Concert reviews

What a great 2 month run of concerts. I'm not much of a big venue guy anymore but I did venture out into the crowds on occasion recently. Started on Sept. 29 with Australian Pink Floyd @ Scottrade. Solid show, pretty much delivered what it promised, an enjoyable evening. Not Gilmore and Waters, but really what is? As close as you can get at this point.

Oct. 3rd was the Outlaws at great outdoor site that I'd never seen a show at before, Jefferson Barracks Park. My regret here is that I didn't spend the money for a spot closer to the stage. They killed it. The Florida Guitar Army Lives. Even without Hughie, a great, great show. Place was packed for what I thought was an under-promoted show. CDB was the headliner, but I didn't stick around for them. Guy in the row in front me summed it best--Outlaws finished their set with with SCREAMIN' guitars and this guy, who I got the impression didn't know what to expect, turns around to his friends and says "THAT WAS HUGE".

Lucinda Williams (sigh) 10/17 @ the Pageant. I don't know...I developed a real Love/Hate relationship here. Some background--I first discovered her when I started getting satellite radio thru the TV about 10 or so years ago. Went out and bought a bunch of her stuff--loved pretty much all of it. So by now I've seen her in concert about a half dozen times--every show worse the the previous one. For me it's a combination of poor song choice and concert pacing. She has all these songs that rock and some kick-ass musicians behind her but the shows just drag. Best show I saw of hers was the first one at the Pageant, she was really on that night. A good show in Memphis a couple years back, but the venue @ the university sucked. Now I'm not much of a hero/celebrity worshipper but that night as I was leaving the building I saw her tour bus with a handful of fans gathered waiting for her close to where I was parked. I thought what a great chance to get my copy of "Car Wheels" signed, so I hustle over to my car, rummage thru my CD's and get back over to the bus where maybe 6-8 people are waiting and I'm told she hasn't shown yet. So we wait...her band comes out, Pettybone stops and signs and chats, Carrie Rodriguez (opening act) comes out signs, chats, etc.--more time passes, finally somebody figures out Lucinda has been on the bus the ENTIRE FUCKING TIME. I think of her talking on stage about how it's all about the fans and we make the whole thing possible, you know as the usual bullshit, and this diva hypocrite bitch can't even get off the fuckin' bus for 5 min. It was a negative experience for me if you can't tell.

Bruce 10/25 @ Scottrade. What is there to say that hasn't been written better by any number of others. The guy fucking delivers a great show night in/night out. 60yrs old and he puts it all out there every single time. My only rant here is with the guy who does the reviews for "Backstreets"--what an asshole. I'm not sure what show this guy was watching, I'm sorry Bruce didn't pull out a song he hasn't played in concert in 30yrs to make the show worthwhile for you. Most people just get to see Springsteen once or twice per tour if they're lucky and some jaded, spoiled cocksucker critic who's seen however many shows over the past couple years, says (sniff) "this was an off night". As compared to what you prick? Great Show period.

Lastly, Leonard Cohen @ the Fox on Nov 7th. What a lucky decision to go to this show. I been a fan of his songs if not his singing for a while. This show brought it all together for me. Ten people on stage, all great musicians, I don't know how many instruments were played, 30? Bought the ticket 2 days before the show, didn't know it at the time, but I ended up center stage about 10 rows back. Maybe I've had a better seat at a show but I sure don't remember it (coulda been stoned). Here's a show I had no expectations for that turned out great, that makes it all the more sweet. My hopes were coming in that he would make it more of a story telling type show... after all he's an interesting guy who has seen a lot (so maybe I did have some expectations) but it was all music (and a few poems) and it was probably to concert of the year. Along the way during this concert glut I missed a few that I had earmarked, among them--Son Volt, Neko Case, James McMurtry, Bottle Rockets, Kings of Leon to name a few. Well, that's enough on that, except to say El Monstero 12/25 and Mark Knopler 4/22. Check back.

did ya think I was dead?

S0, 1 post every 2+ years. I don't know how I can keep up with this torrid pace I've set for myself. What's changed you ask? Well now I'm just on the other side of 50, no big deal there it happens to everyone. Another dog, bringing the total to two. And I now despise my job. First, the job--large midwestern hospital pharmacy with possibly the worst most inept departmental management ever. Here's how they deal with a problem, myself and another guy worked together on evenings 10hr shifts 7 days on/7 days off. So it stands to reason that another pair of pharmacists worked the opposite week, therein lies the problem. On our week things for the most part ran ok and were done in a timely manner. The other week was a cluster fuck, or so I was told by everyone who witnessed what was happening. (techs, students, RN's etc.) Instead of dealing with the problem, our managements' solution is to rearrange the shifts so myself or my co-worker is there every Mon-Thur and not even acknowledge to the other pair that there's a problem. They tell them this is being done to provide "continuity of service", whatever the fuck that means. Now every week I'm saddled with dead weight for 4 days a week. He's not really a bad guy, just has trouble staying focused and discerning what's important vs. what's not. This is my reward for being able to do my job. That place is just wrong in so many ways. See, I told you over 2yrs ago I had a lot of rants and beefs. I wasn't fuckin' lyin'.