All the Concerts Fit to Print

I've seen U2 several times over the years, but their more recent albums didn't excite me much. And so their tours didn't much either. Or at least I decided I didn't need to see them every tour. But this time they came around to play The Joshua Tree in honor of its 30th birthday. So that sounded like a good excuse to see the band again.

I got good seats. Upper deck, but in the front row, and alongside the stage, so we were pretty close. Not as good as the lower deck, but I was happy.

They started off with "Sunday Bloody Sunday." Larry walked out from the back of the stage, all the way to his kit on the B-stage, accompanied by a Pogues song. He sat down and started playing. That went on for a few bars. Edge started walking out, and started playing as his feet hit the runway. Then Bono, then Adam. Then more big hits: "New Years Day", "Bad" and "Pride".

After those heavy hitters from before Joshua Tree, they took to the main stage for the big opening - "Where the Streets Have No Name". The red wall behind them, this time with a silhouette of their Joshua tree. That's not a song I call out as one of my favorites, but you can't deny the call - it's just an amazing opener. It draws you in. They played them all in order, something they weren't sure they'd do, when they were still planning the tour. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, followed by "With or Without You", which is not one of my favorites. Then "Bullet the Blue Sky" which is. From there out, I just love the album. Much of it is fascinating, and the way it flows, it just draws you in. "Running to Stand Still", "Red Hill Mining Town" and "In God's Country". Then "Trip Through Your Wires" and "One Tree Hill". Bono told the story of a young man in New Zealand who asked to join their crew on the road. He became part of the family, but was killed in an accident. He was the inspiration for One Tree Hill. The finale is the killer "Exit" followed up with "Mothers of the Disappeared". It was inspired by the mothers who lost sons in the conflict in Nicaragua.

There was a short break and they came back for the rest of the show. The rainbow of "Beautiful Day". Then "Elevation". Then they played one of their Passengers songs, "Miss Sarajevo", with Pavarotti on recording. This was accompanied by video of the Syrian refugee camps, and introduced by a teenage girl there, named Omaima. She shared her wish for all to be happy, and for her to visit America, the land of dreams. Then "Ultarviolet (Light My Way)". It was dedicated to women. Bono introduced it with mention of the band's wives and supporters, plus the women on the crew. During the song, video showed photos, names and dates of many women from history. Politicians and suffragettes, businesswomen and laborers, artists and activists.

The band came back out to the B-stage for the encore. They did "One" but I decided I'd better take a bathroom break and pick up a program. As I came back in, they led the audients in "Happy Birthday" for Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell, who was there at the show, and who will turn 79 in a couple of weeks. Then they finished up with their first hit, the bouncy "I Will Follow".

The Lumineers opened, but we had other things to do, so we only caught the last four songs, one of which I recognized - the one about Ophelia. I'm sure they'd be a lot of fun to see in a small venue. They were just tiny people on a small section of stage in an enormous space.

( setlist and photos )

I'm only a casual fan of Marillion, if I can even call it that. I've got a couple of their early albums, but only on vinyl, and they're a different band now. I've got two of their later albums, but I seldom listen to Marbles. But Anoraknophobia is one of my most favorite albums. So when I heard they were coming to Chicago, I decided to go. They never play Milwaukee, so I figured this was my only chance to find out what they were about.

They were playing two shows, the second of which was on a Friday night, which made it easier to go. As it turned out, it was the same night as the first World Series game at Wrigley field since World War II, which was only a few blocks away. That made parking very expensive, but we walked up to the stadium before the show, to see the crowds. Walking up the street past the theater, with the Cubs fans, we heard more than once, "Marillion? Who the hell is that?"

They opened the doors before 7:00. We went in around 7:30, and got a good place to stand, just in front of the sound board. The crowd was very prog. Mostly old (like me). Both male and female.

The opener was solo guitarist John Wesley. Wesley is a longtime Marillion opener, and Fish, Hogarth, Porcupine Tree and Sister Hazel sideman. I did not enjoy his set at all. I kept counting the songs, wondering how many more there would be. He redeemed himself a bit with the last one, which was listenable. He had a lot of fans, though, who would cheer for certain songs.

