showing up! Hope, Jenny, and Darryl glad you could drive in from the Central Valley. Leslie, Linda, Walt, and Emerson -- we have GOT to get our act together and see each other more often! And special shout out to the attendant at the parking lot where I parked my car who waved off the $10 parking charge for me when the credit card reader wouldn't work! Woo hoo! Free parking in downtown San Francisco! SCORE!

When Journey announced their tour plans for 2016 back in November, the original schedule didn't have a San Francisco date. A bit annoying and with Steve Smith back touring with the band for the first time since 1983, I wasn't going to wait to find out when a San Francisco date would be added and hit the road for the tour opener in Irvine in May. Then March rolled around and WOW what a way to end the tour -- a Day on the Green-like show at AT&T Park with Tower of Power, the Steve Miller Band, the Doobie Brothers, Santana, and Journey! This was going to be one epic night of Bay Area legends! Especially since I was too young to go to the original Days on the Green shows featuring Journey in the early 80s.

So, Sunday rolled around and Ana Marie made the trek down from Sacramento to join me for the show. We met at my place and headed out to grab a quick lunch before getting on CalTrain to meet people at AT&T. I had suggested a meet-up at the Willie Mays statue in front of the park at 2:00 for a quick group photo and chat before the show started, so I wanted to be sure to be on the 12:48 train that arrived in San Francisco at 1:38, especially since when I'd checked the schedule for Sunday there weren't any plans for extra trains and the next train would be at 1:48 (arriving at 2:38.) We got to the train station a couple of minutes before the train was due and as we were walking to the platform I noticed my phone was missing! Ack! Quick jog back to the car to see if it had fallen out of my bag and not left at home. Yep, there was my phone sitting on the back seat. Run back to the station and get up to the platform and see that the train is running about 10 minutes late. Not a huge surprise, it tends to run behind when there are large crowds. There were a lot more people at the station than I had anticipated and when the train pulled in, we were all in for a surprise. The train was PACKED! They let about half of the people on the platform on the train before the conductor said the train was full! Fortunately she also let us know another added train was coming about 20 minutes behind.

We finally got on the train about 1:20 -- it was crowded, but not full and Ana and I were able to get a couple of seats -- and off to San Francisco. We got to the city about 2:10 and headed up to the ballpark and I could not believe the number of people everywhere! I've been to Opening Day and playoff games at AT&T a bunch of times and those were the only times I could compare it to. Maybe a bobblehead day back when the Giants only gave away 20,000 instead of 40,000. Lines everywhere! People everywhere! I knew immediately there would be no way we could meet up with people at Willie Mays in the masses of people. Ana and I did a quick circuit around the statue to make sure no one was waiting on us then headed over to the merch booth to pick up some swag. I spent too much money, but it was worth it! We got in line and waited to get through security. The lines were pretty long, but moved at a pretty good pace. Usually before baseball games they open the gates two hours before the scheduled first pitch, but on Sunday there was only an hour between the opening of the gates and the start of the show which explains why the lines were so crazy.

We were probably in our seats by 2:45 for the 3:00 start. Tower of Power was up first and put on a great set of soul and R&B with fantastic harmonies and their amazing horn section. They didn't have a very long set list, but covered the big hits which I always forget just how well I know them. They closed out with "You're Still a Young Man" and "What Is Hip," but I think my favorite tune is still "So Very Hard to Go."

Hail Hail the gang's mostly here!
(photo courtesy Darryl Croffoot)

After TOP, it was a dash up to the World Series trophy case to see if we could meet up with some friends (and no, Darryl, it wasn't to rub into the face of Dodger fans!) I had inadvertently picked the absolutely perfect spot as right next to the trophy case (with the beautiful triplets in their full glory on display) was a big back drop for group photos! Leslie F. was there when we arrived as were Matt, Wendy, Darryl, and Jenny. Eventually Cheryl, Scott, Adriana, and Jenn joined us and we all got in line to get our picture taken. We all chatted for a bit and then the Doobie Brothers took the stage, so we all dashed off to our seats.

We missed the first song or two, but Ana and I kicked back and enjoyed some more classics. Like in Irvine, the crowd wasn't completely up on their feet until the end of the set with "China Grove" and "Listen to the Music." I actually spent part of this set texting with a few people, but most importantly with Darla's daughter Telysa. If there was anyone at the show I absolutely HAD to connect with it was Telysa and her husband Rob. We've done a pretty good job at staying in touch via Facebook since Darla died, but an absolutely miserable job of seeing each other in person. We agreed to meet back at the trophy case between the Doobies and Steve Miller, so once the Doobies' set was done, off Ana and I went to meet Telysa and Rob.

