Merry Christmas

In Memoriam - Pat Dinizio

Rest in Peace

Old Dominion - Starland Ballroom 11/3/2017

  Old Dominion's show at Starland Ballroom was the fastest selling country show ever at The Starland Ballroom in Sayerville New Jersey. Not bad for a band which has played 3 times in the area over the past year and a half.

  This time around they have a new album to promote, so the setlist was changed quite a bit from last year when the played at the Stone Pony.

  The played all but one song from their first album, a bulk of their new album, Family Values, and a couple songs which they have co-written for other artists.

   Opening for Old Dominion is Australian singer Morgan Evans, who performed a solo set where he interspersed several cover songs into his own songs. His set included his own songs Kiss Somebody, Day Drunk and Everything Changes, while touching on such songs as the Blacked Eyed Peas I've Got a Feeling, Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud, Andy Grammar's Shut Up and Dance With Me and Sam Hunt's Body Like a Back Road. He also did a sampling of 3 songs he grew up on, Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down, Keith Urban's I Want To Love Somebody and Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark.

    Old Dominion made it clear that they were having a great time and that the Starland crowd was one of the best they had. They broke from the written setlist to see if the crowd would want to hear a specific song, They said they hear requests for Half Empty and Shoe Shopping and polled the crowd as to which they would play. They decided to play both.

   Here's hoping the come back before they open for Kenny Chesney next August at Metlife Stadium.

   Here is the setlist.

                       Snapback

                       Crazy Beautiful Sexy
                       Said Nobody
                       Written in the Sand
                       Beer Can in a Truck Bed
                       No Such Thing As a Broken Heart
                       Not Everything's About You
                       Half Empty
                       Shoe Shopping
                       Be With Me
                       Break Up With Him
                       Hotel Key
                       Make You Miss Me(Sam Hunt song)
                       New York At Night
                       Can't Get You
                       Save It For a Rainy Day(Kenny Chesney song)
                       My Hometown(Bruce Springsteen cover) / Nowhere Fast
                       Wrong Turns

                       So You Go
                       Song For Another Time

                    

Happy Halloween

The Psychedelic Furs - Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 10/11/2017

  For the first time, I was able to see The Psychedelic Furs, as they brought their Singles tour to Red Bank the other night.

 In the early years of MTV, I always remember seeing their video for Love My Way pretty much daily. A song I liked but never loved, but have grown fond of over the years. I'm sure partly due to nostalgia, but also because it is a pretty catchy song.

  Fortunately, they have many good songs which I was familiar with, and many more I was not familiar with.

  Brothers Richard and Tim Butler are the only remaining original members, but the current line up was more than able to hold their own. They were bot just back up players, but a band. Ex Waitresses saxophonist Mars Williams was outstanding as he played, what seemed like, non stop from the moment the Furs came out.

   Tommy Stinson of the Replacements opened the show with his band Bash & Pop. His set consisted of originals and a cover of the Who's The Kid's Are Alright.
    Here are the setlists, Unfortunately I was not familiar with Bash & Pop so any title which I am not sure of I follow with a question mark(?).



                          Bash & Pop

                             Not This Time

                             Fast & Hard

                             On the Rocks

                             Bad News?

                             Brave Enough?

                             Just One?

                             Too Late

                             Make it Easier?

                             The Kids Are Alright(Who cover)

                             ???????????

                             Not a Moment Too Soon

                             Unf#@k You

                             Anything Could Happen

                          Psychedelic Furs

                              Dumb Waiter

                              We Love You

                              Mr. Jones

                              Pretty in Pink

                              Danger

                              Love My Way

                              Run and Run

                              Until She Comes

                              The Ghost in You

                              Heartbeat

                              Angels Don't Cry

                              All That Money Wants

                              Heartbreak Beat

                              Don't Be a Girl

                              House

                              Heaven

                             Sister Europe

                             India

                             President Gas

                             

 

Bash & Pop

 

 

