bowl concert-palooza: show #3 - van halen

Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl. 

Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave." 

But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :) 

Here's the scoop on Show #3:

October 4, 2015 -- Van Halen - Final Night of North American Tour

So I've loved Van Halen since about 1984 (the year and the album). But was too young to see them in concert then. 

By the time I was (in 1992 and again in 1995), David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen hated each other, and "Diamond Dave" had been replaced by Sammy Hagar singing songs with lots of synthesizers like "Dreams" and "Right Now," which I also loved. (I play no favorites between Sammy and Dave.. they were two very different singers and Van Halen is two very different, yet both great, bands depending on who is singing lead. Please note: I do however agree that the whole Gary Cherone era was a joke, even though I loved him in Extreme.)

I've always regretted not getting to see the band with the showman antics of DLR. When they last got together a few years ago, the tour was cancelled almost as soon as it started. (There were rumors of fighting, but also Eddie's health took a bad turn.) So earlier this year when they went on Jimmy Kimmel and announced they were back together again (again) and were going on tour (again), I was not optimistic. I didn't buy tickets to their two shows at the Bowl when they went on sale in March because, quite honestly, I was pretty sure the tour would be cancelled waaaaaay before October. 

However, as summer went on and they hadn't broken up yet, I started to wish I had tickets. Then one day I got (of all things) a Groupon offer for Van Halen tickets... for $35! Um, sign me up! I was even more excited when my seats that were supposed to be at the top of Bowl in section U, ended up in the middle of the Bowl in section L2. Thank you Groupon Rock Gods!

However, as the day of the show rolled around, so did these magnificent rain clouds....

And as the opening act (the amazingly awesome blues rocker Kenny Wayne Shepherd) played, a few tiny rain drops started falling on our heads.... please don't rain on my Van Halen concert I begged through social media hashtags and silent pleas to the weather gods. Miraculously, they all listened, and the sprinkles stopped and the show went on, allowing me to check "Van Halen with David Lee Roth" off of my Concert Bucket List!

The band (Eddie, Alex + Eddie's son / my fellow Kings fan Wolfgang Van Halen) sounded awesome and tight, as one of the most excellent rock guitarists and rock drummers who've been playing together for 40+ years (plus the son / nephew who got their musical genes) should.

Then there was David Lee Roth. When the crew was setting up after Kenny Wayne Shepherd, they were laying a lot of wood planks down on the stage. "What's that for?" I wondered. Well people, Diamond Dave (or "The Dean Martin of Rock-n-Roll" as my concert buddy Lisa dubbed him halfway through the show) needed a dance floor so he could slide around and "dance the night away"... in between changing his outfit about 20 times. ;) He was the true showman everyone paid to see, and even managed to replicate his high kicks from the "Panama" and "Jump" videos, at the mere age of 60! As for singing, well, let's just say he doesn't have the pipes that the previous singers on my Bowl "concert-palooza" (Simon Le Bon and Idina Menzel) have, but he probably never did, and when Eddie Van Halen is playing guitar, do you really care?

(Note: These videos aren't mine. Like at Duran Duran, I only had my camera phone. So instead of torturing you with bad video, I've found videos on YouTube from people with much better cameras and/or seats. Thanks to these people for uploading :)

Here's the set list, and then video (again, not mine) of the last three, most fun songs of the show. Enjoy! Being as this was the last show of the tour, these just may be the last songs Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) ever perform live :(

bowl concert-palooza: show #2 - idina menzel

Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl. 

Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave." 

But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :) 

Here's the scoop on Show #2:

October 3, 2015 -- Idina Menzel - Final Night of Her World Tour

Night #2 of Bowl "concert-palooza" was the Tony Award-Winning Idina Menzel, with my dear friend Jenny Z, who came down from Portland for the show, and her cousin Erin. This was the first time at the Bowl for both Idina and JZ (aww ;)

I was curious to see what songs she'd perform, as the only albums I own with Idina on them are the Broadway soundtracks to Rent (which I was lucky enough to actually see Idina and the rest of the original cast in on Broadway) and Wicked (which I've seen three times, but never with Idina.) She won her Tony Award for playing Elphaba in Wicked, in large part because she hit these notes eight times a week for months and months and months.... 

(Note: These videos aren't mine. Like at Duran Duran, I only had my camera phone. So instead of torturing you with bad video, I've found videos on YouTube from people with much better cameras and/or seats. Thanks to these people for uploading :)

Her set list covered the Broadway hits she made famous in Rent, Wicked and the just-closed-but-soon-to-be-on-National-tour If/Then. The show was very interactive and she was extremely humble for someone who has earned the right to be a Broadway diva if she wants. 

