This is the first of my two 2018 “Year In Review” articles. As with my articles in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, I reviewed a sampling of my concert photos from 2018 and compiled some of my favorites and stopped when I hit around 100 photos in total. Please also check out my companion 2018 Year in Review article, which covers my Top 5 Concerts, Top 5 Albums, Top 75 Songs and more. [Read more…]
“Unbelievable. Nine songs of texting. (laughs from crowd) Yes, I’m here to shame you for that because… (laughs) No seriously, I’m here to validate. We are here to validate you… Thank you for coming out tonight, supporting our little soirée. With our brothers from Stone Temple Pilots and Bush. You want some more? This one’s fun. I’m pretty amped up actually. Pretty rare for me. It’s the altitude. Must be the altitude. There you go, standing up, getting out of your seats… What’s happening? Spontaneous… It’s a spontaneous audience participation. We’re connecting as one. As one group. As one harmonic ecosystem, together. It’s fucking unbelievable. It’s fucking unbelievable!” Ian Astbury of The Cult, with a bit of a stream of consciousness revelation between songs during their set, fixed in the center of the triple headlining tour featuring STP, The Cult, and Bush called “Revolution 3 Tour”. Sometimes multiple headlining shows aren’t quite that, but in this case, after each artist, I wondered how the next could measure up. And I don’t personally follow any of the three bands. Yet somehow, I came away feeling this was the best concert yet as the Ironstone Amphitheatre Summer Concert Series nears it’s end, with just one show left to go. It was three top performances with this concert on Friday night. [Read more…]
“Foreigner has just passed our 40th anniversary… Four zero… that’s a big deal!” Kelly Hansen at Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphys on Sunday night, the third lead singer of Foreigner over the course of the past four decades. The evening served as a celebration of a wide variety of music and genres, with performances by Foreigner, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, and Queensrÿche. [Read more…]
“I wanted to write a song about that… I wanted to reflect the idea of the country, and the sense of the country…” Adam Duritz of Counting Crows brought a mix of concert and storytelling to Ironstone Amphitheatre at Ironstone Vineyards on Tuesday night, as part of the band’s “25 Years And Counting Tour”. He shared some stories about the origins and inspirations behind the songs that are so familiar to their fans, in a sprawling set approaching two hours. In addition, the crowd also enjoyed a lengthy set from the band Live as well as younger act Boom Forest. It was a beautiful night in Murphys and the mix of musical styles and genres entertained the massive crowd in attendance. [Read more…]
“I mean, I don’t think there’s anything that we love more than California, drinking wine, and singing some songs…” Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, performing before a massive crowd at Ironstone Amphitheatre Sunday night. It seemed to be a sentiment shared by all in attendance as the band played through their own hits as well as some interesting cover songs, putting on a show that really impressed. [Read more…]
Richter Entertainment Group’s Summer Concert Season at Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphys will be happening in June, July, August and September this year. Artists include Toby Keith, Little Big Town, The Isley Brothers, The Commodores, The Family Stone, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, Foreigner, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, Queensryche, Counting Crows, Live, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, America, Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, Bush, Culture Club, The B-52s, Tom Bailey from Thompson Twins, and more!
“How we doing out there?” Ellie Rowsell with Wolf Alice at a rare appearance in Sacramento at Ace of Spades Saturday night, a few shows into their massive schedule taking them all over the world in 2018. In addition to their own headlining shows, they are playing gigs in support of Queens of the Stone Age as well as shows across the festival circuit. I’ve been following the band since 2015, and now with two studio albums under their belt (sophomore effort Visions of a Life came out late last year), they are better than ever, with a massive amount of killer songs to fill up their sets. I’ve always seen them as a band made to play live, and they did not disappoint. This concert will certainly rank among the top at the end of the year for me personally, so I can’t recommend enough getting out to one of their shows if they stop in at a city near you. [Read more…]
“…so for us, it was a very difficult time indeed. This song kind of sums it up, really quite well. Tonight, I’m going to dedicate this song to Rex Tillerson.” Roger Daltrey’s intro to “Another Trick Day”, performing before a relatively intimate crowd at the Bob Hope Theatre in Stockton on Tuesday night, given that he is the front man for one of the bands most anyone would name as one of the greatest of all time. This was my first time seeing any incarnation of The Who live on stage, and I was struck by how much Daltrey seemed to enjoy it himself. A born performer with boundless energy and enthusiasm, he is also a storyteller, giving background, stories, contest and inspiration behind the music that he and The Who Band played for the crowd. And that crowd… one of the best ones I’ve stood among in some time, looking around, it would seem to almost be a religious experience for a lot of the people who turned out for the show.
Wolf Alice, the alternative band from London, will be playing all over the U.S. in the next few months, in both headlining shows and in support of Queens of the Stone Age, as well as dates overseas, including shows with Foo Fighters and many festival appearances. The group’s sophomore album, Visions of a Life, was released late last year. [Read more…]
This is the first of my two 2017 “Year In Review” articles. As with my articles in 2012, 2013, and 2014, 2015 and 2016, I reviewed a sampling of my concert photos from 2017 and compiled some of my favorites and stopped when I hit around 100 photos in total. Please also check out my companion 2017 Year in Review article, which covers my Top 5 Concerts, Top 5 Albums, Top 50 Songs and more. [Read more…]