Thursday, April 24, 2008
NEW PHOTOS JUST POSTED:
Ricky Scaggs and Bruce Hornsby and Kentucky Thunder are just below.
ASIA from two shows are below Scaggs & Hornsby; the close-ups (like this one!) from the Wilkes-Barre show are way way under the Harrisburg show. Keep scrolling, friends until you see my friend Jennifer Clarke!
Thanks for your patience. Click on any image to enlarge.
Stay tuned for more music mentations, soon!
Zeph, out
NOTE:
SCROLL DOWN
BELOW ALL THESE SHOW PHOTOS FOR THE REVIEW AND STORY OF THE RICKY SCAGGS AND BRUCE HORNSBY SHOW!!!
SCROLL WAY WAY DOWN FOR NEWLY POSTED (4-24-08) PHOTOS FROM TWO SHOWS OF ASIA in concert, especially the Wilkes-Barre show (up and close!).
Labels: Skaggs and Hornsby
Skaggs & Hornsby
19 April 2008
Wilkes-Barre, PA USA
click on any image to enlarge
Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby In Concert 19 April 2008 Wilkes-Barre, PA USA
click on any photo to enlarge
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Ricky Scaggs & Bruce Hornsby
In Concert, 19 April 2008
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Dear Readers,
Let it be said I love music...any music...except some opera...OK except 99% of opera. Now, Bluegrass does not turn me on half as much as Rock, but the Bluegrass, with a side of jazz/pop served up by Ricky Scaggs and Bruce Hornsby this evening was lovely and long, comfortably. See most Bluegrass tunes are short, so you got alot of them. However with Hornsby (a "hot piano player" according to Scaggs on stage), on the keys...well you get the picture. More than a few jams, all delightful, sprinkled over the proverbial soup were enjoyed by all.
Note also I list Scaggs first. The venue, the Kirby Center listed Hornsby first (perhaps to sell tickets to a larger audience). But folks, Scaggs sang lead on the first few numbers, stood center stage all night (with Hornsby behind the piano to his right, slightly back) and it was Scaggs surrounded by the other players, (acoustic stand-up bass, and three guitarists) to make up Kentucky Thunder (with only one member actually being from Kentucky!). The eight musicians gelled flawlessly, and the rhythmic interaction (downright spell binding at times) between Scaggs on mandolin and Hornsby on piano was as natural as it seemed regimented.
Of course we did hear a few "Bruce" numbers (the crowd cheered "BRUCE!" incessantly; I thought that was only for Springsteen?). In fact the easiest way to tell if you were about to hear a Hornsby hit, was a 100% chance you'd hear a long solo piano intro feeding into the more recognizable chords of Mandolin Rain, The Valley Road, or the undeniable show-stopper, The Way It Is.
The Way It Is, was performed very early in the show. It lead to the most genuine standing ovation, and was so lovely (even in it's Bluegrass version) that it brought a tear to my eye. It would have made a better encore, or last song before the encore. Oh well, they did perform another favorite of mine (from the Skaggs/Hornsby CD...with the names in that order on the label), Superfreak, (yes Rick James gone Bluegrass...) as the last tune before two forgettable but foot-stomping encores.
One quibble, is just before the first encore I was able to sneak right up to the stage, and yell my suggestion for Night On The Town, as the ultimate encore. Hornsby looked me right in the eye and said from the piano, "that's not this tour!" Gee whiz, piano-man! Better luck next tour, I suppose.
But I was lucky...not quite as lucky as the brave souls who accepted the invitation to "stomp" on stage for a number early in the show (I have pictures of you all I am going to post in a few weeks, stay tuned, as well as pictures of two ASIA shows....they are worth waiting for, as well as pictures of this show of course). So my advice is if you see this tour, get brave and you too can share the stage with 8 world class musicians.
Oh, how was I lucky...well besides sitting next to an eternally special person...I got to shake hands with both Mr. Scaggs and Hornsby. I told them both, "You rock!" And I meant it.
Just don't expect a Hornsby show; it's a Scaggs/Bluegrass with a little Hornsby lovingly mixed in. No drums, no electric keyboard, and alot of enjoyable stomping. With that....
Bottom Line: 4.5/5 stars. Reminder stay tuned for pictures of this show and the 2 Asia shows discussed below.
Zeph, out
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
ASIA
In Concert
The Whitaker Center
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania USA
7 April 2008
OK, seeing the same group, even super-group twice, only a few days apart (see the Wilkes-Barre review below) seems a bit much, but when I look back to the first reunion of Crosby Stills Nash and Young in 1974, I wish I had seen more than two of those shows...so when the best sound man in the middle of Pennsylvania (let's call him "Joe") with only a bit of an hour to make the curtain time, told me Asia was playing just around the proverbial corner from where I was lodging, I just had to go. Many thanks also to the best insurance person in that colony for convincing me to run to the box office, and equal thanks to whomever turned in the seat I occupied at the last minute (right in front of my eyes), so my buttocks could be nice and comfy and with great vision of the boys, once again!
So, the show was song for song the same as the Wilkes-Barre line up. But there were a few oddities. First the gentleman who introduced the show bragged that it was the "first show of their American tour," to which many of us who knew the band from the other side of the stage said, "WRONG-oh!" Then he corrected himself, and said "I meant the first Pennsylvania show of the tour..." Wrong again, Chuckles! But we laughed it off. To be precise, and we were, it was the second Pennsylvania show and the third show in the USA...but who is counting.
