Best Concerts
- Rolling Stones and Ryan Adams Chicago IL, January 22nd 2003 - United Center.
As you may know (especially if you read the review following this) I thorougly ENJOYED seeing the
Stones when they were in Chicago last September. I liked them sooooo much that I somehow convinced
my wife to head back up there in the following January to take in the Greatest Show On Earth AGAIN.
There were two differences in this outing from the previous one. First and foremost, we opted for
closer seats. How close? you ask - well for starters, they were $350 a seat. Although one would think
for this price that we would have a chair on the stage itself, but unfortunately this simply gets us
in the first section of the lower bowl and straight out from the side of the second stage. I rumbled
a lot about the price of the seats, but they turned out perfect since I could see every wrinkled line
in the band members' faces when they moved out to the second stage. We also had a clear shot at the
main stage, so I have no complaints on the location (now the price .... 8^). I should also point
out at this time that I was "forced" to join Sam Goody's special ticket club to get these seats.
"Forced" in this sense is the result of fighting for seats to the previous concert only to find out
that the Sam Goody members were give first choice long before the rest of the people buying through
the ticket agencies. Example, I was first in line for the previous concert and ended up in the
top bowl of United Center 8^( Ohh, to finish out the differences, this time is was Freakin' COLD.
Unlike last time, we actually cruised into downtown Chicago pretty quick. In fact, I think we
actually ended up there about 1.5 hours ahead of the show - probably the weather kept everyone
inside 8^) From our success with parking the previous time, we navigated to the exact same
lot in front of the United Center, however, this time we were about 5 cars from the beginning
of the aisle making the cold trek to the entrance much shorter - Thank God! As expected, we
were patted down, purses were searched and my binocular case (never even used) was inspected as well. Get this,
There was a lens cleaner in the binocular case which held his attention for no less that 2 minutes.
He kept looking at the yellow cloth (still in original plastic wrap), back at me, back into the
case, back at the cloth repeat at nauseum. I just stood there and let him figure out what it
was on his own - finally he hit an active synapse and decided I could pass. Once in, we scoped
out the merchandise. Since the last time I was there, I bought a shirt with a logo including
Chicago specific wording, I figured they would have another batch for this specific concert.
Well, they only brought their generic tour stuff. My guess is this was a late add to the tour
dates and their tour merchandise was printed long before the concert was kicked off. I can
buy the generic stuff in other places, so I opted out of buying anything this time - course
the ticket prices helped in this decision
We eventually found our seats and awaited the opening act. Ryan Adams eventually made his
way out with his band and simply began playing one of his songs. As a comment, he was never
introduced and the only reason we knew who he was is my wife found it on a website somewhere.
For the next hour he played his crap ... I mean songs. I actually laughed out loud when I looked
over and my wife was yawning and prying her eyes open. My impression of the purpose for an
opening band is to bring the crowd to a certain level of excitement and anticipation for the
band they are REALLY there to see. Instead Bryan ... I mean Ryan simply played on and on without
ANY crowd interaction. Slow song after slow song, then a faster song, then a slow song - blah
blah blah. He even played a song proclaiming his love for New York - your in Chicago moron, we
don't care how much you like another city. By the way, he decided he wanted to jump around a bit,
so he had a rowdie come out,
helped take his guitar off and then proceeded to remain on stage to play the chords for the song. Once
his set was over, he simply walked off the stage. Goodbye, good riddance and most of all,
don't expect to gain any of my money in the future. This is probably a good time to mention that
everytime I have caught a Stones concert (live, or on tape) Mick has sung a song with
the lead from the opening act. Not this time 8^) to my great pleasure.
After a set change, the Stones came out like clockwork at 9:00pm. Mick was full of energy, Ron was
looking better than last time (apparently he was just out of rehab for the September concert),
and Charlie was looking 300% healthier. Even Lucious Lisa was looking better than ever sporting
shorter hair and an even shorter skirt (I swear she has lost a lot of weight since September).
