Jamey Johnson @ Chesterfield Amphitheater 9/15 Concert Review

I hadn't seen the great Jamey Johnson since 2013 at the Blue Note in Columbia. Actually I'd seen him three times( 2012 and 2009) all at the Blue Note. Off the top of my head I don't think he's played there since then, likely explaining why I haven't seen him since then. And that is far too long.

While Camdenton got a date on his 2024 What A View tour, I opted instead for Chesterfied instead. The main reason was this date was three weeks later and likely to be cooler than August. I think both of those venues have been the closet he's been, maybe minus an odd county fair in the area over the years.

After a bit of running around, my wife and I arrived with about 30 minutes before start time at 6 PM. From where we were, after Googling the location, it was a simple four minute drive. This was a new venue for me. I'd looked up pictures and knew it was pretty small. But it is very scenic with tiered terraces for Lawn Chair GAs, along with a pit up front. I chose seats which were in the third row in on the "south" side. It was still an amazing line of site and proxmity to the stage. Plus to boot they had food trucks. Being right in the middle of eating time, we wound up getting gyros. My wife commented all shows we see should be at this venue.

Of course the weather was off and on changing all day, with rain forecasted at various times. The bad thing was that this venue doesn't have a pavillion. But thankfully the rain held off, or maybe unfortunately. A slight rain might have helped cool the night a little more, but it was still tolerable.

The opening act Emily Ann Roberts took the stage, with a guitarist and fiddle player. Roberts, a former The Voice contestant, had a strong vocal, but alas one that also sounds fairly derivative. But she carried her influences of country, bluegrass and gospel well in her 30 minuteish set. Her country cover, was a medley of songs of strong female country singers. Bonus points for not having a pop or classic rock cover in her set.

After a very minimal 20 minute set change, Jamey Johnson took the stage at 7 PM. For the opening number, he brought Roberts back out and they did 9 to 5, and giving her praise, before launching into his tradiational opener, High Cost of Living. That song was one of the few that he stretched out and let the band flex their muscles. He was backed by a 10 piece, that included three horn players and a backing female singer. I'm assuming the horns are maybe influenced from him doing the Last Waltz, playing the music of the Band tours over the last few years. But his backing band was sharp and knew when to cook or when to lay back on the playing. Not to mention Johnson's guitar picking as well.

The real highlights were the new songs that he's written, after catching the writing bug over the last year and unleashing some of them on the road. It's been 14 years since he's released an album of original songs. After slipping on the ice and getting a concussion around that time, he couldn't find the right focus to write new songs. I enjoyed the wryness of Bad Guy in This Song as well as a strong beat. The same thing with one that might be named What You Answer To. Though that could be a cover. He did play several cover songs from Easton Corbin and Chris Stapleton, among others. Apart from the opening song, he didn't play many classic country covers like I've seen him do in the past.

While the beard has gotten longer and the hair grayer, Johnson was dressed all in black. After a minute it hit me, he kind of reminded of Kris Kristofferson in appearance. And he did give a couple of introductions to his songs throughout the night in addition to the praise he gave to Roberts. He did have a few funny quips to the song shouters. After one girl in the pit was screeching for a song, he replied, "What did I miss?" and another one was "Don't you wish you could sometimes put a face and see who the Hell that was?"

Another standout to the night was, Flying Silver Eagles off his debut album. I'm not sure I'd ever seen him do that one. That was one my wife enjoyed. And he did my favorite of his Give it Away, which is always welcome and which he's played every time I've seen him. During Heartache he did an ad lib, where he was mentioning famous tragic couples and added Kendrick and Drake to their recent feud. My wife had to explain the joke to my deaf ass.

Overall it was a solid two hour, 21 song set that delievered as Johnson always does. My wife enjoyed it, even though she's not a country fan, especially with the emotion and feeling in Johnson's songs striking a chord. (It made her cry.) It's not the long two plus hours shows full of covers, that I've seen in the past, but it was still an awesome time. I also noted to my wife, this was the first time I didn't see any fights at his concert. Of course not being with drunk college rednecks, probably helps a lot.

As always I'm up for seeing Jamey Johnson. And to boot the show was over at 9, there's not 10,000 people you're fighting to get out and we were home well before midnight.



Jamey Johnson Set List

1. 9 to 5 (With Emily Ann Roberts)
2. High Cost of Living
3. Bring on the Neon
4. Can't Cash My Checks
5. Someday When I'm Old
6. That Lonesome Song
7. Heartache
8. My Way to You
9. Bad Guy in This Song
10. Sober
11. What You Answer To
12. The Last Honky Tonk
13. Whiskey and You
14. Fying Silver Eagles
15. More of What Matters
16. If I Could Hold You One More Time
17. 21 Guns
18. In Color
19. Trudy
20. Give It Away
21. Lead Me Home

John! Bob! Willie; Outlaw Music Festival with John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson 9/8 @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater Review

Last Year, I bit the bullet and finally went to see Willie Nelson on his Outlaw Music Festival stop in St. Louis, well Maryland Heights. And I was going mainly because I really wanted to see Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. When this years date's were announced it was another artist on the bill, that had my interest, John Mellencamp. One of the few classic rock singer/songwriters I haven't seen. Add in Willie and the imcomprable Bob Dylan and it sounded like an evern better deal than last year. (The weird thing was the tickets in pretty much the same row as last year were slightly cheaper, even with the added heavies.)