Another great performance was witnessed by your faithful writer. In particular the flawless rendering of Roundabout (and so many other songs) by Steve Howe, the herculean drumming and devastating drum solo by Carl Palmer, the vocal stamina of John Wetton with his rapid-fire bass lines, the unrelenting keyboards by Geoff "Buggle" Downes, were all there. This proves to me at least ASIA in concert these days is a consistent super group by any standard.
Now, the crowds were indeed very different. The Harrisburg folks came alive early in the show, on their feet for much of the first half. Palmer came out behind the drum kit to announce (like he had in W-B) that "we were told we have to take an intermission." The break was well deserved, and a chance to push the CDs, DVDs, Ts and even posters of course. And then, the second half started up with an eruptive rendition of ELP's version of the classic Fanfare for the Common Man...and the audience seemed to inexplicably calm down! Well, calm may be a strong word for a rock show, but you get my drift.
I was personally looking forward to the lunacy and pomposity of Video Killed the Radio Star by Geoff "Buggles" sporting his silver jacket and wild shades...and the crowd was nearly still, even overly polite! Moreover, when the first notes of their last song Heat of the Moment, (before encores of Don't Cry and Sole Survivor), the crowd did not stand up right away. They didn't even clap much. Howe in particular seemed perplexed as they shot their biggest gun and it seemed to fizzle... But we did love it! And as the song seemed to come to a close, the Harriburg team finally got on their feet and sang along and stomped and screamed for an encore.
Delightfully, the audience went absolutely wild during the encores. And many hung out for a short time after the show, and we all were in awe of the raw talent, no expertise of the four original members of ASIA. This was shown in particular by the even longer line at the merchandise table after the show, as the crew were breaking down the set.
Now here's a possible exclusive. "Joe, " a well placed enough insider to see Carl Palmer topless after the show (he sweats up two shirts during the performance, one Nike the other Adidas!), heard the band would have been signing posters and CDs after the show if they didn't have a long drive (it's only 2 tops 3 hours) to Virginia that night. So maybe just maybe, if you catch this tour, and hang for a while (by the stage), the boys will come out to sign stuff for you. They didn't for those at the Harrisburg show, and I didn't know about the possibility of this happening at the Kirby Center up north the other night. A word to the wise should be enough.
Bottom Line, once again: 5/5 stars....don't miss this tour (and bring good ear plugs, they are loud!)...stay tuned for photos (I have them from both shows)...but won't be able to post for a few weeks (probably with my Asia Phoenix CD review). Addendum: I'm posting photos as shown (24 April 2008), with each show review, to keep the words and pictures together! Thanks for your patience! See the NEW close-up Wilkes-Barre ASIA photos just added below! Click on any picture to enlarge.
ALSO: If you are looking for Jennifer Clarke/Michael Bolton's show/review/pix, do go back to the November 2007 pages in the archives!
Zeph, out
PS: check out the venue at whitakercenter.org
it's a nice little multi-level theater, and they do Imax (the new U2 flick was on the menu).
Labels: ASIA In Concert
Friday, April 04, 2008
(click on any image to enlarge)
ASIA
In Concert, 4 April 2008
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania USA
Asia, with original members (constantly reminded me by the pre-show PR), literally blew away all those in attendance, choosing to kick off their 2008 USA tour in Pennsylvania. In no uncertain terms, it was a guitar and percussion clinic for experts. Steve Howe (of YES fame also of course), look gaunt, and almost a tad older than
you'd expect to be rocking the way he does, but played magnificently. And I noted only a rare "English" on the guitar, with the exception of the acoustic 6 and 12 string simulator on his one trusty electric on a stick (so he could do the intro to Roundabout and a few others); the man is a master. Carl Palmer (also of Emerson, Lake and...), showed us how the best drummer working today (or any day) does it. He played his bunions off, period.Geoff Downs kept the keyboards flowing all night without showing off at all (well, maybe a bit with his Roland AX-7 portable that resembles a guitar); John Wetton played a very competent bass guitar and occasional acoustic guitar and sang his heart out all night, taking lead vocals on every freakin' song! He even did justice to the sonic hyperspace set by Jon Anderson (of YES of course), on Roundabout.
They played a two set show, maybe 70 minutes each set. Intermission was used to hawk copies of the new Phoenix CD (first new studio album in 25 years, man...) and the obligatory T shirts that were overpriced and won't be worn again...but I digress.
I got a few photos from up close (against house policy...tough toenails boys!), and I'll publish them here at the end of the month.
Suffice it to say a GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL.
It was not punishingly loud. The crowd behaved itself. Moreover many thanks to the people in the middle of the first few rows who actually sat down, so others could see during the encores (last one being Sole Survivor). That's courtesy.
Don't miss this tour...and when I get my copy of Phoenix, you'll hear about it. What they played from it tonight simply rocked!
Bottom Line: 5/5 stars....they still got it, long may they rock!
Zeph, out
PS: if you can't see this show, try the live 2 CD set recorded in Tokyo...it's similar and available on DVD too...
