Thighs Wide Shut

Graham Coxon
Bowery Ballroom
September 24

Graham Coxon is the forgotten man.  The Blur guitarist has released EIGHT solo albums, and all anyone ever wants to talk about is what Damon Albarn’s doing with whichever Damon Albarn side project is goings on at the moment (and for good reason).  But Graham is no slouch.  Sure, I only really know one of those solo albums (the first one), but after getting super-Super-SUPER into his latest and definitely his GREATEST – the soundtrack to the Netflix show The End Of The F***ing World – I was wrapped up in only one Blur side project for the last 2 months – the Graham Coxon-Graham Coxon side project!

Treated to 25 ditties, including two Blur songs, and two covers, Graham and his sharp guitar (and some fantastic sounding pre-recorded backing audio) enraptured the crowd from start to finish.  His motions and emotions on stage were filled with obvious nervousness and timidness.  This, from a guy who’s probably played every kind of giant festival stage imaginable, but I guess he’s used to disappearing into the background, while Damon sucked all the attention upfront.  But shyness aside, his charm and smile won the night and us all

Graham, once forgotten, now, unforgettable

Setlist – R U Lonely? / Latte / Way Up High (Ram John Holder cover) / Falling / All Over Me / That Someone Ain’t You / Alright / Don’t Believe Anything I Say / Flights to the Sea (Lovely Rain) / Angry Me / Saturday Night / It’s All Blue / She Left the Light On / Roaming Star / Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith cover) / Miss America (Blur song) / All The Rage / Brave The Storm / Walking All Day

Encore – In The Morning / You’re So Great (Blur song) / There’s Something in the Way That You Cry / See A Better Day / Sorrow’s Army

Paul Simon
The Final Show
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
September 22

Paul Simon said goodbye to touring, doing it his way.  There was no Art Garfunkel, no Ladysmith Black Mambazo, no Don Everly, no Dion, no Chevy Chase, no bells and whistles (although wife Edie Brickell  guest-whistled) – just Paul and his incredible touring band – giving it their all, and Paul’s awesomeness, one FINAL time

(I was lucky enuff to see a tribute to Paul WITH Paul back in 2008, although there wasn’t nearly enuff Paul for my liking – but there WAS David Byrne!! so there’s that)

This can’t be the final time, can it?  Paul’s still got it.  He does!  Saw his 3rd to last show at MSG on Thursday night, and cherished every second of it!! And while Saturday’s show in the park was identical in set list (like his entire Homeward Bound tour was), the final night was 1000000000 times more emotional.  When he closed it all out, alone on stage, softly singing ‘The Sound of Silence’, and then his voice, the stage, and the crowd descended into actual silence, it was a moment I wish I could freeze in time forever, so we would never reach an end of Paul Simon on stage

I guess it’s better to go out on top, than to slip slide away. I guess

Setlist – America / 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover / The Boy in the Bubble / Dazzling Blue / That Was Your Mother / Rewrite / Mother and Child Reunion / Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (with Edie Brickell) / Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War / Can’t Run But / Bridge Over Troubled Water / Wristband / Spirit Voices / The Obvious Child / Questions for the Angels / The Cool, Cool River / Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes / You Can Call Me Al

Encore – Late in the Evening / Still Crazy After All These Years / Graceland

Encore 2 – Homeward Bound / Kodachrome / The Boxer / American Tune / The Sound of Silence

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David Byrne
Kings Theatre
September 17

There are some things (musically) you want so bad, that you’ll take it any way you can get it.  I want a Led Zeppelin reunion, and I will never get one, but at least I saw Robert Plant solo.  The next thing I want (besides an ABBA reunion, which I also won’t get, but hey, I did once see Benny Andersson play in a London park!) is a Talking Heads reunion, and that aint never happening, ever.  And so you go for the next best thing, but for some reason, I never thought to see David Byrne play live

My bad, cause he good, SO GOOD.  Excellent.  Brilliant.  Amazing.  Astounding.  Show of the year.  Show of the decade.  Probably.  Check back with me in 2019 or 2020 or 2021 (hard to remember when a decade ends).  But seriously – the show that David Byrne and his marching band (no time for standing still) put on is a real beauty pageant – and the winner is the viewer/listener!  WOW.  Bless you David.  You even made your current work sound juss as vital as the stuff we all came to hear.  Timely!  Timeless!   Thank you for your time!

But, c’mon, no love for Little Creatures?  How do you not end a show with ‘Road To Nowhere‘? (or begin a show with it?)  And what of the most underloved, but perhaps greatest soundtrack of ALL TIME – True Stories?  Next time around?  Yay or nay, count me in, cause with you, we’re on a road to somewhere!

