Saturday, June 28, 2008

Amy Winehouse in Glastonbury (BBC)

Did anybody see Amy Winehouse in Glastonbury? I just saw the broadcast on BBC3 and it was quite scary. She kept on slurring the words and seem pretty out of it. At some stage she was even elbowing someone in the audience!

Just a reminder of how good she can be when she is on the ball, here is a video of Rehab from a year ago. I hope that someone posts a video from today to contrast.



Update
The Spaghetti Incident has a link to the "elbow incident"

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Journey Live - Dublin, now the review

So now the review. We got to the national stadium a few minutes before the show was due to start. If you haven't been there, it is an excellent venue for concerts. It can sit 2000 people and because it is such a small venue, every seat has excellent visibility. I was sitting on the left of the stage behind Jonathan Cain (see the picture below!). One good piece of trivia, the national stadium was the first purpose built boxing stadium in the world and was opened in 1939. It was packed!

The concert started just before 8:00 with John Parr doing a short acoustic set, closing with his big hit from the 80's St Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion).

Journey came out just before 9 o'clock to a standing ovation. I was worried that the Ray Foley effect would have meant that the place was full of people that wanted to hear "Don't Stop Believin'" and knew nothing else. Well I needn't have worried, there are a lot of Journey fans who knew and sang along to all the songs from "Wheel in the Sky" to "Change for the Better". It was absolutely fantastic. The guys where having a great time on stage, and because of the size of the venue, it was great to actually see what they were playing. Neal Schon is the fastest guitarist I have seen in a long time, but he also knows how to play a melodic solo, or just play chords if that's what the song needs. Ross Valory is still full of energy, and he plays with such ease that it is contagious, his faces are so funny. Jonathan Cain moved between the keyboards and the guitars all night long. Unfortunately I coudn't see much of Deen Castronovo on drums, but he was very good as well. He sang on "Mother Father", and was great. Note how the setlist (from JC's piano) has the details of who is going to introduce each song!

When I first got interested on the bass, the first couple of songs that I learnt where "Anyway You Want It" and "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'". A bit later I learnt how to play "Don't Stop Believin'" and it was the sound of Ross Valory's bass in Escape that made me want to learn how to play the bass. Not surprisingly my highlights from yesterday where "Stone in Love" (listen to that bassline towards the end of the song!), "Who's Cryin' Now" and "Don't Stop Believin'" which has been my favourite song for the last twentysomething years! I also enjoyed the fact that they opened with Majestic, which they hadn't been playing for a while. On the other hand, they played Lights on it's own! The picture on the left is from when they started "Don't Stop Believin'"

Arnel Pineda has to have a special mention, he looked the part. Not even a year ago he was playing in a cover band in the Philippines, and now he is the lead singer for a big band on a worldwide tour and an album that has sold more than a quarter of a million copies in the first month. He was fantastic!

For those interested in the gear, Ross Valory played a Music Man stingray, judging from the way he played, he was using his signature tunning (B-E-A-D), using the 4 top strings of a 5 string bass on a 4 string one. Neal Schone played mainly on his Gibson signature les paul, although he used a stratocaster for one of the songs. Jonathan Cain played a telecaster, a 12 string stratocaster, and a Neal Schon signature les paul, on a stand, for the rythm guitar section on don't stop believin'

What a great show!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Journey Live - National Satdium, Dublin - June 25th, 2008

Wow... your man Arnel Pineda can sing. I am just back from the Journey gig at the National Stadium in Dublin... what a show, it was fantastic!

Here is the setlist for now, I will post some comments and a couple of pictures tomorrow. I got the setlist from Jonathan Cain's piano!

