I was driving to work and noticed the sign on bus station poster – Fleetwood Mac coming to town.  Fleetwood is one of my favorite bands from back in the day and Stevie Nicks has one of the most beautiful and haunting voices I’ve ever heard.  I listen to them often and seeing that sign brought to my attention once again how many of the old school bands are still out here touring.  

In the last couple years we’ve had The Police, The Eagles, and The Stones.  None of these cats have any new hits.  They just tour doing the old ones.  That to me is not a bad thing.  It says more about the quality of music of the day. 

Maze featuring Frankie Beverly will be in The Lou this Friday with Teena Marie and Keith Sweat as a matter of fact.  I wanted to go to see Lady-T but I got some other priorities right now and that prevents me from upping the $65 for a ducket. 

Speaking of Sweat, how in the hell is Sweat still touring?  Is that a women over the age of 35 thing?  I mean, “Make It Last Forever”was a great album… but that was his first well over 20 years ago.  He’s produced some good stuff too but do people really want to see this dude croon?  He’s still Steve Arrington just like Aaron Hall was Charlie Wilson.  He was just a more successful at a solo career being Steve Arrington than Steve Arrington was in his solo career.   (Just a touch of love… a little bit)  I’m just saying.

I have seen Frankie though I think like 4 times in my life.  You can never see them too much cause the music is so good and the band is so tight.  They don’t cheat you as they play EVERY song with none of that medley BS to get by.  Oh no, when you see Frankie you don’t go to a concert, you have a party and come out of it feeling GREAT!  Only cool ass audiences go to Frankie concerts too.  Old dudes in brims and velvet suit jackets and stuff.  But unlike other St. Louis audiences, (stuck up acting like they are too good to get down) Frankie/Maze followers know whats up and they come to reminisce and rock the house.

Back to the old bands:  It shows too that us old heads are hungry for some of the nostalgia of the music we used to sing and dance to back in the day.  Have you seen the prices of these shows.  The Stones were starting at $250 a pop.  The Police were like $160.  The Eagles were $175.  I mean DAMN!  I just can’t get down like that.  I read that the Police set was tight though… and they did the hits. 

 

The best days for me was when I worked at the old Keil Auditorium and had access to many bands and singers.  I saw Salt and Pepa before anyone knew who the heck they were.  I thought it was a duo guy group till they came out on stage.  They were just that new.  I mean look, they came with Heavy D and the Too Live Crew if that tells ya anything. 

Has Earth Wind and Fire ever stopped touring?

Free concerts rock!  And the ones I will remember most are Kiss, Hank Williams Jr. (truly a country ass pimp) REO Speedwagon, Poison, and Al Green passing out those roses. 

No concert blew my socks off though the way Bon Jovi did when they came for the “Slippery When Wet”tour.  I mean look – first off I didn’t know who those guys even were.  But there was a buzz all around the city.  So I’m thinking, “Who is Bon Jovi and why did they sell out in 45 minutes?”  Before the show all of these young scantly clad girls – yes I said girls and women were dressed in lace and pajamas.  I was like, “What the hell?”

But yo!  No joke when them dudes hit the stage it was ON!  John was riding on this tightrope 100 feet above the stage playing his guitar, and they rocked the MF house.  I have never, and I mean EVER seen a band play and rock that hard for an entire 2 1/2 hour show.  Prince will do it, but I’m talking about the whole band!  They played like their lives depended on it.  “Dead or Alive, Livin On A Prayer, they hit them all.  The encore… “Runaway!”  That’s when I was like, “Oh that’s them? ” Cause I already knew that song before, just hadn’t heard of Bon Jovi.  I ain’t forgot since.

Sade… great artist – tight band with the same core dudes she’s always had.  It shows too.

Oh I got to share one of the most disappointing concerts I’ve ever been too as well.  The Isley Brothers!  Now look, just for the sake of hits no one does it better!  4 plus decades of stone cold jams.  Will always be one of my favorite groups!  But I got them late in the game and they came out and started out with a few hits… You know they did “Voyage To Atlantis,”and Ernie was all over it.  They did old school and took us back for about 30 min… a bunch of medleys though.  Then Ron went and changed clothes, got into his Mr. Biggs thing with the cane and the girls dancing around him like he was Max Julien from The Mack.  Then they did Contagious and all of that R. Kelly in the closet bull crap!  It was sooooooooo tired!  Finished up with a couple other old school hits and something from the then new album and walked off the stage.  I was PISSED!  I mean it was a ‘C’ at best.  Ernie was great, Ron took our money with a ski mask.   I said to myself, “Never again!”  If we were in Los Angeles or New York this never would have happened.  They figured, “St. Louis, what the hell just do whatever and get the doe.”  He should have paid them taxes with that money.  But that’s another story.

 What are some of your favorite, more memorable or fogettable concerts, artist or bands?