She went into the audience looking for duet partners for Rent's "Take Me Or Leave Me" and found some really talented people who rose to her challenge. She also told a lot of stories.. some funny, some sad, such as the tragic story of how Rent's creator Jonathan Larson passed away just before seeing his brilliant musical open, then sang its beautifully poignant "No Day But Today" ....

The show also featured her interpretation of some rock hits such as The Police's "Roxanne," (which was part of her "prostitution medley" as she jokingly called it, along with "Love for Sale") and Radiohead's "Creep." And, of course, it had to include the song everyone under the age of 12 came to hear, "Let It Go," aka: the song that got Idina on the Oscars twice.. once to sing it and then a year later so John Travolta could apologize to her for royally screwing up her name. This was her final song before encore and she invited all the kids rush the stage and sing the end with her, which was super-cute. 

bowl concert-palooza: show #1 - duran duran

Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl. 

Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave." 

But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :) 

Here's the scoop on Show #1:

October 1, 2015 -- Duran Duran "Paper Gods" Tour

To kick off my Bowl "concert-palooza," I went to the sold out Duran Duran concert Thursday night. 

I don't think I've ever been to the Bowl when it's been completely sold out before. This is something I NEVER want to experience again (ie: this is the night I almost starved because the lines were insane and I had a minor claustrophobia attack going to the bathroom). But I powered through in order to relive my tweens, screaming for the first rock star named John I ever loved :)

------- Minor Sidebar ------

Because I meant to post this as a #tbt photo on the day of the D2 concert, but was too crazed and forgot, may I now present two-thirds of the one wall of the Shelton, CT bedroom my parents allowed my 13-year-old-self to put posters on... proving my former obsession with all things Duran Duran.. well mostly John Taylor ;)  (Hey, I was only allowed to decorate one wall, so I picked the biggest one and used every inch of it! And now, looking at this eons later, I think this is where my OCD started... look how lined up everything [other than the two photos I just badly cropped together] is. That took planning people! :P)

                                                     ------- Back to the Concert Stuff ------

The original JT and and his Duran Duran-mates performed a few songs from their new Paper Gods album and then so many of their hits (but not "Wild Boys" or "Save a Prayer" HELLO!?!?) that Simon LeBon checked in on the crowd halfway through the show to make sure we weren't starting to suffer from "hit fatigue." 

Um, the answer to Simon's q, would be a no :)  

(Forgive the crappy images.. only had my cell phone. But it still sounds awesome!)

In fact, I could've done without the few non-hits toward the end of this set list ("White Lines," "Danceophobia," "TMI") ....

.....in exchange for some "Wild Boys," "Save A Prayer" and "Is There Something I Should Know" (just for you Erin ;). Please, please tell me now why you would play those bleh songs instead of "Wild Boys" and "Save a Prayer" Simon, John, Nick and Roger?!?! 

I'm kinda sad. D2, you're just lucky you ended with this...

PS: There were two opening acts, one of whom (Clean Bandit) we totally missed due to the traffic, lines, crowds of people trying to get to the Bowl by 6:30 on a Thursday. But we did get to see the funk-alicious Chic, featuring Nile Rogers, who helped write and produce "Paper Gods" in addition to a billion other hits, many of which they played. They were a pretty awesome surprise :)

PPS: For those who wanted to be there but couldn't be, YouTube just suggested this video of the complete concert to me. Those people had much better seats that I did. I hate them. 

new tv show time

It's officially Fall, which means there are a ton of new TV shows hitting the networks, all vying for attention and ratings. Sadly, after flipping through my Entertainment Weekly Fall Preview last weekend, I wasn't that excited. And after recording two new shows this past week and watching them, I'm now officially not impressed.

Granted this year -- since I just started binge-watching Mad Men a week before the new TV season started -- there is a new standard all shows (old and new) must meet to earn a space on my Tivo One Pass list: Is this show SO good that it's worth NOT spending this time watching another episode of Mad Men?

The answer for these new shows sampled last week is no:

• The Muppets -- I gave it a shot for sentimental reasons. The sentiment is gone.
• Scream Queens -- Reminds me of American Horror Story: Coven, minus the good acting from Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates. And I don't like any of the characters, which is the kiss of death from me. 

