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...
South Park Amphitheater, South Park Township, PA .... Quite a lovely night of music. Although it had rained several times earlier in the day, the skies had cleared and conditions were perfect for some outdoor music. Nicole had visited WYEP earlier that day, and we had a fun time on the air. Her performance at South Park was terrific, and the band she is touring with is top-notch. Nicole and the band had worked up a cover of Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" after I told her that the day of her Pittsburgh visit was the 45th anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, and she gave me a shout-out from the stage when introducing the song. (After the show, she told me that the band was going to keep it in their setlist for the following night at the Mountain Jam festival. I told her she should keep it the repertoire for her entire tour, since they totally nail it, but since she has a month-long break before her next concert, I don't ev...
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