Very Norm-Al; Weird Al Yankovic @ St. Louis Music Park 9/9 Concert Review

Weird Al Yankovic for people of a certain age was always at the zeitgest of popular culture and popular music. But without a record deal and the rise of YouTube with the millisecond attention span of society, he's not quite had the same impact the last decade. In fact before the show we weretalking with a cashier at a Goodwill store who was only 18 or 19, hadn't heard of him or his work at all. Then again as laughable as the pop culture scene is, it's also hard to out zany the artists in what they already do.

But my Weird Al golden period was 1996, at age 12 with Bad Hair Day. My wife was more of the time during 2006 and White and Nerdy. I had never seen Yankovic and when the tour was announced last Fall? I got my tickets to see legend.

And the venue was a first for me, the St. Louis Music Park, adjacent to Riverport to the south. An "outdoor" arena that was mostly covered. I wound up with seats on the left side near the center aisle 8 rows back. Overall a good view. And I'd say a pretty solid venue, which doubles as a hockey arena too.

The show started at 7:30 with Puddles Pity Party. The opening act a morose clown who crooned mauldin ballads. He preformed for around 40 minutes. Complete with video screens and using guests to help, his part was enjoyable and didn't overstay. The highlight for me was a mash up of Stairway to Heaven, with the Gilligan's Island Theme. He also appeared to have a Kevin Costner fetish, as almost every song used clips of Costner movie scenes. Assuming some kind of inside joke.

After a 15 minute break, barley enough time to make the restrooms and back, Al's band took the stage @8:20 to beging their two plus hour show. Al started to show singing Tacky backstage and working his way to the stage by the time the song ended.

He played several more songs, including Everything You Know is Wrong was an early highlight for me, bringing back the aforementioned memories of 199, before the first of several costume changes. These were complete with video interludes to keep the audience engaged as well as laughing.

Weird Al, like the pop stars he spoofs, has always been visual with his act. So, there's no surprise, like the mega pop acts, there's a bunch of choerography and costume changes. Unlike most acts it doesn't distract from the music. If pop stars do it, it's a gimmick. With Al, it always has been part of the complete package.

He worked through most of his well-known parodies(many in medley to hit the highlights), some originals and lesser known material. It was a fun entertaining show. Complete with two drum "solos" that were single beats. A performance of a song that played during the credits of his bio-pic and doesn't make sense outside of it (But we're going to play it anyway!"). An ask anyone in the audience for a request, and of course he asks the guitarist, and a cover of What is Life? is played.

The encore was Star Wars themed with The Saga Begins and Yoda complete with Star Wars characters brought on stage. All in all a fun time and I got to see another of artists I've always to see. That list has slowly dwindled into being very, very few that I'm interested in...

Weird Al Set List

Tacky
Mission Statement
Polkamania!
Everything You Know is Wrong
One More Minute
Smells Like Nirvana
Dare to Be Stupid
Party in The CIA/It's All About the Pentinums/Bedrock Anthem/My Bologna/Ricky/Ode to Superhero/I Love Rocky Road/Eat It/Like A Surgeon/Word Crimes/Canadian Idiot
Fat
Captain Underpants Theme Song
Now You Know
What is Life?
It's My World (and We're All Living in It)
Skipper Dan
eBay
Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me
White & Nerdy
Amish Paradise

------------------
We All Have Cell Phones
The Saga Begins
Yoda

Puddles Pity Party Set List

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
Come Cry With Me
Crazy Train/Message in a Bottle
Americana Day
Estoy Sentado Aqui
Stairway to Gilligan's Island
Let's Give Them Pumpkin To Talk About
My Heart Will Go On/Enter Sandman/One

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

Slow Hand; Eric Clapton 9/12 Enterprise Center Concert Review

Clapton is one of those giants of the classic rock era, that I'd never seen and when a St. Louis show was announced this Spring, it was an impulse decision to try and go. I didn't realize though, that it'd been since 2006 he'd played in St. Louis. Another factor as to why I'd never seen him. 