Marillion is five guys, Steve Rothery (guitar), Mark Kelly (keyboards), Pete Trewavas (bass), Ian Mosley (drums) and Steve Hogarth (vocals and other instruments). They're a very tight, smooth, prog-ish sort of band.

The show opened with "Invisible Man" with Hogarth's face projected onto the backdrop while singing the first part of the song. I didn't realize at first that it was not recorded video, and that he was actually singing live from backstage. They closed their main set with "Neverland", so they opened their set with the opening track from Marbles, and closed it with the closing track from Marbles. Those were the only two songs I could have recognized, but I did not, since I don't listen to that album much. About two thirds of their set was from their latest album Fuck Everyone and Run (F E A R). One of the few criticisms I have of the band is that most of their music tends to sound the same. But in this case it was nice, since I felt like I knew all the music, even though I hadn't really heard it before.

Not too far into the second song, "Power", Hogarth was striding toward the front. When he reached the corner of the stage, he turned and strode back to the back of the stage between the keyboard and drum risers, turned toward the audience and made a dramatic throat-cutting gesture and left the stage behind the keyboards. After a moment, Kelley looked after him wondering what just happened. The band slowed down like they were going to end the song, then started up again, like Hogarth was coming back. Then they stopped. And waited until he returned. He did, and was all smiles. They started up a new song in a bit more casual an atmosphere. He sat down at his keyboards and they played "Sounds That Can't Be Made". Here's Mosely's explanation of what happened: "After the first track they always do a jam. During the jam, Mark triggered the click track for Power and the rest of the band weren't ready and h couldn't start singing as it was all over the place. So he left the stage. Then they started again before h had time to get back to the mic. So he said let's give up and do another song instead! So all Marks fault:). No diva."

A couple of songs later, they did "Sugar Mice", Hogarth said it was a song about Milwaukee, though it was only set in that city. It was the only Fish-era song they played, and was probably the dullest song they played.

"Neverland" was introduced as winning a poll for the fans' most favorite song. I thought it was a bit long and repetitive.

So the show was a learning experience for me. I really did quite enjoy it.



( photos and set list )

The Femmes played a great show! It was the Harley stage at Summerfest, so it was back to balancing on the benches. It's been a few years for me, so my calves were feeling it the next day.

They started out with the usual, "Blister in the Sun" and "Kiss Off". After that they mixed it up a bit, including several new songs. The audience didn't get into them very much, of course, but soon they were back on track. They played an assortment of audience favorites - "American Music", "Gimme the Car", "Country Death Song", "Prove My Love", "Gone Daddy Gone", "Black Girls", "Jesus Walking on the Water", "I Held Her in My Arms", "Old Mother Reagan", "Freak Magnet" (I love that one!). Newish songs included "Good For / At Nothing" off last year's EP, Happy New Year, "I Could Be Anything" from their new album and "Rules of Success" from Something's Wrong. They also did "Color Me Once" which appeared on The Crow soundtrack. Probably my favorite of the night! As usual, they ended with "Add It Up". Checking with Setlist.com, I see that the first song of two in the encore was "Memory." They also did "Love Love Love Love Love" and "Issues" (all new songs) plus "Life Is an Adventure."

Ritchie played acoustic bass for the first half, and then electric for much of the second. Gano switched between electric guitar and electric banjo a lot. He played fiddle for two songs, and acoustic guitar for at least one. John Sparrow played a small kit - snare, tom and Weber Kettle, with two cymbals. He played cajon once or twice. Blaise Garza played tenor and subcontrabass saxophones. Also a melodica and the occasional percussion. Jeff Hamilton on electric guitar, mandolin and ukelele. When I first saw him with a trumpet during Black Girls, he was using it as a bottleneck slide, but I did see him blow it. Special guest Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies flew in for the show. He played accordion. I think he came out for the third song, and stayed. The various Horns of Dilemma members played various small horns, including an alto trombone. A couple of those guys filled in on bass and cajon in places.

