Tag Archives: concerts

last night we saw Randy Newman at the Bowl

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it was a perfect night, weatherwise and otherwise

it was only about 2/3rds full which made things soooo much better

no huge lines for anything, plenty of room to get around and lots of space in the rows, where we were, in the middle.

on top of that, we lucked out and got a row that had no one in front of our two seats, so

leg room for dayssssssss (pictured)

randy has recorded like five million records in his long and storied career

this show was supposed to be him, the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, and an all star band

playing at least one song from each of his albums

it was so great.

he played pretty much all my favorite tunes and the orchestra added a lot because his music has always been so cinematic

even before he started writing music for Pixar and Disney films.

most of the Bowl events let you bring your own food so i packed lots of salad fixins for her

and i grabbed some grocery store sushi for myself, and chips and a Mexicoke (pictured)

it was a really beautiful night out there in Hollywood

but because i am a sensitive poet i think my nose was affected by all the fires burning around us

and today im a little sniffley and headachey

after the show we walked down like 2 miles which was hard on Amber because she had heels on (pictured)

but the good thing is we got to walk around Hollywood and take pics of all the best thing

like Ice Cube’s star

a totally random wall

and my favorite building in Hollywood that no one has ever gone into because it’s haunted, barren, unlivable

and full of dead bodies probably

afterwards we watched John Oliver and passed out

The End

saw U2 play last night at the forum

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it wasn’t good.

amber, who is sweet about everything, even looked at me about 90 minutes in and was like wtf

they played a few hits, but the rest of the show was new songs, and old songs that no one liked even back then.

and i like MLK, i mean who doesnt, but must we hear Pride in the Name of Love every time U2 throws a party?

the stage was cool and they moved around the stadium a ton, so those of us in the back corner were very happy

but still.

and to top it off, Ticketmaster gave us an email before the show saying Doors Open at 6:30pm, and U2 starts at 8pm sharp.

we got there at 8:11pm terrified that we had missed some, but we hadn’t.

so we went to get some food and drink, i was surprised at how some of the bars had no lines.

i was like, yo can i get a diet coke for the lady and 8 shots of rum for me?

dude was all, yes, but we are closed until the band starts.

i was like hmmm, weird, but whatevs, whats a few minutes.

fuckers didnt go on till 9pm.

and then gave us weak sauce.

U2 has delivered the magic every time I ever saw them play.

zero magic last night. super disappointing.

this is what happens when youre rich and idealistic and you think you can get away with not playing Streets Have No Name or With or Without You.

you cant.

even Dylan plays Blowin in the Wind every show.

even Dylan.

 

deal of the day: Billy Joel at Dodger Stadium

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the piano man doesn’t play a lot in LA and even less in California.

the last time he treated us to Big Shot, Anthony’s Song, Pressure, and You May Be Right was in 2014 when he played a trio of shows at the Bowl.

but this year he’s gonna try to fill Dodger Stadium, and it looks like it just. might. happen.

because supply is outpacing demand, tickets on the secondary markets are at or below cost.

billy has been around the block, and he clearly knows the value of his concert tickets.

as you see from the image above, Top Deck tickets are going for $77 + stubhub fees of $20 which is slightly higher than face value which is $50 + $25 ticketmaster fees

but to me the more interesting option is Front Section where you can get single tickets for under $300 after fees.

to put that in perspective, there were zero tickets on the floor of Dodger Stadium under $300 for Beyonce last year.

IS STING NO LONGER A THING?

When the Police toured the world for their reunion in 2007 they packed Dodger Stadium now their frontman can’t sell out two nights at the Hollywood Palladium.

Is the $100 ticket price too high?

I don’t think so. He’s still Sting. Even if the record is a stinker, he’s still a huge star who could dip into a deep songbook of hits both as a solo artist and the singer of one of the biggest rock bands of the last 30 years. Of course he should be able to charge $125 (after Live Master gets theirs) and of course he should be able to sell out two nights at the famous hall.

But it’s not happening and keep your eyes peeled towards Goldstar because this is a bit embarrassing.

