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

October 3, 2017: Springsteen on Broadway

New York, NY
Walter Kerr Theatre

Walter Kerr Theatre

Not long after my trip to New York to see Journey inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I saw an announcement that Bruce Springsteen was thinking about doing a one-man show on Broadway in the Fall. My immediate thought -- that would be so cool to get to see! The original stories indicated the shows would likely begin in November, which was far enough out for me to consider what I'd have to do to swing a second trip to New York in a year. It would be expensive, but I could probably make it work if the timing was right. In August, the dates for the run were announced and imagine my surprise and delight to discover that the very first date of the run was going to be my birthday. My birthday?! New York City? Bruce Springsteen? FIRST SHOW?! Oh hell yeah, I was going to move heaven and earth to get to see that!

The first key step, of course, was getting a ticket. I signed up for the "Verified Account" with Ticketmaster immediately and then crossed my fingers I'd get the access code when the tickets went on sale on August 30. There wasn't any real good explanation about what or how your account would be "verified", but hey, if it did anything to limit the bots and scalpers I was in. I happened to be on vacation the last week of August, so on the afternoon of the 29th, I was diligently checking my email to see if I would be able to get the ticket code the next day. The email finally arrived, and yes, I was going to be able to buy tickets. Most everyone else I knew who was looking for tickets got placed on "standby", which really stinks. Next step up -- make sure all my internet enabled devices were fully charged and ready to go and turn off the "Do Not Disturb" mode on my phone as the text with my code would be arriving between 3-5 a.m. Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on the 30th, so that meant I was up and out of bed fully logged in to everything on multiple devices at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time. To heck with sleeping in on a vacation day! 7 a.m. arrived, and I clicked on the link to buy tickets and started my search. I knew that it would be challenging to get a ticket for the October 3 date, and really any date I could get would be fine, so I selected different dates on the computer and 2 iPads I was using to search for tickets. My older iPad kept crashing, so I gave that one up pretty quickly. My new iPad was working on the October 4 show while my computer was going for October 3. The iPad came up first with a seat, so I said "close enough!" and clicked purchase with out even checking exactly where the seat was. It was in the building, that was fine by me. The one thing I had forgotten to grab was my credit card. The number is stored in my account, but I forgot I'd need the verify code on the back. I hopped up and grabbed my wallet to get the card to complete my purchase. When I sat back down at my desk, a ticket had popped up on my computer! A ticket for the show on my birthday! Oh yes yes yes! I clicked purchase on that one and cancelled the iPad. It wasn't quite 7:30 in the morning and I had succeeded in getting a ticket! I literally started dancing around the living room and shouting "Woo hoo" for about 5 minutes like a crazy person.

I spent the rest of my August vacation working out the logistics to get myself to New York for a couple of days. What I'd do around the show would be secondary -- it's New York City, it's not hard to find something to do -- just as long as I kept the block from about 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on October 3 free and clear, I'm good. It did occur to me about a day or two after I bought the ticket, that I should see if I could find a seating chart for the theater. I knew I had purchased an orchestra seat, but beyond that I really hadn't looked too closely at the ticket. (Again, I had a ticket, I would be in the building, it was fine by me!) It turned out I had the last seat in the row on the left side of the theater in row L. Okay, a little further off center stage than I would have preferred, but fine.

I got to New York late Monday afternoon and got myself situated. My hotel was on West 46th, right near Times Square and a very short walking distance from the Walter Kerr Theatre on West 48th. I walked over to the theater after I got checked in to the hotel to make sure I knew where it was and it was just a huge thrill to see the marquee and know I'd be there the next night -- one of about 950 people who would be able to say that they saw the very first performance of Springsteen on Broadway.

