More Concert Reviews (Ad Nauseum), LOL!

[olieoliver]

Father forgive Bradley for he knows not what he says.
(I trust no man that play his organ.)

[kmh364]

WOW! Talk about a thread hijack! Apparently, Bill P. (amongst others) loves to hijack my threads. C'mon Bill, there's not even any biker talk...give me a break! LOL!  
 
At any rate, 'ole Rog is up tomorrow night at the PNC. Expect a full report...ad nauseum, of course.

[lbpesq]

Hey, Olie started it!  And I like concerts, heck I just bought tix for Paul Simon, John Prine, and Bob Dylan.  Speaking of which, is it my imagination or is there no limit on ticket prices these days?  The rich get rich and the not rich (like me) get not richer.  
 
Bill, tgo
 
(Message edited by lbpesq on September 05, 2006)

[olieoliver]

?Qui?n M?? Hago ni entiendo o hablo ingl?s.

[kmh364]

Bill,
 
No, you are correct. It's a free-for-all as far as concert tix prices go. Instead of trying to do something a la Pearl Jam's earlier attempts at controlling tix sales themselves, most artists are jumping on the legal scalping bandwagon by auctioning-off the best seats to the highest bidder. Apparently, the rationale is if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The artists figure that they should benefit from scalping instaead of the ticket agencies. I think it's despicable myself. Unfortunately, if you wanna see a show, and you have more money than brains, you'll pay the exorbitant prices they're asking (and getting)! I'm not rich (not by a long shot), but a fair portion of my income is disposable, so I treat myself as often as possible to any show I think might be interesting. After many years of saying well I missed them again, but there's always next year, only to have the artist retire and/or die, I get out to the shows without hesitation. Considering the age of most of my fave acts, the writing's on the wall: see 'em while you still can!
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin

[kmh364]

Ok here's the dope on Roger Waters's DSOTM Tour '06:  
 
Good show, good performance, excellent lighting/production. Dave Gilmour's show was all about the music, Rog likes the multi-media thing with some theatre thrown in for good measure. The GF loved the show.
 
The Band:
 
Andy Fairweather Low ? Guitar
Snowy White ? Guitar
Dave Kilminster ? Guitar and Vocals
Graham Broad - Drums
Jon Carin ? Keyboards
Harry Waters ? Hammond
Ian Ritchie - Saxophone
Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold and Carol Kenyon ? Background Vocals
 
Nick Mason will play at Magny Cours on the 14th July for the second half of the show
 
That's right: NO Nick Mason! I was disappointed, of course, seing as he was advertised for this tour, but Graham was excellent in his place (see DG Live in Concert from Rbt. Wyatt's Meltdown Shows(s) DVD for more of his work). Dave Kilminster was excellent...he copies DG's licks almost note-for-note and his DG vocals weren't bad either. Jon Carin was, as is usual, excellent on vocals/lap steel/keys/guitar, etc. Snowy and AF-L have been around since PF's Wall tour(9).  
 
The setlist was pretty typical:  
 
Opener was In The Flesh. Mother, SOYCD, Part(s) ?, WYWH, Have A Cigar, Sheep, The Final Cut, Fletcher Memorial Home, as well as some solo stuff (Perfect Sense, Parts I & II, Leaving Lebanon, etc.) preceded DSOTM in it's entirety. The encore was Another Brick In The Wall, Part ? and something else I couldn't make out as I ran for the car.
 
Rog got a lot of boo's (and inspired U-S-A chants) for his Anti-US/GB (nee' Iraqui War) comments preceding Leaving Lebanon. That song, and the storyboard cartoon w/lyrics, galvanized the crowd. In it, he praises an French-Arabic family from Beirut that took him in whilst hitchiking thru the Middle East @ age 17...and knocks the US for Imperialist behaviour. Personally, I love my country, but I don't believe this war is right nor is it justified. That innocent Americans (and Arabs) are being wasted (nevermind the economy) is an atrocity. Regardless of your polictics, you have to admire the b*lls on the guy to take a stand against the US on US soil. As an aside, he announced it was his B'day and that he'd rather be nowhere else (!).
 
BTW, I had a major moment when I couldn't find my tix for the show. Kudos to nettix for arranging replacements to be waiting for me at will-call for no additional charge!
 
All in all, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
 
Enjoy!  
 
Kevin

[kmh364]

Next up:
 
The Who @ PNC (maybe). Let's see if I can score last min. tix. The scalpers want way too much. The promoters and/or venue have been holding back choice seats (for legal scalping) and then they dump 'em last minute at regular tix prices, which are rediculous on their own without mark-up.

[kmh364]

Ah, the joys of last-minute tix sales from TicketMaster! I scored two section 100 (right in front) at reg. prices ($258/per!!!!).  
 
Anybody who wants tix better jump on it! See you there. Full review is forthcoming.

[olieoliver]

WHOA, $500+ to see a concert, and thats face value too. I've had a promoter explain it to me that the high prices on tickets is to combat scalping.  
YEA RiGHT. Save that tale for a Mother Goose book.

[lbpesq]

More likely to combat promoter and performer thin wallet syndrome!
 
Bill, tgo

[olieoliver]

Knowing the promoter I mentioned before, it's probably to combat his sinus problem.
 
(Message edited by olieoliver on September 19, 2006)

[lbpesq]

it's more probably to combat his sinus problem
 
Which usually results in thin wallet syndrome!
 
The late Herb Caen, for something like 50 years a newspaper columnist and San Francisco institution, once said that cocaine is God's way of telling you that you make too much money - then it becomes God's way of telling you that you don't make enough money!
 
Bill, tgo

[kmh364]

The artists and promoters have conspired to join the club with scalpers (legal and otherwise) to make a killing. Thank God I have no bills as I couldn't afford to see all these dinosaur' acts, LOL! It's totally ou of hand, but if you wanna see the old greats before they die, ya gots to pony up the dough, unfortunately.

[olieoliver]

I am very fortunate in that I have several friends in the entertainment business, (journalist, critics, promoters?) so I get free tickets all the time.

[mikedm]

Olie, pal. We should do lunch. I'll have my people call your people, wink wink.