Category Archives: Music

The Killers - SBC, Camden, NJ, 5.19.13

Concerts, Music, New Jersey, Photos, The Killers

The Killers – 5.19.13 – Camden, NJ

I’ve never seen The Killers this damn good. Opening with When You Were Young with the house lights, throwing in a little Bruce, and the most fantastic All These Things initial closing I’ve ever experienced. This was the final stop on the Battle Born tour, and absolutely everything they had was left in Jersey. I could not be happier that this was our soon-to-be-(battle)-born baby girl’s first concert.

1. Enterlude (house lights on)
2. When You Were Young (house lights on)
3. Spaceman
4. Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen, partial)
5. The Way It Was
6. Smile Like You Mean It
7. Bling (Confessions of a King)
8. Shadowplay
9. Miss Atomic Bomb
10. Human
11. Somebody Told Me
12. For Reasons Unknown
13. From Here On Out
14. A Dustland Fairytale
15. Read My Mind
16. Runaways
17. All These Things That I’ve Done

ENCORE
18. This Is Your life
19. Mr. Brightside
20. Battle Born

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My Ultimate Five Springsteen Songs
Bruce Springsteen, Essays, Music

My Springsteen Five

My Ultimate Five Springsteen Songs

Deciding on your five favorite Springsteen tunes can be rather intimidating. For me, it’s not as hard as, say, jotting down the five ultimate Pearl Jam ditties, but it’s still quite the cerebral challenge. And it should be for anybody who religiously rocks out to The Boss.

Regardless, I’ve gone ahead and tackled this challenge to the best of my ability. And I’m happy with the results. With such a formidable library, I doubt anyone in the world shares this same list, so I can only hope that this post inspires some adventurous readers to come up with their own (including numbering!). It’s fun, trust me. :)

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Bruce Springsteen, Concerts, Music, New Jersey, Photo Gallery, Photos

Bruce’s Birthday Party at MetLife Stadium

Celebrating The Boss’s 63rd birthday with 60,000 or so other fans in New Jersey is quite the experience. We got started early, tailgated throughout the afternoon, and entered the “new Meadowlands” ready to go. With a huge storm moving directly over MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, the entire seating bowl was evacuated to the main corridors of the venue. Imagine around 60,000 people – most of them drunk and anxious – crammed into just a few narrow hallways waiting for some news, good or bad. The show was delayed for several hours, as the rain poured and the storm rolled. But spirits remained high, and over an hour into the delay, we were given the green light and proceeded to our seats. The experience seemed surreal.

Three hours after the scheduled start time, at 10:30pm, Bruce finally took the stage and got right to it. ‘Out in the Street’ kicked things off, and the place exploded for ‘Badlands’ not long after. Starting with ‘My City of Ruins’, about halfway into the set, things became a bit dull for me (it’s entirely possible I’m in the minority here) with some strange song selections and a lack of intensity. But it was the dude’s birthday, so I thought I’d give him another chance. :)

The encore was spectacular – an incredible ‘Thunder Road’ and even ‘Glory Days’! ‘Born to Run’ was as good as ever, and I still think you haven’t experienced live music until you’ve seen his anthem in the flesh. When the house lights fire up, you know it’s a real party. After a visit from Bruce’s mother and other family members, a guitar-shaped birthday cake was cut, and the entire crowd serenaded The Boss with ‘Happy Birthday’. And although I would have preferred ‘American Land’ to close it out, ‘Twist and Shout’ sent us all home in a fantastic fashion. This was at 1:55am, by the way.

I’ll never forget this one. Celebrating Bruce’s birthday with him and the E Street Band. With 60,000 other screaming fans, several members of my family, and my lovely wife. With a weather delay lasting several hours. With fireworks. With 33 songs and three-and-a-half hours of the restoration of humanity’s faith and belief in rock music. In New Jersey (!!!). Just awesome.