To save even more money: Get your tickets at the Hollywood Palladium box office on Saturdays from 10am-2pm without service charges for any event at the Hollywood Palladium or Wiltern .

even when we were poor we still had money to see concerts

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chris joe and me at the dead in vegas

this is chris, joe and i at the Imperial Palace in Vegas, May 1992 about to see the Grateful Dead with Steve Miller opening.

the imperial palace doesnt exist any more. the dead doesnt exist any more but i still have that cubs shirt.

that concert was the first time i ever really started to understand the Dead. i had seen them once before at the Forum but passed out due to an over achieving pot cookie given to me by a beautiful stranger who only asked for a hug in return. i didnt catch her name but she had long blonde hair with flowers in it and a day glow bikini top.

because i didnt wanna pass out at the Vegas show, i only drank beers.

you cant tell from this pre party picture but later that day thunderstorms rolled in right about the time the band started playing Drums/Space

in one of the most spiritually trippy experiences ive ever had at a rock show, the thunder started jamming with the drummers and the drummers jammed right back.

in that dusty weird twilight out in the desert, i was all, oooooooooooooooooh

so this is the grateful dead!

and then two girls with see through tops kissed my cheeks.

for Chris’s birthday we saw Guns n Roses

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chris and mickey

any time a band books two or more nights at a venue the odds are very good that the 2nd or 3rd night will have lots of empty seats. got lucky and they were practically giving really good seats away at the dodger stadium show for the former glam rockers.

chris drove over. we had some postmates guy deliver us Bossa Nova and we took an over to the stadium. crazy ride. driver told us he was a car salesman and uber has hurt his business so badly that hes thinking about driving full time. i told him if he does it he has to contact me because i want to set him up with a reporter, probably Steve Lopez, to write the story.

got to the show just in time. it was good. Slash is obvs still pissed at Axl but will take the tens of millions of dollars they will each make on this tour.

it was good because this is the way it should be. you shouldn’t come home and find your Uncle is your Step Dad or you have to share a room with a teenage runaway. Slash should be playing with Axl and Duff should be there. not only does it fit, but it sounds right.

and then that makes way for Steven Adler to sit in for a couple of songs. all smiley and shit.

echo park

it’s weird to think that Guns doesn’t have three hours of original material to play. so they served up plenty of covers: Live and Let Die & Knockin on Heavens Door are normal, but they also did Raw Power, Wish You Were Here and the guitar solo from Beautiful Tonight. random dad rock.

Afterwards we walked down to Sunset and Echo Park was alive and beautiful. we are so lucky to live in this city. we were amped. a bit buzzed from the beers and the energy of the show. lots of Slash.

hayley

Chris really needed to pee but every bar had a line coming out of it. when we stopped by Little Joy i asked the doorman if Hayley was around. he said no and 2 seconds later there she was with her man.

we rejoiced and hugged and exchanged greetings.

then walked all the way to mohawk bend and got an uber home.

fun night.

Guns could have used more explosions.

last night jeanine and i saw the dixie chicks

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dixie chicks

at the staples center. we were in section 317 row one. which are pretty great seats, especially since they were free. editorship has its privileges.

we parked about three blocks away from staples in a downtown lot that cost us $5. a twenty dollar savings that was instantly given to the stadium and their $7 shots.

the show was pretty good considering. the sound was turned way down for some reason and the lighting man had it on automatic meaning the lights went spastic for no good reason during the weirdest moments and the screen behind the band showed some of the lamest graphics this blogger has ever seen.

even though jeanine and i havent been bf/gf in 13 years or so, we still hold hands and kiss and tell each other i love you which is very sweet. she put her head on my shoulder during one very pretty song and started to weep a tad which almost made me weep a tad.

i really like the dixie chicks, theyre excellent musicians, singers, and songwriters, which is why its so sad that their stage show it totally lacking. plus ive never heard such a horrible sound mix at Staples.

it did not ruin our night though. it was just nice to be together.

afterwards we went back to the lot to retrieve the car and we saw a young lady get out of a car. she had a very short miniskirt and patent leather boots so tall that she had problems walking in them.

normally when people see someone dressed like that theyd say “fucking whore” but this girl actually did look like a hooker. and being that it was downtown, who knows, she could have been one, but she didnt look over to us even after both me and jeanine hooted and told her she looked hot.

seriously why dress like a ho if youre not going to appreciate people going nuts over you?

and then i realized we were in my fucked up looking car

which was two quarts of oil short, we realized, upon arriving in pasadena.

but since my car is magic and can run on zero oil it was all, whatever bros, where next?

today’s LAist posts: why is hip hop hold em’s logo a a spade? + purple weed + how to make cocaine