RUSH [SPAC] 7.5.08 and Stone Temple Pilots w/Secret Machines [CMAC] 7.15.08
OK, call it a comeback. What was once old is new again. Check area listings to see reunited, revitalized and once again relevant acts selling tickets at impressive rates. Tom Petty, no doubt riding high on his Super Bowl performance last winter, recently sold out the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center (a good size outdoor venue). The New York State Fair this summer features ZZ Top, Def Leppard (yes, armageddon it), Heart, Cheap Trick, Journey (with their new youtube singer), Boston,
Joan Jett, Eddie Money (how many tickets to paradise have you recently purchased?), Ted Nugent (be wary CNY wildlife and women), Extreme (More Than Words will be played +/- seven times) and Styx. Looking for some new and emerging rock bands at the fair? How about the Goo Goo Dolls (not so much) or the Jonas Brothers (what?). No thanks. Anyway, this ties to the first two shows on my summer concert series: RUSH on 7.5.08 at SPAC and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/SECRET MACHINES on 7.15.08 at CMAC. In 1991, I was in 8th or 9th and enjoying the new RUSH album (er, cassette tape...) Roll The Bones and a year later Core, the debut album from STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, emerged in the midst of the grunge movement. This summer, over fifteen years later, I saw them both live.
RUSH, currently making the rounds for the second time for their latest album, Snakes & Arrows, played a diverse set from throughout their career. They wasted no time engaging the audience by opening with Limelight. Other classics spread through the set include: Freewill, Red Barchetta, The Trees, Subdivisions, The Spirit Of The Radio, 2112, Tom Sawyer and A Passage To Bangkok. From 'Roll The Bones' they played the anthemic Dreamline and Ghost Of A Chance, a song that has stayed with me in the weeks following the show. The musicianship of the band is of course impressive; Geddy Lee's voice seems to be hitting the high notes again (still?) and his bass and keyboard work provide the foundation, what can be said about Neil Peart that has not already been said (he did his trademark drum solo - has a crowd ever been so excited for a drum solo?) and Alex Lifeson creates an effective hybrid of lead and rhythm guitar. Lifeson creates and fills a lot of space with his guitar work. His acoustic solo piece Hope from Snakes & Arrows provided a nice interlude before The Spirit Of The Radio. The biggest surprise of the night for me (being my first RUSH show but attending with someone at their 25th - no joke) was the comedic skits before each set, between songs and at the show's close. Weird skits about chicken and starring band members, as well as Jerry Stiller at one point, confused as much as the presence of chicken roasters in place of Geddy Lee's bass amps that roadies occasionally came out to baste. I am still not sure what it all means other than the band has a 'sense of humor'. Evidence of the resurgence of RUSH is found in their recent appearance on The Colbert Report, their first performance on American television in 30 years. Plus, how many bands can close a set with a five-minute progressive rock intsrumental workout (YYZ) and have the crowd love every second of it.
Prior to the show I had not listened to RUSH in a long time but it reminded of one half of my musical development. During the late 80's and early 90's I split my time musically between the technique heavy rock that RUSH embodies and its rougher opposition that at the time was called grunge or the Seattle sound. This was confusing to me because at the time one of my favorite technique oriented bands was Queensryche (sorry guys, I am not sure how to put the heavy metal umlaut in above the 'y'), a band from Seattle. One band that became part of this other half of my musical brain was STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. Often derided at the time for being a Pearl Jam rip-off they are now hailed as being underrated during their heyday. Apparently it took us all fifteen years to realize that they did not sound that much like Pearl Jam after all. So, STP was another band that I had not listened to in a while until this summer's reunion tour (and a recent article from the AV Club) placed them back in the rotation.
STP, the band, sounded great throughout the night, which essentially is a greatest hits tour (no new material released since 2003 and that was one song on a 'best of' compilation) but Weiland's voice seemed a little worse for the wear (that wear being cocaine and heroine). I am going to go out on a limb and say that the steady smoking throughout the show is not helping the vocal cords. His voice improved as the night went on but he seemed to be struggling. He certainly still has all of his slithery stage moves down but his banter was difficult to decipher from our spot on the lawn. The crowd was vocal and enthusiastic throughout and the setlist of hits maintained their level of excitement. Personal favorites of the night included: Silvergun Superman and Lounge Fly (I have always been partial to their second album, Purple), Crackerman, Interstate Love Song (a really great song), Sex Type Thing, Sin and Dead And Bloated. Hearing Plush, a definitive song of the 90's, certainly brings back memories of the previous decade. The crowd seemed unecessarily aggressive all night (reinforcing that old mathematical equation of: beer + outdoor venue = db) and that culminated in a nice brawl in the parking lot we witnessed while looking for the car (a process that took longer than one might guess). Oh, some drunk girl also gave me a flat tire in the parking lot (she was running through the crowd stepping on the back of everyone's shoes yelling 'flat tire').
I realize this is long for a first entry but I cannot sign off without mentioning STP's opening band, SECRET MACHINES. Certainly one of my favorite new bands I was anxious to see them again (and for the fourth time overall) due to the recent departure of one-third of their original lineup (guitarist Ben Curtis left to join another band, in his place for now is Phil Karnats). Original members, Brandon Curtis (Ben's brother) on vocals, bass and keyboards and Josh Garza on drums continue to make the band's trademark sound with their new addition, which seemed extremely loud even near the top of the lawn. The band played two new songs, The Fire Is Waiting and Dreaming Of Dreaming to open and close their set with staples Lighting Blue Eyes, Sad And Lonely and Alone, Jealous And Stoned in the middle. It appears their new album with be out the fall and will hopefully continue the trend of their first two excellent albums, Now Here Is Nowhere and Ten Silver Drops.
