Allegheny Landing Park, Pittsburgh, PA.... The WYEP Summer Music Festival In Brief: The only old song Shocked played was "Anchorage"--everything else was new. But unlike many performers who are heavy on their latest material, she was so dynamic that no one seemed to mind. Erin McKeown sat in on guitar for about 4 songs. There were some technical troubles during Penn's set, but he still played well. "Long Way Down" was interrupted halfway through ("I'd like to soldier on," Penn explained when he stopped the number, "But it's hard to sing if I can't hear the guitar"), but I'm so glad he played it. He closed with "Walter Reed," one of my favorites of the new record.
Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ..... More so than any show I've been to in recent memory, this concert was not focused so much on the songs as it was on the performances. Most of the time when you go to a show, you're primarily motivated by an interest in one or many of the artist's songs. Concerts by jam-bands like the Grateful Dead or most blues musicians, on the other hand, are more performance oriented. You go to see the performance of the entire show more than simply to hear that song in a live setting. That's why Deadheads could stomach going to umpty-ump shows by the same band. This evening headlined by the Butthole Surfers at Convention Hall turned out--surprisingly--to be more of a performance show. Although certainly many concertgoers were motivated to go by some individual songs (notably the several popular singles by The Toadies or the Butthole's current hit "Pepper"), the real story was the sheer intensity of the Rev. Horton Heat's rockab...
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY.... It was McCartney's first U.S. tour since the "Wings Over America" go-'round, and for all I knew it could be my last opportunity to see a Beatle perform live in concert. I simply had to go to this show! I was still working for the U.S. Postal Service in Whippany, NJ, when tickets went on sale, so I took the morning off and went to Scotti's Records in Millburn to buy my tickets. Although I was there before the appointed time when the tickets went on sale, others were there before me. I waited patiently in line, eager for my turn--I was going to buy the maximum number of tickets allowed (four) and sell the others to a few friends (at face value, of course). Of course, it didn't work out that way. Just before I got up to the counter to buy tickets, the show sold out. I was angry and disappointed. I had to get tickets. So I went to a ticket broker. I bought a pair for $110 each, although that seemed absolutely outrage...
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