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. September 2, 2012
Bruce Springsteen, Concerts, Music, Philly, Photos

Epic E Street

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band went insane at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philly over Labor Day weekend (the first of two shows). I was bummed that there was a lack of ‘No Surrender’ and ‘American Land’, but it was a fantastic 33-song, 3-hour-and-40-minute party to end the summer. I’ve never imagined that ‘Working on the Highway’ could sound so ridiculously good. And ‘Badlands’ and ‘Shackled and Drawn’ – holy shit! ‘Rosalita’ even came out. Unfortunately, I missed most of ‘Thunder Road’ after a gentleman next to us passed out and had to be carried to safety by me and other fellow concertgoers.

And to think – just a few minutes away at the same exact time on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway – Pearl Jam was playing ’99 Problems’ with Jay-Z at the ‘Made in America’ festival. Philadelphia is the now officially the music capital of the world. The setlist:

Summertime Blues
Out in the Street
Sherry Darling
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown
Lost in the Flood
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
Green Onions
Good Rockin’ Tonight
Cadillac Ranch
I’m on Fire
Candy’s Room
She’s the One
Jack of All Trades
Human Touch
Working on the Highway
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Jersey Girl
The Rising
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams

ENCORE:
We Are Alive
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
You Can’t Sit Down
Twist and Shout

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Smashing Pumpkins Ticket Stub - Philadelphia, PA
Concerts, Music, Photos, Smashing Pumpkins

First Live Show

I stumbled upon this going through some old and random things. This was my first concert ever. Garbage opened the show, and I’ve had a thing for red heads ever since I saw Shirley Manson take the stage. The historic venue no longer stands, unfortunately, because Philadelphia sucks and had to make a drunk pit (known as “Xfinity Live!”) so delusional Ryan Howard fans could go get tanked before and after Phillies games.

But it’s a night I’ll never forget, especially since this is one of the last shows the Pumpkins ever played in their true and original form (if not the last show). Exactly One week later, Jonathan Melvoin, the touring keyboardist for the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tour, died of a heroin overdose in New York City. The band’s drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin, was with Melvoin at the time of his death and was immediately fired from the band.

I can still remember how their set opened. Melvoin rocked the album’s title track, a gorgeous instrumental, to a dark arena scattered with lighters. It was the first time that I felt emotional over a piece of music, and I still tend to tear up when I hear the song. I even had it played at our wedding.

A bit of a sad story, but Mellon Collie is one of the greatest and most important rock albums of all time, and this was the most fantastic way to experience it.

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Concerts, Music, Photos

Eve 6 & Memories at The Croc

I’ve been an Eve 6 fan since 1998, when I was in the 7th grade, all my music came from CDs, and ‘Inside Out’ blew my small nimble mind. Their tunes have appeared on my playlists ever since, and many of their witty lyrics from Horrorscope (their second album released in 2000) fueled my status and away messages on AIM during my high school days. If you saw my favorite line from ‘Amphetamines’ (“This is the last song I’ll send your way, I smelled you on my shirt today.”), you knew I was having women troubles.

It was fantastic to see them back together, on stage, playing all of those tunes that, in ways, raised me. Listening to ‘Leech’ and ‘Tongue Tied’ brought back memories of my Mom driving me to baseball games in elementary school while I blasted the band’s debut album in the car. I don’t necessarily think she liked it as much as I did, but she pretended to, and I appreciated it. In my early high school years, I remember rushing home to watch MTV’s Total Request Live when ‘Here’s to the Night’ was on a crazy run. I wished every day that I had muscles as big as Max’s.

Fast forward 14 years. I’m driving to the Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown with my wife to see Eve 6, listening to that same band in the car, and telling her about my favorite songs and all the memories I had listening to them. Music really is a special thing.

