After reading Everything Now I wanted to relate some of my own concert experiences…sorry Darcie, stealing your idea ‘cause i have to crank out two of these before the end of the month. 🙂

The very first concert I ever went to was in Edmonton, it was Liona Boyd. She’s Canadian, a classical guitarist (knows as The First Lady of the Guitar). She was one of the best  classical guitarists in the world, she had a very unique style that I haven’t seen any one else attempt successfully.

She now suffers from Focal dystonia,  which is what Keith Emerson also had.

I went with a friend, and he knew that my favourite band was T.REX, but at the time I was also getting into what I like to call “progressive metal”. This is heavy metal, but not done by morons.

A perfect example is the group Iron Maiden. Yes it’s heavy metal, but it’s not simple music. Early Deep Purple, early Black Sabbath could be considered progressive metal. I think even Metallica could fall into that category. Anyway, that’s the kind of stuff I was listening to when I went to see Liona Boyd.

My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, we were both guitar fans, so it was a no brainer to go.

When we were waiting for the bus to get back home (Edmonton has one of the best bus systems in Canada even later on at night) he said I was the only person who could go to a Liona Boyd concert and then go home and listen to two hours of Twisted Sister.

He was right.

After I moved I went to see her in the local theatre four or five more times.

I went to see KISS in Ottawa, it was the second “reunion” tour. So my review would go something like: “It was the second reunion tour”. ‘Nuff said.

I’m leading to something here, stick with me if you’re eyes haven’t  glazed over yet.

My wife and I went to see Blue Man Group at the local large venue centre we have here. I had been a fan of theirs way before anybody else when i first saw them on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. That live show was a lot of fun.

We saw the stage play Jesus Christ Superstar at the same venue. Ted Neely was still doing the show and his voice was still able to crank it out. The show was so good that I tell people I would have walked out of the building, turned around, paid twice as much and watched it all over again and not thought twice about doing it.

The next show we saw was Steve Howe. He was the second guitarist for the progressive rock band Yes. If he had come up to me before the show started and asked for a set list of what he should play I would have given him the exact songs he played…and pretty much in that order. He is one of those artists you don’t ever expect to be able to see if you live in a smallish town.

Then we saw The Stampeders. They are a great Canadian band that had their biggest success in the early ’70’s. I wasn’t as familiar with their music as I should have been. Something i’ve rectified since the show. The very first Stampeders song I heard and one of my favourites of their’s is one called “Ramona”. It’s a heavier tune than most of their music, so I didn’t really expect them to do it at the show, because frankly, you’re talking about an older audience of fans going to see them, and that might  not sit well.

But they performed the song. Not only that but the whole audience participation thing they did for the song was great. Was worth three times the price of admission. Just that one song. The next time they were in town we saw them again, no hesitation about buying tickets.

Once our town got it’s large entertainment venue, bigger acts started showing up. Elton John, Deep Purple, Heart.

I’m not a big enough fan of Elton John’s to actually buy tickets as I am of the latter two. But I chose not to.

Here’s why. I can’t speak for everyone that likes classic rock, but you get a picture and sound in your head of your favourite groups, and you want to keep it.

You do NOT want to see that shattered. Ok yes, the band members get older. With musicians, they  maybe not jump around like they used to but they can still play, and usually better because they’ve played the songs so many times that it’s second nature for them on stage.

And here is where the disappointment starts. When I  went to see KISS in Ottawa, Ace Frehley’s guitar solo was…embarrassing.

Because of Liona Boyd’s medical condition her shows could now  be best described as singing poetry. Which is not what I would want to see from one of the best classical guitarists in the world.

And even though Ian Gillan is back  with Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore isn’t (and i’m sorry fans, Steve Morse just isn’t cutting it for me). Jon Lord is no longer with us either. He’d be 50% of the reason I’d pay to see the band. Ian Gillan doesn’t have the pipes any more to crank out “Child in Time”….but he still sings it.  The word i’m looking for is: Fremdschämen. It’s a German word that basically means you’re embarrassed for someone else.

You can find videos on youtube of Gillan cranking that out if you want to see what I mean…check out the “before” videos, then check out the later ones. Fremdschämen. Just sayin’.

As for Heart, Ann Wilson can still crank it out. I heard that the show they did here was really good, but it was from someone who was not “musically informed” (read the previous blog if you don’t know what  i mean”) so i take that with a grain of salt. I might be tempted next time [if] they show.

The other group I’d be hesitant to pay for is Jethro Tull. As musicians, Ian Anderson has always had band members with the musical chops, so no real worries there. But his voice…it wasn’t that he can’t crank out the high notes, because that really wasn’t his style of singing, it was the lower register he seems to have a problem with. I read somewhere that he had a vocal chord injury, so that may have something to do with it.

If they did play locally though, I think I might get over it, and see them at least once. Bands from the 70’s who don’t really have to promote a new album, tend to play their classics.

And some bands, it’s sad to say, absolutely suck live. Just listen to any Rolling Stones bootleg…even my favourite band, T.REX doesn’t really sound good live.

The best live bands, imho are those that can recreate their album sound in a live venue (Deep Purple, Yes, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd)

Those are all classic 70’s bands…hmm, i sense a pattern.