Posted in Madison Square Garden, New Order, New York City, Paul Oakenfield, Pet Shop Boys on September 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 28, 2022] Pet Shop Boys / New Order / Paul Oakenfield: The Unity Tour [rescheduled from September 12, 2020 and September 22, 2021]
This concert was postponed twice. And now it was finally happening.
I had seen Pet Shop Boys a few years ago and definitely wanted to see them again. I had never seen New Order but new it would be a fun show. I had no real opinion of Paul Oakenfield.
And yet… (more…)
Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Phish, Postponed on April 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »
[DID NOT ATTEND: April 20 & 21, 2022] Phish [rescheduled from December 29, 30, 31 2021 and January 1, 2022]
I wasn’t exactly happy that Phish cancelled their New Year’s run at MSG. Well, actually I was because I didn’t feel safe going out.
The rescheduled dates (around 4/20, ha ha) were doable except that it’s a birthday week in our house.
MSG is a pain in the ass to get to, so I wasn’t looking forward to the travel. Then Phish announced more summer shows–in Philly and Atlantic City. Suddenly I had tickets to seven Phish shows in four months. That was too much even by my standards, so I sold these two on Cash or Trade and someone else got to enjoy the shows.
Posted in Coronavirus, Madison Square Garden, New Order, New York City, Pet Shop Boys, Postponed, Quarantine on September 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »
[POSTPONED: September 22, 2021] Pet Shop Boys / New Order: The Unity Tour [rescheduled from September 12, 2020 moved to September 28, 2022]
As a touring band of a certain age (and financial situation), it didn’t surprise me that this tour was postponed one more year–what do they need to put themselves at risk for? I bought these tickets on Feb 26, 2020!
However, I was pleased that this time the show isn’t the day after the My Chemical Romance show,
I saw the Pet Shop Boys in Morristown a few years ago. The show was great. The guys sounded amazing and I had a really good time–except for the crowd around me. They were all loud and talking and tall and pushing. I wished I’d gotten better seats as well. So I told myself if they toured again I would see them if conditions were good.
Well, how about if they toured with New Order? I’ve been a fan of New Order forever but I’ve never seen them live. I’m not even sure I ever really wanted to see them live. But putting them together with New Order was perfect. I didn’t realize that peter Hook had left the band. I did see that he was doing solo shows, but I didn’t realize he had no main band anymore. I also didn’t realized they’d put out any new music since Get Ready. Well, I hope they were just going to play the hits.
I didn’t really want to go to Madison Square Garden, but I’ve had good luck there lately so I picked it over any other large venue.
On June 11, I got the news that Pet Shop Boys & New Order – The Unity Tour was to be postponed until next year. I had pretty good seats, so I’m glad I get to keep them. I’ve waited a while to see them again, what’s one more year?
Posted in Coronavirus, Madison Square Garden, New Order, New York City, Pet Shop Boys, Postponed, Quarantine on September 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »
[POSTPONED: September 12, 2020] Pet Shop Boys / New Order: The Unity Tour [moved September 22, 2021]
I saw the Pet Shop Boys in Morristown a few years ago. The show was great. The guys sounded amazing and I had a really good time–except for the crowd around me. They were all loud and talking and tall and pushing. I wished I’d gotten better seats as well. So I told myself if they toured again I would see them if conditions were good.
Well, how about if they toured with New Order? I’ve been a fan of New Order forever but I’ve never seen them live. I’m not even sure I ever really wanted to see them live. But putting them together with New Order was perfect. I didn’t realize that peter Hook had left the band. I did see that he was doing solo shows, but I didn’t realize he had no main band anymore. I also didn’t realized they’d put out any new music since Get Ready. Well, I hope they were just going to play the hits.
I didn’t really want to go to Madison Square Garden, but I’ve had good luck there lately so I picked it over any other large venue.
On June 11, I got the news that Pet Shop Boys & New Order – The Unity Tour was to be postponed until next year. I had pretty good seats, so I’m glad I get to keep them. I’ve waited a while to see them again, what’s one more year?
