“It’s lovely to be here celebrating beautiful memories”… Boy George in one of his asides during his headlining performance at the inaugural “iHeart80s Birthday Bash” live concert event at SAP Center in San Jose. The special show on Saturday night featured Boy George, Tiffany, The Romantics, A Flock Of Seagulls, Farrington & Mann of the Original When In Rome UK, Tommy Tutone, Animotion and Nu Shooz, with former original MTV VJ Martha Quinn hosting along with radio personalities Christie James and Morris Knight. It was really a stellar show with end to end 80s-era hits and hitmakers putting on non-stop entertainment for four hours.
Morrissey at The Event Center at San Jose State University | San Jose, California | 7/25/2015 (Concert Review + Photos)
“When I grow too old to dream, remember me…” Morrissey, though frequently employing an economy of words on stage, always has something interesting to say. Over the past few years, he has seemed a bit preoccupied with the darker themes of mortality and retiring from live performances. And given his track record prior to this tour just completed, it has made those shows that do come together that much more magical, as it can all feel rare and fleeting. With the concert at The Event Center at San Jose State University on Saturday night, things seemed to come together quite perfectly (apart from the fact that Amanda Palmer sadly had to cancel her supporting set due to medical issues). Morrissey seemed to be in a great and (for him anyway) chatty mood to boot. The audience was stellar. All in all, it was a fantastic show with a captivating set list and a few surprises as well. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Morrissey in the past few years in which he seems really both at ease and dare I say kind of joyous on stage. It’s as if he’s found a new path forward, surrounded by great fellow musicians who can create a show for themselves as much as for the audience. As one of my all-time favorite artists, it’s certainly motivated me to continue to turn out for any of his shows that I can. There is always an element of excitement in the air as well as an overwhelming feeling of authenticity. He is one of a handful of artists that can still give me that chill down my spine and make me feel like I am witnessing something genuine and important. [Read more…]
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band at City National Civic | San Jose, California | 7/13/2014 (Concert Review + Photos)
“I don’t know about you, but this seems like a peace and love city…” A quote from a real rock and roll legend, Ringo Starr, at the City National Civic in San Jose last night as the front man for Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. It seems to be a consistent and heartfelt message and sentiment from the former drummer for The Beatles, though he doesn’t really “front” the group of talented musicians that share the stage with him on his touring concert event so much as jam with them and turn the spotlight not only on their gifts as artists but also provides a platform with which to share their own music with fans. It was truly a spectacular concert on all levels Sunday night, with a collection of amazing artists, a superb setlist, and an excellent production (top quality sound and lights, etc.). Not only did Ringo Starr play his own music, new and old… so, too, did his friends, which include Steve Lukather, Gregg Rolie, Richard Page, Todd Rundgren, Warren Ham, and Greg Bissonette. I would rank it as one of the best shows I’ve been to in 2014, and really an honor to see such legends all play together on stage. They seemed to be having as much fun as the rest of us, and it was more like a glimpse into a two hour long jam session.
Imagine Dragons “Into The Night Tour” at SAP Center| San Jose, California | 2/13/2014 (Concert Review + Photos)
When I last saw Imagine Dragons in concert, I was packed into a small club with about 500 other fans, pressed against the small stage, with frontman Dan Reynolds dripping sweat onto those of us in the first few rows. Fast forward just one year later, and now the band is easily selling out the 17,000 capacity SAP Center in San Jose (which even the Rolling Stones had trouble filling last year), and striking less successful music bands with envy (more on that later). With their performance Thursday night, it was fascinating seeing how they’ve built up a fan base, yet retained their modesty. At one point, during an ad lib, Dan became a bit self conscious about what he was saying, stopped himself, and confessed, “it’s because of you – you make me nervous…” Honesty and earnestness is rare in rock stars these days, but I have a feeling that it is something innate in this one, and will always stay with him. While photographing the first few songs at the start of their set, watching from a couple feet away, I saw Dan pause at one point and briefly stare out across the massive audience before him, and get choked up a little in the same way he did a year ago talking about the charity they were supporting for that small gig in San Francisco. These are definitely genuine guys, and it certainly comes through in their music and performance. Definitely one of the must see tours of the year, as I suspect they will get even bigger once they release their sophomore album.
