Friday, May 17, 2019

Games People Play

UPDATED
1. Rick Wakeman
2. CSNY
3. Ramones
4. Judy Collins
5. Linda Ronstadt
6. Yes

Didn't mean to leave this languishing, but I let it get buried by daily events.  My answer is no. 6 ("I am not a number!  I am a free man!"  Quiet, you.).  Yes.  Never got closer to a live performance than "Yessongs."  Sadly.

Saw Wakeman in Dallas, on his "Journey to the Center of the Earth" tour (should I admit that?), CSNY in Irving (Texas Stadium), Ramones in the AWHQ, Judy Collins in a theater in Austin (IIRC), and Linda Ronstadt in Austin, at the UT "Super Drum."

I also saw ELP in Nacogdoches, Texas, but I could only list 5.

What a long, strange trip it's been.

17 comments:

  1. Bonnie Raitt
    Betty Carter
    Luther Johnson
    McCoy Tyner
    Gary Burton
    Doc Watson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm still working on this. Trying to get past my jealousy at never hearing ANY of these people live.

      Delete
  2. So RMJ, with a little help from Google Search and your blog history I’ll guess the Ramones (you didn’t specify no cheating). Thought Criminal, other than Bonnie Raitt I don’t recognize any of those other artists, which shows you how limited my musical repertoire is.

    Here’s mine:

    1. Billy Joel
    2. Asia
    3. Journey
    4. Yanni
    5. Elton John
    6. Neil Diamond

    ReplyDelete
  3. I should let it run for a bit, but I did see the Ramones in my one and only visit to the late, lamented quonset hut f/k/a Armadillo World Headquarters.

    Not my favorite concert, to be sure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Trex--if you saw Yanni, I really don't want to know about it. 😁

    ReplyDelete
  5. My concert going isn't that vast, given where I live in the wilds of western Maine. Most of the artists I've heard aren't widely known. Which, come to think of it, is kind of surprising for someone who has been a professional musician. I didn't include any classical musicians or groups in the list. I never heard The Ramones in person but I did see Rock and Roll High School.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty much how I wound up in a room with metal walls and a concrete floor listening to the Ramones. Or, more accurately, being battered by the output of amplifiers and speakers.

      Oh, well, at least I can say I was at the AWHQ once.

      Delete
    2. Obviously this was meant to respond to trex.

      It's hell getting old.

      Delete
  6. I’ll tell you what, I was DRAGGED to go see this Yanni guy against my will and further exasperated when we were forced to sit on the lawn in the pouring rain and watch him from under a smelly old camping tarp that we happened to have handy - but as the night wore on I became entranced by this ethereal music and by the end didn’t want to leave. Have been a fan ever since.

    Do what you will with that. I often tell people that I have the musical tastes of a 14 year-old girl. For many years I tried to hide it behind offhand references to classic rock groups but I’ve long since learned to embrace it.... [“Ok google, play some music by Carly Rae Jepsen....”]

    Thought Criminal: professional musician? Very interesting! What instrument and where?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I play piano and, on occasion, organ or, rather, did. I'm semi retired from playing but not from teaching the same. I occasionally compose a piece on request which then disappears to the uninterested world. but can't claim to be a composer. I can and have played several wind instruments and, though I've never played it in public, classical guitar, but that's more for my own interest. If I had it to do over again I'd study jazz.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeah, I can’t even imagine hearing the Ramones in a venue like that. I’m sure “battering“ is the word.

    Back in the 70s and 80s Neil Diamond put on a truly phenomenal show for someone in his genre: tons of energy and lots of great lighting to create an emotional atmosphere. I saw him over a dozen times. Billy Joel is similarly energetic. Journey was so loud even as a college kid I left the venue because my ears were bleeding and I couldn’t make out the music (maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was sitting in the rafters of the stadium, I don’t know). When I saw CSNY they didn’t put a lot of effort into putting on a professional show, it was more like encountering them at a county fair as they surreptitiously smoked pot between songs, but man can they harmonize.

    Never got to see any of the great prog rock groups that I love except Asia, creators of the sacred music, who I saw about five years ago in an intimate venue. Even in their 60s they played really tight and blew the doors off the place. Would have loved to have seen Yes live or any of its many iterations and subgroups. Rick Wakeman, by the way, is hilarious:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdOliYDY-LM

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thought Criminal, you’re a true polymuse! What an enviable set of talents. Having never been exposed to jazz myself until late adulthood I can sympathize with your sentiment. I look around and see these great rock guitarists and drummers and keyboardists who were trained in jazz and classical as kids and can see the value even beyond the enjoyment of the genre itself.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. Paul Simon
    2. Leo Kottke
    3. The Ramones
    4. George Harrison
    5. Jim Croce
    6. Arcade Fire

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just realized which it is you didn't see, but it's insider information, so I'll hold my peace.

      Delete
  11. R., since you've already fessed up to the Ramones, I would guess Judy Collins--not that you wouldn't go, but I always imagine her touring small New England college towns, not exactly your stomping grounds.

    TTC, I must admit I don't recognize them all, but I'll go with Doc Watson, since I've always thought of him as a much older figure. But who knows? Maybe Franz Liszt is still touring in Indian casinos.

    trex, I don't know you well enough to even guess!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Saw her in Austin, I think it was. One of the most charismatic performers I've ever seen. Absolutely amazing ability to connect to an audience.

      Delete
  12. 1. Yes
    2. Chicago
    3. Blues Traveler
    4. Hall & Oates
    5. Elvis Costello
    6. The Cranberries

    ReplyDelete