Below is the official setlist:

1. Situation Infatuation (Speak in Code)
2. Promise (Horrorscope)
3. Amphetamines (Horrorscope)
4. B.F.G.F (Speak in Code)
5. Think Twice (It’s All In Your Head)
6. Leech (Eve 6)
7. Nightmare (Horrorscope)
8. Lost & Found (Speak in Code)
9. Here’s To The Night (Horrorscope)
10. At Least I’m Dreaming (Acoustic; It’s All In Your Head)
11. Pick Up The Pieces (Speak in Code)
12. Victoria (Speak in Code)
12. Tongue Tied (Eve 6)
13. On The Roof Again (Horrorscope)
14. Inside Out (Eve 6)
15. Open Road Song (Eve 6)

ENCORE
16. Rescue (Horrorscope)

The show was spectacular, and I have no complaints. But when I realized ‘Anytime’ wasn’t making an appearance, I died a little bit on the inside.

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Eve 6 tickets - Allentown, PA
Concerts, Music, Photos

High School Rock Show

It’s crazy to think. The last time I saw Eve 6 live was in 2001 at the Theater of the Living Arts, a small 1000-person venue, on South Street in Philly. I went with two of my best friends and my regular concert partner in crimes. We enjoyed the freak show that is South Street and wandered into a local music store, where I managed to pick up ‘High Fidelity’ (one of the greatest films of all time) on DVD. It then resided in one of the large pockets of my cargo pants (!!!) throughout the show and ended up annoying the hell out of me. While we waited for our parents to pick us up, we stood – cold – outside of Jim’s just so we could smell like cheesesteaks for the rest of the night – it was worth it. We even stopped at a place called the Condom Kingdom, a ridiculous establishment that, I believe, is no longer in business (shocking, I know). But hey – we were in high school and much more easily amused at things.

A strange band called Tsar opened the show, and the lead singer began rambling about some sort of race car drives from the future, apparently the subject of one of their songs. Eve 6 opened with ‘How Much Longer’, though I can’t remember anything else regarding the setlist. I was a huge Eve 6 fan back in High School and through most of college (the awesome puns scattered throughout their music are shamefully under-appreciated), until they disappeared from the face of the Earth. Then I heard they were coming to Allentown, PA, which is a fairly straight shot up route 100 and the subject of an awesome Billy Joel tune, and I couldn’t resist. And how often do I get confirmation from a band’s lead singer that they’re going to play my favorite song?

Yep.

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Bruce Springsteen, Music, New Jersey

In Defense of Bruce, New Jersey

I never realized, until recently, how Bruce Springsteen can polarize the masses. Like anything else, I’m sure there is a multitude of reasons why people dislike the 62-year-old rocker who can sell out five stadiums by simply promising to take a dump in front of 20,000 roaring fans (he could call it the “Deuce Springsteen tour”). But maybe we can narrow it down to a reason for which we can blame ‘The Boss’ himself. His latest album, ‘Wrecking Ball’, is like a package of anthems for the working class – ballads of middle-class hope, struggle, and everything else that made his music, in ways, the lyrical background of an entire country.

But I guess some people are unable to overlook the fact that Bruce continues to sing about and for the “working class” when he clearly doesn’t belong to the group. Like Arcade Fire said, “You never trust a millionaire quoting the Sermon on the Mound.” Right? True, Bruce passed us all a long time ago but does that mean his music means anything less? I don’t think so. After all, I doubt that every artist who ever wrote a song about ‘true love’ has actually experienced it.

So a super rich guy singing for poor people. Seems too easy.

Perhaps this hate for Bruce comes from a much darker place, rooted in the most polarizing state in our fair union – New Jersey. After all, if you’re from New Jersey, there is at least one person in the world who dislikes you because of that single fact (as wrong as it may be).

It’s hard to hate the man who gave us ‘Born to Run’, but let’s take a step back for a moment and examine the facts. There are tons of reasons that may cause varying degrees of disgust at the Garden State and all associated residents. Not being able to pump your own gas. Mark Sanchez and the Jets. Traffic circles that residents can’t even use. Ugly license plates (fading white into yellow – really?). Obscene real estate taxes that scare people away from actually moving there. Bon Jovi. Camden. New York wannabes. Terrible drivers. That moment you cross the Commodore Barry Bridge and realize there’s no turning back. You get the idea.

