Milling around the Merchant Booth where the Darker My Love “45’s” were for sale (yes vinyl) Will Canzoneri…the band’s keyboardist told me the guys were a little haggard from the road, not a good sign as they haven’t been out that long.  Apparently they caught some bitchy weather on the drive in from Chicago. Will put in a good word in making sure one of Canada’s top music photographers Richard Beland could get on stage to capture the visual side of the set.

Like the last city Toronto seemed a little Darker today also with its humid rain spell to welcome the boys from California. It didn’t take long though for the band to settle in… get comfortable and introduce their new CD “2” to the crowd, young 20 something’s down front with the GenXers in the back half  and  allow them to get a feel of this relatively unknown (in Canada) 5 piece.

The mix was a bit muddy or was that the intention of sound? The venue is dark tonight as usual but this group has a light quality beneath a psych-rock sound gets your interest on fist listen. The drummer with his Bass man tucked in ever so tight to the left rocked stage left rhythms as the maraca shak’in Tim Presley served up leads over on the right side….

Highlights of the nine-song set were the trippy Northern Soul and the would-be radio hit Two Ways Out.  Following a well polished opening act (The Upsidedown)while the crowd waited patiently for the veteran Dandy Warhols Darker My Love started to win a few over as one them turned from her leaning position on the stage and asked “what was there name?”

…and then seemed interested as guitar player Jared Everett handed me a setlist that seemed to have been written on lined paper from their road binder?

We would like to run into these guys in Toronto again sometime with more songs, same sound and brighter lights so we can see the Rock too!

So Ya, Thought Ya, Might Like To, Go To The Show….

This would be considered a “SPOILER” if you plan on seeing the presentation of THE WALL  featuring Roger Waters. This Tour will be remembered for sure. The few photos and videos I took from the 2nd row and what I am about to summarize  will for sure remove the surprise element from the experience for anyone who hasn’t see Pink Floyd or any of previous Roger Waters’ Tours.

……I saw the Radio Kaos Tour when Roger Waters stopped into Hamilton, Ontario around 1987 and both Pink Floyd tours after around the same time Delicate Sound, Momentary Lapse, Division Bell era.  Music aside the creativity that went into those tours set a new bar for me as a teenager early in my concert career. Now almost 23 years later the anticipation of seeing THE WALL in it’s original format was building by the minute.

When we first walked onto the floor and saw the Wall going up each side of the hockey rink the size of this show started to sink in…. heck if I hadn’t seen KISS just 6 nights ago it might have seemed even Bigger!.. But this still had a stadium feel at first glance.

“In The Flesh” – This was probably one of the best opening songs I have seen at a live concert. It was full steam ahead from the men on the bridge with flags, the fireworks, seeing Roger in his hoodie, lights swirling and that buzz under the hood of we’re seeing THE WALL !!!

… and of course the famous… “so ya thought ya might like to so to the show…” was truly electric and almost overwhelming. The lighting stretched back to the far end of the arena with additional speaker arrangements…above,  not sure if it was quadraphonic or just for effects… as we were too close to the stage to hear….but as the helicopter sound kicked in this lighting unit above the main stage appeared to have a small speaker stack on it as well and it moved forward with the spot light shooting into the crowd as if to be the light on the front of the helicopter, the sound moved with it…really wicked…

Some 25 lucky kids from The Regent Park School of Music ended up on stage to help sing over the track for Another Brick plus got to point at the floating 40 foot teacher. The overall sound was really good for a 1st show and most of the other musicians including Roger’s son on Keyboards were hard to see or get into with this large production unfolding…. except a little at the end of Run Like Hell as the band were in front of the wall closer to us.

I actually heard “Mother”start with Roger on acoustic and have the video it but I will spare you listening to the faint 1st verse that seemed to fall down with technical difficulties… the song never really got back on track for me.  The Wall of course was being built brick by brick as Side 1 Played out and the barrier starts to fill in… to the point yes where you could barely see the band.

After the intermission HEY YOU starts and the entire song almost is play behind the Wall…it’s cool and as the light shines thru the cracks and you hear the band playing it really shows what Roger was thinking about years ago of feeling that distance from some of the audience…those who were not engaged with him as he performed . Speaking of di-engaged…The guy beside me after introducing himself 4 times and asking about doing ACID kept praying for David Gilmour to walk out and join in. I didn’t feel that was going to happen. I didn’t feel it needed too….The Gilmour stand in did fine at most points and this was not Pink Floyd we were seeing… it is and was billed as “The Wall Live…featuring Roger Waters”

The imagery on the circle screen in the back dipped into parts from the Wall movie and the overall scenes on the 200+ foot WALL itself were quite thought provoking weaving in some of todays political issues and visuals from past Tours I had scene…all very cool to watch in a synchronized kinda way

“One Of My Turns” turned out beautiful as you can see below in the video and “Run Like Hell” with the flying pig got the crowd up, dancing and celebrating it seemed… ..as security  told the front row to move back… and we all started to chant along with “THE TRIAL”... “bring down the wall, bring down the wall..” the WALL did come down..crashing faux bricks.

No encore, just The Wall and alot of entertainment to go along with an amazing album… I will leave the comments open here for others who visit the shows as the tour unfolds.  ROGER WATERS SETLIST AND MORE PHOTOS BELOW…

One_of_My_Turns

RUN LIKE HELL

MORE PHOTOS OF THE SHOW !!

