An Evening with the Transiberian Orchestra

Last night my dad, sister and brother went down to Salt Lake City to attend the Transiberian Orchestra concert. This is my second time that I have seen them, the first time a couple of years ago.

This type of music is right up my alley. For those that are not familiar with them and their music they are a progressive rock band founded in 1993. The orchestra's musical style incorporates classical, orchestral, symphonic, and progressive elements into hard rock and heavy metal. In fact they have taken pieces of classical music (Carmina Burana, Beethoven's 9th symphony as examples) and incorporated them into their rock operas. Essentially, it is theatrical rock music. They are also known for incorporating Christmas music and having Christmas themes in their operas.

The first time I went and saw them I had a good time but I was not completely won over. It probably had to do with the timing. I was still working at my last job and hating it, my car got a flat tire at the gas station and I had to walk back to work in the snow and cold. So I had to leave my car there and my sister took Kristy and I. We ate at a Greek restaurant and I got a horrible, horrible case of the hiccups. Seriously, these were body shaking, headache inducing hiccups. So I think that affected my enjoyment of the show.

So I have to admit that I was not as excited to see them again. Sure, I knew I would like it but I wouldn't say that I was going to be knocked out by it.

I am sure glad I went again. We ate afterwards and I didn't have a flat tire beforehand. We had better seats and the set was much better looking. The music was fantastic. It was relentless, it was pounding and the lights, fire, fireworks and video screens enhanced the feeling. The show is split into two parts, the first part is centered around one of their Christmas rock operas and does have some fast and furious moments but can be a little slow at times. The music is still phenomenal and sends a great message about how we should treat each other and not just during the Christmas season. But the second half of the show they just rock the roof off. I have always loved orchestra mixed with rock guitars.

Jennifer and I feel we have missed our calling in life. We both want to be rock stars! But I think I would be happy to be the guy that escorts the pretty violinist up and down the aisles.

The only thing that kinda bugged me about the show was one of the performers. He has such a great voice but he was also in love with his own hair. And he would thump his chest and air guitar and I felt like I was watching a parody. But really, I am being quite picky and petty here.



I had a wonderful time. This was definitely a better concert than the last time I went. I am not afraid to admit that I am a fan of them and their music.

Thanks dad for taking me and for taking us to get some tasty gyros after! It was fun on the drive home singing to the iPod.

Halloween Hootenanny: An Evening with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie

Day 339

And my ears are still ringing...

I am sure that by now you have heard that I got tickets to the Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie concert. Well, last night was the big night and it didn't disappoint.

I went to the concert with my brother-in-law Eric. I picked him up at his house around 2:30 and we headed down to Salt Lake to the Usana Amphitheatre and we were hoping that the weather would hold out. This was an outdoors concert and the weather called for thunderstorms and rain. We arrived in Salt Lake about an hour earlier than we figured so we stopped by Apollo Burger to grab some eats and shoot the bull while we waited for the concert to open. I got a Gyro plate and while we were eating to began to rain hard. It was depressing because it was really pouring. It cleared up a bit and we headed over to the concert.

The wind was blowing pretty good and it made things chilly but it was not raining. We sat down and waited for the show to start. I didn't mind getting there so early since that meant there was plenty of time to people watch. And every time I go to a concert, I am always surprised at who comes to a concert.

Get ready for a parade of pictures!

We had great seats to the show. We only had two rows in front of us and then the VIP section (which you can see here with the tables and chairs). For $25 I cannot complain.

I tried (and failed obviously) to get a self portrait. I was going to try again but I discovered that my camera's batteries were running low and I didn't want to waste it on shots of Eric and I.

This was a shot of the first band called the Murder Dolls. Not my type of music but they were entertaining. I always feel bad for opening bands. No one really cares for them and the crowd is not always that excited for them. The singer was pretty funny (and I have never been sworn at that many times) he said we should appreciate them for giving a concert in the daylight.

I had to take a shot of this lady that sat right to the right of me. She had to be about my mom's age. She blushed every time the Murder Dolls swore at us. At least I didn't have to worry about sitting next to any freaks.

The couple that sat next to me were awesome. The wife was very chatty and probably around my sister's age. She was totally into Alice Cooper and she asked me if I was going to stand up when the concert started. And then she asked if I would be embarrassed like her husband when she danced. She was surprised that I knew Alice Cooper's songs so well since I was a youngster. During the intermission between the Murder Dolls and Alice they played a strange set of songs including some rap, the Monster Mash, some teen pop crap. I joked that we were listening to Alice's playlist on his iPod. That became a running joke throughout the concert.

