Concert Reviews

[Steevo]

On 9/1/2022 at 1:24 AM, yyz305 said:

KISS, in Sydney, Australia. 27th August.

Exactly what was expected. So tacky that you have to laugh and enjoy!

Did you see the 1997 tour?  Amazing show here, great setlist as well 

[yyz305]

7 hours ago, Steevo said:

Did you see the 1997 tour?  Amazing show here, great setlist as well 

Unfortunately,  no.

[Super25Smasher]

I went to two more free concerts at the New York State Fair this weekend.

 

On Saturday, I saw Dropkick Murphys. I'm a big fan of them, and this was my third time seeing them. They were incredible! They played a long set full of hits and deep cuts, and their onstage energy was great!  They looked like they were having a blast. At the end, I got to meet their singer, Ken Casey. He signed my other shirt. I also got a picture with him, and a guitar pick from Tim Brennan!

 

Yesterday, I saw Night Ranger! They've been my second favorite band (behind Rush) for a long time. This was also my third time seeing them. They were really good! They mostly played their big hits, but they did throw in some deep cuts, a song from their newest album, some Damn Yankees songs, and a medley of songs from the solo artists their guitarists had played with, including Slash, Alice Cooper, and Ozzy Osbourne. They have so much chemistry together. You could tell they were enjoying themselves. I loved when the two guitarists and the bassist would line up and rock out, and when the three of them would stand on the drum riser together! I was able to get a setlist and one of Keri Kelli's guitar picks!

[Rick N. Backer]

On Labor Day, I went to see Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band at Tanglewood in Western, MA.  It's one of those great half-outdoors, half covered venues made for summer shows.  Thankfully, we were covered, because it was pouring here in MA.  The band included of Steve Lukather, Johnny Winter, Colin Hay, Hamish Stuart and Greg Bissonette.  In addition to Ringo's solo hits and the songs he took the lead on for the Beatles (except Don't Pass Me By, to my chagrin), the band played Toto's big hits, Men at Work's big hits, and a couple Edgar Winter Group and Average White Band songs.  Ringo has never had a great singing range, so the upside is that if you like his "big," songs (and I do) they sounded like they always have.  Ringo tells fun stories about the other Beatles, and he's a very engaging "front man."  I'm not a huge fan of any of the other artists, but I will say that both Lukather and Hay were very funny and did a good job when they fronted the band.

 

Last night I saw Aerosmith at Fenway.  Extreme opened, and they sounded very good.  Gary Cherone still has his voice, and Nuno Bettencourt was very effusive in his praise of Aerosmith and it was cool hearing him talk at length about his MA roots.  Aerosmith was phenomenal.  Aside from doing the song from Armageddon (I hate both the song and the movie), Crazy and Love in an Elevator, they stayed away from the 80s-forward Aerosmith that I think is mostly a step down.  They did play Rag Doll, Dude (Looks Like a Lady)(regular set closer) and Hangman Jury from Permanent Vacation, all of which I think are in the classic Aerosmith vein.  The rest of the songs were culled from the debut through Night in the Ruts.  They closed with Dream On, Sweet Emotion and Walk This Way.  Tyler sounded great and it seems crazy that he's 74.  The sound mixing wasn't great though, and it was hard to pick out particular guitar parts.  My buddy commented that we'll probably never see them again, which would be a shame.  Because they still got it.

[Rick N. Backer]

Yesterday started like any other late summer Saturday.  I did some yard work, and then went for my run.  When I was doing my post-run stretching, I saw that I had a text from an old friend.  He had an extra ticket for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Fenway, great seats, was I interested in going?  As it turns out, the rest of the family each had their own separate plans for the evening, so I said why not?   I'm not their biggest fan.  Indeed, their "real fans," probably hate people like me, who would say Californication, By the Way and Stadium Arcadium are their best albums.