Super Freestyle Explosion with Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Debbie Deb, Shannon, Trinere, Johnny O, Nu Shooz, Pretty Poison, Stacey Q at HP Pavilion | San Jose, California | 6/29/13 (Concert Review)
It’s not often that you attend a non-festival concert with ten (!) different music artists performing on the same stage in one night, all in the span of about three and a half hours. It was a pretty special event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose last night, with the Super Freestyle Explosion turning out about 7,000 fans of the predominantly Latin, electronic/synthesizer/samples-centric, and mostly mid-80s era genre of music. Representing the relatively short-lived but highly influential music scene and style for the evening was Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Debbie Deb, Shannon, Trinere, Johnny O, Nu Shooz, Pretty Poison, and Stacey Q. Really a remarkable line-up, to the credit of promoter ITP Records/Pacific Concert Group, for pulling together such a vast roster of artists to play through a series of highly recognizable hits to those who grew up with the music or perhaps rediscovered it later. Of course, pulling off such an event in such a time frame requires some concessions and trade offs, but in my opinion they found a near perfect balance to make for an incredible evening of 80s freestyle nostalgia.
Bon Jovi “Because We Can Tour” at HP Pavilion | San Jose, California | 4/25/2013 (Concert Review)
“I ain’t gonna waste a lot of time talking. All I’m gonna tell you is this… For the next two and a half hours, I promise to take you on a roller coaster ride you will never forget…” A pledge from the Bon Jovi front man, Jon Bon Jovi, about 15 minutes into their supporting act-free “An Evening With…” concert for their “Because We Can Tour” at the massive HP Pavilion in San Jose last night, which appeared near filled to its 17,496 capacity. Admittedly, I am not a dedicated Bon Jovi follower – I am a big fan of a handful of hits – so I don’t feel as though I was the intended audience. Having said that, I tried to imagine how I would take it all in if I were a fan, and I still find the roller coaster metaphor challenging to wrap my head around, as I found the show to be, for lack of a better description… ill-suited, and frankly boring… for such a large venue. While Richie Sambora did not make it through the tour to appear at this last date on the U.S. leg of their journey in support of the new What About Now album, I can’t imagine his being part of last night’s show would have been enough to overcome the shortcomings (and fill-in Phil X was fine). Bon Jovi seems like a genuine, appreciative, kind guy, but at least from my perspective, maybe he arrived last night and forgot to load that six string on his back.
Rihanna’s “Diamonds World Tour” at HP Pavilion | San Jose, California | 4/6/2013 (Concert Review)
Rihanna is an artist that is one of the hardest working in music today (on and off stage), and her only real problem with her show at HP Pavilion in San Jose last night was that she has so many hit songs – even at just 25 years old – she could not fit them all into a sprawling, nearly two-hour non-stop concert event. A prolific artist, Talk That Talk came out in 2011, just as she was wrapping up her Loud Tour (named after the studio album before that), she’s since release 2012’s Unapologetic, and tickets for this tour actually went on sale late last year as well. The show in the massive HP Pavilion was sold out and filled to its 14,500 capacity, and it was one of the best giant arena audiences I’ve seen. Rihanna did not disappoint, as the place was bouncing and euphoric before she ever took the stage, and things only cranked up from there. She put on her usual top class show fueled with energy and heartfelt emotion and gratitude, as I experienced at the O2 show in London in late 2011 as her last tour came to a close. This is definitely one of the must-see tours of the year, with both figurative and literal pyrotechnics.
P!nk’s “Truth About Love Tour” at HP Pavilion | San Jose, California | 2/18/2013 (Concert Review)
P!nk’s “The Truth About Love” tour is part pop/rock concert, part carnival, part dance revue, part live movie, and part acrobatics. It’s such a tight and interactive event, most of it happens faster than you can really process it. P!nk is like part rock star, part Olympian, and it’s amazing how much energy she can put into the “show” part of the show and still manage to catch a breath to sing in addition to everything else. But somehow she pulls it off, and of all of the artists touring today, makes use of a massive indoor arena to create both spectacle and up close and personal opportunities between her and her fans (no matter where they might be sitting or standing). A really fantastic event, and pioneering way of building on great music with really unique and innovative performances.
Coldplay at the HP Pavilion | San Jose, California | 4/28/2012 (Concert Review)
Last night, April 28th, was the second in two back-to-back performances by Coldplay at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA – part of their official Mylo Xyloto world tour. This was the sixth time I’ve seen Coldplay in the past six months (having seen their AMEX Unstaged show in Madrid, Spain in October, some of the special European tour dates at the O2 in London and the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy in December, and the special iHeartRadio charity gig at Club Nokia and the Jimmy Kimmel Live! block party in Los Angeles in February. As such, I don’t think I’m in a position to do a “normal” sort of review at this point, as I tend to subjectively compare to all of the other shows I’ve attended in the past year and beyond… but as I’ve come to expect, with last night’s gig, Coldplay put on a high energy show with a great mix of hits and new material. Watching many in the crowd seeing the show with “fresh eyes”, it was certain that the nearly 18,000 in attendance came away having shared an awesome experience with this fantastic concert.