Psychedelic Furs

Chicago - Garden State Arts Center 9/4/1988

  This post is for my Mother who passed away today.
  Back in 1988 my parents and I went to see Chicago at the Garden State Arts Center, which is now the PNC Bank Arts Center. It was the only "rock" concert I believe they ever went to.Not that they did not like rock music, but they grew up in the jazz age and initially felt most rock bands were not good musicians. This is something which they both seemed to have a changed attitude about, the more they heard. I even remember watching a Dexy's Midnight Runners concert with them on MTV one night and my father saying how he hated to admit it, but he really liked them.
  Chicago was one band which they both did like. Good songs, great horn arrangement and top notch musicianship. It seemed like Chicago played every summer at the Arts Center in the 80's, so after having seen them a few times, I told them we should go see them together, and they were up for it.
  The tour was for the 19 album which  had a few great songs on it, including one of my all time favorites, Heart in Pieces.
  We got our lawn seats and got there early. Henry Lee Summer opened the show with Hands on the Radio and closed with a cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' on Heavens Door". They though he was really good. I was actually surprised they liked him. Just a straight forward rock band, but they saw how good he was live and how tight he and his band were.
  Chicago did a strong set with a few songs from the new album, a bunch of classics and a couple deep cuts. The sound mix started off a little rocky, but was pretty much rectified by about the fourth song.
   They were great. They did many of their popular ballads, which I actually like, but the set consisted of many of their classics with the great horn arrangements they loved. By the end of the show they were standing with the rest of the audience and clapping along to Dancing in the Street.
    They loved the show and wanted to talk about it long after we were home. They told me how much a good time they, but i think the night meant so much more to me. My parents meant so much to me and getting to go with them meant more to me than they could ever know.
     Here is the setlist from that show.

                         Getaway
                         25 or 6 to 4
                         Stay the Night
                         I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love
                         Heart in Pieces
                         Saturday in the Park
                         Just You N Me
                         Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
                         You're the Inspiration
                         I Stand Up
                         Will You Still Love Me
                         Beginnings
                         We Can Stop the Hurting
                         Dialogue
                         It's Alright
                         Hard Habit To Break
                         Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Getaway
                       
                         I'm a Man
                         Dancing in the Street(Martha Reeves & The Vandella's cover)
                         Can't Turn You Loose(Otis Redding cover) / Feeling Stronger Everyday

In Memorian - Glen Campbell

                                                                   Rest in Peace

In Memoriam - Barbara Cook

        
                                                                       Rest in Peace

In Memoriam - Michael Bond

Rest in Peace

Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul - Count Basie Theatre 5/29/2017

     Little Steven returned to the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank New Jersey for the release of his newest CD Soul Fire.

     Steven's Sirius radio channel, Little Steven's Underground Garage, also provided a live broadcast of the show and also did a 2 hour pre-show from the Count Basie lobby featuring Rich Russo and Dick Manitoba.

      Steven performed every song from the new CD plus a few songs from his back catalog and a few covers.

       Once again, Bruce Springsteen joined Steven for the last 4 songs.

     

                      Here is the setlist:

             Soulfire(Breakers song)

             I'm Coming Back(Southside Johnny song)

             Among the Believers(Darlene Love song)

            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)

            I Saw the Light

            Some Things Just Don't Change(Southside Johnny song)

            Saint Valentines Day(Cocktail Slippers song)

            Salvation

            Tonight the City Weeps

            Down & Out in New York City(James Brown song)

            Princess of Little Italy

            The Time of Your Life

            Solidarity

            Leonard Peltier

            I Am a Patriot

            Ride the Night Away(Southside Johnny song)

            Bitter Fruit

            Forever

            Encore

            It's Been a Long Time w/Bruce Springsteen

            10th Avenue Freeze Out(Bruce Springsteen song) w/Bruce Springsteen

            I Don't Want to Go Home(Southside Johnny song) w/Bruce Springsteen

            Can I Get a Witness(Marvin Gaye cover) w/Bruce Springsteen

 

           

   

 

                               Thoughts and prayers for all who were hurt or lost their lives.

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

           
           
           

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

     

In Memorium - Chuck Berry

     

Rest in Peace

Hail Hail Rock N' Roll

In Memoriam - Robert Osborne

Rest in Peace

Mary Tyler Moore - In Memoriam

                                                              Rest in Peace

2017 Academy Award Predictions

   Academy Award nominations are announced this coming Tuesday. Here are the films I believe will be nominated for Best Picture.

           Arrival
           Hackshaw Ridge
           Hell or High Water
           Hidden Figures
           La La Land
           Lion
           Manchester by the Sea
           Moonlight
           Silence
         

Light of Day-Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park NJ, 1/14/2017

      The annual Light of Day concerts took place in New Jersey/New York & Philadelphia this week, with dozens of events taking place primarily in Asbury Park New Jersey.

       The show normally billed as Bob's Birthday Bash was held at the Paramount Theatre, as it has for the previous 8 years when the event returned to Asbury Park.

       Initially held at the Downtown in Red Bank New Jersey, it moved to the Stone Pony 2 years later and then moved to Tradewinds in Sea Bright , back to the Pony and then to Starland Ballroom in Sayreville New Jersey. For its 9th year, it came back to Asbury and the main show has been held at the Paramount, with the majority of the remaining shows taking place in Asbury from Thursday the 12th of January until Sunday January 15.

       As noted in previous years, the Light of Day concerts raise funds for Parkinsons and ALS research. The Bob on Bob's Birthday Bash is Bob Benjamin. The first LOD show was held in honor of his Birthday in November, but has since moved to January each year.

