Concert Memory: Trans Siberian Orchestra - December 13, 2008

I have a confession to make. I have actually fallen asleep at a concert. This is something I never thought would be admitted, but here I am, confessing one of my deepest secrets to all that will read this. It’s not a fact that I am proud of, but at the same time, I’m not ashamed of it either. More than anything, I am surprised that it occurred at all.

My wife is a huge fan of Trans Siberian Orchestra. Every holiday season we are forced to listen to their Christmas albums multiple times. And that’s not a terrible thing; it’s just that they aren’t one of my favorite bands to enjoy at Christmas time (or anytime). I don’t hate their music, there are even a couple of songs that I thoroughly enjoy, but TSO is a band that I can take or leave. And I never had the desire to see them live. That was until I needed to come up with a good surprise for my wife’s birthday.

My wife is a December baby. Those reading this that have birthdays in December know exactly what that means. However, for the rest of you, I will spell it out simply. December babies get screwed when it comes to their birthday. It’s Christmas time. It’s Hanukkah. It’s Kwanza. It’s everything except someone’s birthday. People are busy with the holiday season, decorating, hosting holiday parties, and worrying about end of the year priorities. Birthdays are an afterthought. Even in their own families, December babies get the “combo” gift (this is for your birthday AND Christmas), or they get a birthday gift wrapped in Christmas paper. It’s horrible!

I was always raised to remember that birthdays are special. It’s a magical day meant for just that person and it should not be shared with anyone or anything else---including another holiday. Therefore, I always try to make my wife’s birthday special. A real birthday card. Real birthday wrapping paper. And real birthday surprises.

In 2008, Trans Siberian Orchestra was touring once again. Their annual Winterfest. That particular year TSO was going to perform at a venue in New Jersey (the now defunct IZOD center) on my wife’s birthday. As soon as I learned that, I just knew I had to take our family to that concert so we could celebrate appropriately. It was a matinee show (the band was doing two performances on Saturday, an odd notion that I wish other bands would think about) and that was perfect for our family because my daughter was 11 years old at the time. I would prefer that she saw the early show instead of getting home after midnight.

And thus, I got us tickets and told my wife that we had a big surprise for her birthday but would say nothing more. She would have to wait until that special day to learn what was going on. On the day of her celebrated birth, my wife, daughter, and I hopped into the car with only two of us knowing where we were heading. My daughter and I had a plan and I think it worked out pretty well. As we started driving away from the house, my wife was filled with curious wonder.

“Where are we going?”

“You will see,” would be my only response.

Then about 10 minutes into the drive, my daughter played her part by announcing that she would like to hear some Christmas music.

“Okay,” I said. “I think I have some we can play.” Knowing full well that I had some, because I already had the TSO Christmas album loaded in the car’s CD player before my wife even got to the car. I hit play and the Trans Siberian Orchestra surrounded us in music.

My wife looked quizzically at me. She wanted to say something but stopped. I chuckled inside and we continued on our ride. A few moments later she finally burst out: “Wait! Are we going to see Trans Siberian Orchestra?”

When I confirmed that we were, she literally squealed with delight. It was one of the five happiest times for my wife that I remember from our marriage (so far). She was ecstatic. You would have thought that I told her she just won a million dollars. She was giddy.

And so, to the show we went. We had decent seats in the 100s section with a good view of the stage. It was also only the second or third concert that my daughter had been to, so it was a real treat for her as well, but make no mistake about it; this was my wife’s gift. And the surprise of suddenly realizing that she was at a concert she had wanted to see her entire life must have been overwhelming. She certainly had no idea her day was going to be like that when she woke up in the morning!

When the band came on stage, I thought they were decent. Like I’ve said, TSO is a band that I like but not love. I can take them or leave them. But I watched their set with unbiased eyes and ears. And I enjoyed their stage performance. I enjoyed their music. I enjoyed their antics. Then somewhere about halfway through the concert, things slowed down to a crawl. And that I didn’t enjoy so much.

So why the band was crawling through some excruciating slow number, and my wife and daughter were mesmerized by the stage performers, I found myself closing my eyes. It had been a long day for me. It had been a stressful day for me. Planning and organizing and arranging everything so that it went just right for my wife’s special day. I’m not using that as an excuse, I am just stating the facts. It was a long day and closing my eyes at that moment felt really, really good. So I closed them. And next thing I knew, I was waking up twenty minutes later when the band kicked it into high gear again.

