2019 Theatre

Once again, I had another great year in regards to the shows I was fortunate enough to see.

Curtain Call For David Byrne's American Utopia

In Memoriam - Jerry Herman

                                                             A legend. Rest in Peace.

Chris Isaak - Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank , NJ 11/30/2019

     Chris Isaak brought his 2019 Holiday Tour to the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank New Jersey. It was the first time he had played the theatre since 2014.
      He still has the same band which only get better as the years go on.
      As usual he was very talkative between songs and very self deprecating.
      The setlist ranged from his original material, to many songs from his Christmas album to a few select covers, a couple which can be found on his album Beyond the Sun.
       Hopefully he will return much sooner than the last time.

     

Here's the setlist:

         

            American Boy
            Blue Christmas
            Somebody's Crying
            5:15 / Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
            Big Wide Wonderful World
            Christmas on TV
            Wicked Game
            Go walking Down There
            Oh, Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison cover)
            Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash cover)
            Mele Kalikimaka
            Two Hearts
            I Know My Baby Loves Me In Her Own Peculiar Way (Ernest Tubb cover)
            Gotta Be Good
            Forever Young
            Can't Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley cover)
            Hey Santa!
            Blue Hotel
            San Francisco Days
            Notice the Ring

            Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing
            Pretty Paper

         

It Was Fifty Years Ago Today - Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 10/17/2019

  The concert tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Beatles White Album, actual title The Beatles, came to the Count Basie Theatre last week.
  The concert features the majority of the White Album performed by Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland of Badfinger, Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees and Jason Scheff of Chicago. Guitarist Jeffrey Foskett from The Beach Boys also joined in for some of the songs.
   The format had the artists the artists taking lead on songs throughout the night. The first half consisted of songs from the White Album and each of the featured artists doing two of their own songs. The second half only contained songs from the White Album.
   It was great to get to see all these performers share the stage and talk about their love of The Beatles. I only wish Jason Scheff, being the sole bass player so he rarely left the stage, had performed two songs he recorded with Chicago as opposed to singing ones recorded by Peter Cetera. But having been in Chicago for nearly 30 years, he had been singing them longer that Peter Cetera. Would love to have hear Heart in Pieces though, a rarity and very underrated.
  All is all, a very special show and one that shows how diverse The Beatles were.
  Here is the setlist:

                   Set 1
         Back in the U.S.S.R. - All
         Dear Prudence - Jason Scheff
         Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey - Todd Rundgren
         Martha My Dear - Christopher Cross
         Savoy Truffle - Joey Molland
         I'm a Believer(Monkees song) - Mickey Dolenz
         Pleasant Valley Sunday(Monkees song) - Mickey Dolenz
         Baby Blue(Badfinger song) - Joey Molland w/Todd Rundgren
         No Matter What(Badfinger song) - Joey Molland
         Hard To Say I'm Sorry(Chicago song) - Jason Scheff
         25 or 6 to 4(Chicago song) - Jason Scheff
         I Saw the Light(Todd Rundgren song) - Todd Rundgren
         Hello It's Me(Nazz song) - Todd Rundgren
         Sailing(Christopher Cross song) - Christopher Cross
         Ride Like the Wind(Christopher Cross song) - Christopher Cross
         Honey Pie - Christopher Cross
         Why Don't We Do It In The Road - Mickey Dolenz
         While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Todd Rundgren

                   Set 2

          Blackbird - Christopher Cross
          I Will - Christopher Cross
          Julia - Jason Scheff & Christopher Cross
          Mother Nature's Son - Christopher Cross
          Rocky Raccoon - Mickey Dolenz
          Revolution 1 - Joey Molland
          Sexy Sadie - Todd Rundgren
          I'm So Tired - Mickey Dolenz
          Happiness Is a Warm Gun - Mickey Dolenz
          The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill - Todd Rundgren
          Piggies - Jason Scheff
          Glass Onion - Jason Scheff
          Helter Skelter - Todd Rundgren
          Birthday - Mickey Dolenz & All

          Ob-La-Di, Ob-La Da - All

          

Mickey Dolenz

Todd Rundgren

Christopher Cross, Joey Molland, Mickey Dolenz

Christoper Cross, Jeffrey Foskett, Joey Molland, Mickey Dolenz, Jason Scheff

Jason Scheff & Todd Rundgren

Mark Knopfler & Bonnie Raitt - Madison Square Garden 9/25/2019

Mark Knopfler completed his World Tour with a remarkable show at New York's Madison Square Garden.