      This year the format remained the same. In between each main stage act, acoustic performances lasting about 10 minutes took place in front of the curtain. Throughout the night, performers jumped onstage to join other performers.

       The line-up included many of the regular performers for Light of Day: Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers, Willie Nile, Jesse Malin, Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan, Jake Clemons headlined this year and gave a great performance.
        The highlight for me was when original Red Bank Rockers vocalist J.T. Bowen joined Joe Grushecky for Savin' Up, a Bruce Springsteen penned song which appeared on Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers first album Rescue.
        The Firemen from Italy where performing a short acoustic set as the theatre opened.
         Another strong show for a great cause. Happy Birthday Mr. Benjamin.

        Here is the setlist(With ? after titles I am not sure of)





                         The Fireplaces

         Set included: Jambalaya

                              You Never Can Tell

                               Ring of Fire

                        Battery Electric

                           Always After You?

                          I Need You?

                          It's Those Memories?

                          Nobody's Fool

                          Holiday in Heaven

                          Ramble?

                          Does He Love You

                          I Feel Good(James Brown cover)

                       

                       Rob Dye/Taylor Tote/Nick Ryan

                          Miss You(Taylor Tote song)
                          You and I(Lady Gaga cover)

                       Bobby Bandiera

                            World Stand Still

                           Under the Sun(Southside Johnny song)
                           I Was a Fool

                           C'Mon Caroline

                       Miss Emily

                            Standing Stone

                           Sometimes It's Better To Lose

                           The Sellout

                        Remember Jones

                          Let 'Em Look

                          Miranda

                          When I Used To Do You

                          Viola(Arlin Feiles cover)

                          Bullet With Butterfly Wings(Smashing Pumpkins cover)

                       

                       Peter Elkas & Terra Lighfoot

    Set included Goodbye Dublin

                       James Maddock Band

                          It's a F***ed Up World

                          Don't Know

                         Insanity Vs. Humanity

                         Beautiful Now

                         Another Life

                        Emily Grove

                          Lock Me Out

                         Johnny Lee

                        Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan

                          Noisy Guitars/I Wanna Be Sedated(Ramones cover)

                          Just Once

                          Let It Go

                          Come Down Tonight(Asbury Park)

                          You've Got To Hold On w/Vini Lopez & Ben Arnold

                         Rockin' in the Free World(Neil Young cover) w/Ed Manion, Miss Emily, Johnny Duke

                       Porter & Sayles
                         Freebird
                         You Had Me at Hello

                       Ben Arnold

                       Jesse Malin

                         Outsider

                         Turn Up the Mains

                         She Don't Love Me Now

                         In the Modern World

                         She's So Dangerous

                         Janey Don't You Lose Heart(Bruce Springsteen cover)

                         All the Way to Moscow

                         Rudie Can't Fail(The Clash cover)

                       Ed Manion

                         Town Without Pity

                       Wille Nile

                          Forever Wild

                          Hell Yeah

                          Trouble Down in Diamond Town

                          Sweet Jane(Velvet Underground cover)

                          One Guitar w/Joe D'Urso, James Maddock, Peter Elkas, Bobby Mahoney, Anthony D'Amato

                        Chuck Prophet

                           Summertime Thing

                           It Was a Bad Year For Rock and Roll

                           You Did

                         Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers

                            Everything's Going To Work Out Right

                            No Strings Attached

                             Hearts of Stone(Southside Johnny/Bruce Springsteen cover)

                            Pumpin' Iron w/Danny Clinch

                            Savin' Up(Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers cover) w/ J.T. Bowen, James Maddock, Joe D'Urso, Wille Nile, Tony Pallagrosi, Miss Emily

                       

                         Jeffrey Gaines

                            All Over Again?

                            A Change Is Gonna Come(Sam Cooke cover)

                           Hero In Me

                         Jake Clemons

                            Hold Tight

                            Love'll Never Change

                            You Must Be Crazy

                            Sick,Broke,Broken

                           Janine

                           Move On

                           You're a Friend of Mine(Clarence Clemons & Jackson Browne cover)

                       

                           All

                            Light Of Day(Bruce Springsteen cover)

                            Twist & Shout

         

        The Fireplaces                         

Battery Electric

Nick Ryan, Taylor Tote, Rob Dye

Bobby Bandiera

Remember Jones

James Maddock Band

Emily Grove

Joe D'Urso, Vini Lopez, Ben Arnold

Jesse Malin

Willie Nile

Joe Grushecky and Danny Clinch

Willie Nile, James Maddock, Ed Manion, Joe D'Urso, J.T. Bowen, Tony Pallagrosi

Jake Clemons

Finale