We got there with an hour before the scheduled 7:30 start time. This was my first show at Enterprise Center, since seeing the Who there in 2016. Nikki wasn't sure if she'd ever been there. Our seats were stage right, about 11 rows up almost in line with the stage. A good view, but the video screen was right above us, where we couldn't see detailed views. 

 Jimmie Vaughan, the opening act didn't hit the stage until 7:50 and played eight songs for roughly 40 minutes. `I saw Vaughan in 2007 when he opened for Dylan in Kansas City at the Starlight Theater. He had his Tilt-A-Whirl band with which included a three piece horn section. Not being a big blues fan or familiar with his work, I enjoyed his set a little more this time. Not being in the blistering sun probably helped. A funny bit was about halfway through, after looking at his set list, he got visibily agitated, and when the song was over, he kinda punched a whole in something on his music stand. 

Jimmie Vaughan

Clapton and his band took the stage right around 9 PM. I'd seen previous set lists of his, but hadn't looked at any on this short run. So I had a rough idea of how his concerts were set up and did see the headline on an article about his Toronto show having a couple of Robbie Robertson tribute songs, which he did the same here. 

Most of his set, was covers of blues songs or others. And most of them he's made his own or done his own recordings. It followed his general practice of playing 5 electric songs, then an acoustic set, followed by another electric set. Highlights for me were the laid back acoustic Call Me the Breeze, the opening of the 2nd electric set with Tearing Us Apart seemed really powerful (though probably after the acoustic set it just jumped out more), and hearing that guitar playing of Wonderful Tonight, which was pretty straight forward, was magical. I was just hoping to hear, Badge, but alas, it wasn't to be. 

He gave his seven piece band ample time to shine, which included Andy Fairweather Low on guitar and Chris Stainton on keyboards. Of course he took his share of guitar solos. One of the worst things about our seats and not seeing the video screens, was not being able to see some of his fretwork. 

For the encore, he brought Jimmie Vaughan back out and they played a cover of High Time We Went, with more opportunities for the backing band to shine and Paul Carrack, his organ player taking vocals. It was a crisp two hour, 16 song concert, for good or bad it felt like was over in a breeze. 

I knew Clapton was always the laid back bluesman, not overtly showy. Nikki's opinion was that his playing was good, but not enough excitement for her. He didn't address the crowd or have any banter, aside from a few shout outs to the artist he was covering and the polite Englishman, "thank you," after almost every song. And as such we didn't have to worry about standing. Aside from a few high points, and the enterances and exits, the crowd stayed in their seats most of the show. 

It was a fine show overall and I got to see another legend. Riverfront Times review

Jimmie Vaughan Set List

DFW
Roll Roll Roll
Dirty Work at The Crossroads
I Ain't Never
Just A Game
Baby, Please Come Home
Six Strings Down
Texas Flood
The Crawl

Eric Clapton Set List

The Shape I'm In
It Makes No Difference
Key to the Highway
Hoochie Coochie Man
I Shot the Sheriff
---
Driftin' Blues
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
Call Me the Breeze
Layla
Tears In Heaven
---
Tearing Us Apart
Wonderful Tonight
Crossroads Blues
Stormy Monday
Cocaine

Encore
High Time We Went

The Outlaw, the Golden Rock God and the Angelic Bluegrass Queen; Willie Nelson, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss The Outlaw Music Festival @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater 6/25 Concert Review

I had never seen Willie Nelson. Recounting to my dad on the way home, we should have went to see in 2005, with Dylan and Mellencamp on their minor league ballpark tour in Sauget, Illinois. But he was always just one of those people, I was never super amped to see. Hell, he even played at the Midway fairgrounds on the other side of Columbia in around 2010. But when this Outlaw Music Festival Tour was announced, with Robert Plant and Allison Krauss being a part of it, it scratched the itch for me to want to go. 