Like last year this show wound up being on a Sunday night and like last year I went with my dad. Thankfully it was September and not in June like last year. It was warm late in the afternoon, but very tolerable and cooled down in the low 50's by the time we were leaving. We did a bit of running around and eating before hand, not in a major hurry to catch the opening act, Southern Avenue, but we arrived right as they were starting their set at 5:15. As mentioned our seats were in the same row as last year, Row N, but with a dead center view.

Southern Avenue is a six piece band from Memphis and they have a soul, blues and gospel sound. Their set kind of strayed later, but the second through the fourth songs were really strong and their musical sound was very evocative of 1960s music, which I dug. And of course the vocals were powerful. They played either nine or ten songs for around 40 minutes.

After a 20ish minute set change or so, John Mellencamp and his band took to the stage. As he was strolling out to the microphone, he was smoking a cigarette and flicked it to the side of the stage which a roadie had to corral up. Mellencamp started off strong, with what I'd call it his lesser greatest hits. But he brought the fire and attitude as did his band. I was telling my dad, we'd have to see how much he'd be cantankerous as he's on the "beer and circus tour," I've heard him call it before (Which I assume to mean, playing the same rock and roll in areanas/amphitheaters and more aspect on the show instead of music). But even if it he didn't want to be there, he didn't seem to show it as he was energized and seemed to be having a ball as much as the fans were.

There did seem to be a lot of deceptions or rearrangements with his music and the intros. Or maybe the fans don't recognize melody. I'd seen videos of him doing Jack & Diane from some of his theater shows over the past year, where he makes fun of the audience who start singing the "Life Goes On," chorus before it starts. And he gently chides the audience that the format of the song is verse-verse-chorus, even if the second verse isn't very good. He's remarked that's the only way the song sounds good, him playing solo acoustic and one of the song's he's tired of playing over the years. Of course he does pause it some to confuse the audience. He did the same thing here but it didn't seem the audience really bit too much. But one guy hilariously started singing out loud the chorus part, which made Mellencamp pause, and say, "That motherfucker sounds better than me. Why don't you come up here and do this fucking song?" Later on in the song and asked, "Who's that loud mouth mother fucker who was singing..it's you...No, no by himself. Sing it real loud like you were!" He didn't quite have the volume, and Mellencamp remarked "Give him a hand. I have to tell you Jack, you were kind of sucky. But you tried, so you get credit for trying." Video of it here.

Mellencamp's got a little more rasp and husk in his voice, but the fire and attitude are still there. He played a 12 song set at a hair over an hour. He hit most of his well-known songs and his backing six piece band was stellar. He did kind of bring his stage set up of a couple wooden mannequins standing at the back of the stage. Kind of reminds of how Neil Young will set up his stage with props and decorations that make no sense to most.

Right after his set started, a group he bought split tickets, asked us to move into theirs to the left of us, so they could all sit together. We obliged, as it didn't effect the view either way. The whole block of seats in front of us, had a few strays seat slide down, but looking the day before I don't think ever got sold. There was definitely more empty seats than last year. Being in unoffical start of Fall versus June, probably played a factor in that.

After 25 minutes or so, the stage changeover was complete and the stage went dark, and the one-of-a-kind Bob Dylan and his band took the stage. I'd glanced at his set lists from earlier this summer and had a general idea of what he was going to play. Thankfully he's moved on from his stale set list of playing the same set list for the last five years or so. It's still not what he was doing 15 years ago, mixing up and swapping out songs. And people have been living under a rock the last 40 years or are just ignorant thinking that's he's going to waltz out his greatest hits or play the things they think he should be playing. Suffice to say it's hiliarous to see people complain about it still. He's not the guy with an acoustic guitar in 1963 anymore. Hell, if anything he's a crooner.
This was my fourth time seeing Dylan and first since seeing him at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis in the Fall of 2010. He had a four piece backing band, including well-known session drummer Jim Keltner and they sounded pretty tight, as expected and trying to keep pace with Dylan's phrases and rhythms. Dylan himself sounded fairly clear at times, though whipping into his quick growl at times. He opened with familiar rhythms of Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 a major song of his I'd never seen him do, followed by another 'Greatest Hit' likewise never witnessed by myself,It Ain't Me Babe

Dylan knocked out 16 songs in his 75 minute portion of the show with his weird mix of covers thrown in, and Willie's harmonica man, Mickey Raphael, joining him on the last two numbers, Simple Twist of Fate and Ballad of a Thin Man. It was a decent performance, but kind of why I haven't had the itch to see Dylan in last 14 years. Definitely more suited to theaters and similar venues than this.

