Concert Review: From Good Homes - December 16, 2017

Another December, another opportunity to see From Good Homes at the Newton Theatre. In what has become an annual tradition, my buddy Adam and I were all set to see From Good Homes perform their Saturday night concert in Northwest New Jersey. I was filled with a level of excitement and anticipation that I had not felt for a concert in a long while. It was a welcomed, refreshing feeling.

As good friends do, Adam and I met somewhat locally and drove to the concert together. The plan was to have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants beforehand and then head over to the show. Upon meeting Adam in the parking lot of a grocery store he informed me he had to venture inside for some Pepto. That should have been a warning sign that we travel in separate vehicles to the restaurant. However, he seemed fine and I didn’t put much thought into his desire for liquid antacid as nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I figured he was dealing with a case of heartburn, or getting ready for a case of heartburn after a good meal.

Shame on my naivety. Over dinner, Adam did not seem well. The meal was fabulous as always, but Adam only picked at his and looked a little pale. I asked him what troubled him but he wasn’t sure other than stomach issues which is what he had taken the Pepto for. With about 30 minutes left before show time he approached the subject of heading back to get his own car.

“If that’s what you need to do, “I said somewhat reluctantly. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

I could tell Adam wanted to be a team player, but I also know the fear of being sick and having no escape vehicle. That’s when I told him that I would rather miss some songs from the beginning of the show than songs from the end of the show. Meaning, if he felt that he was going to need to leave early, we should go get his car. Adam figured he was being overcautious, but he finally decided we should return to his vehicle. And while I was fine with doing so (again I understand the need for an escape), Inside I was calculating the time and knew that we were screwed.

It was 7:30 as we were wrapping things up at the restaurant. The show was listed for 8pm and From Good Homes was pretty prompt for set one. The car was at least 20 minutes away, which meant 40 minutes roundtrip. That put us in the parking lot at 8:10 and we still had to get to the venue, get through the doors, and get to our seats. I resigned myself to the fact that I was missing at least the opening song and probably the first two songs. I could only hope they were songs I didn’t particularly care for, which is very few in the FGH catalog. They do exist, but there aren’t many.

Adam apologized profusely, to which my response was not to worry about it. If he needed to get his car, I understood that. And I did. But internal sweat was still coating me because I did not want to miss any of the concert. But as previously stated, it’s better to miss the beginning of a show than the end of a show. We journeyed back to Adam’s car, talking about the concert and what we hoped to hear. I mentioned that they had opened night one with a cover song I did not know, so perhaps they would do that again. I could live with missing an obscure opening cover song.

After getting to the lot where we left his car, Adam hopped out and then we started back toward the venue in two cars. It was 7:48 when I dropped him off. My only hope was that the band wouldn’t take the stage until 8:15. If that were the case, we had a chance to get to our seats just before the show started. The entire return trip was an inner conflict between hoping that we would make it before the show began and accepting that at least one song was going to be missed. As each mile rolled away and we got closer to the venue the struggle strengthened, leaving me torn.

We drove by the venue on our way to the parking lots across the street and I noticed a crowd of people outside, still in line trying to get inside. That dawned the possibility that all wasn’t lost. We parked the cars at 8:07 and I felt almost confident that we could do this. Seeing the people in line provided hope.

Adam and I hightailed it to the theater, well, hightailed it as best we could given his condition. I didn’t want to move too fast for fear of something escaping. But I was also at the point where I was so close I could taste the opening song and I knew we had a shot to sit before it was performed. We got to the doors, made our way through the ticket scanners, and slipped inside. I didn’t hear any music, which meant the band had not gone on yet. We did it! We made it! The concert Gods had smiled fortune on us that night!

Walking into the venue, I had no idea how exceptional our tickets were. I knew they were good seats when I bought them, but I didn’t realize how good. As we approached the aisle and the usher standing nearby, I handed her my ticket to see where we were heading. She looked at the ticket, looked at me, and said, “We’re going to try.” I wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that until she led us closer and closer to the stage. We walked down until we were in the thick of a crowd and the usher had found our row. Row H, center, eight rows from the stage. Wow! Awesome seats! As we placed our winter coats down, From Good Homes came out and the night began!