Alice Cooper was awesome! We got to see him die from overdose from a large needle, we saw his decapitate himself in a guillotine and he hung himself right in the middle of his I Never Cry song. He threw diamond necklaces (during his Dirty Diamonds song) with his mouth and threw thousands of dollars into the crowd during Billion Dollar Babies. I have to admit that I am not that familiar with his music but after preparing for this concert I am surprised at the different sounds he has. He can be very heavy metal (like Vengeance is Mine) but he can sing dancy songs (From the Inside) and very rockability songs (Under My Wheels). I would see Alice Cooper again.

SET LIST:

School's Out

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Wicked Young Man

Ballad Of Dwight Fry

Go To Hell

Cold Ethyl

Poison

From The Inside

Nurse Rozetta

Be My Lover

Only Women Bleed

I Never Cry

Black Widow Jam

Vengeance Is Mine

Dirty Diamonds

Billion Dollar Babies

Killer

I Love The Dead

Feed My Frankenstein

Under My Wheels

Eighteen

Alice thanked the crowd after his encore and said to watch out because there is a zombie running around. They turned on the lights and we sat down and caught our breath. It was an awesome show and we still had Rob Zombie coming! I chatted with the couple next to me and she suddenly got a text from her niece and mother who were down in the pit in front of the stage. You heard me right.. her niece (who was celebrating her 18th birthday) and her MOTHER was there. Her niece caught the guitarist's pick in her cleavage. I had to ask if it was her niece of mother when she told me. She replied that her mom probably fought her over it.

I enjoyed Alice Cooper's concert a lot more than I thought. He sounded great and I was happy with his choice for songs. I was surprised and delighted that Feed My Frankenstein was included. Frankenstein was a popular choice (and makes sense because of Halloween) since Rob Zombie had his own Frankenstein song.

And then the lights went out and the drums began to pound. Time for Rob Zombie! You can see Rob just to the right from that huge robotic monster. Zombie was extremely loud but the sound was so clear.

Rob Zombie's show was a lot more colorful and had a lot of flames. He also was more personable and spoke to us a lot more. He said that he was nervous to come to Salt Lake City just as much as Salt Lake City was nervous for Rob Zombie. Rob had a lot of energy and would run all around the stage.

Each song had a different look on stage. Living Dead Girl (which you can kinda see her on the large screen behind the band) was very white and bright.

They brought out that large robot from the Dragula video and he danced all around the stage. I would love to have that job. You can see Rob on the left singing.

I don't know why because this has happened more than once and at different venues but drunk girls really like me. The couple that was next to me had scooted down a bit away from me and there was a space next to me that could fit a couple of people. Suddenly I felt this hand on my shoulder that was pressing down. My first thought was that someone was falling. I looked back and helped the girl get down next to me. She turned to me and smiled and I went back to the concert when I felt her arm around my waist. My first thought was that she was still steadying herself so I paid no attention. But she did not let go. I elbowed Eric but he didn't do anything. She took a picture and suddenly she was gone. And no, she was not pickpocketing me. I left my wallet in the car.

During Thunder Kiss '65 Zombie disappeared from the stage and the guitarist began this very long and cool guitar solo (he played Monster Mash, the Star Spangled Banner and other songs) while Zombie roamed through the crowd. He stopped right in front of us! Only two rows down! See the spotlight? That was Zombie holding it. We all swarmed and I just held up my camera and snapped as many pics as I could.

If you look in the middle of this pic you can make out his face.

There he is!

That was so cool! He was right in front of us. He then went around to everyone.

Sadly, the concert came to an end but not before he gave us two encores! He came out and played Dragula which was all sorts of awesome and was the most colorful with all the red and flames. He even had this huge skeleton thing he stood on and sang from.

He also had these two skeleton creatures beating these drums which really amped up the song. We cheered like crazy (and I lost most of my voice) and he came out and said that we cannot have any more since we all had a curfew and needed a good night's sleep. And then he gave us Eric's favorite song in House of a 1,000 Corpses.