And after his first song, the security guards were hawks enforcing his no photographing/videoing rule. I've always wondered what they'd do if the whole audience pulled them all out? I'm all for people paying attention to the music and the experience. But some people truly want something for the memories of the experience rather than the selfie/posting self-absorbed people out there.

The final set change took 20ish minutes, setting up for Willie's sparse stage set up. Backed this year without his son Micah, Waylon Payne, the son of one of his long timer guitar player's filled Micah's role of playing next Willie. He also only had a four piece band, without a piano player compared to last years set up. And like last year, Willie played for around an hour, with Payne, taking a few vocals on classic country songs to give Willie a rest.

And he pretty much played the exact same set-list in the same spots as last year. Maybe that's his standard and helps pull him on auto-pilot, knowing familiar songs and routines. But as my dad noted later, you could see there was a decline in just over a year. His playing wasn't quite as sharp and he seemed to rely more on Payne to help keep him along. Hopefully it's just a case of dealing with weather changes and fighting a bug or something, as he's vocal's seemed more off as well. But he's 91 years old and it's still a hell of a performance for someone travelling the highways like he is. And everyone enjoyed it, which is the main thing

And the truly amazing part was after the concert ended. I already mentioned more empty seats compared to last year and quite a few people left after Dylan's set. But once we started the rush out into the parking lot, as I was going through it, I noticed that it looked half empty. My dad took a few mintues to catch up back to the car or we'd have been gone sooner but once we started leaving it only took ten minutes to get out and back on I-70! That's lightspeed compared to my most recent trips to Riverport.

John Mellencamp Set List

John Cockers
Paper In Fire
Ghost Towns Along the Highway
Small Town
Check It Out
Longest Days
Jack & Diane
Rain on the Scarecrow
Lonely Ol' Night
Crumblin Down
Pink Houses
Hurts So Good

Bob Dylan Set List

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain't Me Babe
Love Sick
Little Queenie
Mr. Blue
Early Roman Kings
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Under the Red Sky
Things Have Changed
Stella Blue
Six Days on the Road
Can't Wait
Ill Be Your Baby Tonight
Soon After Midnight
Simple Twist of Fate
Ballad of a Thin Man

Willie Nelson Set List

Whiskey River
Stay a Little Longer
Still is Still Moving To Me
Bloody Mary Morning
I Never Cared for You
Workin' Man Blues
Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To be Cowboys
Angel Flying to Close to the Ground
On the Road Again
You Were Always on My Mind
Good Hearted Woman
Help Me Make It Through the Night
Move It On Over
Georgia (On Mind Mind)
I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train
Me and Bobby McGee
Last Leaf
Still Not Dead
Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die
Write Your Own Songs
Will the Circle Be Unbroken/I'll Fly Away
It's Hard to be Humble

More 90's Goodness; Green Day 8/15 @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater Concert Review

A few weeks ago, I saw Alanis Morissette at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. Thursday night was another group of 1990s legends, who've had several periods in the limelight, Green Day. Like Morissette they announced their summer plans last Fall and I scooped up tickets. This was the one my wife had been most excited about.

I could guess you say I'm not or wasn't a huge, huge Green Day fan. Or maybe I am. They have some killer songs and they take me back to several eras. I loved them as a 12 year old for their "Dookie" singles and then 10 years later for the standout tracks on "American Idiot." So they take me back to the mid-1990s and my 12 year old self, as well as to my early 20s.As a matter of the fact in addition to being out on the road for their new album, "The Saviors," they were also out for the 30th Anniversary of Dookie and the 20th Anniversary of American Idiot, planning on playing both of the latter albums in their entirety. Which of course was fine by me.

Their 2024 tour is a stadium tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas. Of course Missouri got two of the maybe three shows that weren't at stadiums (and without the Pumpkins) settling for the water sheds at Maryland Heights and Bonner Springs, Kansas. Which on one hand was good, I didn't have to go to downtown St. Louis. But on the other hand a trip to Riverport and the nightmare that goes with it. I was looking at Bonner Springs to compare prices and the dates and whatnot, and apparently they have no roof over the seats, which meant unless I found a really good deal, I was going to Riverport. Which after reading the title of this, obviously is where I wound up.

The past few weeks had been cooler, so naturally this was the most scorching day with 100 degree temperature feel. And add on top of that, the risk of severe storm starting at around 6PM, had me worrying we'd get all the way down there and it would be cancelled. Or worse postponed and having looked at the Green Day tour schedule and Hollywood's concert list, meant that it would've likely been early the next week before Bonner Springs (they went to Minneapolis in between on the weekend) and I would have had to burn another vacation day.

Alas, the heat held out and the forecast changed where it wasn't supposed to come until around 11 PM. We arrived about 40 minutes before the scheduled start time of 6:45 and it was scorching, but it didn't effect me like it did several weeks ago. Of course not eating before, we splurged for dinner there and it probably added another 6 months we both have to work at our retirement age. Our seats were about 12 rows back on the stage right side. Decent vie, especially if performers headed to our side of the stage.

The Linda Lindas took the stage five minutes early at 6:40 and played for around half an hour. Comparing to other set lists it seems like they got an extra song compared to their stadium shows. The group is an all-female teenage/pre-teen punk pop band that blew up for Racist, Sexist Boy several years ago. They were loud and eventually got the sound dialed in a bit better. All in my Head and Oh! were pretty good. It was also the drummer's birthday, which lead to a sing-a-long to her and Tre Cool appearing early dumping confetti over her head. During the last song, one of the guitarists walked around the concourse playing.

After a 20 minute set change, Rancid took the stage for 30 minutes. I'll be honest, I didn't do my due dilligence in trying to listen and familiarze myself with them and their songs. They were loud and sounded like metal punk pop in my best words. One of the vocalists, I believe the lead guitar player, had a voice very similar to James Hetfield of Metallica. Several of the women in the crowd were going crazy during their set. My wife, whose musical tastes are in this vein wasn't too interested. One thing I noted was front man Tim Anderson, should have left his guitar and hat off. He was frequenlty swinging his guitar to his side instead of playing it and taking off his hat and putting to his chest.

After a 30 minute or so change, the lights dimmed and the intro/pump music began. After about ten mintues Green Day took the stage, augmented with their three touring members, with The American Dream is Killing Me before driving into Dookie. I was more familiar with the Dookie album and had been listening to it over the past week. It was pretty much straight forward run through including the hidden track, All By Myself which featured Tre Cool doing a vamp complete in robe. I don't know if he was going for a lounge act or drag vibe or what. It was funny. But with his dyed blue hair and face, he did kind of look like a blue haired granny.

Following Dookie, was mid-set burst of other various songs. During Know Your Enemy they brought up a teenagish girl to sing-a-long. At the end when Billie Joe Armstrong tried to coax her into stage diving, she didn't want to. Afterwards, he said, "...She didn't want to and that's okay. We respect that...saying, 'no."

The show featured a bunch of pyro as well as fireworks percussion,(no actual fireworks here), which my wife hated. Billie Joe worked the crowd as I've heard him on live albums and recordings the whole show. Almost every song, had him getting on the crowd to get their hands up or going crazy. Early on he gently chided fans to put away their cell phones. "They'll be time for that later. Live in the moment." To me it does get a bit tedious over and over and people only have so much energy. Then again he's up there for two plus hours giving his all and certainly plays his role well. Another quip he had in interacting with the crowd, was mentioning, "We don't have a baseball team anymore and that's alright." I can't remember the set up or it just may be something from them playing in baseball stadiums.

Then came the performance of American Idiot, which featured the better hit singles and more political ones. There wasn't much direct political speech, other than encouraging people to vote and the unity of people, especially at this concert where we're all having fun. Of course he did change the line in American Idiot from redneck agenda to MAGA agenda, which I was glad they kept the updated version. Another standout was She's A Rebel. I guess it was just something I hadn't heard in forever or I just liked the sound, but it was standout song for me. During this portion of the show a big inflatable hand with the album's design was blown up on stage. And during one song, they shot confetti and streamers out over the audience.

For a few other things, this was keyboardist Jason Freese's first show back with the band on this tour. His brother is drummer Josh Freese, who is the drummer for the Foo Fighters and others. And speaking of drumming, Tre Cool every so often would launch his sticks up behind the drum kit. I don't know if he just used them or pounded so hard he lost control, but it was neat to see. Mike Dirnt the other member of the trio, just went about his business rocking away, with the occasional punk sneer.

Of course right before the planned last two songs, Billie Joe mentioned that lightning storms were on the way. He asked if they had time for one more, but was told to get us out. Still being the person he is, he ran a quick acapella version of Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), even as he was encouraging people to leave. Mad props for him to do all he could to give fans their money's worth and still get their biggest song in. Bobby Sox a song of their new album was the one that got chopped.

The rains hit right about the time we hit the gate for the parking lot and I parked in the very back, so it was a long trek. Even longer was the wait to leave. Again not wanting to burn gas or energy, we waited until it was almost empty. The rains died down by then and I'm not sure lightning was ever a factor even though we could see it on the edges during the show. But it was an hour and a half wait to get out there.

Even though it's same set different city, this was one of the better concerts I've been too. Billie Joe while it may somewhat autopilot and part of the routine, he knows how to give it his all. I have even more respect for that quick version of Good Riddance, doing everyting he could to make sure it was a memorable experience for anyone seeing the band, whether it was their first or twentith time. Two plus hours and 35 songs. Not many acts can keep that up. If the come back around in several years, I think I'll be a bigger fan by then.

Green Day Set List

The American Dream is Killing Me
Burnout
Having a Blast
Longview
Welcome To Paradise
Pulling Teeth
Basket Case
She
Sassafras Roots
When I Come Around
Coming Clean
Emenius Sleepus
In the End
F.O.D. (with Jack and Diane intro)
All by Myself
Know Your Enemy
Look Ma, No Brains!
One Eyed Bastard
Dilemma (with Free Fallin intro)
Minority
Brain Stew
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
Holiday
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Are We the Waiting?
St. Jimmy
Give Me Novacaine
She's a Rebel
Extraordinary Girl
Letterbomb
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Homecoming
Whatsername
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) Quick version

Rancid Set List

Maxwell Murder
Roots Radicals
Side Kick
Tomorrow Never Comes
The 11th Hour
Ghost of a Chance
Radio
Something in the World Today
Fall Back Down
Time Bomb
Ruby Soho

Linda Lindas Set List

Too Many Things
Growing Up
Excuse Me
Happy Birthday
All in My Head
Oh!
Stupid, Racist Boy

Fogerty Saturday Night; John Fogerty, George Thorogood and the Destroyers @ Family Arena 8/10 Concert Review

John Fogerty is one of those iconic voices of rock and roll and everyone knows his songbook from Creedence Clearwater Revival. Pound for pound in the short time-frame, Fogerty and CCR unleashed arguably the greatest run of songs. 1969 saw them release three albums chock full of hit singles and well known songs.

I was going to see him in 2018 Riverport with ZZ Top on Father's Day, but at the last minute I balked on buying tickets. I regret that now, as that was really ZZ Top with the three original members and less wear on Fogerty. But here in 2024, Fogerty is still out there rocking. And in late spring a date was announced at the Family Arena in St. Charles. It must have been late in the process as he was playing mostly outdoor sheds and indeed Five Finger Death Punch was at Riverport on this Saturday night. But this made my dad happy as we were inside versus the outside heat. Of course on this day, the highs were in the low 80s and it would have been a nice outside show.

We got there before it started filling up and looking on Ticketmaster, it looked like there was still a lot of open seats. Once the main acts started playing, it filled up better than 90% I would say. The crowd did definitley skew a lot older than some shows I've been to. But the people to the left of us never showed, so again I had nice spacing. In the presale, I got some in the second row, stage left. The only downside was the speaker stack obstructed the view. And of the two screens, one was behind us and up to the right and the one on the other side was partially obstructed by the lighting rig.

At 7 PM, the opening act Hearty Har took the stage for six songs and thirty minutes. This was a six piece that featured Fogerty's two sons. They have an eclectic sound, but very loud. There was 60's-70's Hippie vibes, electronic music and hard rock. They weren't bad, but loud and a little hard to follow. During the set change, we noticed they peeled the logo off of the drumhead and replaced it with Johny Fogerty. This led us to correctly surmise that they were going to be Fogerty's backing band.

Next up was George Thorogood & the Destroyers. Like Joan Jett this was an act whose songs and sound I liked an was always intrigued on seeing. After the 30 minute set change, Mr. Thorogood like Jona Jett, a few weeks ago, delivered the goods. Backed by a four piece including a sax player, the first notes brought out that blues and boogie sound. During the set change, two massive racks of speakers were brought out and placed on each side. My dad noted later that Thorogood's sound and mix was better than Fogerty's, whose sounded louder and muddied. Thorogood's was sharp and clear.

Thorogood's nine song set, clocking in at around an hour was well paced and he brought his bad boy image to work with the crowd. But it was sort laughable, still running a shtick when's he's in his 70s and been doing it for 40 years. Also he cleaned up his languague, to mother-humper, and used witch instead of bitch on Cocaine Blues. Not quite the bad boy, especially considering Fogerty used the term, "sons of bitches," during his encore speech.

But the variety of blues and rock was well played. He played almost all of his well known songs, including Haircut and One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. And he changed and ad-libbed quite a few lyrics, including in the latter to calling out Budweiser. And several shout-outs to St. Louis and Missouri. He knew where he was at and could deviate from the same show different city aspect.

After a half-hour set change, John Fogerty and his band took the stage with Bad Moon Rising a little before 9:30 for their 90 minute set. It was preceded with a video of Fogerty talking about getting his songs back. This was the reason for this tour, a celebration of Creedence songs and he mentioned it quite a few times throughout the night.

At almost 80, Fogerty still brought his engery dancing across the stage and putting his all into his songs. His voice is still pretty song, even though on some of the deeper voiced Creedence songs, he doesn't have that power he did at age 24.

Fogerty hit early with a salvo of Creedence and quick to change songs. Only on a few songs did he draw them out and jam. One of the dangers with so many hits is that running through them can make it sound like jukebox, paint-by-numbers feel. Thankfully the quick short burst of Creedence songs that's almost the point.

The middle part featured a run of lesser known songs that dragged down the feel. Most of the crowd sat for these songs. It definitley gave the highs and lows of the concert. I definitley prefer mixing and matching where there isn't such lulls. Unless going full acoustically for a run.

At one point telling a story he began with, "Way back in history. 3000 years ago...Well you know I'm quoting Chuck Berry there right?...We're practically in his back yard."

There was a few Creedence songs he didn't do. But even if he played all of Creedence's Chronicle, he'd have still missed a few songs. Only one I would have hoped to hear, was his solo Rocking All Over the World.

For highlights, definitley Cottonfields. I don't look at set lists except for set lengths sometimes or if they're artists who won't play the same set, same city same show. So that song was one I was really expecting. And of course the baseball anthem Centerfield.

He came back for the fake encore, with a champagne toast of getting his songs. And he did it by "outliving all those sons of bitches" record executives.

Overall a solid concert. Thorogood and Fogerty delivered what you wanted to hear. And as a bonus this wasn't Riverport. So only half the people trying to leave at the same time.

John Fogerty Set List

Bad Moon Rising
Up Around the Bend
Green River
Born on the Bayou
Who'll Stop the Rain
Lookin' Out My Back Door
Rock and Roll Girls
Effigy
Joy of My Life
Fight Fire
It Came Out of the Sky
Long As I Can See the Light
Keep on Chooglin'
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Cotton Fields
Centerfield
Down on the Corner
The Old Man Down the Road
Fortunate Son
---------------
Travelin' Band
Proud Mary

George Thorogood Set List

Rock Party
Who Do You Love?
Mama Talk to Your Daughter
I Drink Alone
House Rent Blues/One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer
Cocaine Blues
Gear Jammer
Get A Haircut
Bad to the Bone

Hearty Har Set List

Can't Keep Waiting
Calling You Out
Scream and Shout!
Radio Man '56
Say Something
Canyon of The Banshee
Boogie Man

Country! Rock! (Punk!) Pop! The Triple Moon Tour; Alanis Morissette, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Morgan Wade @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater 7/23 Concert Review

Alanis Morissette a few years ago went on a 25th Anniversary Tour of Jagged Little Pill in 2021. My now-wife pointed it out as a possible interesting concert (Garbage was also on the tour) to go see. I was interested, but at the time I didn’t really want to spend money or fully get back on the concert swing.

Fast-forward to last year when Morissette announced her Triple Moon Tour my interest was still there and with Joan Jett on the bill it crossed off another act I wanted to see and tickets were procured.

Jagged Little Pill takes me back nostalgically to 1996. We’d been listening to some of the album and my wife asked what kind of music is Morissette. I said, “I guess mainly a singer-songwriter in the Pop-Rock vein.” But those sounds of 1996, with grunge and alternative rock, with a bit of hip-hop production sounding are hard to beat.

Of course it was in the shed, known as the Hollywood Casino Ampitheater, aka Riverport, in the sweltering July heat of Missouri by the Missouri River. We arrived about an hour before the 7 PM start time and our seats were about 17 rows back in the center. The heat had me feeling miserable until the start time. My wife remarked that it seemed like we were at a feminist rally at one point. And naturally there was a strong female audience.

Opening act Morgan Wade, a countryish singer, played 6 songs for around half-an-hour. She was backed with a four piece band, who looked more like a classic rock cover band. The sound was muddled but she wasn’t bad. Her guitar did appear to be bigger than she was.

And being part of the country scene, she had to play the obligatory classic rock cover, with a mash-up of "Your Love/Jessie’s Girl". I don’t know why but almost every mainstream country concert I’ve went to over the last 15 years, almost all of the acts, but especially the opening acts, always play a classic rock cover.

After a fifteen minute or so change, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts took the stage. I was originally supposed to see her in 2015 as an opening act for the Who. But two postponements that year, pushed her off that bill.

Despite playing louder and harder, Jett’s playing and signing were the clearest of the three acts on the night. And she played loud, hard and fast. 15 songs in 50 or so minutes. She did a few introductions to songs and bantering with the crowd, but mainly kept the pedal to the mettle. One funny bit was she was asking the crowd how she was supposed to address them, “St. Louis?...Missouri?...No one calls it Maryland Heights right?”

She ended her set with the salvo blast with most of her well-known songs. I was glad to hear "Bad Reputation" before she left the stage. It looked like she had a song book, not a tablet she was using for aid.

The headliner, Morissette took the stage around 9:15 to probably my favorite song of her’s, "Hand in My Pocket". Through the first couple of songs, her voice was lost more in the mix and even some of the later ones. Definitley rocking a little on the harder side. And she was whirling around or even running around the stage several times throughout the night.

But she has the wonderful voice. Just her unique phrasings and inflections maker her one of the best singers out there. Hopefully it was all true with no vocal trickery and shenanigans.

Her set was still heavily focused on Jagged Little Pill, playing most of the songs, even if they were brief snippets. Honestly except for "Thank U", I’m not real familiar with her other songs. But Jagged Little Pill was a monster seller, six major singles and honestly, just one of the greatest album’s ever. I heard all the major songs I loved.

She took a brief four song detour to the B-Stage about twenty feet from where we were sitting, so we got a backwards view of the band for the mini-acoustic set. And for "Ironic" she brought up her daughter to sing the first couple of verses. And she changed the line, “After you meet his the man of your dreams and his wonderful wife,” to,“his wonderful husband.”

Overall she played roughly 18 songs with snippets of others thrown in. It was a great performance, and I enjoyed it. Definitely on the polished side, where it’s the same show different city.
But again with this being Riveport, the worst part of the evening was trying to leave the parking lot. We sat for an hour before firing up the car. This and the Jefferson City interchanges are the worst designs known to man.

Morgan Wade Set List

Domino
Total Control
Time to Love, Time to Kill
Take Me Away
Your Love / Jessie's Girl
Wilder Days

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Set List

Victim of Circumstance
Cherry Bomb
Do You Want to Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)
You Drive Me Crazy
If You’re Blue
Different
Fake Friends
Long Time
Androygnus
Everyday People
Love is Pain
I Love Rock and Roll
Crimson and Clover
I Hate Myself for Loving You
Bad Reputation

Alanis Morissette Set List

Hand in My Pocket
Right Through You
Reasons I Drink
A Man (snippet)
Hands Clean
Can’t Not (Snippet)
Lens
Sorry to Myself (Snippet)
Head Over Feet Forgiven (Snippet)
You Learn
Would Not Come (Snippet)
Smiling
I Remain (Snippet)
Rest
Mary Jane
Perfect
Your House
Ironic
Not the Doctor
Are You Still Mad? (Snippet)
All I Really Want
Sympathetic Character (Snippet)
You Oughta Know
--------------
Uninvited
Thank U

Bringing the Thunder; Metallica (Night 2) 11/5 Dome @ America's Center Concert Review

Arriving for night number two, we had a better game plan for parking, in addition to being on a Sunday night, helped make for a smoother entry into downtown. So much we arrived with an hour and a half to spare before the 6 PM start time. There was definitely more open seats and the guys that were to my left didn't stay but for maybe a part of the show. It was also unique seeing some of the same people. The guys next to us on the other side, talked about hitting up some of the Metallica pop up events over the weekend.
Ice Nine Kills took the stage and played for a little over a half an hour. They were all dressed in suits and their songs are inspired by horror films. They also featured theaterics, with several actors portraying scenes and the music. I'd classify them as sounding like EMO-Pop Metal. Again if I was more familiar with them, I might have enjoyed them more.
Then Five Finger Death Punch hit the stage and played for around 45 minutes. Their lead singer was similar to Pantea's, bald and working the crowd pretty heavy. But they had a bigger band, complete with someone on turntable and had more range in their songs and vocals. And their lead singer did address the crowd, asking they should be happy because, "The Chiefs kicked the Dolphin's ass today!"and he asked "Patrick Mahomes or Kurt Warner?" He at least he knew where he was at and his facts. I enjoyed them more than Pantera, but Nikki wasn't disapponted because they didn't sound like their records. We had a conversation on the way back on this topic, where I told her I prefer surprises, different songs and different arrangements as part of the live experience.
Metallica took the stage in similar fashion to Friday night, with the same two intro songs and about the same time. But tonight they brought the Thunder. The first quarter of the concert, the volume and drums seemed at a another level. And this was with still not having 100% of my hearing. They kind of tapered down through the rest of the set, but Lars was still pounding like a madman, or a mad conductor as Nikki called him. He was visibly sweating the rest of the night.
Again apart from the opening numbers, where they felt really on fire, again the 72 seasons numbers, including the title track and You Must Burn felt like the better numbers or the ones where they felt more passion for. Too during the title song, there was a mosh pit in front of us as well as some crowd surfing. Defintely matching the vibe from the power of the music
The Rob and Kirk jam was titled, St. Louis Freeze because, "It's cold here for a bunch of California boys like us. We're wimps." It was a pretty solid doodle and more bluesy than their normal routines. James Hetfield kept the banter to a minimum, adressing the crowd a few times and bringing his dad jokes. "How many of you like the new album? followed by, "About 15 of you all," when there was a cheer. And one time when Lars was having difficulty with his monitoring system, he joked that he must be changing his thong out.
As me and Nikki both talked about, we probably enjoyed night one a littler better, because we didn't know what to expect. With a no repeat weekend, you had a general idea what songs that weren't played Friday we were going to hear. It was close because the opening part of the concert the guys were on fire. But I definitely gained a greater appreciation of Metallica. Not that I'll become a metal-head though...


