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My review of the NYC concert (the only one you'll need)



I think I am only one of a very few people from the list who went to MSG 
(flew from N.O.), so here's an evaluation of an historic night:

Earth-shattering:  obviously, only one act, The Who, falls into this 
category.  20,000 people on their feet for the entire 30 minute set.  Pete 
was in rare fucking form.  Roger put on a great show and kicked ass on the 
harmonica to finish Baba, though he struggled with his voice after Who Are 
You (the opener).  He had to have been hoarse from a cold or rehearsals.  
John was his usual "Bassist of the century" self, but I couldn't figure out 
why he didn't sing at all on background vocals (though the Who Are You bg 
vocals were canned).  Zak was impressive and the entire sound was pretty 
fuckin awesome.

phenomenal: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  Mick is still an incredible 
showman and the Keith surprise fired everyone up, opening with "salt of the 
earth."  Eric Clapton. 2-song blues set was terrific with Buddy Guy.  Billy 
Joel/Elton John: duet was moving.

excellent: Bon Jovi was pretty damn good live. Mellencamp kicked ass.  Billy 
Joel and Elton John's piano sets were both damn fine.  Bowie was a great 
opener with a very emotional rendition of America (simon and garf) while 
sitting Indian-style playing a tiny keyboard, then rocked with heroes.  
Melissa Etheridge handled some minor adversity and sang and played with great 
heart.  Goo Goo Dolls cover of American Girl by Petty was very good also.

good- Five for Fighting with "Superman."  Paul Schafer's house band.  

no comment- Macy Gray, Destiny's Child- went to get beer and piss since I 
can't get into this music.

severely WEAK- Backstreet Boys- ok, they suck no matter what, but at least 
put on a fucking show by doing one upbeat number with some dancing.  JZ- 
never heard of him before and now I know why.  Janet Jackson- remote feed 
didn't work at all.  She let her Pittsburg audience sing half the song and we 
couldn't hear it.  She did look incredible, tho.

McCartney- OK, i'm putting this in a special category.  He is still a great 
singer and he gets tremendous props for puttin it all together.  With that 
said, when people have waited nearly 6 hours to see him, songs from his new 
album ain't what they want.  "I'm down" wasn't that great and isn't even in 
the top 25 of Beatles tunes.  How bout "Hey, Jude" or "Revolution?"  
Yesterday and Let it Be were great, of course, but we had to wade thru all 
that crap to get to them.  The Freedom song blew, also.  Either finish with 
Let it Be or let the group do See Me Feel Me.  Overall, he came off as a 
parent rather than a rock legend and his little tributes between each song 
show that he hasn't yet made it out of the 60s.  Overall- his set was a big 
disappointment.

The show still gets a rousing A+.  Truly amazing.