Keith on the other hand looked a little down - especially
after seeing how up he was for the HBO concert that was taped two days prior to this one. Although
they stuck to many of the same songs as last time, the still mixed in a few new ones including
a couple of additional tracks from Exile - For some reason, they still left out Angie. The sound was excellent and the music was crisp and
clean - I expected nothing less from the best band ever and they delivered flawlessly. As I mentioned
previously, when it came time for Keith's songs, he was a little flat on the first song. There
was a small mic problem happening that appeared to cut him out every once in awhile, but he made
it through. He picked the energy up for the second song and then proceeded to carry it through
to the end of the concert. My guess is the road is starting to wear on them, but they fought
through it and still displayed a genuine love for what they do both through stage control and
crowd interaction.
As with the last concert, they headed out for the second stage near the end of the concert. This, of
course, was the highlight of the night since they were essentially right in front of our seats.
It was refreshing to see Charlie make it out to the second stage without any problems. He appears
to actually be getting stronger as the tour goes on, dispelling my concern during the previous
concert. I instantly forgot about the price of the tickets and decided to take in everything knowing this was
probably going to be the closest I ever got to the individuals I have been following for so many
years. They cranked through their second stage set whipping the crowd up into an absolute
frenzy - as mentioned before, they did this on their own without any help from bRyan Adams.
Once their set was over, they moved back to the mainstage for the final encore. An encore that included
Jumpin' Jack Flash which is my wife's favorite Stone's song. She was getting a little concerned that
they were going to skip it this time, but I figured they were holding it for the end. Once the
final song ended, they gathered for the bow, extended appreciation to the crowd as an entire band
and then regrouped with the core four (Charlie, Ron, Keith, Mick) for the final bow. It is hard for
me to rate this concert with respect to the September one. Although we definitely had better seats
than the previous concert, it is hard to dismiss the excitement of finally getting to see my favorite
band for the first time - no matter how far away. One thing for sure, there is NO BETTER band out there
and they didn't fail to deliver during either event. Many dates later and their still giving it
their all. Contrast that with the wannabees of today that disrespect their fanbase through no shows
(Yeah I am talking about you Axel), poor performances (think I wouldn't hear about your fetal position crying
episode at your last concert Creed?), and sound check whining (still bitter about F*ckCherry see below)
Okay, I wouldn't be given a proper review without commenting a little bit about the audience. First off,
we were once again in the youngest people there category. This of course poses some visual problems.
One of the most disturbing trends in 50-60 year olds who still dress for the concert as if they
are still sporting the same bods as the last time they saw the Stones - by the looks of them, sometime
in the 1960s 8^) With that said, please, please, please, spare me the visuals of having to see overweight
women wearing deep cleavage showing clothes. Why do you bother with this, Mick goes out with young
models, you don't need to dress as if you are a candidate for after concert backstage passes. This
especially goes for the late fifties woman sitting two rows ahead of us. She was wearing a see-thru
top and leather pants. If the 6 glasses of wine she had didn't make here stupid enough, the fact that
she was "smokin' the weed" with her husband pretty much put the icing on the cake. Only slightly less
humorous was the apparent company owner who brought 4 of his employees along to watch the show. Apparently
he bought them all the same Stone's hat along with a little but ANNOYING blinking lips pendent which
they all had attached to their hats.