ROGER WATERS – THE WALL LIVE – TORONTO SETLIST

]]> https://concertaholics.com/our-lady-peace-massey-hall/ Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:29:37 +0000 https://concertaholics.com/?p=551  

Spiritual Machines – album presentation

Fifth time is a charm! I have caught OLP 4 times prior to last night including a small acoustic set at a local radio station. With the exception of the acoustic set I have been less than impressed with their live sound. Last night was much, much different!

I have good rock & roll luck and as it would have it last night I ran into a guy selling a front row centre pair way below cost, nice! It was meant to be as I had tried earlier to get into the Mod Club for the Sirius Radio Song writers show featuring Joel Plaskett, Jeff Martin, Default and The Trews. When this wasn’t working out I went over to Massey for the OLP’s presentation of Spiritual Machines.

Man I forgot how good this album is. OLP’s concept album has some really nice stuff here. From the start Right Behind You sounds so good! It isn’t hard to tell the band doesn’t play many nights that feature albums in their entirety. Raine Maida has the MAC set up to play the narrative of author of the book the album is based on as well as a binder with the lyrics. We’re lined up in front of Steve Mazur and his wonderful sounding Marshall stack and full array of effects pedals, I am seriously impressed.

We get Life, Middle of Yesterday the lead vocals are soaring the crowd is heavily into it. This is one of the loudest crowds I have ever heard at a Massey Hall. It makes sense because this is a homecoming for this band. I really forgot how beautiful the guitar work is on this album. Basically we get the entire album song by song and it is really nice. I mean pull it out and play it through a few times again. I know you will say yeah!! Exactly!! The entire presentation worked well. I wanted to bolt home and pull out the Cd’s and it made me wish I been here the night before for Clumsy. There is still a chance they are playing Clumsy in Kitchener next week Friday. This album finishes with 3 very strong tunes, All My Friends, If You Believe and The Wonderful Future the best of the 3 is The Wonderful Future which Raine starts out saying they recorded this song never intending to play it live. The Wonderful Future has a hidden portion. The song lists at 20 minutes but fades out @ four minutes then is silent for 12 minutes before it coming back in with a conversation between the book author and someone else. (for obvious reasons the break was condensed down) I am not up on the whole thing enough to know who he is conversing with but I am up enough to know this was a great first set for this band and the entire album run through was perfect!!  In between sets I managed to snag a guitar pick.

The second set started out with Maida telling everyone that the band looked at the first set as work and now it is time to have some fun!! The second set consisted of a 13 songs. Starting out with Monkey Brains from Burn, Burn which had several tunes show up in this second set and then ran into Superman’s Dead, Innocent, Clumsy and One Man Army back to back to back!  The sing along with Innocent was pretty amazing with crowd basically singing the whole tune. Raine climbed the balcony at one point I think during One Man Army. I mean this whole chuck was worth the price of the ticket any day! A couple more from Burn and then we get a stellar Somewhere Out There! Then the unmistakable bass line to Naveed, Nice! This song finishes the set and the encore is not to be missed 4AM straight into Starseed!

Anyone worth their own weight in OLP appreciation was hooked back in 1994 by the Naveed album.
Overall I though Mazur’s guitar / guitar effects and Maida’s voice were in the best form possible. To be fair to the first shows I wasn’t in the front row and only one of these featured Mazur. The band was extremely appreciative of the crowd response and referred to this as a homecoming quite a number of times and as you could imagine this sent the crowd over the top every time. I managed to get a setlist from both sets. I stayed with this band until 1999 and Happiness and my interest beyond this period was somewhat sporadic and tied to radio hits but man I am glad I did this show!! It is nice to go back and listen to some of the stuff that came out I never paid much attention too.

Here is to new ground.

The Professional

The stage set up in the Sean O’Sullivan Theater at at Brock University on Friday night was evidence that there wasn’t going to be a rock show. On the stage were 2 microphone stands, 5 guitars and a keyboard.  When he was introduced the tall, lanky Plaskett appeared as though someone had told him ten minutes ago that he was performing tonight.  Loose sheets of paper in hand, he bumped his head on the microphone when he put them down, he looked, well, confused. None of this seemed to faze the crowd as there were numerous “I LOVE YOU JOEL” greetings before he had struck his first note.

As a prelude to Absentminded Melody he finger-picked and sang a brief, off-the-cuff salute to St. Catharines citing The Hideaway and The Mansion House.  After his first number he confessed to being up late the night before in Brooklyn, “You can probably tell by my voice, and the fact that I haven’t shaven.”  As he said this he broke a string trying to tune his guitar.  A collective sigh and chuckle.  You would assume that most Polaris Music Prize winning artists would have a stage hand run out and hand him a new guitar.  No suck luck.  “Anyone know how to put on a G-String?”  Eventually an audience member volunteered and strung it, sitting on the piano bench, taking as long as it took Joel to sing the second song.  “I should be able to tune this thing and tell you a story at the same time, I am a professional after all.”

What followed were 2 sets of songs from his latest, 3-disc record called 3, along with some old favorites, rare gems and yes, occasional lapses in professionalism.  Despite these the crowd, seemingly very familiar with his body of work, appreciated every moment and laughed with Joel as he laughed at himself.   A few songs in he announced that he was going to play a song on his keyboard, but rather than sitting down at the one set up he picked up what looked to be no more than a small toy keyboard held together by duct tape, a Value Village find no less.  On this he would eventually play very fun renditions of Television Set and Fashionable People, the last two songs you’d expect to hear during an acoustic set.  In addition that little toy accompanied him on Rewind, Rewind, Rewind, one of the shows highlights.

