Monday, April 24, 2017

Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul - Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park NJ 4/22/2017

  I first saw Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul at the Conspiracy of Hope concert in 1986 and one year later at the Stone Pony right after Freedom No Compromise had been released. Great shows. I figured as the years passed that Little Steven would probably not be doing any solo tours so I felt very fortunate to have had the chance to see him.
  There were a couple times when I got to see some of his excellent Disciples of Souls music over the years; Bruce Springsteen's Holiday concerts ion Asbury Park where he performed Until the Good is Gone with Bruce, The Vote for Change concert at the Meadowlands where he performed I Am a Patriot with Jackson Browne and the Come Together Show at the Count Basie Theatre where he performed Until the Good is Gone and Forever with many original Disciples of Soul band members.
   So when he announced a new album/release coming out in May and going on tour, I was  more than a little happy.
  His show included many covers from his upcoming album, many classic DOS songs from his first album Men Without Women through to Freedom No Compromise, several songs he wrote for Southside Johnny and even one he wrote with Gary U.S. Bond. The show was excellent. The huge 14 piece band sounded great, and even added an extra trombonist for the James Brown song Down and Out In New York City. Former James Brown member Fred Wesley took a wonderful solo during this song.
  To close the show out, Bruce Springsteen joined Steve to trade lead vocals on It's Been a Long Time, the song they recorded together with Southside Johnny for Southside's Better Days Album, and Bye Bye Johnny, the classic Chuck Berry song.

  Here is the setlist.

            Soulfire(The Breakers song)
            Coming Back(Southside Johnny song)
            Inside of Me
            Freedom
            The Blues is My Business(Etta James song)
            Love On the Wrong Side of Town(Southside Johnny song)
            Until the Good is Gone
            Standing in the Line of Fire(Gary U.S. Bonds song)
            Some Things Just Don't Change(Southside Johnny song)
            I Played the Fool(Southside Johnny song)
            Saint Valentine's Day(Cocktail Slippers song)
            The City Weeps Tonight
            Down and Out in New York City(James Brown song) w/Fred Wesley
            Solidarity
            400 Years
            Leonard Peltier
            I Am a Patriot
            No More Party's
            Bitter Fruit
            Ride the Night Away(Southside Johnny song)
            I Don't Want To Go Home(Southside Johnny song)
            Forever
            Can I Get a Witness(Marvin Gaye cover)

            It's Been a Long Time(Southside Johnny song) w/Bruce Springsteen
            Bye Bye Johnny(Chuck Berry cover) w/Bruce Springsteen






Steven & Bruce

           
           
           

Friday, April 7, 2017

Bon Jovi - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA 3/31/2017

Bon Jovi brought their This House is Not For Sale tour to Philadelphia last week.

 
 

This is the first full tour without guitarist Richie Sambora. He left suddenly on the last tour. In doing so, the feel of the later part of that tour felt a little out of synch/ It felt more like a Jon Bon Jovi show than a full band tour.


Having had time to work with the new band members has made this tour feel like a band tour once again. They were tight and able to mix things up on a dime.


 Long time band members, Tico Torres, David Bryan and Hugh MacDonald are still on hand.

For this tour, Phil X once again has taken the bulk of the guitar parts, with John Shanks taking over for Bobby Bandiera. Everett Bradley is also along this time around adding percussion and backing vocals.

Here is the setlist:




                          This House is Not For Sale
                          Knockout
                          You Give Love a Bad Name
                          Lost Highway
                          Whole Lot of Leavin'
                          Roller Coaster
                          We Weren't Born to Follow
                          I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
                          Runaway
                          We Got It Goin' On
                          Who Says You Can't Go Home
                          It's My Life
                          We Don't Run
                          God Bless This Mess
                          Scars on This Guitar
                          New Year's Day
                          Lay Your Hands On Me
                          Born To Be My Baby
                          Have a Nice Day
                          Bad Medicine
                          Keep the Faith
 
                          Raise Your Hands
                          The Fighter(Portion)
                          Wanted Dead or Alive
                          Livin' on a Prayer