It reminded me of how N*SUCK is going to look like when their fifty. Warning b*tch coming ..... There is
NOTHING and I mean NOTHING more annoying than having to watch a concert with a bunch of D*MN blinking
lights in your peripheral vision AAAARRRGHHHHH ... 10, 9, 8, ... ahhh, better now, sorry about that)
To the two chickadees to our left, I hate to see your dry cleaner bill. This doesn't mean we have any
sympathy for you since anyone who wears fur coats to a concert should expect the drunks behind them
to spill beer on it. Luckily the drunks missed our coats 8^). My wife was a little concerned about
the Jay and Silent Bob lookalikes that were standing behind and to the right of us. They turned out
to be harmless and kept my wife in stitches everytime she looked back. With all of this said, the
concert attendee winner of the night is ....... Butt Crack Boy. Yes, that is right, for the second
straight time at a Stone's concert, my wife and I were confronted with a vision of a big ol' butt
crack. While scanning the crowd, I came upon a person sitting in the floor seats about 4 seats
from the second stage. While passing my field of vision over this area, he decides to bend down and
pick something off the floor. I about ran in absolute fear!!!!! It was so bad, my wife actually
startled people around us with her gasps. Now that is someone in seriuos need of some butt spackle 8^)
Anyway, Thanks for even more memories - Stones Rule
Quoting the Stone's recent release, ... "Don't Stop"
- Rolling Stones and the Pretenders Chicago IL, Sept 10th 2002 - United Center.
For those who know me, this is pretty much a no brainer. To be able to see LIVE the greatest rock and roll
band ever is a true hi-light in my life. Needless to say, they did not disappoint! First off, the
best seats we could get were in the 300 level of the United Center. If you haven't been there,
this is a ways up. The fact that the tickets were still $150 a piece for this far away was
a little upsetting, but it could have been worse. I was actually trying for the floor seats which
were going for $350 a piece - yikes. I should probably point out a small situation here. I got
up very early on the Saturday the tickets were going on sale so I could get the best possible
seats (favorite band in all...) There I stood in line at a little known TicketMaster outlet
that a lot of people do not know about (NO, I will not tell you where 8^). After waiting there
for about an hour or so, the ticket agent informs me that TicketMaster outlets outside of the Chicago
area were being held from purchasing for fifteen minutes to favor the locals. You can imagine the
anger that swelled up in me at that instance. Quickly I jumped on the cell phone and called a
good friend of mine to see if he could get through on the Internet in that time. Sure enough, he
was able to purchase tickets, but the "Best Available" ended up being in the 300 level of the
United Center - and that was in the 15 minute timeframe that was locked out in favor of the locals.
Come to find out, that you could also join a Sam Goody club for 60 bucks which entitled you to
early concert purchases. For the record, that little extortion effort really pisses me off. My thanks
to SIC for coming through for me.
But I digress, back to the show. Although traffic was pretty bad into Chicago, we made it in with
an hour to spare and even parked right out from the main entrance ($16 well spent). The amazing
thing is that we were easily in the youngest attendees category. We saw roughly 4 children (
(attending with parents), 4 teens (attending with parents),
10 young adults, and then there was us (mid 30's) - everyone else was baby boomers and beyond -
this may have something to do with the ticket prices, but it is evident that the Stones following
was aging right along with them 8^). At 7:45, the
Pretenders took the stage - a definite surprise, since I had heard that it was going to be
No Doubt, but I was really there to see Mick and the boys. My wife yawned through the entire
set, but I enjoyed listening to another legendary band that I had watched so intently in VH1's
"Almost Lost It All" documentaries. Hinds strummed through a few of their classics and then
went way off cue with a Reggae version of one of their songs (can't remember the actual name
at this time) She dedicated it to the Stones who have always liked that sound (Peter Toth actually
owes them for much of the fame he has today). Unfortunately, it didn't sound that good 8^(
Their set ended around 8:30 or so. (I will not go into the details here, but this is the point
where yours truly had to get ugly with some drunks sitting behind us who wouldn't stop chatting
(yelling) to each other the whole time. The problem was resolved and I am sure the other
individuals around them were relieved as well)
9:15, the lights go dim and the Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band Ever takes the stage. All I am going
to say at this point is they know how to please a crowd and actually enjoy doing it. I was a
little disappointed in the stage setup since I have their Wheels, Bridges, and IMAX DVDs which
had much more elaborate stage decorations. They did have a huge plasma screen that were
fed from the stage cameras as well as pre-built computer animations and movies (Note,
from our seats, one set of speakers were positioned directly in the middle of this screen.)