Riverfront Times Review


Metallica Set List
Whiplash
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ride the Lightning
King Nothing
72 Seasons
If Darkness Had a Son
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
You Must Burn!
The Call of Ktulu
No Leaf Clover
Wherever I May Roam
Moth Into Flame
Blackened
Whiskey in the Jar
One
Enter Sandman


Five Finger Death Punch Set List

Lift Me Up
Trouble
Wash It All Away
Jekyll and Hyde
Bad Company
IOU
Wrong Side of Heaven
Burn MF
Welcome toe the Circus
The Bleeding

Ice Nine Kills Set List

Rainy Day
Hip to Be Scared
Meat and Greet
Ex-Mørtis
Welcome to Horrorwood
Wurst Vacation
The Shower Scene
Stabbing in the Dark

The Metal Gods; Metallica (Night 1) 11/3 Dome at America's Center Concert Review

I'm not nor have I ever been a metal head. Generally the louder and the angrier, the less likely I am to listen to it. But my other half is and she wanted tickets when Metallica announced their M72 tour almost a a year ago, with a weekend in St. Louis at the Dome. And I opted to get the tickets that covered both the Friday and the Sunday show. It is a pretty different concept, only playing on the weekends and spending that weekend in the same city/venue, with different set lists and different opening acts.
When leaving Friday, I wasn't feeling the best, sinsues and weather changes and even on the way there I was doubting whether I could tolerate a show. But through the day after eating some tasty Lion's Choice and whatever clearing up, I definitely felt a lot better.
Of course it was 5 PM rush hour traffic and 50,000 people converging which made navigating downtown and parking a chore and gave us good distance to walk. (On the plus side, our parking place wound up being great in getting us out better).
We wound up plenty of time to spare before the 6 PM start. This was another first for me, as the Dome at America's Center was a concert venue I had never been to. Our seats were okay. 4 row in one of the lower sections. For whatever reason, the Dome didn't seem that big. Maybe it was sitting so low, but the perspective just didn't seem huge. Maybe the huge towers for Metallica's obstructed some of the grandeur. But the few other stadium's I've been in, seem bigger. And the narrow seats and metal bleacher floors weren't the most ideal for 5 hours.
Mammoth WVH took the stage around 6 PM and played for 30 minutes. The progeny of Eddie Van Halen sounded okay, but I haven't really listened to much of his band and he spent most of his set stationary, not taking advantage of the round walkway and playing on the stage area obstructed by one of the towers opposite towards my end of the stadium.
After a 30 minute set change Pantera, or a Pantera tribute band played for an hour. Without Dimebag Darrell, as far as I'm concerned it's not Pantera. Though it was awesome to see another master guitarist Zakk Wylde, even if from afar. But Pantera is the screamo metal that I really don't care for. Phil Anselmo played the crowd as much as he could, encouraging hands up, singing along, and liberally using the f-word as much as possible. But again while I was majorly unfamiliar with their music, it wasn't horrible. Nikki loved it though, except for getting used to the bass reverberating across your body.
An hour later the headliners took the stage after a double dose intro music of It's A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll) and The Ecstasy of Gold. The drums rose up from underneath a platform I'm guessing and they either move around under the stage/circular walkway, or they have multiple drum sets. It was neat because it let Lars Ulrich finish up in the stage area nearest to our seats. Likewise, the other principle members moved around to different positions through the concert. At one point Hetfield laughed, "There's too many microphones up here."
With a concert of this magnitude so much of it is scripted to keep the details right and the trains on time. There was pyro unleashed during Fuel, huge yellow and white M72 inflatable bouncy balls unleashed out of the towers during Master of Puppets and plenty of light shows and animated art sequences on the huge screens atop the towers. One guys job was to protect Lars at the drum set from the bouncy balls. Without being a major fan or honestly knowing their music like I should, it was hard to know what was added jam wise and what was spontaneous(speech and music wise)...
But I very much enjoyed the concert and the music. If it tells you anything, I have had their music and melodies going on in my head all day. I knew there was strong craftsmanship to their music, but seeing it live gave it more appreciation for me. Kirk Hammett is another guitar legend that deserves his praises. As for highlights, on the new song Lux Æterna, they seemed to have more of a fire and passion behind it, as well as seeing Master of Puppets, which Nikki was looking forward to.
And props for the band not to use the fake encore, though it looks like they play pretty close to the same set list for each 1st show at least. Hetfield's stage prescence wasn't overblown like Anselmo's was, in trying to pander to the audience. Of course that comes with experience and knowing the crowd was in their corner anyway. The band was throwing out pics and giving thanks to the audience as we were leaving, mentioning some of the previous excursions in St. Louis.
On to Night #2...


Review St. Louis Concert Review
Quincy Hearld-Whig Review

Metallica Set List

Creeping Death
Harvester of Sorrow
Holier Than Thou
The Memory Remains
Lux Æterna
Too Far Gone
Ktulu Burrito (Kirk and Rob jam)
Fade to Black
Shadows Follow
Orion
Nothing Else Matters
Sad But True
The Day That Never Comes
Hardwired
Fuel
Seek & Destroy
Master of Puppets

Pantera Set List

A New Level
Mouth for War
Strentgh Beyond Strength
Becoming
I'm Broken
Five Minutes Alone
This Love
Fucking Hostile
Walk
Domination/Hollow
Cowboys From Hell

Mammoth WVH Set List

Another Celebration at the End of the World
You're to Blame
I'm Alright
Like a Pastime
Take A Bow
Don't Back Down