While the first two songs were enjoyable, it was “Drivin’ and Cryin’” that had me up on my feet with a roar. I believe this was my first time hearing this gem live and I was ecstatic! There are a lot of great songs on Hick Pop and From Good Homes always tries to work a few of them into their concerts to which I am always grateful for.

Treats from set one included the opening number “Long Walk Home #2,” “Banging Out a Melody,” and the band’s cover of Tom Petty’s “King’s Highway.” “Banging Out a Melody,” is a song I never heard before and just another gem that this band has kept tucked away. I still insist that they could record an album of all this unreleased/unrecorded material and have a hit record on their hands. I know I would want a copy on day one.

One thing I still can’t stand to this day is drunks at a concert. Occasionally, they are slightly amusing, but most times they are loud, obnoxious, and annoying. Such was the case with super drunk fan. It was bad enough that his buddies were crowding our seats and trying to push us out into the aisle during the entire first set. Then during the break, super drunk fan came over to whoop it up with his buddies.

He gleefully told them that he had spoken to Todd during the break. “I told him that we traveled two hours to get here and asked him if he’d play 2^nd Red Barn for us and he said he would! He’s doing it for me, man! We’re getting that song!”

“Who’s Todd?” one of the buddies asked. I groaned internally wondering how they were watching this band if they didn’t know who Todd Sheaffer was.

“The lead singer man! I told him we drove 2 hours! He’s gonna play it for us! You’ll see!”

I shook my head. “2^nd Red Barn on The Right” was only one of the most popular From Good Homes songs there is, so I was doubtful that the band was playing it just because this drunk had asked for it. I had a feeling it was going to be in the set anyway.

I probably would have forgotten that whole exchange if drunk guy didn’t return after that. However, he did return. He had made his way to the beer stand, got a couple of cold ones, and proceeded to come back, bumping me out of the way (practically knocking me over) so he could tell his stupid story once again. “They’re gonna play it for me, man! For me!”

It took every ounce of my restraint not to just kick this guy. He who was rude. He was invading my personal space. He was loud. And he was slopping beer all over. Basically, he was just a nuisance. Fortunately, as soon as the lights dimmed for set two, he went back toward the stage, a few rows in front of us.

Set two was another fantastic performance of exceptional music. Rarities from this set included “Parachute,” “It’s Gettin’ Dirty,” “Neighbors,” and a great cover of the Allman Brothers “Melissa.” From Good Homes used these two nights to pay tribute to the fallen heroes that we have lost in 2017. As the band gets older and wiser, they are willing to take these risks and the end results are always beautiful. They’ve covered Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” in the middle of “Butterfly and the Tree,” they’ve worked David Bowie into their songs, and now they were covering Tom Petty and the Allman Brothers on the same night.

“Neighbors” was another rare gem I had never heard, dusted off just for that weekend. As Brady Rhymer stated, the band was looking for “chestnuts” that they could perform for us all. “Neighbors” is a bar band rocker that could only be written by a young band still trying to find some level of success, which was when the band originally wrote the song. I was glad to have heard it.

The encore ended with a rousing rendition of “Maybe We Will” complete with audience sing along and although we had been there for 3 hours, it felt like only minutes had passed. Always a sign of a great show! And as a bonus, Adam did make it to the end of the night, so we both got to enjoy the entire concert.

All told, it was another wonderful evening with From Good Homes. Every year they put together a terrific performance and as long as they keep coming, I’ll keep attending. Although, in the future, I may just meet Adam at the venue.

