Summer Concert Reviews

Spiritualized 7/27 Terminal 5, New York
This show was great, and I really liked the venue. It was my first time in Terminal 5, but it was a great size with a hip setting with its bar on the side and balconies above a large open floor. Spiritualized came out with two female gospel singers along with the band, and they played some great, ambient music with moving vocals and music that just built up in a way that just made it all exciting. Also at this show, a girl wearing the same outfit as me.

John Williams and the Boston Pops 7/26 Tanglewood, Lenox, MA
This show was pretty rainy, and we were drenched on the lawn, but we were watching John Williams conduct his movie music, and it was amazing. He did a lot of stuff from Indiana Jones because of the summer release of the newest movie, but in the beginning, he played a medley of a bunch of his work, including the Star Wars theme. The Pops also played some music from Close Encounters with movie scenes shown on a screen. For the second half of the show, Steven Spielberg showed up and MCed it. It was pretty amazing. Then a few actresses from the Indiana Jones movies came out. Always a surprise at Tanglewood.

James Taylor 7/4 Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, MA
This was like a Dave Matthews concert for older people and their families. I couldn't believe the surprises that came out of this show. Well, first, Tanglewood is a great place for a show because of its lawn and the audience's ability to bring in coolers and lawn chairs. Second, that made it perfect for the Fourth of July. Taylor played a bunch of his classics, like "You've Got a Friend," and he brought friends. First, John Travolta came out to wish him a happy birthday. Then, he brought out Yo-Yo Ma to play with him. Then Carole King came out and sang "A Natural Woman" and joined him on a few songs. Then the show ended with fireworks on the other side of the lawn. It was a fantastic night.

Daniel Johnston 6/19 Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
It was pretty exciting to see Daniel Johnston play at Toad's Place. Here's the thing: we saw him in NYC, and it was worth going down there, but Toad's Place is practically in my backyard, and I loved that he was there. There wasn't as much crying as at the last show I saw, but Johnston was perkier in general. He covered couple Beatles songs, which lifted the mood. While Johnston is very much indie and not very popular, his fans are devoted, and they love him because he writes a great song. Many bands cover his music, and it's easy to see why. His lyrics combine everything from hurt to disappointment to hope, and he does it all emotionally, and one can't help but feel or what to feel what he's feeling.

Dave Matthew's Band 6/14 Meadows, Hartford, CT
This show was rainy. It was also hard to find a parking space because of all the kids partying without intending on going to the show. Still, it was a pretty good show, and with how much Dave Matthews I've heard on the radio and around college, the show felt like a pilgrimage I had to make before I graduated.


Tom Petty, Steve Winwood 6/11 Meadows, or Dodge Music Center, Hartford, CT
This show was great. Tom Petty played all of his hits, which was everything I wanted to hear. He got the crowd in, and it was fantastic. Steve Winwood opened for Petty and played "Higher Love," which was a highlight for me, and he ended with "Gimme Some Lovin'," one of my favorite marching band stands tunes, which made me really happy.

Panic at the Disco, Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet 5/10 Oakdale, or Chevrolet Theater, Wallingford, CT
Th main act was actually a bit unsettling. Formerly "Panic! at the Disco," the band dropped their "!" because of their new sound. They played their old punky, fast-paced jumpy, dancey songs, but they mixed in some of their new stuff, which is like an attempt at a Beatles-like, poppy, mellow rock sound. Even their stage setup with fake flower vines wrapping the microphones and psychedelic scenery paintings felt like a time travel. Panic!, yes, I'm keeping the "!" in referring to their old sound, was good at what they did. Their old music was different, and it appealed to the masses of tween and teenage girls in their plaid skirts and colorful knee socks. Their new stuff just didn't feel right following their old songs, and the new songs and the lead singer's demeanor felt arrogant, like they were saying, yeah, we got fans, yeah, we can play whatever we want, and you love us. They're just OK at imitating the Beatles, and they don't really come close. The girls still seemed to love them though - the text screen between acts said "SCREAM IF YOU THINK BRENDON'S HOT" about every five seconds.
On the brighter side, Phantom Planet closed their set with "California" and really tried to work up the crowd, and the Hush Sound played a short, but refreshing set of their happy, kind of quirky piano rock with beautiful vocals from both Greta Salpeter and Bob Morris. This wasn't my first time seeing Motion City Soundtrack, and they were just as energized as usual. They look like normal guys in their later twenties, not skinny skinny like other popular bands (Panic at the Disco, cough), and they make the crowd dance. Their lyrics bring the crowd back to their most embarrassing high school moments but remind them that they're not alone.

Blue Man Group 5/1 Mohegan Sun Casino
This was an awesome show. It was my first time at a Blue Man Group show, and I've heard for the longest time that I had to go to one. I hadn't heard much of the music before, so a lot of it was a surprise to me, a really good surprise. The group used a lot of audience interaction in "Rock Concert Movements" and just put on a crazy, colorful and fun show.

Bottling Up A Ton of Posts/NKOTB

It's been a pretty busy summer. What's funny is that while I feel like it's been busy, it really hasn't been. I've been interning part-time at the Hartford Courant in the Middletown Bureau. This is technically my last week, but I'm still working on a column answer and will be working a few shifts next week.

I've basically been hanging out and going to concerts in my free time. That's what I've wanted to blog about: these concerts. I'll give them one big post with separated bits about each concert.

And just so this post doesn't lack substance, I will comment on the New Kids on the Block recent radio single, "Summertime." When I first heard it, I thought it was Jesse McCartney or some new boy band. It was catchy, a happy summer jam, even if it was a bit unoriginal. I thought it kind of sampled "Bittersweet Symphony," which, itself, samples the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time" for its background. The name "Summertime," and the basic chorus of "I think about you in the summertime, and all the good times we had, baby," just seemed so gimmicky and put together for a sale. I couldn't understand how NKOTB, who are much older than teenagers thinking about girls in the summertime, could relate to this kind of bubblegum song. I also couldn't understand why they're back on tour - it's been a long time, and Jordan Knight and Joey McIntyre had a few singles after the band broke up. Donnie Wahlberg has a great career as an actor and producer. Maybe they just missed each other and the fame. They're back with an all-out tour and whole new album, and the radio's spinning their catchy tracks again. Good for them, hangin' tough. It seems that NKOTB want to sell themselves to us again, and actually, I'm kind of buying it.