Spring/Summer Concerts

[Otis Day]

Music threads seem to go over well. It seems like the majority of posters are really into music. I love live music and have some things lined up.

April - Jordan Davis (do not know who this guy is. Country performer but never heard of him). Taking the wife as she wants to see him. She goes to all the shows I want to see and doesn't complain. Love her for that. I need to reciprocate.

May - Beth Hart in St Louis, mid size place called The Factory.



July - local county fair has a country lineup, again for the wife. Gretchen Wilson, Eddie Montgomery (part of Montgomery Gentry) and Colt Ford.

August - Sammy Hagar on his All World Tour. Should be a rocking show. He is going to play Montrose, Hagar, Chickenfoot, Circle and Van Halen tunes. Outdoor concert. Loverboy opening. Saw them in the early 80s and they were loud as hell. Saw Sammy in the mid 80s and he did a good show.

Hoping to fit in some small venue blues acts as well.

Any one else got things lined up?

[UOK]

March - Alkaline Trio
May - Postal Service/Death Cab For Cutie
July - blink-182

[wab]

I'm seeing Zach Bryan in August. I think Creed is august as well.

[LacertineForest]

Milwaukee Metal Fest this year is nuts. I'll be going on Friday, May 17th, and basking in all the Euro Power Metal glory.

Nothing else on deck right now - my wife and I talked about going to see Ministry and Gary Newman in March. I'm sure I will hit some more shows as they're announced.

[Otis Day]

Didn't want to start a new thread, but Brit Turner, drummer, one of the founding members for Blackberry Smoke died. He was battling a form of brain cancer. He put up a good fight. I saw the band a few months back when he was back behind the kit. Fuck cancer!! They are postponing some of their tour, but plan to keep on keeping on.

As an aside, my Beth Hart concert postponed as well. She is dealing with some mental health issues that have plagued her for quite some time.

[dplank]

Music threads seem to go over well. It seems like the majority of posters are really into music. I love live music and have some things lined up.

April - Jordan Davis (do not know who this guy is. Country performer but never heard of him). Taking the wife as she wants to see him. She goes to all the shows I want to see and doesn't complain. Love her for that. I need to reciprocate.

May - Beth Hart in St Louis, mid size place called The Factory.



July - local county fair has a country lineup, again for the wife. Gretchen Wilson, Eddie Montgomery (part of Montgomery Gentry) and Colt Ford.

August - Sammy Hagar on his All World Tour. Should be a rocking show. He is going to play Montrose, Hagar, Chickenfoot, Circle and Van Halen tunes. Outdoor concert. Loverboy opening. Saw them in the early 80s and they were loud as hell. Saw Sammy in the mid 80s and he did a good show.

Hoping to fit in some small venue blues acts as well.

Any one else got things lined up?

I do not trust people who aren't into music.

[bearsoldier]

I do not trust people who aren't into music.

dplank this is a football forum, but truer words may never be written in text...

It is after midnight 3/23/24 and it had the fortunate chance to listen to live music this evening...

Check out

[media][

[bearsoldier]

[Otis Day]

Well, a first for me last night. Me, being the good husband I am, attend a concert last night of people I knew nothing about and had never heard any of the artists' music. My wife is a country music fan. Me, not so much. It was Ashley Cooke, Mitchell Tenpenny and Jordan Davis. I can say it was not terrible, but cannot say it was good either.

Ashley Cooke, well lets just say when we walked in it was not country. She was doing a medley of early 2000s pop hits.

Tenpenny seemed more like a country rocker which was not a bad thing. He did sing a song I related to, "Bitches." I would have to say he was the highlight (even though high would be exaggerating) of the night.

Jordan Davis, sounded about like every other male country singer I have heard over the past 10 yrs.

My wife goes with me on my many concert trips without hassle. I felt I had to try and do the same. Thing is, she actually likes the music of the concerts I take her to.

[dplank]

Well, a first for me last night. Me, being the good husband I am, attend a concert last night of people I knew nothing about and had never heard any of the artists' music. My wife is a country music fan. Me, not so much. It was Ashley Cooke, Mitchell Tenpenny and Jordan Davis. I can say it was not terrible, but cannot say it was good either.

Ashley Cooke, well lets just say when we walked in it was not country. She was doing a medley of early 2000s pop hits.

Tenpenny seemed more like a country rocker which was not a bad thing. He did sing a song I related to, "Bitches." I would have to say he was the highlight (even though high would be exaggerating) of the night.

Jordan Davis, sounded about like every other male country singer I have heard over the past 10 yrs.

My wife goes with me on my many concert trips without hassle. I felt I had to try and do the same. Thing is, she actually likes the music of the concerts I take her to.

lol I just can’t get into new country. I love the old twangy stuff tho, so if any of the newer acts are like that I’d give them a try. Sturgill and Stapleton are both good.

