General Music Chat

Heart in their prime. I'm jealous of that one.

Heart in their prime. I'm jealous of that one.

Seen them a few times, including about 2 years ago. They still cook it pretty good, but the new album's songs they were debuting on that tour were so-so. Of course, then there was the idiot in the row behind us (a guy) who was singing along with Ann WIlson the entire concert - and no, he didn't have her range!

Bad acoustics is a while 'nother thing! As is bad seating.

1973 Boston Garden (the old one) - Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies tour. Great show musically, huge stage set up. Our seats were in the back corner of the ice hockey area, a couple of rows up from the floor in the loge - great view, but with a concrete wall 2 rows behind us which echoed back the sound a few milliseconds later, making for a horrible reverb effect.

My first rock concert ever - Mountain in 71, at the Racquet Ball Club in Hyannis on Cape Cod - they had the stage set up on the long wall (I think there were 3 or 4 courts in the open space). The back wall of the stage had 3-high stacks of speaker cabinets from one side to the other. We were about 15 rows back, and luckily, to the side a little bit. When the band started playing I think the first 3 rows of people in their seats were literally blown backwards! And of course terrible sound in a big echoey room, but it was LOUD which was all a 15-year-old cared about!

Seating: the Paradise in Boston's original set up had the tables and chairs bolted to the floor! Saw lots of shows there. The current design is just open floor, and couple of tiers to the side and one 'balcony', no seating at all.
The arena at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut - typical hockey arena set up, so if your seats are in the 'wrong' place you are looking sideways at the stage (that happens at the new Boston Garden, too), but the seats are so narrow, you literally cannot turn at all in them and have to shoehorn your way into them - they must be the smallest allowed by law. If you're lucky enough to sit on an aisle, you can hang half your ass off the seat!

Most recent concert- Last night with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the LA Sports Arena!

This guy has been touring since the 70s, prolific songwriter, huge radio presence, and last night was the first time I caught one of his shows. I often wondered "What's the big deal?". I don't really care for his voice and I don't think he is much of a guitarist but Lil' Honey wanted me to go along with her and her friends who are all rabid fans. Ok I guess...

My ratings:
Seats- Really pretty good, at the front row of a 2nd level so no one in front of us.

Sound- Not great and to damn loud. I don't thing the words "concert" and "Sports Arena" belong in the same sentence. They try to compensate for lousy acoustics by making it louder.

Set list- A good mix of his big hits over the years along with the entire 20 song double album from 1980 "The River".. They crafted the set carefully to keep the energy up and keep people interested. Very well done.

Performance- Wow, these guys get it! Nonstop music from 8:10pm-11:40pm with no opening act, no breaks, just flat out going for it for 3.5 hours. Bruce is 66 and honestly I don't know how he can sing with that bellowing voice for that long without hurting himself. He sounded as good on the last song as he did on the first. The band is very tight, they had a lot of variety. The keys players (2) and drummer were the most skilled musicians to my ears, but their music is never about virtuoso playing, it's all about having a good time with your friends. They are like a freight train going 90 mph and everyone is invited to hop on for a ride. The audience ate it up and were singing all the backup choruses as loud or louder than the band. The place went nuts.

Conclusion- Respect!
These guys just love playing Rock music all night, they love their fans and invite them in, and their fans love them back. The whole room was locked together in this E Street groove from the downbeat until they walked off the stage 3.5 hours later. These are world class performers who are completely at one with their audience. That is the big deal and explains a lot.

My wife thinks I should go out and get a pierced earring just like Bruce now (not gonna happen ). I probably won't run out and buy a bunch of his music either because it doesn't move me like it does so many others. A greatest hits collection maybe though. We may need to add a couple of their songs to our set and see how they fly. This is a very popular rock band with a gazillion rabid fans. This show opened my eyes to a few things and I learned something about live rock music.

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