Posted in Kasvot Växt, Kurtis Blow, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Madison Square Garden, New York City, Newport Folk Festival, Phish, Taj Mahal, The Velvet Underground on December 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: December 30, 2019] Phish
After last night’s show, I really didn’t have high hopes for knocking out a bunch of songs. I realize they don’t know what’s on my list, but it sometimes feels like they do and they keep spacing them out to make sure I come back.
For this show I had seats that I bought in the lottery. I never get good seats in the Phish lottery, but the tickets themselves are very cool–colorful and quite lovely. But I was up in the 200s for this show. And once again my row-mates were lame. Or maybe I’m the lame one. Whatever the case, this was my first show where I could see the video screen. The video screen is pretty terrible because the audio and video are out of synch. However, it did allow me to take a few good pictures of the guys.
Tonight’s trip into the city was much better. I’d picked a garage in the village, six blocks from Le Poisson Rouge, and this time I knew I’d be able to make the afterparty (Garcia Peoples, Chris Forsyth, Ryley Walker). I also managed to go into MSG through a different entrance (I really wish I could keep track of which entrances are the best). I managed to get the shirt that I liked (sold out last night) and get to my seat with ample time to spare. Let it be known that there is FAR LESS ROOM in the 200s than in the 100s!
But the lights soon dimmed and Trey played the four opening notes that can only mean one thing–“Wilson!” The very first time I saw Phish, they opened with “Wilson” and it was a wonderful moment. And sure, I’ve seen it four times, but it is such a great, exciting song live–so much crowd interaction–that I knew it would be a fun night. (more…)
Posted in Kasvot Växt, Lee Dorsey, Madison Square Garden, Marco Benevento, Mike Gordon, New York City, Page McConnell, Phish, Richard Strauss, The Beatles, Trey Anastasio, TV on the Radio on December 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: December 29, 2019] Phish
I blew off two of the three Phish shows I had tickets to this summer. (I really should have gone to that Sunday show). Camden is such a hassle.
Somehow, I find getting to Madison Square Garden much less of a hassle–which makes literally no sense. These were my fourth and fifth times seeing them at MSG (compared to two in Camden). But this MSG trip involved driving into the city ($15 tunnel toll?) and then getting a garage. And, because I planned to go to an after party at Le Poisson Rouge with Marco Benevento, I decided to park in the village and subway it up. That’s actually a lot of hassle.
But it was worth it.
This was my eighth Phish show (I could be in double digits by now if I didn’t sell those Camden tickets).
The theory is that the Sunday night of the New Year’s Eve run is always great. And boy howdy was it. (more…)
Posted in Jon Fishman, Madison Square Garden, Mike Gordon, New York City, Page McConnell, Phish, Son Seals, Talking Heads, Trey Anastasio on December 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: July 21, 2017] Phish
I have wanted to see a Phish New Year’s Eve show for years. But one should welcome in the New Year with people you love, so I will never go to a show on New Year’s Eve. But this year I decided to try for a ticket for the night before New Year’s Eve. Once I got my ticket I learned that many people feel like the 12/30 show is ultimately better than the 12/31 show–in terms of music, not theatricality naturally.
I was also pretty happy to find out that my friend Armando and his girlfriend were going. So we wound up making an evening out of it. They live near the train station, so I drove to their house and we walked to the train. It was nice meeting his girlfriend (she is famous from his blog) and we all got along very well. When we got into the City, he told me we were going to a great Peruvian restaurant really close to the arena. And what a great find it was. Rather than pizza or a hot dog we were able to eat a yummy (and filling meal) and it was quite fast as well.
Although, perhaps it could have been faster. When we walked across the street to MSG, the line to get in was massive. We never found out exactly what was going on, but they were holding everyone back at a barrier while the line thinned out. We were running very tight to show time. But the arena must have known that because the band did not go on as early as they usually do. (more…)
Posted in BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, Frank Zappa, Jon Fishman, Madison Square Garden, Mike Gordon, New York City, Page McConnell, Phish, Trey Anastasio on August 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: August 8, 2018] Phish
I have never seen a band two nights in a row in the same place before (I have seen Tori Amos three times in four days but that was at different locations). I knew that Phish always mixed up their sets so that two nights in the same place never contained the same songs. This was a great way to hear even more different stuff.
