U2 360 in Chicago! Opening Night of the North American Tour

Words are hard to come by when describing the incredible concert that we had the pleasure of witnessing on Sept. 12 in the heart of the USA - Chicago, IL on Soldier Field. It was a thrill to finally see the band U2 and be honored by their love of music, love of their fans, and love for the world. I'll post some pics shortly but here's the set list which was simply perfect. There are few songs that I would have added but a perfect mix of albums & an amazing re-creation of their latest album!

U2 has been a band that I've always enjoyed but fell in love with during the Joshua Tree era, and this love was reignited for Achtung Baby (still my favorite U2 album). It took me awhile to get into Zooropa & Pop and so didn't end up seeing them when they played Winnipeg (a huge regret) but I actually really enjoy both of those albums now. I enjoyed All That You Can't Leave Behind & Vertigo but I really like where they are exploring musically now and I'm hoping their next album will continue to push the envelope.

1 Breathe
2 No Line on the Horizon
3 Get On Your Boots
4 Magnificent
5 Beautiful Day/Blackbird (Beatles snippet)
6 Elevation
7 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/Stand By Me (Ben E. King snippet)
8 Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
9 Unknown Caller
10 The Unforgettable Fire
11 City Of Blinding Lights
12 Vertigo
13 I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
14 Sunday Bloody Sunday/Oliver's Army (Elvis Costello snippet)
15 Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16 MLK
17 Walk On/You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
18 Where The Streets Have No Name

Encore
19 One
20 Bad/40 (snippet)

Second encore
21 Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
22 With Or Without You
23 Moment of Surrender

Coldplay Concert Review & Set List Winnipeg MTS Centre

An Intro:

The day after we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary - my Wendy & I had the amazing opportunity to see Coldplay in concert at the MTS Centre. This is my attempt at capturing what Wendy called the most entertaining concert she's ever been at and I'm willing to back her up on that. Coldplay is one of those bands that is getting better with age - I first was exposed to them with their Parachutes offering thanks to my cousin's hubby who has a similar taste in good music.

As a musician myself - I am quite picky with what music I purchase & consume but Coldplay fit easy into my music collection with its strong U2 influence, positive but reflective lyrics, great rhythm section, grooving bass lines, and layered, melodic guitar riffs - not to mention the emotive croonings of a lead singer by the name of Chris Martin!

The Review:

The show started out with a giant 10' orb which started to pulsate a deep blue glow - the band appeared on stage behind a shadow box type screen and ran across with sparklers - their first song began - the instrumental Life in Technicolor and then dived into the powerful Violet Hill.

This band knows how to transition & build their setlists. They had us as an audience right from the beginning and took us all the way to the encore - there wasn't really any time to get bored - they took their responsibility as musicians & entertainers seriously. As the setlist progressed - the lighting changed with the orb becoming a video screen, red laser lights pierced the darkness with the powerful song Clocks and suddenly the show's intensity increased. By In My Place the band was in top form - ready to take on the song that was their doorway to fame from the Parachute era - Yellow!

Suddenly giant yellow balloons filled with confetti entered the arena and the audience excitedly played a game of catch & throw with at least 20-25 of them - and the entire arena was lit up with golden lights.

Chris popped one of the final balloons with the head of his guitar at the end of the song - showering the front stage & first rows in confetti. The man knows how to smile & celebrate the gift of music!

The next song Glass of Water - the atmosphere again changed as 5 more video orbs were lowered from the lighting rig above the band. And the band kept chugging away into Cemeteries of London and then seamlessly transitioned into 42 with a retro black & white movie flickering screen as a background.

The song that makes every girl swoon Fix You started out with Chris Martin on a mournful organ - he knows how to play his keys on top of singing his heart out!

The audience was one with this song and was followed by the song Strawberry Swing which had everyone clapping in unison with the kick drum.

We had great seats for the show but were admittedly a little jealous of the other side of the arena - as the band walked over to a mini stage that was designed to look like a lit-up disco dance floor. And they started into one of my favorite songs God Put A Smile On My Face - only a more techno/disco version of the song. Not exactly an intimate rendition of the song but quasi-intimate if that makes any sense? They played a reworked version of Talk and then headed back to the main stage for a solo piano rendition of The Hardest Part - I think this song was more intimate & touching than Fix You.

Again the band is a marvel at transitions and they went big with the song Viva La Vida complete with Timpani - gotta love big drums! I'm a bass player so you know I love a good rhythm!This was followed by Lost! also a great song from their latest CD offering.

