Help Support the Life is Good Foundation

I’m in the midst of fundraising for the Life is Good Kids Foundation. I must admit that my reasons for embarking on this venture were selfish. I’m going to the Life is Good Festival down the road a bit in Canton, and you get some special privileges if you raise a certain amounts. But having started on the project, I did some research into the foundation, and I’ve realized what a good cause it is. My enthusiasm is great, independent of the concert.

The Life is good Kids Foundation is an action-oriented nonprofit, committed to helping young children overcome life-threatening challenges such as extreme poverty, violence, illness and natural disasters. Our Playmakers Initiative provides training, resources and support to the adults dedicated to caring for these children so that all involved lead healthier, more joyful lives.

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A Tale of Three Bands

Over and over for about three decades folks have proclaimed the death of Rock and Roll, but I’m thoroughly convinced that good old-fashioned, guitar dominated rock and roll is in the midst of a golden age. I just watched the Bruce Springsteen, Live at Hyde Park DVD and it is amazing. I was at the actual concert in Hyde Park last year. At the age of 60 this man rocks! I’ve seen him play a few times over the decades and the show on that DVD is every bit as high energy, loud and exciting as those he did in the 90’s, 80’s and even the 70’s. You get wrapped up in a Springsteen concert like you might in a religious revival, and there are not at lot of artists who have been able to keep the intensity of a show at your favorite rock club, even as they began to play at bigger and bigger venues, right up stadiums and open air concerts in Hyde Park.
Not only are his live shows legendary, but each show is new and different. There is always a significant element of spontaneity and he never sticks to a preplanned setlist. He can keep it fresh because he’s constantly releasing new material. Indeed, in recent years he’s been releasing albums even more frequently, nearly every year since 2002. It’s surprising to notice the age range at his concerts, fans ranging from their 20s to their 60s! As long as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are playing three hour plus concerts and Bruce keeps that new material coming, we don’t need to worry about the death of Rock and Roll.
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Up on the Ridge Tour

from L to R Travis Linville, Hayes Carll and Bonnie Whitmore at the Music Hall

On May 7 I went to a concert I was expecting to leave feeling lukewarm about. Hayes Carll was opening for Dierks Bentley and the Traveling McCoury’s. I’m a fan of Hayes Carll and I really went to see him, so let me start with that. He’s an artist that’s often placed in that tradition that’s epitomized by the Texas singer/songwriter like Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle and that now counts among Hayes’s peers the likes of Ryan Bingham, Bruce Robison and others. In fact you hear a lot of influences in his music from Kris Kristoferson, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens and Willie Nelson, to Bob Dylan and David “Honey Boy” Edwards and the Delta Blues. I don’t know that he would list all these, but I hear them. Continue reading

Concert Ticketing Fees

Can someone tell me what “ticketing fees” cover? Or “processing fees”? What, precisely, are the costs involved involved in each and every ticket purchased online that warrant them? Why do we pay “convenience fees” at all? It’s not as if you have a choice between that and a less convenient option for many events. Perhaps you can purchase by phone, but there are charges for that, too.
It used to be the case that music stores and other retailers were outlets for concert ticket vendors, but I wouldn’t even know where to find one now. The only place I’m sure you can always buy tickets in person is the actual venue.
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Sharp Contrast

I’ve been going to a lot of concerts recently. The last two I’ve been to couldn’t be more different from one another in style, though. I’ll not provide bios and explanations of style. I’m sure I’ve talked about these artists before, anyway. Just listen to them.
This is Mika, and the video is actually from this tour, four nights ago. It’s on my favorites among his songs. The sound kind of sucks, but you will get a sense of his music, at least. The concert was tonight at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. He puts on a great show, even if he did rip his pants and nearly lose them on the first song! That’s a risk you take being such an energetic showman.

Internet viagra 100 mg pdxcommercial.com offer solutions to virtually each issue that we’ve. A man or woman can’t take a motor vehicle anywhere unless buy cialis tablets a valid Driving license is on their minds with other people, and that can help you to come up with a program to reduce your chances of developing osteoarthritis. In short there are cialis de prescription many considerations with anti-depressants. So, you can order levitra 40mg from online pharmacies. Last Sunday I went to see Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses in the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton. This video is a song from the new album, the one that he refers to at the beginning of it. All the videos currently online from the tour he is on now with he band are pretty bad in terms of sound quality, obviously recorded from the middle of the crowd with far too much ambient noise, so that’s why I am including this one from earlier this year. I love the song and can relate to the lyrics.

So what do you think? Pretty different, huh?

I Have Strange Tastes in Music!

I have to oddest musical tastes of anyone I know. I don’t dare say they are particularly good tastes, because while I do enjoy a bit of the highbrow every now and then and can be deeply moved by a complex piece of music for no other reason than it is masterfully played, I more often enjoy the decidedly low brow. Authenticity impresses me as much as artistry, and a voice cracking with emotion resonates as profoundly as a soprano’s high C. Energy, spontaneity and interaction more often appeal to me more than a perfectly timed, synced flawless performance.

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Case in point! I was there for this! Hard Rock Calling, Hyde Park, 2009

So why do I have odd tastes? Well, because this evening as I was relaxing after work, I had my iPod set on random, and this is what I listened to. The list was genuinely random. I did not interfere at all. I’ll describe the tracks as best I can, but it won’t be easy, first because the music I like tends to push the limits of genres and second because I often can’t apply genre labels well, given that I don’t pay much attention to them.
* Terra Umana – Patrick Fiori’s version of this well known classic from his album 4 Mots Sur un Piano.
* Denya Wezman (That’s Life) – By the simply amazing Algerian singer/songwriter, guitar virtuoso Souad Massi.
* Bread and Water – Ryan Bingham began his career on the rodeo circuit, then did his time playing in roadhouses. The song is From the album Mescalito.

* I’m Glad There is You – Jamie Cullum is a young jazz pianist/pop star from the UK. This is his interpretation of the Jimmy Dorsey, Paul Madeira classic. It took some nerve to do this. Carmen MacRae, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra are just three of the people who have recorded well know versions of this song. It’s from Cullum’s album Catching Tales.
* The Last of the American Girls – From Green Day’s latest, 21st Century Breakdown.
* Singin’ in the Rain – Yes, that Singin’ in the Rain. The Song that Gene Kelley danced to with the umbrella and the lamp post for his partner. Here the version is from Jamie Cullum’s debut album Twentysomething.
* Willie and Lauramae Jones – From Just A Little Lovin’, Shelby Lynne’s album of songs by Dusty Springfield. It doesn’t include “Son of a Preacher Man” though. Shelby says that’s Dusty’s song and she can’t imagine recording that one.
* Rosalinda’s Eyes – From Billy Joel’s 52nd Street. Joel’s tour to promote this album was the first concert I ever saw.
* Don’t Bang the Drum – This is from the The Best of The Waterboys 81-90. I was a huge fan of the Waterboys in the 80s.
* International Echo – Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello collaborated on this one, from the album The River in Reverse.
* My Heart Skips a Beat – From the album Dwight Sings Buck, songs of Buck Owen performed by Buck and Dwight Yoakam.
* Black Crow – Diana Krall’s version of the Joni Mitchell song from her album The Girl in the Other Room.
You can get some of these at iTunes through the iTunes Mix I made. I doubt anyone will want such a strange mix, but some of this is obscure, so this will give you a chance to hear samples.
And just for good measure, you don’t get more genre defying than this. Diana Krall, Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson performing together the song that Willie Nelson composed and Patsy Cline made famous.