March 2025 Challenge Thread - Live Music (Really) Is Better!

Day 7: Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers October 2019, The Magnolia – Bruce was touring for Absolute Zero, which featured Justin Vernon. Bruce was super grumpy with the folks that were calling out for Grateful Dead tunes, said he wasn’t going to play any and also stated that he thought that nobody in the audience even knew who Bon Iver was. Play something by someone who made an unexpected collaboration.

My kid ran the merch stand for this show (and got us in for free), so I picked this up while we were there. Bruce, I dedicate this to your grumpy ass and Justin Vernon. And it is a good album, It's always interesting to me when artists move forward and outside of their normal box.

Bruce Hornsby ~ Absolute Zero

IMG_4243.jpeg
 
Day 6: Rolling Stones February 2003, Staples Center. Charity

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concert
I love this concert, especially good on a Friday night with the fun of Stay (and the Detroit Medley). My sixth gig was the Charlatans - intro to one of my favourite bands, and only time I saw them with Rob Collins before he died.
20250307_124551.jpg


 
Day 2: Chicago, November 1986 at Universal Amphitheater. This was during the very smooth Peter Cetera era Chicago, really went at my high school girlfriends behest. Play something from an artist whose sound has changed over time or that you'd take a date to.

Wilco - Snoozin’ At The Pageant - Live 7/23/02 at The Pageant, St. Louis, MO

IMG_8060.jpeg

Taking my date to Wilco in Lower Alabama next month…
 
Day 7: Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers October 2019, The Magnolia – Bruce was touring for Absolute Zero, which featured Justin Vernon. Bruce was super grumpy with the folks that were calling out for Grateful Dead tunes, said he wasn’t going to play any and also stated that he thought that nobody in the audience even knew who Bon Iver was. Play something by someone who made an unexpected collaboration.

Don't think anyone had Lou Reed and Metallica on their bingo card...

Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu

IMG_5612.jpeg

This is from my recording of the last Lou Reed show I saw. Steve Hunter was along for the ride on guitar. Taped on the down low. It was in an intimate 1K capacity club. It was sublime. It sounds good. And I miss Lou terribly.

Great call and response between Lou and Thunder on this slow burner from The Raven...

 
Day 7: Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers October 2019, The Magnolia
Play something by someone who made an unexpected collaboration.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
IMG_5485.jpeg
I finally saw Smashing Pumpkins in 2018 on the Shiny, Oh So Bright tour. I say finally because I was supposed to have seen them about 20 years earlier on their Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness tour but unfortunately I got grounded due to a low grade in my freshman Algebra class. The 2018 show was a greatest hits style show and Corgan and company played for nearly 3 hours it was a fantastic concert though there was a bit of a WTF collaboration when, at one point Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Rock & Roll Jeopardy fame came on the big screen dressed like an old timey carnival barker for some reason. You could hear the multiple whispers in the audience asking, “why is the Sugar Ray guy on the big screen?”.
 
Last edited:
Day 7: Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers October 2019, The Magnolia – Bruce was touring for Absolute Zero, which featured Justin Vernon. Bruce was super grumpy with the folks that were calling out for Grateful Dead tunes, said he wasn’t going to play any and also stated that he thought that nobody in the audience even knew who Bon Iver was. Play something by someone who made an unexpected collaboration.

IMG_1437.JPGIMG_1436.JPG

 
Day 8: P!nk / Brandi Carlile October 2023, Snapdragon Stadium – Play something over the top.

I reckon glam on steroids would qualify. Thanks for everything, guys...

New York Dolls - S/T

IMG_7921.jpeg

Little story behind this recording: This show was New York Dolls and opener Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. NYD were not a taper friendly band, so I employed a strategy I'd used in the past to get my open taping gear in the door - I'd try and get permission from the opener to record. Black Joe Lewis said bring it on. Brought a copy of the email and I was held up at the door for about 15 minutes but got in with the gear. Set up right beside the soundboard and taped the BJL set. Moseyed over to the bar and grabbed a beer. And another, all while watching my gear. Went back over and hung out at the board. Fully expected someone to come over and ask me to break down the rig. Waited all the way up til the house lights went down. I hit record and now y'all can enjoy some live New York Dolls.

www.setlist.fm

New York Dolls Setlist at Amos' Southend, Charlotte

Get the New York Dolls Setlist of the concert at Amos' Southend, Charlotte, NC, USA on June 15, 2009 and other New York Dolls Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
www.setlist.fm www.setlist.fm

 
Day 8: P!nk / Brandi Carlile October 2023, Snapdragon Stadium – P!nk (like Brandi) really connects with her audience and puts on quite a theatrical show, flying around the arena at the end of the show. Play something over the top

Deep Purple was known as a band that played really really loud in concert. I saw them once, but I was on the lawn at Pine Knob and pretty far back so I didn't experience that in person.