Now I wasn't expecting more intimacy at this point but suddenly all four members walked off the stage down the aisle and up the stairs to a hidden stage at the back of the arena and did an acoustic-y version of Green Eyes and a little song they made up that referenced our love of the Winnipeg Jets (somebody did some research - thank Wikipedia I guess) - of course getting the crowd riled up! And then topped the acoustic set with The Monkees hit - I'm A Believer and invited the crowd to a cellphone mexican wave around the arena! I heard people murmur - hey that looks like blue fireflies - cool I've never seen that! This band has class and they adore their audience to go the extra mile to set up these mini-stages where they actually interact with their crowd!

I'm not sure if you call the next part their first encore but they had to run around to get backstage and so the PA played a techno version of Viva La Vida until the band was ready to take the audience into the powerful song Politik - one of the highlights of the show for me because they go so big with it! Big drums, strobe lights, layered guitars - big, big, big!

Again - a great transition into Lovers in Japan - and the band & audience is showered by confetti shaped like neon butterflies - I can't imagine the clean-up crews look at that point! But wow - what a show! It just kept showering down throughout the song! I love this song as well - great imagery on the screen that tied nicely with the lyrics. The band ended the set with Death & All His Friends and again were British gentlemen with thanks to the audience, bows, and were really genuinely enthusiastic about their crowd!

Of course Winnipeg brought them back with applause for the second encore of The Scientist & Life in Technicolor II.

And with that the show ended and the crowd exited the building to be graced with a gift from the band - a live 9 song EP Left Right Left Right Left. This band adores its fans and of course we love them back!

I should make a quick note about the opening bands. I really wasn't familiar with the opening band The Howling Bells but apparently they hail from the land down under - Australia and they had a few songs that stuck out but really we all know the audience was their for Coldplay. Chris Martin recommended the audience download their song Nightingale. The Scottish band Snow Patrol actually had a really good set but it seemed they really had to work at winning over the crowd and did so with the songs: Hands Open, Run & of course the crowd favorite Chasing Cars in their 9 song set-list (short & sweet).

Here's the setlist for Coldplay:

1. Life in Technicolor
2. Violet Hill
3. Clocks
4. In My Place
5. Yellow
6. Glass of Water
7. Cemeteries of London
8. 42
9. Fix You
10. Strawberry Swing
11. God Put a Smile on Your Face (techno)
12. Talk (techno)
13. The Hardest Part
14. Viva La Vida
15. Lost!
16. Green Eyes
17. Death will Never Conquer
18. I'm A Believer (The Monkees cover)
Encore:
19. Politik
20. Lovers in Japan
21. Death and All His Friends
Encore 2:
22. The Scientist
23. Life in Technicolor II

Note: pics taken on a tiny point & shoot digital - so not art but taken for memory's sake.

Bob Dylan Concert - 11.02.08

For whatever reason - my Sunday only really started at 7:45pm when Dylan walked onto the stage at the MTS Centre. I suppose the time-change messed up my wiring because I was dragging my feet until the show started. Wow. WOW! Bob Dylan and His Band simply blew my preconceptions away.

That's right - Mr. Dylan playing some gee-tar!

I was expecting his voice to be somewhat mumbling & rambling but whoever was doing sound was spot on - his voice was perfect and musically the band was tight. Some of the songs listed below were completely reinvented - which is typical Dylan I'm told and I wish I could get some recordings of it.
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right had these amazing guitar parts that reminded me of a modern Moonlight Sonata (I joked with my sister who joined me for the show that Dylan had written that too).
My personal favs included: Don't Think Twice,Highway 61, I Still Believe, Ain't Talkin, Thunder on the Mountain, and the two closing numbers in the encore totally rocked - Rolling Stone & All Along The Watchtower! So there ya have it - I once again witnessed a legendary musician. It's been a good year of live music for me!
Setlist:
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. The Times They Are A-Changin'
3. The Levee's Gonna Break
4. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
5. 'Til I Fell In Love With You
6. Simple Twist Of Fate
7. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
8. I Believe In You
9. Desolation Row
10. Blind Willie McTell
11. Summer Days
12. Nettie Moore
13. Highway 61 Revisited
14. Ain't Talkin'
15. Thunder On The Mountain
Encore:
16. Like A Rolling Stone
17. All Along The Watchtower

Bob Dylan "prancing" on the stage...you go Mr. Zimmerman!

