And to think…this was a concert that really fell into place at the last minute. We were able to get great last minute seats through TicketMaster, an awesome room at the MGM Grand and incredible seats on Alaska Airlines down from Seattle to Las Vegas. This concert wasn’t on our schedule, but as we missed the show in Seattle back on May 20^th, and I have been dying to see Fleetwood Mac for many years, we just had to come down.

This was their last show of this tour and I have to believe, it must have been one of their best. The venue at the MGM Grand holds about 16,000 people, so it is a fairly large arena, but it was laid out such that I think everyone had a great view of the stage. The sound and video in this arena was far superior than many of the other arenas we have been to over the years. Other than the tiny seats without arm rests, this was an incredible place to sit and enjoy a great concert.

They opened the show at around 8:20 with the song Second Hand News followed by The Chain and Dreams. They played a short set of songs from their Tusk album (including an incredible version of Sarah). Stevie Nicks’ absolutely mesmerizing vocals and Lindsey Buckingham’s masterful guitar playing during the song Landslide was nothing short of amazing. It was so beautiful to see and hear the love that all of these guys have for each other especially Stevie and Lindsey. It’s clear that they continue to inspire each other and perform from their hearts. Mick Fleetwood’s powerful, driving and signature drum style and John McVie’s melodic bass playing add to the sound that so many people have fallen in love with over the past 35 years. They played for nearly two and a half hours which included two encores, leaving the stage at just around 11:00.

This was a great end to an absolutely incredible year of concerts. One more of my all time favorite bands is off my list of must see concerts (although I would see Fleetwood Mac again anytime).

Thursday night at Benaroya Hall in Seattle was a very special show with Heart. This was a show they called “Heart and Friends Home for the Holidays”. It is always a treat to see Heart in concert, especially in their hometown. Seattle definitely loves their Heart. Both Ann and Nancy Wilson have the most beautiful and symphonic voices that have absolutely not changed since I started listening to them in the seventies.  This was a special show not just because it was Heart in their hometown during the holidays, but that the show was being filmed for broadcast on the AXS channel on Christmas Day (tune in, you will love it).

The show started out with a long set of seasonal holiday songs with them bringing some of the friends from the music business on stage to perform with them. What a mix of artists they were with Shawn Colvin, Richard Marx, Sammy Hagar and Pat Monahan from Train.

Interesting that following their set of Holiday music was an intermission…huh? I guess the venue was the place where the Seattle Symphony performs.

They came back on stage and tore it up with many of the vintage hits like Crazy on You, Kick it Out, Even it Up and starting it off with of course Barracuda. I could tell right away when they came out that they were going to open with Barracuda as Nancy had her distinctive Gibson SG, guitar she has used to play this song with every time I have seen them perform it. It’s no secret that Heart are big Zeppelin fans and they always sneak in a few Zeppelin songs into every show and this time they didn’t disappoint playing The Rain Song from the album Houses of the Holy and an absolutely mesmerizing version of Stairway to Heaven…wowwwwww!

Not sure if Heart does this every holiday, but if they do this show will definitely make it on our must see, holiday tradition list along with TSO.

Tonight Toni and I were finally able to see Alice Cooper in one of his world famous nightmare induced concert performances. I have been a fan of Alice Cooper since the early seventies, when I (as every teenager since) cranked School’s Out as loud as possible on the last day of school. He is the godfather of shock-rock, and he was everything you weren’t supposed to like when you were a kid, but couldn’t get enough of.

This isn’t the first time that I have seen Alice Cooper in person, only the first time I have seen him perform. Back in the late 80’s, one of my co-workers won a contest from a local radio station in Seattle, where Alice Cooper would come out to your work and you could meet him and have him sign some autographs. I was unprepared and didn’t have any standard, appropriate signing material like an album or poster. The company I worked for at the time was a big software company (and still is) so I grabbed something that was readily available (a 3 1/2″ floppy disk) and rushed out to meet him. All 5 of us (huh..what a bunch of losers I worked with at the time..it’s freakin’ Alice Cooper for crying out loud!)  waited in the front of the building when he showed up in his long stretch, white limousine wearing his iconic white coat and tails with top hat. I handed him my 3.5″ floppy disk, he took and looked at it for a few seconds and ask what the heck it was…funny…I bet if I handed him one today he would ask the same thing…doesn’t actually seem that long ago.. but I guess it’s been over 30 years. Another connection I had with Alice Cooper was a good friend of mine from High School (who was an incredible drummer and played in one of the most popular bands in high school Fifth Angel) happened to be Alice Cooper’s  drummer in the mid to late eighties and for a stint in 1999.. Small world.

The concert was great. He did not stop singing/performing once during the show other than a short break during the obligatory drum solo. My favorite Alice Cooper song has to be No More Mister Nice Guy which they performed flawlessly tonight. The whole first half of the concert was filled with the early mega hits such as Hello Hooray, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Under My Wheels and Billion Dollar Babies. in the middle of the show, they performed a great tribute to some of the great musicians who have passed on including Break On Through by the Doors, Revolution by John Lennon and the Beatles, Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix (which Orianthi – lead guitar just dominated!) and My Generation by Keith Moon and the Who. The show did not disappoint in the shock-rock department. It was filled with Pyrotechnics, Horror theatrics with guillotines, scary un-dead nurses and severed clowns heads. There were even bubbles, confetti, beach balls and streamers…the only thing missing was the boa-constrictors that he traditionally draped around his neck while performing.

Definitely a must see show once in your life, although I would personally see him again..He is a great performer, still can sing    and has a ton of energy that you can tell he puts every bit into the show.

We took a break last night from all the metal shows we have been seeing lately and went to see some good time 80’s rock and roll with Bon Jovi at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma Washington. Definitely a different crowd at this show than what we have been used to over the past few concerts we have been to…more Toni and My speed. Ryan and Nicki felt a little out of their element for a change.

I was a little apprehensive for this show due to the issues the band are having and that Richie Sambora was not touring with them any longer and while in line for swag I over heard that not only was Richie Sambora not performing but Tico Torres (drummer) was also not going to be there due to medical issues, so Just John and David Bryan (keyboards) from the original line-up.

Even with Richie and Tico being absent and the vibe just not the same without their presence, it was a GREAT show as always. They played a good 2+ hour set with a fairly lengthy encore which was great. They did a few covers with one being Fire by Bruce Springsteen and sort of a tribute/ montage of Rolling Stones tunes with John strutting some iconic Jagger moves and all – pretty cool.

One thing I have to say about the venue however is “Tacoma your traffic control and planning for events like this SUCK!” It took us almost 45 minutes to get out of town due to police diverting traffic from major freeway entrances to back streets…let me clue you in Tacoma – no body lives in your town, so we do not know how to navigate through your back streets to find the freeway!