 

They were fantastic.  The setlist, much to the "real fans'," chagrin I'm sure, was targeted at "posers," like me.  There were only a few songs I didn't recognize.  And even those were great.  They have a ton of energy, and both Kiedis and Flea interact with the crowd a lot.  Here's something I never really realized about them:  Flea, Frusciante, and Smith are all virtuoso players.  I knew Flea was phenomenal, but I never totally appreciated Smith's and Frusciante's talent.  If you like fun, virtuoso-caliber playing, and being around an electric crowd (the "real fans," LOVE them), I highly recommend catching these guys live.  I'm so glad I did.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

13 minutes ago, Rick N. Backer said:

Yesterday started like any other late summer Saturday.  I did some yard work, and then went for my run.  When I was doing my post-run stretching, I saw that I had a text from an old friend.  He had an extra ticket for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Fenway, great seats, was I interested in going?  As it turns out, the rest of the family each had their own separate plans for the evening, so I said why not?   I'm not their biggest fan.  Indeed, their "real fans," probably hate people like me, who would say Californication, By the Way and Stadium Arcadium are their best albums.

 

They were fantastic.  The setlist, much to the "real fans'," chagrin I'm sure, was targeted at "posers," like me.  There were only a few songs I didn't recognize.  And even those were great.  They have a ton of energy, and both Kiedis and Flea interact with the crowd a lot.  Here's something I never really realized about them:  Flea, Frusciante, and Smith are all virtuoso players.  I knew Flea was phenomenal, but I never totally appreciated Smith's and Frusciante's talent.  If you like fun, virtuoso-caliber playing, and being around an electric crowd (the "real fans," LOVE them), I highly recommend catching these guys live.  I'm so glad I did.

 

 

I don't think you're as much of a poser as you think. Most Chili Peppers fans I've ever come across absolutely rate at least Californication very very highly, if not as their best album. I've also seen plenty of praise for By The Way, and the only criticism anyone ever lobbies at Stadium Arcadium is just the sheer length of the thing.

 

My personal favorite is Blood Sugar Sex Magic, but I have a lot of love for most everything I've heard from them.

[Super25Smasher]

Oops.

Edited September 11, 2022 by Super25Smasher
Wrong thread

[Laurabw]

On 9/6/2022 at 9:02 AM, Super25Smasher said:

I went to two more free concerts at the New York State Fair this weekend.

 

On Saturday, I saw Dropkick Murphys. I'm a big fan of them, and this was my third time seeing them. They were incredible! They played a long set full of hits and deep cuts, and their onstage energy was great!  They looked like they were having a blast. At the end, I got to meet their singer, Ken Casey. He signed my other shirt. I also got a picture with him, and a guitar pick from Tim Brennan!

 

Yesterday, I saw Night Ranger! They've been my second favorite band (behind Rush) for a long time. This was also my third time seeing them. They were really good! They mostly played their big hits, but they did throw in some deep cuts, a song from their newest album, some Damn Yankees songs, and a medley of songs from the solo artists their guitarists had played with, including Slash, Alice Cooper, and Ozzy Osbourne. They have so much chemistry together. You could tell they were enjoying themselves. I loved when the two guitarists and the bassist would line up and rock out, and when the three of them would stand on the drum riser together! I was able to get a setlist and one of Keri Kelli's guitar picks!

A good gf and her bf were there in the front at Night Ranger, she's a huge fan, they got there in the morning and waited all day in the rain. she said it was great.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Laurabw

[Super25Smasher]

4 hours ago, Laurabw said:

A good gf and her bf were there in the front at Night Ranger, she's a huge fan, they got there in the morning and waited all day in the rain. she said it was great.

That's awesome! I was in the middle of the main seated section. It was an incredible show for sure! I ran up to the front right as they finished to get the setlist and a pick 

[Entre_Perpetuo]

PANIC! AT THE DISCO

 

It was incredible! Just fantastic! Really truly wonderful! Spectacular! 
 

I won’t spoil the set just in case anyone wants to go still….. but I loved it, and I bet Mick would love it too.

