Ain't it the truth?! I thought you might like that one. How the heck are ya today?! Sexy and luscious as always, I'm sure. Ah well, let's move on to a new subject...well....it's still music....but let's get my mind off of how sexy and luscious you are, at least for a few minutes....if that's possible.....sighhhhhh!!
Here is my review of the YES concert last night:
Pete stated, "They pulled a JOURNEY." That means, they have a brand new lead singer (a long-haired white guy from LA, can't remember his name), who is very young, sounds just like Jon Anderson did, seems to love the music more than anything, and totally nails it. We have seen Jon Anderson in concert, and we've seen Rick Wakeman too. I can now understand why Rick Wakeman broke away from YES, his skills were really under-used and too repetitive for what his soul needed.
1. The original founding member, Chris Squire, is still there and still kickin'. I think he's the bass guitar player...at one point, he came out with a 3-neck bass guitar in his arms, it was SWEET! He liked to put up one leg and rest his ankle on the knee of his other leg a lot too. He was older and had white hair, and seemed to be more of an attention whore than the other guys, but he made it fun. The other original or older members were Alan White on drums, and of course, the amazing Steve Howe on guitar.
2. The OPENING BAND was PROCOL HARUM! They had only one original member, the lead singer guy, and WOW he can still rock....he has white hair, a prim and proper grandpa look about him, but he can totally rock out---it transforms the grandpa look totally, and you can see his youth in his eyes when they sparkle and his inner demon rockstar comes out to play. They were really cool!! They saved "Whiter Shade of Pale" for the end, of course, and it was truly the coolest version I've ever heard.
3. YES did NOT play "Owner of a Lonely Heart," which I thought for SURE they would, but that omission made Pete very happy. (Sadly, my youth strikes again: the only YES music I was familiar with was the Top 40 on the radio in the 1980's). But as the concert progressed, I turned to Pete and yelled in his ear, "These guys are like a happier version of Pink Floyd!" He thought that was a very cool observation. I have never owned a YES album, so I had no idea they were so funkadelic and cool, playing awesome music that made you reach deep down into your soul while listening to it, and THINK about life and happiness, and the external pleasures of life. Pink Floyd seems to have a more dreary outlook, a more INNER searching for answers, and a more somber approach to music. I love Pink Floyd though, they capture something timeless and universal that no other band ever could.
4. I don't know about your opinion, but in MY humble opinion, Steve Howe's guitar playing really put Neal Schon to shame. That guy ripped out 5 different guitars IN ONE SONG and played every one of 'em, including a steel guitar, a mandolin, and several others that I don't even know the names of. He has NOT aged well, however, he looks like a grandpa version of Mick Jagger. But wow, that guitar playing of his was massive and brilliant. You can absolutely tell that he takes his music very seriously, and was NOT happy during some of the show, with the microphone not working properly, the balance wasn't so great, (you could hear the bass super loudly but not his guitar so much), and the acoustics sucked in that venue.......side note, just for you: make sure you don't ever bring your NEXT tour to the Munhall PA Carnegie Library. Sure, it's an intimate setting, but the acoustics are horrid, the stage is small, and the seating is uncomfortable. Just a tip from yer ole buddy "Becksterama, red-hot mama."
This is a photo of me, after the YES concert ended...back at home. I wore my "hootchie mama" blouse and brown leggins, and some high heels. Most of the horse-faced women in Pittsburgh wear a Steelers t-shirt and jeans everywhere they go, or something very casual, so I kinda stood out like a sore thumb, but that's okay with me. I'd rather NOT look horse-faced, or like a sports nut, thankyouverymuch.
So there ya have it, my brief review of YES. I would go see them again, and now I understand why I've only heard a few of their songs on the radio---they have a totally unique genre that I never really listened to before with such passion---but Pete was totally ballistic, and loved it---he was playing keyboard and drums on my thigh and moving his shoulders side to side while playing air guitar on my arm, and singing along, etc., so I know he had a fun time. I, however, now have whiplash.
When we got home, Pete immediately got onto his iTunes account and started playing various YES tunes from the 1970's, to show me the difference, and the better sound with more guitars than what they had last night, but he was truly enjoying every minute of it. I had to crash though, I was tired.
Now Stephen, I know you love me, and I know you've been wracking your brain to find the most perfect Christmas gift for me-----admit it----so here's a hint of something I would really like a lot....
These are the COOLEST bracelets I have ever seen! Only $75 bucks on Yardsellr.com!
I would wear them every year at camp, ohhhh yes, you can bet your sweet ass I would.
Here's a snippet of the YES concert, doing "Roundabout..." I wish I could put the entire song on here for you, but it only allows so many bytes. I have to email it to myself, on my iPhone, (and that is the limitation of the bytes), then I save it here on the desktop, then upload it here on the blog. There may be a shortcut to doing this sort of thing, but I have no clue what it might be.
Anyway, I hope you like it. If they come around your neck of the woods, I recommend going to see them. I don't know if you've ever been a fan of YES or not, but I was very happily surprised at how I really and truly enjoyed the concert, (walking in and expecting maybe 4 Top 40 hits from the radio helped surprise me quite a bit).
Okay well, it's hump day, so I'm off to the wild blue yonder that is my crazy life in the 'burgh. Oh, by the way, I guess somebody on the Steve Perry Faithful Ones Facebook page must read my blog, because yesterday, after I wrote that "nobody gave me a welcome message for joining the page," about an hour later, somebody there actually DID! HA!! That cracked me up. It never really ends, does it?
I remember not too long ago, the huge fight between fans when it came to Journey---after you left the band. There were the "forever faithful PERRYHEADS," vs. the "Augeri fans," and they bickered and bitched and moaned and squabbled about stupid shit for YEARS, even AFTER Augeri was no more!! It really was like a political debate more than anything.
My home computer was even sabotaged (and totally fried), by your ole buddy Allen Craft, who once worked for Journey, simply because I wouldn't back down from his abuse---see, I was a die-hard Perryhead don'tchaknow---and as such, I kept giving him major shit every time he said something bad about you on the official Journey web site message board. I kept making him look like an idiot in front of everybody who read the message boards, and he didn't like me very much because of it. GRIN! But, hey, I managed to get his ass FIRED eventually, (after mentioning all this to John Toomey who apparently likes to yell at people for a living), because I can be a tenacious bitch sometimes....and someday people will figure out that if you fuck with ME, you messed with the WRONG tenacious bitch.
So what the hell, I guess I win. And if I win, the Perryhead family wins too. I'm actually quite happily surprised that there isn't a more angry mob against Arnel Pineda. He's just too awesome to hate though, ya know? You gotta like that guy, even if you wish he wasn't there in your spot on that stage.
Yeah, good times. Ahhhh the soap opera that is Journey. I'm sure you miss the BS SO MUCH!!! (not).
Well, I'm off. Take care and happy hump day, and I'll write again soon. I love ya Stephen. Now get busy and GET THAT NEW MUSIC OUT HERE DAMMIT, don't make me come to LA and bite your face off. You're starting to bug me with this procrastination stuff!!
---Love, Rebecca
No comments:
Post a Comment