Tuesday night I treated myself to a really nice steak dinner before the show. The service at the restaurant was leisurely -- not slow exactly, but moderately paced -- and I wasn't sure I'd have time for dessert before I headed out to the show, but my waitress quickly said she'd bring me a dessert and my check and I'd have plenty of time to get down the block for the show. I did, and headed for the theater about 7:20. I was rather surprised when I arrived to see the level of security around the theater. It was impressive. Everything was roped off and you had to go through a scanning device one a at time similar to what you'd have at an airport -- not just a standard metal detector. It made getting in a bit slower than anticipated, but it moved fairly quickly over all. A couple of people around me wondered if this was in response to the tragedy in Las Vegas earlier in the week, which was depressing to consider, but when I was inside there was an usher selling drinks who said that no, the level of security that was posted had been planned well in advance and would last the duration of the run.

There is no lobby to speak of at the Walter Kerr Theatre, so I was a bit surprised when I handed my ticket to be scanned and the usher said "on your left" as the door to the theater literally opened to the street. I was so startled, I didn't even think to look for a merch booth, and I just took my seat next to a couple of New York area fans and chatted with them for a bit. Despite being off to the side, my seat was actually pretty good. Because it was at the end of the row, and fairly close to the stage, it meant the rows in front of me were a little bit shorter so there really wasn't anyone sitting in front of me all night. The stage set up was pretty sparse -- a microphone at center stage, a grand piano behind it, a couple of stools, and a couple of objects that looked basically like footstools. Shortly before showtime, a bit of a commotion erupted in the right-center orchestra seats. People were cheering and applauding, but the show hadn't started yet. After chatting with people around who were standing and could see a bit better than I could, it turned out that Steve Van Zandt was in the audience. The only celebrity siting of the night (though, technically I didn't see him.)

Shortly after 8:00 the lights went down and the crowd stood up -- Bruce appeared on stage with his acoustic guitar. Lots of cheers. Lots of "Bruuuuuuuuuucce". I was beaming from ear to ear. Going in, I had a general idea of what to expect. I've seen Bruce a number of times and I know how he tells stories. I've also read his autobiography and knew some of the stories he told in there would be retold in the show. The best thing about going in knowing what to expect is when those expectations are not only met, but exceeded.

Bruce started off the night dedicating the show to Tom Petty and sending his love out to his family and friends. Then he started the story telling. If you've ever seen Bruce Springsteen live, you know how his storytelling style is. Sometimes it's a straight story, others it's more a philosophical musing on ideas and concepts of life expressed in single words or short phrases. Most of the stories were about growing up in New Jersey in the 1950s & 60s, spending time on the Jersey shore, and how everything there was "tinged with just a little bit of fraud, including myself." There was humor and self-depreciation and tears. He highlighted his stories with his songs in such a way that while the stories were chronological, the songs weren't. The first song of the show was "Growing Up" which he paused half way through to tell a tale of his childhood. I didn't write down a set list, as I wanted to just be in the moment, but the flow of the songs worked so well. The second song in, he headed over to the piano and launched in to "My Hometown" and this was the only point where my seat was a bit of an issue. The microphone stand was between me and where Bruce sat at the piano, so he was a bit chopped in half. Not a big deal at all. Seeing him play piano was definitely different too.

It's pretty much impossible to pick a highlight of the show, but there were a couple that come to mind. After talking so much about his father and their complicated relationship, he spent a few minutes talking about his mother and how her optimism was so different from the rest of the life around him. He was back at the piano for this and played "The Wish" which is a song he wrote for his mother and showed up on Tracks. It was very moving, definitely brought tears to my eyes. The next point came when, again at the piano, he played "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out." After name-checking each member of the E Street Band at the end of the second verse, he paused again for storytelling, this time about Clarence Clemons. It was a sweet and loving tribute to his friend and talked about how "Scooter and the Big Man didn't just bust the city in half, but rebuilt it in their own image" (or something close to that.)

Another highlight that's really hard to describe happened a couple of different times. Every so often Bruce would wander away from the microphone and just speak or sing for a bit, but with out the amplification you really had to pay attention to what he was saying. He could be heard well enough, but it was much quieter and everyone in the audience kind of leaned forward to listen. It was definitely deliberate.

After "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out", the show kind of jumped in time. Everything up to that point had been about his childhood and being a struggling musician. "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" was kind of the "I made it" point in the show. Patti Scialfa came out for two songs ("Tougher Than the Rest" and "Brilliant Disguise") and the last part of the set were stories about big picture things. How the "Land of Hope and Dreams" isn't quite there yet.