The only other new show I'm giving a shot is Grandfathered, because it stars John Stamos, who I've loved since I was 9. I might also stick around after it to watch The Grinder with Rob Lowe and Fred Savage. But that's it. Tuesdays are the only night with space... which means I could get 2-3 episodes of Mad Men in that night (barring Kings games, concerts and Tivo backlog ;) 

Here's my current Tivo To Do List:

• Sunday: Once Upon a Time (maybe... not loving this anymore), The Good Wife, Homeland and The Affair 
• Monday: The Voice and Jane the Virgin 
• Tuesday: TBD based on Grandfathered/Grinder premieres this week
• Wednesday: Modern Family and Nashville 
• Thursday: TGIT! Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder (although I still don't love HTGAWM....this might get dumped) and Bones (I've watched it this long, I need to see it through to the end, which I hope is soon..)

What are you watching this season? Have you seen Mad Men and think there's a new show out there I should be spending my TV time on instead? Let me know! 

a night of foos, thrones, legends and the demise of my favorite baby blue gibson guitar

In November 2014, on a Saturday morning, I drove to Inglewood, CA to stand in the parking lot of my least favorite concert venue in LA (aka The Forum) with about 4,000 other Foo Fighters fans, all putting on numbered bracelets and waiting and hoping for their lucky number to be called. Once that lucky number was chosen (by a cute red-headed four-year-old), everyone lined up in bracelet order to purchase #beatthebots tickets at the box office. I ended up approximately 200 people behind lucky person #1. :)

Ten months later, I -- with my gal pals Christina, Lisa and Niki -- finally got to use those tickets. For a while in June, I was scared we wouldn't (#brokenlegtour2015). But in the end, it was worth every second of the 304 days of waiting and hoping and waiting.... and waiting ...

If you've ever seen Foo Fighters live, you already know why it was worth the wait, and should just skip down to watch the awesome videos I've posted below.

If you haven't, what the heck have you been doing on your musical adventure through life?

The Foos are one of the best live rock bands you will ever see/hear. And I'd say that even if I didn't love Dave Grohl, who is -- without a doubt -- the coolest guy in rock-n-roll. 

Dave, btw, also happens to play the most beautiful baby blue Gibson guitar you'll ever see/hear. I first fell in love with that guitar in June of 2007, when I first saw Foo Fighters live, opening for a little band called The Police. Ask me what I remember of that Police concert today and I'll say, Dave Grohl running around, jumping on top of speakers ... and wailing on that beautiful blue guitar before The Police came out. I'm more than a little obsessed with the guitar... so much so that when surprise guest Dave showed up six feet away from me at a Rick Springfield concert at The Canyon in Agoura in September 2013 to do a song with Rick, my comment on my YouTube video was, "So friggin' awesome! (even though Dave didn't have his gorgeous baby blue guitar ;)." But I digress....

Last night, Dave played that beautiful blue guitar, while perched atop his broken-leg-protecting, rock-star throne, until almost the end of the night (more on that later). And from the opening chords of "All My Life," he, drummer Taylor Hawkins, guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shifflet and bass guitarist Nate Mendel where "on." They sounded amazing, performing all the Foo hits you'd want plus three of the eight songs from the awesome newish Sonic Highways album. The production (video backdrop, lighting, rolling rock star throne) were really cool. And there were surprise guests... including one rock-n-roll legend, who reduced cool dude Dave Grohl to a backup singer ;)

The show opener:

When he snapped his leg in half in Sweden at the end of June, I was really scared I'd be getting a refund on these concert tickets. Thank the rock gods for pain-killer-induced dreams of rocker thrones, and (as Dave said) a tour production crew cool enough to pull it off!
(Please also note the image of John Travolta from "Stayin' Alive" on Taylor's drum kit. LOL) 

Camera phone flashlights and twinkle lights in the sky.

Special Guest #1 Jack Black jumped out on stage and sang two verses of the band's "#snippet" of Rush's "Tom Sawyer," climbing off the end of the ramp in the middle, but not breaking his leg... cuz he's not as cool as Dave Grohl.

This is called "A Grohl on His Throne"

Performing "Outside" -- the LA-inspired song from Sonic Highways

Towards the end of the show, Dave introduced special guests #2-4, Haim (a band of musical sisters), and after cutely bantering back and forth about Dave's three daughters and Haim offering to babysit, they started to perform a cover of the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Well, what's the point of that song without Stevie Nicks on vocals... ahhh! Witness the awesomeness of special guest #5...

Then Dave refused to leave without the jam band doing this song... (excuse the shaky camera towards the middle... I was multi-tasking. It was a long song ;)

After the rocker chicks left, the Foos went back to Foos tunes. Towards the end of either "These Days" or "This is a Call," Mr. Grohl got a little too excited with his guitar playing, and I learned one of my favorite bands runs just like the teams in my favorite sport. 

