Yay Uncle! Hey all, been a while since I've been here! Great to hear this is going on. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it that day (dang!) Taking it back to the musical subthread up there aways, that is the day that JRAD (Joe Russo's Almost Dead (not an indication of Joe Russo's health ) plays at the fabulous Frost Amphitheater on the Stanford campus. This venue has been closed for maaany years and was just recently renovated in conjunction with AEG. If anyone likes only hippie jamband rock (ca. Grateful Dead 1969) JRAD is the best incarnation going right now, including any surviving member's projects.

 

The Occidental event sounds interesting. I need to see if I can pull it off. The inaugural event was enjoyable even though I was in a really unpleasant mood to start and had to forcibly shake it off, and then go to another event afterwards. I'm in a better spot now, but might have to work on the 17th even though I never signed on for that when I joined up

The Orinda car show is really close, but I'll miss it. I'll be in Wyoming, hanging out with old friends, grizzlies, wolves, and river otters. I'll also be attending the Jackson festival "Taste of the Tetons" where I plan on eating too much and drinking just enough.

Hippie jambands? I'll pass on that. Not my thing, man.

 

Not metal enough for ya?
LOL, That's OK, not ~most~ people's thing...
Have fun at the Teton thing!

 

When I was in college we used to occasionally go up near the Greek Theater when the Dead were playing. They'd set up speakers for the overflow crowd nearby. That was worth the price. Years later I got talked into a show at the Oakland Auditorium Arena, and, to steal someone else's comment, I've never paid so much to see a band rehearse. My deadhead friend described the show as "cerebral." Probably code for "not a great show."

So yeah, not metal enough

I couldn't rent a decent sports car in Wyoming, so I'm getting a Mustang convertible. Maybe I can find a Cars & Coffee to terrorize.

 

Last time I went to a Dead concert was in 1973 at the Cow Palace. I have been told it was a great concert, but if you can remember it you weren’t really there.

 

Saturday, Aug 17 is a no go for me as I'll be floating down the river. Don't let that stop you, though! I love that this thread is back to life!

I was kicking around the idea of a meetup destination of my house. Lots of room for F-Types in my driveway and I can set up some sort of spread.

 

I had a jam phase. It was 100% about the tight scene of really good human beings, and far less about the music. But I also worked festivals like High Sierra and Earthdance, so it was part and parcel.
Now I just don't like being around groups of people. LOL

Also, Jackson & Tetons are one of my 5 spirit animal geographic places. LOL
Not sure if you're staying with friends, but check out Amangani. It's truly beyond all comprehension of what luxury can be. It's spendy, but from an industry dude, there's so much value there.
If you don't want to stay, book yourself a spa or lunch rezzie.
https://www.aman.com/resorts/amangani

 

I've had a few phases, but never jam bands. I too now generally avoid large groups. Might be my hearing damage because, ironically, the larger the group (and its noise) the more isolated I feel.

Most of the trip we'll be in West Yellowstone. I'm meeting friends who had it all booked already, and am grabbing a spare room. I haven't noted any particular places for my spirit animal(s), but we'll be getting a "behind the scenes" tour at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center because of their long history of donations and sponsorship. The Center has a new habitat since I've last visited, for river otters. I'm quite looking forward to that.

On the 17th, I probably need to be standing by because they're shutting all power at our HQ on the 16th for construction and we'll need to bring services back up on the 17th. If I can dodge that, I might still make it. Travel time is minimum 90 minutes one way, but over 2 hours by more entertaining routes.

 

My first rock concert was at the Cow Palace in '78. I've seen *many* bands there over the years, but eventually got burned out on stadium shows. Last show I went to was X at the Fillmore. Wait, no it wasn't. I misremembered. It was Faith No More at the Warfield. Pretty sure I was there.

 

Yay, love that y'all have seen some shows! Unhingd, 73? Dang, you're older than me My first was 76. I think I have that 78 on Cow Palace on disc somewhere. I think my last Cow Palace experience was Neil Young, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden in the early 80's? Spend most of the first two bands in the bar... Yeah, the Fillmore is about as big as I get these days. Yay High Sierra Uncle! One of my favorite festivals! Did you DJ at Earthdance? Otherwise I'm mostly going to small family festivals these days (not that I have a family, other than my music family..) Even took the Jag a couple times. One of the festivals is up Hwy 128. (<-Obligatory Jag Content.)

 

Since this is the thread.....

1st concert I consciously bought my own tickets for, and went because I wanted to vs just being dragged to something as a kid:

1991, Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountain View
David Bowie's Sound + Vision Tour


sorta rough to start out with that, but I've been fortunate to have seen almost every great of all time. From about 20 - 40, I was seeing 2-5 shows a week. I'm a DJ, was pretty deep into the Denver/Boulder and SF music scene... had friend's at ticketmaster, dated a box office sweetie who hooked it up in SF tix all over the place. You name it, I've seen it. =)

What are some of your current favorite bands or artists? There's concerts ALL over wine country at wineries, these days. Hell Thievery Corp is playing Mondavi soon.

