Tool

Sep. 1st, 2002 07:30 pm
Derek, Doug and I went. Before the show, I was talking with Doug, and trying to tell him who the opening act was. The band was Tomahawk, but I couldn't remember who the vocalist was, or what band he'd been in. At about their second song, Doug turned to me and said, "that guy acts like a second-rate Mike Patton!" I shrugged, but didn't ask who that was, or why I should know that name. He said the same thing to Derek, but added "of Faith No More." I said, "that is Mike Patton!" I had previously seen Faith No More and disliked them, and this time Patton seemed to be jumping around and singing even more idiotically than he had before.

Tool, on the other hand, is great. The band is amazing. Such complex music. Singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer. The singer occasionally played guitar.The interplay between the guitar and bass was very cool. They don't harmonize, they sometimes play together and sometimes play separately but it always works. The drumming is great too. I can't put my finger on what he does, but he doesn't sound quite like anyone else. The three instruments overlap so much, especially the bass sounds. Even watching them, it was hard to see who was playing what. And the singer has a unique style for a "metal" band - he sings. Often at the top of his lungs. In tune. And he doesn't always sing exactly on the beat. It implies a pattern at a different level.

One of the band's themes, at least in their imagery, is transcendence. Their main message is, "think for yourself," but there seems to be an implication that doing so can get you to another level. After the show Doug asked me how the show made me feel. He said the emotion he felt was anger. I said it was more simply aggression. Most people would only pick up on the negativity given off by most metal bands, but I don't see as much of it in Tool. I'll admit I don't feel a lot of positivity either, but in the end, their direction gives me hope. Their negativity is directed. It is derision of the mindless automatons that make up so much of our society. So the aim is a positive one. I'm not a big fan of doing bad things for good results (the ends do not justify the means), but what it comes down to is a feeling of hope, since my eyes have been opened and my disgust urges me to act.

But back to the show...

Three were video screens high, alongside the stage, with Tool's unique brand of video. Mystical and ominous. Other than that, they didn't have much of a visual theme. Was there a giant inflatable... construction floating over the stage at some point? Have you noticed how bad my memory is?

Maynard is an odd character. I want to know what he had on his face. He was wearing some kind of uniform - all black with a badge, and stripes on the seams of his trousers. He had something black down the middle of his face. I don't know if it was paint, or some kind of leather mask. It was hard to see because he stayed up on his platform, and never really faced the audience, and never had a light on himself. During the last song, his platform began to rotate, so every twenty seconds or so he was facing us, and the stage was brightly lit, so we could finally get a look at him, but we weren't close enough to get a good look.

After the show the four guys came down front for a bow and a group hug. Maynard left the stage pretty quickly, but the others stayed on stage for quite a while, waving, clapping back at us and throwing things to the audience. You don't see that sort of appreciation very often anymore.

Bob Dylan

Oct. 28th, 2001 07:30 pm
Cindy, her daughter Heather, and I went to see Bob Dylan at the Arena. Great show. I've seen him four times now, and every time is better than the previous.

Some shows I've seen him more animated than others. This one was less so. He moved about a little bit, and did his Bob poses. I didn't see him smile much, but I was back a ways. Cindy and I spent most of our time back by the sound board where there was room to move, and where the sound is guaranteed to be best.

Dylan does so many different styles of music. Bluegrass, folk, country folk, country, swing, good old fashioned rock and roll, rock, and a few less describable things. And of course he sings them in his own inimitable voice. I didn't care for how he changed the tune on many of the songs. He sings new melodies on many of his classics. Not only that but many of them sound like the same tune.

The musicians he had with him were good. They could back him up on all those different styles. Charlie Sexton on guitar, Tony Garnier on stand up and bass guitars (as always), David Kemper on drums (the guy with the really big cowboy hat) and Larry Campbell on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric guitar (and bottleneck), and dobro.

The highlights for me were "Summer Days" (that song is pure swing and I couldn't believe how many people were standing still), "Highway 61 Revisited" (of course), and "All along the Watchtower" (not normally one of my favorites, but at this show it was awesome).

Set list:
Wait For The Light To Shine (acoustic) (Larry on mandolin) (song by Fred Rose)
My Back Pages (acoustic) (Larry on fiddle and Bob on harp)
Desolation Row (acoustic)
Searching For A Soldier's Grave (acoustic) (Larry on mandolin)
(song by Johnnie Wright, Jim Anglin and Jack Anglin)
Lonesome Day Blues
Lay, Lady, Lay (Larry on pedal steel)
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (Larry on pedal steel)
High Water (Larry on banjo)
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (acoustic)
Mama, You Been On My Mind (acoustic) (Bob on harp)
Masters Of War (acoustic)
Summer Days (Tony on standup bass)
Moonlight (Bob on harp)
Drifter's Escape (Bob on harp)
Highway 61 Revisited

(1st encore)
Things Have Changed
Like A Rolling Stone
I Shall Be Released (acoustic)
Honest With Me
Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic)

(2nd encore)
All Along The Watchtower

Q: Kevin, how as Masters of War?
A: I was looking forward to that song, because I had seen that it was one of the songs that he played every night (he varied about half of his set every night), but I wasn't real impressed with it. It lost much of that menacing feel that both the original version and Eddie Vedder's version had.