The guys seemed to be having fun. That always makes it a fun show. The crowd slowly thinned out over the course of the show, so I ended up having about three spots to dance on by the end of the show. I was using most of it for "Color Me Once". Backing vocals were usually a bit off key. The sound wasn't always mixed well enough that I could hear all the instruments. Though the big sax sounded great, sometimes it was hard to hear when it was doubling Ritchie's bass. It was usually hard to pick out the accordion. Ritchie had a couple of good solos. He's added space for solos in a few songs, and plays the hell out of them.

My only complaint about their shows is that they only play for 90 minutes.

Opener was Midwest Death Rattle. They didn't sound as dark as you'd think based on their name. Good, solid rock. I need to pick up the album.




Gano and Hearn

( more photos )

Rush is on tour in commemoration of the bands 40 years together (41, actually, but who's counting?). Their show is a travel through time. They started with songs and set from their most recent album and tour, and ended in their earliest days. It was a fitting (apparent) end to their grand concert touring.

They started with three songs from Clockwork Angels, one of which incorporated a short drum solo. Then two songs from Snakes & Arrows - "Far Cry" and the instrumental "Main Monkey Business," which were excellent. Then Vapor Trails with "One Little Victory" (the original video seemed a bit tired). They skipped over T4E and went to Counterparts for "Animate." The first set was finished up with a couple of synth era songs - "DEW" and "Subdivisions."

It was hard for me to get into this part of the show. I'm not all that familiar with Clockwork Angels. I loved the two songs from Snakes & Arrows but after that I wasn't extremely enthused. The sound wasn't great, and most importantly, we were way in the back, only a few rows from the top. It was just harder to feel it from back there.

Workers in red coveralls kept coming out to adjust the set. They began with their steampunk set up, but shortly, a couple of guys came out to replace some of Geddy's gear with his trademark washing machine, like he had used in prior years. This continued through the set. At the same time, Alex's steampunk stuff was gradually replaced with a small Marshall stack. complete with dinosaurs and Barbies.

The second set continued the journey through time. It opened strong with Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves. "Tom Sawyer," "YYZ," "Spirit of Radio." Next was a song that I'm not thrilled about. "Natural Science" is not only dull but nine minutes long. I was thinking that as long as they were playing a long dull song, they should have done "Jacob's Ladder," since I like that one marginally better. They played it next. Both of them? Guys, they're nearly interchangeable - what were you thinking? Speaking of long dull songs, on other dates they dropped "Natural Science" and "YYZ," and did "The Camera Eye." Okay, I actually like that one.

But then they got into my favorite part. "Cygnus X-1." This one sounded a little different. Something about the live experience, I guess. It's not often a Rush song sound different live, so that was cool. They followed it up with "Cygnus X-1." Since they were going by album in reverse order, they had to play "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres" which was from the Hemispheres album, before "Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage" which was from A Farewell to Kings. They did "Prelude" from Book II, and then the first and third parts from Book I. Yes I know how pretentious that all is. Shut up. Neil did his second drum solo during that one. The solo was quite enjoyable, though not as long or as technical as his previous solos have been. I assume that has something to do with his chronic tendinitis.

After the whole Cygnus thing (or the various parts of the whole Cygnus thing) they did "Closer to the Heart." Beautiful. My favorite song of the night. The next one, "Xanadu," was a close second. It seemed abbreviated, though. Geddy played his double-necked Rickenbacker and a Minimoog, and Alex his double-necked Gibson. They finished up with Overture, Temples, Presentation and Finale from "2112." Fun stuff.

After a short break, they came back for the finale. "Lakeside Park" (from Caress of Steel), "Anthem" (from Fly By Night) and "What You're Doing" and the classic finisher "Working Man" from their debut album.

Before the start of the second set, they showed a video made up of outtakes from many of the videos they've showed at their concerts over the years.