The festivities began at a little after 4 PM, with Particle Kid, which was Willie Nelson's son, Micah playing. Which, me and my dad weren't there for. We arrived for the last two mintues of Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway's set, who were the second act of the day. I hadn't been to Hollywood Casino Amphitheater or Riverport, since 2011 when I saw Brad Paisley there. And it was a scorching June day. Hence the not arriving til later in the festivites. And the Outlaw Music Festival site, had times which showed how long and when each act was playing. 

We did see all of Trampled by Turtles set.

They're a sextext in the Indie Bluegrass Americana vein. They jammed 14 songs into their one hour set. They weren't bad, but I was unfamiliar with them. They did a cover of Ooh Laa Laa and then were joined by Alan Sparhawk of Low, for two songs, including a cover of Low's, Days Like These. 

Then came Allison Krauss and Robert Plant with their fantastic backing band, which was my prime reason, for attending this concert. They played in Kansas City at the Starlight Amphitheater in early May, but I didn't want to risk a concert in the rain, as Starlight doesn't have a pavillion or covered seats. 

But in their 13 song set, 70 minute, which was almost perfect, they hit everything I wanted to hear. They hit the highlights from their two albums together, had some Zeppelin covers and some wicked musicanship. Stuart Duncan, a maestro is a part of the five piece backing band as well as JD McPhearson playing some hot guitar. The music is a rollicking blend of rock, blues, Americana, folk, bluegrass, roots, whatever you want to call it. 
Plant in dialouging with the audience, mentioned it 'being a bittersweet day, as it was Elton John's last performance at Glastonbury', made many to assume something had happened to Elton. 

And Plant's voice is still in great shapeat 70 plus. Combined with Krauss' amazing voice, you definitely want to see this pair if you can. 

Then after a 25 minute set change, Willie Nelson and the Family took the stage. Thankfully by then it was dark and the breezes flowing it made it very nice and cool. His son Micah joined him on guitar, along with Mickey Raphael his long-time harmonica player and another three members of the backing band. 
Willie played sitting down the whole time, but for age 90 his voice still sounded like it did 30 years ago to me anyway. And his guitar picking is still on point as well. 

During his 21 song, hour long set, he hit a good chunk of his hits and well known songs, let his son Micah take a few turns, played various covers and couple less known songs. Basically doing what Willie's been doing the last 50 years. I think a lot of it is probably autopilot for him, but again at age 90, it's amazing the level that's he's still preforming at. 

Upon leaving, the shitstorm of leaving Riverport, reminded me why I'm not fond of going to concerts there. It took almost an hour to get onto I-70, from getting out of the show a little after 10 PM. And with an I-70 detour, another 20 minute deviation on the way home. 

Trampled by Turtles set list

It's So Hard to Hold On

Annihilate

Nobody Knows

The Darkness and the Light

We All Get Lonely

All the Good Times Are Gone

Walt Whitman

Quitting Is Rough

Wait So Long

Midnight on the Interstate

New Son/Burnt Iron

Ooh La La

Days Like These 

Alone

Robert Plant Allison Krauss set list

Rich Woman

Fortune Teller

Can't Let Go

The Price of Love

Rock and Roll

Please Read the Letter

High and Lonesome

Trouble With My Lover

In the Mood/Matty Groves

Gallows Pole

The Battle of Evermore

When the Levee Breaks

Gone Gone Gone

Willie Nelson Set List

Whiskey River

Stay a Little Longer

Still is Still Moving to Me

Bloody Mary Morning

I Never Cared For You

(Die When I'm High) Halfway to Heaven

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

Everything is Bullshit

Good Hearted Woman

Georgia on My Mind

I've Been to Georgia on a Fast Train

I'll Love You til the Day You Die

Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die

Write Your Own Songs

Move It On Over

I Thought About You, Lord

Will the Circle Be Unbroken/I'll Fly Away

It's Hard to Be Humble

Ghosts of Springsteen Shows Past; Bruce Springsteen 4/18 Concert Review at the T-Mobile Center

I hadn't been to a concert since seeing Foreigner in August of 2019. COVID had a large part in helping with that. But as I've grown older, I've seen many of the acts I have wanted to and many are no longer with us. I really wanted to see The Rolling Stones in St. Louis, but a) not going to have a job in a few weeks after the show, made me balk and b) without Charlie Watts it felt a bit of a let down too. (I still kick myself for not going to see them at Arrowhead in 2015.) There have been a few others, but I just don't have the concert bug like I used to. Concert ticket prices haven't helped either. 

