A Bloy and his Blog

A while ago I discovered pages in the albums I keep my concert ticket stubs in were turning yellow. Yes, I am a music geek — I save my concert ticket stubs. Acid-free, archival-quality albums were the fix for the problem, so I bought a few. As I was transferring the tickets into the new albums, I was reminded of all those excellent shows I’ve been to. Below are some thoughts on the best:

Sting - July 10, 1988
I’ve seen Sting in concert several times now, but he never tops this show. Probably for a number of reasons: He was promoting his best album, …Nothing Like The Sun, he had an excellent backing band, and my friends and I had great seats (6th row in a 20,000 seat amphitheater). Favorite song from the show: “Englishman In New York.”

read the rest of: Concert memories

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

Since it was released a few weeks ago, many critics have been raving about The New Pornographers latest release, Twin Cinema. With so many positive reviews, I felt an obligation to go out and buy the CD, which is exactly what I did.

When I first listened to it, I wasn’t so sure I agreed with all those reviewers. Maybe because the band’s style, which isn’t so easily categorized, has to aurally ripen for a while to be appreciated. As I played the disc more, it really began to grow on me. After owning Twin Cinema for a few weeks it’s now the CD I can’t stop listening to.

read the rest of: Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers

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

I recently had the best musical discovery of the year. I realize 2005 is not even half over, but after listening to this discovery over the past week or two I have no doubt it will be my best of the year. No, it isn’t a new band, or a new CD. It’s Radio Paradise, an internet-based radio station.

Commercial free, Radio Paradise is completely listener supported and, in this listener’s humble opinion, very worthy of any support you can give it.

read the rest of: Radio Paradise

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

The end of the year means it’s time for me to list my favorite CDs from the past twelve months.

Air - Talkie Walkie
See my post from February 20.

The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
Better late than never. This album was released four years ago and I don’t know where I was then, but I’m sure glad I found it this year. It’s easy to hear the band’s Brit-pop influences, but their sound is unique and edgy, painting musical pictures you want to hear over and over. My favorite musical discovery of the year.

read the rest of: 2004 music awards