I awoke with a jolt and looked around me. Had anyone noticed? Did anyone see that I was sleeping? Did my wife see that I was sleeping and if she did was that going to ruin her overall experience on her birthday? I quickly assessed the situation and realized that no, she had not seen me fall asleep. She was too engrossed in the show. Score one for the husband who would remain awake for the remainder of the concert.

It would be my only Trans Siberian Orchestra event. I figured if I could not stay awake for their entire show, then this clearly was not a band for me to see live. I fulfilled my wife’s desire to see them live and took her to a show on her birthday which was an extra special treat. I figured if she would like to see them again, she can go with her friends or other family members. Just count me out.

I eventually did come forth and tell my wife that I nodded off. I don’t remember if it was later that night, or another time, but I did admit to it. I told her that the concert just wasn’t for me. She, on the other hand, absolutely loved it and I think to this day it is still one of her top five concert experiences. For me it is probably a bottom five concert experience. And that’s okay. My wife and I don’t always see eye to eye on every concert. I mean, she hated Dave Matthews Band whereas I’ve seen them 21 times and counting. To each their own I suppose. And TSO is clearly not my own.

Concert Memory: Dave Matthews Band - June 23, 2018

There is nothing more rewarding than watching your child have the same reaction to their first experience of a particular band live that you did many years earlier. I was blessed and thankful to be able to share that interaction with my daughter, which happened on a gorgeous Saturday night in Hartford, Connecticut. The band was Dave Matthews Band and we made a three-hour journey to see them in concert. It was her first time and my 20^th. So, while I knew what to expect and the grand time we were going to have, she had no clue the joyous occasion that would unfold before her.   

Standing in the pit watching the instruments be tuned and set left me with a lot of exciting anticipation. Was my daughter going to love this band as much as I did? Was she going to be enthralled to the point where they became one of her favorite bands as they had for me years earlier? Would she leave with the same feelings of euphoria that I had?   

Sure, I had concerns going into the show. Boyd Tinsley was out and DMB had decided to tour with no violin for the first time since I’ve been seeing them live (maybe for the first time ever). I didn’t know if the essence was going to be the same as I had grown accustomed to. We had pit tickets, so that was certainly going to help improve the vantage point, but I love Boyd Tinsley and knowing that he wasn’t going to be on stage hurt a little. 

My big issue with the new incarnation of Dave Matthews Band (version 3.0 if you will) was that the setlists did not vary much for this trek across the US. The same songs were being played multiple times, which is unlike a normal DMB tour. Part of that could be because new addition organist Buddy Strong was still getting up to speed on the entire DMB catalog, but part of that could be for a different reason (although a reason that I can’t quite figure out). They stayed with the same group of songs for most of the tour. Although, we did get three tour debuts (“Stay or Leave,” “Captain,” and “Black and Blue Bird”) but everything was standard, especially the encore.

There’s a certain amount of magic in the air anytime the Dave Matthews Band takes the stage. Even in the absence of Boyd Tinsley on the violin, I knew this was going to be another special night. The weather was in our favor, the crowd was large but peaceful and loving, and of course the music was going to be magnificent. Standing that close to the stage also added to the experience. I had not been in the pit for a DMB show since my trip to The Gorge. That experience had not been the best, so there were concerns going into this show, but when the opportunity to get pit tickets came up for my daughter’s first experience, I had to grab them. Standing there as the pit filled and the clock ticked closer to showtime, I was a little nervous. Thankfully, we had a grand pit experience this time around. Maybe it’s because we stood by the horns---who can say for sure? All I know is that this was a much more relaxed experience than my last one. And for that I am eternally gratefully.

I was able to guess the opening song, but I don’t take great pride in that, as the setlists were predictable. That is something I’ve never been able to say about a DMB tour before, but it’s true for 2018. There were only three songs they opened with for most of that leg and one of them was the opener the night before, so I had a pretty good feeling that “That Girl Is You” was going to kick off our night. Fortunately, it is a favorite from the new release for both my daughter and myself.

