Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT - Anyone seen any good concerts???

after a chat with TomTuttle on Thu/Fri of last week, I was interested in starting a new thread to find out the latest concert(s) forum goers are checking out. Any interesting ones? Impressions from the show?

I'm getting kind of excited myself, I was able to get tickets for the second date of the Pixies reunion tour in Saskatoon on April 17 (yeah I know I live in Winnipeg and couldn't get tickets to that show, they sold out in 4 minutes).

huh? blah? Pixies?! Wha? How? ooh ... ticket surfing time...
I love them... They sang about my school "In the sleepy west, of the woody east, lives a valley full, full of pioneers".

Oh, and I would recommend any chance to see Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals live.

jr

I second the Ben Harper tip -- awesome!

Here are some other live acts I'd recommend:
G. Love and Special Sauce
Norah Jones
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Charlie Hunter (jazz -- he plays an 8-string bass!)
McCoy Tyner (jazz)
Stanley Clarke (jazz bassist)

Also, for all you Bay Area dwellers, be sure to check out the Bridge School Benefit every fall.

I'll second the Bela Fleck recommendation. Fantastic show. It had the most incredible bass solo I've ever seen (or heard!). Vic detuned the bass all the way to nothing (just totally loosened all the strings) then tuned it back up, using it as a percussion instrument on the way. Phenomenal! Later in the show, he busted a string, and kept playing as if nothing happened. He even hit all the notes (as far as I could tell)

Metallica does good shows, if you can put up with their opening bands. (boy, they've just sucked lately!)

If you haven't seen Dave Brubeck in concert, DO IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. He's 80 some-odd, and still doing fantastic shows.

I saw Jimi Hendrix but that was probably before most of you were born.

hey ken,if you like music thats a little on the hard rock/metal side and has very talented players,i highly reccomend -Dream Theater-awesome musicians...they still tour,if you get a chance to check them out,do it!!!one of their cds that is a favorite of mine is--images and words--try.. it you might like it...ron

The three best concerts I've been to are:

1. Radiohead
2. Radiohead
3. Radiohead

I guess that makes me kinda shallow.

Saw David Bowie in early January, definitely a good time.

He sang "Cactus" by the Pixies too...UMPH!

Anybody ever see NIN? I really gotta go check out Trent if he ever decides to put out another CD and tour again.

Went to an interesting concert in December with wife, daughter andson-in-law to hear the Transiberian Orchestra. They were an absolute hoot and very good, but are hard to describe. A rock band, with orchestral components that include violins. Very heavy bass throughout. 4 male, 3 female singers. They did Christmas songs/carols in the concert. They also did an opera piece. Did I mention really heavy bass? Their next CD is all Beethoven.

I saw the Jack Johnson references on this thread and went to Amazon to check him out. They allow you to play 4-5 sample tracks from a given CD. I ended up ordering 2 of his CDs.

I recommend checking the Transiberian Orchestra samples. Very unique stuff and very good/entertaining.

Dave Matthews
John Hiatt and the Goners
And for a really laid back show, Norah Jones...

I just ordered a pair of tickets to see Prince at the Staples Center.

I'm not as old as Ford (who is a showoff, clearly) But my best concert-going days are also behind me. Those of you that are new parents will find that it is increasingly difficult to find time and manage the logistics of these kinds of activities.

So, I too rarely get to see live acts nowadays. The exchange that sid referred to was rich, because it allowed me to indulge in some retrospection. I lack the commitment in time and money to see many acts that are touring nowadays, and large venues are not nearly as interesting as they used to be.

So yeah, over the last few years, other than a few local jazz and blues acts (which were wonderful, but too obscure to be useful references here), John Hiatt stands alone.

I'd like to see Lyle Lovett.

Ray - I'm a Trans Siberian Orchestra fan too. Progressive Rock Christmas carols are cool. heh heh.

In reply to:

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I just ordered a pair of tickets to see Prince at the Staples Center.

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I saw Prince in KC a few years ago. Good show.

Tom,

First off - no one is as old as Ford. He was there the day they invented dirt.

Bringing up the Transiberian Orchestra caused me to go out at lunch and look for their Beethoven CD. No luck, but I'm in the hunt. If I can find it, I'll let you know how it sounds.

Here's my concert list (No certain order):

Nickel Creek - possibly the best accoustic concert I've
even seen.
Dream Theater - (all 3 times were incredible)
Opeth - the tightest "metal" band I've ever heard.
Wynton Marsalis - jazz at it's finest.

and my "Want to see" list:
Porcupine Tree
Radiohead
Gideon's Press - incredible band from Austin

From one geezer to another, I also saw Hendrix perform. I hope you had the good fortune to catch him earlier in his short life than I did. I saw him perform 4 to 6 months before he died. He arrived late. Neither his playing nor his speech was very coherent. His poor playing and surly behavior incited boos from the crowd, and he left after playing about 45 minutes. Ashame.