Which brings us to the Boss. Kansas City got an early date, when Springsteen announced his 2023 tour last summer and I was fortunate to get decent seats, side stagish about 18 rows back. But they were on the pricey side. More than double what I paid when I last saw him in 2016, at the same venue. 

And it's well documented the heat he has taken from fans for the dynamic and just in general astronomical prices. But it was the Boss who's never truly disappointed with shows. 

And I was lucky to make it to the show, as I came down with a cold/sinus/flu like stuff several days before(which turned out to be, surprise, COVID.) But the day of the show I felt strong enough and better to make the two and a half hour trek to KC (And not wanting to have wasted $700+) . My girlfriend and I got there well before the doors opened. Not feeling well, we didn't explore or do shopping like I wanted. Alas. 

The doors opened at 6 PM and the show was schuduled to start at 7:30. And compared to previous shows Springsteen was on the stage, by 7:45, compared to yesteryears where it was 45 minutes or later before the band struck up. And it was a packed house. There was a couple of empty seats in the row ahead of us. But the upper level was packed and nearly every seat I could see was filled. 

There was a strong opening salvo of No Surrender, Ghosts, Prove it All Night to lead off the festivities. Promised Land was one of the favorites that I was excited to hear. I'd heard him do it before in St. Louis in 2009, but its grown on me since then. 

This was my fifth time seeing him, and Patti his wife was absent again. I've never seen her. I guess she sticks to the bigger shows on the coast or new Jersey and skips flyover country. Jake Clemons was out with COVID. Bruce mentioned this during Ghosts, that "Jake was back in the hotel room eating barbeque and watching pornographic films.," and leading the crowd in a F-U-C-K C-O-V-I-D chant. And Ed Manion, "who's played horns with us for 40 years finally gets to come down front." 

And along with the E Street Band, there was a four piece horn section, a percussionist and four back up singers. 

Other highlights were hearing Johnny 99, which was reworked to add his backing horns time to shine. And finally getting Glory Days. And watching Max is always a joy. One of the best drummers around. And I love how if you watch him, he's singing along while playing. I know I mention that everytime in my reviews. 

As for the rest of the show, it was...okay. As a Springsteen fan I've probably been spoiled. It was a fine show, two hours and 45 minutes worth, but there was no surprises. It was pretty much the same set-list as every other city, but with two less songs and no tour debuts. One of the major things that drew me to his shows were the uniqueness he brought to every show. Different songs, audibles, sign requests, unique banter with the audience. There was very little of that. This felt like Taylor Swift or any other similar act, where every part was lined out, and it's just the same show, different city aspect. 

There might be several reasons for this. For starters, he is 73 and might not have the manicial energy he used to. Age catches up to his all. And he still brought the energy don't get me wrong. 

This is also an early date on the tour. Most times I've seen him, it's been on later legs, where he's started to tinker, get looser with set lists and not so locked-in. Looking at older tours, he usually kept a similiar set list on the beginnings then opened things up as the shows wore on. 

Tying into that, there might be an overarching theme, he's trying to go with. His last album Letter to You, was fraught with the themes of mortality and death and growing older. Obviously his entire catalogue deals with a lot of these thoughts and themes, but this set list seems to hit on many of these. 

And maybe the Springsteen on Broadway residency got him more into locked tight shows. There wasn't too much interaction with the audience. He gave intros to Last Man Standing and before the end of I'll See You In My Dreams, with the food bank request, that was the only dialogue. 