All these items did not make it a bad show. I don’t believe that I’ve ever witnessed a bad DMB show and judging by my daughter’s gleeful outbursts it was the best concert ever performed in the history of music. Yet, perhaps since I’ve been to 20 of these shows now, I’ve grown jaded and hopeful. There are always songs I am chasing (“The Last Stop” in particular) and songs that I want to hear that I’ve only heard once (“Lover Lay Down”), but the band has so many songs they could pull out and they are touring behind a new record. I understand that the new songs are going to take precedence. And they have to balance deep cuts with fan favorites. I get all of that. And look, when it comes to a DMB show, their setlist is a million times more varied than a KISS show. But I think I’ve raised my expectations because the band raised the bar the first time I saw them in concert. I’m like a junkie. I want every concert to be as tremendous as that first one was. I’m chasing the high.

Prior to the show, I even had a list of songs in my head that I wanted to hear. I know it was a stretch for several reasons, but I want to hear the songs I don’t hear live too often. Which may be part of my problem. I need to enjoy the show for the show and if the rare songs are played, consider that a blessing. I was hoping to hear any of the following: “#27,” “Say Goodbye,” “Break Free,” “Come On, Come On,” or “Minarets.” I thought I had the best chance with “Come On, Come On” because it was a new song. The others I knew were a longshot at best. Sadly, none of those songs were performed, but I should have expected that anyway.

Out of the songs that did get played, there were some real highlights for me. I was overjoyed to hear “Crush” and “Jimi Thing” (two of my favorite songs by this band.) I was also glad to get “Stand Up” and “Louisiana Bayou” which is an unpopular statement with most purists. However, these two songs hold a special place in my heart as they were the songs that locked me into being a fan for life the first time I saw the band live. Robert Randolph guested on Bayou the first night I saw DMB and that just blew my mind. So, I will always love most of the songs from the Stand Up album.  They will always remind me of when DMB moved into the top five of my all-time favorite bands.  

The best part about being in the pit was the opportunity to get a drumstick from Carter Beauford. I’ve had opportunities to get a drumstick before and I’ve come extremely close once, at that same venue. The stick went off my fingertips and flipped behind me. SO CLOSE! With that in mind, I told my daughter that if she got a stick from Carter it was mine. I had come too close to let her get one on her first night. Unfortunately, Carter did not take the usual time to toss sticks into the audience. Not at the end of the main set and not after the encore. What the heck, Carter? I had informed my daughter what a big part of the show experience it was going to be and you tossed nothing! What a let down!  

As for my daughter, I had never seen her so happy in her entire life. The joy that overwhelmed her with infectious. She was so enthralled and she could not stop talking about what an amazing time she was having. She told me repeatedly that she had no idea the band was this good in concert. That made me made me laugh. I had only been telling for the last ten years she should think about attending a show with me. In her wise wisdom though she pointed out that she may not have been mature enough in her musical tastes to enjoy the band until now. Out of the mouths of babes… I was ecstatic by her happiness and so glad that we had gotten to see this show together. And now I have a permanent partner to attend all future shows with. She’s already told me that she can’t wait to see the band again and asked if we can do multiple shows next time. As long as they tour in 2019, my dear daughter, yes, we can.  

SETLIST

That Girl Is You

One Sweet World

Granny

Crush

Samarai Cop

Stay Or Leave

What Would You Say

Can’t Stop

Jimi Thing

Captain

Warehouse

Black and Blue Bird

The Song That jane Likes

Lying in the Hands of God

Funny The Way It Is

Come Tomorrow

Stand Up

Louisiana Bayou

ENCORE
The Space Between

Tripping Billies

Concert Memory - M3 Musical Festival: May 4-5, 2018

The 2018 edition of the M3 Music Festival was supposed to be one for the record books. Sadly it was not. Instead it was an empty promise filled with chaos and confusion. Sure there were debuts and good times as well, but in retrospect, the bad outweighed the good for the first time since I’ve been attending the event. Although it was the 10^th anniversary of this festival, and the promoters claimed greatness for year ten, I don’t think there was anything spectacular about it. The lone exception being that Ace Frehley was performing there for the first time in his career. That, however, still wasn’t enough to make it a grand 10^th anniversary celebration.

Perhaps I am jaded from attending 9 of the last 10 festivals (I’ve only missed the first one), but I found myself wondering if this was going to be the last one I came to for a while. Yes, I love spending the week in Columbia with some great friends and capping it off with a weekend of fabulous music, but it might be time to consider a different festival in 2019. The future will show what course I take for certain next year, but for the first time since I’ve been going to the M3 festival, I am giving actual consideration to not going to the next one.

