Tag Archives: rock concerts

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Maggies Farm

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Nobel laureate Bob Dylan (for literature)  wrote a large number of songs during his career to date (which is not over) and continues to do so.

I heard “Maggies Farm” on the radio the other day.  For some reason I listened more closely to the lyrics than I had in the recent past and transported back to the nineteen sixties (in my mind at least).

This is a basic protest song.  The line ” I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more” sets the tone.  We are done working for the man, being driven by the esablishment.

Simply put, I ain’t going to take it no more.  Full stop.  Ah the idealism.   of youth.  I won’t say I have grown jaded but while the lyrics are still a interesting listen  (great song) the sentiment and protest value is somewhat lost on me.

Deserving of the Nobel Prize?

I was struck by the quality of the music, both lyrics and melody.  Bob Dylan has done a fantastic job of story telling throughout his life so far, whether sentimental, political or just a intriguing story I do believe the recently awared prize was fully desderved.

More interesting for me though is how my appreciation of his music seems to have grown. (I have been listening to a number of his albums again over the last several months.)

Am I influenced by the publicity and accolades he has been recieving as of late or are my musical tastes maturing?  Historically I appreciated Dylan’s music but would never have classified myself a big fan.

I think it’s probably a bit of both, regardless, I am enjoying my morphing musical tastes albeit they still seem rooted in the decades of the sixties and seventies.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Listen to the Music (cont’d)

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On Oct 25th I started a post about the 37 live rock concerts I have attended in my life so far.

Over time,  I am listing the next three best.  Two posts so far covered the top six, today’s covers seven to nine.

Just a reminder; 1) Paul McCartney, 2) Led Zeppelin, 3) Elton John 4)Alice Cooper 5) Al Stewart  6) Queen

And today’s list

7) Bee Gees –  This is a band with a long and iconic career starting in the mid-sixties as a Beatles sound alike, through disco to progressive style in the eighties followed by pure pop.  Arguably their best incarnation was the disco/funk sound of the late seventies and early eighties and that’s when I saw them.  They were just peaking from the huge success of the Saturday Night Fever movie sound track.  The show had all the hits to that point both the oldies and current and of course included the mandatory disco ball light show.

8) Deep Purple –  One of those lucky experiences I attended this bands special concert at a Toronto night club with a capacity of 2500.  This was the most famous line-up of the band – the ones that created Smoke on the Water.  Imagine standing right beside the large PA speaker as smoke boomed out – unforgettable.

9) James Taylor –  This singer/ songwriter is not my typical cup of tea but a favorite of my wife.  The concert tickets were a birthday present to her and fortunately she decided to take me.  Fortunately because I have seen few more entertaining performers.  This is an artist who leveraged his years of experience to give the audience maximum pleasure.  I was not sorry I went at all.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Listen to the Music

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Over the years I have attended thirty-seven live concerts.  Surprisingly one of the best was more a pop singer than a rock group – Harry Belafonte.  While the music is a key part of the concert, overall it is about entertainment and Harry B. (I saw him later in his career) was a polished and highly accomplished entertainer.

Today’s post, and in future ones on and off I am going to reminisce about those thirty-seven concerts.  Indulge me, comment if you have seen any of these performers and let us know what you thought.

Top Three

Paul McCartney –  Sir Paul tops the list.  Both as a brilliant musician and an accomplished performer, one of his biggest advantages is a song catalog full of number one hits on the billboard pop music charts.  That includes Paul’s nine as a solo artist and the twenty-seven Beatles songs that went to number 1,  for a total of thirty-four.  Overall between Paul solo, Wings and the Beatles he was associated with eighty songs that made the Billboard top 100.  Just to see a few of these live was a historic experience.

Led Zeppelin –  Here is a band that was motivated by the music.  Fame, fortune and adulation were bi-products for them.  What really mattered was the sound and they immersed themselves in each beat, each note – this concert was about the music and it was extraordinary.  I have heard in later years they shunned playing Stairway to Heaven (Page said it was overplayed for him) but I was fortunate to hear it live.  An interesting story; the opening melody of Stairway to Heaven matches exactly that of a song called “Taurus” by Spirit.  Taurus was released long before Stairway and Led Zeppelin were the opening act for Spirit concerts in 1967.  Hmmm!

Elton John –  Five billboard number one singles and twenty-two charting in the top one hundred he is no where near to Sir Paul but nothing to be sneezed at.  The most memorable moment was when some fifty-thousand fans stood and waved their lighters to the groove of “Candle in the Wind”.  What an experience by a great entertainer who was a pioneer of the weird costume trend picked up and expanded by many later artists,  the likes of Madonna, Lady Gaga and so on.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Rock Concert Nostalgia

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I have to tickets to an upcoming rock/pop concert.  Thinking about it I realized how much the “rock” concert has changed.

The first popular music concert I attended was the Monkees in 1968.   The opening act was 1910 Fruitgum company.  Since then I have been fortunate to attend more than forty major concerts including some of the most popular classic rock acts of our time.

As I think back through the years and the various shows I realize how they changed from an loud roughly planned musical event to a highly choreographed and practiced event with a multitude of props, light shows and special effects.

The original rock concerts were four or five guys (occasionally including a girl) on a bare stage with a minimal light show (basically just spotlights on the performers).  Today it is the full on extravaganza.  The props and special effects are both expected and needed to meet the entertainment expectations of today’s generation.

I saw Al Stewart in a small club with a capacity of about one hundred.  From my seat I could reach out and touch his piano.  (Al Steward had a number of billboard top 10 hits including the Year of the Cat which was probably his most popular song),

Which is Better?

I have immensely enjoyed the experience for all rock concerts I have attended both minimalist and those that were major events.   For me the vibrancy and life of a live performance cannot be duplicated on video or other medium.

So for my upcoming concert I am expecting, dancers, backup singers, special effects and grandiose choreography and looking forward to it all.  That being said though, it is still the star and their talent that make the show whether an extravaganza or not.

A great entertainer is great, no matter what the skin – although seeing Alice Cooper loose his head to a guillotine or Ozzy Osborne bite a live bat ( both of which I have seen) is pretty cool.