[TheAccountant]

Just saw (tonight, or technically yesterday given the time of the show and the time now) Judas Priest with Queensryche opening in Albany NY.

 

I had never seen Queensrche before and am not really a fan of them.  Their Empire album however I do like a great deal.  Not a bad song on it.  Otherwise I have never gotten into them and I won't be into them any more having seen them.  Not impressed.  Good lead singer but otherwise nothing that impressed me at all. 

 

Priest I have seen 3 times in the past.  Once on the Ram it Down Tour with Cinderella open in 1988, a show that to this day is the best non-Rush concert I have seen.  Once on the Painkiller tour with Megadeth - a show I did not care for (Painkiller is their worst Rob Halford album by far IMHO, plus I dislike Megadeth) and once on the Firepower Tour with Deep Purple.  A good show.  

 

Not surprisingly, Priest did not disappoint in the show I just saw.  Rob Halford still can sing  -boy can he still sing.  Ian Hill does his thing.  Scott Travis is a very underrated drummer and Ritchie Faulkner is just the reincarnation of Randy Rhodes.  He is a beast with the guitar.  A wizard.

 

As for the set list   - spoilers will follow, so if you are going see them on this tour and don't want to know about the set list, stop reading.

 

The set list was changed significantly from earlier in the tour.  

 

They (thankfully) opened with The Hellion & Electric Eye, something they have not been doing recently.  They eventually played Breaking the Law, Hell Bent for Leather, Leaving after Midnight & You've got Another Thing Coming.  However, the set list was otherwise all scrambled.  No Turbo Lover (unfortunately - I really like the song), no Diamonds & Rust (unfortunately), no Green Manilishi (unfortunately) no Victim of Changes (sigh - unfortunately).  No Painkiller (thankfully - not a fan of the song).  

 

However the set list included Beyond the Relms of Death (great - I really like the song).  It also included Between the Hamer and the Anvil, Screaming for Vengeance, Judas is Rising, The Halls of Valhalla, Heading out to the Highway, Never the Heroes (cool - I like it) & Firepower.  Their were a couple of other songs that (shamefully) I did not recognize.  Makes me think they were some deep cuts from their pre-British Steel albums.

 

A very good show.

[goose]

I saw the John Doe Folk Trio at Nashville Social in Carson City and it was a great show.  As a teen I was a huge fan of the LA punk band X, which was led of course by John Doe.   He followes his career with X by forming the folk rock band The Knitters, and now he's pared that down to a trio.  Doe & company played several tracks from his recent release, plus plenty of re-worked X classics like New World and Poor Girl.   Throughout the show John was engaging and took time to frame the context of the new stuff.  Really glad I went

[Super25Smasher]

On 10/16/2022 at 1:06 AM, TheAccountant said:

Just saw (tonight, or technically yesterday given the time of the show and the time now) Judas Priest with Queensryche opening in Albany NY.

 

I had never seen Queensrche before and am not really a fan of them.  Their Empire album however I do like a great deal.  Not a bad song on it.  Otherwise I have never gotten into them and I won't be into them any more having seen them.  Not impressed.  Good lead singer but otherwise nothing that impressed me at all. 

 

Priest I have seen 3 times in the past.  Once on the Ram it Down Tour with Cinderella open in 1988, a show that to this day is the best non-Rush concert I have seen.  Once on the Painkiller tour with Megadeth - a show I did not care for (Painkiller is their worst Rob Halford album by far IMHO, plus I dislike Megadeth) and once on the Firepower Tour with Deep Purple.  A good show.  

 

Not surprisingly, Priest did not disappoint in the show I just saw.  Rob Halford still can sing  -boy can he still sing.  Ian Hill does his thing.  Scott Travis is a very underrated drummer and Ritchie Faulkner is just the reincarnation of Randy Rhodes.  He is a beast with the guitar.  A wizard.