One of the complaints I heard about the concert was that Bob was rather stand-offish and didn't really involve the audience in the show. I read one review which said that you could tell he had something to say, given that he played "Masters of War" and "Blowin' in the Wind," but he never spoke. Um, dude? You're right. He did have something to say. He said it.

NIN

Apr. 18th, 2000 08:00 pm
The night after CSN&Y, I saw Nine Inch Nails. I only vaguely recall seeing this show, and I didn't remember at all that A Perfect Circle had opened.
My dad and I went to see another Dylan show. We had good seats, up off the floor, not too far from the stage. All the hippies were down on the general admission floor.

Phil Lesh, the Dead's bassist put on a perfectly acceptable show. Bluesy, if I recall correctly.

Dylan's show, I don't recall very much at all. Okay, none, really. I can almost see it...

Candlebox

Nov. 3rd, 1995 07:30 pm
I wasn't all that interested in Candlebox,I had just seen them a couple of months prior, but they were okay. Sponge was decent, but I still could have skipped them. Our Lady Peace, however, I was really excited about. I loved Naveed. I was up front on the floor of the arena. I was dancing through their short set. I think some of the alternative/hard rock fans were looking at me funny. After they were done, I went up in the stands and had a seat for the rest of the night.

Phil went. Jamie, a guy I worked with, was also there. He said he was crowd surfing all night. All the surfers get passed forward and then pulled down at the stage by security. Jamie said he kept going back around, and one particular guard was getting annoyed at him.

Bush

Sep. 2nd, 1995 08:00 pm
Bush and... Candlebox, right? Anyone else? Did I go by myself? Don't know.
I went to this show by myself. Phil must still have been away to school.

Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI, pronounced "pee-wee", as someone nearby me liked to shout) was the opener. They were okay.

It was pretty packed out on the floor. Then the music started. "Pinion", which led into the raw power of "Mr. Self Destruct". The audience went wild. There was no mosh pit, there was just one giant mosh. Nothing but a huge mass of bodies pushing and shoving. It was awesome!

Setlist:
1. Pinion
2. Mr. Self Destruct
3. Sin
4. March of the Pigs
5. Piggy
6. Reptile
7. Gave Up
8. Happiness in Slavery
9. Eraser
10. Hurt
11. The Downward Spiral
12. Wish
13. Suck
14. Physical
15. Down In It
16. Head Like a Hole
Encore:
17. Closer
18. Dead Souls
19. I Do Not Want This
20. Something I Can Never Have
Since the previous show, they put "Happiness In Slavery" back in, but before "Eraser" rather than after, and they replaced "Ruiner" with "Physical". Assuming these setlists are accurate.
Phil and I saw this one from the floor of the Arena, tenth row. They rocked. It was a good time. Apparently Trixter was the opener. I think they had a song I kinda liked.
The Dead were playing at the arena (first of two nights). Across the street, at the convention center, was a church handbell choir festival. Because of the festival atmosphere that surrounds Dead shows, they had the street closed off. Tie-dye everywhere. My mom was at the handbell thing. The next morning she said, "I saw those... people." You should have seen her face twist when she said that. :-D

I enjoyed the show. I wasn't very familiar with the band, and certainly not the live experience. It was a little different. I don't think I was aware of the Space Jam. The drumming was cool - two drummers. They did a big drum section, leading in to the Space Jam. Right after that was my best memory of the show - Brett Mydland singing a heartfelt "I Will Take You Home". He died just over a year later.

I only had one person offer me a smoke. I did not partake. The arena had enough smoke in it.

$18.50. Upper level.

Setlist:

Mississippi Half-Step
Feel Like a Stranger
Franklin's Tower
Walkin' Blues
When Push Comes to Shove
Queen Jane Approximately
Blow Away
Promised Land

China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
Playin' in the Band
Terrapin Station
drums
space
I Will Take You Home
All Along the Watchtower
Morning Dew

One More Saturday Night

Rush - HYF

Apr. 5th, 1988 07:30 pm
Hold Your Fire. Had seats on the floor. Rather far back, left side. I know Phil and Bill were there with me, probably Jim. Phil's first time to see the band.