Taking a song that in the studio received much production treatment with numerous instruments and backing vocals and presenting it so stripped down live is the mark of a good performer, but moreover it reveals how good of a songwriter Plaskett is.  His songs seem to work no matter how they are played.  Once people began shouting out requests I was reminded of a Neil Young show 2 years ago when a pre-recorded announcement sternly told fans not to shout out requests because the set list was pre-determined.  Joel seemed flattered by the requests.  Even taken aback when one fan called for The News of Your Son.

“We don’t play that one often” Joel chuckled.  “

“I KNOW, I’VE SEEN YOU SEVEN TIMES AND I’VE NEVER HEARD IT!” the fan replied.   He played it of course, as far as I could tell he didn’t have a set list written out.   He seemed even more flattered at the request of a Thrush Hermit song.  “St. Catharines was always good to the Hermit” he grinned.

Peter Elkas of the Emergency eventually joined Joel onstage and backed him with vocals, guitar, and keys. The two finished off the first set on high note with hand-clapping favorites Happen Now and Rollin, Rollin, Rollin.

The second set had its share of high points and humorous moments.  Joel introduced Nowhere With You as one of his greatest hits and it didn’t disappoint.  He told stories, often in the middle of songs.

“That was the first verse, I think it went well.  Here comes the second, I hope you enjoy it.”

This one also introduced as a “new song” called “Old Friends”…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FIiDNqRXSw

He spoke of his education in the week past and coming.  While in New York he took in a Broadway play starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig called A Steady Rain.  He saw one of heroes Nick Cave perform, and next week he and Peter were off to Philadelphia to see Bruce Springsteen.  Elkas performed his own new single, the catchy Poor Young Things.  “When I sit down to write a song I always try to sound like Bruce Springsteen but it turns out sounding like Bob Seger’ Peter lamented.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPi-4nrXVXc

Always personable with the audience, Joel and Peter were able to find the humor in the mishaps that occurred throughout the night.   Plaskett closed the show by dropping to his knees and feigning injury or exhaustion, either saluting James Brown or making fun of himself.  On cue, Peter brought out a cape and draped it over the star of the show, something he had foreshadowed in the opening number.  After retreating to the back of the stage he all of a sudden returned, triumphantly to finish the song.  In the midst of his charge back to the microphone he inadvertently unplugged his guitar and as he began to sing again there was no accompaniment.  Laughter ensued, most enthusiastically from the two performers.  Undeterred, they tried the entire scene again.  This time Plaskett’s cape knocked over the beautiful Gibson guitar Peter had been playing all night, sending it tumbling. That’s how it ended.  A great show that fell short on professionalism but no one in attendance seemed to mind.  It goes to show you, all the slick stage preparation and execution in the world are no substitute for talent and charm and Joel Plaskett has an abundance of both.

Another brief moment from Deny, Deny, Deny

The setlist, in no particular order, as far as I can remember:

The News Of Your Son

When I Have My Vision

Work Out Fine

The Day You Walked Away

Absentminded Melody

Television Set

Happen Now

Rewind, Rewind, Rewind

I Love This Town

Fashionable People

Penny For Your Thoughts

Face Of The Earth

You Let Me Down

Through & Through & Through

Safe In Your Arms

Sailors Eyes

Rewind, Rewind, Rewind

Precious, Precious, Precious

Deny, Deny, Deny

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

Nowhere With You

.

…..I take my hobby serious and jumped into the rainy line-up around 4pm. Only 20 people in line so far…so the front row was going to happen for me and it did. After a few hours of swapping concert stories with various music lovers including two fathers with their teenage kids… we headed in and I locked myself onto the rail directly in front of where one of the world’s most talented bassist’s would stand for 90 minutes.

With no CD out yet and very little information about the band… the rumours were no opening band and no encore. Fine I’ll take what I can get. Only moments away we are about to witness…Josh Homme on guitar and lead vocals, Dave Grohl on drums and John Paul Jones teaching bass. Plus, there was a fourth Crooked Vulture Alain Johannes on rhythm guitar.

The house music stops, the vultures walk out…say hello and explode into “Elephants”. The groove was on, the roll was heavy and goosbumps happened at 30 seconds into a song I’ve only heard twice on YouTube. Grohl gang banged his drum kit and I learned quickly that Homme knew what to do with a guitar… and John Paul Jones…. well it hadn’t really hit me that it was him 12 feet in front of me.

After the first song the crowd erupted and moved in closer as Josh started to introduce his Crooked band mates. He saved Jones for last and rather than say his name, he simply pointed over to him….and the entire crowd started chanting “JOHN PAUL JONES, JOHN PAUL JONES, JOHN PAUL JONES”  a slight smile from the man himself and that was just one of those moments you talk about for the next 10 years a parties!

The following 80+ minutes was a thunderous music demonstration from multiple genres along with creating one in the middle of it all. The direction changed too many times to remember with layer upon layer it seemed like a tennis match at times… for myself trying to decide who to zero in on as the boomerang of rock, blues and psychedelica bounced around in between flashes of light. For chemistry I noticed Josh really connecting with JPJ a few times…along with numerous vocal fills from each of the guys including John Paul Jones.

