Bob Seger - Nutter Center, Dayton, OH - April 9, 2013 Seger rocks the Heartland

As satisfying a classic rock concert experience as you’ll find, Bob Seger played the Nutter Center in Dayton, OH, Tuesday night to a raucous, near-capacity crowd.   The Michigan native certainly connected with the over fifty, mostly blue collar audience - and they let him know through their deafening applause.  While there are plenty of veteran bands touring the country, there’s something about Seger that is just more honest and real.

I’ve always enjoyed Heart’s music.  But, over the last few years, I’ve really come to respect them as some of the finest musicians in all of rock.  For me, it started in 2003, when a friend called me up at the last minute to say she had one extra ticket to the Heart concert at Fraze Pavilion.  After some deliberation, I decided to go.  But, on the short drive over, it started to rain, and I almost turned around.  Boy, am I glad I didn’t.

Concert For Sandy Relief (review) Mick Jagger put it best when he quipped “this is the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled.”  Indeed.  If this were the 1970’s, this would’ve been considered the greatest concert of all-time.  Never before had such an array of rock heavy-hitters shared a single stage. The Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, and others all came together to benefit the victims affected by Hurricane Sandy. Most of these performers are old, and some are VERY old.  Yet, it was surprising who held their own and who struggled.

Classic Rock n’ Blues Fest - Fraze Pavilion - 8/29/12 - I’ve just seen one of the true legends of the guitar - Johnny Winter, as part of the Classic Rock n’ Blues tour.  Here’s a guy who played Woodstock, befriended Jimi Hendrix, dated Janis Joplin, and is still around to tell about it all these years later.  And man can he still play!

The evening began with Kim Simmonds, guitarist for Savoy Brown, backed by Edgar Winter’s Band.  He came out in a Gibson Flying V and hat.  At one point, he addressed the crowd and gave some history of his band, saying he didn’t want to be referred to as “that guy that opened the show.”  His soloing was fierce, with an extended jam of their song “Poor Girl,” from 1970.  The crowd responded best to “Tell Mama,” a track off their 1971 album Street Corner Talking.

Beatles' fans have been clamoring for years for them to release the band's third movie, Magical Mystery Tour, on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Well, here's the press release straight from EMI:

ROLL UP ROLL UP FOR THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR!

THE BEATLES’ CLASSIC 1967 FEATURE FILM RESTORED FOR WORLDWIDE

DVD AND BLU-RAY RELEASE ON OCTOBER 8^TH

London – August 22, 2012 – Songs you’ll never forget, the film you’ve never seen, and a story that’s never been heard.  In 1967, in the wake of the extraordinary impact of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album and the One World satellite broadcast of All You Need Is Love, The Beatles devised, wrote, and directed their third film, Magical Mystery Tour, a dreamlike story of a coach day trip to the seaside.  Apple Films has fully restored the long out-of-print, classic feature film for October 8^th release worldwide (October 9^th in North America) on DVD and Blu-ray with a remixed soundtrack (5.1 and stereo) and special features.  For the first time ever, there will be a limited theatrical release in certain territories from September 27^th.

London Olympics - Opening Ceremony - review With a billion people watching, the Brits decide to ROCK. 

First of all, if you haven’t seen the opening sequence involving a stunt double of Queen Elizabeth parachuting out of a plane with James Bond - it’s worth a look.  The fact that Her Majesty, who always seems to come off as a sour puss, agreed to play along with the joke, shows that she really does have a sense of humor.  

The biggest thing that surprised me was how much rock music was a part of the 4 1/2 hour event. 

Last Summer on Earth Tour - Fraze Pavilion - Kettering, OH - July 8, 2012 -- The Nineties did not suck. Yeah, sure - if you believe everything mainstream music magazines like Rolling Stone say, nothing good came after about 1982.  Well, don’t believe it.  I’ve seen package tours of the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, and now this one, and everyone of them was full of great songs.  But, what this tour had that none of the others before them did was - these dudes can play. All four of the acts - Cracker, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Blues Traveler, and Barenaked Ladies -  are great live bands.