Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Jones Beach
July 21th

Neil Young was one of those remaining guys high on my list of people to see before he or I die, and while I’ve had many chances in the past to see him, I kept kinda avoiding it, and apparently for no good reason.  F’reals, cause had I seen him a decade before, I probably would have seen him 10 times already.  YEP, Neil Young live is necessity!!!!  

But did I pick the right show to go to?  He’s supporting a new album (never fun when seeing old fogey musicians), and his backing band features two of Willie Nelson’s sons.  I don’t know them from Adam Nelson or his sons, but I assume they love farms and smoking dope.  Sounds like a match made for Neil Young.  And for me?  Well, their collaborative album – The Monsanto Years – was included with the price of admission [a practice I love!] – and is totally not bad!  It sounds like Neil Young, and he’s even angrier than ever!  The dude TOTALLY hates Monsanto, and Starbucks and WalMart and GMOs.  I try to ignore the ranting and juss enjoy the music, and not juss for Neil, but for all musics.  And live?  The album (and ranting) sounded great!  He could have been singing about how much he hates Popeyes Fried Chicken and it would have STILL fcuking RAWKED!!!

Plus the genius idea to play 5 BEYOND CLASSIC songs solo at the show’s beginning was blammmmmazin!!!

Plus he jammed the hell out of a BEYOND ROUSING 16 minute-ish version of ‘Down By The River’!!!!!  

16(ISHHHH) MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and every second of it was ear-blowing!!!

But no ‘Cinnamon Girl’?  Hopefully he plays it once out of the next ten times I see him, GMOs or not

Setlist

Solo Neil - After the Gold Rush / Heart of Gold / Long May You Run / Old Man /Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)

with Promise of The Real – Hold Back the Tears / Out on the Weekend / Unknown Legend / Field of Opportunity / Wolf Moon / From Hank to Hendrix / Harvest Moon / Words (Between the Lines of Age) / Lookin’ for a Love / Winterlong / A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop / People Want to Hear About Love / Big Box / A New Day for Love / Down by the River / Workin’ Man / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere / Monsanto Years / If I Don’t Know / Love and Only Love

Encore – Cortez the Killer

The Beach Boys
Jones Beach
June 24th

There’s just something about seeing The Beach Boys in an aquatic setting that just screams BEACHY KEEN!!!  And there was plenty of beachy screams too, by us, cause we become lil girls when seeing the American Beatles, although most of the ladies in the audience only got wetty wet when Uncle Jessie reared his pretty head, when the ladies should only be getting wetty wet at the sight of Al Jardine’s face, Brian Wilson’s crazed-genius, Mike Love’s a$$holey bravado, Bruce Johnston’s smile, David Marks’ marksmanship, and the non-original B-Boy member who’s the true glue making this show the tour of the summer - Jeff Foskett [read this article]

Most people wouldn’t bother seeing The Beach Boys in this day and age, and given their age.  Understandably, as one would think that their concert would be juss one giant geriatric wheelchair bound nostalgia stale air affair, but if one thinks that way, then one will miss out on perhaps one of the last chances to see Rock n Roll royalty reign, and if you do dis & miss out, yer a grade-AAAAA moron and should be deported back to Uranus or whatever anus you came from [we’ve said this before, but repeating things sometimes drives homeslice a point]

The show was basically the same as the Beacon one we saw a month ago, but the fellas dropped a few different tunes into the mix [set list below].  The biggest and bestest addition was ‘Our Prayer’, the actual lead-in intro to ‘Heroes & Villians’ (one of their bestest), and while the song contains no instruments and very few words (mainly ‘oooooh’s, ‘aaaaah’s and a bunch of ‘doooot’s), it captures the pure (cabin) essence of what The Beach Boys are – perfect harmony, in harmony.  YOU CAN HEAR THE LIVE VERSION OF ‘OUR PRAYER’ HEAR!!!

and - more of what they sound like live these days HEAR

Also, whilst wees here, their new album…

is what you would expect from the Beach Boys at 50 (the band’s age, not theirs).  there are slower paced songs about reflecting on times past, and cars and surfing, and other California dreamts.  As a whole, it doesn’t pack much of anything, but hearing songs like the title track & ‘Isn’t It Time’ live, alongside their hits of yesteryear, they sound like they is from yesteryear too!!!  That’s a good thing  Why?  CAUSE GOD MADE THE RADIO, THAT’S WHY!!!!!

