Concert Review Thread

I finally went to my first (String Cheese) Incident Thursday at the Raleigh Convention center. Now there's a jam band! Great show. Every song was an exellent journey over a myriad of musical genres. I almost fell out of the stands when they launched into Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride. Even the lousy acoustics in the smallish arena couldn't ruin it. I don't think I've ever seen an audience dance as much as they did in front of the String Cheese boys Thursday night. I hate that I couldn't dance on up to Asheville Friday night with the true believers.
The Charlie Hunter Trio opened for them. I'd only become aware of him last Sunday when I heard him talk about his eight string guitar on NPR. Seeing him was pretty amazing. I'm not a musician but even I appreciate how difficult it must be to play bass and lead at the same time, which is what he was doing with this custom instrument. He'd be doing these nice jazz guitar riffs while never missing a note on that bass line. It effectively turned a classic jazz trio into a quartet.
But the other thing that stood out from the CHT was the saxaphone player, John Ellis. I wouldn't expect a kid who looks like he was probably playing his sax at half time of his high school's football games a few years ago to understand Byrd and Coltrane. But this kid got it. His playing owed a lot more to John Coltrane than it did to the slick moderns like Najee and a host of others. I'd like to see them again as much for Ellis as for the band's generously gifted namesake.

 

Phish is great, it's the Fans that bug the shit out of me. I watched the Austin City Limits show, and I'm embarrassed for everyone of those poeple. They all dance like Steve Martin in The Jerk - W-H-I-T-E. Really funny. Great last song they played.

BTW - The Dead at Knickerbocker Arena and Nassau County Coliseum 3/24,25,26,28,29,30/1990.

 

Wolf...
maybe the sax kid went to college for music. But I was digging on Trane in HS, and waited until I could understand him before I dug Bird hard. But yeah, I'm sure it's awful easy to go pick up something new and copy the hot kid in class who listens to Brecker or tries to play like Lenny Pickett.
You know/like Morphine?

A lot of Dave Matthews fans are like the Phish fans meat describes. But they have expensive seats and like to twirl dance and clap off the fucking beat and sing loudly and pull shit out of their fanny packs. Then there's the potheads. I went once, enjoyed it despite their Glen Ballard - forced and overplayed music that was being pimped at the time. But I think it was enough. I have enough good live music of theirs that sitting on the porch and drinking to it is enough.

 

I like Phish alright but I've never really had the urge to go to a Phish show. I guess it's because my oldest daughter and her friends are all big phish fans and I'd rather have root canal without anastesia than to spend an evening with that crowd.

Getting old sucks. My wife and I love a lot contemporary music but when we see bands like The Dave Mathews Band, SCI or Widespread Panic we feel like Chaperones for ten thousand people.

 

Cold @ ziggys 4-27-03

Finger 11 opened up.. F11 is nothing more than a generic Nu-Metal band. don't even give them a second thought.

Cold opened up to "Go Away". They moved through a set that I thought was just too short. They only played about 50 mins. That was a let down. They played about 4 songs off of the new record that is coming out next week. The encore was an acoustic version of "End of the World" and Bleed followed by a ripping closer of "Just Got Wicked" it was great to finally see these guys on a headlining tour. Can't wait to check them out on Lalapalooza this summer!!

 

This will be a killer concert!


May 10 2003 7:00PM Saturday ZZ Top's Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte