Monday, October 26, 2009
Changing fonts constantly. Why?
Why does this thing always want to change Fonts, when I'm in the middle of writing something? And it never edits correctly and I wind up having three different fonts in a post, because it won't change the fonts and sizes even though I change the whole thing. Aggravating...
10/25 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Concert Review
On this rainy Sunday night the Boss returned to St. Louis and the Scottrade Center, a little more than a year after his last appearance at the same venue. Like last year, which was sort of a mixed bag for me, I went with my dad. I wasn't a real big Springsteen fan then and the general consensus was it was the best show of the Magic Tour. Since then I've become a bigger and more familiar Springsteen fan. So how did the Working on A Dream Tour stop go?...
We got there about 40 minutes before the "scheduled" start time of 7:30, but like last year it wasn't anywhere close to starting then. I had better seats, 22 rows back, but right to the side of the stage. A little difficult to see the video screen, but a great view of the Big Man and nice view of seeing the whole band. While waiting we noticed a yellow foam cowboy hat with Cadillac Ranch written on it. I was hoping maybe an early request that might get honored, but alas it wasn't meant to be...
It was a little before 8:30 before Springsteen & Co. took to the stage(Better than last year's hour and a half wait, but still pissed my old man off) with Big Boss Man playing on the loud speakers. About a month ago it was announced that here and other concert stops he'd be playing complete albums in concert and it was Born to Run for St. Louis. Tomorrow night KC gets Born in the U.S.A., a flip of the coin for me, the latter has more friendly songs, but the former has my favorite song... And last year he did play 5 of the songs off Born to Run here...
The opening song was his recently written one about the closing of Giants Stadium, Wrecking Ball. It was alright, maybe its also possible thoughts on the future of the E Street Band...
Like I said I'm a lot more familiar with Bruce now, and overall this was a better experience. He played a few more hits and I recognized a lot more. Heck, except for a few moments during the Born to Run album sequence, the whole night flew by. I couldn't believe it had been three hours...
Set List
Wrecking Ball
Seeds
Prove It All Night
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Curt Ramm)
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She's the One
Meeting Across the River (with Curt Ramm)
Jungleland
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Working on the Highway
The Promised Land
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands
No Surrender
* * *
For You (solo piano)
Raise Your Hand (instrumental)
Roll Over Beethoven
Surprise, Surprise
Detroit Medley
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (with Curt Ramm)
During Hungry Heart, he made his way to the back of the front GA pit and did his usual crowd surfing back to the stage which was a hoot. His wife, like last year, wasn't with the band. He didn't do much talking except at the very beginning saying "Hey St. Louis!" and he yelled out "How are you doing Sophie?" at one point remembering the sign which read 'Sophie Loves Bruce' from last year, which gave him the push to play one more song, Twist and Shout, last year. And before introducing Born to Run and a little of the history about it and its importance. At the end he gathered Max Weinberg, Clarence Clemons, Garry Tallent, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan and the spirit of the late Danny Federici, acknowledging the men who made the album with him.
Thunder Road was cool to see again, but didn't really get me excited. The second song of the album is my fave and was glad to hear after not getting hit with a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out last year. That's where it started cooking for me. The drumming of Mighty Max starting Night was simply amazing work and made me appreciate that song more than I normally do. Like last year, he's the driving force and constantly working. Backstreets was a stellar emotional performance, one of the best of the night. Then the house lights came up mid set for usual set closer Born to Run, which had a lot of added jamming. She's the One, not my favorite and while Meeting Across the River and the start of Jungleland was one where everyone sat and you could hear a pin drop, 2-5 songs were the heart of the album performance.
Waitin' on a Sunny Day, Bruce did his usual routine of gathering a little kid to help sing the chorus and the little kid did a heck of a job, and with Bruce's help at the end, shouting out "Take it Big Man!" After that hearing Working on the Highway and No Surrender were treats for the fans. The only songs I couldn't figure out were Seeds and shamefully The Promised Land.
There really wasn't much of a encore break. The gathered after No Surrender and Bruce collected a sign that read "Bruce Play the Piano," which he did while everyone else left the stage. For You was another one where everyone in the arena was quiet. He added some more humor by having trouble with the lyrics(they were on front and back) and getting sound to the piano. It was another good moment, though he did play the song by sign request last year with the whole band...
And once again he picked up a Chuck Berry inspired sign request, "We always get Chuck Berry requests when we play in St. Louis," and played Roll Over Beethoven, "Like We do it on E Street!" which was another blast of the night. After that for a girls fifteenth birthday Surprise, Surprise was played by request. And the final request was for "Devil in A Blue Dress", which turned into the Detroit Medley, another song played last year, but another rocking tune which got everyone cheering, even my dad. Other sign requests not honored I could see and remember were for, A Night with the Jersey Devil (from Sophie), Because the Night, Pink Cadillac, Blinded by the Light, Candy's Room, Mary's Place, Paradise by the "C", and Held Up Without A Gun. Dancing in the Dark not one of my faves, would have much, much rather gotten a Glory Days. But it was fun and house lights up, with Bruce grabbing up several younger women to dance, as well as a woman with a Red Headed Woman sign. And Rosalita brought the rock & roll show to a rollicking ending.
One of the other best moments came during the band intros. When finally getting to Clarence, he added "...Bigger than Shakespeare!" while the Big Man was holding a copy of his new book. Priceless.
Like I said, for me, this was a much better experience(I got to him do my fave song of his!), but to the expectations from last year and the fact that this tour was winding down as well, especially after rave reviews from his recent Philly shows, it probably was disappointing for the really die-hards. I know Backstreets.com echoed this thought in their review, while the Post Dispatch review was quite the opposite. I think the playing of the album cut down on some of the spontaneity and set changing. Plus last year was the penultimate show to the Magic Tour and it was still late summer. I mean the crowd was into it, but after Rosalita, there wasn't a real hard push for "one more." Maybe Bruce just wasn't feeling it tonight, not to mention possibly fighting a cold.
Obviously, there could have been one or two more, another hit some place, but I had a ball. I'm tempted to call in tomorrow and go to KC...
We got there about 40 minutes before the "scheduled" start time of 7:30, but like last year it wasn't anywhere close to starting then. I had better seats, 22 rows back, but right to the side of the stage. A little difficult to see the video screen, but a great view of the Big Man and nice view of seeing the whole band. While waiting we noticed a yellow foam cowboy hat with Cadillac Ranch written on it. I was hoping maybe an early request that might get honored, but alas it wasn't meant to be...
It was a little before 8:30 before Springsteen & Co. took to the stage(Better than last year's hour and a half wait, but still pissed my old man off) with Big Boss Man playing on the loud speakers. About a month ago it was announced that here and other concert stops he'd be playing complete albums in concert and it was Born to Run for St. Louis. Tomorrow night KC gets Born in the U.S.A., a flip of the coin for me, the latter has more friendly songs, but the former has my favorite song... And last year he did play 5 of the songs off Born to Run here...
The opening song was his recently written one about the closing of Giants Stadium, Wrecking Ball. It was alright, maybe its also possible thoughts on the future of the E Street Band...
Like I said I'm a lot more familiar with Bruce now, and overall this was a better experience. He played a few more hits and I recognized a lot more. Heck, except for a few moments during the Born to Run album sequence, the whole night flew by. I couldn't believe it had been three hours...
Set List
Wrecking Ball
Seeds
Prove It All Night
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Curt Ramm)
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She's the One
Meeting Across the River (with Curt Ramm)
Jungleland
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Working on the Highway
The Promised Land
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands
No Surrender
* * *
For You (solo piano)
Raise Your Hand (instrumental)
Roll Over Beethoven
Surprise, Surprise
Detroit Medley
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (with Curt Ramm)
During Hungry Heart, he made his way to the back of the front GA pit and did his usual crowd surfing back to the stage which was a hoot. His wife, like last year, wasn't with the band. He didn't do much talking except at the very beginning saying "Hey St. Louis!" and he yelled out "How are you doing Sophie?" at one point remembering the sign which read 'Sophie Loves Bruce' from last year, which gave him the push to play one more song, Twist and Shout, last year. And before introducing Born to Run and a little of the history about it and its importance. At the end he gathered Max Weinberg, Clarence Clemons, Garry Tallent, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan and the spirit of the late Danny Federici, acknowledging the men who made the album with him.
Thunder Road was cool to see again, but didn't really get me excited. The second song of the album is my fave and was glad to hear after not getting hit with a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out last year. That's where it started cooking for me. The drumming of Mighty Max starting Night was simply amazing work and made me appreciate that song more than I normally do. Like last year, he's the driving force and constantly working. Backstreets was a stellar emotional performance, one of the best of the night. Then the house lights came up mid set for usual set closer Born to Run, which had a lot of added jamming. She's the One, not my favorite and while Meeting Across the River and the start of Jungleland was one where everyone sat and you could hear a pin drop, 2-5 songs were the heart of the album performance.
Waitin' on a Sunny Day, Bruce did his usual routine of gathering a little kid to help sing the chorus and the little kid did a heck of a job, and with Bruce's help at the end, shouting out "Take it Big Man!" After that hearing Working on the Highway and No Surrender were treats for the fans. The only songs I couldn't figure out were Seeds and shamefully The Promised Land.
There really wasn't much of a encore break. The gathered after No Surrender and Bruce collected a sign that read "Bruce Play the Piano," which he did while everyone else left the stage. For You was another one where everyone in the arena was quiet. He added some more humor by having trouble with the lyrics(they were on front and back) and getting sound to the piano. It was another good moment, though he did play the song by sign request last year with the whole band...
And once again he picked up a Chuck Berry inspired sign request, "We always get Chuck Berry requests when we play in St. Louis," and played Roll Over Beethoven, "Like We do it on E Street!" which was another blast of the night. After that for a girls fifteenth birthday Surprise, Surprise was played by request. And the final request was for "Devil in A Blue Dress", which turned into the Detroit Medley, another song played last year, but another rocking tune which got everyone cheering, even my dad. Other sign requests not honored I could see and remember were for, A Night with the Jersey Devil (from Sophie), Because the Night, Pink Cadillac, Blinded by the Light, Candy's Room, Mary's Place, Paradise by the "C", and Held Up Without A Gun. Dancing in the Dark not one of my faves, would have much, much rather gotten a Glory Days. But it was fun and house lights up, with Bruce grabbing up several younger women to dance, as well as a woman with a Red Headed Woman sign. And Rosalita brought the rock & roll show to a rollicking ending.
One of the other best moments came during the band intros. When finally getting to Clarence, he added "...Bigger than Shakespeare!" while the Big Man was holding a copy of his new book. Priceless.
Like I said, for me, this was a much better experience(I got to him do my fave song of his!), but to the expectations from last year and the fact that this tour was winding down as well, especially after rave reviews from his recent Philly shows, it probably was disappointing for the really die-hards. I know Backstreets.com echoed this thought in their review, while the Post Dispatch review was quite the opposite. I think the playing of the album cut down on some of the spontaneity and set changing. Plus last year was the penultimate show to the Magic Tour and it was still late summer. I mean the crowd was into it, but after Rosalita, there wasn't a real hard push for "one more." Maybe Bruce just wasn't feeling it tonight, not to mention possibly fighting a cold.
Obviously, there could have been one or two more, another hit some place, but I had a ball. I'm tempted to call in tomorrow and go to KC...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
10/13 Tom Russell at Mojo's in Columbia Concert Review
The very great and under appreciated Tom Russell played at Mojo's Tuesday night in Columbia. He played there last year I believe and I didn't go. Then when I saw on his tour schedule months ago he was going to be at the Blue Note, I started making formulative plans in the back of my mind. Well, it ended up being at Mojo's after it was announced, more on that later...