IMG_1445.JPG
 
Day 9: The Cure May 2023, North Island Amphitheater – They kept it real on the last tour, keeping prices down for both tickets and merch, and putting on a spectacular set. Play something by a band that has kept the fans in mind.

How many artists have threatened to withhold their new record from the label unless they agreed not to hike the price of the LP?

One. Thomas Earl Petty.

faroutmagazine.co.uk

How Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers stood up for rock fans on ‘Hard Promises’ - Far Out Magazine

We are taking a look back at Tom Petty's magnificent album Hard Promises, 40 years on, and how it helped win a victory for rock fans everywhere
faroutmagazine.co.uk faroutmagazine.co.uk

Pretty fitting the cover shot is Tom in a record store.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Hard Promises

IMG_7928.jpeg

A 1999 recording from the Charlotte shed. Never liked taping there but this one sounds pretty good. Let's swing...

www.setlist.fm

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Setlist at Blockbuster Pavilion, Charlotte

Get the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Setlist of the concert at Blockbuster Pavilion, Charlotte, NC, USA on September 25, 1999 from the Echo Tour and other Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
www.setlist.fm www.setlist.fm

 
Day 9: The Cure May 2023, North Island Amphitheater – Play something by a band that has kept the fans in mind.

Minor Majority - Live at Sentralen 12.06.20

Radio today told me it's 5 years since coronavirus. Seems like a suitable day then to play this - Big Dipper, my local, organised a series of concerts in June 2020 to give artists some revenue - and made records out of the concerts, which they also sold. So this is one of the relatively few concerts I went to that I have the live album for. It's a great Norwegian group, a little like Kings of Convenience, and this sounds really excellent. Happy that they dared to play for the fans in a pretty dark time.

Plus, my 9th gig - Scottish band the Supernaturals. I started writing off to them so never actually paid to see them (although £3.50!!!!). I'll write more about them later in the month because it got pretty cool.


IMG_2710.jpeg



 
Day 3: The Samples, early 1990s at The Barn UC Riverside – Booked them to play the bar I worked at, my now-wife and I had so much fun that we followed them to Vegas the next day. They were big for a bit, and flamed out into varying resurrected iterations. Play an album from a band that has faded into obscurity.

Savages - Silence Yourself

IMG_3511.jpegIMG_3512.jpeg20160528_230604_Original.jpeg
 
Day 4: Prairie Home Companion November 1997, Fitzgerald Theater – Went to two Prairie Home Companion tapings when I lived in Minneapolis. This one featured the Nashville Bluegrass Band which featured Peter Rowan (who was in Old & In The Way with Jerry Garcia), and can be listened to here: March 22, 1997 broadcast with Kate MacKenzie, Peter Rowan, and the Nashville Bluegrass Band | A Prairie Home Companion. Play some Bluegrass / folk or something that features spoken word.

Jonathan Richman & Modern Lovers - s/t

IMG_3515.jpegIMG_3514.jpeg
 
Day 9: The Cure May 2023, North Island Amphitheater – They kept it real on the last tour, keeping prices down for both tickets and merch, and putting on a spectacular set. Play something by a band that has kept the fans in mind.

Radiohead did a 'pay what you want' model for In Rainbows.

I've seen them twice and the shows are at opposite ends of the spectrum for me.
I had an amazing experience Hail to the Thief tour. The show was at Blossom Music Center and we had orchestra pit tickets so I got pretty close to the stage by the encores.
I saw them at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit for the Moon Shaped Pool tour and we were wayyyy back. The sound was pretty good but it wasn't even close to the same experience obviously.

IMG_1451.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top