We were somewhat excited for the opening act, which was supposed to be Tommy Shaw. By the time we got down there, we learned that Shaw had canceled. He had dropped out of the tour a month before. Rush tour dates show that he opened the show in Detroit one night, and there was no opener the following night. The Rainmakers opened this show instead. They performed in front of the big beige curtain, and didn't wow the audience. I thought they were kind of interesting, even if I wasn't enthused, but not many people seemed to agree with me, and the band was booed. I'm sure they wouldn't have gotten that bad a reaction if the audience hadn't been expecting their Styx guy.

The setlist shows a similar set to last time, leaning heavily on the latest three albums, and the standard list of hits from "2112" through "Subdivisions". "The Big Money" was now their opening song, and for a long time after. Their opener was always a rocking tune from a recent album.

(setlist from www.cygnus-x1.net)

Intro ("Three Stooges Theme")
The Big Money
Subdivisions
Limelight
Marathon
Turn The Page
Prime Mover
Manhattan Project
Closer To The Heart
Red Sector A
Force Ten
Time Stand Still
Distant Early Warning
Lock And Key
Mission
Territories
YYZ
The Rhythm Method (Drum Solo)
Red Lenses
The Spirit Of Radio
Tom Sawyer
Encore
2112: Overture/The Temples Of Syrinx
La Villa Strangiato
In The Mood
One of the most sparsely attended shows I've seen at the arena, which is a shame, because Waters's shows are much like Pink Floyd's. I was down on the floor (sec 5 row F seat 9).

Waters used the old round video screen that the Floyd had used, and had many of the original films. I loved seeing the mechanical creature, crawling to the heavy, throbbing into to "Welcome to the Machine". The top half of the screen was lined with vari-lites.

The tour was for Radio KAOS. There was a War Games-like conversation with a synthesized voice as the theme of the show. A DJ (played by Jim Ladd) had a booth to the side of the stage, and he had an ongoing conversation with the synthesized voice of Billy. At one point, the world was apparently going to end. All the lights on the stage came up white and bright, aiming upwards and outwards, and then, with the crescendo, they all aimed for the floor and went out. Black. Total silence. A moment of awe.

Musicians were Paul Carrack (keyboards) who sang David Gilmour's parts, Mel Collins (sax), Jay Stapley (guitar), Andy Fairweather-Low (guitar), Graham Broad (drums), Katie Kisson and Doreen Chanter (vocals).

After the show, I sat in Polaris, going around, reading the concert program.

Def Leppard

Nov. 5th, 1987 07:30 pm
Phil was a big Def Leppard fan. I wasn't really into that sort of band, but I kinda rode along with Phil's enthusiasm. I always hated hair metal, but Def Leppard was only on the fringe of that movement. They were poppier than the average hair band, and their songs were relatively melodic, which was my main problem with the hair bands. Phil was also a fan of Tesla, who was opening this show. Tesla was less poppy than Def Leppard, but also less glam. A little more regular rock than most. So it ended up being a good show.

Two or three of the local radio stations were having a banner contest. Bill suggested that we all make a banner. We all being he, me, Phil, Aaron and Becky. I put a design together. I had Aaron come over and help paint, one night. And then finished it myself, since I didn't really know what anyone else could do. Seems like I was up late with it the night before the show, trying to finish it, and hoping the paint would dry in time. I thought it looked pretty good, though not quite good enough to win. Maybe right up there. But then after the show, or maybe during, I realized that I hadn't followed directions. I put the station's call letters on it, but I didn't put the key phrase that everyone was supposed to use. Something like "Def Leppard and Lazer 103 rock Milwaukee". Oh well. My Our banner was still pretty cool... because I didn't mess it up with that stupid phrase.

The stage was in the middle of the arena. That was pretty wild. It meant they could sell more tickets (I'm pretty sure the show was sold out), but more importantly, it meant that everyone was closer to the stage. We were in the middle of one side, almost directly in line with the stage, high enough to have a good view of the stage.

The stage had the drum riser in the middle, and a couple of raised platforms going out to the edges of the stage, separating it into north and south. The floor was painted with the lines from the cover of Hysteria. The drum kit spun. During Tesla's set, it turned and faced a different direction every song. During Def Leppard's set, it spun during the songs. It would turn 'round, or go back and forth.

Rick Allen had lost an arm in a car crash three years earlier. We had a good view of him playing his electronic kit. Unsurprisingly, he had a lot of pedals. The other musicians were singer Joe Elliott, guitarists Phil Collen and Steve Clark (three years before his alcohol-related death) and bassist Rick Savage.