There they flawlessly played for most of the night (all of that practice in Toronto really
payed off). They played new stuff, they played old stuff, they played popular stuff, they
even played Far Away Eyes to the surprise of my wife (a devoted Country listener). About an hour
and a half into the show, they walked out to another stage in
the middle of the crowd and belted out a few more songs ranging from the early blues days
to the popular Brown Sugar. Quick point, I watched Charlie walk to the second stage and
truly felt a moment of sadness. My band was aging and Charlie was showing signs of
of a body wearing down. It appeared he was unable to straighten all the way up and
he definitely didn't have the old spring in the step. Hang in there Charlie, I would
gladly pay any price to see you on the next tour. After about 4 songs, they headed
back to the stage for their encore. Fans screaming, lights flashing, and the Stones
loving every minute of it. For all of you up and coming musicians that think your so
hot (you know who you are, the Linkin Parks, the Korns, the god help ups NSucks of the world),
attend a concert from a genuine band and bow your heads in humility and then ask yourself
how many decades your little 15 minutes of fame band is going to play for - exactly, now
get out of my way, your blocking my view of the Stones.
Two hours (plus) later, there the four stood - Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ron - still smiling,
still having a great time, and still performing before delighted fans. Count this night
as one I will never forget (second to my wedding day of course in case my wife is reading this 8^)
I take a lot of crap for liking the Stones, but I have yet to be presented with a better
band - and if you say the Beatles, (I recommend not being near me when you do) then you
really need to seek therapy.
Thanks for the memories - Stones Rule
"... What a drag it is getting old ... " - "It's only Rock 'N' Roll, but I like it, like it,
yes I do!"
- Isle of Q, Monster Magnet and BuckCherry at the Madison in Peoria IL 2001.
Isle rocked prompting obtaining their CD the next
day, Monster Magnet brought the house down including hot nekkid chicks
on stage (Space Lord will never be forgotten) Note, we almost got into a
fight with a psycho who ended up breaking the nose of the guy next to
us. All this because we failed to save his seat while he was gone for
three bands - for some reason he opted out of taking me on 8^). The
night did end on a disappointment since Buck Cherry spent their headlining
night b*tching about the sound and ended up storming off the stage
without acknowledging the crowd or bothering with encores - this, of
course, resulted in their entry on the worst bands list below
- Revelations of Alternative Rock (ROAR) at Davenport IA. Fairgrounds
Basically a day of up and coming alternative bands
coupled with headliners to draw people in. Tonic, Sponge and the 4 non
blonde front woman were pretty good, but the hi-lights of the day were
on the side stages dedicated to hard working bands trying to make it.
Standout that day had to be Puzzle Gut. If you listen to alternative
music, you need this album! - Also a great day for people watching - if
it could be pierced it was and the tat ratio was outstanding
- The Cult at the Madison in Peoria IL. 2001
Day after entry
number 1. This was the first night of the Cult's return to the stage.
The crispness of the vocals coupled with the shear power being blasted
into the crowd made this an incredible concert. They played all of their
classics as well as their entire new album. Unfortunately, the psycho
guy didn't show for the second night - cops were looking for him and we
would have gladly assisted in pointing him out. We also enjoyed the 16
year old in front of us asking everyone if they had any drugs he could
have. Although and 'A' for effort, he struck out the whole night.
- Creed and Fuel at the Madison in Peoria IL 1999
Although Creed is
now the new Stryper, they know how to play to the crowd and always give
everything they have. Although Creed was excellent, I felt Fuel actually
stole the show - one of the harder working bands out there and the lead
singers vocal range is incredible - Note, we have traveled to see them 4
times now and eagerly anticipate the day we can go again.
- John Mellencamp at Civic Center in Peoria IL. 2000
Our ears are still ringing from this one. We ended up about 4 feet from the speaker stacks on the side of the stage.