Heard a couple old Johnny Cash songs in the Fallout premiere and was just blown away, need a deeper dive on the man in black

[Otis Day]

As a kid I was in to Johnny Cash. My parents had some of his music and we would watch his variety show on Sunday nights.

New country? I give my daughter shit about it all the time. I tell her it isn't country. She says it is what country is today.

I used to hate the twangy shit when young (except Cash). My parents played it quite a bit. Now, give me some Merle Haggard.

For newer real country, Aaron Lewis isn't bad. I really have not heard much from him after the first country CD he put out.

[wab]

Pop country is different than "new" country.

Whiskey Myers
Zach Bryan
William Elliott Whitmore
Sturgill Simpson
Chris Stapleton
Tyler Childers
Cody Jinks
Pony Bradshaw
Warren Zeiders
Flatland Cavalry

Give those guys a listen.

If you want more of a rock vibe to your country, try The Cadillac Three.

[Otis Day]

I have listened to Whiskey Myers and like them. Hell, I would consider them country rock, southern rock.

Chris Stapleton, that dude can do anything. He is all over the place, which is a good thing. Below, he is with Slash doing the Fleetwood Mac kickass "Oh Well."

[otis]

I have cage the elephant, slash's blues band, pearl jam and elle king on my list so far. Pickins are kinda slim out here in the rockies. And Seattle is too far to drive. 400 miles. I did it once for acdc. But it would probably have to be acdc for me to do it again.

[UOK]

Saw Death Cab for Cutie/The Postal Service in St. Louis the other day. I don't know much Death Cab at all, but it was fun seeing the Postal Service live.

[dplank]

For those living in Chicago - LCD Soundsystem are doing a few days at the Argon Ballroom. I saw them a few years back in DC at The Anthem and it was one of my favorite shows of all time, highly recommended.

[malk]

I've got tickets to see New Order in August but that's now clashing with my annual rugby tour. Then I've also got tickets to see the Pixies and our childcare for the evening has fallen through (sure I'll sort something for that but it's a pain!).

The lineup at Outbreak looks great, would love to see Gouge Away and Mannequin Pussy live but the people I know who are into that kind of shit aren't local which sucks... choices choices.

[dplank]

I've got tickets to see New Order in August but that's now clashing with my annual rugby tour. Then I've also got tickets to see the Pixies and our childcare for the evening has fallen through (sure I'll sort something for that but it's a pain!).

The lineup at Outbreak looks great, would love to see Gouge Away and Mannequin Pussy live but the people I know who are into that kind of shit aren't local which sucks... choices choices.

Gauge away named after the Pixies song?

[malk]

I've got tickets to see New Order in August but that's now clashing with my annual rugby tour. Then I've also got tickets to see the Pixies and our childcare for the evening has fallen through (sure I'll sort something for that but it's a pain!).

The lineup at Outbreak looks great, would love to see Gouge Away and Mannequin Pussy live but the people I know who are into that kind of shit aren't local which sucks... choices choices.

Gauge away named after the Pixies song?

I think they count The Pixies as an influence (I mean, they're very different but still) so I imagine so.

[Heinz D.]

Seeing ELO in September. Don't know if that qualifies as "summer", or not, but I'm pumped nonetheless!

[Heinz D.]

I do not trust people who aren't into music.

Same here. Don't really trust people who don't drink, either.

[dplank]

I do not trust people who aren't into music.

Same here. Don't really trust people who don't drink, either.

Is weed an acceptable substitute? I rarely drink nowadays but still smoke like a chimney.

[Heinz D.]

Is weed an acceptable substitute?

Oh, hell yeah!

[LacertineForest]

Milwaukee Metalfest was awesome yesterday. For the most part, the bands sounded really good, the weather was great, and it was a nice bonus that they had food trucks right outside the venue. Most of the bands I saw are more palatable to the average person because the vocal style for almost all of them is singing and not growling/snarling/shrieking/etc. that is more common with extreme metal bands.

In order, the bands I saw were: Uada, Bewitcher, Night Demon, Visigoth, Eternal Champion, Overkill, Hammerfall, Symphony X, Kamelot, and Blind Guardian. I have seen Bewitcher and Symphony X before (21 years ago for Symphony X), but the rest were the first time for me.

Overall impressions:

• A little disappointing: Uada (muddy sound), Eternal Champion (lacking energy, music could use more tempo changes)
• About what I expected: Bewitcher, Overkill, Symphony X (great sound quality, engaging show), Kamelot (best visuals/stage design), Blind Guardian (best for crowd interaction)
• Better than expected: Night Demon (best sound quality), Visigoth (great energy), Hammerfall (great sound quality, tight performances, engaging show)

I mentioned weather because even though the festival was indoors, the building is over 100 years old and doesn't have air conditioning. I've been there when it's hot as balls, before, and it's pretty miserable, especially when you pack it with people.