SETLIST:

Jesus Frankenstein

Superbeast

Scum of the Earth

Living Dead Girl

More Human Than Human

Sick Bubble-Gum

Demon Speeding

Drum Solo

Liquor

Mars Needs Women

Thunder Kiss '65

School's Out (Alice Cooper cover)

Werewolf Women of the SS

Dragula

House of a 1,000 Corpses

 Rob thanked us for coming and the show unfortunately was over. What a great show, I was a bit disappointed that Rob's set was not longer but I loved every second of it. When I first heard Mars Needs Women I didn't care for it but after hearing the song live, I absolutely love it. Great, great show and absolutely no rain at all! It even warmed up a bit and by the time Zombie came on you could see some of the stars in the sky.

Eric and I then walked to the car but it being us, we couldn't find it. Just like when we went to the Utah Jazz game, we couldn't find our car. After walking around for about twenty minutes we found it and got in and drove home. It took us about a half an hour just to get out of the parking lot. We then dropped by a gas station to pick up some drinks (man did I need that Mountain Dew Livewire) and so Eric could use the bathroom. But the night clerk didn't have the key. I didn't want to try to find a bathroom so Eric went behind the gas station. See what happens when you go to a rocking concert? You lose all inhibitions!

I came home around 1:00 in the morning and I was too keyed up to sleep. And I dreamt about the concert.

Random Ramblings

Day 338

Today has finally come and I cannot tell if I am excited or if I am nervous. Either way, I have puking butterflies in my stomach because today is the Halloween Hootenanny featuring the Gruesome Twosome!

I have no idea what to expect from the show, the crowd or from the weather (it is supposed to rain). All I know if that I will have a good time. I think I prepared enough by listening to Alice Cooper non-stop this last week and I grew out my beard a little bit. All I have to do today to prepare for the show is figure out what I should wear and then put some oil in the car and pump up the tires.

I have not been running as much as I used to so I had to find something that will motivate me some. A couple of weeks ago it was the Top of Utah marathon and I have decided that I will run the 5K race next year. This will give me sufficient time to train next summer. I also checked the results and found that most of the people run the marathon or half-marathon but few run the 5K. If I had raced using my time of my pre-test run, I would have placed 17th overall and 8th in my age category.

The last few days I have been in contact with my favorite artist Alan Davis and I have been redesigning the forum for him. I am not a huge fan of web design work but at least you can see your work progress as you make changes. I had to upload a new banner that Alan designed and sent me and I had to move a ton of topics and reorder the threads. I then uploaded a new look and I had to do some tweaking. Overall I am pretty happy with how it looks. You can view it by clicking here. 

I am so lucky that I am in such close contact with my favorite comic book artist. I have to admit that I geek out when I get e-mails from him.

Random Ramblings

Day 331

It's amazing how much my mood improves when the Jets win.

Yesterday Kristy was put in as Young Woman's President. We didn't think it was going to happen but it did. She was called a couple of weeks ago and I know that the ward had some logistics issues with who is serving where. But they made the calling official yesterday. Kristy will do a great job. She has some fantastic counselors and advisers and the Young Woman themselves are awesome. The unfortunate thing is that she will be a little more busy than normal. But the advantage is that I get to spend more time with Young Woman. I have said this before and I am sure this is not the last time I will say it but I love being around the Young Woman. They are such great examples and they make me feel young too.

My calling is still in limbo. I was called into the Elders Quorum as the 2nd counselor and our President moved about a month and half ago. I know a new President has been called but that is all I know. Nothing will happen for another two weeks or so. At least I am not the new President but I am eager to find out where I am going to be placed. Because knowing this ward, they have a spot waiting for me.

October is one of my favorite months. The air turns a little crisp, you get to wear comfier clothes, baseball season is winding down, football season is in full swing, basketball season is just a few weeks away. Scary shows are being shown on TV (I am a sucker for horror movies) and Halloween is almost here, and I LOVE Halloween candy.

This October will be special for a couple of reasons, I am a week away from going to The Halloween Hootenanny Tour! I am so giddy, I have been listening to Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie non-stop in preparation for the concert. I am not familiar with Alice Cooper as much but I am getting a kick out of discovering his music. Lots of fun stuff.

 I just don't know what to wear.

I was thinking of wearing this...

Only kidding. I am not sure what to wear, all I know is that I better wear black.

The other special occasion is that this blog will officially end October 31st. I don't know what I will do with the blog. Blogging has become a habit and I think I will miss doing it everyday. What are my fellow bloggers going to do when it is all over?