 

As for the set list   - spoilers will follow, so if you are going see them on this tour and don't want to know about the set list, stop reading.

 

The set list was changed significantly from earlier in the tour.  

 

They (thankfully) opened with The Hellion & Electric Eye, something they have not been doing recently.  They eventually played Breaking the Law, Hell Bent for Leather, Leaving after Midnight & You've got Another Thing Coming.  However, the set list was otherwise all scrambled.  No Turbo Lover (unfortunately - I really like the song), no Diamonds & Rust (unfortunately), no Green Manilishi (unfortunately) no Victim of Changes (sigh - unfortunately).  No Painkiller (thankfully - not a fan of the song).  

 

However the set list included Beyond the Relms of Death (great - I really like the song).  It also included Between the Hamer and the Anvil, Screaming for Vengeance, Judas is Rising, The Halls of Valhalla, Heading out to the Highway, Never the Heroes (cool - I like it) & Firepower.  Their were a couple of other songs that (shamefully) I did not recognize.  Makes me think they were some deep cuts from their pre-British Steel albums.

 

A very good show.

I was at this show, too!

[Super25Smasher]

I saw Judas Priest and Queensryche on Saturday night at MVP Arena (formerly Times Union Center, Pepsi Arena, and Knickerbocker Arena) in Albany, NY. I'd wanted to see of both of them live for years, so getting to see them on the same bill was great! This was the second night of this leg of the tour.

 

Queensryche's set was short, but it was awesome! Their current singer, Todd La Torre, is very good! He had a great range, and he had good energy! He kept the crowd going. The other members sounded great, but they didn't move around all that much compared to Todd. They played for 45 minutes. Their setlist consisted of nine songs, almost all of which were from their first few releases. They did play one song from their new album, which just came out earlier this month. I found out later that they had played two other songs on the first night of this leg, one of which was another song from the new album. I'm not sure why they omitted them at my show. Here's their setlist for anyone who was curious:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/queensryche/2022/mvp-arena-albany-ny-6bb16ace.html

 

Judas Priest was phenomenal! They played 17 songs, including many fan favorites and deep cuts, plus a couple more recent songs. Several songs that they played hadn't been played in years before this leg, with a few since 2015, at least one since 2005, and another since 1982. Rob Halford sounded incredible, especially for his age! He hit all the high notes, and was very good with crowd interaction! Both guitarists played great, and Scott and Ian are a very tight rhythm section! Their stage setup was very interesting, too. It was set up to look like a metal works facility. Rob rode a motorcycle onstage for Hell Bent For Leather, and a giant bull prop was brought onstage for Living After Midnight. Here's their setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/judas-priest/2022/mvp-arena-albany-ny-3bb17ccc.html

 

I would definitely see both of them again!

[TheAccountant]

22 minutes ago, Super25Smasher said:

I saw Judas Priest and Queensryche on Saturday night at MVP Arena (formerly Times Union Center, Pepsi Arena, and Knickerbocker Arena) in Albany, NY. I'd wanted to see of both of them live for years, so getting to see them on the same bill was great! This was the second night of this leg of the tour.

 

Queensryche's set was short, but it was awesome! Their current singer, Todd La Torre, is very good! He had a great range, and he had good energy! He kept the crowd going. The other members sounded great, but they didn't move around all that much compared to Todd. They played for 45 minutes. Their setlist consisted of nine songs, almost all of which were from their first few releases. They did play one song from their new album, which just came out earlier this month. I found out later that they had played two other songs on the first night of this leg, one of which was another song from the new album. I'm not sure why they omitted them at my show. Here's their setlist for anyone who was curious:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/queensryche/2022/mvp-arena-albany-ny-6bb16ace.html

 

Judas Priest was phenomenal! They played 17 songs, including many fan favorites and deep cuts, plus a couple more recent songs. Several songs that they played hadn't been played in years before this leg, with a few since 2015, at least one since 2005, and another since 1982. Rob Halford sounded incredible, especially for his age! He hit all the high notes, and was very good with crowd interaction! Both guitarists played great, and Scott and Ian are a very tight rhythm section! Their stage setup was very interesting, too. It was set up to look like a metal works facility. Rob rode a motorcycle onstage for Hell Bent For Leather, and a giant bull prop was brought onstage for Living After Midnight. Here's their setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/judas-priest/2022/mvp-arena-albany-ny-3bb17ccc.html

 

I would definitely see both of them again!