It was a pretty crappy day and night overall, raining non-stop. After a slight detour to Slacker's to kill some time(and a couple of bought cds), I made it to Mojo's a little after 7 and the show didn't start for an hour, but it took a little while to keep warmed up. I'd never been to Mojo's before, the nickname of being a "little sister" to the Blue Note is pretty accurate. It's even more confined and less space and sort of off the beaten path on the very northern edge of the downtown business district and bordering residential areas. I'm not knocking the venue, but for an artist of Tom Russell's caliber and stature(Grammy winner?) he should have at least been at the Blue Note or Jesse Auditorium or the Missouri Theater...
It made for an "intimate" show though. Heck there's no backstage and the performers came up from behind the audience, which was made of mostly over 40 people with a few gray beards. There was one kid, I saw was a minor without the Bud wristband, with his dad, so I wasn't the youngest person there, minus the staff...
Now, I thought about it there were a few more younger people in the back.
But on to the show, it was a great show. He didn't play the two songs I was most familiar with Gallo del Cielo or Navajo Rug, but I had bought his latest album "Blood and Candle Smoke," and listened to it a couple of times. He ended up playing every song off of the album throughout the evening. He played around two hours with a ten minute intermission. Here's the set list from my memory the order on the songs are probably jumbled
Throughout the night he was loose and enjoying himself, having fun with the crowd. A guy was taking some pictures and he didn't mind, "Do what you need to do," he said. He then joked that they needed security, but after earlier conversations with the staff found out they were sons of hippies, who wouldn't hit anybody...There were at least another dozen moments of hilarity...He also appeared on the Letterman show the night of the infamous sex confession or whatever. And he joked that that he was proud he was responsible for the ratings jump...He was also chiding the audience and others, by saying "Bastards!" frequently.
And he knew the area pretty well, mentioning his next tour stops in K.C., St. Louis and in Mt. Olive, Illinois and mentioning that he was going to be on 88.1 KDHX , a public radio station out of St. Louis. I know my old man always listens to it on Saturday morning/afternoon when he goes to St. Louis, when they are playing acoustic hour, bluegrass, and true country among various things. I know my dad said, Russell appeared as a guest on there last year...
His guitar player, Thad Beckman, was awesome, playing lead parts and some great fills. On the lengthier sorta jam later in the set, he played some hot guitar in various styles such as Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt and someone else. Russell, even chided him that it made up for a few of the earlier mistakes.
To me, Tom Russell, in addition to an uncanny songwriting ability, has one of those great recognizable unique voices, like Van Morrison or Joe Cocker. Just a well played and enjoyed show. After it was over he went to the merchandising area and was signing items for people, still in very cheery spirits and thanking people for coming. I bought one of his cds Love and Fear (cheaper than the record store even) and had him autograph it.
Anyone reading this, I highly recommend listening to some of his work and seeing him in concert, even if he doesn't play his "cowboy" songs as much anymore.
It was a pretty crappy day and night overall, raining non-stop. After a slight detour to Slacker's to kill some time(and a couple of bought cds), I made it to Mojo's a little after 7 and the show didn't start for an hour, but it took a little while to keep warmed up. I'd never been to Mojo's before, the nickname of being a "little sister" to the Blue Note is pretty accurate. It's even more confined and less space and sort of off the beaten path on the very northern edge of the downtown business district and bordering residential areas. I'm not knocking the venue, but for an artist of Tom Russell's caliber and stature(Grammy winner?) he should have at least been at the Blue Note or Jesse Auditorium or the Missouri Theater...
It made for an "intimate" show though. Heck there's no backstage and the performers came up from behind the audience, which was made of mostly over 40 people with a few gray beards. There was one kid, I saw was a minor without the Bud wristband, with his dad, so I wasn't the youngest person there, minus the staff...
Now, I thought about it there were a few more younger people in the back.