Random Ramblings

Day 303

I hate it when I sit to blog and all I do is just stare at the computer screen. I have no idea what to blog about today so I guess I should just ramble on...

I am giddy. It is official, I bought the tickets today. On October 4th I am going to the Rob Zombie/Alice Cooper concert and I am really looking forward to it. Speaking of Rob Zombie, I noticed that no one commented on my Rob Zombie blog. Did I scare all of you away with my strange taste in music?

This morning my dad called in sick to work so I am working by myself. This did give me the opportunity to go out and run whenever I want and I really needed to take advantage of the weather. It is only supposed to get to about 67 degrees out. So around noon I went for my run around the temple. I am glad I went when I did. About an hour after I came home it started pouring out. And for the first time in months, I am wearing jeans. Not shorts, but full length jeans.

I had a real good day yesterday at church. We had some excellent speakers and I got the opportunity to teach the 12-14 year olds. These are the same girls that I spent Girl's Camp with so I knew what I was getting into. Sure enough, the girl's called me by my nickname of Dr. Pepper. I told them that they really shouldn't call me that in church and I think that made them feel bad, that is until I told them that they should call me Brother Dr. Pepper. The lesson went great, I am very impressed with the youth, I wish I was that strong at that age. I asked one of the girls to say the closing prayer and she gave such a sincere prayer that really touched me. She also told me that I was a great teacher and gave a great lesson. I also had a good time at choir practice. A former member of the ward was there and it looks like he will be coming back to our ward. It was great to see him and I am glad he is back.

And of course, you cannot have a blog without pictures.

These are my dad's old, old glasses. Logan totally reminds me of Elton John.

List-Mania: Rob Zombie Songs

Day 300!

Do I look like someone who listens to Rob Zombie?

I am a big Rob Zombie fan. In fact, I kinda wish I was Rob Zombie. He gets to do every thing that I would love to do. He writes and sings in a rock band, he writes and directs movies and he writes comic books too.

But what I really appreciate and like about his music is that it is different and unique. His songs are dark and often times a bit disturbing. They are all tinged with horror and things that are creepy and campy. It is hard to explain what his music is all about, you just have to sample it yourself.

Now I will warn you. This music is not for everyone. I am pretty sure that most of you that read my blog will hate this type of music. It is not for the weak hearted but you have to admit he is pretty creative. When I am in a major writing slump I watch some of his videos and it reignites my creative drive. When I am feeling down I listen to him for a kickstart.

I am in the final stages of negotiations to attend this concert October 4th! Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper on the same stage? Will curiosity kill the cat again?

5) More Human Than Human

I had heard this song before my sister introduced me to Rob Zombie. I loved this video when it was on MTV and is one of my favorite running songs.

4) Feel So Numb

Again another fun running song. I am learning this one on the bass.

3) Burn

This is one of his newest songs from his latest album. I admit that I have to stop typing and air guitar during those awesome guitar licks.

2) Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)

This is one of Kristy's favorites too. I especially like this video and all the "Clockwork Orange" references. I have developed a character of the scene where he is sitting down with that cane.

1) Dragula

This is the song that my sister introduced me too and I loved it right from the start. You know what Dragula is don't you? That is what Grandpa Munster drove in the TV show. I could watch this video all the time. The images of the kids laughing and the nuclear explosion plastered on top is just awesome.

I am looking forward to seeing him in concert. It should be a memorable experience.

A Couple of Evenings with Bon Jovi

Day 247

I never went to concerts when I was a teenager. The only concert that I had went to was when the Beach Boys came to Logan. They played after the Utah State/Hawaii football game. It was a great concert only it was so hot! You could tell who was at the concert, half of them were sunburned.

It was many years after that I went to my next concert and that was on a whim. Kristy's friend Kristi Pixton, whom she taught P.E. with at South Hills Middle School down in Riverton wanted to go and we all thought that sounded fun. So I bought tickets off the Internet and off we went.

That experience totally made me a fan of going to concerts. I didn't think it would have been that cool but it was. Bon Jovi was also Kristy's first concert too. I was really impressed with how the band energized us all and they gave it everything they had to make sure we all had a good time watching the show. One of the best parts of concert-going is also one of my favorite past times. I love to people watch and the people that came to the Bon Jovi concert didn't disappoint. We spotted a daughter, mother and grandmother all dressed in the same slutty outfit. I would have loved to have snapped a picture of that, it was a sight to behold.