Here is Scumbag Blues to give you a feel…

As far as musicians from different bands hooking up… I saw Chickenfoot and for the money in a small venue it was fun although the music didn’t make much sense to me. This evening’s performance and this band made sensek. There is thought behind all Them Crooked Vultures… from the Bonham pounding Grohl to John Paul Jones playing that piano outro on Daffodils…straight on over to Homme who stood tall, proud and confident of what he and bandmate Alain Johannes were delivering.

In short…Elephants as a first song took me to a place many encores never have and the pace throughout was amazing right up to the last couple of  songs…… here is “Nobody Love Me” just deadly…..

.

….and then… the closing tune  “Warsaw” . This was so killer  I couldn’t lift my arm to video and the insane jam for the final few minutes..was paralyzing….. they drew us in… playing harder and harder and then it ENDED. Done Right there. No Encore.

I got it…they had me… I wanted more. 90 minutes of songs I’ve never heard and I wanted another “set”

If you are following this band, were at this show or any shows this tour please leave us a comment or quick review of what you are digging about Them Crooked Vultures.

Follow Concertaholics on twitter

Them Crooked Vultures Slideshshow on flickr

More Videos on Our Youtube Channel

It isn’t just a rock show!! U2’s 360 Tour is a massive spectacle!!  This band is at the absolute pinnacle of their success in many ways!! Heading into this show if you want to be close to the stage you have to go the full GA immersion. You have to get down early and stay alert and get ready to run when you can. Jeff got down to the Rogers Centre somewhere around 8:30AM and I arrived just after. There was a fan list being done that never really helped much but none the less we were numbers 236 and 237. The first few barricades held tents, chairs, newspapers and lots of sleeping bags.  There were people who started camping out before the first show was even over and others who attended show #1 on the 16^th & walked out of the venue and right back into line.

Understanding there is an circular area that holds some 2000 we were going to be in there no problem… it is the barrier spot in between Bono and the Edge that is in very high demand and this was our predetermined ideal location for watching U2 360 unfold.

This would be my 8^th U2 show and of the last to 2 tours I was inside the ellipse twice and the heart twice. The location of the Rogers and the many store in close proximity made life a lot easier. The day was spent people watching and meeting new fans. The line up began to tighten up around 2PM. Security had people get rid of their chairs and begin to bunch up. Close to 4PM security began to stamp tickets and hands with a green stamp indicating these were general admission bodies and tickets.  At 5PM security made a weak announcement letting people know there were 5 shoots to move down and we needed to remain orderly. This is where security was the most lax.

I stood in my approximate location and watched as easily 50 to 100 people began to filter into the line. This is when I made my decision to move directly to a shoot bypassing the barriers all together!! Being basically a loner concert goer I move quickly and hit a hard run as I clear the turnstiles. Security told people not to run. I just kept running. I ran down 3 ramps and then the stairs to floor of the stadium and to the security manned barrier at the entrance to the pit!! Bang! I am in the pit and dash for the rail stage in the space between the microphone stand for will Bono and where Edge will spend most of his time during the show!! Out of breathe but very happy I check number of the people beside me just for curiosity sake and they are in the low teens!! Not bad and right where I want to be.

Right away the stage is massive and very impressive. In size maybe the Stones last couple of tours would compare but by design this beast is in a league of its own. As I understand that there are 3 of these babies playing leap- frog around North America. A show on this scale has to stay on the road for a couple of years to really make it worth while. AS an added bonus the roof is fully retracted. This is the first show the roof has been opened since one of Bruce Springsteen’s shows in 2003 a the Rogers Centre.

After everything is said and done this tour will likely be the highest grossing tour of all time. Were not here to count beans we are here to see rock and roll in all its glory!! Snow Patrol, open the show and they are very well received.  Nice gig for these guys!! Fellow Dubliners getting to open up for what is right now the biggest band going!! Snow Patrol play an inspired set given the task and really come across as having a lot of fun!!

The anticipation is thick!! As 9PM nears and with the end of each song being blasted over the PA it grows… everyone know what signifies the beginning from following YOUTUBE videos or reading or talking to someone who went last night…. delirium reins down as the opening chords of Bowies Space Oddity unfolds for us….as Bowies tunes concludes Larry’s drums kick in and out of know where the new tune Breathe hits as the Biggest band in the world is pretty ballsy to come out and play 4 new songs one after another.

No LINE ON THE HORIZON then a nice Bono Hello with an intro into Get On Your Boots which has some awesome bass and drum kicking…and then into the killer of these 4 tunes Magnificent … this is a great song !! We are pumped   and the euro-rockers keep hitting us Mysterious Ways followed by Beautiful Day come F***IN  on! The Explorer Edge uses in the intro to Beautiful Day offers us a slightly longer version…. a nice change from the album track !! Larry gets a ride during this song as his drum platform move around in a circle for some reason and then ELEVATION!

Just look at these songs played already!! We are in a deadly spot as the Edge is playing a lot directly in front of where we are posted!! The camera attached the stage and sliding around the stage perimeter is annoying but it still so nice to be this close. There is some momentary thought of maybe it would be nice to back it the stands to get the full effect of the stage design but this quickly fades when Still haven’t Found What I’m Looking For get unleashed followed by Unknown Caller!!