But on to the show, it was a great show. He didn't play the two songs I was most familiar with Gallo del Cielo or Navajo Rug, but I had bought his latest album "Blood and Candle Smoke," and listened to it a couple of times. He ended up playing every song off of the album throughout the evening. He played around two hours with a ten minute intermission. Here's the set list from my memory the order on the songs are probably jumbled
- East of Woodstock, West of Viet Nam
- Mississippi River Runnin Backwards
- Nina Simone
- Guadalupe
- Criminology
- Darkness Visible
- Stealing Electricity
- Finding You
- Who's Gonna Build Your Wall
- Don't Look Down
- Santa Ana Wind
- Crosses of San Carlos
- The Most Dangerous Woman in America
- American Rivers
- a spoken poem by Charles Bukowski /poem> That's What Work Is/a story about Dave Van Ronk >Orphan Train
- Blue Wing
- Tower of Song>Pugilist at 59
Throughout the night he was loose and enjoying himself, having fun with the crowd. A guy was taking some pictures and he didn't mind, "Do what you need to do," he said. He then joked that they needed security, but after earlier conversations with the staff found out they were sons of hippies, who wouldn't hit anybody...There were at least another dozen moments of hilarity...He also appeared on the Letterman show the night of the infamous sex confession or whatever. And he joked that that he was proud he was responsible for the ratings jump...He was also chiding the audience and others, by saying "Bastards!" frequently.
And he knew the area pretty well, mentioning his next tour stops in K.C., St. Louis and in Mt. Olive, Illinois and mentioning that he was going to be on 88.1 KDHX , a public radio station out of St. Louis. I know my old man always listens to it on Saturday morning/afternoon when he goes to St. Louis, when they are playing acoustic hour, bluegrass, and true country among various things. I know my dad said, Russell appeared as a guest on there last year...
His guitar player, Thad Beckman, was awesome, playing lead parts and some great fills. On the lengthier sorta jam later in the set, he played some hot guitar in various styles such as Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt and someone else. Russell, even chided him that it made up for a few of the earlier mistakes.
To me, Tom Russell, in addition to an uncanny songwriting ability, has one of those great recognizable unique voices, like Van Morrison or Joe Cocker. Just a well played and enjoyed show. After it was over he went to the merchandising area and was signing items for people, still in very cheery spirits and thanking people for coming. I bought one of his cds Love and Fear (cheaper than the record store even) and had him autograph it.
Anyone reading this, I highly recommend listening to some of his work and seeing him in concert, even if he doesn't play his "cowboy" songs as much anymore.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Wasted 6 Months, Known as the St. Louis Cardinals season
I know I'm not the only one, sorely disappointed with the St. Louis Cardinals sweep at the hands of the Dodgers in the Divisional series. I'm just trying to figure out where they went wrong... The anemic offense over the last month was the telltale problem. Starting with our All-Star M.V.P. first baseman. Albert Pujols didn't hit a homer for over a month and just seemed to lack his fizzle. Sure he had a good average and some R.B.I.'s, but he was never the same after the All-Star Game.
Or in my eyes after the arrival of Matt Holliday. I think he got too relaxed. Look at the first three months when Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan and everyone else was in a slump, along with Ryan Ludwick being injured, when he was carrying the team they had some fire. I think that team they fielded in mid-June, with Ryan Ludwick coming around, would have beat the Dodgers and had that underdog fighting spirit.
But just some of Pujols late-season playing and gaffes(Think of the last game in Colorado where he was full running on a one-out pop fly and got doubled off. Never mind the second baseman dropped the ball...). If I was Tony LaRussa, I would have benched him at some point even in the playoffs. Hey, remember Scott Rolen? He might have gotten pissy about it, but you know what? He started hitting better after that. Pujols needed something to light his fire. Either that or bat him lead-off, which would give him more at-bats and if you want to walk him, an early easy base runner to help the offense get going.
Where do the Cards go for next year? They have quite a few free agents, Holliday, Mark DeRosa, Rick Ankiel, John Smoltz, Joel Piniero and Troy Glaus, among others. And the big worry in a few years, when Pujols and Chris Carpenter are up for free agency. Hopefully, they at least get DeRosa back. When he was healthly he was a solid veteran player. And if the price is right even with his gaffe, Holliday is a potential monster. But that play still eats me...
