The Killers - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA 9/27/2022

The Killers delayed Imploding the Mirage tour reached Philadelphia this past week.

 I was fortunate to see Brandon Flowers years ago at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park New Jersey, and had only seen The Killers once when they performed an excellent version of Tom Petty's American Girl at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, and loved both performances. 

Despite knowing how good they are and liking a lot of their music, I really had no idea what the expect from their full concerts. It was amazing. From the opening song to the final one, it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Musically, they are a great band and could hold their own on a empty stage with no visual assistance. What was impressive was that the staging and visual accompaniment were stunning, but did not overtake the musicianship at any time. The visuals only enhanced the songs, but did not overtake them.

 Opening the show was Johnny Marr of The Smiths who gave a great, albeit too short, set and joined The Killers for the final two songs of their set. His set consisted of some of his solo songs and songs from The Smiths and Electronic. He could have played for 90 minutes and it would have been welcome.

  Here are the setlists: 

    Johnny Marr

    Armatopia

    Panic(The Smiths song)

    Night and Day

    Spirit Power and Soul

    Getting Away With It(Electonic song)

    Easy Money

    There Is a Light That Never Goes Out(The Smiths song)

    How Soon Is Now?(The Smiths song)

    The Killers

     My Own Soul's Warning

     Enterlude

     When You Were Young

     Jenny Was a Friend of Mine

     Smile Like You Mean It

     Shot at the Night

     Running Towards a Place

     Human

     Somebody Told Me

     Fire in Bone

     Boy

     For Reasons Unknown

     A Dustland Fairytale

    The First Tome Ever I Saw Your Face(Roberta Flack cover)

    Runaways

    Read My Mind

    Dying Breed

    Caution

    All These Things That I've Done

   Encore

   Spaceman

   This Charming Man(The Smiths cover) w/Johnny Marr

   Mr. Brightside w/Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr

The Killers

Johnny Marr and The Killers

 

 

In Memoriam - Olivia Newton-John

                                                                Rest in Peace
 

Roger Waters - Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA 8/6/2022

 Easily one of the most visually striking concerts I have ever seen, Roger Waters This Is Not a Drill tour came to Philadelphia this weekend.
From what I can gather, Roger Waters is very up front about his politics in the concert setting and always has been, and even gives a tongue in cheek warning at the beginning on the concert, so don't say you weren't warned.

  I am definitely more of a Pink Floyd fan than a fan of his solo work, but can honestly say I am not very familiar with his solo work outside of Radio KAOS. There are a few songs on that album I really like, but doubt they would have fit in well with the theme of this concert, outside of The Powers That Be which was played early in the first set..

  The highlights of the concert were the powerful opening of Comfortably Numb, the classic Have a Cigar, the opening of the second half when Roger entered to In The Flesh, and Two Suns in The Sunset before the last song.

  Here is the setlist: 

 Comfortably Numb(Pink Floyd song)

The Happiest Days of Our Lives(Pink Floyd song)

 Another Brick in The Wall Part 2(Pink Floyd song)

 Another Brick in The Wall Part 3(Pink Floyd song)

 The Powers That Be

 The Bravery of Being Out of Range

 The Bar

 Have a Cigar(Pink Floyd song)

 Wish You Were Here(Pink Floyd song)

 Shine On You Crazy Diamond(Parts VI-IX) (Pink Floyd song)

 Sheep(Pink Floyd song)

       Intermission

In The Flesh(Pink Floyd song)

Run Like Hell(Pink Floyd song)

Deja Vu

Is That The Life We Really Want

Money(Pink Floyd song)

Us & Them(Pink Floyd song)

Any Colour You Like(Pink Floyd song)

Brain Damage / Eclipse(Pink Floyd song)

Two Suns In The Sunset(Pink Floyd song)

The Bar(Reprise)/Outside The Wall(Pink Floyd song)

Confortably Numb

Sheep

Run Like Hell

Eclipse/Brain Damage

Outside The Wall - Band Introductions

 

 

In Memoriam - James Caan

Rest in Peace

Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo - Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 7/3/2022

 New Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo played the Count Basie Theatre last night.

  First off, their induction is about 25 years overdo. Like her or not, to deny her importance and influence in the world of rock music is questionable.. From the late 70's to the mid 80's she had so many hit songs, and a truly remarkable voice.To be honest, I was not a huge Pat Benatar fan growing up.Although,  I loved her voice, and thought Neil  was a great guitarist. There were a few songs I really liked, Love is a Battlefield, Shadows of the Night, Anxiety, Sex as a Weapon, but was never a big fan. 

  My wife and I did see her do a few songs at Pleasure Island in Walt Disney World in 2000, but the crowd got a little too pushy so we only saw about 4, maybe 5 songs. 

  Our daughter is a fan so when we saw that they were playing The Count Basie, we know it would be a perfect Birthday gift.

   What an amazing concert. The songs, old and new, have held up incredibly well and Ms.Benatar's voice sounds like it has not aged a day since the 80's.

     The setlist included many of her hits, and there are many, and several deep cuts which fit in perfectly. 

     I also love the fact that the two of them have been together for over 43 years and married for 40 of them. It shows on stage and I wish them 140 more.

     I wish them long overdue congratulations on their induction into the rock hall and look forward to them returning to New Jersey.

     Opening the concert was singer songwriter Chris Trapper, who won the crowd over very quickly with his great songs, beautiful guitar playing and voice and his great sense of humor. Hope we are fortunate enough to see him again going forward.

     Here are the setlists; 

      Chris Trapper

      Into the Bright Light

      The Accident

      This Time

      F@#% It

      Skin

      Keg on My Coffin

    Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo

    No You Don't

    I Need a Lover

    All Fired Up

    We Live For Love

    Strawberry Wine

    We Belong ( Pat & Neil only)

    In the Heat of the Night

    Promises in the Dark

    River of Love

    Purgatory

    Invincible

    Shadows of the Night

    Hell is For Children

    You Better Run

    Love is a Battlefield

 

   Helter Skelter(Beatles cover)

   Everybody Lay Down

   Heartbreaker / Ring of Fire(Johnny Cash cover)