 

Interestingly the Albany Times Union wrote up and published a review of the show.  Must have been a slow news day.

 

Now I understand why I did not recognize some of the songs.  Very deep cuts.  Another guy in my office went and comments that he did not recognize all the songs either (and that it was a bit of a short show but hey, Rob is 70+ so he understood that).  The review in the paper (other than indicating that Glen Tipton was playing live - guess the reporter had no idea he basically can't play live mush anymore) was short but very good.  It contained comments like "Guitarists Ritchie Faulkner and Alan Tipton offered up bruising riffs and torrid solos all night." and "Frontman Rob Halford still rules, utilizing his trademark screech on an incindiary "Screaming for Vengeance" and showcasing the full range of his voice on "Halls of Valhalla."

 

Who would have imagined a regular paper giving the Priest such a good review?  I knew the world was a strange place but its even stranger than I thought.

[Super25Smasher]

2 minutes ago, TheAccountant said:

 

Interestingly the Albany Times Union wrote up and published a review of the show.  Must have been a slow news day.

 

Now I understand why I did not recognize some of the songs.  Very deep cuts.  Another guy in my office went and comments that he did not recognize all the songs either (and that it was a bit of a short show but hey, Rob is 70+ so he understood that).  The review in the paper (other than indicating that Glen Tipton was playing live - guess the reporter had no idea he basically can't play live mush anymore) was short but very good.  It contained comments like "Guitarists Ritchie Faulkner and Alan Tipton offered up bruising riffs and torrid solos all night." and "Frontman Rob Halford still rules, utilizing his trademark screech on an incindiary "Screaming for Vengeance" and showcasing the full range of his voice on "Halls of Valhalla."

 

Who would have imagined a regular paper giving the Priest such a good review?  I knew the world was a strange place but its even stranger than I thought.

That's pretty cool! They did include quite a few deep cuts. Genocide was totally unexpected. It's an obscure song from their second album, and apparently, it hadn't been played live since 1982. Riding On The Wind was pretty cool, too, and that hadn't been played since 2005. They also played two songs from their most recent album, and one from the album before that.

[condemned2bfree]

New Model Army. Just seen them 28th October.

 

Set list - friend managed to nab the original 

 

Snelsmore Wood - 4/10 Not my fav

Bittersweet! 9/10 love this one

Lust For Power 9/10 another great song

Never Arriving 7/10 off the new album, has a great commercial vibe but doesn't do it for me

Here Comes the War 8/10 Great power driving song.

Believe it. 8/10 Great song

1984 6/10 ok

The Charge 9/10 superb lyrics

Devils Bargain 7/10 ok

Maps 7/10 ok

Where I am 8/10 good song off the new album, though there are better off the new album. Watch And Learn for one.

Angry Planet 8/10 great pulsating force live.

Born Feral 7/10 ok.

Before I get Old 9/10 great lyrics and atmosphere.

Vagabonds 10/10. Crowd went wild and justifiably so. What an amazing song.

The Hunt 8/10 good.

Fate. 10/10 one of my NMA favs. Moving live.

Bodmin 9/10

 

New Model Army are like Rush in regards to material. Justin actually mentioned they have a catalogue of some 250 songs. They are a great band to see live. The audience do really become part of the performance. Amazing experience.

[Turbine Freight]

Saw NWOBHMers Demon on Friday. Good gig, still got it, the setlist was mostly culled from the first 3 classic albums. If you like NWOBHM they are well worth seeing. Only a tenner a ticket too.