Set One

Long Walk Home #2

Charlie Hogan

Drivin’ & Cryin’

Let Go

Where Songs Begin

Banging Out a Melody

Butterfly & The Tree

Ride All Night

King’s Highway (Tom Petty cover)

Comin’ On Home

Set Two

Parachute

Celebrate

Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) (Guy Lombardo cover)

It’s Gettin’ Dirty

Melissa (Allman Brothers cover)

Broken Road

I Only Want

Boulevard of Dreams

2^nd Red Barn on The Right

Neighbors

Raindance

Encore

Into the Mystic (Van Morrison cover)

Maybe We Will

Concert Review: U2 - June 28, 2017

It was a gorgeous late June evening when my wife, daughter, Uncle, and cousins took in a U2 concert at MetLife Stadium. U2 was playing the first of two nights at the Stadium and tapped The Lumineers to be the opening act. It was The Lumineers final two nights as openers for U2, who also used Mumford & Sons and One Republic on this US leg of the tour. Truth be told, The Lumineers were the reason my wife, daughter, and I were there in the first place. That’s not to say that I didn’t come to see U2 or that I chose them over U2. However, it was my daughter’s desire to see The Lumineers that made me think of attending the concert in the first place. When I heard that U2 was performing The Joshua Tree in its entirety, I was interested in seeing one of the shows, but it was far from a must see show for me. When I saw that The Lumineers were opening though, and I knew how badly my child wanted to see the band, then it became a must see. I knew that she was going to love U2 when the night came to an end, and I was probably going to love The Lumineers even more after their set, so the decision was made. Let’s go to the stadium and see a great show!

The Lumineers took the stage at 7:20 PM and began the night with a tight powerful set of hit songs punctuated by a terrific live performance. I had never seen the band in concert before and the opportunity to witness them prior to U2 was a welcomed one. The band was flat out incredible! Lead singer/guitarist Wesley Schultz proclaimed his love for New Jersey (he is a Jersey native, which I did not realize), told the crowd how he still refers to this stadium as Giants stadium, and announced how honored the band was to be opening for U2 especially here in New Jersey. And while he was most likely as excited as a teen boy on prom night, his professionalism kept him from being overly giddy.

Thank goodness for large video screens!

 Watching their performance, it was easy to tell that The Lumineers are a polished road act that can hold their own with the best live bands out there. Their setlist structure was unexpected and surprising all in a good way. I anticipated that their signature song “Ho Hey” was going to be the big closer of their set, but the band played it early on, the third song of the night. I was amazed and impressed. The Lumineers believe in the strength of all their songs and they don’t need their most known song to be the big closer. An excellent decision on their part. 

If you look closely you can tell that's The Lumineers on stage!

 

The band performed all their hits including the aforementioned “Ho Hey,” “Cleopatra,” “Angela,” and “Ophelia.” They ended their portion of the evening with an amazing live rendition of “Stubborn Love” which was drawn out with a nice little jam to wrap up the song. That performance left me wide eyed and grinning. I now know that I must see this band’s headlining performance. They were magnificent on stage!

More than an hour after The Lumineers ended their set U2 finally took the stage. Their opening number, “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” was terrific and whipped the crowd into a frenzy right away. Their stage was massive and included a 200 foot LED screen and a smaller stage that sat in the middle of the general admission floor. The first four songs were performed on that small stage and the screen was not lit at all. U2 were performing as if it were their club days both in song selections and style of performance. Four men, one small stage, general admission crowd, and songs pre-1985. It was a clever way to start the night. 

After “Pride (in The Name of Love)” it was time for the reason of the tour. The Joshua Tree was about to be played in its entirety and I was about to witness U2 songs that I had never seen the band do live before. This was the treat of the evening for me and my excitement was high. The opening notes of “Where the Streets Have No Name” sang out from The Edge’s guitar and the giant LED screen lit up with an image of a two-lane road in the desert heading straight out into nowhere. I was instantly transported back to my pre-teen years where I played this cassette endlessly for more than 12 months straight. It was a wonderful moment of nostalgia and memories.

Hey look! It's Bono and a full moon!