My girlfriend, who I tried to coach into listening to more of his songs, besides when stuck with me on the odd car ride, kinda lost interest early. She also sat most of the show! (I'm dating an old woman!) And she only recognized two of his songs. I've got some work to do with her. 

One of her comments was this was the whitest crowd she's seen. And just listening to some of the conversation of people around me, they were taking in multiple shows. Going to Tulsa show the next Tuesday. One guy was from Phoenix and had flew in for this show, and seen one of the Texas ones. 

This doesn't dispel the bad image Springsteen got from the Tickemaster and high tickets debacle, that only his diehard and rich white people are the only ones who can afford these type of shows. 

I did have a good time and if I'd never seen him before, would come away with a different feeling and opinion. I think the magic of his past shows are working against him with me. I'm still hoping for another leg of the tour in 2024 and a St. Louis date. But if there is, he'll definitely have to start changing it up more over the summer European festival dates and Fall US shows for me to go. I love Springsteen, but it is a pretty penny just to see the same show again. 

Set List

1. NO SURRENDER
2. GHOSTS
3. PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
4. LETTER TO YOU
5. THE PROMISED LAND
6. OUT IN THE STREET
7. CANDY'S ROOM
8. KITTY'S BACK
9. NIGHTSHIFT
10. THE E STREET SHUFFLE
11. JOHNNY 99
12. LAST MAN STANDING
13. BACKSTREETS
14. BECAUSE THE NIGHT
15. SHE'S THE ONE
16. WRECKING BALL
17. THE RISING
18. BADLANDS
19. THUNDER ROAD
20. BORN TO RUN
21. ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
22. GLORY DAYS
23. DANCING IN THE DARK
24. TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT
25. I'LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS

Why the Hell Not?; Foreigner with Night Ranger @ the MO State Fair 8/16 Concert Review

I had no intentions of going to this concert and had only been to the state fair once before a good 20+ years ago. But the perfect blend of events, led to a spur-of-the-moment decision to go.
Not having been sleeping well, I was in a cranky and tired mood, having been up earlier than normal. Then going into to work to find out that, we're only going to be there a few minutes to clean up. So, driving 30 minutes for about 30 minutes worth of work, didn't really help with that tired crankiness. (I could have stayed, but just wasn't in the mood). Then contemplating whether to go on a CoMo run or to go home, a co-worker brought up Foreigner playing that night at the State Fair. I thought, "what the hell, maybe a little music will cheer me up?"

Whether it was the adrenaline and excitedness of the spur-of-the-moment decision or the caffeine, by the time we hit I-70 my mood changed considerably.

We arrived with a little bit of time, but most of that was spent waiting in line for getting tickets. In the rush, I wasn't thinking I should have ordered on my phone. But we still managed to get in with time to spare. And got decent seats on the track.

Night Ranger hit the stage first playing 11 songs over 70 minutes or so. They were more enjoyable than I thought. I'm not big on 1980s music and hair metal types even more so. But they were fun, played fast and I guess it helped they played a smattering of cover songs of guys various members had worked with.

After a half-hour set-change, Foreigner came on and blasted away with hit after hit. It was pretty cool that they played a near perfect almost no-frills set list. Opening with Double Vision, they hit almost everything you'd want. (Of course my dad would have been pissed with them not playing Blue Morning Blue Day ). Nothing spectacular, but well worth what you paid in seeing these two acts. They played around 90 minutes with 12 songs. The only real filler was the keyboard and drum solos, but both were entertaining.

With only Mick Jones, as the sole original member, and he didn't enter until the fourth or fifth song, it almost feels like a grand Foreigner tribute band. But still fun nonetheless. It wound up being a pretty good day from the early day pissiness.

Another neat aside, during the set change I noticed former MU Men's Basketball coach and Sedalia native Kim Anderson was in attendance. In fact he was sitting in the same row, in the next section over from us.