I did have the good fortune to see The Who in their heyday, and Muddy Waters, who was still in top form in 1977.

Bill

Off Topic. Just a quick congrats to an LSU Tiger fan for a great football season, from a HUGE Ohio
State Buckeye fan.

Ray
Transiberian Orchestra sound similar to Polyphonic Spree? They both sound a little over-the-top.

I was lucky enough to see one of my all-time favorites last spring - Pearl Jam in Fargo. It was a great show - not too much of the usual political preachiness Eddie is known for either. I'd still like to see Radiohead & the White Stripes but neither will come anywhere near Winnipeg.

Scott, I listened to the Spree folk. Pretty far removed from Transiberian. Check this out and especially "O Come All Ye Faithful". They start to get into it a bit.

I wish they had an entire song available to listen to.

Thanks for the congratulations. I wish I could say I had something to do with their success. It was a fun team to watch.

I just listened to the "O Come All Ye Faithful" Christmas sample. The guitar's a bit too "wanky" for my tastes. Also I think the music makes Jesus roll over in his grave. Oh wait...

Peter, this board would not be the same without your wit.
Thanks for the laugh.

chopa,
I was lucky enough to see Hendrix when he was at his prime, I did a quick search and even found the exact date and a lot of photos.

This is the show I attended, I'm amazed i had the price of admission.

In reply to:

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Hendrix's first visit to Toronto was on Saturday, Feb. 24, 1968 to play a concert at the Coliseum Arena located on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. The Coliseum was and still is used for horse shows and other similar events, but for a short time in 1968, local concert promoters used it for rock concerts. The Who and the Doors also performed there that year.

On this date in February, Hendrix appeared with the original Jimi Hendrix Experience - Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums - to a capacity crowd of 6,000 fans who paid $4 for general admission. The concert had been promoted by CHUM radio, the leading AM radio station in Toronto at the time.

Opening the show were the Paupers, a local band from Toronto, and English jazz-rock group the Soft Machine, who had opened for the Experience on most of the shows during their hectic three-month tour of North America. The tour began Feb. 1 at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco and ended on April 6 at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y.

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for more go here http://www.eye.net/torontorockhistory/jimihendrix/frameset.htm

If this is you...that doesn't count as "seeing Jimmi Hendrix"!

Is this you leaving early?

funny pictures.. you regulars are ruthless..

i havent started the new concert season, but i can give the highlights from last summer and fall..

KISS and AEROSMITH
Audioslave
Queens of the Stone Age(Best live sound i have ever heard from a rock band)
Jason Mraz
Allison Krauss w/Union Station(kickass bluegrass)
Cross Canadian Ragweed x3

shows i am looking to see this year..

RUSH(best ever)
Motorhead
Prince
and i would love to go see EMINEM if he would ever go back on tour..

that is all for now.. fun discussion.. i get a kick out of seeing all the different varieties of musical tastes on this board.

How was Jason Mraz in concert?

No I'd never leave early I was there at the end when Hendrix tried to set his guitar on fire. To say the police over reacted would be mild.

Must say my hair was very similar to the person on the right.

player8,

Mraz was really awesome live. i got to see him in a small SRO theater in dallas.. great venue, sold out, but still only about 600-700 people. he has a great ability to interact with the crowd, and he likes to change up his songs when played live.. different tempos, different drum beats, very free and flowing atmosphere from the stage. overall sound was incredible, not sure if that was the theater or the sound system, but could hear every syllable clear as a bell. his back-up band is really tight, and his samoan buddy who plays percussion, was very impressive. Great show, great night, if you like his music, go to his show.. easily worth the $25 bucks i paid.

The next time he's in PHX I want to go. I like the whole folk rock wave. Jack JOhnson, Jason Mraz, John Mayer. The three J's...

If you really like folk-rock, I highly highly highly recommend Josh Ritter. He's a bit more folk than rock, but his songwriting is amazing. (He's been compared to Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez covers one of his songs on her most recent album.)

I'm going to try to see him on April 5 when he's in San Francisco.

I may be striking my head on the stone of "well duh", but here's a really well liked Canadian folk/country/rock band Blue Rodeo. All Canadians will know who they are, but for any of our southern neighbours on the forum, definitely check them out.

It gets very interesting digging into their past as the drummer was a former member of a reasonably successful (for Canucks anyways) punk rock group, The Battered Wives. Both lead singer/guitarists also came from a punk-influenced background.

another great folk/rock singer/songwriter is TODD SNIDER. he is originally from seattle, but now resides in texas. his cd's are great, with a full band backing him.. but his live shows are very intimate.. just him, his guitar, and his harmonica. really neat guy, and has lyrics that will just blow you away. great story teller.