Band Members
Bob Dylan - keyboard, guitar, harp
Tony Garnier - bass
George Recile - drums
Stu Kimball - rhythm guitar
Denny Freeman - lead guitar
Donnie Herron - viola, banjo, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel

Concert Review: Neil Young with special guests Death Cab For Cutie & Everest

Well - another great show at the MTS centre on Oct. 16, 2008. Not as great seats as we had for Sheryl Crow but it was great to have a hometown legend like Neil back in the Peg. I could have done without two opening acts personally - even though I enjoyed Everest's sound (vocals reminded me of Paul Simon) and Death Cab For Cutie were brilliant but better suited as a feature act. Their set was short & sweet with most of my favorites. Here's a review from the Winnipeg Free Press and a few other links here & here.

Here is the setlist for those interested in Neil Young's show - a great mix of grunge-y rockers, some acoustic classics, and everything in between. Highlights for me were Cortez, Cinnamon Girl, Mother Earth, The Needle, Unknown Legend, Heart of Gold, & Old Man. I was hoping for Harvest Moon but was impressed with the great mix of old, in between, & new.

1. Love And Only Love
2. Hey Hey, My My
3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. Powderfinger
5. Spirit Road
6. Cortez The Killer
7. Cinnamon Girl
8. Oh, Lonesome Me
9. Mother Earth
10. The Needle And The Damage Done
11. Unknown Legend
12. Heart Of Gold
13. Old Man
14. Get Back To The Country
15. Just Singing A Song
16. Sea Change
17. When Worlds Collide
18. Cowgirl In The Sand
19. Rockin' In The Free World

Encore:
20. A Day In The Life

Concert Review: Joe Satriani with special guest Mountain

Well - it appears my blog has become a concert review site. Last time I saw Joe Satriani was in 1990 - fast forward to 2008 and my same thoughts re-appeared - I clearly am not worthy of playing a stringed instrument compared to Satch. Not only can he shred effortlessly - his melodies & tone are unmatched! He played my favorite classics like Ice 9, Always With Me/Always With You (played at our wedding), Surfing With The Alien, Time Machine, Flying in a Blue Dream, One Big Rush, and some new ones like: the showstarter - I Just Wanna Rock (not my favorite but appropriate to open with to a crowd going), Asik Vaysel - really neat sound to this one!

I won't claim ownership of this pic but it captures well two legends!

I had no idea who the opening act Mountain was until clicking in while playing Rockband that Mississippi Queen was their song! Both Corky Laing & Leslie West of Mountain were entertaining but were joined by perhaps the most annoying bass player I have ever seen. He was a good player but seemed to think his 5 braids at the top of his head were a circus act as he twirled them repeatedly. Corky - apparently from Montreal - entertained the audience by firing about 40 drumsticks into the audience towards the end of their set. Leslie is still an accomplished vocalist & guitar player but has no clue about starting songs smoothly - his solos were cooking but intros & endings were brutal.

Satriani clearly was who most people came to see and my jaw was on the floor consistently...it was good to see Stuart Hamm back Joe up on bass. Very inspirational player - although he seems to have aged the most between the two. Joe is 52 years old and Stu 48 apparently but I would have sworn it was the reverse.
I still have my concert ticket stub from July 13/1990 - $24.75 at the Concert Hall. Ticket prices apparently have sky-rocketed with this show at Burton Cummings Theatre ringing in at $45 not including taxes & entertainment fees. Having said that - compared to Tom Petty and some of the other shows - that's cheap!
I haven't found a good setlist for the show - if I find one I'll post it! Here's another review of the show.

Sheryl Crow Concert - 9/27/08

It seems Wendy & I have become regular concert goers as of late. We had amazing seats for the Sheryl Crow concert - 5th row on the aisle in line with the stage in the 106 section - basically about 30 feet away from center stage. She definitely is a great entertainer, musician and interacted well with the Winnipeg audience. The favorites were definitely her classic tunes but some of her new songs definitely caught our ear as well. Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo fame opened up the show with some of his solo hits and a couple of Blue Rodeo tunes from the vault as well. He has an amazing voice and super-talented musicians surrounding him. Wendy & I have seen Blue Rodeo a few times back in the day and so it was get to hear Cuddy again. Here's a local review for those interested.

