Browsing Tag: my year of concerts

#MyYearOfConcerts continued this past Monday night (August 28) when I saw Billy Idol … excuse me, “Billy F**king Idol” as he introduced himself 😄 … in Spokane!

Like several of this year’s shows, he’s another ’80s act that I never saw in the ’80s, for some reason.

Came home from Dallas last week with a bug and wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it, but I was feeling better by Monday so off I went!

This was an outdoor show at the Riverfront Pavilion, and it was hotter than Hades all day in Spokane — not a great combination. The sun was still up when Billy took the stage around 8:15 pm and it must’ve been 85-90 degrees. And probably much worse up on stage with all the lights.

Seemed like the heat was bothering him, too. He came out in layers of all black, but as the band was starting the third song (“Flesh for Fantasy” 🤟), he took off all his top layers and just put the jacket back on. Once the sun went down and the temp dropped 10-15 degrees, he seemed way more comfortable. As did I. 😅

ANYHOO…really fun show!

He did most of the hits you’d expect to hear, including a really interesting, half-acoustic version of “Eyes Without A Face.” “Dancing With Myself” was a perfect opener, and “White Wedding” was a perfect closer. He put out a couple EPs over the past 2-3 years that are good and worth checking out, and some of those songs were in the set, too.

It was kind of a short show, though — only about 90 minutes long. But all in all, fun night and I’m glad I made the trip to see him.

One day after seeing Bryan Adams in Seattle, #MyYearOfConcerts continued Friday night with my first Foo Fighters show — this one was across the state at the Spokane Arena! 🤘

JFC they rocked!! About 90 minutes in, my neck and back started to hurt — not from dancing/rocking at my seat, but from the constant thudding of the drums and bass. It was really f**king loud, even with my Etymotics ear plugs in.

There’s an old episode of Beavis & Butthead where they’re watching an Aerosmith video and, at the end, Butthead says, “These guys are the kings of rock. There is none higher.” 😂 That’s the first thing that came to mind when the show ended.

But in all seriousness, Foo Fighters have to be the best rock band on the planet right now, right? If not, then who is?

TBH, I have a weird relationship with Foo Fighters. It’s more admiration than fandom, I think. They came on in the late ’90s and early ’00s when I had my head so far up U2’s ass that I didn’t want to listen to other bands. Friends would recommend new bands (like Foo Fighters) and I’d literally tell them I wasn’t interested. (What a jerk, huh?) I didn’t get into Pearl Jam until 2006, and still haven’t seen them live. And with Foo Fighters, I was always, “Oh, that’s a good song but I have a band I love already…not interested.” Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

(I’ve been slowly fixing all those mistakes over the last 4-5 years as my U2 fandom has faded away.)

Anyway, this was a great, great show. Dave Grohl is a fantastic frontman and the whole band is so tight. I’ve been overdosing on their new album in the past month and it’s fantastic. Highly recommend it.

Gotta admit that I was nervous about doing two shows in two nights on opposite sides of Washington with all the driving involved, but I’m soooooo glad I did.

#MyYearOfConcerts continues!

(Saw two shows in two nights in two cities, so gonna do this as two separate posts even though it was one long weekend trip!)

#MyYearOfConcerts continued Thursday night when I saw Bryan Adams in Seattle with Joan Jett opening the show!

Back in 1985, I took my best girl to see Bryan Adams at the Spectrum in Philly. That relationship ended soon after the concert IIRC, so I was glad that Cari didn’t come with me to Seattle ’cause why risk lightning striking twice, right? 😅

The show last week was terrific, way better than I expected. Just hit after hit after hit after hit. He took two audience requests late in the show and had a lot of fun with it. His voice hasn’t lost a thing in 40 years. But the thing I’ll remember most is how genuinely happy and grateful he seemed to still be able to play big arenas in his 60s. The whole night just oozed fun. I know it’s the Canadian stereotype, but he comes across as the nicest guy in rock music, the kinda guy you’d sit down and shoot the shit with for hours.

I don’t think we all appreciate Bryan Adams enough. Go check his Wikipedia page and read how many #1 singles he’s had, Top 10/Top 20 singles, #1 Gold/Platinum/etc. albums, Grammy Awards/Academy Award/Golden Globes nominations…you name it. I prefer his rock side more than his ballad/movie theme side, but it was all so good on Thursday night.

Oh, Joan Jett was the opener and she still freaking rocks, too! She played for about an hour, told some great stories about her early days, and played all the hits you’d want to hear. They were a great combo.

The whole purpose of #MyYearOfConcerts is to focus on what really matters in life and not take the good things for granted. Which made last night perfect, because Cari and I went to see Toad the Wet Sprocket in Spokane — a band that was super popular during the early years of our marriage and will always be special to us.

Well, they have a ballad called “I Will Not Take These Things For Granted” that I’ve loved for 30+ years but never heard live. As you can imagine, it REALLY hit different last night. In the song, Glen lists things to not take for granted…

• flowers in the garden
• laughter in the hall
• children in the park
• music in the bedroom
• dive into the ocean*
• singing by the fire
• running through the forest
• standing in the wind
• the rolling canyons

*ironic, given my accident last year, huh?!? 🙂

That was the last song they played and a perfect cap to a great show.

Toad is one of the all-time underrated bands and they have loads of perfect 3-4 minute pop songs. Was great to see them up close in a little, 750-seat theater.

And best news of all: Cari, who’s had a crush on the lead singer all these years, didn’t hop on the band’s bus after the show and head to Seattle with them! Whew!

My Year of Concerts™ took me back to Portland again, this time to see Duran Duran on Thursday night…and even Cari joined me this time, since she’s loved DD since the beginning!

NGL, if you’d told me in the early ’80s that Duran Duran would be selling out big arenas 40 years later, I would’ve called you crazy. But there we were, the entire arena filled and standing up the whole show!

Duran Duran played pretty much everything you’d want to hear. (I was hoping for “New Religion” but it wasn’t meant to be.) They played a few new songs from their 2021 album and those were good, too. Simon sounded great and the whole band was really tight. Felt like the ’80s all over again and Cari and I had a blast!

So that’s six shows so far in 2023 (Eagles, Springsteen, Adele, Journey/Toto, REO Speedwagon, Duran Duran). I have five more still to come, plus 4-5 others I want to see but don’t have tickets for yet.

(I was also supposed to see The National on Friday night in PDX, but we decided to come home a day early. I don’t think my back/neck was up for two shows in two days, especially with The National being an outdoor, all-GA show with no seats. Plus, they’re leaving most of my favorite songs of theirs off the setlist this tour, so….)

#MyYearOfConcerts continued last night with a hometown show! I saw REO Speedwagon right here in Kennewick.

Can’t claim to be a huge REO fan, but young Matt bought “Hi Infidelity” on vinyl and played it ad nauseam at peak volume on my bedroom record player. That’s a great record. Also, we don’t get many rock bands coming through here so I figured I should support this one — be the change you want to see in the world and all that. 😄

Anyway, really good show. Kevin Cronin (lead singer) had a nasty cold and asked us to help him sing a few different times. I was there to hear the big hits, but turns out there were a couple other songs I had forgotten they did.

#MyYearOfConcerts continues — got a bunch of shows already lined up for the rest of this year, and a few more that I’m hoping to add.