Benedum Center, Pittsburgh, PA..... With a Morrissey concert, one always wonders whether it will take place at all--given Morrissey's well-documented history of shows cancelled at the last minute. So it was concerning when several recent of his concerts had to be scrapped due to credible death threats on the former Smiths frontman. But, it turned out not to be a concern and the show went on as scheduled. Morrissey was in fine voice but I had some issues with the setlist. Towards the end of the main set, I thought it's got to be bangers all the way down, but I was disappointed. Some deeper cuts, but more problematically, midtempo songs that didn't get the energy up except for the hardest-core of Moz-heads. There were a lot of people heading to the exits early, and my daughter (first time seeing him live) said to me at one point, "The music for each song sounds good but once he starts singing, they all sound the same." The last time I saw Morrissey , while a showcas...
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...
Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI.... This show was part of George Wein's Folk Festival 50, which was a way for the co-creator of the Newport Folk Festival to stage the 50th anniversary of the storied event without using the original name due to a rights issue. For the milestone anniversary, Wein brought back some legends from past festivals like 90-year-old co-founder Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Arlo Guthrie, Judy Collins, and the delightful Joan Baez. Baez had performed at most of the festival's original run from 1959-1969 (she took part in 1959, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, and 1968; note that the festival didn't take place in '61 and '62) and then after it returned in the 1980s, she was there for another seven years prior to the 50th anniversary edition (she played the festival in 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, and 1998). In fact, as of 2025, Baez has appeared at more years of the Newport Folk Festival than any other artist (with a total of 14 years ...
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