concert Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Concert: No Doubt, 10 July 1997

MxPx, The Selecter

Reading the book 60 Songs That Explain The ’90s by Rob Harvilla reminded me of a concert by the group No Doubt on 10 July 1997 at the arena in downtown Albany. It used to be the Knickerbocker Arena, and now it’s the MVP Arena, but I believe that it was the Pepsi Arena at the time.

I had a friend who was widowed shortly after her first child was born, her husband dying of Agent Orange in the early ’80s. So I occasionally babysat the girl. When the teen wanted to see No Doubt, her mother suggested that I accompany her and four of her friends. I was familiar with the group. My friend dropped us off.

The first group was called MxPx. The sheer constant audio assault was unnerving to me, but the audience seemed to enjoy it.

Then came an English 2-tone ska revival band, The Selecter – I misremembered that it was The Specials, but they had similar roots. I thought they were excellent. Still, a goodly number of the audience literally turned their back on them; they did not like this music. (Here’s Too Much Pressure.)

Not only did I think it was disrespectful, but they were also oblivious to the fact that the roots of the music that No Doubt was playing came from ska. It would be like if, in the 1960s, a white Blues musician such as Eric Clapton in Cream or Keith Richards in The Rolling Stones were the headliners, with the opening act being B.B. King or Albert King, and the audience turned their backs on them. This ticked me off greatly.

Stefani and company

The main act came out, and they were entertaining enough. I remember very distinctly that Gwen Stefani, the lead singer, wanted the boys to sing the line, “I’m just a girl.” Some were uncomfortable, but most did so.

Harvilla says in his book regarding the group, “…which brings us to the sell-out adjacent song that’s only.005 ska… No Doubt is a great many things: zippy new wave monolith worthy of Cyndi Lauper, the Go-Go’s, or the B-52s. [It’s] a delivery system for lead singer Gwen Stefani, the blindingly sunny pop star and wildly out-of-pocket cultural appropriator who combines the appeal of Jessica Rabbit, Olive Oyl, Cher from Clueless…

“It’s not entirely that the band abandoned its roots on this record, but the roots are no longer a focal point. Maybe with Just A Girl, it’s best to imagine No Doubt as a space shuttle with the rocket boosters’ burnout detachment. She’s a true superstar orbit, and in this case, those abandoned rocket boosters just happen to be labeled ska, and everyone in the band, other than Gwen. “

All that said, I’ve never been all that fussy about selling out or “authenticity,” having seen the movie A Complete Unknown about Bob Dylan. The notion of selling out can be pretty darn fuzzy.

BTW, here’s the likely No Doubt playlist of the concert:

Tragic Kingdom
Excuse Me, Mr.
Different People
Happy Now?
Just a Girl
The Climb
End It on This
Total Hate ’95
Hey You
The Imperial March
Move On / Ghost Town
Don’t Speak
Sunday Morning
Spiderwebs
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Oi to the World

Diana Krall: The Pines, 8/8/2023

Northampton, MA

My wife is a huge Diana Krall fan. She has over a dozen albums, mostly ones I bought for her. She’s one of my wife’s “K girls,” along with Alison Krauss.

The first time I saw her perform was as the opening act for Tony Bennett on September 5, 1998. She sang, then he sang, and then they performed together. It was a great show.

My wife saw her at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The only show I could find in that time frame was April 28, 2000, which my wife doubts because she was a poor graduate student.

Regardless. I got in my Diana Krall News feed on February 7 that she would be touring 19 shows between July 2 and August 12. On August 8, she’d be at The Pines Theater in Look Park near Northampton, MA. I bought two tickets on Valentine’s Day in Section 2, Row B, Seats 201 and 202.

The day of the show it looked nice initially. By noon, I got caught in a downpour while going to the Albany Public Library. We left for Massachusetts, where we’d hit dry spots followed by deluges. But the forecast was that it’d stop raining by 6 pm.

This was good because The Pines is an outdoor venue, something I didn’t realize when I bought the tickets but learned subsequently. You know how some people say the weather forecasters are “never” right? This prediction was dead on.

