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.
Point State Park, Pittsburgh, PA ..... The final headline show for the 2014 Three Rivers Arts Festival. I had been a fan of the then 20 year-old British performer shortly after I caught a few songs from his 2012 UK debut album, even before it was released here in the States. At WYEP, we ended up playing "Lightning Bolt" some in November 2012. His record label released an EP to radio with a few of his songs, but not "Lightning Bolt." They were concentrating on promoting "Two Fingers" for his first single in the U.S., which is a great song but not the right one for here--"So I hold two fingers up to yesterday" doesn't hold the same weight in American English as it does in UK English. Sigh. They finally switched to promoting "Lightning Bolt" in late March 2013. Either way, it was great seeing him live, performing on guitar with a bassist and drummer backing him up. The aforementioned song s sounded great, as did "Messed Up Kids,...
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY.... After seeing the concert the night before , I was grateful to have been offered a ticket to this night by my Ithaca-based Beatles friends Marge & Mario. It was very fascinating to see McCartney on two consecutive nights. (Something I've done only occasionally with a handful of bands I dig, like King Missile or the Avett Brothers.) Everything was exactly the same, from the set list to the between-song comments I would have sworn were ad-libs the evening before. And it makes sense; Paul has always wanted to feel in control -- armchair psychologists, if not professional ones, would probably say the impulse goes back to insecurity after his mom died. Set list: Figure of Eight Jet Rough Ride Got to Get You Into My Life Band on the Run Ebony and Ivory We Got Married Maybe I'm Amazed The Long and Winding Road The Fool on the Hill Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Good Day Sunshine Can't Buy Me Love Put It There Hello, Go...
Comments