Edge does really nice guitar work on this tune just understated enough to really send that trade- mark ethereal sound wafting out to the masses!!  The keyboards are magic here as well. Got to Love it!!!  New Years Day still carries the same passion it had for when I saw the first time!! This band still plays this with conviction and it is good!!

I have been listening to the bootleg from Barcelona shows of this tour and NYD isn’t played so I guess they are doing some deviating from a standard setlist. This stage & show is so large that deviating from a standard list would be pretty difficult as it has to pretty heavily choreographed, all the way through. I guess you could say this would be the only down side that the show is almost “bigger” than you can take in, like on the edge of being too much!!

During one of the many “participation moments”  Bono yells to the condo towers that peer into the Rogers Centre to offer a signal that they were listening …turn your lights on & off if your listening he said ….. there were some responders and it was classic!! Anyway we wind down near here with some acoustic ……Stuck in a Moment.

The second serious sing along is the City of Blinding Lights. I loved this tune from the first moment I heard it was the first song to jump from HTDAB for me and it still sounds gorgeous.  At the end of Unforgettable Fire…Bono pulled a young kid up onto the ramp. See it happen here Then he kicked off CITY by walking hand in hand with him. Lucas was his name and Bono seemed to be singing & teaching him something using the songs lyrics.  When lyric regarding purple irises the camera can’t see, Bono took off his shaded glasses and had his young partner put them on… it was cool to see the kid looking around with the shades as cameras flashed..  It was marvelous… the interplay and symbolic nature of the song and the child in relation to what was going on in the song. It seemed to fit well!!

Hello Hello!! Vertigo and the crowd are in frenzy. I mean a real frenzy!! I think we are peaking here because the energy is just so high. In this moment we are all just jumping up and down in one big mass!!  I’ll Go Crazy gets a highly souped- up extended remix version that is nice! I liked it a lot better then the album. It is tough to say but Sunday Bloody Sunday sailed by way too fast. It wasn’t the most inspired version I have ever heard. The crowd started this song out strong…I am sure the first part of the song got a standard treatment with Edge’s guitar was ringing like a friggin bell… but it got mush more interesting when and we got a little Clash throwin’ in for good measure…with Rock The Casbah and the Irish lullaby that was to bridge to the portion of the show that honors  Aung San Suu.

We get out our masks on and volunteers wearing masks walk the catwalk that separates the inner GA section from the main GA section. This is a very poignant moment.  I know this deserves more explanation but this is a rock show review. I will leave the political explanation to someone who is more inclined. I could tell but really couldn’t really see the stage when it came completely alive during Walk On. The massive revolving screen dropped down and formed a huge cone. I’m not sure if it was at this point Bono mentioned Daniel Lanois and the fact it is his birthday pretty soon. He said “Happy Birthday Danny Boy”.

The band kind of disappeared for awhile around this point and came out to do One… Bono out to the microphone hold that beautiful green Gretsch guitar with The Goal is Soul pick guard…had the whole place pull out cell phone and called them “our stars”. I know this would have been a nice place for Daniel Lanois drop in for a guest appearance as he

did in Toronto during a show at the Air Canada Centre!! For some reason Bono went on to sing Amazing Grace and I kind of recall at some point near Walk On …I scored a setlist from the camera guy that contains some details. Where the Streets Have No Name closes out the first encore and I know that the huge microphone I saw pulled up to the ceiling earlier hasn’t been used yet.

Out comes Bono wearing a jacket covers with red lighting and this awesome microphone drops down that completely lights up in hues of blues and reds that fit Ultraviolet (light my way) perfectly. It is quite a scene as the stage is darkened and we get this ultraviolet futuristic scene played out to a great not so hidden gem from Achtung Baby!! Then he blends right into With or Without You with this same microphone and jacket setup. Pretty intense!!

If that version didn’t move you …maybe this one will shot from a Condo Tower Looking in on the same song

I know the show ended with a new song Moment of Surrender but I may have given up the ghost because I just can’t seem to light that candle. I remember the band fading off the stage and this juggernaut coming to a slow crawl. The show seemed to fly by.

I felt like the main set was done in a half hour. Sometime after the lights came up and people were milling about watching the techs begin the load out. A tech threw a bunch of guitar picks out. As the crowd reached high the concertaholic goes low and to the floor because he knows these thrown guitar picks are hard to catch and some always hit the floor…. Yes I got a pick!! It was a long day but well worth it!! The 360 spectacle is a must see!! All future tours will be measured against this new standard.  I don’t see anything on the horizon that will even come close!!

…..

Our U2 Flickr SET

Our Youtube Channel

Follow Us on Twitter

Leave us a comment if you have seen this tour and tell us your favourite moment!

We got down to the venue early and out back of Massey Hall is also the backside of a theatre showing a premiere of ONDINE. There was a small crowd waiting to see Colin Farrell & U2’s Bono and Edge. We snagged a brief video of their exit and then headed towards the front doors of Massey Hall for the presentation of the 1985 Album LOVE by THE CULT.

We arrive at our seats in row 2 on the right side and I begin to hear security telling the front row that they will not be allowed to go up and approach the stage.? So I asked the person what they said and she told me that security was told that we are not allowed to STAND UP ? Are you kidding me. This is THE CULT. This is rock and roll. The security guard went on to tell us that the new promoter doesn’t want the people behind us to get upset and ask for refunds. He also said it was up to the band.