We had a really nice visit and wound up missing most of Steve Miller's set, which was fine by pretty much all of us. I'm not a huge Steve Miller fan and I saw him a couple of years ago (last year?) with Journey so I was good. We took this break to grab a bite to eat before we headed back to our respective seats for the last few songs of the set. What I really wanted was to be set and ready to go for the next two acts -- Santana and Journey!

Before I get to the two headliners, a bit about the crowd. This was definitely an older crowd -- many of whom I'm sure attended those great Day on the Green shows back in the day -- but wow what a lot of energy. People were dancing and singing all over the place. It was clear everyone was having a fantastic time with all these local legends. I'm pretty sure that I saw a post on Twitter or Facebook after the show was over that there were 50,000 people at the show making it the largest crowd in AT&T Park's history (since baseball seating is about 42,000, that would be impressive.) I know I was amazed seeing people sitting in the far left field seats on the main and club levels -- those seats are totally angled the wrong way for the stage set up. And there were a smattering of people in the left field seats in the upper deck too -- though I suspect they may have been staff and/or folks wanting to get away from the crowd a bit. Still, those seats face home plate, not center field where the stage was. The field was completely filled (sorry Giants! I hope it's not too wrecked when you get back from this road trip!) and about half of the arcade seats above the right field wall were filled in too. Only the bleachers behind the stage in center field were completely empty! And with all those people at an all day concert, I didn't notice one bit of trouble. I'm sure there probably was some, but for the most part, it was just a great night out listening to great music

While waiting for Santana to come on stage I noticed the set up -- even from a distance it didn't look like a Hammond B3 was set up anywhere. That's strange, I thought, aren't Gregg and Neal and some (all?) of the other original members going to join the show? That was the implication I got when the show was announced shortly after the dual headlining Journey/Santana shows in New York this spring. Well, I figured, you're sitting pretty far from the stage, maybe you just can't see the organ.

Alas, my first instinct was right, and Gregg and Neal didn't join Carlos and the current line up of Santana for the show. Once I got over that little disappointment, I was able to really enjoy the set. Carlos has two guys on vocals and they did an amazing job harmonizing and trading lead on a variety of songs. Most of the set list was either stuff from the multi-platinum Supernatural album ("Maria, Maria", "Corazón Espinado", "Smooth") or classic original Santana ("Jingo", "Evil Ways", "Soul Sacrifice", "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va".) Carlos's brother Jorge joined in mid-set and played the Malo hit "Suavecito" which was absolutely fantastic! I did rather laugh to myself whenever one of the classic-era songs was played -- I've never heard anyone but Gregg Rolie sing those tunes! And they sounded just a bit off with the programmed keyboard rather than the original Hammond B3 organ. One of the closing highlights of the set was the amazing drum solo by Cindy Blackman Santana. She is one bad ass drummer!

The show was running pretty smoothly and more or less on time until a couple of people came out to speak between Santana and Journey. The long and the short of it -- this show was a memorial/tribute to the late Bill Graham who had orchestrated so many great shows back in the day and most memorably the Days on the Green, some of the money from the ticket sales was going to the Bill Graham Foundation which supports local art and music programs, and that the show sold out completely in ONE DAY! Go old people music!

Journey came out to close out the epic evening of music and played a condensed version of the set list they played in Irvine back in May. As I let the music wash over me, I felt a lot of stress and tension leave my body. It had been a particularly stressful week at work leading up to the show and I needed a night like this more than ever. A couple of poignant moments came with Neal's two solos. His first, early in the set, was "Taps" followed by the "Star Spangled Banner" (most everyone was standing) which I'm sure was a partial tribute to his mom who passed away a couple of weeks ago and whose memorial service had been on Saturday. The second solo was definitely a tribute to his mom with "Amazing Grace" and I'm pretty sure a chunk of "Beyond the Clouds" from the Generations album. It was pretty powerful. Another highlight came fairly early in the set when Neal stepped up to the mic to introduce "Lights" which he said was a song he wrote with "Steven Perry" and then cracked "Steve are you here tonight? He's here a lot you know. Steve, if you're here, come on up!" (For those unaware, Steve Perry is a big Giants fan and has been in attendance pretty frequently over the last 5-6 years.) I laughed and leaned over to Ana and said "He usually sits up there" and pointed to the club level section next to the broadcast booth. Yeah, this Journey/Giants fan knows where Steve Perry usually sits (and hell, nearly ran smack dab in to the man back in 2010!) Neal also encouraged folks to light up their phones and wow... the stadium looked AMAZING with all the phones waving through out the song about our beloved home town. "Lights" is always the best when played at home in the Bay Area. To be in the city proper, sitting on the shore of the bay... couldn't get any better. I know I'll be picturing that scene every time the Giants play "Lights" during the 8th inning (of course, they need to start winning a few games for that to happen! ARGH are they frustrating right now!)