 For this final show Bonnie Raitt opened the show with a 55 minute set sounding and looking like she did 30 years ago. Her voice is virtually unchanged and her guitar playing is as beautiful as ever.

 Mark Knopfler and his 10 piece band performed a remarkable set, which was pretty much unchanged from most shows on this tour, with the exception of  being joined by Bonnie Raitt for the penultimate song, Wherever I Go.

 Mr. Knopfler's grizzled voice and unique guitar style get better as time goes on. He would do one solo and you would think there was no way for him to top it during the show, until his next solo came. The main set closer Speedway at Nazareth was easily one of the greatest concert performances I have ever seen.

 His band switched easily from full on rockers to quiet Dire Straits classics to Scottish folk influenced songs with great ease, closing the show with Going Home, the theme from great film Local Hero, for which Mark Knopfler wrote the score.

 Here's hoping many more years of being blessed with his artistry.

 Here's the setlist:



     Bonnie Raitt

        Unintended Consequence of Love
        Need you Tonight (INXS cover)
        One Belief Away
        I Believe I'm In Love With You ( Fabulous Thunderbirds cover)
        Devil Got My Woman
        Something To Talk About
        Thing Called Love
        Angel From Montgomery
        I Can't Make You Love Me
        You Got The Love (Rufus cover) / Love Sneakin' Up On You

       
   Mark Knopfler

         Why Aye Man
         Corned Beef City
         Sailing To Philadelphia
         Once Upon a Time In The West (Dire Straits song)
         Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits song)
         My Bacon Roll
         Matchstick Man
         Done With Bonaparte
         Heart Full of Holes
         Your Latest Trick (Dire Straits song)
         Postcards From Paraguay
         On Every Street (Dire Straits song)
         Speedway at Nazareth

         Money For Nothing (Dire Straits song)

         Wherever I Go w/Bonnie Raitt
         Going Home (Theme of The Local Hero)

With Bonnie Raitt

         

Bruce Springsteen

                                                              Happy 70th Birthday

In Memoriam - Ric Ocasek

       
                                                                        Rest in Peace

In Memoriam - Harold Prince

                                                     
                                                                    Rest in Peace

In Memoriam - Johnny Clegg

         

One of the best live performers I have ever seen.

Rest in Peace

The Who - Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA 5/25/2019

 The Who's Moving On! tour made a stop in Philadelphia the other night.
 Sadly only Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend are the only original members still around, but what a great show regardless.
 Their current band consists of Simon Townsend on guitar, Zak Starkey on drums, Loren Gold on Keyboards and Jon Button on bass.
  In each city they will be backed by a full orchestra. Katie Jacoby will be the featured violinist at each show.
   What was most impressive, was how after 50+ years, they did not see fit to just put on a greatest hits show. The show was broken into 3 sections. first was a condensed version of Tommy and a few other songs performed with the orchestra. The second section was a short set by the band only, and the final section was a condensed version of Quadrophenia, and the final song, Baba O'Riley.
    Daltrey and Townsend sounded great and drummer Zak Starkey was also a standout. And the violin solo in Baba O'Riley was a real highlight.
    J. Geils Band lead vocalist Peter Wolf opened the show with a too short set.
    here are the setlists.


              Peter Wolf

                   Ain't Nothin' But a House Party ( J. Geils Band Song)
                  Wastin' Time
                   Homework (Otis Rush cover)
                   Must of Got Lost (J. Geils Band cover)
                   I Don't Wanna Know
                   Love Stinks (J. Geils Band song)
                   Lookin' for Love (J. Geils Band song) / (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)Higher & Higher ( Jackie Wilson cover)

              The Who

              With Orchestra

                   Overture
                   It's a Boy
                   1921
                   Amazing Journey/Sparks
                   Pinball Wizard
                   We're Not Gonna Take It
                   Who Are You
                   Eminence Front
                   Imagine a Man
                   Join Together

              Band only

                   Substitute
                   I Can See For Miles
                   Behind Blue Eyes
                   Won't Get Fooled Again - Pete and Roger
                   Tea & Theatre - Pete & Roger

              With Orchestra

                    The Real Me
                    I'm One
                    The Punk and the Godfather
                    5:15
                    Drowned - Pete Only
                    The Rock
                    Love, Reign O'er Me
                    Baba O'Riley


       

Peter Wolf

             
                 

The Who

                 

In Memoriam - Tim Conway

                                         

                                                   One of the best ever. Rest in Peace

In Memoriam - Peter Mayhew

                                                                     Rest In Peace

In Memoriam - John Singleton

                                                       Rest in Peace. Gone way too soon.