What exactly went wrong to even put those thoughts in my head? Well, there were several snafus that led to this train of thought. The first being the acts announced were far from the acts that ended up performing. When M3 was officially announced, the bands on the bill included LA Guns and Loudness. Both acts excited me for different reasons. I wanted to see LA Guns because they had just released a magnificent album with Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns in the band (The Missing Peace). And Loudness was unable to enter the country last year, so having them try again in 2018 was good news. I’ve seen Loudness in concert and they are exceptional!

Unfortunately, neither of these bands made the final lineup. Loudness once again had issues getting into the country and had to cancel their trip. This makes me wonder when they are going to get new management, because their current company clearly doesn’t know how to gain appropriate access for their band to come to the US. 

LA Guns pulled out a week before the show. The rumors are that they didn’t like the time slot they were given. Now, I can’t overly criticize M3 for this, I mean with Night Ranger, Ace Frehley, and Queensryche wrapping up the night, when exactly did LA Guns think they were going to perform? As it was, they would have been either right before or right after Sebastian Bach. If you ask me, given the lineup, that’s a pretty good slot for them.

I love their new album, and I really wanted to see LA Guns perform with Phil and Tracii, but there is no way they can go on after Night Ranger, Ace Frehley, or Queensryche. I’m not even sure they can go on after Sebastian Bach. These are the heavy hitters of hard rocking metal and not to criticize LA Guns, they just aren’t on that level from a live performance perspective. It would be like Faster Pussycat saying they want to go on after one of those bands. I love to see them live, but they aren’t in the same league. LA Guns were not willing to accept this and thus they pulled out of the event. If M3 is smart, they will have to think about not inviting LA Guns back for a long while (if ever). It sucks to say that, but you can’t have bands pulling out if they aren’t comfortable with the time slot they are issued.

Other challenges occurred all weekend long as well. The most egregious of them was the fact that venue renovations were not completed before the concert. I paid decent money to have a good seat only to learn that it wasn’t covered and there would be no roof over my head. This caused several issues for me. The first being that rain was in the forecast for Friday night. If I didn’t buy a lawn seat, it was for good reasons, one of those being I don’t want to get wet during the night. Not having a roof over my head prevented the possibility of staying dry if the rains were to come (and they did).

My second issue with being in an uncovered seat (and probably a much bigger issue for me) was that there would be no protection from the sun. I am a borderline albino vampire and the sun and I just don’t get along. I’ve tried to make amends with the big shining star for years, but he’s not having any of it. If I stay exposed too long, I’m going to burn. I put on my sun block when I need to but I don’ t like it. And again, since I had purchased actual seats, I didn’t expect the sun to be an issue. But it was, because day two had all the elements. Heat, sun, and then rain. It made for an interesting day at the festival.

Perhaps because of the ongoing renovations there was no second stage this year either. Last year, the venue built a permanent structure in the woods that was a lot of fun to visit. It provided an opportunity to get up close and personal with any of the bands performing there If timed correctly. This year, the venue went back to the rotating stage, which I commend. However, I missed the opportunity to see certain acts in a more intimate setting in the woods. I guess the second stage will return next year once all renovations are completed, but it wasn’t happening this year.

Parking was also a complete mess. We had to get a parking pass well in advance of the show and could only park in the lot that was printed on that pass. The problem with that was the lots were not well numbered and it was impossible to find ours. On night one we just parked wherever we could and on day two we finally saw the tiny little sign that told us where our lot was. And the parking staff were pretty much useless (like most venue parking lot staffs). And due to the renovations, there was only one road in and out of the venue which led to some serious traffic. 

And while those irritating nuances caused some disappointment, it was the music that I came for. Night one consisted of KIX (who were spectacular as always), Y&T, Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Faster Pussycat, and Tom Keifer. It was great seeing Pretty Boy Floyd, although I do have some personal issues with the band (a story for another time). As much as I liked them, there is animosity that prevents me from loving them. Nelson was tremendous and even gave a touching tribute to their estranged mother who had passed away a week earlier. Faster Pussycat had their lead singer intact this time around, so they gave a tremendous performance that included one of my favorite covers “You’re So Vain.” I was never a huge Y&T fan, so I sat through their set, but I really just wanted to hear “Summertime Girls,” which they did play toward the end.