But I like to think that Bruce is just another reason to love New Jersey. Just like the Jersey Shore, a place of magic and love where good times can never be marred by brownish ocean water and uninspired waves. Its sands represent a breeding ground for romantic escapades. Don’t let Snooki fool you; there’s another side to the Jersey Shore that makes much more sense.

And there’s more! Fantastic diners, and tons of them. Cheap gas. Rutt’s Hut, where they deep fry hot dogs. Pork roll from Trenton. The world’s tallest roller coaster. Great people – seriously, there’s not a person from Jersey that I know and don’t like.

But even if your hatred for New Jersey grows far too deep to be healed by these notions, let’s keep The Boss out of it. If you’re going to hate anybody simply because they’re from New Jersey, hate Bon Jovi. That dude’s an asshole.

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Essays, Music

The New Piano Man

I didn’t really grow up listening to Billy Joel; it just wasn’t my era. But when I truly began to appreciate good music, I understood the Piano Man and the wonders he created with that damn piano. It is absolutely fantastic stuff, and he still, without fail, appears several times on any random playlist I may put together when I’m in need of one. It’s good music. Plain and simple. And it makes me yearn for more music that gets the piano as much as he always has. There is a certain degree of soul that comes with it – one that not many guitars can claim.

But it looks like I have found my very own Piano Man (well, um, one from my era). One that I can confidently tell my children about.

I remember watching the video for Something Corporate’s “If U C Jordan” back in high school and laughing at the entire act. The lyrics, the whole “we’re so different, because we use a piano” shtick, the clear and silly pop-punk scheme – it came off as a joke to my musical senses. And an even bigger insult to the Piano Man. I guess the frontman, Andrew McMahon, could play the piano well enough, but nothing could possibly help this band’s cause (whatever that was). I safely ignored the band (one of my favorite band names ever, though) and the dude behind the piano, from that point on.

Then, many moons later, that same dude, became Jack’s Mannequin, and things started to change. “Everything in Transit”, the band’s first attempt at a record, had some remnants of that pop-punk silliness that annoyed me with Something Corporate. But it was a start. The piano, in a starring role, really grabbed my attention – just like when I first started listening to Joel. Things got even better with “The Glass Passenger”. I could feel the pop-punk silliness begin to fade away and McMahon really start to understand that piano’s potential. I had the privilege of seeing the band during the tour for its second album, and my fondness grew. How a dude with a piano could play a concert that felt this rock-and-roll blew my mind. I never had the chance to see Joel in concert, but if he ever performed at even 20% of the energy level of McMahon, I missed out on something special. At this point, I’m starting to maybe wonder if McMahon is the Piano Man of my era. Could be. Possibly.

I woke up to a surprise on a recent Tuesday morning. Jack’s Mannequin third studio album, “People and Things”, dropped. After a few quick and short song previews, I was all in. For six straight days, I listened to the entire album on an infinite loop. This was it. McMahon was my Piano Man.

One of the things that always bothered me about the potential Piano Man crowning is the strangely high number of teenage girls that worship McMahon. It sounds strange, but there’s a level of validation there that takes a hit. But I can’t harp on that forever when he puts out music like this. Go ahead. Listen to the first five seconds of “Release Me” and just try and tell me that you don’t immediately hear the original Piano Man.

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Katy Perry Live in Philly
Concerts, Music, Philly, Photos

Katy Perry Live (and I liked it)

I’m a Pearl Jam guy, so Katy Perry – although a sincere objection of my affection (read: crush) and random guilty listening pleasure – isn’t my most tasty cup of tea. But as per the laws of marriage, a man must agree to, every once in a while, follow his wife to a concert where gingerbread men and a giant purple kitty named “Kitty Perry” dance together on stage. So that just happened this last Friday night (pun totally intended).

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