A Bloy and his Blog

It was almost unbelievable. There I was, in the Dane County Coliseum. Bruce Springsteen was playing one of his rock anthems, “Promised Land.” The 8,000 people in the place were sitting and so quiet you could hear a pin drop, were it not for the music emanating from the stage.

Of course the reason we were all so quiet, instead of singing along with our fists pumping in the air, was the intimate nature of last night’s concert. Billed as a solo acoustic show, Bruce alternated between playing guitar, piano, and even a pump organ on a few songs.

read the rest of: Bruce Springsteen, solo acoustic

I wasn’t about to miss going to Summerfest this year, just because I moved 80 miles to the west this past December. However, geography did have an influence on the number of days I went (two compared to my annual average of six days while living in the Milwaukee area).

read the rest of: Summerfest 2005

Last night I went to my first concert since I moved to Madison and caught Steve Earle’s show at the Barrymore Theatre.

Musically, Steve and his backing band (the Dukes) rocked the house, concentrating on songs from his two most recent discs, “The Revolution Starts Now” and “Jerusalem.” He didn’t ignore his back catalog though, playing excellent versions of older tunes like “Guitar Town,” “Copperhead Road” and “Goodbye.”

read the rest of: Steve Earle at the Barrymore

Summerfest is over. This year, I went to the fest six nights and saw a total of twenty bands (that means I stayed at a stage and listened to at least a few songs — I don’t count “walk-bys”). Here are a few thoughts on this year’s festival.

read the rest of: Summerfest 2004

Right now, we’re smack dab in the middle of Summerfest here in the Milwaukee area. Last night I was at an outstanding show where Burning Spear (a.k.a. Winston Rodney) and his band performed one of the best reggae concerts I’ve ever attended.

read the rest of: Burning Spear, Reggae Zen Master

Last night at Summerfest, I saw what could be the quintessential American band, Wilco. Wilco’s musical mix of rock, folk, country and even punk at times can resonate with an almost magical quality. Both the slow, quiet songs and the loud rowdy songs had this quality last night. The tunes that stood out for me were “Monday,” “War On War” and “Misunderstood.” The band also played some excellent new songs last night (which I hope will be on their next CD).

read the rest of: A great American band

It’s the middle of Summerfest (one the the world’s biggest music festivals) and I’ve already been to some excellent concerts. The two that stand out so far are Peter Gabriel (as you would expect, his show was good both theatrically and musically) and Lucky Dube (a reggae singer from South Africa).

At Lucky Dube’s concert last night, a thought struck me in the middle of the show. Whenever I’m at a reggae show the audience is always the most diverse of all the concerts I go to. You seem to see all ages, races and if I may be presumptuous, even income classes. When you’re grooving to the music with such a diverse crowd, you begin to wonder why it is so difficult for all of us in this world to get along with one another.