KIX was magnificent! They gave a special 30 year anniversary performance of Blow My Fuse in its entirety which was jaw dropping and a real treat. I’ve seen KIX a dozen times now and this was the most special performance I’ve ever seen. Just hearing “Piece of the Pie” live made my entire weekend. Unfortunately, due to schedule constraints and the fact that they were not the headliners, KIX wasn’t able to play much more besides that album. And for the first time ever in witnessing their live act, they did not close with “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” which left a lot of fans angered. They didn’t even play it.

And that is probably the biggest issue I had with M3 in 2018. Look, I absolutely love Tom Keifer and I am a big supporter of his solo album and his Cinderella stuff, but there was no way that he should have went on after KIX. Especially not in Maryland. It just wasn’t meant to be. And if Tom’s ego forced him to say that he had to be the headliner on Friday night, then M3 should have said “Thanks, but no thanks. We’ll find someone else.” Keifer has been playing the same setlist for the last five years and he’s been at M3 four years in a row. It might be time to give him a rest and get some other acts in there. There are several that could have played in the slot before KIX on Friday night. Just off the top of my head they could have gotten any of the following: Mike Tramp (of White Lion fame), Dokken, Warrant, Michael Monroe, Extreme, Steel Panther, or Saigon Kick. I know it’s not easy organizing these events and it’s hard to secure bands, but M3 needs to stop going to the same well year after year. And while Keifer’s performance was solid, it wasn’t as good as KIX who should have wrapped the night.

Day two was filled with its own issues, but at least we were able to find the correct parking lot. And the lineup for day two was a strong one. Not historical, or one for the record books, but solid nonetheless. Tyketto, Last In Line, Warrant, Lynch Mob (both with Robert Mason singing), Stryper (who also could have filled that Friday night slot before KIX), Sebastian Bach, Ace Frehley, Night Ranger, and Queensryche. That’s one heck of a lineup!

Seeing Tyketto live was grand. I had never seen the band perform before and although their set was extremely short (I think they played for 25 minutes) they gave their all in one of the hardest slots of the entire weekend (opening band, day two). This is what draws me to M3 every year. An opportunity to see a band that I missed back in the golden era of glam rock. Tyketto was one of those bands and I am glad that M3 got them to perform. Now if we could get Vinnie Vincent or Mike Tramp for 2019 I may have to confirm my attendance.

For me, the treat of the weekend was Ace Frehley. I gave a brief review of his performance on a recent episode of my podcast (The Psycho Circus Podcast), but I’ll reiterate it here. Ace was exceptional and I expected nothing less. Some folks thought he was drunk or high, but he wasn’t. That’s just the way Ace is. He’s spaced out. But he’s clean and sober now which is a win for the fans. Ace was brilliant and gave an exceptional blend of KISS songs, solo songs, and Frehley’s Comet songs. The one gripe I had was that he talked about the brand new single he just released (Bronx Boy) and made it sound like he was going to perform it, and then went into an entirely different song. Now, I don’t know if that was due to the time constraints of his performance or that the band didn’t rehearse the song, but it was odd and a trifle annoying. Other than that, Ace was extraordinary.

I honestly didn’t think anybody was going to top his performance, but Queensryche showed why they were billed as the headliners for 2018 (a recommendation I’ve made in the past). Queensryche slayed onstage. As tired as I was from a long week of partying and rocking, I was on my feet for the entire set. The Todd LaTorre led version of Queensryche is an unstoppable force and if you haven’t taken the time to see them live, you must. Put aside the fact that he’s not the original lead singer and take in one of their shows. Your rock life will be forever changed.

All in all, it was another fun weekend, but M3 has to fix a lot of things if I’m going to be back next year. The venue has to be completed (or move it to another one – the Arts Center in Jersey would show them how it’s really done). The parking has to be fixed. And the acts have to be stronger and preferably acts that haven’t been there in a while or at all. Get Jetboy back. Bring back Steel Panther. Give us Poison as a headliner. Do something different. For 2019 I am going to have to seriously study the lineup and as painful as this is to say aloud, if the acts aren’t there, I may not be there either. It may just be time to check out another hard rock festival and create a new annual adventure.