 As a live rock band, time is catching up with U2. That’s not to say the show wasn’t fantastic, because it was. But as someone who has seen U2 several times in the past, there are small nuances I noticed and I realize they come with all bands as they age. First is the energy level of front man Bono. At past U2 concerts he was running around the stage like a madman for 2 hours straight, never ceasing to move, a bundle of nervous energy channeled into the performance he was giving. On this night, however, he was less energetic, walking instead of running, and not interacting with the crowd as often as he had at previous performances. I understand that he is in his late 50s and the energy level isn’t the same as it was 10 and 15 years ago, but it was still a bit of a surprise to me.

During “With or Without You,” one of my favorite The Joshua Tree songs, guitar feedback cut in ruining the sound and the song. As Edge played his signature guitar solo intro to the hit, massive feedback wailed throughout the speakers that was so loud and so forceful fans were covering their ears. I was disappointed as this was supposed to be one of the best moments of the night for me. The feedback made the song memorable, but not in the right way.

Bono’s voice is also not as strong as it used to be and I was left wondering if U2 was a bit too ambitious with their touring schedule. Our show was the second of 3 in a row and when you factor in travel, the band didn’t have many off days. I don’t think that was such a great idea at their age. They may have benefited from taking a day or two between shows to rest and recharge.

U2 decided to close the night with a brand-new song, “The Little Things That Give You Away.” I’m not against new songs being played, but to finish the night---to close out the evening for 60,000 fans with a new track that no one knows---is a risky decision at best. Had I gone alone, I may have started making my way to the parking lot (which would have been a wise decision on my part). The song was okay. Not great, but not terrible either. The traffic getting out of there that night on the other hand---well that was horrendous. New Jersey traffic sucks.

Lest you think this is a review filled with nothing but negativity, there were highlights throughout the evening as well. One of the finest came in the form of “Ultraviolet (Light My Way).” I’ve always felt that this gem is one of the most underrated songs in the entire U2 catalog. It was the first time I saw the band perform the song live and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Other highlights for me included “Bad,” which is always an amazing live moment at a U2 concert, the entire side two of The Joshua Tree especially “Mothers of the Disappeared” which is one of my favorite U2 songs. I was ecstatic to hear that song live and it was one of the finest memories in my U2 concert history.

As I mentioned, overall this was a great concert, but it was only a good U2 concert. And that’s their own fault as they have set the bar so high with their past performances. I came in with huge expectations. If I had never seen U2 in concert before I would have been amazed. But since I have seen them several times, I was only impressed. As far as U2 concerts go, this was my least favorite one. As far as concerts in general go, it was a stellar performance by a hall of fame band and a terrific way to spend a summer night.

SETLIST

Sunday Bloody Sunday

New Year’s Day

Bad

Pride (In the Name of Love)

Where the Streets Have No Name

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

With or Without You

Bullet the Blue Sky

Running to Stand Still

Red Hill Mining Town

In God’s Country

Trip Through Your Wires

One Tree Hill

Exit

Mothers of the Disappeared

ENCORE

Miss Sarajevo

Beautiful Day

Elevation

Vertigo

Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

One

The Little Things That Give You Away

New Music Monday Featuring The Maine, Ponce', and Skaters

Welcome to another edition of New Music Monday. This time around we have some exceptional indie rock from Ponce, The Maine, and Skaters. Check them out below.

The Maine – Do You Remember

First up is Phoenix based act, The Maine, with their exceptionally strong single “Do You Remember?” This is a rocking song that is bound to have feet tapping first thing in the morning! The Maine will release the album Lovely Little Lonely on April 7^th. They are currently on tour across the US.

Ponce’ – Whoa Dakota

Next we have twin brothers Ponce’ with “Whoa Dakota.” This is an exceptional indie rock song from a duo that I believe has a bright future ahead of them. This song is so beautiful and moving and I can’t stop listening to it! Their EP will be available April 28^th

Skaters – Criminal

We end this edition of New Music Monday with a song by Skaters, “Criminal.” This is a fun alt rock song by the New York City band that’s been making a name for themselves since 2012. “Criminal” is the second single from their current album, Rock and Roll Bye Bye LP, which is available now.