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The stuff of legends…
By admin | November 28, 2007
As an avid guitar player, I feel a certain responsibility to see any rock or guitar-icon concerts that may come through my part of the country, and in doing so my eyes have definitely been opened regarding just how influential some of these bands, and therefore their shows, have been. Not too long ago an old friend and I went to see Van Halen at the American Airlines Center here in Dallas, and I must say I wasn’t disappointed. At the time they were touring with Sammy Haggar (who put on a surprisingly good acoustic set in the middle of the show), and while you could certainly SEE the age difference in the musicians, the music was still played with passion and heart. It was particularly cool to see someone as iconic as EVH himself, especially knowing how he battled cancer and chemical addictions to come back and play a great rock show. Now, my one little disclaimer is that Van Halen is not necessarily in my favorite bands, but I think it is important to familiarize yourself with the guys who made it possible for great rock to exist. If you were a painter, you would study other artists, regardless if they were your favorite or not, and this is no different.
Another show I picked up in Dallas was The Black Crowes, who put on a great rock show but left out some of their absolute best, most recognizable tunes. I was very much looking forward to hearing “Hard to Handle”, “Jealous Again,” or even “She Talks to Angels”, but I never got the chance. They still put on a heck of a rock show, and showed why they are among some of the more elite bands birthed in the 90’s. They certainly aren’t as iconic as EVH, but nevertheless I think they will be remembered down the road.
If I am to stick with talking about guitar players, however, the best show I have ever seen was hands down John Mayer. You have to cut Mayer some slack - he did not PLAN on being a pop sensation when he first came on to the scene, it was just the way the chips fell. He got a lot of radio air-time being played in between Pink and Kanye West, but I assure you that is not where he belongs. Mayer is quickly becoming a guitar icon, and I can safely say he is one of the best guitar players walking around right now. Why else would he be invited to play at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads festival? See a video of that at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEE2_RYyVYk
Mayer plays with poise and accuracy, but what blows me away about seeing him in concert is his ridiculous ability to find NEW melodies and implement them in to guitar solos. He is definitely an artist worthy of his own post… I will have to tackle that soon.
So now tell me some of YOUR favorite shows! It can be recent or from long ago… Let us all be envious of your great rock experiences.
Topics: Guitarists of note |
November 29th, 2007 at 10:37 am
#1 would have to be THIRD EYE BLIND! I saw them a few months back at the House of Blues in Dallas and it was an unbelievable show! Even if you don’t like them they put on a hell of a performance, I think partly because they said they were recording that show for their first ever Live DVD. You heard right my friends. If you missed it the first time do not fret, it will be out on DVD shortly
From here on its hard to say who gets 2,3,4 and so on. Coldplay put on an AMAZING show both times I saw them while John Mayer was more musically entertaining. Maroon 5 was also very cool but was the opener for Mayer so they didn’t play as much as they would have if they had opened.
I’ve seen many other good local and popular bands in my time that shouldn’t go without mentioning but still don’t deserve top 5 recognition: Journey, P.O.D., Delirious, Tomorrow’s Rescue, Desperation Band (although it was worship)…ok now I guess I’m just bragging. I’ll stop.
December 4th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Those are definitely great shows, and I’m still a little bitter that I missed 3EB when they were in Dallas. My personal goal, however, is to see U2 next time they come through Dallas. If I were to miss that again, I really don’t know what I would do with myself.
There’s some other concerts worth mentioning that I’ve seen - Counting Crows (Adam Duritz was D-RUNK, but that made the show hilarious), Caedmon’s Call put on a really cool show, and probably the best local show I’ve ever seen was a band called Stellamaris (now called The New Frontiers).