Some of the bands had issues with the guitars getting lost in the mix or having the snare drum sound really high in the mix. It was interesting to see how many bands used actual guitar and bass cabinets on stage and which just sent their sound straight into the mixing board from their amplifier head.

For any guitar aficionados, if you haven't checked out Michael Romeo before (Symphony X guitarist), the dude is a top notch player, right along with the other virtuosos with more name recognition (Vai, Satriani, Petrucci, etc). Here's a playthrough video of him playing for his solo project:



Some videos of the bands, below (not from the show last night - I don't take pictures or videos during shows because there are plenty of pros already doing it there and I feel it takes away from my experience):

[Grizzled]

Wondering if I should try to catch a Beach Boys concert this summer. Lord knows it may be their last tour, those dudes are old. Best selling U.S. band of all time.

[Otis Day]

Going to catch Bonnie Raitt tomorrow night. Waited this concert out and the tix dropped quite a bit on seatgeek. Could have save a few more bucks if I waited until today to buy them. Wasn't sure there would be many more left so bought them yesterday. That is going to be my plan from now on. Wait until a few days before the concert and see how cheap I can get tix. No need to jump on day 1.

It will be an old fogey concert for sure, but I have been wanting to see her for quite awhile. Neither Bonnie nor I are getting any younger.

[Moriarty]

I was looking at local summer festivals and something occurred to me.

The larger festivals all used to have national acts, sometimes 2-4 of them over the course of the festival, headlining. Obviously not acts anywhere near their prime, sometimes 'just' an ex-member of a major band, but still names who were very recognizable, had hits, had radio airplay.
This year I found absolutely ZERO.


Now I understand that the acts I care about are all getting old, with many dying or retiring. But I'm also not seeing any of the ones who are still at it, anyone from the 90s, nothing. And it happened pretty suddenly.

It's weird. Is this a financial thing, that towns can't afford it anymore?
Is rock so completely dead that they don't want to pay for it?
Can old outfits make better money at small venues than festivals now?
Just a fluke?
Did I overlook a bunch?
Are others seeing the same thing?

[Otis Day]

I am thinking that the people that put these events on are short on cash. With everything increasing in price, I think it is cramping some of these festivals.

One of the bigger midwest Blues fests (Mississippi Valley Blues Fest in Davenport, IA) is not happening this year due to money. They usually brought in at least 6 headlining blues acts (ones that even the novice blues fans would know) along with about a dozen well known bands then filled out the rest with local bands. If not mistaken, it was not supposed to be until September (moved from July 4th weekend) and they cancelled it at the end of 2023.

As far as older acts, you still have REO touring with Night Ranger. Sammy Hagar (with Satriani, Jason Bonham, Michael Anthony) touring with Loverboy. The Stones are somehow still out there doing it. Granted these acts were from the 70s/80s.

[wab]

We used to have a big Summer Fest thing down here, but it sort of died out when Covid happened.

It just seems like people aren't willing to shell out money they don't have for festivals anymore. I mean in like 1998 I think I paid $40 for an Ozzfest ticket. That would easily be $400 today.

Feels like folks are going to smaller venues to see shows now. And even with smaller venues it's almost comical how expensive tickets are with taxes and fees. I just paid $240 for a ticket to see Creed...and the actual ticket price was only like $110. Everything else was added fees.

[Moriarty]

I am thinking that the people that put these events on are short on cash. With everything increasing in price, I think it is cramping some of these festivals.

One of the bigger midwest Blues fests (Mississippi Valley Blues Fest in Davenport, IA) is not happening this year due to money. They usually brought in at least 6 headlining blues acts (ones that even the novice blues fans would know) along with about a dozen well known bands then filled out the rest with local bands. If not mistaken, it was not supposed to be until September (moved from July 4th weekend) and they cancelled it at the end of 2023.

As far as older acts, you still have REO touring with Night Ranger. Sammy Hagar (with Satriani, Jason Bonham, Michael Anthony) touring with Loverboy. The Stones are somehow still out there doing it. Granted these acts were from the 70s/80s.

We used to have a big Summer Fest thing down here, but it sort of died out when Covid happened.

It just seems like people aren't willing to shell out money they don't have for festivals anymore. I mean in like 1998 I think I paid $40 for an Ozzfest ticket. That would easily be $400 today.

I'm not talking regular tours, or even the paid festivals, though, I mean the better free local suburban town fests used to have names.

Maybe COVID was involved.

Although I feel like I've seen acts like Lou Gramm, Richard Marx, Bad Company, Ace Frehley playing free shows in the 2021-23 years.