I ran out to the restroom during "La Do Da" so I wound up missing about half of Steve Smith's solo, but the part I did catch was amazing. As the set was winding down, the lady behind me started getting very worried, they hadn't played "Don't Stop Believin'" yet. I turned around and said "Don't worry, they will." And blammo, right on the heels of "Faithfully" there it was. The crowd went nuts -- or at least as much of the crowd as was left. Lots of folks headed out early for one reason or another. I'll never understand that, especially when the next day is a holiday that most people have off.

The show wrapped up with "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" and then it was the mad dash back to the train station to catch the express to Belmont. We made it in plenty of time and even managed to grab a couple of seats. Ana and I rehashed the show all the way home (and even a bit afterwards before Ana made the trek back to Sac.) This was such a fun and amazing weekend that was so reminiscent of all those shows I took in over a decade ago now. I've said all along that the thing I miss most about my Journey journeys is getting to hang with all the amazing people I've met over the years. This weekend just reinforced that feeling. It was SO great to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while and a big bummer to not get to see everyone. Journey peeps -- you rock!

Set lists (all but Journey's courtesy of Setlist.fm, so any errors are not mine)

Tower of Power
We Came to Play
Soul With a Capital "S"
You Ought to Be Havin' Fun
Get Yo' Feet Back on the Ground
So Very Hard to Go
Soul Vaccination
You're Still a Young Man
What Is Hip?

Doobie Brothers
Jesus Is Just Alright
Rockin' Down the Highway
Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)
Dark Eyed Cajun Woman
Spirit
Sweet Maxine
Eyes of Silver
Clear as the Driven Snow
Bill Payne keyboard solo
Takin' It to the Streets
The Doctor
Black Water
Long Train Runnin'
China Grove

Encore:
Without You (I'm not sure this was played as I only remember one song in the encore)
Listen to the Music

Steve Miller

 I Want to Make the World Turn Around
Serenade
Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma
Winter Time
Jungle Love
Take the Money and Run
Abracadabra
Dance Dance Dance
The Stake
Fly Like an Eagle
Swingtown
Jet Airliner
Rock'n Me

Encore:
Space Cowboy / The Joker

Santana

Toussaint L'Ouverture
Foo Foo
Maria Maria
Corazón Espinado
Jingo
Evil Ways
Soul Sacrifice
Suavecito (Malo cover) (with Jorge Santana)
Crystal Blue Persuasion (with Jorge Santana)
Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen (I don't remember hearing Gypsy Queen)
Oye Como Va
Smooth (with Jorge Santana)

Band introductions -- "Roxanne" (Police cover) sung by one of the guitarists, was quite fun!

Love, Peace and Happiness

Journey

Intro
Separate Ways
Be Good to Yourself
Only the Young
- Neal solo 1 - Taps/Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Any Way You Want It
Lights
- Jon solo -
Open Arms
Who's Crying Now
Escape
La Do Da
- Smitty solo -
- Neal solo 2 - Amazing Grace/Beyond the Clouds
Wheel in the Sky
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'

Encore:
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

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.

October 15, 2011: Long Time No Journey

Mountain View, CA
Shoreline Amphitheater

Better late than never right?

This past Saturday I took in my one and only Journey show of the year. So different from the way things were a few years ago when my minimum Journey concerts per year was 4. But things change and we move on and I took in just my third show since Arnel joined the band.

In all honesty, I think I was looking more forward to seeing Night Ranger and Foreigner than I was to Journey. The new album has failed to capture me at all. The songs aren't bad, but there's nothing that jumped out at me and made me say "wow, I love this!" which has almost always been a normal response for me. So, both albums featuring Arnel sit on the shelf (Revelation more for too many bad memories associated with it than for the tunes, some of which I do like.)