With the resurgence of nostalgia in all areas of culture, not only concerts, Uncle Rico must be smiling.
OK, call it a comeback. What was once old is new again. Check area listings to see reunited, revitalized and once again relevant acts selling tickets at impressive rates. Tom Petty, no doubt riding high on his Super Bowl performance last winter, recently sold out the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center (a good size outdoor venue). The New York State Fair this summer features ZZ Top, Def Leppard (yes, armageddon it), Heart, Cheap Trick, Journey (with their new youtube singer), Boston,
Joan Jett, Eddie Money (how many tickets to paradise have you recently purchased?), Ted Nugent (be wary CNY wildlife and women), Extreme (More Than Words will be played +/- seven times) and Styx. Looking for some new and emerging rock bands at the fair? How about the Goo Goo Dolls (not so much) or the Jonas Brothers (what?). No thanks. Anyway, this ties to the first two shows on my summer concert series: RUSH on 7.5.08 at SPAC and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/SECRET MACHINES on 7.15.08 at CMAC. In 1991, I was in 8th or 9th and enjoying the new RUSH album (er, cassette tape...) Roll The Bones and a year later Core, the debut album from STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, emerged in the midst of the grunge movement. This summer, over fifteen years later, I saw them both live.
RUSH, currently making the rounds for the second time for their latest album, Snakes & Arrows, played a diverse set from throughout their career. They wasted no time engaging the audience by opening with Limelight. Other classics spread through the set include: Freewill, Red Barchetta, The Trees, Subdivisions, The Spirit Of The Radio, 2112, Tom Sawyer and A Passage To Bangkok. From 'Roll The Bones' they played the anthemic Dreamline and Ghost Of A Chance, a song that has stayed with me in the weeks following the show. The musicianship of the band is of course impressive; Geddy Lee's voice seems to be hitting the high notes again (still?) and his bass and keyboard work provide the foundation, what can be said about Neil Peart that has not already been said (he did his trademark drum solo - has a crowd ever been so excited for a drum solo?) and Alex Lifeson creates an effective hybrid of lead and rhythm guitar. Lifeson creates and fills a lot of space with his guitar work. His acoustic solo piece Hope from Snakes & Arrows provided a nice interlude before The Spirit Of The Radio. The biggest surprise of the night for me (being my first RUSH show but attending with someone at their 25th - no joke) was the comedic skits before each set, between songs and at the show's close. Weird skits about chicken and starring band members, as well as Jerry Stiller at one point, confused as much as the presence of chicken roasters in place of Geddy Lee's bass amps that roadies occasionally came out to baste. I am still not sure what it all means other than the band has a 'sense of humor'. Evidence of the resurgence of RUSH is found in their recent appearance on The Colbert Report, their first performance on American television in 30 years. Plus, how many bands can close a set with a five-minute progressive rock intsrumental workout (YYZ) and have the crowd love every second of it.
Prior to the show I had not listened to RUSH in a long time but it reminded of one half of my musical development. During the late 80's and early 90's I split my time musically between the technique heavy rock that RUSH embodies and its rougher opposition that at the time was called grunge or the Seattle sound. This was confusing to me because at the time one of my favorite technique oriented bands was Queensryche (sorry guys, I am not sure how to put the heavy metal umlaut in above the 'y'), a band from Seattle. One band that became part of this other half of my musical brain was STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. Often derided at the time for being a Pearl Jam rip-off they are now hailed as being underrated during their heyday. Apparently it took us all fifteen years to realize that they did not sound that much like Pearl Jam after all. So, STP was another band that I had not listened to in a while until this summer's reunion tour (and a recent article from the AV Club) placed them back in the rotation.
STP, the band, sounded great throughout the night, which essentially is a greatest hits tour (no new material released since 2003 and that was one song on a 'best of' compilation) but Weiland's voice seemed a little worse for the wear (that wear being cocaine and heroine). I am going to go out on a limb and say that the steady smoking throughout the show is not helping the vocal cords. His voice improved as the night went on but he seemed to be struggling. He certainly still has all of his slithery stage moves down but his banter was difficult to decipher from our spot on the lawn. The crowd was vocal and enthusiastic throughout and the setlist of hits maintained their level of excitement. Personal favorites of the night included: Silvergun Superman and Lounge Fly (I have always been partial to their second album, Purple), Crackerman, Interstate Love Song (a really great song), Sex Type Thing, Sin and Dead And Bloated. Hearing Plush, a definitive song of the 90's, certainly brings back memories of the previous decade. The crowd seemed unecessarily aggressive all night (reinforcing that old mathematical equation of: beer + outdoor venue = db) and that culminated in a nice brawl in the parking lot we witnessed while looking for the car (a process that took longer than one might guess). Oh, some drunk girl also gave me a flat tire in the parking lot (she was running through the crowd stepping on the back of everyone's shoes yelling 'flat tire').
I realize this is long for a first entry but I cannot sign off without mentioning STP's opening band, SECRET MACHINES. Certainly one of my favorite new bands I was anxious to see them again (and for the fourth time overall) due to the recent departure of one-third of their original lineup (guitarist Ben Curtis left to join another band, in his place for now is Phil Karnats). Original members, Brandon Curtis (Ben's brother) on vocals, bass and keyboards and Josh Garza on drums continue to make the band's trademark sound with their new addition, which seemed extremely loud even near the top of the lawn. The band played two new songs, The Fire Is Waiting and Dreaming Of Dreaming to open and close their set with staples Lighting Blue Eyes, Sad And Lonely and Alone, Jealous And Stoned in the middle. It appears their new album with be out the fall and will hopefully continue the trend of their first two excellent albums, Now Here Is Nowhere and Ten Silver Drops.
With the resurgence of nostalgia in all areas of culture, not only concerts, Uncle Rico must be smiling.
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