Night Ranger Set List

Somehow, Someway
Four in the Morning
Sing Me Away
School's Out
Crazy Train
The Secret of My Success
Night Ranger

High Enough
When You Close Your Eyes
Don't Tell Me You Love Me
Sister Christian 
(You Can Still) Rock in America

Foreigner Set List

Double Vision
Head Games
Cold As Ice
Waiting for a Girl Like You
Dirty White Boy
Feels Like the First Time
Urgent
Keyboard and Drum Solos
Juke Box Hero
-------------
Long, Long Way From Home
I Want to Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded 

Country? Honky Tonk? Ameripolitan? Great Music; Dale Watson @ Rose Park Columbia MO 5/16 Concert Review

I've definitely gravitated away from music in general over the past few years. And live shows are no exception. I've seen most acts I've wanted to and many legends have left us. There are a few like, Neil Young, Shooter Jennings, that I'll always turn up for. But lately, it's gotta be somebody different or somebody that breaks from the mold.

My dad has always talked about wanting to see Dale Watson and there was an announcement for a CoMo concert at Rose Music Hall, and not at the crowded Roots 'N Blues Festival, it was a must. Alas my dad was in the fields, but I had my brother lined up to go in his place. And it wasn't like we wouldn't have been able to get tickets when we got there. With nice hot weather, they moved the show outdoors to Rose Park next door and also gives them the ability to see more tickets.

We got there with time to spare and finding a parking space easily. We noticed most brought their lawn chairs, and sat behind a dirt area in front of the stage. Me and my brother sit for a while and moved back behind the people in their lawn chairs, not sure of the protocol and not wanting to be the only ones standing around looking like dorks up front.

A little after 7:30 Dale Watson and his Lone Stars hit the stage. No dreaded opening act!  About a third of the way through the show, I made my way up front after a some people had filtered down front and my brother joined me bit later, after a beer run.

I'm not super familiar with many of Watson's songs and I didn't brush up like I should have before, but I love the sound, attitude and spirit Watson brings to his music. And it carries to his shows. He doesn't make a set list out beforehand, or so he says, and kind of wings it to audience or what they shout out. (I told my dad later, he should have went and he could have gotten the songs he wanted to hear)

Not being familiar and no comparable set lists, I can only piece together some songs he played. He played around 25-26, including a four song encore, over and an hour and 45 minutes,while also throwing in several hilarious jingles/ads for Lonestar Beer. There was a nice mix of his more well-known songs, covers and everything. He also brought his girlfriend, Celine Lee, to duet on several songs, which gave a nice change of pace and added something different.

The only minor complaint was while the three piece band and Watson were tight and knew their stuff, with the same format; electric guitar, stand-up bass, pedal steel and drums, throughout there was sort of sameness feeling. But even then Watson, runs the gamut, from country, honky-tonk, western swing, truly his vision of Ameripolitan music.

And the crowd was very low-key. Maybe being outside, slightly older and having enough room made for the experience. And not having douchey college kids or "cool country" kids there was a plus.

After the show was over, Watson positioned himself at the exit, and took selfies, and shook hands. The most hilarious thing, was Watson himself figuring out how to work a man's camera to take a picture, after the owner was having trouble doing so. I shook his hand and thanked him for a great show. I would have stuck around for an autograph, but they took our tickets when we entered.

Dale Watson is a definitely an act you should see if you like country music. Well real music that is, not the fluffy pop stuff of Maren Morris and bro-country. Definitely an artist I'd have no problem seeing again.

Songs Played (That I Can Remember) In Random Order

Call Me Lucky
Tupelo, Mississippi & a '57 Ford Fairlane
I Lie When I Drink
A Real Country Song
Blessed or Damned
Flowers In Your Hair
The Dumb Song
David Buxkemper
Mama's Smile
That's How I'd Miss You
Truck Stop in La Grange
South of Round Rock, Texas
Give Me More Kisses
Jonesin' For Jones
I Hate These Songs
Mama's Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up to Be Babies
Exit 109
38-21-34 ? 
Johnny & June
Long Legged Guitar Picking Man
Jackson
You're the Reason Our Kids are Ugly
Silver Wings
Bubbles in My Beer