The thing that I've missed most since I cut back my Journey touring is seeing the many friends I made over the 8 years I spent dashing from one end of the country to another (and even a couple of other countries!) So I was glad to spend some time before the show began with friends for dinner. I met up with Frank, Cheryl, Karyn and Joe, and Jebber (Jim) in all the way from the UK, plus a few of Frank's friends whose names I've forgotten and hung out over some tasty sandwiches and chatted before heading out to the show. Once arriving we met up with Emerson, Leslie, Debbie, and Scott and then found Hope when we got inside. It was great to see Debbie and Scott at the show -- they were two of the first folks I met way back in '98 when this whole crazy scene began and it was so nice to catch up a little bit. (Now if Kevin had joined us then it would have been a total '98 reunion!) Debbie brought her son along and the last time I'd seen him he was in elementary school and stood about waist high to me -- he's 20 now and much taller! Where did the time go?

I was actually sitting with Scott and we got really good seats about 7 rows from the stage near the center aisle. Debbie, Leslie, Cheryl, and Emerson had all bought 4-star seats for a nice amount more than we paid and were more or less in the same spot we were, just more center stage. I forgot to ask just what they got for that extra $$$!!! We made it inside with a few minutes to spare before Night Ranger hit the stage about 10 minutes early. A fun but too short set followed. I really wished they'd played longer.

Set change and Foreigner took the stage. Or I should say the best Foreigner tribute band I've ever seen took the stage. I knew going in that Mick Jones was the only original member left in the band, but not even he was there Saturday night! They were good, but still, no original band members??!! I wondered how many folks there knew what they were seeing. Kelly Hansen, the new singer, was quite good and climbed out in to the audience a couple of times -- once stopping almost dead in front of Leslie and Cheryl. I know Leslie enjoyed that!

On to the Journey set. I loved the stage set up -- very slick and headline material. Was surprised to see Arnel had cut his hair (you can tell how much I've been following the band lately that I hadn't noticed that on the CD sleeve!) He definitely looked more "rock star" than the previous two times I've seen him. I would have had a great view of the stage all night if not for the guy in front of me who felt that every moment of the show was a Kodak moment and had his camera up for large chunks of the show. I like that you no longer have to come up with creative ways to smuggle a camera in to shows these days, but when you had to be discreet about photography you didn't have to deal with obstructed views. Anyway, this meant I didn't see much of Arnel between the combination of his shortness and MY shortness and CameraMan. Saw a lot of Ross and Deen. Ross looked much better than the last couple of times I've seen him, so that was good. Still hate Deen's hair. Jon and Neal were mostly obscured by either my seat angle (Neal) or CameraMan (Jon.) Kinda defeats the point of having a "good" seat doesn't it?

The set list was mostly the "dirty dozen" with only one new tune thrown in. Cheryl told me they had done more earlier in the tour. I know that story well, but honestly, unlike years past I wasn't too disappointed. There were no huge highlights for me, though when they played "Escape," with the eponymous album cover flashing on the screens behind the stage, I couldn't help but think how much I love that album, even 30 years later. A lot of the magic of a Journey show has gone out of it for me, but there is always the music I've known and loved for the better part of my life and it will never go away. So Saturday I reflected more about all the joy and friendships I have made since that fateful day 15 years ago when Trial By Fire was released (yes Journey fans, can you believe it we are just days away from the 15th anniversary of the failed reunion that started it all?) and I discovered the amazing online community of fellow Journey freaks. Wouldn't trade that for anything.

OH! How could I forget! There was a "highlight" of sorts. I knew from friends reports that Neal had taken to giving away guitars at some shows. Saturday was no different. Though instead of the guitar going to a kid as has been the case most nights, this guitar went to someone entirely different. I didn't actually notice when Neal went up the wings during one of his solos (and I honestly can't remember which song -- "Wheel in the Sky" maybe?) until Scott nudged me to look over. There, eagerly awaiting Neal, was his new girlfriend. For those of you buried under a rock, Michaele Salahi, notorious White House crasher/reality show "star" has run off from her husband and hooked up with Neal. So there she stood and Neal hands her the guitar and we got to witness an overly enthusiastic PDA. YUCK! Can't unsee that no matter how much I'd like to. Oh the foolishness.

As always, the night ended much too soon and we all said our goodbyes and headed home. Until the next time...