The show closed off, of course, with "Born to Run" which was a more mellow version than the full-throated band version, but more energetic than the acoustic version he did during the "Tunnel of Love" tour. Of course the audience sang along throughout.

Happy Birthday to me!

That actually brings me to one last bit -- the audience was really quite an interesting part of the show. This was far from your typical Bruce Springsteen show, but it was definitely your typical Bruce Springsteen crowd. People recognized that this wasn't an on-your-feet-all-night 4 hour rock concert, so everyone mostly remained seated through the show, like you would an ordinary Broadway show. But there were moments when you just couldn't stay in your seat and everyone was up cheering and singing along. That it was a small, intimate setting made it even more incredible, because even with about 950 people, the energy felt like much more than that.

I grabbed some swag after the show, which took a while since there was just this tiny area at the back of the theater that served as both bar and merch booth with just one person conducting transactions (there was a second person helping to grab items) so it took a little while to get through. I headed back outside and there was a crowd waiting by the stage door for Bruce and Patti to come out. I thought about hanging around for a bit, but decided that I was good and headed back to my hotel after snapping a few pictures with some other fans outside the show. It had been an absolutely fantastic way to spend my birthday!

Setlist (courtesy setlist.fm)

Growin' Up
My Hometown
My Father's House
The Wish
Thunder Road
The Promised Land
Born in the U.S.A.
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Tougher Than the Rest (with Patti Scialfa)
Brilliant Disguise (with Patti Scialfa)
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Long Walk Home
Dancing in the Dark
Land of Hope and Dreams
Born to Run

June 25, 2017: Steve Augeri Comes to California (Finally!)

Plymouth, CA
Helwig Winery

1986: My aunt and uncle agreed to take my cousin Denise to see Journey open their Raised on Radio tour at Mountain Aire -- a concert held at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds. Denise invited me to join them. I said no -- Calaveras County is a good two and a half hour drive and in August temps would be in the high 90s/low 100s. Nope. Too far. Too hot. I'll wait until they come home to San Francisco.

2017: I get a message from Emerson -- Steve Augeri is playing in Plymouth, CA. My first thought was "Where in the hell is Plymouth, CA?!!" Took a quick look at the map and it's in California gold country -- or about 50 miles north of the Calaveras County Fairgrounds. So, yep, there I was yesterday driving two and a half hours from the comfortable mid-70s San Francisco Peninsula to the 98-degree who the heck knows where this place is?!! to see Steve Augeri perform for the first time in seven years.

I say it's been seven years since I'd seen him perform, which is true, but that was a 3-song appearance. The last time I saw him do a full set of songs was at the end of the Generations Tour in 2005! That was nearly TWELVE YEARS AGO! That is far too long! Steve's been performing off and on in the seven years (at least) since I actually last saw him, but most of the shows have been east of the Mississippi or out of the country. I have a vague recollection of seeing a mention of a show of his in San Diego a few years ago, but it was a mid-week show I learned about the day before (or possibly the day after!) and couldn't have made. It may have even been a private gig. So, yeah, seeing the man who took Journey back out on the road after Steve Perry left hasn't been easy for this West Coast kid!

We had a goodly collection of Journey folks meeting up in gold country. I booked a last minute hotel room for myself in Jackson (good idea!), Emerson and Nicole were staying in Sutter Creek, and Linda and Walt were staying at a B&B in Plymouth. The five of us met up at Linda and Walt's B&B to car pool to the winery. We weren't really sure what to expect. We had all gotten tickets for the pre-show barbecue dinner thinking there probably wasn't going to be much of any place nearby to get something to eat, so we were going in early. All the emails we'd received had me thinking this was a fairly new thing for the winery -- we'd be checked in from our car, no one would be allowed in before 5 unless they were going to the barbecue, please car pool due to limited parking, the show is sold out so be prepared to sit close to your neighbors, etc., etc. Things actually went pretty smoothly and they let everyone in and park whenever they arrived. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I had feared/expected. We were given our various wristbands in the car along with a plastic cup that would come in handy later for the free (warm) water.