Majestic
Never Walk Away
Separate Wayes
Only the Young
Guitar Segway
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Keep on Runnin'
The Journey (Revelation) - Instrumental
Who's Cryin' Now
Change for the Better
Lights (They didn't play Stay Awhile!!!)
After All These Years
Mother, Father (Dean on vocals)
Key Segway (JC Solo)
Open Arms
DD Harp Segway (NS on acoustic guitar & JC on harmonica)
Wheel in the Sky
Edge of the Blade
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believing

encore
Escape
Anyway You Want It

To see the a picture of the actual setlist, go to the review post.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Fur Elise for dummies on acoustic guitar

I came across this while I was browsing through Joost recently, and I though it would be nice to share it with all of you that like to play guitar. A very simple lesson from guitar world's Jimmy Brown on how to play "Fur Elise", Beethoven's classic piece.

http://joost.com/298871j

Enjoy!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The next one!


So, my next show will be Journey at the National Stadium. I am really looking forward to it. I used to liste to Journey just as much as REO Speedwagon back in the 80's, but I was too young then to be able to go to one of their concerts. I will post the setlist and a quick review next week.

I am sorry I won't be able to see Steve Perry, but I have to say that Arnel Pineda's voice is remarkable! It is going to be a treat. The new album Revelation is pretty good, and Arnel's voice works very well with the oldies.

There have been a huge number of gigs in Dublin over the last few days. Let me know if you have gone to a good one recently, post a link to your reviews or leave a comment!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Leonard Cohen Live – June 13th, 2008 – Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin


Wow, the 3rd concert in a week. And what a show!

I have never been a huge fan of Leonard Cohen, I guess it is because I was never exposed to his music. Anyway, a friend of mine offered me a ticket last Thursday, and although I don't really know Leonard Cohen's music, I do know that he is, arguably, one of the most influential people in the music business. It was an opportunity I couldn't miss. Boy, was I in for a treat!!

The concert was on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, a museum just opposite Heuston station in Dublin. A beautiful venue for the first concert of Leonard's European tour. Damien Rice opened the show with a short acoustic set at 7:15 sharp. The main show started at 8:00 and went on until 11:00 with a short break halfway through.

Leonard walked in to a standing ovation. His first visit to Dublin in 20 years! A long wait for his fans. He treated us with a good selection of his songs, a catalog that spans more than 40 years of music , all performed incredibly well. Although his music doesn't require virtuoso performances, the musicianship was evident. His voice is so deep and rich, and the music builds around it to complement it. The band used lot of different instruments that you wouldn't normally see in a show these days, including a Hammond B3, bandurria, spanish laúd, guitars (12 string spanish, electric, steel, nylon acoustic), bass (5 string, 5 string fretless and double bass), harp, and a number of wind instruments, some of which I couldn't recognise but that included an Akai EWI4000 Electric Woodwind.

Leonard Cohen knows his business, the show builds up to the point where you are completely immersed in the music, the setlist, everything is done with a purpose. Just look at the last two songs, "Closing Time", immediately followed by a standing ovation and "I tried to leave you".

I don't have notes for the full setlist, when I get it I will post it. In the meantime, here is a link to leonardcohenforum.com with the setlist for the last few shows. It looks remarkably similar

http://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=11147

There is also a lot of information about the tour and the instruments on the Leonard Cohen Files.

Get his music, and enjoy it!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Los Amantes de Lola - Beber de tu Sangre

This is one of my favourite songs from the Mexican group Los Amantes de Lola. Unfortunately the video and the sound are slightly out synch.

Check out the version of this song from their live album "Historias de Cabaret"

Enjoy!


Monday, June 9, 2008

REO Speedwagon Live in Dublin - July 8th 2008

After something like 18 years, I went to my second REO Speedwagon gig. The first one was when I was in college back in 1990. It was 5 years after they had had their huge hit with Can't Fight this Feeling. Back in the mid 80's I would have listened to their albums all day long. My vinyl copy of Good Trouble was completely worn down by the time I bought the CD. The gig yesterday brought back so many memories, and I enjoyed (and sang... if you can call that singing) every minute of it.

The guys aren't young anymore. KC is now in his late 50's, and although they gave it all, he is not jumping up and down the stage any more as he used to and the show was very intense, but only lasted 90 minutes.

REO's lineup hasn't changed much since that concert back in 1990 just before the release of the album "The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken". Which was the first album that featured Dave Amato and Bryan Hitt, except on that tour, they had a second keyboard player (Jesse Harms, better known for playing with Sammy Hagar).

