The Lovin' Spoonful with John Sebastian

The Lovin' Spoonful is a 1960’s band – they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Bandleader John Sebastian played at Woodstock – following our theme this month. The band came up through the folk music scene in the Village in the early 1960s. Sebastian grew up in and around music and musicians, was the son of an accomplished classical harmonica player. John played five songs at Woodstock on Saturday, coming on right after Country Joe McDonald and immediately before Santana. His set was: How Have You Been, Rainbows Over Your Blues, I Had A Dream, Darlin’ Be Home Soon, and Younger Generation. John Sebastian is on the cover of Michael Lang’s new book called I am reading right now (and loving), called The Road to Woodstock. I am now "friends" with Artie Kornfeld on Facebook.

Sha Na Na played at Woodstock

What is stranger - that Sha Na Na played at Woodstock, or that I own this record? They played on Sunday, (actually Monday morning) right after The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Bummer. They played a 12-song set, quite lengthy compared to some other acts that played. I am reading the Woodstock book by Michael Lang, the guy who put the whole thing on, and I am not at the part where he books Sha Na Na. Can't wait to read that part. But the payoff was huge - if you lasted through Sha Na Na, you were rewarded with Jimi Hendrix's historical and epic "wake and bake" closing act set at 10 am Monday morning. Santana was booked for $1,500 and had not yet had an album out. Stay tuned for that.

AC/DC Concert Review August 14, 2009

Last Friday night we saw AC/DC at the United Center. Our seats were up in the 300 level and off to the left the side as you face the stage. We have seen them before from the main floor, but liked our seat location up high. They are touring behind their new album which came out last fall. They did 5 songs from it, which was about 3 too many. From the Bon Scott era, they did: Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be, Rosie, The Jack, Highway, TNT, and Dirty Deeds. My pal Spencer asked me to list my top ten AC/DC songs (not easy to do) and I came up with only two from the Brian Johnson era: Shoot to Trill and Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution. Don’t get me wrong - Brian is great and was/is the perfect addition to the band back then. Most of those earlier songs are just better than most of the ones since Back in Black (above) came out.

Blondie & Pat Benatar Concert Review

We capped her b-day weekend at what I was calling "girls night out" at Ravinia. Thanks to WH and the MIL for the great tickets - the Donnas (Ramones-style distaff metal hair band) were a perky and fun opening act. With pavilion not yet full, I went up to the second row for a few of their songs for a "closer look."

Having seen 2nd act Pat Benatar a few times before, their 90-minute hit-packed set sounded better (Ravinia’s fine acoustics) and they seemed more into it. They may have read some recent show reviews saying they were mailing it in and decided to correct that perception. Husband guitarist/songwriter Neil Giraldo looked cool as a ’60’s greaser/street rod/muscle car restorer.

Fellow New Yorkers and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Blondie took us back to the late ’70’s/early ’80’s new wave punk scene. With full original band line-up, drummer Clem Burke was terrific. Heart of Glass encore morphed into a techno version of Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ‘til you Get Enough. I do not own any Blondie on vinyl, but I will soon.

Simple Minds - Nancy's Favorite Band

With some huge hits in the mid-eighties, this is the only Simple Minds album I own. Am posting it because they are Nancy's all-time favorite band and today is her birthday. I think she fancies lead singer Jim Kerr. I like them because they are from Scotland. Director John Hughes passed away recently, and from his classic movie, The Breakfeast Club, who can forget Don't You Forget About Me? Get it? We saw them live at one of our most memorable concerts. A few summers ago, they played at a tiny club in Chicago called Metro, in front of just a few hundred people. Standing, we could literally touch the stage. This album has the anthemic Alive and Kicking.