The sky cleared as we parked – $15 for this “special event.” Staff people were drying the seats with towels. This was a great location. I took this with my phone from my seat before they told us we couldn’t.

The show

The show was scheduled to start at 7 pm, but it was about 7:15 when Diana Krall, the drummer, bass player., and guitarist, hit the stage.

The band was excellent, but the piano player was not. She’d sing a little, playing some perfunctory chords, and let them solo. You know a show is unbalanced when two drum solos are in the first half hour.

At some point, she clicked for a time. Her playing and singing of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen’s songs was solid. Then, after an hour, the show was over?

They did return for a half-hour encore. She played better. She was clearly touched when someone called out Tony Bennett’s name. But she couldn’t remember the words to the standards she’d sung for years.

At this site, I found this comment about the show we attended:

“I can’t express how excited I was to see her. She came out on stage late. She was either high, drunk, or on heavy meds. She could barely formulate a sentence. She stumbled a few times, trying to remember where she was. She would play and sing a little, then kept introducing the band members and letting them play solo. For the first 20min of the show, it seemed like her bassist was trying to keep her focused. At one point, she started jamming out, and I saw the bassist reach for his strings a few times to try to figure out what song she was playing. I’m going to keep listening to her old stuff. So very disappointed…”

The upside

Joshua wasn’t wrong. But someone could have an off night. What was more problematic was that I could find several reviews like this over the past couple of years, with one- or two-star (out of five) ratings. They ask: is she bored? Sick? On meds? The shows often started late, and the band did much of the heavy lifting.

My wife was more generous. Because of our proximity, she thought we were conversing in her living room. I suppose that’s true. I was looking for more, but it was still a nice date night at a lovely venue in the woods.

Cheap Trick, February 7, 2020 ALB

Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson, Daxx Nielsen

I won a pair of tickets to see Cheap Trick at the Palace Theatre in Albany on Friday, February 7. But I wasn’t sure I’d actually go. It wasn’t something my wife wanted to do. I would have given both tickets away, but my offer got no response on Facebook.

It was a strange week. Tuesday, I felt unwell and blew off Bible study, but went to a meeting. Wednesday, I was better, but still woozy. Thursday, the daughter woke up about 4 a.m. with stomach pain, and I tended to her, skipping choir.

By Thursday night, she felt much better. But the school has a policy that you can’t go in if you’ve, er regurgitated in the last 24 hours. She had the last bout, of several, at noon Thursday.

Friday, I fed her and helped her with her homework. She went to school the last period, at 2 pm, to take a unit test. She was even well enough to take a youth trip to Vermont. The question was the weather. They were originally going to leave at 5 but it ended up she was the first to arrive at the departure point at 6.

At 6:15, it’s too late for my church’s First Friday event. And one of the performing groups couldn’t make it. On the other hand, there’s a 7:18 bus (#138) a block from my house that could get me to the Palace by 7:45. I have dinner with my wife. She wants to watch recorded figure skating on TV that evening.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

I hadn’t left the house in two days, except to shovel the walk and take out the garbage. It appears that I needed to see Cheap Trick. Thank you, CDTA. The seats at the Palace weren’t too bad, one for me and one for my coat. They are off to the left, but only about a third of the way back.

The house was about 2/3 full when the opening act, a Chicago-area band called Rookie played. The three-guitar/bass/keyboard/drum group played eight or nine songs. They were quite good, though the lead singer/guitarist who sang the majority of the songs was clearly the best vocalist. He did the finest harmonies when the drummer sang as well.

The setup between acts talks about 20 minutes, an the theater really starts filling out, with a couple now to my right. Cheap Trick takes the stage. Immediately, the folks nearest the stage stand, which has the obvious cascading effect.

They perform Just Got Back, Hello There, Way of the World, Come On Come On, Lookout and Elo Kiddies before I decide, “That’s enough!” I sit. And so do random other folks. And I can see lead singer Robin Zander in his white outfit between the heads as he sings Magical Mystery Tour, In Crowd, and Speak Now.