The first time Kristy and I saw Bon Jovi was on the Wild Night Tour at the Delta Center on April 28th, 2001. The band SR-71 opened for them and they were alright. I always feel bad for the opening act, rarely I want to see them and nowhere near the amount I want to see the main event band.

I was familiar with most of the setlist.

One Wild Night

You Give Love A Bad Name

It's My Life

Keep the Faith (Sympathy for the Devil)

Livin' On A Prayer

Born To Be My Baby

Mystery Train

Blaze of Glory

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

In These Arms

Just Older

Blood On Blood

I'll Be There For You

Lay Your Hands on Me

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Bad Medicine (Shout)

ENCORE

I Got the Girl

Wanted Dead or Alive

SECOND ENCORE

Tequila

Twist and Shout

I was taken surprise by their second encore. They said that if the audience is really into it they will keep coming out. I would totally see them live again.

In fact, I did.

Pixton told us that Bon Jovi was coming only this time our brother-in-law Eric and Terry (another teacher at their school) came. We met at Applebees and grabbed some food and then rode the train up to the Energy Solutions Arena and waited for them to take the stage. The Goo Goo Dolls was the opening band and I thought they did a solid job but we were all excited for Bon Jovi.

I am not a huge fan of Bon Jovi. I like their music and I have a couple of albums but I would consider myself a casual fan. But I was way excited to see them come out! They had a pretty cool stage, they had these three large satellite dishes (like on the album cover) and they were just TV screens.

Setlist:

Bounce

You Give Love A Bad Name

Wild In the Streets

Livin' On A Prayer

Everyday

Undivided

Runaway

Just Older

Wanted Dead Or Alive

The Distance

It's My Life

Misunderstood

Right Side of Wrong

I'll Be There For You

Blaze of Glory

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

Born To Be My Baby

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Raise Your Hands

ENCORE:

Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars

Bad Medicine (Shout)

Sadly no second encore. But I was really happy that they included Runaway, one of my favorite songs of theirs. It was a good show and I would go see them again.

An Evening With Queen

Day 173


After 173 days it is getting hard to remember what I have blogged about. I am sure that I have mentioned before that Queen is my all-time favorite band before but I am too lazy to check. One day I will blog about how I discovered them but for this column I am going to cover the time I was able to see them in concert.

I saw them a few years ago in Las Vegas and let me say, it was the best concert I have been to. Vegas is a special place for Queen since that is the place where they debuted their musical We Will Rock You.

With the unfortunate passing of Freddie Mercury back in 1991 I thought that I had missed the boat in seeing Queen in person. But I was lucky that they formed a partnership with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company fame to tour the US and also release an album together. I didn't even know that they were touring at the time and I was surfing the net and found that they were touring and better yet, they were coming to Las Vegas!

Now let me say this. Paul Rodgers can never replace Freddie Mercury. No one can replace Freddie Mercury. But I thought Paul did a good job meshing well with Queen's music. I am not a Rodgers hater at all, I appreciate the stuff that he brought to the table. I got Return of the Champions Live CD by Queen and Paul Rodgers and I will admit that I was surprised by his vocals. He didn't try to imitate Freddie, he took Queen's songs and put his own style on them.

I looked them up to see if they were touring and was so excited that they were coming shortly in concert to Vegas. I got two tickets (for me and my wife) and we made plans to stay the weekend in Vegas. Kristy and I left Logan here with Lynn, Jennifer and Mom and we took off Thursday morning. The drive was horrible, it was snowing so bad all through Salt Lake and Provo, the roads were full of ice and snow but once we got past Provo, the weather improved and it got warm. We got to Vegas in pretty good time and we stayed at the Tropicana hotel.

The hotel was right across the street from the MGM (where Queen was playing) and right off the strip. Friday we went out and ate at the ESPN Zone for lunch and went shopping. We went the M&M store and bought some stuff for Logan and then we rested and then went the concert.

I was pretty excited. We first got in line so I can buy a Queen t-shirt and the lines somehow blurred together and we got to the merchandise booth at the same time as this fat lady and her daughter. I had no problem letting them go first and thought that would be the right thing to do when suddenly she looks at me and yells out "We were here first! Not you!" I thought about letting her have it but I smiled nicely and let her go first. Geez, what an extremely rude lady.

