bryonsconcertblog

Another wonderful performance by the Stones. This is probably the 6th or 7th time I have seen them going back to the Steel Wheels tour in 1989. I saw them in L.A. where Guns and Roses opened up for them…what a show that was.

Opening for them last night was Lukas Nelson, Promise of the Real…wasn’t familiar with him until the person next to me told me that he was Willie Nelson’s son…then it clicked and there were a few songs which if you closed your eyes you would swear Willie was on stage, he sounded so much like him. Not really my kind of music, but he was quite good and put on a good set.

The Stones came on around 8:45 or so and opened up with Street Fighting Man and the hits just kept coming after that. Some of my favorites early in the show were Beast of Burden, Honky Tonk Women, Miss You and Midnight Rambler. The show kept getting better and better as it went on and the second half was even better than the first with song like, Paint It Black, Start Me Up, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Brown Sugar. They even did a short acoustic set where they played one of my all time favorites, Dead Flowers. The encore brought the house down with, Gimme Shelter and (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, followed by a firework show above the stadium.

Mick and the guys were not running and jumping around the stage as much as they used to, but they put on a super show and still are one of the best live performing bands in the world. I will plan to see them when the next tour comes around.

Well, a little late and out of chronological sequence…sorry, but better late than never. I am not sure how I forgot to post on the Carlos Santana Show from June 29th. It was an awesome show and as usual, he put on a fabulous and very spiritual performance.

The setlist was incredible, with songs spanning more than 50 years of great music. Some of my favorite were Evil Ways / A Love Supreme, Put Your Lights On, She’s Not There, Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen and Oye como va. He also performed an incredible rendition of Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child.

Definitely will go and see Santana as often as I can..

One of my all time favorite bands that I have never had a chance to see when they had toured in the past. Lynryd Skynyrd is one of those bands that just takes you back to the summers when you were a kid with out a care in the world. Even thought the band has gone through many changes throughout the year from a line-up perspective, their music is still as solid and powerful as ever.

Bad Company opened for Skynyrd and I have to say, their performance was short of stellar. They seemed flat and without feeling. Paul Rogers was good enough, but it just seemed the band was missing something. I saw them a few years ago and they were great…not sure what happened tonight.

Lynryd Skynyrd came on around 9:00pm and opened up with Workin’ for MCA. The didn’t;t have a very long set, with only 14 songs, but they definitely played all of the great songs that made them the band they are. It was a little sad to know that this was their Farewell tour and we would never be able to see them play song like What’s Your Name, I know a Little, Needle and the Spoon, Saturday Night Special, Call Me the Breeze and Sweet Home Alabama again. My favorites of the night were Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, Tuesday’s Gone and my all time favorite Skynyrd song That Smell.

They closed the night with the encore song being Free Bird of course. This was a great tribute to all the past members of the band and especially Ronnie Van Zant who they had singing the last half of the song in all his glory on the back drop. Perfect ending to the show!

Sad to see these guys go, but very glad I was able to finally see them live and to even meet them back stage.

Aerosmith is probably one of the best live rockin’ bands in the world. They have been going at it for nearly 50 years and the guys are getting up there in age, but they completely brought the house down tonight at the Park Theater in Las Vegas.

The show started with about a 30 minute video of the beginnings of the band and how they all met and how everything came together…kind of fate and like it was meant that these guys got together just to make the best damn music of their generation and for generations to come. They came on around 8:30 or so and opened with Train Kept a-Rollin’ followed by Draw the Line and Rag Doll. The setlist was full of massive hits, but of course with a library as extensive as theirs, there is no way they could play them all. My Favorites of the night were Toys in the Attic, where all the giant inflatable, scary toys came down from the ceiling above the crowd…very cool. And then all three of their encore songs were my very favorite with Dream On, Chip Away at the Stone and Walk this way, where a huge walkway came down from the rafters which allowed Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to walk all the way to the second level of the theater and perform the song. During the end of show they released a ton of huge balloons, and a ton of confetti…it was spectacular. There were even two points in the show where (at different times) Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton both walked out into the crowd and sang and played right in front of me…how cool is that!

An absolutely incredible show at an amazing venue with awesome sound. So very glad we made the trip down to see them at this residency.

An incredible evening last Monday night with Toni for dinner and the show. We got downtown a little early to make sure we could find good parking and decided to have dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby the theater. The Assaggio Ristorante was simply amazing. We have eaten there before and they are always good, but the food this time seemed exceptionally fantastic and the service was of equal quality. Definitely a must for anyone prior to a show at the Moore with only a block or so walk to the theater.

The Cult was awesome performing their 1989 album Sonic Temple in its entirety…what an incredible album it is with all ten songs being number one’s in my mind. With the first two songs being Sun King and Fire Woman, I mean what an amazing start to a night full of powerful, late 80’s hard rock music. Both Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy put on a great show and both exuded that vintage vibe that personifies that era which spawned the sound of the grung scene to come.

A show not soon forgotten.