In 2015 I had the distinct displeasure of seeing Blues Traveler at Red Rocks for 4th of July. I'd loved Blues Traveler since I was a teenager and the song Hook came out. I loved the album Four. I loved their sister band the Spin Doctors.
Hanson was the opening act. They were garbage just as one might anticipate.
Guster was the middle act and they were FANTASTIC.
Then Blues Traveler hit the stage and I was ready to be 14 again. Instead, the dude forgot a shit ton of lyrics, was constantly out of breath, and to make matters worse... he brought out Rome from "Sublime with Rome" (an abomination before God and man) and STARTED DOING SUBLIME COVERS.
1971(2)? I was in Louisville KY on leave and a friend of mine wanted me to go to a "Toys for Tots" concert at Freedom Hall - he had an extra ticket.
Most of the show was bland...But there WAS one band (a regional group) called "Damnation of Adam Blessing". I think they were out of Cleveland.
They blew every other group there completely off the stage - including Three Dog Night - made those groups look like amateurs. I remember them to this day. However, as it usually happens (or happened back then) - they were never heard from again on the national stage. I think they had one regional song that received quite a bit of airplay - called "Back to the River" Here's a listen..
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
Yeah, he's cool and it's part of show, so that's completely different, IMO. When the stage show is built around being in perfect sync with the lights, music and backing track, it's more about that experience and not about whether or not the guitarist plays his solos note-for-note or if the drummer can keep time, etc.
And Anthrax, lol. A very close friend of mine produced a few of their records and all I have to say is that I wouldn't have lasted 60 seconds in that situation. The drummer and bassist are related (uncle to nephew), even though they're roughly the same age. Anyway, they fight like cats and dogs, even in the studio! I've heard stories about bass rigs and drum kits being utterly destroyed by those two nitwits and all kinds of other craziness.
Oh yeah. The infighting in Anthrax was well known back in the day. I’m not sure how many times Joey got into fist fights with the other guys. It was a lot. [Reply]
A friend of mine who lives a few doors up the street is a pop concert video/audio editor that's done the Def Leppard in Vegas set, Brittany Spears, New Orleans Jazz Festival and pretty much everything you see on HDNET concert series. I was at his place a few years back when he was doing the last Brittany concert in 7.1 and NONE of her vocals are in the mix. It's all back up singers and Ghost singers.
That said, I was at Disney a few years ago about a gig (which unfortunately, I had to pass on due to time commitments) but Mandy Moore was in the studio cutting tracks for the (then) upcoming Tangled series and she was freaking amazing. Pitch perfect, knew immediately when the take didn't work and extremely professional, courteous and charming.
I’m not surprised about either of them. Disney is pretty good about finding vocalists. That’s how we end up finding out that Kristen Bell can sing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Oh yeah. The infighting in Anthrax was well known back in the day. I’m not sure how many times Joey got into fist fights with the other guys. It was a lot.
I never followed Anthrax. The only music I've really ever heard from them are the old MTV videos for I'm the Man and the song with Flavor Flav, so it was all new to me when I heard those stories.
It's just Reason #5 as to why I never became a record producer. I don't have the right mentality in order to deal with "Artists".
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
I’m not surprised about either of them. Disney is pretty good about finding vocalists. That’s how we end up finding out that Kristen Bell can sing.
Kristen Bell has a nice voice and all but she's seriously Auto-Tuned in those performances. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
Kristen Bell has a nice voice and all but she's seriously Auto-Tuned in those performances.
For sure that stuff was. But since she did Disney I’ve seen her sing elsewhere live and she can hold her own. She’s got a very “normal” voice, which I love a lot.
I used to be married to an operatic soprano and while I can respect that level of talent, she was way too intense about music for me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
For sure that stuff was. But since she did Disney I’ve seen her sing elsewhere live and she can hold her own. She’s got a very “normal” voice, which I love a lot.
She's also a very nice person.
She and Dax have children at the Charter School that my children have attended since kinder, so I see them (or used to see them, before the lockdowns) quite a bit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
She's also a very nice person.
She and Dax have children at the Charter School that my children have attended since kinder, so I see them (or used to see them, before the lockdowns) quite a bit.
I’d love to meet Dax. I love everything he’s ever done. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DeepPurple:
Like I posted above, John Kay going solo without Steppenwolf is the worse show. The most unusual was 1984 Ted Nugent, but the opening act was Alcatrazz. It was singer Graham Bonnet, who wore a suit and tie with Yngwie Malmsteeen on guitar. Yngwie had his own pedestal stage up even with the singer and even slightly ahead and wore a velvet suit. You can tell 90% of the audience was watching Malmsteen and Bonnet was a bit peeved that maybe 10% were looking at him. The combed back hairdo and sunglasses and suit didn't help his look. They actually sounded good, just an odd sight to see and Graham Bonnet's voice has to be an acquired taste. He only knows one way to sing, loud and hard, he could never sing a ballad if he had to.
As many concerts that have partaken in, I can't say that I have had a bad experience. I was pissed that in 1992 Dokken was replaced by Lita Ford before Motley Crue. Another is that when I saw Rob Zombie, he replaced "Teenage Nosferatu Pussy" with the lame ass - "Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O."
That REALLY pissed me off! I wanted to see this...
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
She's also a very nice person.
She and Dax have children at the Charter School that my children have attended since kinder, so I see them (or used to see them, before the lockdowns) quite a bit.
Next time I am in LA, I am going to hang out with Dane. [Reply]