[Tony R]

 

Awesome, enough said. 

[Laurabw]

Saw Yes last night in small local PAC theater. I'd never seen them before. They did Close to the Edge and some other stuff. Now, I realize this is the current iteration, so of course it's not the same. But it was fun, and I honestly didn't realize how proggy they are! I'm mostly just familiar with their more well-known hits. Anyway, it was fun to see Geoff Downes and Steve Howe. And I always love being in a crowd that is so appreciative and into it, and this crowd was totally into it.

 

I was saying to my friend "And I thought Rush fans were nerdy, lol" and the guy in front of us came back to his seat at that very moment and said to his friends "it's just like a Rush concert, long line at the men's room and no line at the ladies room!"

[custom55]

On 11/18/2022 at 10:25 AM, Laurabw said:

Saw Yes last night in small local PAC theater. I'd never seen them before. They did Close to the Edge and some other stuff. Now, I realize this is the current iteration, so of course it's not the same. But it was fun, and I honestly didn't realize how proggy they are! I'm mostly just familiar with their more well-known hits. Anyway, it was fun to see Geoff Downes and Steve Howe. And I always love being in a crowd that is so appreciative and into it, and this crowd was totally into it.

 

I was saying to my friend "And I thought Rush fans were nerdy, lol" and the guy in front of us came back to his seat at that very moment and said to his friends "it's just like a Rush concert, long line at the men's room and no line at the ladies room!"

I'm seeing Jon Anderson at NJPAC in April.   I usually see him when he plays in the area.

Looking forward to it.

 

On a side note:   tested + for Covid this morning.  Shit !   I've been so careful over the last two years.   Not sure where I caught it.   I haven't been in a large crowd in weeks.

 

I was feeling 'funny' on Wednesday and did not attend the Hot Tuna show at the Wellmont in Montclair.

 

Gonna hang in for a few days, listen to music and watch soccer.

 

[Laurabw]

2 hours ago, custom55 said:

I'm seeing Jon Anderson at NJPAC in April.   I usually see him when he plays in the area.

Looking forward to it.

 

On a side note:   tested + for Covid this morning.  Shit !   I've been so careful over the last two years.   Not sure where I caught it.   I haven't been in a large crowd in weeks.

 

I was feeling 'funny' on Wednesday and did not attend the Hot Tuna show at the Wellmont in Montclair.

 

Gonna hang in for a few days, listen to music and watch soccer.

 

Well that's so weird, sorry to hear that!!

 

[blueschica]

8 hours ago, custom55 said:

I'm seeing Jon Anderson at NJPAC in April.   I usually see him when he plays in the area.

Looking forward to it.

 

On a side note:   tested + for Covid this morning.  Shit !   I've been so careful over the last two years.   Not sure where I caught it.   I haven't been in a large crowd in weeks.

 

I was feeling 'funny' on Wednesday and did not attend the Hot Tuna show at the Wellmont in Montclair.

 

Gonna hang in for a few days, listen to music and watch soccer.

 

I'm sorry to hear that! Be sure to get Paxlovid if you can, it helps a lot. I hope you feel better soon- take care.

[bathory]

great year for shows this year, saw around 25

 

a few favorites:

judas priest/queensryche ATL - true metal, no posers allowed

deicide ATL - raw, unrelenting, edgy, misanthropic

mercyful fate/kreator/midnight ATL - true metal lords, no posers

phish at deer creek, friday night - lizards, fluffhead, smokin chalkdust torture. saw the other nights but friday was my favorite

steely dan - managed to catch these dirty whores twice this year. raw, powerful, I was raped up the butt by the soothing sounds 

steve hackett in ATL - he played the good genesis stuff, no sussudio shite. no tarzan crap. no invisible turd

 

if you werent at these shows, you're a poser

[bathory]

also saw testament, exodus, death angel, immolation, nile, incantation, immolation, chicago, brian wilson, alice cooper, king gizz, several others