When the curtain went up on "Tom Sawyer," their gear on stage consisted of Alex's huge Marshall stacks, and Geddy's similarly sized stacks of bass amps. Throughout the set, stagehands would come out periodically to remove some, until the end of the show when there were only a couple left. During the finale, their set resembled a school gymnasium. The video wall showed a basketball court and there were a few institutional chairs onstage. Geddy and Alex were each reduced to a single amp, Geddy's sitting across a couple of the chairs. And there was a big disco ball. While I sometimes found the stagehands distracting, it was a fun concept.

The sound started out horribly. It seemed like the sound crew was frantically trying to get everything set during the first song, like they hadn't had a soundcheck. It took a couple more songs to really get things dialed in, but things didn't sound quite right for several other songs or sections. The second half sounded pretty good, with the exception of 2112. It sounded thin, like they lost the tune, except on the most bombastic riffing.

The light show was good. A video wall on the back, with a couple of tall, narrow screens to each side. Two additional projection screens hung farther out to the sides of the stage. Lasers in a few songs. Spotlights shining upwards sometimes. Dear lighting designers. You always have spotlights shining on the audience at some point, and that's great, as long as they keep moving. Last night you had lights shining directly on my section of the audience for the entire drum solo. They were shining directly through Neil's kit, so I couldn't see him, and had to watch on the video screens. Not cool.


Section 313, row 14.

( more pics, and setlist )

Cyn and I saw Richard Thompson at Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. I had never been in this theater before. 475 seats. 17 rows on the floor, and a few in the balcony. Row C (not far off center) made for a nice close view. I was disappointed to see that the show wasn't sold out. Probably less than 400 people in attendance.

It was a solo acoustic show, with no opening act. Just Richard, his guitar and the beret of randomness. He played a good cross-section of his work, from 1974's Hokey Pokey on up to current, plus a cover, and one Fairport Convention song. After the third song of the night, he announced he would draw an album from the Beret of Randomness, which was lying on a stool nearby. This album was Hokey Pokey, so he played that song and a couple more from it.

Being a small venue, it allowed for a bit of audience interaction. Most of this was shouting requests, which Thompson good-naturedly accepted or rejected. At one point, just as he was clamping down his capo, someone asked for "I Misunderstood". He quickly glanced up and moved his capo down one fret. At the end of the show, as he left the stage, the audients were on their feet. When he returned, and everyone sat back down, one guy in the front center didn't. Thompson seemed to be leaning over to see around the guy, or posing while looking right at him. The guy realized what he was doing, and sheepishly sat back down. The audients got a good laugh, and Thompson asked him what song he wanted to hear. I didn't hear what he suggested, but Thompson called him a wise guy. On the way home, we were talking about what we would have said if we had been asked. He had already played my favorites and I'm not that familiar with his work anyway, so I probably would have suggested he consult the Beret of Randomness. We decided it would have been fun to ask for something from his 1000 Years of Popular Music album, like "Trafalgar Square" or "Oops, I Did It Again". He did, however, play "Dog Eat Dog in Denmark", a Frank Loesser song. It's a retelling of Hamlet in 1940's jive-speak. "Ophelia, overcome with such grief and sorrow/She went and flipped her lid, she popped her cork, she jumped the track/And her intelligent mind developed a permanent crack/Things went black."

Cyn was happy to hear several of her favorites, including "Johnny's Far Away", "Dimming of the Day" and "1952 Vincent Black Lightning". The latter is a favorite of many. It's one of my most favorite songs of all. Four straightforward verses of love, devotion and death. I see angels on aerials in leather and chrome/swooping down from heaven to carry me home. The tune is gorgeous, and the guitar... amazing. And speaking of blistering guitar, he closed with "Cooksferry Queen."


A mic, two monitors, two stools, water, powder and the Beret of Randomness.


Bad cellphone picture of Vogel Hall. The place is rather dated and worn. All red velvet and lights. Too bad it doesn't see enough business to warrant an update.