Setlist from a show two weeks later (from www.setlist.fm)
1. Dirty Harry Intro
2. Stagefright
3. Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
4. Women
5. Another Hit and Run
6. Too Late for Love
7. Hysteria
8. Steve Clark Guitar Solo
9. Gods Of War
10. Die Hard The Hunter
11. Bringin' on the Heartbreak
12. Foolin'
13. Animal
14. Pour Some Sugar on Me
15. Phil Collen Guitar Solo
16. Let It Go
17. Rock of Ages
Encore:
18. Photograph
Encore 2:
19. Good Golly Miss Molly or Travelin' Band
I didn't camp out for the tickets, but I did go down pretty early. Hung out and talked to some other ELP fans. Bill and I ended up sitting down on the floor at the Arena. Sixth row, on the aisle, left section. No idea who opened, if anyone.

ELP was, well, ELP, even if it didn't have Carl Palmer. Emerson was full of his usual tricks. Like bass so deep it vibrated your entire chest. Or attacking his keyboard with a big hunting knife. And pulling it over backwards on top of him, and then playing it (so the keyboard was upside down to him).

Cozy Powell appeared out of smoke and spotlights, with a row of four hexagonal electronic drums, to do a drum solo. He'd change the sounds that they produced every ten seconds or so. It was an interesting set of sounds, but other than that, he didn't impress me at all.

I found a setlist from another show on that tour. I assume it is similar, if not the same, but I couldn't really say for sure.

1. The Score *
2. Learning To Fly *
3. Pirates
4. Knife Edge
5. Tarkus (uh... which part?)
6. Pictures At an Exhibition (again, which part?)
7. Dream Runner
8. Creole Dance

Greg Lake Acoustic Set
9. Still...You Turn Me On
10. From The Beginning
11. Lucky Man

12. Touch And Go *
13. Mars, The Bringer of War *
14. KE9
Encore:
15. Fanfare For The Common Man
Encore 2:
16. America
17. Rondo

* Songs from their latest (and only) album.
Power Windows tour. Bill and me. Down on the side, at the Arena. Just high enough off the floor to see over the heads of the people walking below.

Marillion was the opener. I was a big fan of them, due to the release of Misplaced Childhood, coming out the previous June. They were the first opening act I had seen that I liked, and by far the best I was to see for many years to come.

I don't remember any specific impressions of Rush's show, but I see by the setlist, that most of the show was recent songs - the synth era. Not my favorite stuff, even as an early fan, who had just gotten into them in the last couple of years. However, I didn't *dislike* the synth stuff, and it was my first live Rush concert - I loved it!

Intro ("Three Stooges Theme")
The Spirit of Radio
Limelight
The Big Money
New World Man
Subdivisions
Manhattan Project
Middletown Dreams
Witch Hunt
Red Sector A
Closer To The Heart
Marathon
The Trees
Mystic Rhythms
Distant Early Warning
Territories
YYZ
Drum Solo
Red Lenses
Encore:
Tom Sawyer
2112: Overture, The Temples of Syrinx
Grand Designs
In the Mood

Heart

Feb. 11th, 1986 07:00 pm
Bill and I again, to see Heart. Not sure if anyone else went. Way up, on the side of the arena. The Russian hard rock band Autograph opened, but I didn't know they were Russian, until many years later.

This was Heart's tour in support of their big comeback album, Heart. They had some pretty big hits - "What About Love", "Never", "These Dreams", "Nothin' at All" and "If Looks Could Kill". I wasn't a big fan of anything on that album, but I liked most of their earlier work. I could say that about pretty much every band, until the the early nineties.

Heart's light show consisted of lights of one color lighting the stage, and spotlights of a different color lighting the band.

Supertramp

Nov. 1st, 1985 08:00 pm
Bill and I sat in the second row from the back, at the arena. The Motels opened. I'm not sure how, but I occasionally recognize a Motels song when I hear it. They weren't really all that memorable. If you bring up the band's name, Bill will probably tell you that the singer simulated fellatio with her microphone and the saxophone.

Brother Where You Bound. This was the album after Roger Hodgson left, so they were missing that whole part of their catalog, but he wasn't the only singer, so they still had quite a few good songs to play. I still remember the hypnotizing railroad film they showed during "Cannonball," and how I missed what was happening onstage.
I was a sophomore in high school. My first concert, and I wouldn't see another for two years. Jeff and I were big Styx fans, and he talked his dad into taking us down to Milwaukee. Probably because it was his birthday. I'm not sure how I talked my mom into letting me go. We bought tickets at the door, and were in the twelfth row from the back.

It was an "evening with Styx" - code for "no opening act." They were doing their Kilroy was Here tour. The show opened with a film. The title character was arrested for killing a protester at one of those evil rock and roll concerts. The film was about his escape from prison. As the film ended, the action was taken up onstage. The band members played characters in the play, and at various times, acted out scenes from the opera that made up the album. It was pretty cool to a sixteen-year-old.

They played quite a few songs from their repertoire - all their hits - so it was a great show beyond that. Totally fun. Jeff was walking around humming "Crystal Ball" for several days afterward. I think this show is what made him take up the guitar.

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