Met another rock legend
Free outdoor concert, got a high five from Dennis DeYoung (founder of STYX), and shook hands twice with Jimmy Leahey, incredible lead guitarist, who also records with John Waite (formerly of The Babies).
Awesome night to remember, but is it a good thing if your ears don't ring after the concert?:shock:
Mr. Roboto
Dennis & Jimmy
Awesome night to remember, but is it a good thing if your ears don't ring after the concert?:shock:
Mr. Roboto
Dennis & Jimmy
Comments
I also saw The Babies in concert way back in the 70's (I think) as a warm up band at a concert. Anyway, I was familiar with some of their songs and was looking forward to hearing them in concert. Unfortunately, their sound system sucked for the 15,000 people arena and the band sounded just awful. Kind of heart breaking because I knew that they had alot more talent then what we heard that night. Anyway, the main band came on with a completly differnent sound system and sounded great - which all the more made The Babies sound like a local bar band..... Anyway, didn't John Wait go on to a good solo career (Missing You) and even a time with Jefferson Starship (Jane)?
It must have been fun to be that close to great musicians. The closest I have come to anyone is I knew a drummer who's father had played drums with Elvis Presley. Ok, I never saw Elvis or the guy's father who played drums for Elvis. I also played guitar with an older gentlemen who was a Johnny Cash tribute singer who had actually met and talked with Johnny Cash. He could tell as many stories about Johnny as he sung. That was cool even though I really don't care much for Country music. But I have never been up close and personal with any great performers. I bet you were excited. Take care.
[but is it a good thing if your ears don't ring after the concert?]
It's a great thing that your ears don't ring after a concert. I went to our annual Blues festival yesterday and my ears are still numb this morning.
gtaus wrote:
[didn't John Wait go on to a good solo career (Missing You) and even a time with Jefferson Starship (Jane)?]
John Waite wasn't in Jefferson Starship. He was in Bad English.
Mickey Thomas sang Jane and also Fooled around and Fell in Love
with Elvin Bishop.
As far as the Babies not sounding good as an opening act, Those were the day's when it was quite common that openers weren't allowed to change any thing on the sound console as it was dialed in for the headliner. They got what they got and had to make the best of it. These days with Live Digital sound consoles it's not such an issue as the headlining acts settings can be stored and recalled in a minute. I know a couple of sound mixers that have dongles with snapshots of at least a few different digital consoles they have used for their bands. It's great for festival situations.
It was even worse than that. As I remember it, The Babys played on the front of the stage using basically stage amps and a very underpowered PA system for their warm up act for a 15,000 seat arena. There was a big curtain behind them which dropped down in front of the main act's gear. After The Baby's left the stage, it only took about 10-15 minutes to wheel off their stage amps and PA. Then the curtain was dropped and there were monster speakers for the main act's PA system. The Baby's were not using any of the main act's gear as I recall. They sounded like a local bar band compared to the main act, which was really too bad because they could have put on a good show if they had been allowed to use the main act's PA system.
Back in those days, however, it was not too uncommon for the larger touring bands to book a local band as a warm up act. They would not be able to use any of the main act's gear, so you often got bands with their bar equipment doing the best they could in a large arena. Sometimes, you could not hear the warm up band over the crowd's din unless you were right up in the front. Oh well, you went there to hear the main act and if the warm up act was any good at all, that was just a bonus.
The loudest concert I ever attended was a Uriah Heep/Rush concert. My ears were ringing for a few days after that. However, some of the best concerts I have attended were loud, but not so much that my ears were ringing. I prefer to be able to hear when I leave a concert. I never thought ringing in the ears was a good thing, for the band or for the audience. I like feeling the thump in the chest, just not the ringing in the ears.
Yeah, I can still hear the LOW frequencies...
Just thought I'd share.
I was front & center last year with these pics, and I was front & center last night, so just thought I'd share.
Kilroy Was Here was a political statement to rebel against the government that was trying to take control of the music industry, by trying to add new censorship laws that would've made bands only write lyrics before recording, that were approved for everyone to listen to.
You're right, gtaus, no one understood, and no one cared, and the censorship happened anyway. The government has now replaced your parents, to warn you about what's best for you to listen to, but not for what you should have the right to CHOOSE to listen to!
Dennis now has a #1 album in Canada, just released in the US, and is just as good, if not better than classic Styx rock you're familiar with!
100 Years From Now is available at Best Buy! 8)
As far as the other Styx (Tommy and JY), who is currently touring, most fans are disappointed, and I've heard more people say they've walked out in less than 3 songs, and would never pay to see them again.
That's too bad. But I imagine everyone associates Styx with the voice of DeYoung. Also, I wonder if their music has just lost favor over the years. I'm in a cover band and we don't even consider doing any Styx. And I don't hear anyone around here playing any Styx either. Maybe the music is just stuck in their particular period. I don't know. I have all their albums (yes, on vinyl) and was a big fan for years. But was that 30 years ago now?
Styx was the very first concert I went to. $6.50 for 6th row seats. :shock:
Styx was a band that had plenty of underrated talent...Tommy Shaw and JY were both fine players, singers, and very good songwriters.
The brothers were surely a good rhythm section, and of course, DD was a quality frontman.
This stuff happens though...I was a mongo Kansas fan in the 70's/80's...I thought they were in a class by themselves.
Then, in the mid-90's, I saw a re-formed \"Kansas\", which featured Steve Walsh (the singer/frontman) and a bunch of pups rounding out the band. It was bad...SO bad...in fact, it's a concert I try to forget having seen, since seeing them in their heyday compared to seeing that blasphemous facsimile was like night n day... :shock:
Funny enough, you can criticize Styx for being a dysfunctional band, but at least they're still touring, and getting paid for their 30+ year career, which you can't say that for most of today's bands, who only put out a few CD's, then disappear and people forget about!
I see Journey, Kansas, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Heart, and other '70s/'80s bands, as much as possible, as long as they're still around!
(I saw RUSH for the first time, just a few years ago. I wasn't a fan, but I was familiar with their music to pay to see them in concert, and I'd definitely do THAT again!)
Most new music lacks originality, in my opinion, so I won't even listen to it.
Chickenfoot, on the other hand, is one album I'll buy, without even having to hear it first! (Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and the drummer, Chad... 8)
RUSH is a band that, for my money, gives a better show for the buck than anyone I've seen, going all the way back to the 70's. And I've seen over 300 concerts, not counting club shows.
I also totally dig the fact that, for much of their career, they developed each album's material during sound check jams on the tour before. So ya never know what you're gonna hear!
If I had enough fingers to count how many times I've seen them, I'd be in the Chernobyl Museum Of Unnatural History.