Three original plus a scion

Occasionally, I’d see guitarist Rick Nielsen wandering across stage. I only brief caught bassist Tom Petersson, and Daxx Nielsen (son of Rick), who replaced drummer Bun E. Carlos about a half decade ago. Ballad of TV Violence, Ain’t That a Shame, and Waitin’ for the Man. There was lots of swaying through The Flame.

Then they end with two of the songs I, and everyone wanted, I Want You to Want Me and Dream Police. I don’t know what time it was, so I headed for the exits. But I discovered it was only 10:15, so I watched the encore, California Man and Surrender, from the back. The latter featured two of the members of Rookie. The member at their promo table says Cheap Trick has done that the last three shows.

I walk across the street to the bus stop. About five minutes later, the obviously happy crowd came out. The #12 bus arrived at 10:35, and I was home by 11. I was happy, not just with the concert but with the spontaneous evening. A good night.

Janet Jackson @ SPAC – July 26, 2018

Toward the end of the night, Janet Jackson showed photos of her father Joe Jackson, who passed away just last month.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center or SPAC, just 35 miles north of Albany, is a venue where I’ve seen dozens of concerts. But none recently until I saw Janet Jackson last month with my friend Mary from church.

Janet is the youngest of the musical Jackson clan who I used to watch as Penny during the latter days of of the TV show Good Times. The Times Union reviewer is correct, that she “is one of the most important and successful artists ever.”

I’ll admit that I was much more familiar with the early work of Janet Jackson, the Control (1986) and especially the Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989) albums. Fortunately, she performed generous chunks from each.

It was clear that she wanted to both address the State of the World, the title of the opening video as well as the name of the tour, and to have her fans have a dance party. At 52, she has a LOT of energy, as did her eight dancers, along with a four-piece band and a DJ.

The Troy Record reviewer noted: “Toward the end of the night Jackson showed photos of her father Joe Jackson, who passed away just last month, during her 1997 hit Together Again. Michael Jackson, Janet’s brother, also showed up on the stage’s big screen during Scream, a song they released together in 1995.

We were glad to have gone. As Mary noted, “Fun show, great music, amazing dancing.” We were REALLY glad that it didn’t rain, because we had lawn seats and did not want to be sitting in a sea of mud. That’s something the younger selves could have endured. My thanks to my ticket benefactor, so the only expenditure was the $10 parking charge.

Listen to Janet Jackson:

The Skin Game Part I
The Knowledge

Nasty
Miss You Much

Control
What Have You Done for me Lately
The Pleasure Principle

Escapade
All For You

What About

Together Again
Scream (with Michael Jackson)

Rhythm Nation
State Of The World

It’s odd that I haven’t been to SPAC in a while. I saw Joni Mitchell there in 1974 (Miles of Aisles tour), Talking Heads in 1984 (Stop Making Sense), Bobby McFerrin in 1999 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, other orchestra and ballet performances, at least a half dozen Jazz Festivals, and the 1998 folk festival with Lyle Lovett, Joan Baez and many others.

We gotta get out more.

The Vivaldi Gloria, part of First Friday at First Presbyterian

First Presbyterian First Friday: Concert at 6:00 pm, Gallery open from 5:30-8:30 pm

Each First Friday at First Presbyterian Church, 362 State Street in Albany, is an “Experience of Visual and Musical Art.”

Friday, December 5, listen to Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria, featuring Deborah Rocco, soprano; Carla Fisk, soprano; Fiona McKinney, alto; and First Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir, with Michael Lister, director and Nancy Frank, organ.

Also: Music for the Season from the First Presbyterian Church Handbell Choir, Jack Holmes, director.

In the gallery: INSPIRED BY ALBANY’S WASHINGTON PARK
Group exhibition of paintings, photographs, mixed media, and prints by a wonderful selection of local artists.
A unique opportunity to find some great handmade holiday gifts.

Featured artists include:
Laura McCarthy, Keven Kuhne, Ray Henrikson, Ward Capeci, Gail Hinchen, Dan Gibbs, Diana Bangert-Drowns, Grace White, Tim Dumas, Duane Barker, Dorothea Osborn, David Hinchen, Helen vonBorstel

Concert at 6:00 pm
Gallery open from 5:30-8:30 pm
***
(Not incidentally, I’ll be singing in this concert.)