I saw my absolute favorite band right now, Khruangbin, at Gundlach Bundschu last year (Sonoma).
Other artists I love - Fat Freddy's Drop, Jai Paul, Maribou State, Anderson Paak.... there's so much talent out there, it's just lifting up the rocks vs being spoon fed bad pop.

 

Fairport Convention, in their Full House lineup?

 

Genesis at Winterland in March 1977. ‘Nuff said.

 

I stopped saving tickets in about 93. This was my first.

 

Reading about all of the old concerts brings back lots of memories of going to see great shows in the late '60s and 70's. Two are more memorable than most of the others. First, my high school was the only one in the Los Angeles Unified School District that didn't have its own football or baseball stadiums.In 1968, they finally built a football stadium, and as one of the first kickoff events in the stadium the school held a rock concert with both professional and amateur bands. The headliners were the Doors, the Jefferson Airplane, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Merrygoround, the Sunshine Company, and a whole host of others as well as a local battle of the bands on the grass of the stadium. My best friend and I were scheduled to go but when I went to pick him up, his mother told me he was grounded and I should sell his $2.00 ticket. The other standout concert was the west coast version of Woodstock that had most of the same performers and took place at the horse facilities (Devonshire Downs) at Cal State Northridge then known as San Fernando Valley State College. It was a five day festival (as I recall) that I attended three days. It was called the Fantasy Faire with all of the great bands of the day. I don't recall most of the bands I saw, but I do remember seeing Country Joe and the Fish. Lots of great music back then.

 

Since this thread is completely off the rails already...I will simply say that (in spite of immense talent(s) that exist everywhere and to this day) THEY SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE THE QUALITY, OR QUANTITY, OF THE TALENT AND WHAT WAS PRODUCED - particularly if we are talking rock - BACK IN THE ‘60’s AND MAYBE THE EARLY ‘70’s.

Personally, I am firmly stuck back in the ‘60’s. With no regrets whatsoever.

P.S. When it comes to Jazz my “clock” does go back to the ‘50’s and ‘60s. That’s not to say I don’t have favorites in decades past or future (or even present).

Come to think of it....who gives a flying f%&# what I think?

 

edit: holy cow. that is a show I missed, and that would be amazing.
I have seen many many bands/artists... but I do admit folk and skiffle is something I missed out of the UK. Wow.

 

absolutely superb. thanks for sharing.

 

I do. It's a valuable record of reality. =)
The fact is, and to be wholly fair... there's not many iterations of 3 chords that you can develop after 5 decades. You've got more cerebral, complex bands out there, but even then there are times it transcends music and becomes a demonstration not of pleasant aural vibes, but mastery of an instrument that can be jarring. Coltrane did that. Steve Vai and some other brilliant guitarists do it (Buckethead anyone?). I remember the moment I heard Miles Davis play with silence and notes between bars. My jaw dropped. Making music with silence. Most of my jazz is mid to late 60s rare groove jazz like Lonnie or Jimmy Smith. I love the hammond. But I love Grant Green or Wes Montgomery's guitar as well. =) One of the greatest thing about this country USA is the output of blues and jazz that has shaped the world around us.

Jai Paul is absurdly "modern" to enter into the conversation here, but he is someone you will hear more about, and his decade long career has been (pardon) ****ing (appropriate) bonkers. He plays with spaces between notes, too. I think I mentioned above, Fat Freddy's Drop is a modern take on excellent groove music, and I would be remiss to not re-up Khruangbin. I'm afraid I've legit already dropped those names, so I am going to say for those people who love cerebral jazz and more complex stuff, BadBadNotGood is exceedingly compelling.

But the point being, when blues and hollers led to ragtime and the explosion of jazz, which all led to the white dudes copping the music into skiffle, folk, rock, and the like.... there's not much to do after that. All the great band driven music was really created by the mid 70s, and other than the ideas of punk, or general post-modern guitar minimalism, what innovative new genres or sounds have been created out of electronic music?

Also, I am cutting myself off because this was about to become a pitchfork/wired article screed of rambling music chats. LOLOLOLOL

 

Ah, 1986. My hearing was already doomed by Motorhead at the International Metal Monsters tour of 84. I thought I might have been at that show but just checked: I was at the Monday show on that same tour. BTO opened. I go to shows pretty rarely now, but if I get a ticket that has info printed I'll save it and put it in the cigar box I use for such things. Found a barely-legible GWAR stub. It got drenched in red liquid since it was in my pocket and I got drenched. The two names that came up most in my quick search for the Van Hagar stub were GWAR and Soft White Underbelly. Perhaps my most prized, had there been ticket stubs, would have been the Ramones in '82 at a club in Sheepshead Bay called "The Brooklyn Zoo."

Back to the Saturday event: Still unlikely. I never signed up for any "on call" anything when I got hired, but circumstances are unusual. I hope to have clarification tomorrow if I'll be needed to stand as ready backup.