I bought a real cool "retro" brown Queen shirt and then we ran off to find our seats. There was no opening act. Then the lights dimmed and the concert began. It started with this cool remix of It’s a Beautiful Day and then the members of Queen came out and rocked it!

LAS VEGAS - Fri 07/04/06 SET LIST

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

REACHING OUT

TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN

FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS

CAN'T GET ENOUGH

TAKE LOVE

CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

LOVE OF MY LIFE

HAMMER TO FALL

FEEL LIKE MAKING LOVE

I'M IN LOVE WITH MY CAR

LAST HORIZON

BAD COMPANY

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

DRAGON ATTACK

THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES

RADIO GA GA

UNDER PRESSURE

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

WE WILL ROCK YOU

ALL RIGHT NOW

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

It was SO worth the money and the drive to see them. During the song These are the Days of Our Lives they flashed images of Freddie on the large screen to the cheers of the crowd. I think I was the only HUGE Queen fan sitting on our row. I knew all the typical Queen concert things to do and yelled and sang them out.

I was hoping they would sing I Want It All but I was extremely glad for the inclusion of Under Pressure. When Brian May introduced that song he said that we should all be familiar with that song because they stole it from some "white boy". I was not a huge fan of the song Dragon Attack until I heard it live. The bass line was so awesome live. It vibrated your whole body. Now that song is one of my favorites.

Like I said before, Queen just isn't Queen without Freddie but I thought Paul did a fantastic job. And it was fun to hear some of his Bad Company songs live as well. When they exited off stage I tried to get everyone clapping the beat to We Will Rock You but it didn't catch on until another section started it. And then they came back and finished the show. Sure I am biased but I think this was the best concert I have been too.

The next day we went shopping and browsed the sights of Las Vegas. We also went and walked around the LDS temple in Las Vegas too. The next day we returned home to Mom and Logan. The trip was nice and relaxing and was extremely happy that I was able to see my favorite band of all-time and share that with Kristy. I would do it again in a flash.

Pun FULLY intended! FLASH! AHHHHAHHHHH! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!

An Evening with U2

Day 110

U2 recently announced that they are coming back to Salt Lake City on June 3rd at Rice Eccles Stadium and I am pretty excited. I was sad that they were not coming during the first leg of their 360 Tour and I didn't think they were going to come back. I missed the Vertigo Tour and I have regretted it.

I have enjoyed their new album No Line on the Horizon immensely and I am looking forward to catching this show live. I don't look forward to scraping up some cash to buy tickets. I don't care where I sit, I am fine in the cheap nosebleed seats, I am only there to hear the music.


This would mark the second time I have seen U2 live. Back on November 9, 2001 I took my sister Jennifer and her boyfriend Justin to the concert along with me and my wife. We first went to the mall by the Delta Center (now Energy Solutions Arena) and got some food and we walked over to see the concert. We were clear in the upper bowl but we still had a good view of the stage. We first stopped by a booth to get some shirts. I bought a shirt for Jennifer for her birthday and I got a cool baseball jersey shirt.


The opening act was pretty solid. It was No Doubt and they were pimping their new album Rock Steady but unfortunately the sound was not that great and we could barely hear Gwen sing. But as far as opening acts go it was a lot of fun.

And then the lights went out and U2 took the stage! Here is the setlist:

Elevation
Beautiful Day
Until The End Of The World
New Year’s Day
I Will Follow
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
Kite
Wild Honey
People Get Ready
Please
Bad
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Pride (In The Name Of Love)

ENCORE:
Bullet The Blue Sky
What’s Going On
New York
One
Walk On

I was so happy that they included my favorite song of their new album in New York. That was something that I will not forget. During the song they had two bright spotlights shine from the stage to the ceiling representing the World Trade Centers. And then they showed all the names of the people that tragically died on 9/11.


It was such a fantastic concert. One of the highlights included people watching. Jennifer and I had to laugh at the guy sitting to our right on the row in front of us. He just couldn't clap to the beat if his life depended on it!

I cannot wait to see U2 again and I am excited that it will be an outdoor concert.

Sunday Confessional: Ladies Night

Day 57

Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for others. This night I just did that. I sacrificed my machismo and took my mom out for her birthday. Just the two of us. Now you might say that isn't so bad, all sons should treat their moms to something special and this night I did just that.