John sounded great and gave a great performance mixing in the classics as well as the new album. Being that close to
the stage, you start noticing his addiction to nicotine. He lit up everytime he left the stage and was downing nicotine
gum when he was on stage. Front band Shannon Curfew displayed incredible talent for someone so young - her voice rivals
any female rock singer out there.
- Fuel, Buck Cherry at the Madison in Peoria IL.
First time we had
heard Buck Cherry and they blew us away. Lead singer had an endless
supply of energy (probably from all of his tats 8^) and brought the
crowd up into a frenzy for Fuel. Although Fuel was great as usual, they
couldn't compete with Buck resulting in a slight letdown. It is a shame
Buck had to ruin it in their headliner during the first concert on this
list.
- Poison at Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport Iowa 8/02/02.
Admittedly, we actually went to this concert with low expectations. Our intent
was to listen to Linda's favorite song (Every Rose Has Its Thorns), poke some fun
at another band riding the retro train and then leave. Well guess what, Poison
put on a fantastic show. They played all of their classics, threw in a few songs
off of their new album (one cover and a new song from C.C.) and threw in a few
fan favorites from Kiss, The Who, and Cheap Trick (C.C. performed Eruption). The crowd was an interesting mix
of old and young, but all appreciated the stage presence of a well seasoned band.
It was also very satisfying to see a retro band with ALL of their original members and
all looking better than their VH1 "Behind the Music" episode. Not to mention the
fact they actually appeared to enjoy their night in the Quad Cities including a plea
for the audience to call up the promoters and have them back again next year (likely
a common request, but it is nice to be appreciated). Obviously the beer was flowing
due to the numerous flashes that were occurring. Let's just say Unskinny Bop (you know, the
one that you inserted "Titty Bop" to everytime you heard it in a bar (or like us at the
concert 8^) didn't disappoint. Count us in the next time they come around!
- Our Lady Peace, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Fig Dish, and Sponge at the Madison in Peoria IL.
This was the first concert I ever went to at the Madison. For those that are not familiar with
this place, it is an old movie theater (complete with stage) that had dilapidated over the years.
Someone decided to hold concerts there until they had enough money to fix the place up. Well, it
has been over 10 years now and it still hasn't been touched. It is in pretty bad shape now, with
many of the seats destroyed. All of which makes this an awesome place to watch bands. You
do have to be careful walking at the end of the night since everyone has been spilling their beer and
sweating from the maush pit. Note, a friend of mine broke his toe falling there one night. Anyway,
I digress! All four bands gave it everything they had. Gained two new favorite bands that night (Sponge, Fig Dish)
- Filter at the Madison in Peoria IL. 11/26/02
All I can say is Wow! For the first few songs, the only lights on the stage was a strobe light
behind the lead singer. Reminded me of a scene from Apocalypse Now. Couple that with their
base ridden songs (Hey Man Nice Shot) and you have one strange setting. Eventually he
removed his hooded sweatshirt and blew the windows off of the place. Note, they did have an all
girl bad to fill the ticket, but they basically sucked!
- Our Lady Peace, Green Wheel, Mesa at the Madison in Peoria IL.
After the concert, we found out that Mesa was actually local. All in all they were not bad. Probably
need a little more experience, but they definitely played better than Green Wheel - mainly because
Green Wheel's lead singer was trying waaaaayyy to hard. Every song does not have to be belted out at
top voice - nor the ENTIRE song for that matter. Take a break and use it when you need it.
The other problem is his voice didn't make it over the instruments half the time. This may have
been the soundman's fault, but Mesa sounded fine. Anyway, these bands are not the reason it was
on my favorite list. The headliner (Our Lady Peace) clearly demonstrated why they were the lead
act. The instruments sounded excellent and the lead singers voice was clear and crisp (another reason
I am skeptical that Green Wheel's problem was the board. I have not followed OLP that much and
was surprised at the the range of songs from ballads to grinding rock. They played for over
1:45 and looked like they were never going to quit. I am not a big Canadian band fan, but I will
have to make an exception in this case. If there was a downside to the night, they pulled a
Filter trick and had the strobes behind and pointed at the audience. Although this worked well
in the beginning, and hour into it and your brain starts rebelling. By the end, it felt like we
had been through a gauntlet. A small price to pay for a solid night of music.
