Another concert – May 7th (Philadelphia this time). We went to see Mark Knopfler (Ex Dire Straits) in a small theatre. It was a great concert and that guy can REALLY play guitar! I love him….
Some pics are vertical and get cut off in the slideshow – if you click on the image square in the bottom right corner you can pull up the images “full screen” and see them in all their glory!
On Monday 3rd May, Jari & I went to NYC to see Peter Gabriel and his New Blood Orchestra. It was a wonderful concert and the orchestra was great. Us “old fogies” are really enjoying this new trend of classic rock with orchestral backing/arrangements :-). Unfortunately my memory is so bad I don’t remember all the songs that the pics come from so you’ll have to bear with me.
A highlight (of sorts!), at least for those of us who loved him in the 60’s and 70’s, was the guest appearance of Lou Reed for his version of Solisbury Hill. Not quite the same tempo as the rest of the concert, but a thrill to see him live, nonetheless.
I do have some video too but can’t quite work out how to upload in a small enough file size, so may need to FTP it to another page and link it.
On Saturday 12th December we went to see TSO at the Izod Center for our annual “Christmas Concert”. As usual they were just spectacular. This year we had Joe Walsh do a guest appearance at the end (one of my favourites) and play with the rest of the “orchestra”. What a treat! If you ever get a chance to go see TSO – don’t pas it up. They really are one of the best live acts there is.
For my birthday, I got tickets to take Jari to the Giants Stadium for one of the last ever concerts there. Bruce Springsteen (a favourite of Jari’s) was playing in his own backyard & had a series of 5 concerts as the last ever to be played at the old Giants Stadium before it was knocked down. Each night he played an entire album of his. On October 8th it was Born to Run. Jari loved the concert. I enjoyed parts of it, not being a great Springsteen fan (how can I say that??). He has some great tracks, others are kinda bland and not very interesting. He does put on a wonderful show, though, & really knows how to play the crowd. The evening was full of energy & the drunk idiot behind us that had the security guards come and talk to him just added to the overall atmosphere! As birthdays go, it was an exciting evening but I still think I preferred the BJH concert back in the ’70’s.
On September 24th, Jari & I went to see U2 at the Giants Stadium. This was a sell-out concert with a record 86000+ fans attending. The set was incredible & although the seats weren’t the best, we had a wonderful time. I thought Bono & U2 were just great, Jari was less impressed, but what does he know ;-). I have tickets for them in July next year at the new stadium that I think I’ll take Phillipa to…
Jari is a big Clapton fan so on Wednesday 10th June he went to the IZOD Center to see Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood play live. He had a great time (“the best concert of the year” and “the old folks really showed how to play rock’n’roll!”) and managed to take a few photos in between singing along to all the songs:
On Sunday we all went to see Yanni and his young group of “voices” at the Sovereign Center in Reading (PA). Jari & I have been to see Yanni several times & have always enjoyed his concerts. This time Phillipa joined us for her first ever live “pro” concert. She enjoys Yanni very much and just loved the show and the great performers, including Yanni. There was one guy (Nathan Pacheco) who had the most outstanding voice (eat your heart out Pavarotti) and a blonde woman (Leslie Mills) with a lovely mellow voice and an incredible range. The other two singers (Ender Thomas and Chloe) were very good too and Yanni always finds the best musicians to accompany him on the piano or keyboards. To get more information about this “tour” and to see much better pictures and even some video, you can visit the official Yanni website.
Last night Jari & I went to see Fleetwood Mac in New Jersey and we had a great time. Despite the horendous traffic due to construction we arrived just as the set was starting. They played all the old goodies and some not-so-well-known songs, all of which we knew & appreciated. Lindsay Buckingham’s guitar playing was as great as ever & Stevie Nicks’ voice is so distinctive. Mick Fleetwood & John McVeigh were also in great form. The only great voice missing was Chris McVeigh’s, but they had three very good backing vocalists and very competent guitar & keyboards support. After 2 encores, we finally had to drive home, tired but happy….
Here is a gallery of some photo’s taken last night