We chatted briefly with Darryl and Jenny who had arrived just before us but didn't have barbecue tickets before we headed in where we immediately ran in to Debbie and Krystal. I hadn't seen them in about 5 years! We all staked out our places on the lawn near the stage (and in the shade!) then headed up to the barbecue. It was a pretty good dinner, but the pre-show dinner entertainment made it really hard to talk. The guy was good, just too loud. We did all manage to toss about our various thoughts on Neal's recent social media ramblings and concluded that things are as weird as ever in Journeyland.

We headed back down to the amphitheater to hang out and chat until the show started, which was great. Chris and her friend were sitting with Darryl and Jenny and we ran into Marcela and her daughter, so we all mixed and mingled around the floor of the amphitheater. Between going to New York earlier this year and getting together for this show, I really felt like I've gone back in time a bit in 2017. (Of course, Krystal made me all too aware that time has flown as the 11 year old kid I first met is now nearly 30 with a kid of her own! What the heck?! Ditto with Marcela's daughter who was there with her boyfriend.)

The venue was pretty small with no back stage to speak of, so we would know right away when the show was about to start and sure enough, just before 8:00 a golf cart carrying Steve and the band came cruising right in front of us from somewhere above at the winery. That was the signal for all of us to leave our blankets and chairs and stand dead center in front of the stage. I kind of laughed to myself as we were all standing there for a good 5 minutes (maybe more) before the band took the stage, but every single one of us was someone who'd been there when Steve first joined Journey and hit tons of shows while he was in the band.

It was still hotter than all heck and when the show started we were soon joined by other concert-goers which made the crowd around the stage warmer. We managed to keep a decent amount of space around us when the show first started, but as the evening progressed things got a little cozier and I did have to politely and firmly tell several people who cut in front of me to leave. Most were polite or just trying to get in a selfie and quickly left, but I did get called a bitch by one of them. Sorry lady, I spent a good 10 years of my life providing free-public relations for Journey while this guy was the lead singer, you are NOT getting in front of me.

So, all of this and I've yet to even mention the show! Well, it was fantastic! It was so good to see Steve out there on stage again. I kept finding myself smiling or laughing as I remembered some of his stage moves and thinking "oh yeah, this is why he was so good in Journey!" He recognized a lot of us in the front row and even gave Emerson a shout out from the stage (because of course he does!) and Linda and Walt got a fun selfie with Steve squatting down to get in the shot! We all got a lot of love and attention though, which was awesome. The set list was almost entirely Journey songs with only one original tune and a couple of covers, but it was great to hear a few songs that Journey hasn't done in a while themselves. Things seemed to be keyed down a bit, but otherwise sounded just like I remembered from my Journey journeys of 1998-2006. Steve introduced "When You Love a Woman" as one of his favorite songs and dedicated it to Steve Perry, which was great. I so loved hearing that song for the first time in I can't remember how long. The only non-Journey original song he performed was something called "Riverside" which was really good. The rest of the set list was mostly the songs you'd expect and want to hear at a Journey concert. No Arrival or Generations songs (alas), but all in all what you'd want to hear. Steve did break out the guitar for some soloing/dueling with his guitarist towards the end of "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" which was fun to see. It looked like he was going to play the guitar earlier in the show too, but there were technical difficulties with his guitar. He was pretty good! It was just so strange to see him playing a guitar. Another personal highlight was a cover of a bit of "People Get Ready" out of "Wheel in the Sky." I love that song and he sang the heck out of it!

There was a 9:45 curfew and Steve and his band played right up to the very last minute (actually went over by a couple of minutes) and included my personal favorite "you've gotta be kidding me" moment of the show. "Open Arms" was one of the last songs of the encore and one of the women behind me said "OH! I like this song!" I looked at Chris and we just laughed. It's always something.

The show ended much too soon and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. I made my way back to my hotel and was just blasting Arrival in the car. I've really missed seeing Steve perform and it had better not be another 7-12 years before I get to see him again! (There is a show in LA next month, but mid-week, so I don't know if that's doable. Will have to see.)