Not to mention the manager might not return. And I think the front office already pissed off the pitching coach.
They've got some solid guys and role players back in Skip Schumaker, Julio Lugo and Brendan Ryan, plus the potential in Colby Rasmus, Blake Hawksworth and Mitchell Boggs.Plus you're one-two starting punch of Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.
As for needs? A lead-off hitter, someone who can get on base, with some good speed and score. I think Julio Lugo, could be this guy if he was a little more consistent. I don't think Skip Schumaker is bad, but they need someone who can spark this offense. But unless Holliday doesn't come back, there really isn't a spot for anyone else in the line up, unless they'll be platooned, which I've never been a fan of. Potentially I think if Colby Rasmus can fine-tune his skills and base running, he could be a candidate. Now if him and Ryan would just fix their hat bills...
I'm not sure about a closer. I think Ryan Franklin just picked the worst time to falter in the season. And while he gave up everything else in game two of the series with the Dodgers, his left-fielder blew it. Wait til next season to see...Maybe some minor tweaking to the rest of pen.
I think the starters should be pretty good. Hopefully Lohse will pick up some of his better form next year
The bench actually needs some role players on it. Aside from whichever outfielder and infielder was being platooned, there wasn't much there. I swear anytime Khalil Greene was brought up it was an automatic out.
I guess there's always next year. And unlike the Cubs, the Cards will have an actual chance.
Or in my eyes after the arrival of Matt Holliday. I think he got too relaxed. Look at the first three months when Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan and everyone else was in a slump, along with Ryan Ludwick being injured, when he was carrying the team they had some fire. I think that team they fielded in mid-June, with Ryan Ludwick coming around, would have beat the Dodgers and had that underdog fighting spirit.
But just some of Pujols late-season playing and gaffes(Think of the last game in Colorado where he was full running on a one-out pop fly and got doubled off. Never mind the second baseman dropped the ball...). If I was Tony LaRussa, I would have benched him at some point even in the playoffs. Hey, remember Scott Rolen? He might have gotten pissy about it, but you know what? He started hitting better after that. Pujols needed something to light his fire. Either that or bat him lead-off, which would give him more at-bats and if you want to walk him, an early easy base runner to help the offense get going.
Where do the Cards go for next year? They have quite a few free agents, Holliday, Mark DeRosa, Rick Ankiel, John Smoltz, Joel Piniero and Troy Glaus, among others. And the big worry in a few years, when Pujols and Chris Carpenter are up for free agency. Hopefully, they at least get DeRosa back. When he was healthly he was a solid veteran player. And if the price is right even with his gaffe, Holliday is a potential monster. But that play still eats me...
Not to mention the manager might not return. And I think the front office already pissed off the pitching coach.
They've got some solid guys and role players back in Skip Schumaker, Julio Lugo and Brendan Ryan, plus the potential in Colby Rasmus, Blake Hawksworth and Mitchell Boggs.Plus you're one-two starting punch of Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.
As for needs? A lead-off hitter, someone who can get on base, with some good speed and score. I think Julio Lugo, could be this guy if he was a little more consistent. I don't think Skip Schumaker is bad, but they need someone who can spark this offense. But unless Holliday doesn't come back, there really isn't a spot for anyone else in the line up, unless they'll be platooned, which I've never been a fan of. Potentially I think if Colby Rasmus can fine-tune his skills and base running, he could be a candidate. Now if him and Ryan would just fix their hat bills...
I'm not sure about a closer. I think Ryan Franklin just picked the worst time to falter in the season. And while he gave up everything else in game two of the series with the Dodgers, his left-fielder blew it. Wait til next season to see...Maybe some minor tweaking to the rest of pen.
I think the starters should be pretty good. Hopefully Lohse will pick up some of his better form next year
The bench actually needs some role players on it. Aside from whichever outfielder and infielder was being platooned, there wasn't much there. I swear anytime Khalil Greene was brought up it was an automatic out.
I guess there's always next year. And unlike the Cubs, the Cards will have an actual chance.
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