Sheryl's website listed this as the setlist:

GOD BLESS
BABYLON
LOVE IS FREE
CHANGE
VEGAS
STRONG ENOUGH
CAN'T CRY
MOTIVATION
MISTAKE
GASOLINE
NEIGHBORHOOD
DETOURS
I SHALL BELIEVE
HAPPY
OUT OF OUR HEADS
SOAK
WINDING ROAD
****************************************
ALL I WANNA DO
ROCK AND ROLL

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Aug 9/08

The show was fantastic sonically & visually and Tom Petty connected well to the Winnipeg audience.
The shot above you can see the cool backdrop (U2 videobeads) and the cubes that projected video or images. A very cool stage set-up from my perspective. The Steve Winwood set seemed to lag somewhat compared to Tom Petty and although the musicianship was top-knotch - Winwood didn't seem to connect as well to the crowd. He just doesn't have the long-term radio hits that TP & H have.
I love this shot - I find that my little point&shoot digital works better with more light projected - especially white light. It was great to have two songs with Winwood joining Petty (The Heartbreakers are probably the best backing band you could ever have - eg. Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash) - a lot more energy than when he was with his band. All in all a great rockin' show that Winnipeg loved!
Here's the setlist:

1.　You Wreck Me
2.　Listen To Her Heart
3.　I Won't Back Down
4.　Even The Losers
5.　Free Fallin'
6.　Mary Jane's Last Dance
7.　End of the Line
8.　Can't Find Way Back Home (with Steve Winwood)
9.　Gimme Some Lovin' (with Steve Winwood)
10.　Saving Grace
11.　Breakdown
12.　Honey Bee
13.　Learning to Fly
14.　Don't Come Around Here No More
15.　Refugee
- encore -
1.　Runnin' Down A Dream
2.　Mystic Eyes
3.　American Girl

A shot of Wendy, Mandy, Sarah, and the crowd at the show!

Holidays & Blogging

You'd think with some "extra" time on my hands I'd be blogging more often - apparently not. I do want to record though that I went to two great concerts this week. Tuesday - my cousin Alex and I enjoyed Jimmy Eat World at the Burton Cummings Theatre - seats could have been better but they put on a great show.

But the best show I've been to in a long time was this past Friday with Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) at the Concert Hall - amazing, amazing, amazing musicians & incredible tonality & sound! Thanks much S & D for the invite and getting the tickets. I just love shows that exhibit such amazing musicianship & class. Definitely up there with The Police show I saw last fall.
Update: Courtesy of Isaac - a setlist!

Cannibals
Why Aye Man
What It Is
Sailing to Philadelphia
True Love Will Never Fade
The Fish and the Bird
Hill Farmer's Blues
Romeo and Juliet
Sultans of Swing
Song for Sonny Liston
Marbletown
Speedway in Nazareth
Telegraph Road
Encore:

Brothers in Arms
So Far Away
Going Home (theme from Local Hero)

We've managed to squeeze in two garage sales which I've officially nicknamed Purge-itory - not convinced I'd be willing to do that again. Great making space & getting rid of some excess possessions but really time consuming. Celebrated with taking in the fireworks on July 1st here in Steinbach and escaping down south to Grand Forks for July 4th & my Grandma's 80th birthday.

I haven't done as much riding as I'd like - hope to escape sometime tomorrow - we'll see! We're enjoying a great summer though!

Atlanta Musings 11.18,07

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So here's a few clues that involved my last evening in Atlanta...and oh it rocked! Okay so I succumbed to going to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of seeing The Police on their potentially only reunion tour.

The Police got me through part of the 80s...and it was a great show! Oh and they opened the show with one of my favorites -Message in a Bottle! A great last night in Atlanta!

Mayer Rocks The Peg

John Mayer put on an excellent show at the MTS Centre - all in all a great night out on the town!

Interesting background going off the "Continuum" Album theme
Simple but brilliant lit-up atmosphere.

The boy knows how to sing and play his guitar - I'm struggling to think of someone who does both so well! He played most of the Continuum album and a few other hits from past albums...thanks Shelli & Darryl for the invite and wow great Indian food at the Ivory! We felt privileged to join you on your escape! It was just good to get out and do something social again.

Great tunes, great feeling, & wow the guy can play his guitar!

Kathleen Edwards did a great opening set as well - unfortunately she isn't very well known but she had a great folky croon & an amazing stage personality for a 22 year old. She shared that it was two years ago that she had her first real gig at the West End Cultural Centre and now opening in the MTS Centre was pretty amazing. Sorry - no decent pics of her part of the show.

I love the burnt orange lighting in the shot below!

Hard to read set-list but you get the idea:

Jump!

I just got back from the last concert I will ever see at the former home of the Winnipeg Jets - the Winnipeg Arena which is scheduled to be torn down in the next little bit. Van Halen played for just over 3 hours of pure adrenalin...they haven't lost much if any of their energy & playing ability. Last time I saw them play was in 1991 and I distinctly remember the same ringing in my ears following that show! They played all their hits as far as I can recall - Panama, Right Now, When Its Love, Jump, 5150, Can't Stop Loving You, and You Really Got Me...

Off to bed I go...