Tonight’s show was very different for me though. My daughter was in the 4H Fair play before the show (she was a wicked stepsister in Cinderella). I certainly wanted to see that. It was super fun, although pro-tip…she needs to exaggerate her on-stage behavior more.
I was afraid I’d be late for the show (4H traffic is shocking!), but traffic was light and I made it to Camden in okay time. I had to park over a mile away (and still pay $30). It was a 15-minute brisk walk to the stadium during which time I was feeling kind of down about the whole event. There were lots of drunk people and scalpers and hawkers and ugly sights abounded. Plus it was hot and I was in a hurry and then I got to the gates and the line was huge.
I also knew that I was much later than the night before so I wouldn’t get a choice spot at the railing like the night before.
I bought a corn dog (yum) and walked up to the lawn. I decided to purposely pick a different part of the lawn tonight (Page’s side). And just as I climbed the stairs I saw Armando, my friend from the night before. I was hoping to see him and was kicking myself for not coordinating with him. But I love the serendipity of running into him like that. He was talking to a woman who turned out to be his mom! She lives closer to the venue than he does so he was staying with her for the night and he invited her along. She had been to many concerts with him (how cool is that) but had never seen Phish so she was excited for something new. She was great to hang with.
He had a spot along the railing again and got ready for Night #2. (more…)
Posted in BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, David Bowie, Donuts, Jon Fishman, Madison Square Garden, Mike Gordon, New York City, Page McConnell, Phish, Trey Anastasio on August 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: August 7, 2018] Phish
Having enjoyed two Phish shows at Madison Square Garden, and really seeing what it’s like to go to multiple shows by the same band when they mix up the setlists so much, I was pretty psyched to hear that Phish were coming back to NJ for two shows on a short summer tour.
After the immense spectacle of the Baker’s Dozen, in which they repeated no over thirteen shows (thereby messing up every statistic-driven fan who likes to recount the last time a song was played, this tour was shaping up to be a more traditional fan favorites (or not) package. This was actually perfect for me because as I start keeping tracks of the songs I need to see live, I realize that I need a lot of the staples to fill out my chart. (more…)
Posted in Full show video, Jonny Greenwood, Junun, Madison Square Garden, New York City, Philadelphia, PA, Phish, Radiohead, Shye Ben Tzur, The Rajasthan Express, Wells Fargo Center on August 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: August 1, 2018] Radiohead
I
have never really seen a band two times close together. Sometimes with smaller bands if they are playing two clubs, but never a stadium show.
But I had already gotten my Radiohead ticket for WellsFargo, so I was sure as heck not giving it up.
I saw Phish twice on the Baker’s Dozen run–two shows 16 days apart. Now here was Radiohead 21 days apart. For some reason their tour didn’t go NY to Philly, it went NY to Canada, to Ohio to Boston and then to Philly. This was a cool way to see the band twice with some decompression time in between gigs.
Strangely enough, these tickets which were literally at the side of the stage–I was parallel with the gap between the stage and the crowd and 23 rows back–and they actually cost more than the General Admission floor seats at Madison Square Garden (although the fees at MSG were more, so these tickets were technically cheaper when all was said and done).
Since I had trouble getting to the arena for Pearl Jam, I decided to leave work a bit early, drive in and beat the inevitable traffic. Which meant I arrived 45 minutes before the gates opened. Duh. So I sat in the car and continued my book.
Then I went in and got some merch that hadn’t been available at MSG and found my seat. As with the MSG show I was surprised at how uncrowded it was. I guess many people didn’t care about Junun. But when the lights went down for Radiohead, my section (and everywhere else) seemed full.
I had a pretty great view of the stage (except for one lighting pole which was directly in my view of whomever was up front (usually Thom). I also couldn’t really see the screen in the back (which was ok) and the lights are obviously very different from off to the side instead of head on.
But what was most important was the music. And despite what I thought was a terrible sound for Junun, Radiohead sounded amazing once more The music was crystal clear and powerful without being too loud. (more…)