For her birthday, I got tickets to see one of her favorite performers and I would go with her. And I think I was the only guy in a two hundred seat parameter. I admit it, I saw Barry Manilow in concert with my mom.

Yes. THAT Barry Manilow. There is really only one Barry Manilow right?


And guess what? The concert was pretty good. Seriously, I think I was the only man in a two hundred seat radius but I still had a pretty good time. Barry had just released his new CD called Here at the Mayflower, which is a concept album based on an apartment complex called the Mayflower. With each song he would take you through the lives of various people living there. Now I like concept albums so I got a small kick out of it. What I really liked is that Barry took the time to explain the album and how it was made.


After he finished up the album he went into all of his classics and it was kinda cool to hear them all live. He also took the time to explain how he wrote the songs. One that stuck out to me was that he brought on stage his old voice recorder and explained that he had written a song early in his career that he tried to sell to everyone but no one wanted it. So he used this voice recorder to record his own voice in layers and put it together. That song turned out to be his signature song Mandy. He then joked that he was so glad he made the song instead of selling it.

I have to admit Barry was quite charming. I don't think I would have enjoyed his concert as much if he didn't go into explaining his songs. That really drew me in, I love that sort of thing, learning how creators create thier stuff.

At first I was a little embarrassed that I was at a Barry Manilow concert. But after a few minutes in I was enjoying myself. Until Barry made an annoucement that really embarrassed me. After he covered his new album and before he went into his classics he said (and I paraphrase it) "You men out there? It will be all worth it coming to this concert later tonight."

I don't think so Barry.

Aside from that, I had a hoot at the concert and if my mom wanted to go again I would be happy to attend it with her. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.

Barry ain't that bad. I loved it when Hellboy and Abe sang "Can't Smile Without You" in Hellboy II.


Watch Hellboy ll - Can't smile without you in Animation  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

An Evening with Tom Petty

Day 14

One of my favorite music artists is Tom Petty. Sure, he doesn't have the greatest voice in the world but his music is just awesome.

The first song I heard of his was his duet with Stevie Nicks and I kinda dug that song. I next saw his freaky video for "Don’t Come Around Here No More", (which was a play on Alice in Wonderland and the memorable ending with them all eating cake which was Alice). I liked the song but never totally got into Petty until I heard the song " I Won’t Back Down". I bought that album (Full Moon Fever) and picked up his next album and also his collaborations with the Traveling Wilburys.

Since then I have picked up every single album that he has come out with faithfully. I was quite excited to hear that he was coming on tour and he made a stop in Salt Lake City to support his "The Last DJ" album.



The only problem was that Kristy was 8 months pregnant with Logan. We went to the doctors and asked if that would be a problem if he went to a loud concert and the doctor assured us that he wouldn’t be hurt. It would be like us sticking our head in a bathtub full of water. So we went! The opening act was Jackson Browne and we missed it completely because of the stupid parking. We drove all over trying to find where we parked and we finally found a place. It charged us 5 stinking bucks to park and it was a couple of blocks to the E Center. We trucked along and I got in line to purchase a shirt and we made it to our seats as they were closing. We had fantastic seats. Any seat would be cool because really, no matter where you are, you can hear and feel the music.



The best part of concerts, other than the acts themselves, is people watching. There were a few kids younger than us but most were a little older. Most of them looked like hippies. Then the concert started and it was a fantastic concert. Tom was very personal, thanking us after each song he sang. He also made a point that no one (company) was sponsoring him and then he went into "Joe". We also saw a lot of fans getting kicked out for lighting up a little Mary Jane. Speaking of that, by far, the best song was "Last Dance With Mary Jane". Logan certainly kicked around a bit when the concert first started but then calmed down towards the end.

Here is the setlist:
NOVEMBER 4, 2002 - SALT LAKE CITY, UT
The Last DJ
Love Is A Long Road
Have Love Will Travel
Free Fallin'
Joe
When A Kid Goes Bad
Shadow Of A Doubt
I Won't Back Down
You Don't Know How It Feels
Feel A Whole Lot Better
Can't Stop The Sun
A Woman In Love
The Waiting
King’s Highway
Yer So Bad
Lost Children
Refugee
Running Down A Dream
ENCORE:
You Wreck Me
Oh Carol

It's too bad that Tom has not been back to Salt Lake since.