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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.