Thursday, October 5, 2006

Thursday Thirteen v.4

Thirteen Great Evenings of Entertainment

1. Gov't Mule - Electric Factory, Philadelphia, October 10, 2003. The first and best Mule show I ever saw, (up to 5 and counting) and still one of the top 3 all-time, which you will see, is a tough nut to crack. Matt Abts might be the best drummer ever. If you've never heard them, trust me...

2. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Philadelphia, April 7, 1974. My first rock show. Quadraphonic sound and Brain Salad Surgery. Great showmen of the "progressive era".

3. Journey/Ronnie Montrose/Van Halen - Tower Theater, March 24, 1978. The extraordinary thing about this show was that it was Van Halen's first national tour. We were in the presence of greatness when Eddie played, and Ronnie is no slouch, either. During an acoustic song, someone yelled out, "Turn it up!" to which Ronnie replied, "It is up!"

4. Laurie Anderson - Tower Theater, March 1, 1986. Mrs. Lou Reed is a great monologist and has such interesting ways to present her material, we sat in rapt amazement for 2 hours. That, and she plays a violin-tape player that she bows with recording tape.

5. Michael Hedges. Every show. I saw Michael six times and each one was better than the last. As Steve Vai said, "No one on God's green Earth plays the guitar like Michael Hedges." Sadly, he died in a car crash in December of 1997 at the age of 43. I saw him last at the Seaport Museum in Philly two weeks before he died. Sadly, we can't hear him in person any more, but thankfully there are still CDs and video.

6. Jerry Seinfeld & Carol Leifer - Wilmington, DE, March 12, 1988. What can I say? It's Jerry, before the big TV show and Carol, who I think was the model for Elaine.

7. Frank Zappa - Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA, May 10, 1980. The band never stopped playing for 2 hours. Frank rapped, the band played. No breaks - the musical equivalent of a soccer game, only much more exciting. It's one of those events I was glad to see before Frank ... you know.

8. Melanie - Philadelphia, May 26, 1978. A gifted songwriter and unappreciated in her time. She played so long, she ran out of material and wound up repeating one for the encore. A charming woman whose music matured from Woodstock to the 1980s.

9. Dave Matthews Band - Madison Square Garden, NYC, December 10, 2005. Many DMB shows, and I picked this one for the outrageous rendition of "Louisana Bayou" with Robert Randolph on the pedal steel guitar.

10. Fiona Apple - Camden, NJ, July 28, 2006. The most emotional and engaging night of music ever. A close second to the Mule show for number one all time. She gives so much to her music and her passion shows. I wanted to go to the Borgata show the following night, but I was in Connecticut at another DMB show.

11. King Crimson - Tower Theater, October 30, 1988. Two shows, 7pm and 10pm. If you never saw them, you missed out on a special event - or two. Bill Bruford vs. Matt Abts for best drummer ever, in my book. I think it's Bill.

12. DEVO - Tower Theater, February 23, 1979. The icons of the era. Complete with film, narration and flower-pot hats.

13. Talking Heads - Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ; November 5, 1979. Scrunched up close to the stage, once again in the presence of greatness, in a building that was once a disco and is now a Subaru office building. I'll bet the walls vibrate every once in a while.

HONORABLE MENTION: David Letterman (1981), Robert Klein (1980), Franken & Davis (1980), Elvis Costello (1981), Yes (1979), Peter Gabriel (1978), Linda Ronstadt (1978), Jethro Tull (1978), Chris Cornell (1998).
Before you ask, yes, I save ticket stubs, and most of the shows I listed cost less than $10.

14 comments:

Tug said...

Wow. Awesome list! Journey will always be...just yeah. Awesome.

Happy TT!

Gattina said...

Not yet fully clear this morning I saw Gov't Mule and red it twice ! Mule means donkey in french and then it makes quite another sense ! Lol

Colleen said...

Would it make you feel bad if I told you that I wasnt even alive yet when you went to some of those?? LOL!

Happy TT!

Laura said...

may i repeat what an awesome list!
my tt is up

Anonymous said...

you've been to quite a few. i don't think i even have thirteen total...

Carmen said...

the dave matthews band performed in my college town for years before they made it big. Dave Matthews made a big deal out of sleeping with all the first year women (how'd I miss out on that).

Candy Minx said...

Wow, what an incredible variety and history of concerts and performances. I am so blown away. Talking Heads! Elvis Costello! Frank Zappa!!! Wow.

I have seen Gov't Mule, my boyfriend loves them and sees them whenever they come to Chicago. I saw them in the spring and they did an awesome cover of Karma Police by Radiohead.

I have also seen Dave Matthews on eof the best shows I've ever see too.

Here is my TT list, it's about being goth...

http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2006/10/13-things-about-being-goth.html

Crazy Fat Chick said...

What a list. I think I have been to 3 concerts in my life and I doubt I can remember anything more than who it was I saw. You have a great memory!

TT#2 is up.

Kate Michele said...

Wow you get around!! I don't know who some of them are...but I will look them up!!

Heather said...

We listened to some of Laurie Anderson in a music class in college, interesting stuff!!

Sounds like a great list of wonderful entertainment, wish I was there for some of them!!

-atomik kitten said...

Wow...two and three are before my time (four years for 2 and six months for 3).

Kate Michele said...

Wow Anthony...they're teaching the music you listened to in Colleges now??? Hmmmmm..... ***snicker, snicker****

Anthony said...

I know, Kate. I feel both flattered and Old. :)

Meira{FB} said...

I've been to a beach boys concert, Umm not sayin what year.

Then I got married. Had kids. Oh, yeah I did get to go to a Tim Mcgraw/Faith Hill concert a couple years ago.

You've been to some good ones!