Set List:

Separate Ways
Stone in Love
Chain Reaction
Send Her My Love
Lights
Riverside (original)
When You Love a Woman
-- guitar solo --
Wheel in the Sky
-- a bit of People Get Ready
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Lovin', Touchin', Sqeezin'
-- Steve guitar solo/duel
-- a bit of Rocky Mountain Way
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Simply the Best (cover)
Who's Crying Now
Open Arms
Be Good to Yourself
-- a bit of Whole Lotta Love
-- a bit of Won't Get Fooled Again

May 17, 2017: Joshua Tree at 30!

Santa Clara, CA
Levi's Stadium

 

I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away.
How long, how long must we sing this song?

...And that's how we began the 30th Anniversary of The Joshua Tree show. My first immediate thought was "my god, that's more true today than ever."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 1987 when U2 released The Joshua Tree, I was already a fan of the band. In fact, U2 was one of just a handful of musicians my circle of friends all enjoyed. I'd been captivated by the video for "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and by the song "Pride (In the Name of Love)" a few years before the release of what would become U2s defining album. For a wide variety of reasons, I didn't see U2 in concert until 2005, but I do remember the first Joshua Tree tour. During that tour U2 did several spur of the moment free concerts and one of those shows was in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. I was in college at the time and knew about the concert in the city, but not having a drivers license at the time nor a way to get from CSM to downtown San Francisco in a timely manner (it would have required at least two buses and BART to make it from the hills of San Mateo to The Embarcadero) I wound up missing it completely. Well, not completely -- parts of it did show up a year or so later in the movie Rattle and Hum so I caught some of what I missed. Actually, watching Rattle and Hum was the closest I came to seeing U2 live in their prime and at least when the film was released I was working at a movie theater. That meant the staff could have one of our after hours showings playing the movie in a mostly empty theater with the volume turned up WAY louder than it could be for regular showings.

When the 30th Anniversary Tour was announced I was finally able to take advantage of being a Seat License Holder for the 49ers and Levi's Stadium -- early access to tickets for U2! Woo hoo! I picked up 3 tickets for me and a couple of friends and waited for the show. I will admit that this show did kind of sneak up on me. With all the excitement around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last month, this concert that I normally would have been on pins and needles for kind of slipped my mind.

Still, with a few quick messages out to high school friend Mary and Journey buddy Ana Marie, we were able to coordinate meeting in Mountain View to catch the light rail to Levi's Stadium. Being a season ticket holder for the 49ers, I knew public transit is the best way to get in/out of the stadium and that the NFL bag policy is enforced for all events at Levi's, so we were able to arrive shortly after the gates opened and get through security fairly quickly despite the clearly new hire working the security gate.

We had arrived in enough time to grab something to eat and visit with Matt and Wendy before the openers Mumford and Sons took the stage about 7:00 (half an hour after the stated start time.) I'm reasonably familiar with Mumford and Sons and was looking forward to seeing them perform -- though "seeing" is defined in this case as "watching a giant video screen of the performance of those thumb-sized people on stage" -- but I was surprised at how many songs I recognized. They put on a really good 45 minute set and I wouldn't mind going to see them on their own in a more reasonably sized venue.

After Mumford and Sons left, we had a bit of time to wait until it was dark enough for U2 to take the stage (which ultimately led to blowing past the official weeknight curfew for events at Levi's and has locals in a bit of an uproar) which meant a good opportunity to take in the stage setup from our vantage point in section 244. While we were pretty far from the stage, we actually had a good sight line and could take in the massive video screen that ran the width of the field and included a cutout/silhouette of a Joshua tree (I'm pretty sure it's the same image as on the back of the album) that rose a bit above the screen. There was a catwalk from the main stage out to a smaller, Joshua tree shaped stage where I could see the top of a drum kit at one side sunken below the stage. While we waited, the video screen had different poems and stories scrolling along one side that were somewhat bleak depictions of the greater American experience (though admittedly I didn't read all of any of them.)