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Setlist – Here / Lazy / I Zimbra / Slippery People / I Should Watch TV / Dog’s Mind / Everybody’s Coming to My House / This Must Be the Place / Once in a Lifetime / Doing the Right Thing / Toe Jam / Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) / I Dance Like This / Bullet / Every Day Is a Miracle / Like Humans Do / Blind / Burning Down the House

Encore – Dancing Together / The Great Curve

2nd Encore – Hell You Talmbout (Janelle Monáe cover)

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Beck
Madison Square Garden
July 19

A lot can happen in a month.  One could say, ‘I don’t really need to see Beck again for awhile‘ and then weeks later be like, um, I’m a fool, so can we re-define ‘awhile’ to mean ‘NOW’ and get on with it???  THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED!!!! 

For some reason I was over Beck.  Last saw him in 2013.  Then time slipped.  His last album was snoozy (and somehow won THE Grammy).  I didn’t want snoozy, I wanted a Midnite Vulture redux! 

Then right around July 4th, Live Nation, probably looking to shrug off sluggish ticket sales for Beck’s first ever MSG headlining show, offered ‘all in’ tickets for $25.  How could I resist?  You can barely get into anything at MSG for less than $50!  I was in!  Oh wait what, Beck released a new album last fall and I didn’t know about it or chose to ignore it?  Well, I better get on this sh!t STAT, and to my surprise – IT WAS THE ANSWER TO ALL MY PRAYERS – MIDNITE VULTURES REDUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Beck’s Colors album is FANTASTIC, and super fun, and I want it to be my BFFive-ever!!  

And the show at MSG that he was having trouble filling?  Enough fans filled the seats, and if there was any emptiness in the Garden, Beck overfilled it with the rock and pop circumstance I’ve always known and loved.  And I still love it.  He still gots it.  And I still gots it for him!!  (why do I keep forgetting these things?)

But seriously Beck, why do you got such hate-tations on Mutations?  You haven’t played ‘Cold Brains’ live since 2006, and ‘Nobody’s Fault But My Own’ since 2005????!!!  Enuff with the Snooze Changes and Snoozing Phases – and never forget your BEST quiet work!!!  I’m not asking for Mutations 2, but juss for you to give some live love to the album that showed us your TRUE colors, but if we’re hear to ask for things, I’ll certainly take Midnite Vultures 3 – with all the pan flute you can flute at us!!!

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Setlist – Devils Haircut / The New Pollution / Mixed Bizness / Up All Night / Wow / Qué Onda Güero / Think I’m in Love > I Feel Love (Donna Summer cover) / l’m So Free / Dear Life (with Britt Daniel) / I Turn My Camera On (Spoon cover with Britt Daniel) / Girl Dreams (with Jenny Lewis) / Lost Cause / Blue Moon / Dreams / Girl /
Colors / Loser / E-Pro

Encore - Where It’s At > Can I Kick It > Good Times > See No Evil > I’m Waiting for the Man > Taking It to the Streets > Once In A Lifetime > In the Air (medley) / One Foot in the Grave / Where It’s At

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U2
Madison Square Garden
June 25

Congrats U2 – you are now tied for first – for the band I have seen the most in concert!!!  But I feel like you will soon leave Beck and Moby behind in the dust for good, cause I don’t really need to see Beck again for awhile, and Moby rarely tours anymore 

U2 + me = US3!!!

Last night’s MSG show was of course a great one (and very similar to the one back in 2015), as the lads dropped 8 rounds of love from their pretty damn good Songs Of Experience album!  And finally, Achtung‘s ‘Acrobat’!  But dude, how’d we get stuck with ‘All Because of You’ instead of ‘Gloria’?  How are those even swappable night after night?  Not even in the same league, bro! 

Anywho, the real setlist is below below, but after seeing these guys 10 times, I kinda now have my own dream setlist, and it goes like this…

Thighmaster’s Dream U2 Setlist

• Zoo Station
• Even Better Than The Real Thing
• Mysterious Ways
• Lady With The Spinning Head
• Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
• Zooropa
• Numb
• Paint It Black (Rolling Stones cover)
• The Blackout
• Magnificent
• Beautiful Day
• Elevation
• Vertigo
• Volcano > American Soul
• Raised By Wolves
• Seconds
• Sunday Bloody Sunday
• New Year’s Day
• Stories For Boys
• I Will Follow
• Gloria
• Van Diemen’s Land > In God’s Country

Encore

• The Miracle of Joey Ramone
• Desire
• Get Out of Your Own Way

Second Encore

• A Sort of Homecoming
• Bad
• Pride (In The Name of Love)
• Ordinary Love
• With Or Without You
• Where The Streets Have No Name

yes, I left out ‘One’, on purpose!

you can listen to the setlist as a playlist it here (without the Experience songs or ‘Ordinary Love’)

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MSG 6/25 Setlist – Love Is All We Have Left / The Blackout / Lights of Home / I Will Follow / All Because of You / Beautiful Day / The Ocean / Iris (Hold Me Close) / Cedarwood Road / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Until the End of the World / Elevation / Vertigo / Desire / Acrobat / You’re the Best Thing About Me / Staring at the Sun / Pride (In the Name of Love) / Get Out of Your Own Way / American Soul / City of Blinding Lights

Encore – One / Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way / 13 (There Is a Light)

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