Out walk the band and the entire place stands up and they begin with NIRVANA… the first song off of their album LOVE. As the crowd gently leans into this song and the next few Ian Astbury says ” We’ve got a few more of these songs for you while you get your work done, texting & cell phone bullsh*t… then we’re gonna have a ROCK SHOW!”  The crowd answers with a scream… the aisle beside us started to fill up with cell phone photographers and the first free spirit who dropped her purse and started her trance-dance close to the stage. Security moved her back…abit not much.

Now…during the last 30 seconds of Brother Wolf, Sister Moon…a handful of music lovers approach the stage and the same security guard appraoches them quickly with his arm to say no… Ian Astbury finishes the song and walk to the edge of the stage and puts his hand on the security guy pushing him aside and calls ALL OF US to the Stage. We bolted right up to the edge and hugged a mini monitor in front of Billy Duffy.

RAIN started and the place erupted into a Rock Show….”Hot sticky scenes you know what I mean…..” We’re singing it and I am pumping my fist like I’m 16 and at my first concert pressed against the stage… Duffy is 2 feet in front of me, there is clapping, screaming, dancing, guitar solos, energy and now the smell of a concert from the 80’s….the smoke rises past us and over the stage… There were no security guards to be seen now.

What a vibe taking place. The balcony dwellers were standing too and those who weren’t got challenged by Ian at one point….As the strong riff begins to the PHOENIX…the energy goes up another notch. The spotlight was on Billy Duffy for this song and most of the night while Ian seemed to be in darkness zone…

HOLLOW MAN continues the rock-train…. and up next is REVOLUTION. This is one of those tunes that you can go a decade without hearing because the other Cult songs get the radio play…but the beginning guitar riff has those 2 chords that put me on the bus going to grade 9 with my sony walkman on. We get some war scenes on the big screen and best of all we get everone singing Revolution, Revolution. Oh and Billy commanding that GretschWhite Falcon….wow.

I can swear I hear Ian introduce this next song as “This is for Chris Sheppard“…which he may be referring to because alternative radio back in the mid 80’s was CFNY 102.1 and Chris was a DJ who would have given them airplay for sure. Thats’ a guess… and  during this song or one of them Ian frisbees a tambourine right up to balcony level. Here the video shakes  a little more cause I am jumping with the herd-of-rockers around me who some seem to be in another time zone… the anthem – She Sell Santuary

After that scream-along Ian Astbury introduces BLACK ANGEL as a softer number and we should “act accordingly”…This song has a creative groove and lets us all down softly from the 56 minute rock & roll balloon ride.

The band walks off and we catch our breath here with only the video screen showing us images that just won’t register because I’m thinking of the songs to come.

The after album set seem to follow the same as the previous nights on this tour…so I believe ELECTRIC OCEAN is first and then WILDFLOWER which features Billy taking his guitar over to the right of where I was to some other fans who had “picks” in their hand and he allowed them to attempt/stroke/play the popular riff for wildflower …which you can see 30 seconds into this iphone live video feed I was doing into my facebook. Poor quality but you get the idea.. and I was back to my kid-like fist pumps on this one too after I put the camera away.

Up next is SUN KING. I said I put the camera down…right but now The Cult’s Leader is looking at a young boy (maybe 8 or 9 ) on his fathers shoulders, arms pumping and he motions him to come on stage. So I flip the video back on so we can see Ian coax the little guy to join in singing “Sun King BABY”

DIRTY LITTLE ROCKSTAR (video) comes off real well live with some great bass & drums …being from their 2007 album it is the newest song we get to hear and the crowd loves it …how can’t they. Ian asked if they wanted a rock and roll show and his band was delivering… This song reminds me of the guitar riff in “Under Cover Of The Night” by the Stones.

Ian at one point is calling out @strombo ‘s name as in George Stroumboulopoulos  of  “the Hour”. he continue’s “where are you…you better be out there”…. Another tambourine is airborne in front of the stage, a Rose ends up on the stage and everyone is still on their feet and chanting FIRE WOMAN (video) – The train doesn’t want to slow down… but Ian now mentions that this old place has a curfew… and that this is their last song.

This was not the best concert I’ve been to….  where I was the lead singers vocals were low as was the lighting at times on the frontman… I am not compaining about all that great guitar I got thrown in my face….it was epic…. andconcerts are not just measured on the lighting, the sound and the venue… it’s a mix of the above and what happened tonight …and in this final song was one the finest “concert experiences” I’ve been part of. It was the attitude of the band, the rock and roll delivered and the connection with the audience right up until the end of the show.

Astbury says “this is for KC and Finnigen” and they Launch…LOVE REMOVAL MACHINE…  we all got our groove on one final time and near the end of the tune Astbury signaled a couple people up on stage and as I was video’ing 3-4 people dancing around I decided to join them and jumped up for the final 10 seconds….What a rush.. as I bee-lined for the drummer John Tempesta and said Great Show man… and then proceded to ask for a drumstick. Which you can see at :31 seconds of this video. Score! …all the while I kept the video rolling…. Gave Duffy the Nod as headed off and eventually we got down from the stage…people were helping themselves to guitar pics and setlists.  the setlist we got is from Boston.

To turn around and look up off this historic stage was quite a finale to this “real rock concert” . If you were at the show please leave us a comment…down front, onstage or balcony. Let us hear your take. Thanks.

