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.