Now for some confusion that I need to follow up to resolve. OLP claimed to never have been in Peoria
before. Now, if you look up a few entries you will see that they were actually here with Sponge
a number of years back. I need to verify if this was correct and update my website accordingly. It
is time to organize my concert tickets anyway 8^)
|
Worst Concerts
- Gin Blossoms, Seven Mary Three, Sponge, Spin Doctors at Illinois State Fair 2002
I didn't think it was possible, but I actually had another horrible experience
trying to see a concert at the State Fair (see Goo Goo Dolls entry below). We noticed
one of our favorite bands (now make that former favorite bands) Sponge was playing
at this year's State Fair. Although it had rained pretty hard during the day and it
was still cloudy out, we decided to trek down from Peoria to check out the concert.
Fearing a sell-out, I had decided to purchase track tickes ahead of time. This of
course ended up being a MAJOR mistake and one my friends will probably never let me
forget. I should also point out that I had my wife make a special trip to bring us
some jackets before we left in case it did actually rain on us during the concert.
During the course of the drive down, the sky was turning darker and darker, however, we
made it all the way to Springfield without hitting any rain.
Once we arrived in Springfield, we dropped by my parents house to pick up the tickets I
had pre-ordered and then headed out to the fair. By the time we got there, it was
raining very hard. Figuring it would pass, we headed into the fair (luckily it was free
to get into the gates that night). Upon arriving at the first beer tent, we were
drenched to the bone (with the exception of one individual that was smart enough to
bring an umbrella). We had a couple of brews trying to wait the rain out, but it wouldn't
let up. Finally we decided to head over to the grandstand since we were already soaked.
To our surprise, there were maybe 50 people standing at the gate waiting for it
to open. We waited for about 10 minutes which put us past the proposed start of the
concert. During this time, the gate attendant kept stating that they were just
doing some cleanup of the stage and that they would open any minute. With the rain
coming down, we headed to another beer tent in order to escape the rain for a bit. There
we waited for over an hour before the gates finally opened. This put us at 9:00 and
very cranky. I should also point out at this time, that one of the coats I lent my friend
ended up bleeding all over his clothes. There is still some debat on whether this was
from the coat or one of awnings we were previously standing under, but the results were
the same, blue dye all over his pants and shirt.
So we head into the grandstand where the kind ticket landy informs us that we did not
have to stand on the track (where our tickets were), and that we could sit anywhere
we could find a spot. This became very apparent when we saw the water standing on the
muddy track. Blaming it on the whether, we noticed there were very few people in the
stands at all - maybe 10-20 more than were standing outside the gate. There were actually
more people on stage than in the crowd. Annoyed and wet, we found some seats and began settling in for
the concert. Finally comprehending the situation, we noticed that the roadies were
actually removing equipment from the stage. The couple ahead of us mentioned that only
two of the four bands were going to play - and get this, the two we came to see (Sponge,
Seven Mary Three) were not those two. Okay, now we're pissed! After venting amongst
ourselves for about 10 minutes, we noticed that the roadies were removing the final
drumset on the stage. It was past 9:30 now and we knew they didn't have time to reset
the stage for the remaining two bands. Quite angered now, one of my friends decided
to go find out the real story. He returned in a few minutes and informed us that the
concert was off and that they were handing out forms for the ticket refunds. Now keep
in mind one thing "THE PEOPLE SITTING IN THE STANDS WERE NEVER TOLD THE CONCERT WAS
OFF!" We had just stood in the rain for two and a half hours to see 4 bands that
hadn't done anything for over three years and now they were not going to even play
or give any type of courtesy notification. Topping it all off, I have to mail in a
form with the tickets in order to get my money back.