Jeff

…….I have just been getting into the new BLACK CROWES album BEFORE THE FROST…UNTIL THE FREEZE … right away I notice a lot of pedal steel and some pretty traditional sounding country & country blues stuff… I look over the digital insert and there is this picture of the band sitting / standing outside the entrance to a beautiful log cabin. Man, that said it all it made so much sense the whole sound!  Strange how just a single picture can capture the entire “feel” of the album. I got to dig deeper!!

…..I am not a huge fan of casino shows for a number of reasons but lately, I am seriously liking, Casino Rama. I don’t want to give away a great secret but there is not a single band that plays this venue that you can’t get to the stage front to enjoy the entire show. I have always had great rock & roll luck and tonight isn’t any different.

There are some gems on the new album and we got a lot of them. The set list was somewhat short, only 14 songs half of which were from the new album.

With the incense wafting out across the floor, the lights go down & out come a great band, stoned, ready to jam and jam they did!!  The show opens with 2 new songs GOOD MORNING CAPTAIN followed by AND THE BAND PLAYED ON. Not my jump out favorites yet but so nice to be hearing these new songs so soon after the release of the album. Get this!!  Third tune in – HOTEL ILLNESS – which is just killer!!  We are posted stage front right in front of Richs’ stack of Vox amps. The sound here is excellent!! Nothing but pure rock guitar coming through these classic amps!  All through the guitar change ups and the effects the sound held perfectly. Forgeting that there was 4800 people behind me I just leaned in against the stage getting sound like the stack was plugged into to my own basement!!

The song SOUL SINGIN, from LIONS and then 2 more new tunes back to back, SO MANY TIMES and GARDEN GATE. I enjoyed Garden Gate the most out of these 2. I had been hoping they would play the new tune GREENHORN. This song is an instant classic just way too beautiful!!  We get another LIONS tune OZONE MAMA and 3 more new ones I AIN’T HIDING, APPOLOOSA and SHINE ALONG.

I have to admit Appaloosa didn’t hit me until I heard it live. What a great song!  We got some nice video of Shine Along which is really starting to kick for me as well. I think for the number of times I have been through the new album the number of songs jumping put is quite high. These brothers and this band harmonize nicely!! By the way the new album has 21 tunes on it. What great value!! There is some very “live” sounding material on the new BEFORE THE FROST by “live” I mean it appears it has been recorded as the band played as group in the studio and there is obviously an audience at the end clapping cheering etc… I haven’t got through all the liner notes yet so maybe that will explain.

….8 plus minutes of WISER TIME do I have to say anything more about this one! This is one tune that doesn’t need to be re-invented but they have the last couple of tours and it’s stellar everytime. Close your eyes and groove!!

The band takes a break form the main set come back with the encore. ….SHE TALKS TO ANGELS

.
…then we get F***IN’ REMEDY!! What a closer!!

All in all a great show!! The entire sound was awesome. Sometimes you have to hand it to sound guys as they can really make a show. The harmonizing I enjoyed this outing better than I did WARPAINT at Massey Hall July 2008. I know you know…. but the Crowes get into these gorgeous jams that just get you swaying with your eyes closed sinking into these plush grooves!!!  We scored a drum stick and a set list. My set list read OH SWEET NUTHIN’ which would have been pretty sweet but REMEDY was what got played as the final tune. Just missed a pick! Maybe next time!  Here is to the Cabin Fever Winter Tour 2009!!

.

.

Another partial video we shot with the camera sitting on the stage…

Leave us a comment below if you were at this show or others this tour!

Were there any tapers at this show? Get in touch. Love to have the show here.

It could have been 1 of several things that brought Eddie Vedder out to centre stage well before the opening band was scheduled to start tonight’s Pearl Jam show at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. The first being that as Eddie Vedder said Ted Leo of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists was not available as of yet and “we would have to improvise”. The second is that EV is a good guy and would love to fill the seats with people to watch Ted Leo before PJ fills them, or lastly he just freakin loves Toronto and the Legacy of Neil Young!  Who cares it’s all probably true but loving Neil Young, as Eddie obviously does has him out early and meandering through Neil’s Sugar Mountain & The Needle and the Damage done.  Just crazy awesome!! I was up walking around between the 300’s and the 400’s which at this point were basically empty I just plunked down and caught Sugar Mountain on video and was blown away by EV doing these Neil Young gems. The goose bumps were already happening!!

There isn’t gong to be enough words to describe the show. Pearl Jam were simply spectacular!! I have been going to shows for 35+ years now and I got to tell this show has to be in my top 10! Believe it or not probably I’ve done 500+ shows and this was my first live experience with Pearl Jam .  Although I did manage to catch the Eddie Vedder solo outing last year at Massey Hall. (bonus gem here)  Not sure why I never caught the full band… I have everything they put out, plus a bunch of boots and I’m seriously liking the new tune The Fixer with the Ska feel. Eddie Vedder even sounds happy on the tune.

Right out of the box – Of The Girl a nice rockin noddler to get us feeling good and ready for what was in store…then Corduroy nice!! Were just getting started…. I’m in the 100’s now 5 rows back just to McCready’s side. The crowd is ballistic!! I heard the venue was over sold  by 4000. I got to tell you Pearl Jam has to be the toughest tickets to get. I heard a scalper sell two $40 lawns for $500. Nuts!  I mean I didn’t’ see a decent 200 level, never mind a 100 anywhere. I entered with a 400 level and ended in the second row by the encore.  Severed Hand and were in the stratus sphere some where …Yield and Pearl Jam got a lot of air time.