In Memoriam - Ranking Roger

                                           
                                    Love the English Beat. Gone too young. Rest in Peace.

In Memoriam - Dick Dale

                     

The King of the Surf Guitar

In Memoriam - Albert Finney

 
                                                                   Rest in Peace

Light of Day - Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park NJ, 1/19/2019

  The 19th annual Light of Day festival arrived in Asbury Park the week of January 13th. There were concerts at multiple venues with probably hundreds of performers throughout the week.

   The main show is Bob's Birthday Bash which takes place at The Paramount Theatre on the boardwalk.

   This years show included many of the performers who are mainstays at the Light of Day shows and wind performing multiple times during the week.

    I did not go last year, but compared to previous years, this years show ran very smoothly and did not include acoustic performances between the main sets until later in the show.

    Joe Grushecky's band The Houserockers were not able to make it due to bad weather, so he performed with a fill in band dubbed The Asbury Orchestra. The band included the lead guitarist from the Houserockers, Johnny Grushecky, Marc Ribler on guitar, Kenny Aaronson on bass, Danny Clinch on harmonica, the drummer from The Plasmatics and two keyboard players.

    I will include the setlist below, with any titles I am unsure of with a question mark.

        Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan

            Come Down Tonight (Asbury Park)

            Just Once

            Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young cover) w/Peter Elkas, Rob Dye, Vini Lopez, Miss Emily

            Let It Go

            Noisy Guitars / I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones cover)

       James Maddock Band

             Calling My People w/Williams Honor
             Chance

             Discover Me

             Rag Doll w/Williams Honor

             Beautiful Now

       Steve Forbert & The Renditions

             Thinkin'

             Going Down To Laurel

             Good Planets Are Hard To Find

             Let's Get High

             What Kind of Guy Am I

             Romeo's Tune

       Low Cut Connie

             Back In School

             Boozophilia

             All This Time?

            Sayin' It?

            Shake It Little Tina

            Oh Suzanne

             Rio

        Williams Honor

       

             I Can't Wait To Be Ashamed

         John Eddie and His Dirty Ole' Band

             Same Old Brand New Me

             Happy (Rolling Stones cover) / Getting Kind of Old

             Fall For It Every Time

             Free

             Low Life

        Dean Friedman

 

             Ariel

             You're Gonna Be O.K.?

         Jesse Malin

             She Don't Love Me Now

             Death Star

             Wendy

             Meet Me At The End Of The World

             You Know It's Dark When Atheists Start To Pray

             Sally Can't Dance (Lou Reed cover) w/Danny Clinch

         Ben Arnold

             We All Depend On Love

             January's Gone?

         Joe Grushecky and The Asbury Orchestra

             Miss You (Rolling Stones cover)

             That's What Makes Us Great

             Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones cover) w/Reagan Richards from Williams Honor

             Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan cover) w/Jesse Malin, Joe D'Urso, Steve Forbert, James Maddock, John Eddie and Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie

          Anthony D'Amato and Danny Clinch

          Joe D'Urso & Vini Lopez

              Hold On

       

          Willie Nile

               Forever Wild

               This Is Our Time

               Hell Yeah

               Heaven Help The Lonely

               Children of Paradise

               One Guitar

          Finale

                Light of Day (Bruce Springsteen cover)

     

           

         




Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan w/Vini Lopez, Rob Dye, Miss Emily & Peter Elkas

 

 

James Maddock Band w/Williams Honor

James Maddock Band  w/Williams Honor

Steve Forbert & The Renditions

Low But Connie

Williams Honor

John Eddie & His Dirty Ole' Band

Jesse Malin

Joe Grushecky & The Asbury Orchestra

Joe Grushecky w/Jesse Malin, John Eddie, James Maddock, Joe D'Urso, Steve Forbert & Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie

Wille Nile

Finale