First Set – Do It Again / Little Honda / Catch A Wave / Hawaii / Don’t Back Down / Surfin’ Safari / Surfer Girl / Please Let Me Wonder / Marcella / Wendy / Then I Kissed Her /Kiss Me, Baby / Getcha Back / Why Do Fools Fall in Love /When I Grow Up (to Be a Man) / Disney Girls / Isn’t It Time / California Saga / Cotton Fields / Be True to Your School / Don’t Worry Baby / Little Deuce Coupe / 409 / Shut Down / I Get Around

Second Set – Pet Sounds Instrumental /Add Some Music To Your Day / Our Prayer / Heroes and Villains / Sloop John B / Wouldn’t It Be Nice / I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times / Sail On, Sailor / All This Is That / That’s Why God Made The Radio / In My Room / Forever / God Only Knows / Good Vibrations / California Girls / Help Me, Rhonda / Rock and Roll Music / Do You Wanna Dance? / Surfin’ U.S.A.

Encore – Kokomo / Barbara Ann / Fun, Fun, Fun

Seeing the Boys shine together again, with zero signs of rust (just wrinkles), got we thinkings, what if John Lennon had lived?  We all think that a Beatles reunion was something that would have NEVER happened, but that’s mainly cause Lennon’s death rendered that idea moot.  The Beatles were only 10 years apart when John died, but had he lived, there’s no doubt they woulda reunited (even Led Zepp did, without Bonham, once!), and with a full backing band behind them, like The Boys of Beach have, The Beatles would have been able to reproduce that magical mystery studio tour sound on actual tour.  Imagine. What if.  WHAT IF!!!  If only.  And imagine there’s no religion too.  The only thing you don’t have to imagine is what Al Jardine’s face looks like, cause you can see it live, NOW!!!

Friday

Neil Diamond @ Jones Beach = SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!

just as so good as 2008 was so good!!!

SEE NEIL BEFORE HE OR YOUS DIES, NOW!!!!

+

Saturday & Sunday

Nats @ Fenway – guess what that equaled…

and cameoing on TV replay wasn’t so bad neither

what do you think of all this James Franco?

Roger Waters
Jones Beach
September 15th

Wheneth I was a child I had a fever, my beloved brother and sister reared me on the classics of rock, and yes, they did it less annoyingly than Jack Black would’ve. Although I never fell for the Dead like they did, even though our family did rock the world’s dopest station wagon adorned with 100+ bumper stickers and a Steal Your Face hood that screamed to cops ‘PULL ME OVER!’, they did get me crazily hooked on the Floyd of Pink. Hell, my parents aint no crazy music lovers (they only buy CD soundtracks from movies), but after hearing about how they stumbled upon a floating Floyd show in the canals of Venice, I certainly wished that I was there. So it had always been a dream of mine to see the boys live and in the flesh. Howevs, after years and years of legal battles between the current touring and recording group known as Pink Floyd and the man, the myth, the legend, Roger Waters, I was really confused as to who or what Pink Floyd drooly is. After a lotta tossin and turnin, I finally took a side: Watersz’. I mean, the dude’s fingeprints are purty much all over the greatest double disc (& one of my flavs) of balls thyme, and which in turn, begat the single greatistest rock movie mt everest (much respek to the Who’s Tommy), The Wall.

That’s why it was an easy choice to czech out Waters’ tour over David Gilmour’s, and hell, over the David Gilmour Girls’ tas well. And boy oh chef boyardee did I make the right decision, cause jolly Roger sure rocked the effin hizouse/ampy-theater the other night, even with his faux David Gilmour in tow. While I woulda rather he played The Wall in its entirety instead of Dark Side of the Moon, I aint gonna complain, even though that’s what I do best, besides JOing to Chris Isaak. For 2+ hours I got my juss desserts (‘Vera’/’Bring The Boys Back Home’ live was off the coat AND meat rack) and then some (like seeing 50 year olds smoke more ganj than I). Bonestly, I bet Waters puts on the breastest show that an old fogie of his gen could possibly put on (even if that fogie looks a lot like Richard Gere). Can the same really be said of the Rolling Stones or Dylan? Me donts think so.

There was one par-dick-u-lust-lee franztatsic moment that I will take with me ingrained in my brain to the grave: the release of the infamous inflatable pig during ‘Sheep’. Ya see, at the MSG show the other nite, I bet the pig probably floated to the roof and later was brought back down, but at Jones Biatch, shiz is outdoors, so the pig kept goin up and up and up, til wees couldn’t sees its no mo. I first thought of The Simpsons (you figure out the two pig refs I’m thinking of), and then my thoughts turned to its eventual return to mother earth. Imagine yer sittin at home and the all of the sudden a giant plastic bacon thing lands on yer house. In this day in age, you wouldn’t think that it hailed from a rock concert, but more like an Al Qaeda rally.

The show left me with one nagging question. It was totally boss for Gilmour and Waters to reunite for Live 8 and all, but why not take that show on the road? Shiz would make more money than Mark Cuban selling cuban sangwhiches. But I guess I shouldn’t even bother asking dat question when I already know the answer: when pigs fly!