The new tune The Fixer sounds nice live. EVEN FLOW… comes in there like a freight train of rock ….it is like a blur in here now…Given to Fly…. I think Eddie Vedder mentioned they don’t get this out there much live or it could have been Faithful…. Around Unemployable EV gave a little story about “how amusing it must be to watch the country down under us” he used the current health debate going on in the USA to suggest it must be like watching a “dog chase its own tail” then he changed the story a little and mentioned it maybe kind of like have a distinguished guest over to your house for dinner like Neil Young then referring to him as Uncle Neil – like having “Uncle Neil over for dinner and the dog like starts to lick its own asshole”!

½ Full comes across heavy, way heavier then the album version could ever do!!  This could of went on forever I was gone!!  Mike is on fire!! The whole band is crazy!! The run of inside Job (with the keyboards turned up nicely) and Mike screaming some nice stuff.. and then Wishlist just to cool down before the rockoutfest of Black and Alive back to back was unreal. The Black fading guitar outro was another awesome standout!!

At one juncture during the rock out in Alive the band comes together in front of the drum kit – Mike playing the big double necked Gibson – they are this finely tuned rock machine churning, humming, powerful – Eddie Vedder rams his head for a moment into Mike McCready’s chest ! Wild to watch!! McCready throws out a handful of guitar picks and I manage to snag one!!  MC changes his shirt a couple of time and at one point he comes out wearing a Kiss Alive tee shirt – classic stuff!!

The band cools it out again with Wasted (reprise)… I think it was during this tune or at the conclusion EV come and points to – then leans over and hands the guy directly in front of me and one seat to the right a tambourine !! The vibe all around was beautiful!

………………………..The weather was working the music so amazing!! The crowd literally going insane here… the sing along with Betterman (video) was huge!! Eddie Vedder let it go for awhile then comes to the mike and says” that was pretty f**kin’ good”!! I kind of remember Porch but don’t ….I mean I was in this surreal place where this band had taken me.

They were playing so tight and the magic was really flowing. I didn’t want the show to end and end it had to and fittingly so with the encore being Neil Young’s Rockin’ in The Free World!! What a blast!! If there was a second it would be a no brainer to head on down!! This is definitely 2 hours I’d love to relive over and over again!!

Set List for the evening in Toronto with Pearl Jam…..

Front Side of Mike McCready’s Guitar Pic

BETTERMAN from Toronto

More Pearl Jam Videos from Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre

Concertaholics Photos on Flickr

LEAVE US A COMMENT from this show or any other this Tour

This was the first show I have ever gone to at a casino. The vibe is certainly not conducive to a rock show. I guess it may not be fair to judge this by a single show, however, this one certainly felt like something was missing. Don’t get me wrong there were great moments like Stephen Stills doing Bluebird and stuff like Southern Cross, but there is an all business “feel” to the whole process around the show. Heavy casino security, not being able to have a drink inside the venue except for water, in quick out quick, the length of show and even the fact of the band (Graham Nash) acknowledging the “captive” audience.

At any rate as I said there were highlights and the big ones for me came from Stephen Stills.  The guy can still play a mean guitar and harmonize with the best of them. In fact he is one of the best ones!

The show started with Helplessly Hoping and You Don’t Have to Cry. I felt these were mellow enough to let the band warm up the vocals and ease into the show. Graham Nash said “we would like to play some songs from friends of ours” and the band went into The Stones Ruby Tuesday. This came off very nicely and at the conclusion because the crowd reaction was so “blah” Nash came back to microphone and said “that was from The Rolling Stones” < I assume to generate some reaction, and Stills pipes in with, “because, they need the money”.  At least this got the crowd laughing a little.

It wasn’t until Guinevere that I really began to hear David Crosby clearly. I am not sure if he was just really warming until this point or what, but his magic kicked about here. They rolled through Marrakesh Express and did a really nice version of Uncle John’s Band that was rolled out with Graham mentioning Jerry Garcia as a friend. It really started to feel like a serious rock show when they played Long Time Gone. I mean this was awesome, a definite highlight!! If I closed my eyes it could have been Buffalo Springfield playing during Bluebird. In fact I did and it was!! Southern Cross was another Stills gem. The tempo felt a little rushed but the extended finish on this was so, so good!  I have to mention at some before Southern Cross someone in the audience yelled out “Southern Cross” Crosby walked to the microphone and said, ” do you really think we would do a set without playing Southern Cross” then he motioned like are you nuts with his doing counter clock-wise circles around the sides of his head. This was another odd moment. Wooden Ships what can you say? Pull out the first CSN album put it on and you are gonna know “exactly” what I am saying.

I go to shows to be taken away somewhere that music can only take me and this got me there!! I scored a setlist from the sound board guys who were more than kind of friendly as we spoke abut their journey with these amazing musicians. The list reads For What it’s Worth but that was changed during the show to Our House, which of course was the sing along song. They finished off with Teach Your Children which went over nicely. The entire show ran less than 90 minutes. The security was all over my camera so I only managed a couple of shots, so forget about video. As I said there were highlights but the entire “casino” vibe has me rethinking a couple of other shows I have tickets for at Casino Rama this summer. Then again row 2 for LIVE can’t be that bad!