We drive back to Peoria soaking wet and angry only to wake up the next day and read that
A) there were only 750 tickets purchased for the concert that night and B) Sponge
decided long before the concert was to begin that they were not going to play (they apparently
started packing up and left before anyone else decided to call the concert) - Seven Mary
Three apparently decided shortly after that to take off as well. I can tell you without
a doubt, that we will NEVER try to see these bands in concert again and I have officially
banned their albums from my CD players. As far as Sponge is concerned, I have actually
been to three of their concerts, one of which included traveling to Davenport Iowa. Thanks
for dirting on me *ssholes and welcome to the list. You would think they would be a little
more gracious to their fans willing to shell out money to see them in concert in a marketplace
currently under siege from the Internet and MP3 format. As far as the State Fair concert
organizers go, you can count the loss of our future ticket purchases as lost revenue.
- Goo Goo Dolls and Sugar Ray at Illinois State Fair 1998
First
off, Hardball bailed and was replace by Frog Pond. This actually ended
up being for the better since I actually hate Hardball anyway. Frog
tried, but they need some more road experience. Ray came out and did
their little thing. Personally, their music doesn't do much for me,
however, the 14-16 year old girls behind us were going nuts. Reminded me
of those old Beatle clips. I wasn't concerned yet, because I really came
to see the Goo. Well, the time came and they sounded like sh*t. My
friends gave up and left early, but I wanted to hear Iris so I stayed
and tried moving around to determine if we were simply standing in a
sound node. I finaly resigned to the fact that they can't sing outside
of the studio. Wasted money!
- Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company and Drivin 'N' Cry'n at Civic Center in Peoria Ill.
I am not sure what was going on here, but Drivin
was pathetic. I realize that they are the sacrifical lamb for the other
bands in the sound check department, but we specifically went there to
see them and the sound is usually dialed in after a song or two. By the
end of their set, they still hadn't figured it out. Bad and Lynyrd were
alright, but nothing to be impressed by. Most exciting part of the
concert was looking down from the mezzanine and watching all of the
fights breaking out all over the main floor (shades of the Monster
Magnet concert 8^)
- Great White and Dokken at the Madison in Peoria IL
Dokken no showed and they replaced it with a CRAPPY local band named Exit. Let me put into perspective, they
still play Billy Idol and Styxx songs. Now I consider Great White one of the best bands ever and they
played a great set, however, they did not warrant a $20.00 price tag to see them on their down curve.
We asked for a discount, but they said we could have all our money back (and skip the concert) or pay the
full price. Since I regretted missing Great White the previous time they were in Peoria, I decided to stay.
Now that I can say I saw them, I will not being paying that much to see them again. Dokken let me down big
time since I made it through college cranking their CD's
- Fair Warning and Paradise Lost on the riverfront in Peoria IL 7/20/02
Well, it was our anniversary and we were looking for something to do. What better way to spend it than
heading down to the river and listening to some tribute bands (or so we thought). The first thing to
keep in mind is that Fair Warning is advertised as the best Van Halen tribute band around. All I can say is
the rest must really suck. They actually tried to look the part and to be honest they didn't do half
bad on getting the music right, but the singing was just horrible. At first we blamed it on
the acoustics of the area, but we were standing right next to the mix boards and they were
happy with it after the first song - translated - they must always sound this bad. The
other victims around us either left or spent the time making fun of them. Especially humorous
was the constant references the lead singer made to our city's name. I lost count after 14 times -
note to band, I know where I live and I can already pronounce it correctly so stop trying
to generate cheaps claps from the crowd. We made it through 6 songs and decided our tender
little ears needed a break. Rather than waiting around for the changeover to the next band,
we left for better entertainment.
Later that night, we actually swung by the riverfront again to see how the Gun's 'N' Roses
tribute band (Paradise Lost) was. As we arrived, we noted that once again the music sounded
pretty good. And then .... it happened again. The singer started up and dashed our hopes
once again. Recommendation, you cannot replace the real thing. Make special note of that if you
are planning on bringing ANY Stones tribute bands around here.
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