The first thing I noticed was a guitar-less Pat Smear rushing off stage for a new guitar. Apparently, being in the Foos is like being on a hockey team.. when your most important player (ie: the goalie ... or an incapacitated Dave Grohl) breaks his stick (or the neck of his beautiful baby blue Gibson guitar...sniff sniff), the closest player (like a defensemen... or Pat Smear) quickly tosses said important player his guitar to play so the show can go on. Then Dave Grohl proceeded to tell the crowd his signature guitars must be pretty cheap and you shouldn't buy one now. Um, hello! They're still pretty to look at!

The band didn't waste time going off stage and coming back for an encore, because per Dave, that's a waste of time that should be spent playing more music. (Note: Dave also can't climb off and on that throne very easily ;) But when it was finally time for the last tune, Dave said, "We won't say goodbye, we'll just say this...." 

Enjoy!

things that make me smile

So I've been lazily cleaning out my personal emails today and following up on random things I need to do (print Groupons so I remember to use Groupons, making reservations, organizing bills, etc) and I found an email from U2.com with a 25% off coupon that I get every year when I renew my subscription (to guarantee awesome pre-sale concert ticket priority and therefore seats.. example below..)

I never use the coupon because I don't need more concert t-shirts. But out of boredom, I decided to go check out the online store today.

They have a lot of expensive lithographs, one of which is from the 360 Tour show at the Rose Bowl on October 25, 2009.... a.k.a. the concert they filmed for YouTube and a DVD release. Oh, and also a.k.a the concert where I was one person away from the barricade at the foot of the front left stage "leg" and had the most awesome (if not painful) concert experience of my life. 

Here's the lithograph image... Bono and Edge reaching out to each other across the bridges:

photograph by Otto Kitsinger

So as I'm looking at that, I think to myself, "That image seems very familiar... I wonder if my hand is one of those hands below them." But as I'm thinking that, I don't remember there being two bridges near me.. just one. They kind of flew out from each corner / leg, into the middle where the main stage was.

So I go back to my rather large collection of photos from that night and -- low and behold -- it's familiar alright, just from another not-so-great angle (unless you like looking at The Edge's butt.. LOL).

Photogragh by Me :)

If I can't be a professional photographer, at least I know I have a professional photographer's eye for capturing amazing concert moments... from hilarious angles :)

Now I might actually have to buy that lithograph, and print my photo out the same size to hang next to it, just because this thoroughly cracks me up.

labor day weekend tradition... slightly altered

Every year, I plan a group outing to the Hollywood Bowl on Labor Day weekend to say goodbye to summer with wine, cheese, and the movie music of John Williams. Usually, there are a ton of Star Wars nerds (myself included) with their light sabers at the ready, waiting for John Williams to conduct the LA Philharmonic in the playing of the Star Wars theme. This year though, John Williams is off writing and conducting new Star Wars music for The Force Awakens, so he was only at the Bowl in a videotaped intro (and in spirit, of course). 

Instead, this year, David Newman conducted the the LA Philharmonic as it played the entire score to my favorite movie ever, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, playing above on-screen. I was in movie music heaven because -- as everyone who goes to the Bowl with me each year knows -- if they don't play music from E.T., I consider the evening a bust, no matter how much fun I may have had pretending I was conducting the orchestra with my purple light saber. 

If you've never been to the Bowl, and love movies, these Movies "In Concert" nights are the perfect introduction to the Bowl experience. I also had a blast at Back to the Future In Concert back in June.

The two highlights of the evening (other than the Reese'e Pieces cookies my friend Linda made. Yum!) were both in the last 10 minutes of the film. 

First, my favorite scene tied to musical score in all of film history... the bike chase. The climax, as Elliott fears the end and E.T. saves the day, makes me both tear up and smile wide at the same time, every time. (Here's a link to the video Linda recorded and put on facebook.) It's just perfect -- especially now that they're back to showing the original version where the cops are trying to stop the kids with threats of rifles instead of walkie talkies. (Not that I'm for threatening to shoot kids and sweet aliens on bicycles with rifles. The walkie talkie "edit" just looked dumb.... like really, really dumb. Thank you Steven Spielberg for realizing this and restoring the scene to its original awesomeness / level of fearfulness followed by elation for its 30th Anniversary.) 

And then the finale, (spoiler alert) where E.T. goes home... I dare you not to tear up. This is why I love John Williams and Steven Spielberg.