The gig was at the Olympia Theatre, incidentally, this is the same venue where R.E.M. tested their new material for Accelerate with a series of "secret" gigs. It started just before 9:00 PM with the usual Don't Let Him Go. The place was about 90% full and everybody there went absolutely mad screaming and shouting... singing every song. The usual suspects made their appearence, but they sang a couple of songs that I didn't expect: Son of a Poor Man (from Ridin ' the Storm Out) and That Ain't Love (from Life as We Know It).

All in all, it was a really enjoyable gig. Lots of energy, and happy fans singing and enjoying themselves. People left the venue chanting Keep on Lovin' you at the top of their voices!!!

Here is the Setlist:

Don’t Let Him Go
Take it On The Run
Keep Pushin’
Find Your Own Way Home
That Ain't Love
Tough Guys
Can't Fight this Feeling
Dangerous Combination
Son of a Poor Man
I Needed to Fall (The set list I got from the stage had Smilin' (Audible), which was changed)
Time For Me To Fly (KC's 12 string ovation failed, he had to drop the guitar!)
Back on the Road Again
Keep on Loving You
Roll With The Changes

encore
Ridin’ The Storm Out

The setlist from stage also had 157 (Riverside Avenue), but they didn't play it.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Rdiohead in Malahide Castle - June 7th 2008

So, the long wait was over. and finally after many years I had the opportunity to see Radiohead. I had huge expectations and, sadly, I was a bit disappointed. In fact I felt annoyed as I was leaving the show yesterday.

For those of you that have never been to Malahide Castle, it is a beautiful castle, north of Dublin, with a beautiful parkland. The ideal setting for a concert like Radiohead's.


So, what happened yesterday... well, the band came out at 8:30 and started with 15 Step, Bodysnatchers and Airbag... they rocked!!! But after that, they seemed to have lost the crowd. People around us were chatting away, and it was difficult to get into the music. Specially on some of the quieter songs like Faust Harp... I love the song and I could barely hear it!!!

We were standing close to the sound booth, which is usually a good place to listen to a concert. We also moved around a bit to try to avoid it, but it was the same everywhere we went. If people wanted to chat, they should have gone to Starbucks instead!

Having said that, I did enjoy some of the numbers, songs like Jigsaw Falling into Place, There There, Planet Telex and All I Need were very good. Generally speaking the 1st encore was the best. As for the second encore, I was really disappointed... no Paranoid Android, and they finished with Idioteque, perhaps my least favourite track... arrggghh!!!!

The band were good, they are all incredible musicians. On the way back, we had a discussion as to whether the fact that people were not into it was or wasn't Radiohead's fault. I think it was, they should have been able to get the crowd more involved.

If you are looking for the setlist, check my post from yesterday evening

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Radiohead Setlist - Malahide Castle June 7th, 2008

01 15 Step
02 Bodysnatchers
03 Airbag
04 Bangers&Mash
05 Nude
06 Pyramid Song
07 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08 The Gloaming
09 The National Anthem
10 Faust Arp
11 Videotape
12 Optimistic
13 Where I End And You Begin
14 Reckoner
15 Everything In Its Right Place
16 All I Need
17 There There

encore 1
18 Exit Music (For A Film)
19 Jigsaw Falling Into Place
20 Climbing Up The Walls
21 Planet Telex
22 How To Disappear Completely

encore 2
23 Super Collider
24 You And Whose Army?
25 Idioteque

I am a bit dissapointed with the gig.. more details tomorrow!

And today... Radiohead

Finally, the wait is over. I will see Radiohead this evening in Malahide Castle. The setlists from this tour look incredible They are playing a few songs fro The Bends, but nothing from Pablo Honey.

Here is te setlist from yesterday (No Jigsaw!!!!)

http://videotape.tistory.com/447


Note that they played "How to disappear completely"... it hs a cool reference to Dublin!

And a few more

http://thespaghettiincident.blogspot.com/search?q=radiohead



Can't wait

... and tomorrow REO Speedwagon!