By 9:00 it was finally full on dark and the lights went down as someone meandered from the main stage down to the secondary stage. While there was a bit of a cheer from the people standing near the stage, it wasn't until the first snap of the drums signalling the show opening with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" did I realize that it was Larry Mullen, Jr. and not a last minute roadie on stage. One by one the rest of the band walked down from the main stage and finally the song kicked in to full gear. As I said above, the opening words of the opening song hit me instantly. Beyond the actual news of the day, it spoke to how I've been feeling for a while now. Ana Marie and I just looked at each other and said "wow" -- both of us thinking and feeling the same thing.

The opening set continued and was entirely pre-Joshua Tree songs. These are the songs you would have heard back in 1987 when you went to a U2 concert. "New Year's Day", "A Sort of Homecoming", "Bad", and "Pride"... songs that you might hear in concert with newer material here in the 21st century, but saved for mid-set or later. To open with those classics -- each one bringing back a memory of a time and place that doesn't seem as long ago as it actually is -- was just what I wanted from this show. As "Pride" wound down, a scroll of a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. rolled on one side of the screen with key words pulled out and made larger on the rest of the screen. A potent reminder of the potential of America.

Then the video screen turned bright red with the Joshua tree outlined by red lights and the band made their way back to the main stage. It was time to play The Joshua Tree in full sequence. The video screen changed to a black and white film of a car driving down a desert road and "Where the Streets Have No Name" came up to resounding cheers. The images on the video screen were interesting through out the show and almost entirely in black and white and were thematically tied to the good and bad of the United States, much as the album is. There was a bit of a snafu during "With or Without You" which wound up causing Bono to skip singing the first verse and chorus and made the whole performance of that song a bit awkward. Other than that, it is really hard to pick a favorite moment from this part of the set. How do you choose a highlight when it's a performance of an album full of excellent songs? I'll probably go with "Running to Stand Still" as my favorite though -- I absolutely love that song and it's probably my favorite track from The Joshua Tree and Bono's performance was fantastic.

The band left the stage after "Mothers of the Disappeared" and it was time to speculate on what would be included in the encore. Beyond assuming "One" would appear it was hard to guess. Would they stay within the same general timeline or pull out more recent songs? Turned out to be a little bit of everything. The band came back out, walked back out to the secondary stage, and did a six-song encore which included two big highlights for me. The first was the dedication of "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" to the women of the world and had images of influential women and women's movements over time to highlight the impact women have on social, cultural, and political change. It was quite inspiring. This was followed by "One" and then a short video of a young Syrian girl in a refugee camp asked "If you could talk to a stadium full of people about America what would you say?" (rough paraphrase) She replied with what so many people have said about America -- or at least the dream of America and what it could be. A place of opportunity and beauty; the vision of America we all have but yet don't quite achieve. The video continued showing images of the refugee camp and following the girl around. Meanwhile on stage the band launched into "Miss Sarajevo" and a large banner with the face of the girl was unfurled and passed along the audience. It was really powerful and beautiful and sad all at the same time.

The encore closed out with a new song called "The Little Things That Give You Away" that was really good and fit well with the older songs of the Joshua Tree era. It was a bit weird to end the show on a new song, especially since it was the first time all night the crowd sat down. Ana Marie, Mary, and I kind of looked at each other for a minute and asked "Is that it?" The lights soon came up and yes, that was it.*

Back to the VTA and then the car for the ride home. Getting in at 1:00 a.m. on a weeknight makes for a rough morning at work, but it was so worth it.

Set list:

set 1/opening:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
A Sort of Homecoming
-- a bit of Paul Simon's America --
Bad
-- a bit more of America --
Pride (In the Name of Love)

set 2/The Joshua Tree:
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With or Without You
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God's Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared

set 3/encore:
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
One
Miss Sarajevo
The Little Things That You Give Away (new song)

*I learned after this show, that most sets ended with "I Will Follow" after "The Little Things..." which makes much more sense then ending on a new song. I suspect the already way past curfew time for this show played a role in the slightly shortened end.